If you want content marketing that works, you’ll need someone to write it.

And by far the most common system I see across SaaS organizations (or any company, really) is a team of freelance writers.

There are a lot of nuances to a freelance team that most people don’t get.

I’ve been one one side or the other for years and I’ve picked up a few tricks.

Here’s what I wish I had known when I started out.

Part 1: How to hire a knockout writing team

The first and most important step in running a great writing team is hiring a great writing team.

You’ll only get writing as good as your team.

In this part, you’ll learn:

– Where the world’s best (yet affordable) writers hang out

– How to virtually guarantee a “good hire” before someone starts

– How to get your people legal

And more. Let’s dive in.

You should know up front…

If you don’t have a writing team yet, you’re about to learn a hard truth:

Good writers are almost impossible to find.

Yep, I said it. There are a few reasons for this, but I think David McCullough said it perfectly:

“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.”

Hiring a team will be difficult, frustrating, and sometimes expensive. (Both in time and money.)

But having an amazing writing team is worth it in the end.

The secret to not pulling out your hair is to have a defined process.

Mine has five steps:

1. Find a candidate

2. Get rates, portfolio, and availability

3. Provide a paid test piece

4. Conduct an interview

5. Get them onboarded

Some companies do more, most do less. But those five steps are the sweet spot I’ve found between effort and results.

Here’s how to do each one.

1. How to find incredible talent

When it comes to hiring writers, you have two options:

1. Hire writers familiar with content writing

2. Hire new writers and train them in content

Hiring experienced writers

If you’re just starting, look toward option #1. There are plenty of options, onboarding is faster, the quality will be immediately better, and you’ll save yourself a lot of headache.

Unfortunately, you’ll pay more per piece and sometimes butt heads—experienced writers have beliefs and expectations that may clash with yours.

The best place I know to find experienced writers is ProBlogger.com/jobs.

You’ll get a ton of applications, and around 5% of them will be good quality. That doesn’t sound like much, but 5% is higher than any other platform I know.

(Remember: it’s not easy. But trust the process.)

If I was hiring experienced content writers, there are three other strategies I’d consider—though haven’t used very much myself.

First, ask for referrals. This one is obvious (just make sure you get a referral from someone who knows what they’re doing).

Second, contact someone in a vetted directory. The one on Surfer SEO looks good.

Third, “poach” someone. If you find a post you love, find the writer and reach out. Not all will be willing to take on a new project, but those who will are usually great fits.

There are also some strategies I would avoid. I don’t recommend looking on Upwork, Reddit, Craigslist, or similar sites.

I’ve done them all, and ended up firing every one of them. (More on that in a bit.)

Hiring new content writers

If you’ve been running a content team for a while, this is an advanced strategy.

As I mentioned, experienced writers come “ready-made,” which is great if you’re not quite what you’re looking for, but can be problematic if you’re looking for something experienced writers aren’t used to.

Oftentimes, they’ll request above-market rates (especially once you start working with them). And they’ll always divide their dedication with other clients.

If you’re willing to put in a month or more of training, hiring someone new to content is a superb option.

Look for someone who writes great school papers, and hire them.

If they’re a good writer, you can train on the specific details of web content. But in a way, a new content writer is a “clean slate” and will learn your style better than someone else.

They’ll also be thrilled with market rates for quality content. I believe in paying fairly (or slightly better), so it’s frustrating when a writer asks for a rate that’s just not doable.

I recommend you start new writers at a slightly lower rate, because you’ll be spending a while training them for the first few months.

For example, if your typical rate is $0.10/word, start with $0.08/word. When there are very few changes required in their pieces, give them a “raise” to your $0.10/word rate.

New writers tend to be happy with their rates, and thrilled even, when you give them a raise. (As I recommend you do once they build up their content skills.)

2. Get rates, portfolio, and availability

When you reach out to a writer—however you do it—you’ll want three pieces of information: rates, portfolio, and availability.

First, their rates. I recommend asking for price per word, even if your payment is different, since this is standard and any experienced writer has an answer for this.

(If they’ve never done content, they won’t know. I would instead lead with your planned starting rate.)

Second, their portfolio. Any good writer will have at least a few pieces they’ve written. I’ll typically ask for 3-5 pieces.

Some teams set requirements that the pieces must be published, or even where they must be published (for example, on websites with high SEO domain rankings).

I don’t understand this at all. Getting published on a quality site requires connections, industry expertise, and often a willingness to write for free (almost all guest posts are unpaid).

These skills may be valuable, but they have zero relevance to one’s writing abilities. In fact, they can be a negative—big sites prefer safe content, but I’m interested in personality.

I prefer three incredible posts on a personal blog than a handful of mediocre ones on Forbes and HubSpot.

If the writer only sends unpublished work (such as a personal blog, Word documents, or Google Doc), I’d check for plagiarism. Copyscape is the affordable industry standard.

Now, you must read every portfolio piece. Remember—they consider this their best work. A portfolio is, in a sense, a ceiling of their current skills. A writer will never write something better than what’s in their portfolio.

