You know you want to hire a writer for your online materials; that much is clear. What you’re not sure of is whether you want to go for a website content writing service or search for an independent writer to do the jobs for you. What works best depends on what you need.
You need 10 million pages of content by yesterday.
OK, you don’t really need 10 million pages of content. And a deadline by next week will do. But you do need loads of stuff and you need it fast. A website content writing service would be your best bet in this scenario since a service has gads of writers waiting to tackle as many assignments as you may have.
An independent freelancer, on the other hand, is only human and we humans can only do so much before our heads explode. Even if you work your writer all night, he or she may not have enough time to get the job done. Besides, when someone stays up all night writing, you may end up with some really weird stuff.
You want to negotiate or barter.
Let’s say you have no cash but plenty of services to barter. Perhaps your start-up dog clothing company is still in the embryotic stages and you have yet to establish any kind of writing budget because you have yet to make any kind of sale. But you have plenty of T-shirts for Yorkies!
Unless you happen to know the CEO of a website content writing service runs a Yorkshire terrier rescue, most companies won’t be open to trading their goods for yours. An independent freelancer may be open to the bartering idea, even if he or she doesn’t even own a dog. Bartering has become fairly commonplace in today’s screwed-up economy and perhaps the freelancer knows a way to turn those Yorkie tees into profit or barter to others for something else.
You want full-time, all the time.
This scenario gets another vote for an independent freelancer mainly because you are changing the person’s title from independent freelancer to full-time employee. Even if you dodge the health care coverage bullet by listing the person as an independent contractor, you’re still giving him or her a full-time, no-time-for-anything-else kind of gig. Sure, the writer would still be free to pursue other jobs on the side, but you can also set up a specific contract that spells out your own terms, not the writing service’s.
You’ll have an assignment here and there over the next six months.
Unless you have already cozied up to a specific person who welcomes and always has time for your dribs and drabs, a content service might win this scenario. It has the writers at the ready that can squeeze you in whenever your copy comes due. Your independent freelancer may be in the midst of a huge assignment or off in the Bahamas spending the cash from that huge assignment. Either way, your assignment would be delayed.
Ryn G is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
