After editing thousands of web content pieces created by hundreds of freelancers, I’ve developed a nose for the characteristics of the professional writers I’d recommend to any business. Though no two freelancers are alike, some are more likely than others to hinder your content writing projects.
When I say “type”, I mean a freelance content writer who acts in a certain way when hired to write for a client. Writers of any type can change the way they act from one project to the next. Also, since all the types I’m discussing here are professional writers, they are all capable of creating content that helps brands succeed.
That being said, if I had to hire a freelance writer, I’d steer away from these types, to make my life easier and avoid some risks to my content marketing project.
The generous kind: “More is better”
This type of writer is easy to define: They promise they’ll exceed the word count. Or they habitually submit drafts that are much longer than the client ordered. In project management, there’s a term for offering the client more than they’ve asked for: gold plating.
To help you understand what’s wrong with this approach, imagine going to a shop and ordering a pound of pistachios, for which you pay $10. You later notice there are also a lot of hazelnuts and almonds in your bag of pistachios. You go back to the shop and tell the owner you didn’t order hazelnuts and almonds. He says, “Yeah, I heard you, but I thought you might like other nuts, too. Just throw away what you don’t like.” You ask, “So, if you’re giving away the hazelnuts and almonds for free, can I get some more for my friends?” He says, “Well, your friends would need to pay for them, but the ones I gave you are free.” What would you think about the quality of the nuts you were given? Or about their price? Or about the owner? And if you didn’t like some of the nuts, wouldn’t be frustrating to pick them from the rest ?
Creating extra content that is not just fluff costs the writer time and effort, all for no pay. So, maybe they are overcharging you for the content you did pay for? Or the content is not as original as you think?
It’s normal for freelance content writers to create a piece of content that’s slightly shorter or longer than the target word count. But a writer who is too generous with the word count of all their drafts is likely either overcharging you or doesn’t make an effort to follow your content brief.
If you hire a freelance web content editor, the cost of editing drafts that don’t adhere to your guidelines will be higher. Or, if you don’t use a freelance editor, rework will cost you or the writer time and effort.
The independent: “Full creative freedom is best”
Some freelance writers, especially busy ones, don’t take the time to read very detailed content briefs from their clients. Other writers believe they must be given full creative freedom to be able to submit their best work, and a detailed content brief limits their creativity. Still others think it’s not their job to read through several pages of guidelines before they pen their drafts.
Sometimes this type of writer convinces the client there’s no need for detailed guidelines. They’re happy to revise the draft if it doesn’t suit the client’s needs, they may say.
But working with a freelance writer who hates following detailed instructions is risky. Professional content writers with some experience under their belt know that a detailed content brief
- clarifies the project scope,
- spells out the requirements,
- reduces unnecessary communications, and
- helps everyone save time.
Only when a freelance writer has worked for you before and knows what you need may (some) creative freedom be good for content writing projects. Usually, the lack of detailed guidelines is a recipe for rework.
Without detailed instructions, how can a writer guess the exact direction to follow? And how can you prove to the writer their work doesn’t meet your needs?
Detailed guidelines do not limit creative freedom but help the writers ensure their content is right the first time.
A detailed content brief for freelance writing projects include all of the following:
- target word count,
- desired tone and voice,
- purpose of the content,
- deadline,
- style guide to follow,
- SEO requirements,
- a list of recommended tools for content analysis or grammar check,
- ideal examples of similar content,
- any other requirements they may need to ensure the content meets your needs, and
- the email of a person the writer can contact if they have questions (so, assign a person who will provide timely feedback to the writer, even on weekends).
If you need help creating content briefs or editorial style guides, freelance editors specializing in content writing can work with your SEO manager to translate your requirements into content guidelines.
The versatile: “I can write about any topic”
It’s tempting to hire a writer who claims they’re versatile, especially if they’re enthusiastic and available immediately. But, similar to the generous writer, one who promises they can write about any topic may pose a risk to your project.
One can write about any topic. But no freelance content writer is equally proficient in many unrelated subjects or equally motivated to write about anything.
Imagine you need an article with reviews of books about serial killers. You assign the job to a freelance writer who is one of the best on your roster, though she tells you she doesn’t read thrillers. You insist that she take the job. She submits a well-written draft but full of factual errors. You ask her to correct them and double-check everything else. She revises the draft, but the piece is lackluster and would fail to convince anyone to buy the books listed (which is the goal of the piece, specified in the content brief). You ask the writer to revise the draft accordingly. At that point, the writer is fed up with your revision requests and quits. You manage to find a new writer who loves thrillers. She writes an article that not only meets all requirements but also includes some pop culture references that only a thriller fan would know. You’re thrilled, but your project is late, you’ve exceeded the budget for this job, and you’ve lost one of your best writers.
