You’re working on revamping your website, or you’re thinking how great it would be to finally launch your blog or have someone else write your first book for you. The idea of someone who is knowledgeable, trained, and experienced in writing becomes exceptionally appealing… so you look into hiring a freelance writer.

If you’ve never worked with freelance writers before, it can be a little like entering a new world. Some of my clients have been confused about how the process would work, or what to expect.

If you’re considering working with a freelance writer, it can help to have some knowledge of HR management strategies to be prepared, so let’s take a look at what you need to know before hiring freelance writers to work alongside your team.

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There Are Different Types of Writing Specialties

Before you go looking at hiring freelance writers, you need to know exactly what you’re looking for. Choosing a writer who specializes in exactly what you need is critically important.

These are some of the most common specialties you find, which can overlap:

• Copywriters. These writers are trained to sell. They may have different specialties, like email copy, site copy, or PPC copy, while others are generalists who may be able to help with all of the above if you’re looking for a well-rounded marketing expert.
  Some may offer social media copy, but in most cases if you need help with social media, you’ll want to find a social media specialist.
• Content marketers. These writers create content, potentially including for blog posts, lead magnets, webinars, and ebooks. They should be knowledgeable about strategy and SEO, and ideally able to help you develop a strategy if needed.
• Ghostwriters. Want something written under your name, whether it’s a blog post or a book manuscript? You want someone who offers ghostwriting services. They’ll sign an NDA that says they can’t tell anyone they wrote the content, and they can write the content in your tone and style.
• Copyeditors. Copyeditors are a different branch off the writing niche, but it’s still relevant. They can help you develop existing content or writing that you have to improve. If you just want help with what you’re already working on, they’re a good choice.

Think about what you need, and go from there. If you hire a generalist, that’s fine, but make sure they have the experience to back it up, ideally with proven examples and client testimonials. Unfortunately, anyone can call themselves a freelance writer without actually having any experience at all, so be cautious of that.

There Are Plenty of Ways to Find Freelance Writers

Looking to hire a freelance writer but aren’t sure where to start?

These are the two most effective ways to find great freelance writers:

• Get a referral from a colleague or someone you trust. Someone won’t send you to a freelancer who served them poorly before. Referrals are a great way to find trustworthy writers who have helped others before you.
• Contact writers whose work you like on other blogs. If you’re reading a blog and think “I really love how this is written,” check the author bio. If there’s a link to their site, there’s a good chance that they’re available to hire on a freelance basis.

The two options above are most likely to yield the best results in finding a compatible match. You can also use freelance platforms like Upwork or Clearvoice (Clearvoice is my personal favorite as a freelancer), or post your job on a site like ProBlogger.

You can find freelancers of all price points and experience levels, but just remember that you typically are going to get what you pay for no matter where you find them.

If you’re hiring from a job board with unvetted candidates, use a pre-hire assessment platform like Workello to filter our bad writers with good writing portfolios. On top of these methods, integrating resume screening software can significantly enhance your recruitment process.

These intelligent systems use machine learning algorithms to scan through every CV you receive, sorting out the most qualified candidates based on the skills, experience, and other criteria that you define. It’s not only a time-saver, but it also helps to eliminate any unconscious bias that might occur during manual screening.

Be Sure You Understand What’s Included

There’s no standard amongst freelancers.

I have a strategic content background, for example. This means I can develop strategies, consult on different ideas, and optimize content strategically for different results. Other content marketers might need a brief, and will literally just write what’s been given to them with no additional strategy on their part.

You want to understand how the freelancer works, and what’s included. If they say “SEO optimization,” does that mean that they’ll supply metadata, write alt text, and do their own keyword research? Or does it mean that they’ll just drop your chosen keyword into the text a few times.

Are images included? Is site design or formatting included?

If you’ve hired them to write a book, are there expectations of help with self-publishing?

Be very clear to make sure you understand what you’re getting at what price. This is the only way to make sure everyone is happy.  

Contracts Are Expected (and Often Required)

After you’ve found a freelancer and agreed on scope of work and a price, know that contracts are almost always required by established freelance writers.

The electronic contracts will typically include the following clauses in some form or another:

• What payment will be, how it will be processed, and when it’s due
• What the scope of work involves
• A non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

Legal contracts can include additional clauses if either you or the freelancer needs them to be. Know that they’re an expected part of the process, and that most established freelancers won’t sign contracts containing non-competes.

You may wish to onboard freelance writers onto a contractor management platform to ensure a smooth payment process. Please note that usually, you, the client, would pay any additional costs associated with such a platform.

You May Need to Pay Upfront

This is something that catches some clients a little off-guard; many freelance writers offering copywriting, ghostwriting, or content marketing services expect payment upfront.

