How To Manage Writers: Best Practices For Productivity & Morale

Are you looking to hire writing talent to help ramp up your content marketing efforts?

The main benefit of working with the right freelance writer is that you get someone with in-depth knowledge of your niche and experience working on a wide variety of projects.

Freelance writers also tend to be more motivated than full-time staff because they are keenly aware they will only get paid if the article is completed to your satisfaction.

The challenge is how to hire the right writers for your needs and ensure consistency in the quality of content they create.

I have been starting and growing websites since 2014, and I have had years to master how to manage a remote team of writers effectively.

In this article, I will show you the resources you must put in place before recruiting writers and how to manage writers in your team to ensure the consistent production of top-quality content.

How To Manage Writers: Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the questions other blog owners are asking about managing writers on Google:

What Is Needed To Manage Writers Effectively

Here are the software platforms and tools you will need to recruit and manage your freelance writing team:

• Video Conferencing Software — you will need a platform like Zoom or Google Meet to conduct virtual interviews with prospective writers. Once they are onboard, you can also use them for regular team meetings.
• Virtual Workspace Software — communication apps like Slack and project management tools like Trello streamline the content creation process and make it easier to monitor your writers.
• Google Workspace — you will need Google tools like Gmail for communication, Google Drive for document organization, and Google Docs for collaboration during content creation.
• Writing and SEO Tools — you should provide access to writing tools like Grammarly for proofreading, and SEO editors like MarketMuse to ensure your content contains all the necessary keywords it needs to rank in search results.

How To Manage Writers: Step-By-Step Guide

Here are the steps you need to take to ensure your content creation process works smoothly:

1. Determine your content marketing goals
2. Secure the right tools for your team
3. Create practical workflows
4. Establish channels of communication
5. Hire the right writers

Step 1: Determine Your Content Marketing Goals

Your content marketing goals will determine the types of writers you will recruit and the resources you should invest into creating a structure for your team.

If you own a hobby blog, It is more reasonable to use free content management tools and hire general writers at affordable rates.

Monetized blogs that need top-quality content and effective SEO strategies to attract large numbers of visitors must invest in niche-expert writers and premium tools.

For example, a hobby blogger may use Google Sheets to assign articles to a small team of writers, while a blogger that publishes tens of articles weekly may be better off using Trello or Clickup to manage content writing tasks.

This is also the stage where you will determine your content output schedule and the rate you plan to pay your writers.

Step 2: Secure The Right Tools For Your Team

Online tools replace manual and time-consuming activities.

This helps to reduce mistakes and create greater transparency in the content creation process.

I recommend checking out the following tools:

• Loom — onboarding videos
• SemRush SEO Writing Assistant — content outlines
• Grammarly — proofreading
• MarketMuse — SEO editing
• Copyscape — plagiarism checker
• ClickUp — assigning articles to writers
• Slack — online communication and document sharing
• Trello — project management
• BambooHR — payroll management

Step 3: Create Practical Workflows

Creating an onboarding document that spells out repeatable patterns of activity that every member of your team can easily follow will make it easier to manage the content creation process.

Ideally, you will first create other detailed guideline documents that explain how to carry out crucial tasks in your writing process before linking to them in your onboarding document.

In my experience, you will need the following guideline documents:

• Styleguide: it will contain your rules regarding grammar, punctuation, tone, capitalization, images, citations, and unwanted words or phrases.
• Editing Checklist Doc: it will outline the standards that each article must meet.
• Creative Brief Template: this will be used internally by yourself or your content strategist to create outlines and set parameters for each piece of content.
• Model Content: if your blog is new, you may need to create multiple versions of the types of content you plan to publish on your blog so your writers will know what you expect from them.
• Interview Template: this is relevant if your writers will be required to engage subject matter experts in your industry.

Step 4: Establish Channels Of Communication

Online productivity tools have made it easier for remote teams to collaborate on projects.

You can also use video conferencing tools to set and hold meetings where you will ensure everyone is on the same page.

A cloud-based word processor like Google Docs allows your writers and editors to collaborate on articles.

They can then use tools like Gmail or Slack to chat and share documents.

One thing you must avoid is the harmful tendency to micro-manage writers.

Freelance writers tend to have an independent mindset, imposing your input on even the most minute details of the writing process will only frustrate and alienate them.

Trust your writers to do good work, and only get involved to give feedback when necessary.

Step 5: Hire The Right Writers

The more time you invest into recruiting the right writers, the fewer problems you will have to deal with down the road.

LinkedIn is a good place to post job ads for writers.

You can also use job boards like Problogger, Indeed, BloggingPro, Upwork, or Craigslist.

Your ad must be specific.

It should describe what your blog is about, the type of blog writer you are looking for, what you need your writers to do, and what’s required to help a writer get into consideration for the role.

Once the applications start rolling in, here are the factors you should use to evaluate the candidates:

• Writing Samples: they must show that the writer has excellent knowledge about the major topics in your niche.
• Experience: you would ideally favor writers that can present published articles with their byline that show years of experience. I will still recommend giving unpublished writers a chance, provided they have excellent samples that are relevant to your industry.
• Writing Tests: this will help you cut out the candidates that are not good enough. Check for actionable information, content flow, grammar, tone, content quality, and compliance with instructions.
• Interview: a virtual one-on-one meeting is more about using your gut feeling and targeted questions to gauge the potential recruit to determine whether the individual will be an ideal fit for the culture you plan to establish.

Similar Tutorial Types To Check Out

• How To Outsource Blog Writing: this article will show you to craft a perfect job listing and where to recruit the best writers for the specific needs of your blog.
• How To Hire Writers: discover the right time to outsource your content creation and how to find excellent writers within your budget.
• How To Optimize WordPress For Performance: this article will guide you through the process of diagnosing the performance levels of your site and show you the best tools to use to fix any issues with your website.

Wrapping Up

How well you apply the management principles in this article will determine the quality of work your writers will produce.

Proper management of writers will lead to top-ranking articles that get you more affiliate income and ad revenue.

I hope this blog post has shown you all you need to know about managing writers.

Let me know in the comments section if you have other questions regarding this topic.