Companies and the content managers that work for them love the fact that most of their content can be created by remote freelancers. This is cost effective and easier than trying to recruit the right people in your area to be a part of your office team. However, with remote team members comes unique problems that could be solved through a little company supported training.
The Problem with Freelancers
The problem you run into when you work with freelance writers, is that they do not know your business intimately. In fact they are probably working on lots of projects, across lots of different industry fields at any given time. A client cannot expect a freelance, content writer to have the same passion or understanding for the company that a full-time employee would have. This can lead to misunderstandings when you assume they do understand everything about your company. Content writers do want to please their clients, but there is only so much that can be gleaned from a few emails exchanged with someone you have likely never met.
The Tight Team Solution
One of the first steps to alleviating this problem is to determine that you will establish a definite content team and then stick with them. If you are in this for the long haul and want quality content developed on a consistent basis with as few revisions as possible, this is your best bet. The longer you work with just a few writers the better and faster they will be able to create content that suits your needs. When you work with many random writers you are basically starting over at ground zero every time.
The Training Solution
If you feel that your particular marketing strategy is very specific and you are struggling to get your team all on the same page, consider team training. This is not often utilized in the remote work environment, and it will take a bit of time investment on your part, but in the long run you may be pleased with the results. So how would you train remote, freelance content writers anyway?
If you have established a dependable team of writers that you know you want to work with long-term, consider putting together a slide show presentation, or a series of email “lessons” that will give your team the nitty gritty on what you and your company need. Leave the door open for questions and then share the answers to those questions with the entire team so that everyone can glean from it.
At first this might sound like a tedious thing to do, but in reality you can probably put your info together in a few hours, with the result being months or years of smoother content development from your team. When changes in the company, content strategy or email marketing plan occur make sure to keep your team in the loop by updating their training materials.
Sarah R is a full time writer and full time homeschooling mother of four. She would like to be a part time lazy person eventually.
