Running a blog can be an incredible way to navigate the contemporary world of content.
Ad revenue, affiliate links, and sponsored reviews can all be significant income streams – but at some point, the work of consistently pumping out the content of your own can become exhausting.
That, along with many other reasons, is why many blog writers have turned to freelancers and content agencies to outsource the writing of their blog posts.
It is a powerful move and can provide you with content resources to scale your blog and business in ways you never thought possible previously.
In this piece, we’ll examine all the components of outsourcing your blog writing: why you might want to do it, the pros, the cons, and how exactly you should navigate the whole process.
Reasons You Should Outsource Blog Writing
There are several reasons you might want to outsource your blogging.
If any of these apply to you, you should seriously consider going in this direction.
1. You’re Not Happy With the Quality of Your Writing
You might have a great deal of expertise or a niche perspective that you want to be propagated to the world, but none of that matters in the world of content if you can’t communicate effectively via writing.
If you find yourself looking at your writing and consistently finding it inadequate, it is worth looking into using freelancers.
You may end up discovering that your writing isn’t all that bad – or that the outsourced pieces perform much better than your own.
Either way, that’s helpful information.
2. You Don’t Have Time to Write Blogs
Often, when people run blogs, they also have a lot of other things going on.
Even if your only commitment is your blog, there are so many other extraneous tasks that can be a part of that undertaking that your time just gets filled up.
Should you find that you’re consistently shuffling off other important tasks to write your blog posts (or the other way around), outsourcing can be an immense help.
3. Your Blog Content Isn’t Converting
Even if you’re proud of the work you’re putting out, it may just not be performing the conversions you want it to.
That is to be expected because after all, learning how to write a blog post ends up being more challenging than most people expect.
Freelance writers often have special training in SEO-focused and conversion-oriented writing – they might be able to help you get to the next step in views and conversions.
4. Blogging is Not Your Priority
You may run an e-commerce store with a blog attached, or perhaps your blog exists primarily for you to be able to promote your consulting services.
If blogging itself isn’t your priority, it doesn’t make sense for you to be investing in it with any regularity.
5. You’re Frustrated With Blogging
Sometimes, content creation gets too frustrating to continue investing in – but you still want to keep the website running.
One of the best things to do in this case is to take a break from writing things yourself and pass on that task to a freelancer.
That gives you space to reflect on the process without losing content publishing continuity.
You Have the Budget to Outsource
Budget is one of the most important factors to consider here – if you have the money on hand to spend on freelancers, and you don’t think your income will suffer as a result, it’s almost always a good idea to start outsourcing.
What Are Your Options for Outsourcing Blog Writing?
There are so many different paths you can follow if you are looking to send the bulk of your writing off to external sources, but most of them fall within the following four categories:
- freelance writers
- writers on freelance platforms
- marketing agencies
- content sites (also known as content writing services).
All have their unique advantages, but at the end of the day, all serve the same purpose – allowing you as a blogger to outsource blog writing.
Freelance Writers
Ultimately, most of the writers you’ll be working with within this outsourcing journey will be technically freelancers.
Here, we’re discussing independent freelance writers outside of freelance platform contexts.
These are some of your best options if you’re looking for a long-term partnership with one or two individual writers.
If you’re looking for people with quality content and lots of subject matter expertise, you likely won’t find them on freelance platforms.
Writers on Freelance Platforms
One of the most efficient approaches to outsourcing is through freelance platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.
Each one has a different framework for connecting writers to jobs, but there are two major categories: ones that bring the jobs to the writers, and ones that bring the writers to the jobs.
Networks like Upwork and Freelancer.com are some of the best known that bring jobs to writers.
These work by having you, the employer, post a job for their users to come and bid.
You then get the chance to sift through the bids and choose the one that most appeals to you.
Fiverr is perhaps the best-known platform that brings writers to the jobs – there, writers post “gigs” for potential customers to peruse.
These gigs are general descriptions of the kind of work they can do for you.
You can search the platform for the ones that appeal to you, then reach out to the content creator in question.
Marketing Agencies
Marketing agencies are especially useful if you’re seeking blog content tailored to the task of getting as many clicks and sales conversions as possible.
The best digital marketing services typically have a heavy focus on SEO, particularly as it relates to content and social media.
If your blog is paired to an e-commerce store, and you have a good amount of cash set aside for this, a marketing agency can take your business to the next level with engaging content that is optimized to show up on search engines.
These agencies can also produce high-quality content for social media.
Content Sites
Content sites can be a bit hit or miss but are generally an excellent choice if you’re looking to produce a great deal of content under time and/or budget constraints.
Some of these websites (also known as a blog writing services) are very well-reviewed and boast certain expertise that you may lack.
How Much Does it Cost to Outsource Blog Writing?
The cost varies depending on the content creator in question and how much you’re willing to pay per word or piece.
In general, you will find different rates depending on the category of writer you’re examining.
Cost to Outsource Blog Writing to Freelancers
Independent freelancers have some of the most significant variances here but tend to run on the more expensive side.
Expect to pay at least 8 cents per word if you’re looking at a content writer of any quality, but one with high skill and experience can charge up to 30 cents per word.
Cost to Outsource Blog Writing on Freelance Platforms
Here, budget typically corresponds directly to skill since these platforms are effectively bidding markets.
