How to hire a freelance writer

If you have a new website that requires some content to bring in the clients, you may well need a writer to do the job for you. If you have to put together a press release for your company, a freelance writer is one option you could consider. There are literally thousands of professional freelance writers out there who can do the work to a high standard. The question is: how do you hire a freelance writer?

When considering hiring a writer, there are a few things you need to think about. Some planning and preparation is advised, if only because there are so many writers out there, of varying abilities and with a plethora of skills. If you are not sure of what your project entails, you could well be swamped with applications that will do nothing for your project.

Before you actually get out there and start asking for writers, you first need to determine what it is you want written. While this might seem quite a simple thing to accomplish, it rarely is.
For example, if you want an article written, how long do you want it to be? What tone do you want? Are you expecting the freelance writer to market the article and you? Are you going to have exclusive rights to the article?

Do you want a press release? Who is going to organise the distribution? What tone do you want the release to carry?

Other concerns before you even try to start sourcing a writer include issues such as:
· Do you want to see examples of previous work?
· Do you have a clear budget?
· Do you have a clear idea of when you need the work for?
· Does the work fit into an overall part of your business plan, or are you just going to keep commissioning work until you figure out what you are aiming to do with it?
Once you have some idea of where you want to go with the project, then you can start sourcing professionals. There are a number of websites out there that offer contact with writers. One strong example is http://wwwifreelance.com/

This site has a large number of professionals attached to it, and is appreciated by the industry itself.

However, there are some sites out there that are doing nothing more than allowing you to contact people who offer dirt cheap rates. You will know these when you see them. The general rule of thumb is if the writer seems cheap, then the work may well be cheap too.
Essentially, the clearer you are on what you want from your project, the easier it will be to find a quality writer for your project.