Setting up a blog isn’t complicated. However, running and growing that same blog are entirely different matters. In practice, managing a blog on your own can be too much work depending on how much time you can dedicate to it.
A lot of people outsource part of that work instead of dealing with it personally. For example, you might hire someone to take care of technical issues, manage updates, or even write the blog posts you publish. In any case, hiring someone you can trust is essential.
In this article, we’ll talk about when it makes sense to outsource work for your blog. Then we’ll go over outsourcing blog posts and where to find the right people to hire. Let’s get to work!
When it Makes Sense to Outsource Work for Your Blog
A lot of people don’t like the concept of outsourcing work. However, delegating tasks to other people is something that happens in every workplace. Blogging for a profit means running an online business. Outsourcing part (or all) of your work shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.
The truth is growing a blog to the point where it earns you an income takes a lot of work. However, that’s where outsourcing can come in handy. For example, you might hire someone to do any of the following:
- Write and publish blog posts.
- Manage your social media accounts.
- Make sure the website is always running smoothly and take care of technical issues.
- Manage comments within your blog posts and answer emails.
Running a blog involves a lot more work, but you get the point. If you don’t have time to do all that yourself, then hiring someone can enable you to transform your blog into a passive income source. That is, of course, as long as your earnings exceed what you’re paying for.
In my experience, cheap online help isn’t worth the headaches it usually brings. Good, reliable freelancers will ask for high rates, so outsourcing work for your blog can get expensive really fast. That is, particularly, if you want to outsource your blog’s content.
Can You Outsource Your Blog’s Content?
The short answer is yes, you can outsource your blog’s content. However, if you’ve read some of our articles on how much freelance writers should charge, you know that we’re talking about a significant expense.
Let’s say, for example, you want to publish a new blog post every week. You find a writer with experience, tell them what topics you want them to tackle, and let them get to work. On the low end of the scale, four articles of around 1,000 words each might cost you $240 per month.
In practice, it’s very few blogs that make hundreds of dollars a month, despite what many online gurus would tell you. Behind every successful blogger you see, there’s a lot of effort that goes into research, writing, SEO, and marketing. Those guys can afford to spend hundreds of dollars a month on content. If you’re starting a blog for additional income, then it’s probably not a viable solution yet.
If you’re comfortable with the idea of investing money into a new blog with the goal of turning in a profit over the long term, then, by all means, look into outsourcing its content. Otherwise, it’s better to produce it yourself, at least until you start seeing decent (and consistent) profits.
Where to Look for Freelance Writers Online
I could find and get in touch with a freelance writer in a matter of minutes just by looking through any online hiring websites. However, finding good freelance writers is a different matter entirely.
Freelancers who charge ridiculously low rates often do so because they’re targeting a different type of market. They work for content mills and clients who don’t care about quality but only about getting thousands of words for cheap.
The problem with that approach is growing and monetizing a blog is more difficult now than ever. There’s fierce competition in almost every niche you can imagine. That means if you want to carve out a place for your blog, you need to jump in with the goal of publishing better – and often longer – articles than your competitors.
Hiring someone to write blog posts at $5 per 1,000 words sounds like a steal. However, in practice, it just means you’ll end up with a blog filled with gibberish. Enough of that gibberish might earn you a couple hundred bucks a month, but it’s the kind of income source a single update to Google’s search algorithm can kill.
If you want to hire talented freelance writers, then you need to stay away from content mills. Freelance marketplaces are better, but even there, weeding out the good candidates from the bad can be tricky, due to how many people use them.
Usually, top-level freelance writers are more likely to find you if you post offers on dedicated job boards. There you can be as detailed as you want with requirements and handle everything via email:
The best part is, you get to look at potential hires’ portfolios. Usually, a quick look at what they put there should be enough to let you know if they’re a good fit or not.
The only downside to this approach is that hiring freelance writers independently takes a bit more legwork than through online platforms. You need to handle contracts, negotiate payments, and more. However, experienced freelancers should be able to walk you through all those steps without too much fuss. Personally, I much prefer dealing with clients via email. I’m sure most freelancers who’ve been around for a while will say the same.
Conclusion
If you want to earn money from blogging, then you need to treat it like a business. It’s possible to run a business alone, but it requires you to be comfortable juggling a lot of different roles. On the other hand, outsourcing tasks you’re unfamiliar with can free you up to focus on what you’re great at, whether that’s writing, marketing, or something else.
The only problem with outsourcing work for your blog is it takes money. Finding cheap help online is easy enough, but in most cases, the cheaper you go, the more headaches it’ll cause you down the road. If you want to outsource work for your blog, you need to be ready to pay decent wages for it, which means cutting into your revenue.
Do you have any questions about outsourcing work for your blog? Let’s go over them in the comments section below!
Image credit: Pixabay.