Home » Content Marketing » A Guide to Hiring Blog Services: How to Choose the Right Content Partner

A Guide to Hiring Blog Services: How to Choose the Right Content Partner

CopySmiths July 1, 2022

When looking to outsource your blog content, it can be tough to know where to start.

How do you determine which company is the right fit for your business with so many options available? And what must you look for in a content partner?

You want a content partner that’ll deliver the right content for your target audience. For this reason, you need to ask yourself questions like:

What kind of content do I want?
Who is my target audience?
How often do I need new content?

Once you’ve answered those questions, it’s time to start evaluating potential partners. These are people who possess the right skills and experience to create content based on your answers to the above questions.

Most, if not all content creation companies and writers will claim to be experts in all things marketing and content. So, it’s essential to do your due diligence when researching potential partners.

Learn how to choose the right content partner that’ll deliver as per your expectations.

Step 1: Define Your Needs and Wants

The key questions to ask yourself to determine the appropriate content include:

What type or style of content do I want? Is it long-form or short-form?
Should it be listicle, how-to, or interview style?
Who is my target audience? Are you targeting students, teachers, youths, or the old?
What type of content will resonate with my target audience?
What are the goals I want to achieve with this content? Is it to sell your products or educate the general public on a given topic?
How often do I need new content? Daily, weekly, or monthly?

The table below will help you understand the differences between various types of content and thus choose the right one for your business:

Content Type	Pros	Cons
Listicles	Attracts attention by using headlines with numbers They’re effective for a busy audience who don’t have time to read long posts	They’re not detailed enough to elaborate a point. Therefore, they may leave readers with questions
How-to guides	Are excellent for acquisition and retention. Such posts attract new audiences looking for solutions to their problems By addressing the problems of your customers, these posts help to build a strong relationship between your customers and your business	Are detailed and time-consuming. Busy audiences may avoid such content You’ll have to pay more for how-to content because they’re detailed and long-form
Checklists	They help your customers to save time by being efficient They ensure that people are more specific when delegating duties by specifying what’s to be done.	They’re not detailed and elaborate enough for people who need in-depth processes

If you have a challenge with your content ideation, CopySmiths is here for you. Based on our experience in content generation, we know which type of content works for a given business to ensure digital success. Contact us to get started today.

Here is what one of our past clients had to say:

“I am very happy with your company’s content output and professionalism. I will be recommending use of your company’s services.” – Chris Boggs, Band-Tees.com

Step 2: Research

After you’ve answered the critical questions in step one, it’s time to start doing research. This will help you narrow down your options and find the best content partner for your business.

The first place to start your research is Google.

Search “blog content writing services” on Google and look at the results that come up. These are some of the companies you need to consider working with.

Look through each company’s website and read their “About Us” page. This will give you an understanding of their experience and what they specialize in.

The second place is social media sites like Twitter and LinkedIn. Search on these sites to see if any of your connections have worked with the company before. If they have, ask them for a recommendation.

The third way is to reach out to your network and ask for referrals. There are likely other businesses in your industry that use a content partner. Ask them who they’re using and see if they’re happy with the results.

When doing your research, note the following:

The company’s experience: This will help you determine if they have the right skills and abilities to meet your needs.
Its writing style: You want to ensure that the company’s unique writing style is a good fit for your business. Some of these styles include copywriting, blogging, and technical writing.
The turnaround time: This is important if you need content on a tight deadline.
The company’s customer service: You want to make sure the company is easy to communicate with and that they are responsive to your needs.

Step 3: List Potential Content Partners

After your research, you now have several potential content partners in mind. You need to list these companies and compare them side-by-side.

In your comparison, you’ll need to compare the potential partners based on the following factors:

Experience
Writing style
Turnaround time
Customer service

These factors will help ensure that you get a content partner who guarantees high-quality content, timely delivery, and content that meets your audience’s expectations.
You’ll then list the companies in order of preference based on the above factors. From your list, only the best 3-content partners will proceed to the next step.

Expert Tip: When making the list, ensure you have enough companies to make a fair comparison. If you only have two options, then it may not be feasible to do a side-by-side comparison.

Step 4: Request Quotes and Proposals

Source: CopySmiths

You’re now left with the best three content partners in this step. However, you only want one partner. How do you eliminate the two?

Start by requesting quotes and proposals from each of the three content partners. This will give you a better understanding of their services, pricing, and how they work.

After receiving the quotes and proposals, compare them against each other to see which one offers the best value for your business.

While evaluating and comparing the proposals and quotes, consider the following:

The quality of the content: The proposal must outline how they’ll write high-quality, engaging content that meets your needs.
Pricing: It must be reasonable and fit within your budget.
Content ideation strategy: The proposal needs to include a content ideation strategy that outlines how they’ll develop ideas for your content.

The proposal must also answer any questions you have about the company and its services. If they don’t, be sure to ask them before making your final decision.

Make Your Decision

You’re now done evaluating quotes and proposals from the three best companies.

It’s now time to choose the right content partner for your business. You need to choose a company that meets your content expectations in terms of quality, turnaround time, pricing, and customer service.

Step 5: Negotiate Your Contract

Once you’ve selected your content partner, it’s time to negotiate a contract with them.

This will ensure that both parties agree on the terms of the working relationship.
In your negotiations, you’ll want to cover the following topics:

Services to be provided: You’ll want to outline the services that the content partner will provide. This includes the type of content, frequency of content, and any other deliverables.
Pricing: You’ll need to agree on a price for the services. Ensure that you’re getting a fair price for the quality of content you’re expecting.
Rights to the content: You’ll want to ensure that you have the rights to the content once it’s been published. This will allow you to use the content as you see fit.
Term of the contract: You’ll need to agree on how long the contract will last. This is usually done on a monthly or yearly basis.

Once the contract is finalized, both parties will agree on the terms of the working relationship. The content partner will then begin creating high-quality content for your blog.

Elevate Your Content

Your business needs the right content marketing strategy to succeed in the digital world. Therefore, don’t miss an opportunity to use digital content to reach your customers.

If you’re not up to the task of content ideation, creation, and publishing, take the right step and outsource to CopySmiths. We create content at scale for enterprises that need to enhance their online visibility by frequently publishing quality content.

“As a digital marketing executive with over 10 years of experience, I’ve worked with dozens of writers and agencies. CopySmiths is as good as it gets – which means they are better than the vast majority of what is out there. They have the deepest SEO expertise of any content marketing agency I have worked with. The content is top-notch with project management and communication to match.

Lastly, you get what you pay for: you may be able to find something cheaper but you will not find better value.” — Remy Tennant, Human Food Bar

Frequently Asked Questions

What do content partners do?

Content partners provide high-quality content for blogs and websites. This includes writing articles, creating graphics, and videos.

Why are content partnerships important?

Content partnerships are important because they help businesses create valuable content that engages their audience. This content also drives traffic to the website or blog and generates leads or sales.

How do I find a good content partner?

To find a good content partner, you’ll want to evaluate several companies against each other. This allows you to see which company offers the best value for your business. Make sure to consider the quality of the content, pricing, and customer service when making your decision.

CopySmiths

I'm Katrina McKinnon, founder of CopySmiths and Small Revolution. In my 20 years of experience, I have helped online businesses create high-performing content specifically on an eCommerce store's blog. Find me on LinkedIn and Twitter.