My very first home-based business six years ago was providing ghostwritten web content for hire. As more and more people took to the web to market their businesses, or establish websites, blogs and e-commerce sites, they quickly realized the saying “content is king” was undoubtedly true. What they also realized is that it takes time to write quality content – time that could be spent creating a more profitable business, so hiring a professional writer made sense. I wrote everything from web page content, blog posts and press releases to case studies and whitepapers for corporations.

As this blog and my other businesses grow, I frequently hire the services of other to get things done. One thing I quickly learned as a contract writer for hire is that there are a lot of people and companies that have no idea how to work with a contract writer.

There are many benefits to hiring someone to write your content. It’s a huge time saver. Instead of spending your time writing you can focus on other income generating activities. Additionally, it may be one of those tasks better left to an expert. If you don’t like writing, or aren’t confident with your writing skills, hiring a contractor makes good business sense.

In order to get the most benefit from your outsourcing experience, consider embracing these five tips for using a contractor to write your content.

#1 Have a Plan for Your Content.

Before you hire someone to write your content, make sure you have a content plan. This includes a plan that identifies your:

• Keywords
• Content goal – what do you want your content to achieve?
• Voice – how do you want the content to sound or feel? For example, warm and friendly or authoritative?

#2 Start Small

Assign your new writer a small project first. For example, start with five blog posts or a short report. Jumping in and asking a new contractor to write 100 articles may be asking for trouble. You want to make sure your writer understands your topic and market first. You also want to make sure their writing style matches your needs. And that they’re reliable.

#3 You Get What You Pay For

You can find a writer that charges a dollar an article and you can find a writer that charges $50 an article. In most cases, you get what you pay for. If you want to be able to instantly publish the content on your blog or website make sure you’re hiring a qualified writer. That doesn’t mean you have to go with the most expensive writer. It does mean that price may not be your most important criteria for hiring a writer.

#4 Provide Feedback.

It’s almost guaranteed that the first project won’t be 100% exactly what you were looking for. It does happen and when you find that writer, keep them! However, in most cases it is extremely helpful to provide feedback. Use the sandwich approach if you want to keep your writer. Tell them what you like about the content so they know for next time. And tell them what needs fixing. A professional writer will respond positively to your feedback.

#5 Keep them Busy.

Once you find a good writing contractor, keep them busy. Writing schedules fill up and you may find that when you have a need, they’re too busy to fill it. If you provide your writer with a steady stream of work, they’ll make room for your content emergencies because they value you as an ongoing client.

Working with a writer can be one of the best business decisions you make. It’s a great way to supplement your writing efforts or to completely replace them. You can also use writers to repurpose and rewrite existing content and maximize your content development and marketing efforts.

I’m looking to hire an experienced (at least one year of experience) virtual assistant to assist me with managing this blog and providing basic administrative tasks for my other two businesses.
This is a paid position. The ideal candidate has the following skills:

• WordPress experience (setting up WordPress, installing themes, plugins, creating good quality posts).
• Basic knowledge of SEO and Internet marketing (keyword research, building backlinks, etc.)
• Social media experience (Twitter and Facebook Fan Page)
• Video creation/marketing experience
• Excellent verbal/written communications skills
• Knowledge of Islam (or a genuine desire to learn!)
• A positive attitude (This is non-negotiable!)

I am looking for an experienced VA, however if you lack experience in one or more of the skills listed, I’m willing to teach the right person.
If you’re interested, please respond by email to: contact [at] muslimahsworkingathome.com. I will then send a questionnaire providing more details about the position to all qualified candidates.

Jazak Allau khair!

Muslimahs Working at Home was created to provide women with a financial alternative to earning an income outside of the home. Our objective is to share resources and tools needed to operate a successful, home-based business.

I’m a bit of a control freak. It’s true. Ideally I’d like to have a hand in every single aspect of my business, but as it expands I‘m learning the very quickly that I’m not really Superwoman. I can’t do it all on my own, and it’s counterproductive from me to continue pretending that I can.
One of my business goals is to work smarter in 2011 which is why I’ve settled on the decision to start outsourcing some of administrative tasks to a professional virtual assistant. I’m in the middle of moving right now (complete chaos!), but just as soon as we’re settled I plan to hire a small team of individuals to help out with this blog and my other two businesses. My first objective, however, will be hiring a virtual assistant (BTW – When I’m ready to hire I will post all of the information here).
The benefits of outsourcing can’t be ignored. Hiring a professional to handle tasks like managing email/voicemail, research, website/blog maintenance, ghostwriting or website development could wind up being the most cost effective decision in the end because it allows you to work on the more profitable aspects of your home-based business. Time is money after all. It also means you’re not left wearing all of the hats of responsibility, so in a sense it helps reduce feelings of overwhelm.
Here’s an interesting article discussing outsourcing for startups.

Do you outsource areas of your business to other professionals?

Muslimahs Working at Home was created to provide women with a financial alternative to earning an income outside of the home. Our objective is to share resources and tools needed to operate a successful, home-based business.