(At least at first. The best writers get better every year or so.)

A note about ghostwriting. Many top-notch freelancers have almost zero pieces with their own byline. Everything they produce is ghostwritten or published under “XYZ team.”

If you require every piece to have the writer’s byline, you’re cutting out some of the most talented writers—writers good enough to be the voice of CEOs, angel investors, celebrities, and brands.

I’ve never had someone share a ghostwritten piece I discovered (or even suspected) wasn’t theirs. If you’re in doubt, get at least one bylined piece and compare their quality.

If the portfolio looks good, on to the next step.

And finally, availability. You want to know what their capacity is. Every writer requires some overhead, so it’s better to have two or three high-volume writers than eight or nine low-volume writers.

The disadvantage is of course consistency. If you’re relying on two writers and one quits, you’re in trouble. Adjust this based on your situation.

For high-quality content, a writer at maximum capacity can produce one or two articles a day, so about 10,000-15,000 words per week.

When I was freelancing, I had a single client who contracted me to write five 3,000+ word articles per week, plus another roster of clients.

For a few months, I was producing around 20,000 words per week and it almost killed me. (Though earning the wage of a six-figure salary was nice.)

Most writers want to hedge their bets and keep on at least three clients at a time—each with around 3,000-5,000 words per week—but most will also cave on this as I did if a single client is offering a lot of well-paid work.

3. Provide a paid test piece

Portfolios provide a window into the writer’s ability. But they leave important questions, like:

Are they easy to work with?

Can they meet deadlines?

Can they follow directions?

Enter the test piece.

How to assign a test piece

Never request an important article on deadline as a test piece. If the writer does a poor job, someone else will have to rush to redo it.

(Seems obvious, but I’ve done it and seen it done.)

Instead, find a piece you could live without. Ideally, choose a “typical” piece. You don’t want a piece that’s too easy or too hard.

(Again, I’ve done both.)

In your assignment, here’s the minimum to include:

• The title or subject or the article
• The expected word count
• Image requirements, if any
• The final format (Google Doc is standard)
• Deadline
• The payment terms
• Writer guidelines and style guides, if any
• At least two model pieces

Of all these, model pieces are the most important. Choose them well.

These can be from your own site (ideal) or from around the web (useful if you’re just starting or changing your content style).

The writer will reference these pieces for details on everything, from writing tone to images to how to name their subheadings.

And always specify payment terms upfront. Here’s what the most common are.

How to pay for a test piece

There are three payment methods here:

1. Zero payment

2. Below-market pay

3. Full payment only if the piece is published

4. Guaranteed full payment once the piece is finished

Good writers will spend anywhere from five to twelve hours on a quality article. Some publishers think zero or below-market pay is sneaky because they’ll get a “free” or “discount” piece out of the deal.

The problem is that quality, in-demand writers will say no. Why work for free when a paying client is waiting in the wings?

By paying nothing or below-market rate, you’ll get desperate writers without existing clients. Nice.

A middle ground, and the most common option, is payment if the piece is published. This is fair to the writer, but lets you off the hook if the piece doesn’t deliver.

That said, I prefer option three—both as a writer and someone who hires writers. As long as the writer does the assignment, they’ll get paid.

The downside is that it’s expensive. The upside is that it immediately sets you apart as a confident, competent client. It starts the relationship off with a gesture of good will.

And it’s a great way to see the writer’s true level of ambition. With payment at stake, a writer’s first piece might shoot for the stars to be “publishable”—then fall off a cliff once they’re guaranteed work.

With guaranteed payment, the writer tends to fall to their natural level of quality.

When you review the test piece, ask yourself:

1. Did the piece meet, exceed, or fall short or your expectations?

2. Was it turned in by the deadline?

3. Did the writer follow every requirement and guideline?

4. Was it easy to work with the writer, or did they argue and complain? (Yes, this has really happened on the first assignment.)

Never penalize a writer who asks lots of questions during the process. Even—especially—if they seem obvious to you.

“Lots of images,” for example, could mean 5 or 25. A poor writer will do the minimum, a great writer will clarify.

4. Conduct an interview

An interview is optional, and most teams don’t do it.

But I recommend it.

Essentially, this is just a short phone or video call to get to know your writer before they start working with you.

I’ve never cut the hiring process short at this step, but it’s certainly possible.

I don’t have a specific set of questions to ask here, since just about all my questions have to do with their performance on the portfolio pieces and test piece.

If you have any specific questions, though, you can ask them here.

I also just like to make sure things are as they’ve said. I’ve never had anyone pull a fast one on me to this stage of the process, but it can happen.

For example, you can easily find out if someone posing as a native English writer is actually an overseas content farm. You can get a feel for their knowledge of technical topics. And you can learn what motivates them.

There’s a decent amount that just can’t be communicated over email.

5. Get them onboarded

The next step is to get your writer set up to use your system.

Here’s what’s most important to me:

• Access to tools
• Access to team processes
• Legal and tax information
• Payment

Let’s go through each one.