You might be able to find a content creator who charges you 2 or 3 cents per word, but don’t expect the quality to be good.
More commonly, you’ll encounter lower-end writers at 4 or 5 cents per word and higher-end ones at 8 or 9.
Cost to Outsource Blog Writing to Marketing Agencies
The pricing here will depend on what you’re looking for, but often these agencies will charge you monthly.
Some analyses estimate an average cost of $2000/month for SEO-optimized content and $5200/month for content marketing.
Cost to Outsource Blog Writing to Content Sites
The pricing for content sites can also vary wildly, depending on whether you’re looking for a specialized content agency or a general one.
Some offer subscriptions as low as 6 cents per word.
Some Others are much more expensive and can charge as much as 15-20 cents per word.
Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Blog Writing
There are both pros and cons in deciding to outsource your blog.
We have outlined some of the most significant below.
Pros of Outsourcing Blog Writing
It is a time saver:
Blog writing can be a huge time sink, and if this is not the main focus of your work, it can distract you from other areas where you could more effectively exert time and energy.
Most blog posts take at least 3 hours to write – if you are trying to publish one every day, that’s an immense amount of time you can get back from content writing!
Freelancers may have the expertise you lack:
Depending on the strategy you’re using, you may be able to find freelancers who have more (or at least different) knowledge of your area of content than you, allowing you to explore new avenues of content creation.
Outsourcing allows for more room for scalability:
This is one of the biggest benefits of outsourcing your writing.
When you have someone else publishing articles on your platform, that allows you to invest in scaling up, whether that looks like publishing twice as much content or expanding to new content and/or platforms.
Freelancers are an essential part of effective scaling strategies.
Cons of Outsourcing Blog Writing
Freelancers cost money:
This is certainly the biggest downside.
When you hire someone else to do the work, your margins become much, much smaller – you might even lose money on this decision.
Because of that, it’s vital to make sure that you will be making up for that cost in whatever you choose to spend time on instead of blogging.
You have less control over content quality:
This is primarily true as you scale up, but if you don’t choose a good freelancer or agency, you risk paying for content that takes you almost as long to edit as it would write!
It’s also hard to know the quality of research that you’re getting – especially with an agency.
If you aren’t an expert on the topic yourself, you may end up accidentally propagating falsehoods through your blog because of the poor research of the freelancer.
It’s not your voice:
In many cases, bloggers build an audience through their distinct voice – and while a freelancer can do their best to mimic that, they will seldom be able to do so perfectly.
If your blog suddenly shifts in tone overall, you may begin losing members of your audience.
How to Outsource Blog Writing
There are several steps involved in the process of outsourcing, but by the end, you’ll be grateful you went through them all.
We’ll walk you through and explain each one below.
1. Decide What Kind of Blogger You Want to Hire
First, you need to decide which outsourcing option makes the most sense for your goals.
If you’re looking for SEO-optimized pieces that are specialized for sales, a marketing agency is likely your best bet.
If you’re trying to find a long-term writing partner with lots of expertise, an independent freelancer is likely the best option for you – as long as you have the money to pay for it.
Your goal might be to find cheaper options that you can still vet for blog post expertise – in that case, it’s likely best to post/search on a freelance platform.
Finally, if your primary desire is bulk production, content sites are by far the best option for you there.
Those vendors specialize in churning out content, but also tend to have the highest risk of poor quality.
2. Choose a Budget
This is vital, and will also inform your earlier decision on what kind of blogger to hire.
Your budget will determine your quality – high skill/high knowledge writers charge a lot of money for their services.
3. Write a Job Listing
No matter what avenue you’re using, you’ll need to create a job listing.
For most content sites and marketing agencies, these are typically wrapped in the job requirements.
But the two are distinct whenever you’re engaging directly with freelancers – you generally don’t want to send out your whole article instructions to someone who hasn’t at least demonstrated interest in working with you.
4. Give Clear Requirements
In addition to your job listing, you’ll need to write out a clear set of articles or job requirements.
This list is vital – for a single article, many bloggers will provide a whole outline for the writer to follow.
Others provide a set of general guidelines, but remember that the clearer your requirements the more likely you’ll get the sort of article you want.
If you’re looking to start a more long-term relationship, then you should also write out a set of mutual expectations for that relationship.
5. Post or Reach Out
Finally, get your listing out into the world!
On a freelance platform, that looks like posting it or reaching out to writers with gigs that interest you (depending on the platform).
For content sites and marketing agencies, you’ll want to reach out to them with your request.
This part is most complex if you’re looking specifically for independent freelancers.
There are three ways to go about this: one is to post the listing on your blog and hope the writers come to you, another is to search out writers in your subject area and reach out to them.
You can also look for freelance writing job boards like ProBlogger or FreelanceWriters, which are somewhat similar to some freelance platforms.
You don’t have to choose just one approach of those three – indeed, if you’re trying to find someone especially high-caliber, then you should likely try all three.
Pro Tip: If you want to speed up writing internally, check out AI writing software.
This software makes writing easy, efficient, and inexpensive. It’s a great way to scale your team without incurring a ton of extra cost.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, outsourcing your blog writing can be an incredible strategy to bring your blog to the next level.
Don’t hesitate to try it out!
