Should You Outsource Your Business Blog Writing?

Carmelo Hannity — November 2, 2016 Follow @carmelohannity

Blogging can be a challenge, even when you have a formula because it requires time and dedication. Business owners increasingly see the importance of a well-maintained blog with consistent, top-quality content, but when you’re already swamped with the day-to-day aspects of running your company, how do you make that work?

At the same time, even if you wanted to delegate the writing tasks to someone who already works for you internally, not everyone is a talented writer. You may also have someone on your existing team who is a strong writer, but can they do it efficiently?

These are all things to consider, and these are some of the questions that may lead you to decide outsourcing is the right move for you in terms of keeping up with your blog.

Below are some other factors worth considering when you’re thinking of outsourcing your blog writing.

Do your readers come to your blog to hear your specific voice?

There are plenty of bloggers out there with such as carefully-defined, highly personal brand that they really couldn’t outsource their writing. It would be problematic for readers, and it could cause them to lose their audience. At the same time, if you’re a business owner and your blog is primarily for SEO purposes, you probably have a better opportunity to outsource the writing because your brand isn’t a personal one.

If you’re just getting started with a business blog, it can be a good idea to do so with outsourced content from the outset, so that your readers start basing their opinions on the quality of your content, rather than your particular voice.

How specific is your niche or industry?

With a business blog, outsourcing is definitely a viable option, but you need to think about how difficult it would be to find a writer who can tackle your niche or industry. For example, if you work in a highly specialized or technical market, it’s going to take you longer to find a writer with the necessary background and expertise.

One of the most important things to keep in mind with any business blog is maintaining a sense of credibility and authority. You’ll either need to find a writer that somehow has the background your blog requires, or you may need to be willing to train them a bit, or pay them for the time they spend researching.

What is notable here, however, is that having someone outside of your actual business can become one of the key benefits of outsourcing writing. The reason is that writers from within an organization know their industry and the topics they’re writing about so well that they can get overly technical, and their business blog can lose its broad appeal.

If you outsource your writing to someone who has a general sense of knowledge about your industry but isn’t part of the day-to-day inner workings, they may actually be able to create content with a broader, more relatable appeal.

Can You Provide Oversight?

For business owners, there can be the feeling that it’s difficult to delegate tasks because you want it to be perfect. This is especially true with your blog content. The content you put on your blog is essentially the core of your online reputation and branding.

You want to make sure it’s the right tone and messaging, which may mean that you have to edit content or at least review it before it’s posted. Outsourcing your writing may not alleviate all of the blog duties from your to-do list until you’ve built a relationship with your writer or team of writers and you can trust them to deliver the right content every time.

As with any employee, it can take time to build this kind of relationship, so you should ask yourself if you’re prepared to do that.

Will Your Blogger Be a Ghostwriter?

When it comes to giving a writer credit for their work, there are two main options you can take for your business blog. You can hire someone that you will recognize as the author, or you can opt for a ghostwriter. A ghostwriter will give you their work, and you’ll post the blogs as if you’ve written them.

It’s not a bad thing to go the route of ghostwriting, as that’s what all parties agree upon in those relationships.

If you’re hiring a ghostwriter, it may be because you just don’t feel you have the time or the writing chops to build a great blog and that’s fine, it’s really just a matter of personal preference.

Do You Know What You Want?

If you’re thinking about outsourcing your writing, but all you know is that you want blogs, it’s not likely to be a successful venture. It’s up to you as the business owner to know what you want before outsourcing your blog writing.

Before you ever start looking for a freelancer or a writing company, you should have an idea of what you want your content strategy to look like, how often you want content written, details like the tone you want and the length of posts, and you may even want to go ahead and set up an editorial calendar.

An editorial calendar is an ideal way to develop a comprehensive content marketing strategy, and it will help you find the best writer for your business because you’ll know what you need, and so will the potential writers you speak with.

This will help you define your budget as well. When you have an editorial calendar, you’ll know exactly what you need, and you’ll be able to show it to potential writers so they can give you accurate pricing. It clears up a lot of confusion that can happen down the road, and the more prepared you are from the start, the better your outsourcing experience is likely to be.

Outsourcing your company blog writing can often be a smart decision, particularly if you’re worried about your ability to commit to consistency, or you think you don’t have the necessary writing skills. Ask yourself questions like the ones above to gauge whether or not outsourcing is right for you, and if it is, how you’ll approach it as you look for a writer and get started.

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