February 24th, 2008

In the ever changing world of business marketing only one thing has remained the same, and that is change. Yellow Page ads are less effective than ever and newspaper classifieds are all but dead. The web has changed the way we do business, but it’s changing still and businesses that change with it are reaping the biggest benefits.If you had a business blog five years ago, no matter how minimally relevant or poorly constructed, you stood out from the crowd. If you had a pretty good one that was pretty well designed just two years ago, you would still have an edge over your competitors.

Today it is estimated that more than 5% of small businesses have a company blog. Simply having one will help you in many ways, but to really have an impact and stand apart from the crowd, you need to do it right, and that’s why more and more companies are switching over to professional writers for their blogs.

Benefits of Professional Writers:

- A professional writer will write with greater clarity and focus, with fewer typos and errors.

- Professional writers complete articles more quickly, thus costing less than having someone inside the company write on an hourly wage.

- Writers with web-focused experience understand headlines, visual layouts and keyword optimization.

- Hiring a professional to take over the task will free you up to focus on what you do best: running your business.

At first, the idea of paying someone to do something you could handle on your own for free may seem crazy. The principle is the same as painting your house; you know how to do it yourself, but professionals can do it quicker, better and in some cases even cheaper than you could. Once you put a price on your time, it’s much too expensive to do it yourself, especially since the finished look won’t even be as good.

Cautions for Hiring a Pro-Blogger:

- News experience. Make sure they have experience writing news articles, not just blogs. Many blogs are rambling opinion stories written by inexperienced people who just know how to type. The news article experience shows professionalism and training.

- Blog experience. Ask to see samples of other work already published. If there isn’t any, or they can only show a few blogs or articles, you may be the first serious client they have. There are thousands of would-be professional bloggers looking for work, but few with any real experience.

- Web experience. Ask about experience with search engine optimization (SEO) and web content. If they don’t know what you’re talking about, they can’t help you. Your writer needs to be good and professional, but just as important is the understanding of how the mechanics of the web work.

- Hourly vs. contract. Avoid hiring a writer who wants to charge by the hour. Some writers can create a brilliant, well-researched story in an hour, while others might take a day. In this scenario the $10/hour writer will cost you $80 per article, while the $50/hour writer only costs $50 per article. You know how much content you need, only pay for a finished product.

If your business considers hiring a professional writer to fulfill your blog content, don’t be afraid to ask hard questions. The reputation of your company is on the line and so is your money.

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