An efficient business devotes only the proportional cost and effort to any given business goal. Much easier said, I know. Even more difficult, the agile business gauges customers needs and industry climate, and can respond to them quickly. No matter the goal, successful businesses align their business goals and corresponding strategies with new circumstances.
This agility applies to content creation too. In the traditional model, a company staff writers, all contributing to the everyday flow of content creation. What if you don’t need the same number of writers all the time? Whether, it’s too many or too few, it’s difficult to align the amount of writers to your often fluctuating content demands. On one hand, you may be understaffed. You’re wasting resources on the other.
With an agile model you can find bloggers for hire as the jobs come up, directly aligning your cost to your goal. This way, you don’t have to suffer the marketing losses in scarce content, or overpay writers in relation to your overall business strategy.
Perhaps you’re worried a group of freelance writers won’t know your brand and company voice. With higher developed freelancing sites, such as Writer Access, you can choose the writers based on previous work listed on their profile. If they prove their worth on your content, you can add them to your ‘love list.’ The more work you order from your love list, the better they’ll learn your brand. At this point, your freelance content source begins to function more as an in-house agency you only pay when you need to.
Another agile aspect of a freelance content source is the scalability of expertise needed for the job. Not every blog needs to be an expertly incisive piece in your industry. Scale down the writer level and subsequent price for less difficult pieces.
Or, maybe you can’t afford to have a staff of writers dedicated to content creation. Many small to medium businesses can’t get their online presence off the ground because they simply don’t have enough content. Most modern marketing philosophies preach ‘one blog per day’ to continually engage potential customers and promotors who will strengthen your brand. It’s a daunting, yet very important task.
However, in the agile model, you can pick your spots if you can’t afford daily postings. If something noteworthy happens in your industry, make sure your company’s voice is in the online discussion. This will keep you relevant, and generate online traffic. Or, maybe your company is featured online or on television. Spread the news by creating coverage. With an agile model, you can scale up your writing force to respond to times that call for high volumes of content. In an agile content creation model, you can make the most of your money by taking advantage of opportunities where customers are looking for your company’s voice.
The secret to affordable modern content creation? Work within your means and optimize content with an agile model.
Paul F is a creative writer and copywriter, specializing in the IT Service Management, and living on the North Shore of Massachusetts.
