Small and medium-sized business owners and managers who are interested in hiring a freelance team to improve their company’s visibility through content marketing must understand what it takes to work with freelancers. First and foremost, you have to learn how to navigate the two-way street named Communication as it is one of the most important aspects of working with freelancers from day one. Without solid communication, travel time to a finished product can be fraught with bumps in the road from start to finish.
When Communication Hits a Roadblock
We all know about roadblocks; they cause traffic jams that hold up traffic for hours. This same lack of speedy movement happens when freelancers are stopped in their tracks due to incomplete or incorrect directions. Regardless of how you convey instructions, they must be clear as rain. When they aren’t, freelancers have a couple of options. For one thing, they may take the lead and improvise, which means they’ll use their expertise to spin the content in the way they think is correct. The other option is communicating with the point person for clarification, which is fine, unless they have no way to do so. This means freelancers must have a way of verifying, clarifying, asking questions and receiving responses in a timely manner.
At the end of the day, when instructions are conveyed, they must be concise and precise so there is no guess work on how they are to proceed. Not providing your content team with a clear path to follow can result in freelancers going off into the ditch.
Listening to Freelancers Pays Off
Some people do not know how to listen. That’s just a reality. What they do instead is think about their next response while someone is trying to explain a problem, make a suggestion, get clarification, or point out an error. Listening is one of those two-way streets that it’s important to carefully navigate for all parties involved in a project. You never know what might come about by listening such as the freelancer may have a better approach or a great idea simply because they are experienced, and many times are experts in the field. Open communication with a team attitude where everyone can share their thoughts and listen to those of the rest of the team is the most productive environment when working with freelancers.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Respect; that’s what it should mean to you and your freelance team. Like communication, it is a critical component across the board. Without it, you won’t have a happy team of freelancers and here’s why; Freelancers have egos. It doesn’t matter what role they’re in, egos are part of a freelancer’s makeup. They’ve earned the right to expect it especially when they have years of experience in their field. Project and content managers need to understand this and treat a freelancer as a vital part of the team and not as someone who just manipulates words. Without a freelancer doing their job to provide an end product, a company has nothing to offer.
Things to Know About Freelancers: Let Me Count the Ways
Professional freelancers may be seen as being difficult to work with but that would be untrue. Their goal is to complete a project in a timely manner without a lot of interruptions or unnecessary problems that can be avoided with solid communication from the get-go.
They also want the work they’ve completed, and the time spent on a project appreciated. You can accomplish this by paying a rate that is competitive and applicable and in line with professional rates.
Freelancers may be vocal but usually that means something isn’t clear, or they’ve encountered another bump in the road that’s holding up progress. If the lanes of communication are open with no roadblocks, any issues can be resolved, and the freelancer can be on their way. When everything is smooth sailing, you’ll have the type of content that draws attention to your business.
When you put together a team of professional freelancers, you’ll have access to content that meet your needs. It’s their standard operating procedure. You’ll have the opportunity to establish an ongoing working relationship between you and your team. Once your team is built and everyone knows what the end result should be makes getting to the end of the project a smooth ride because of clear directions.
The Last Word
If generating content that sparkles like a shiny jewel that attracts the interest of your customers is your goal, freelancers are the diamonds with the “carats” to lure them in. A whopping 53 percent of businesses are using content marketing, and whether you need writers, editors, translators, or strategists, your content program will shine like a bright penny with the expert input from a formidable freelance team. Take the steps to revolutionize your business by joining forces with a content marketing platform with freelance forces ready to make a successful difference in your business presence in every way.
Vickie F began her freelance writing career in 1998 while working full time. She wrote informational articles for several websites. Her online experience also includes work as a content researcher for bed and breakfasts around the world, copy editor, and online community manager. As a managing editor, Vickie was responsible for hiring freelance writers, critiquing work, mentoring new writers, supervising over 100 writers and monitoring forums. As a senior managing editor, Vickie supervised over 25 managing editors with overall supervision of several hundred freelance writers, updated website contract, hired and removed writers, and was responsible for writers creating coursework.