If a writer says they can write equally well about many topics in unrelated industries, take that claim with a grain of salt. Maybe you should ask for proof (writing samples, experience) of their interest in so many disparate subjects.
Sure, great pay is always a good incentive. But it’s helpful to hire a freelance content writer with some experience or at least a proven interest in your target subject, and not just greatly motivated to work for you. The incentive of profit won’t spark someone’s interest in a subject they would otherwise despise.
The multitasker: “I can juggle multiple writing projects to perfection”
Experienced freelance content writers generally work on many projects for many clients. However, some of them also overbook themselves sometimes if they don’t normally have a constant stream of work. If they’re hired for a long-term project they love, they may claim more work than they can handle. Or, when they get simultaneous content writing orders from several clients, they may accept all of them for fear of losing clients.
I’d say this is the most common type of freelance writer I’ve met.
Working with freelance writers who overbooks themselves puts your project at risk of delay.
The deadlines for submission or revision of different content pieces from the same or different projects are likely to overlap at a certain point. The writer will then rush to complete their work; quality will suffer. Revision requests will follow. Rework will trigger more deadlines at risk to be missed. The writer will say they’re late because they’re so busy. That explanation may tempt you to continue working with the writer: If they’re so busy, they must be good at their job.
Or, worse, the writer may find excuses to get deadline extension after deadline extension. A prolific writer whose work I edited claimed to have Covid-19 a few times in the span of a couple of months to justify missing the deadlines of several orders from three clients. He had no clue I was the freelance editor for all those clients and had access to all project communications—an embarrassing situation, to say the least.
So, if a writer boasts about their ability to manage multiple projects, or claims what would be an excessive workload for other freelance writers, don’t rush to put too much on their plate. Increase the workload incrementally and stop when you notice performance starts to decrease.
Also, being an ideal client (as I’ve explained in a previous post) goes a long way to ensure the writer doesn’t prioritize other projects to the detriment of yours.
The inconsistent: “This is not one of my best works, but next time I’ll exceed your expectations”
The inconsistent freelance writer submits work that is sometimes high quality and other times low quality. Or they meet some deadlines but miss others. They may even significantly change their writing style from one project to another.
These signs may indicate that the writer is either not dedicated to your project or is outsourcing their work. Usually, when it feels you’re working with more than one writer, you probably are. Your freelance editors can alert you if any freelance writer’s work is inconsistent in terms of quality or turnaround.
When inconsistent writers receive criticism, they also tend to find excuses and promise they’ll do better next time. But their promise won’t help your current project stay on track.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to understand your freelancer’s situation—life happens—and accept occasional lower performance if you can find ways to mitigate this risk. Fostering a good relationship with your freelance writers involves making compromises sometimes.
But writers who keep asking for another chance to impress you and fail to do so are not the best ones for your business.
Why professional content writers with below average writing skills are not on this list
Unlike inconsistency, which is always undesirable from freelance content writers, below average writing skills are not always unacceptable from a professional writer. Depending on the project, it may be preferable to work with a writer who submits good-enough drafts on time than working with a talented writer who crafts brilliant content only sometimes and respects deadlines only sometimes.
In one of my projects I had to regularly assess the performance of the writers. One of them submitted drafts that needed major editing, but she never missed a deadline. She remained in the project until the end, whereas more talented writers who missed several deadlines were fired. It was better for the client to have the content ready on time than risk missing editorial deadlines.
But regardless of the quality of the drafts the writers submitted, the content was high quality when it was published, because each writer worked with a team of editors who corrected and finessed the drafts. The cost of editing did increase, but the writers in that project were compensated according to the quality of their drafts.
Hiring freelance editors specializing in web content can help you mitigate the risk to a content writing project that working with a less-than-ideal freelance writer may introduce.
Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, working with a team that includes both freelance content writers and editors (freelance or in-house) is better for you than hiring only freelance content writers and claiming perfect drafts from them.
About this classification of freelance content writers into types
This classification is meant to help you make more-informed hiring decisions when you’re considering a large pool of professional writers for a content writing project. I’ve discussed only five types of professional writers that may hinder your content marketing. There may be other types I haven’t identified. Also, one writer can fall into more than one category. Finally, this classification is subjective and based only on my experience as a freelance content editor.