We’re not doing this to stiff you. We’re doing it for our own protection, and potentially for cash flow purposes. Unfortunately, we’ve almost all had past “clients” who have at least attempted to not pay us, or who intentionally waited a few months to pay us.

Some freelancers may not require this, but a large number of established and experienced freelancers do. It may be open to negotiation, but at the very least expect to pay a deposit at some point.

It’s Okay to Ask for a Paid Test Project

Even if you’ve seen samples from the writer of your choice, getting to see how they work with you is an invaluable part of hiring a freelancer. You also need to make sure that their work wasn’t heavily edited by someone else to the point where they’re not capable of delivering the same caliber of work to you on their own.

For this reason, many established freelancers will happily say yes to (or even encourage) a paid test project.

This will often be work done outside of a standard retainer, or like a sample before the full project. And yes, it will be paid.

An example might be someone who hires a PPC copywriter to do a single set of copy for an individual Google Ads campaign before they have them write 20 different sets of copy. You can have someone write a 1000 word post instead of a more extensive lead magnet, or a site copywriter can tackle the “About” page before you sign them on for the entire site.

The Results You Get Are Only As Good As the Instructions You Give

This is a hill I will die on as a freelance writer: I can never give you the results you want if you can’t tell me exactly what it is that you want.

If someone tells me that they want 1,000 words on “how to start a bonfire” with no other instructions, I’ll definitely write it and do so well… but it might not be what they want.

I might have a step-by-step tutorial with a list of best practices, when in reality they wanted a post about the safety measures you needed to know when starting a bonfire. But if that wasn’t communicated, there’s no way for me to know.

If you have a specific result in mind, be clear about it. That includes:

• How you want the article to be formatted
• If there are any studies, products, services, or quotes you want mentioned (whether they’re yours or someone else’s)
• The style of the writing itself (it’s exceptionally helpful to share links to content that you’d like the writer to emulate)
• Competitors you don’t want to mention
• Any crucial sections, best practices, or tips that you know you want included

This isn’t about hand holding; it’s about telling the freelance writer you’ve hired what you want them to deliver, and it significantly increases the odds that you’ll get what you’re looking for. This post about writing briefs can help, and you can also use our free blog post brief template.  

Most Have Their Own Work Process Established

I’m personally somewhat flexible in how I work depending on the client, but I have a fairly established routine.

We agree on a topic (whether it’s assigned or I pitch it). I conduct research, and then send an outline if the client would like to review it. I do my own research and don’t use third-party “SEO optimization” tools that suggest random keywords.

Once approved, I write the content and optimize it for SEO, and then the client can request up to 15% changes in text in a single revision.

Other writers do things differently. Some don’t send outlines. Some ask for briefs. Some allow for multiple revisions, or will upload the content after it’s approved. Some include social copy.

It’s essential to find someone who works how you want to work, or who you can at least find a happy compromise with.

As per Hireflix, “If you’re a recruiter looking to hire a freelance writer, it’s important to be clear about your expectations and communication preferences from the outset, as well as to be open to negotiating terms that work for both you and the writer.”

I won’t use third-party tools that suggest pointless keyphrases to add to posts, because I know that some are practically useless and can actually lower the quality of the writing; if a client requires this, I’m not a fit.

And pro tip: If you ask how they work and they can’t offer any guidance about what their typical work process looks like, that’s a red flag. It means they don’t have enough experience to know how to answer the question, or that they may not have anything established yet. Under experienced freelancers can sometimes be difficult to spot until you start working together, but this is an easy way to potentially flag this issue early.

Many Freelance Writers Strongly Prefer to Work Through Email

As a member of a large number of different professional groups catering to freelance writers, I’ve learned one semi-surprising fact: A large number of writers prefer to avoid regular phone calls.

I guess that checks out. Writers prefer written communication through email in a large number of cases. We’re true to our profession, at least.

The reality is that frequent phone calls with clients can be chaotic to manage when you start building a roster of clients, and they can start to eat into your day. They also leave no written track of what was discussed. Email is often much more effective, it’s fast, and there’s never any issues of what was said or agreed upon.

This isn’t a hard and fast rule. Some freelancers are more than happy to jump on regular or even weekly calls, but don’t be too surprised if you contact a freelancer who prefers to work almost exclusively by email or platforms like Slack.

Final Thoughts

Hiring freelance writers can seem overwhelming, but when you find the right service provider for your needs, they can bring immense value to your team. It’s just about knowing what to expect and knowing how to find the right freelancer to connect with. And then it’s just a case of signing the proposal professional services contract.

Want to learn more about content marketing and copywriting so you can know what to expect when you do hire that perfect freelancer writer for your team? Subscribe to our blog to stay up to date on all the latest strategies.

Ana Gotter

Ana is a strategic content marketer specializing in business, finance, and marketing writing, though she's worked across a range of industries. She works in Orlando with her three dogs.