Tips For Hiring A Writer
Hiring a writer to help you build or expand your business can be hugely stressful. After all, do a quick search on Google, and you’ll discover there are thousands of people all offering writing services. But, how do you find a qualified, experienced professional writer? Following are several tips that will help you weed through the pool of potential writers and allow you to choose the best writer for your needs:
Determine the type of writing services you need.
Before you can start your search for a writer, you must know what type of writing services you need. Do you need a skilled Web content writer? Do you need a talented copywriter? Or do you need a stellar press release writer? The good news is many writers specialize in more than one area of writing, so finding one writer for all of your writing-related needs is possible.
Ask for writing samples.
Writing samples are essential. An experienced writer will have a portfolio that contains samples of the types of writing they offer. Read the writing samples carefully: Are they well-written? Are they easy and interesting to read? A professional writer’s work will be polished and should already be edited. Writing samples that are littered with errors or that are poorly written are red flags. Avoid writers with poor writing samples.
Ask for references.
Testimonials from current or former clients will give you an idea of how others enjoy working with the writer you’re considering hiring and how happy they were with the results of the writer’s work.
Don’t hire based one price alone.
If you hire based on price alone, you’re taking a gamble. There are writers, especially online, who will charge very low rates. Be wary of those writers who charge very low rates; there is likely a reason for it. For example, the writer may be inexperienced and thus unable to produce the quality of writing for which you are looking. Some new writers will work for lower rates, but you’re going to be hard pressed to find a quality new writer who is going for write an article, for example, for as little as four dollars a page. Even new writers often don’t offer cutthroat rates.
Be prepared to pay a deposit.
Many professional writers charge a deposit to clients, especially if they’ve never worked with a particular client before. Be prepared to pay a deposit, but be wary of any writer who asks for 100 percent upfront.
Clearly communicate what you expect from the writer.
Even the most experienced professional writer can’t read minds, so it’s vital that you clearly communicate what you expect from the writer. For example, if you’re hiring a writer to write articles, identify the topic of the articles (be as specific as possible), the desired length of each article, whether you want the articles to contain any keywords, and any other information that you deem pertinent. Consider writing a project description that details exactly what you need, and be open to any questions and input the writer has for you.
Consider copyrights.
If you want all copyrights to transfer to you after you’ve made final payment for a project, ensure that you have a document, such as a Work for Hire agreement, stating that.
Have a project agreement written prior to the start of a project.
Always have a project agreement written and signed, by you and the writer, prior to the start of work. A project agreement should include such information as payment, amount of deposit (if applicable), method of payment (i.e. PayPal or check), project description, copyright terms, and due date.
If you’ve never written a project agreement before and if the writer doesn’t provide a project agreement, you can find plenty of boiler templates of project agreements online that you can then customize to your individual needs.
Beth Williams is a full-time writer and published author with more than a decade of professional writing and editing experience. She has written hundreds of online and offline articles, ebooks, audio scripts, Web site reviews, Web content, newsletters, press releases, and more. To learn more or to hire Beth, please visit http://www.creativeinklings.org
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