Hiring for heavier-duty "content" writing (much longer, original articles)

[marketmultipliers]

Hi All,

I'm looking to hire someone who can do heavyweight research and writing work. Someone who can write "marketing" pieces, both 'copywriting' and 'marcom', as well as relatively long white papers... and even into ghostwriting.

It's a tall order, I know. :-\

It's terrific that so many Filipinos are well-educated with English, but even so is it really feasible to outsource these sorts of extensive "creative writing" tasks... tasks that I'd often expect would require substantial direct --or at least closely-related-- personal background in a particular subject matter? (Or am I over-thinking this because even though I know my own craft in business and marketing, and I can write, it's still hard work for me to do this?)

The article output I'll be needing (both for me and my clients), is much more than the typical request of 300-500 word articles for SEO / blogs. I'm talking about 20+ written pages of single-space content. (And for ghostwriting, upwards of 100+ page books, with serious original content development -- given initial pointers to good starter information sources, of course.)

Given enough time, a skilled writer / researcher can develop articles on just about any topic without "having" to be an inside expert. (Though of course that always helps to make the article much more "authentic" to read!)

Has anyone hired for this, and had successful "major" writing projects? If so (or even if not), what suggestions do you have to do it properly, and ensure success for both me and the hired staff? (How long do these projects tend to take? etc, etc...)

Thanks!

[joannac]

Hi,

May I just kindly comment on this. Writing the whole book for you the way you wanted may really be that bloody or in layman's term, that sensitive for you to get your suited candidate. There maybe lots of good ghost writers around yet, they still have these different touches in writing that you should invest on training them. Remember to hire one assistant at a time (See tutorial 7) because training them may get a lot of time.

For this reason too, it's also why most bloggers do write their ebooks themselves but maybe by having a candidate to proofread and do the researching can be of good point for you to manage time easily.

Good luck with your hunt.

[marketmultipliers]

Thanks for the comment...

I understand the concern that it would be too much to just dump this sort of very large project on someone. I wouldn't expect to just have it "done for me" without any involvement. As you've noted, at minimum there are natural differences in writing and speaking style to account for.

Rather, I have the big picture idea in my head of what I need done. But for me creative writing is very difficult work. (I can write well, but it's extremely time consuming.) I need to find a resource to help, who can take on pieces of the project, beginning with working with me to develop an outline and manage the length of the project. (With great detail, the book I have in mind could easily become several hundred pages... but something that large would be too much!)

Thanks,

-Tim

[joannac]

Hi Tim,

Yes, I did get your point as writing is really one of the most difficult areas and seeking help then cannot be bad. The resources section may help. Haven't you tried Bestjobs.ph and Onlinejobs.ph yet?

Here's one that I found:

http://www.bestjobs.ph/em-cv-myvD9Qx...ntent%20Writer