Podnar Consulting, LLC

Archives for August 2016

What (and how) do freelance writers charge for content?

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how to pay freelancers

It depends. The pay range for writers is huge — like Walmart to Tiffany’s huge. Most of the time, that price difference is reflected in quality and scope, starting with writers who churn out generic copy that’s low in engagement but heavy in keywords, all the way up to content strategists who help you devise your plan and then execute it flawlessly. The “right” rate is the one that gets you the quality you’re happy with.

A better question is how writers charge. There are 4 basic payment structures, each with its own pros and cons.

  • Per hour: I don’t recommend this method. It’s hard to track and verify, and it has absolutely no relationship to quality. In fact, the better writers don’t like to work by the hour, because they end up being penalized by their own expertise. Hourly rates are great for slower writers who have to work harder to produce good content. I’m not saying all good writers are fast and all bad writers are slow, but it’s something to keep in mind.
  • Per word: Charging by the word is very common, and rates can range anywhere from pennies per word up to a couple of dollars per word. It’s standard and perfectly acceptable, but it’s not without its drawbacks. [tweet]The best content has as many words as it needs to have, period.[/tweet] It’s not padded to meet a minimum word count or cut short to avoid going over a given price point.
  • Per project: A lot of top-tier writers charge by the project because it leaves room for value-added. Per-project fees take into account things like consulting, strategizing, and research — that intangible “secret sauce” that nobody else could deliver.
  • Retainer: This works just like any other retainer: You pay a monthly fee, and the writer is available when you need him. This is a good option if you know you’re going to need a big volume of content on a regular basis.

As far as the logistics, that’s between you and the writer. Some writers will only accept certain methods of payment, like PayPal or Stripe. And don’t forget that you’ll need to complete a 1099 if you pay a writer $600 or more per year.

So that’s the down-and-dirty scoop on paying freelance content writers. Stay tuned for more…

What (and how) do you pay freelance writers for content?

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It depends. The pay range for writers is huge — like Walmart to Tiffany’s huge. Most of the time, that price difference is reflected in quality and scope, starting with writers who churn out generic copy that’s low in engagement but heavy in keywords, all the way up to content strategists who help you devise your plan and then execute it flawlessly. The “right” rate is the one that gets you the quality you’re happy with.

A better question is how writers charge. There are 4 basic payment structures, each with its own pros and cons.

  • Per hour: I don’t recommend this method. It’s hard to track and verify, and it has absolutely no relationship to quality. In fact, the better writers don’t like to work by the hour, because they end up being penalized by their own expertise. Hourly rates are great for slower writers who have to work harder to produce good content. I’m not saying all good writers are fast and all bad writers are slow, but it’s something to keep in mind.
  • Per word: Charging by the word is very common, and rates can range anywhere from pennies per word up to a couple of dollars per word. It’s standard and perfectly acceptable, but it’s not without its drawbacks. [tweet]The best content has as many words as it needs to have, period.[/tweet] It’s not padded to meet a minimum word count or cut short to avoid going over a given price point.
  • Per project: A lot of top-tier writers charge by the project because it leaves room for value-added. Per-project fees take into account things like consulting, strategizing, and research — that intangible “secret sauce” that nobody else could deliver.
  • Retainer: This works just like any other retainer: You pay a monthly fee, and the writer is available when you need him. This is a good option if you know you’re going to need a big volume of content on a regular basis.

As far as the logistics, that’s between you and the writer. Some writers will only accept certain methods of payment, like PayPal or Stripe. And don’t forget that you’ll need to complete a 1099 if you pay a writer $600 or more per year.

So that’s the down-and-dirty scoop on paying freelance content writers. Stay tuned for more…

Content Marketing: 3 Questions to Kick Things Off

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Feel like you don’t even know where to start when it comes to content marketing? A lot of businesses — especially small businesses and startups — don’t. Start right here — I’ll walk you through it.

What do you want to accomplish?

As usual, mom was right. “Because everybody else is doing it,” isn’t a good answer. You have to know why your business should publish content — both in general and for each specific post. The most common answer is to grow sales and make money. In other words, to get leads and convert them into customers.

But that’s not the only reason. Maybe you want to grow your own customer base by educating people who would otherwise not be in the market for your product because they don’t know what to do with it. Maybe you want to reduce help desk hours by putting answers to the most common questions and complaints online. Maybe you want to build your email subscriber list. Or maybe you want to strengthen your relationship with existing customers so that you’re not constantly having to troll for new ones.

There really aren’t any “wrong” reasons for businesses to jump into in content marketing, but you do have to know what your reasons are. Not only will that knowledge shape your content, it will tell you whether your content marketing efforts are working.

Who is your audience?

Big corporations spend gazillions of dollars coming up with customer personas, experience maps, empathy maps, etc. And if you have that kind of budget, that’s what you should do. But most small businesses (remember, I am one) don’t have the resources to do that. So you have to make the decision not to let the perfect get in the way of the good. Because, if you’re a small business, you already know the answer to this question. You just have to clarify your answer and put it into words. Whether it’s a demographic, a special interest, or even a political affiliation, who buys your stuff?

What problems or needs/wants does your product or service satisfy?

