Real estate blogs continue to be one of the highest ROI, most productive lead generation and brand building tools available to investors. Savvy real estate investors also know that in order to generate the amount of content they need to really capitalize on the opportunity they also need to recruit some help in the form of a freelance writer. This is where it gets tricky. As a real estate investor, you know you need to blog (daily if you can). You know you need help and are fully aware of the ability to outsource your copy-writing needs to freelance ghost bloggers. However, those that have rushed into hiring blindly have also found it to be an incredibly frustrating experience.
All too frequently, real estate investors, agents and companies act fast to hire in order to be efficient, which is great, but fail to be clear on instructions. However, in doing so, they wonder why what they receive is nothing like what they imagined or wanted to post on their blogs. So how can real estate pros be more successful in hiring real estate blog writers?
Remote workers are not mind readers. So the key to successful hiring is clear instructions. Here are 10 tips to nail it:
1. Know What You Want
Before you can effectively hire and delegate a task, you need to know what you want and need. Otherwise the work you receive will be the result of a lot of assumptions. Start by defining what you expect in terms of end product, what you want it to do for you, and how it should be done.
2. If You Don’t Know – Know Where to Get the Answers
If all you know is that you should be blogging and posting more real estate blogs, know where to get more detailed and accurate guidance. A solid real estate investing education course is a good start. A real estate business coach is a smart step as well. Learn what makes a great real estate blog post before you hurl the proverbial boomerang.
3. Start Recruiting
Post the job and solicit applications from experienced real estate bloggers. Find balance in between being specific and too general – in order to maximize your pool of great prospects.
4. Launch Paid Testing
The best real estate ghost writers aren’t going to serve up free content and trials. They know their own value and this is what they get paid for. After all, as an investor, you aren’t going to give away a property or free rent for 30 days so others can test drive your product. Why would you expect any different from anyone else.
5. Give Crystal Clear Instructions
You can’t be too detailed in instructions when hiring any freelance help. Every minute spent on clarifying and setting expectations in the beginning will yield returns for years. So be crystal clear on deadlines, where content will be posted, and what your goals are.
6. Keywords
You may or may not want to fuss too much about keywords and SEO for your real estate blog, but there is no question that the right keywords can make a huge difference in the volume of visitors attracted to your real estate blog and who they are.
7. Demographics
Who is your writer speaking to? The more specific profile of your ideal customer you provide, the better tailored the content will be to connect with them and funnel them to the desired actions.
8. Tone & Style
Even if this is something you struggle with, you should have an idea of what you want. Most writers are extremely flexible and can adapt to new styles on the fly. So don’t rely on samples of their previous writing. Direct them to examples of the content you’d like to see on your property blog.
9. Length
How long do you want your content posts to be? Again, this will be directly correlated to your audience. However, Google algorithms will pick up on longer, quality content. You want to be detailed enough to sound like a professional, but short enough to keep the reader’s attention.
10. What Not to Say
Being clear on what you don’t want to be written is as important as informing them on what you do want. Once again, be clear as to what you do not want your content to contain. Sometimes the best statement you make is the one you never make at all.
