SAHM Writer Blog

Where to find freelance writing teammates

21st August, 2009 - Posted by admin - No Comments

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your… freelance writing business, you’re going to be booked solid.

(That is, if you follow a system for making money writing – and there are many, but I know mine works – if you haven’t gotten it yet, now’s the time.)

When that day comes, and you’re looking for a way to squeeze in one more project, you’ve got a couple of choices: raise your rates and book ahead, or build a team of freelance writers.

We’ve looked at who you want on your freelance writing team and what kinds of projects work best (and worst) when you’re working with writing partners.

Now we’re tackling the biggest question: Where do you find freelance writing teammates?

I’ve used several resources. Let’s tackle them one at a time.

Craigslist

Excellent because you’ll get a flood of responses. Awful because you’ll get a flood of responses. : ) It can get overwhelming fast if you aren’t very specific in your ad.

A few pointers:

• Specify the countries where you’re willing to hire. Your accountant may have some input here for you where taxes are concerned. You also want to take into consideration any language issues. Depending on the project, you may be able to work with someone overseas – but most of the time, you’ll want someone from the U.S.
• Require writing samples. Include in your post something like, “Please include samples of (whatever your project type is). Any responses that do not include samples will be deleted.” This is important for three reasons. First, you want to see a prospective partner’s style and skills. Second, you’ll want to run the sample through Copyscape just to see what comes up. (NOTE: If it dings, it’s not necessarily a problem in this case – the article may just have been distributed. BUT, if it dings and all the references are to a Wiki article or something like that, you’ll want to look into that.) Third, you want to be sure a prospective writer for your team can follow your instructions – including a sample is a test.
• Be clear on what you’re looking for: describe your ideal writing partner. What’s important to you? This is where you get to write your wish list.
• Don’t give out your contact info until you find writers you want to work with. Just have prospects reply via the contact info Craigslist gives you to use.
• When you find someone who seems like a good match for what you need, schedule a short phone conversation just so you can make sure it’s a fit.
• Be clear about work and payment arrangements. What will you pay? Will you pay by check? Paypal? something else? How quickly will you pay? How many rounds of revisions do you require? Do you want the writer to sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)?
• Start with a small project. Don’t hire out 10 articles on the first go-round. Keep in mind the possibility that you could very well end up rewriting whatever you hire out (hopefully not, but worst case scenario). Make sure you’re not going to be pulling your hair out if something goes wrong.
• Start looking before you need help. You can tell when your schedule’s starting to get out of hand. Go looking for help before it’s a crisis. If you’re already under the pile, it’s a lot harder to be objective when you’re evaluating prospective partners – hiring in haste is generally not a wise move.

Next week we’ll look at a few other places you can go looking for freelance writing partners.

Have you either outsourced to other writers through Craigslist – or gotten hired to handle another writer’s overflow work via Craigslist? What’s your experience?

I know I’ve got two writers on my team that I found through Craigslist, and they’re fantastic.