outsourcing your content

When you’re a small business owner and trying to save a buck, writing your own content can seem like a good idea. “It can’t be that hard! I’ll save lots of money! Right? …Right??” Well… I hate to break it to you, but writing content is not as simple as sitting down in front of a word processor and scrounging up 800 words off the top of your head. To be blunt, writing content isn’t even as simple as plain writing. To earn return-on-investment, to be profitable, content needs so much more: Time Planning Effort Research SEO smarts Can you ostensibly create this kind of content on your own – not to mention consistently, at the highest levels of quality – and still have time to run your business? Maybe if you’re a super-human or a wizard with magical powers. Maybe if you give up a social life, relaxation time, and sleep. Enter the case for hiring a writer and outsourcing content. It’s not only for the health of your business and your content’s ROI-potential; it’s also for your sanity. That’s why we’re discussing: When to outsource your content Why you should outsource And the real numbers involved, including the dollars and time you’ll save by hiring a writer (because time = money) To begin, here’s the first question we’ll answer: When should you start outsourcing your content? Spoiler alert: The answer is right now. Allow me to prove that to you. [bctt tweet=”When should you start outsourcing your content? @JuliaEMcCoy asks this tough question in today’s blog, complete with an infographic. ” username=”ExpWriters”] Exploring the Hidden Costs & Risks of NOT Outsourcing Content (Infographic Case Study) What will it cost you, in minutes and hours & dollars and cents, NOT to hire a writer with expertise in content marketing? Time = money. What is your time worth to you? Let’s estimate exactly how much time it takes to plan, research, write, and edit a high-quality, high-ROI content piece, like an in-depth blog post. Then we’ll compare it to the time and cost of hiring an expert. 1. Time Required for DIY Content (100 Hours/Month: Equivalent of a Part-Time Job) To create DIY content that actually gets results, the work you put in must include the following (assuming you’ve already researched your audience). The estimated time it takes to complete each step is included. Keyword research – Finding keyword opportunities to scoop up high-potential traffic (15-20 minutes) Planning – Ironing out a post topic that appeals to your target niche and uses your target keywords (5-10 minutes) Researching – Gathering relevant facts, stats, and supporting information you can link to and reference in your post (20-30 minutes) Outlining – Planning your argument, organizing your thoughts, laying out main points, and drafting headers and subheaders (10-15 minutes) Writing – Writing up the post, citing sources and linking to them, using SEO best-practices, adding visuals as needed, and finalizing your headers and subheaders (4-8 hours [dependent on MANY factors, including inspiration, the quality of your research, and your motivation – could take much less or much more time]) Editing – Checking your work for accuracy, proofreading for flow and tone of voice, checking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors (20-40 minutes) Estimated time needed to craft ONE in-depth blog post: about 10 hours Estimated time needed monthly to publish 2x/week: 100 hours/month You read that right: It takes nearly an entire day to crank out a blog post worthy of ROI. To publish these types of posts two times a week, it will take about 20 hours per week, and 100 hours per month. That’s like having a part-time job. And those numbers are just an estimate! It could take much longer if you run into problems like writer’s block, or research fails such as coming up short for solid, recent studies to back up points in your content. It will take EVEN LONGER if you haven’t researched your audience, or if you don’t have a workflow and plan in place for strategizing your blogs. It takes a lot of work. Look at all the activities that top-performing content marketers commit to, from that same CMI benchmark survey we already mentioned. Top performers: Value craft and creativity in their content (88%) Have excellent/very good project management flow (70%) Deliver content consistently (75%) Use high-quality content to build their audiences (92%) For businesses who out-perform the rest, content quality and consistency is prioritized. If you DIY, that WILL take a huge chunk of time, effort, and resources that can add up to hundreds of hours over a few months. What’s your time worth? What is 100 hours/month worth to you? What could you do for your business in that time besides pulling your hair out over content creation? More importantly, could you repeat this exact same routine, ad-nauseum, to produce consistent results? 2. Time Needed to Hire a Writer and Hand Off the Dirty Work (Potentially 25 Minutes / $90) We know how long it takes to produce a high-quality, amazing blog that wins ROI. In contrast, how much time and money do you need to hire a writer to take care of it all for you? Let’s break it down: Finding and vetting a writer – At Express Writers, we handle writer vetting and match you with an expert who can write with authority about your industry topics. (0 minutes) Relaying keywords, topics, and strategy – With us, all you have to do is order the content you need (either fill out our guided order forms or talk to a content specialist). One of our content strategists can also do keyword and topic research for you. (5-10 minutes + $90 for an expert blog) Reviewing the completed content – All the creative work happens behind-the-scenes. All you have to do is wait for your completed content, review it, and, if needed, ask for any revisions. (10-15 minutes review time) Estimated time/cost for outsourcing content: 25 minutes, $90 What’s the Better Investment? About … Read more