You already know who buys what your business sells; this question gets you to the “why.” Let’s say you sell ready-to-eat, take-home meals. Do customers buy your meals because they’re hungry? Maybe — but there are a lot of ways to solve that problem. Or, are they rushing home from work to serve dinner, do homework, take one kid to soccer while their spouse gets the others bathed, etc.? If so, they don’t buy your product because they’re hungry. They buy it because they need a fast, hassle-free way to provide the family with a nutritious meal. The person buying the meal may not even be hungry; they just need to scratch an important item off of their to-do list.

The answer to this question drives your content: That’s why it’s so important. If you believe customers are buying your meals because they’re hungry, you might think you should talk about taste, ingredients, quality, the delicious aromas, etc. But if you know your customers are just trying to get dinner knocked out in a hurry, you may decide to develop some content about time management, nighttime routines, the challenges of working parents, etc.

I know, I know…you’re thinking, “But if I give them time management tips, they won’t need to buy my meals anymore.” Seriously…no matter how awesome your content is, the likelihood that it’ll change their lives enough that they don’t need your product anymore is slim to none. What you’re doing is building trust. You’re making that connection, that, “Hey, these folks know what it’s like to be me. How did they get inside my head?” vibe. If you’re worried you’ll be giving away what you should be selling, you can read about that topic here.

Most content strategists would tell you to dive a little deeper than what I’ve covered here, and, sure, that would be ideal. But there’s ideal, and then there’s real life. We’re doing the real-life version of content marketing and strategy here. We can worry about the ideal once you’ve got the basics covered.

 

Should your content have bylines?

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byline

By now, most businesses know that, if you don’t blog, you don’t exist (in the minds of consumers, that is):

  • Businesses with a blog have over 400% more indexed pages than those without.
  • Businesses that blog get 97% more inbound links than those that don’t.
  • B2B businesses that blog get 67% more leads than those that don’t.
  • Small businesses that blog get 126% more lead growth than those that don’t.

But, if you’re bothering to read this, I’m probably preachin’ to the choir. ([tweet]For those of you who don’t speak Southern, that means, “You’re telling me something I already know, so stop talking like I’m a few sugars shy of a sweet tea.”[/tweet]) The question of whether to blog or not to blog has been asked and answered. But there’s one question left: Should your blog posts be bylined?

There are some situations — press releases, for example — when content shouldn’t be bylined. When the content is a statement from the company as a whole — like when the White House issues a statement speaking as the face and voice of the United States — a byline is counterproductive. But blogging is more about thought leadership and branding, and there are strong arguments for attributing each post to a particular person — whether or not it’s the person who actually wrote it (as in the case of ghostwriting).

Credibility and trust

A full [tweet]70% of consumers say that their purchasing decisions are influenced by blogs.[/tweet] And blogs affect those decisions more than other forms of social media, like Twitter and Instagram. True, some of those blog posts are written by other consumers rather than anyone associated with the company in question. But there’s no denying the influence of business blogging. And here’s the thing: People trust people, not faceless entities. In addition, [tweet]people trust blogs written by multiple writers more than those written by a single writer[/tweet]: 63% to 37%. It’s not a big leap to conclude that no attribution has some of the same drawbacks as single authorship. So if you’re using multiple writers (for the blog as a whole, not individual posts), highlighting that fact with bylines could boost your blog’s credibility.

Expertise

This is what I call borrowed glory. It’s like in high school, when hanging out with the cool kids made you look cool, too. The writer’s credentials spill over onto the content itself. Depending on the topic, this argument is strongest when the byline goes to an expert or leader within the company. But it can also be valuable when you outsource: Having Seth Godin’s byline on your agency’s marketing blog would imply that he thinks your agency is pretty hot stuff. And he should know, right?

Social sharing

Some of the agencies I’ve written for put a big emphasis on sharing your published content with your social network. But that’s not as simple as it sounds. My social network would think it was weird if I shared an article on maritime safety — unless the article had my byline. Actually, other writers would know exactly what was going on, but everybody else would think it was weird. [tweet]When you give your writers a byline, most will share their work without being asked. So their social networks become an extension of your own.[/tweet]

Capital value

This comes into play when you outsource your content. For writers, bylines have a capital value. They boost the writer’s SERP, authority, and influence. They drive traffic to the writer’s website. They can be included in a portfolio and used in future marketing efforts. That’s why I offer a discount when I get a byline. So if you would get no tangible benefit from attributing the content to someone else (or nobody at all), consider offering the writer a byline in exchange for a lower fee.

Quality

People pay more attention when they have some skin in the game. Whether you’re talking about a writer building a portfolio or a VP hoping to get that next promotion, most people unconsciously apply more effort when their name is attached. Bylines deliver built-in quality control.

 

Whether you credit the actual writer or someone else (provided that’s part of the agreement,of course) depends on a number of factors, including your goals for the content. But, in most situations, there’s little to be gained and much to be lost from publishing blog content without a byline. You’re trying to build a connection, and connections happen between people, not entities. If you leave your content unattributed by default, it’s time to ask yourself if that’s really the best use of time and effort — for both you and your audience.

 

Additional resource

The State of Freelance Writing (2014): Data on Pay, Bylines, and Quality Control

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