Access to tools

This depends on the tools you use. I’m partial to Trello and Slack, but whatever you use you’ll want to give them access.

Just send invites.

Team processes

If you want everyone on the same page (literally), the best way to do this is with defined processes.

We use Notion and Loom for these. Each page in Notion contains the details of a process along with a Loom screenshare.

Both tools have free plans plenty large enough for any content team.

I’d recommend creating a document (either in Notion or a Google Doc) with a basic style guide.

For a few of the more visual parts—how to set up a new document, how to use your Trello setup—record a screen share video.

Tax forms

Most freelance team managers fail with taxes.

They’ll get zero documents up front, will frantically request what’s needed days before the deadline, and will do what’s necessary at the last minute—if at all.

This makes life stressful for everyone. Do your taxes right, and do them right from the start.

——

NOTE: I am of course not an attorney, CPA, or IRS agent. This is my process, so use it at your own risk. Talk to one of the aforementioned experts for specific details, and only the IRS agent for really desperate measures.

——

The below is my detailed process for US taxes. If you’re based outside the US, understand what your requirements are.

During onboarding and each January, get the forms you need. Keep them updated each calendar year.

In this US this is a W-9 for US citizens or residents. It’s a W-8BEN for anyone abroad.

(See the official IRS definition for more.)

If you pay them more than $600 during the calendar year, send out a 1099 form the following January.

If you use a tool like Gusto, it’ll do it automatically. You can also pay-per-use with a tool like Intuit.

Contract and NDA

I recommend writing up a contract and non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

Contracts won’t help that much, for the simple reason they’re rarely worth court action.

Are you really going to hire a $300/hour lawyer to litigate a $1,000/month contract? I didn’t think so.

But as a freelancer, clients with contracts stand out. Most agreements are (too) informal, and signing on the dotted line shows you mean business.

When I was freelancing, clients with contracts were serious. If they wanted to sue me, they could.

I’d cover the following in a contract:

• Everything you commission is “work for hire” (you own 100% of the rights)
• Any minimum wordcount, image count, etc.
• Terms of terminations (I’d recommend 30 days, in writing)
• Invoicing methods and frequency
• Minimum work to be turned in each month
• Privacy, secrecy, or right to share current work

Two are worth clarifying a bit more.

First—if you set a minimum work amount, it’s your responsibility to follow it. I think I still have two contracts that are technically still active from my freelancing days—one for four articles a month, and another for two. I only ever wrote a total of three pieces for both of them, then they basically disappeared. I don’t have the resources to sue, of course.

Second—NDA. The privacy, secret, or right to point to work. Most ghostwriting opportunities don’t have anything like this, which baffles me to no end. It’s perfectly legal for me to list off the CEOs, founders, and thought leaders who rely on my writing. If you have any desire to keep this information secret, get an NDA.

Payment information

As I mentioned before, the most standard in the industry is PayPal. I don’t like it because of the fees, so once a writer is part of the team, I get them set up with direct deposit.

You’ll need some sensitive information for this—their bank account number, routing number, and legal name on the account. Another method is to get them to share a check, which contains the relevant details at the bottom.

I still give writers the choice of PayPal for convenience, with the understanding that we won’t be covering their fees.

How much should you pay?

There’s a frustrating lack of good information on what to pay freelance writers.

I’ve worked on both sides—as a freelancer and as someone who manages a freelance team.

This is often a tricky subject, but the answers are pretty simple.

Here are my recommendations.

The going rate

The lowest rate you’ll probably see for a qualified writer is $0.10/word.

(There are a handful of clever people who list their price at $0.08/word or $0.09/word to beat the competition, but $0.10/word is the going rate.)

(All the prices I’m listing here are in US dollars, which is also the standard currency, even for writers located internationally.)

Anything lower than that, and you’re likely dealing with someone who doesn’t have the skills and confidence to charge more.

In all my years of freelancing, I’ve never seen a high-quality position that pays less than this.

That said, it’s kind of the base level. It guarantees English fluency and legible sentences, but not much more.

For articles that require in-depth original research, photos, and something that sells a product, the most common rates are typically $0.15-0.20 per word.

And finally, you’ll find more premium writers that charge from $0.25-$0.50 per word. These will typically include additional services, like SEO research, professional copyediting, uploading, and sometimes even promotion for each piece.

Here’s a helpful table of base rates.

• 5¢/word – Usually “content mill” pieces, not guaranteed fluent english
• 10¢/word – Outline and research provided, some images, limited SEO
• 15¢/word – Writer responsible for research, images, and/or SEO
• 30¢/word or above – Usually copywriting services that aren’t really suitable for content

These are baseline figures in the industry, but you’ll see numbers all over the place.

Just remember, you could find a software developer in San Francisco willing to earn $40,000. But you’ll always get what you pay for.

I should add a caveat to these numbers: I actually don’t recommend paying by the word.

How I recommend paying writers

The problem with paying by the word is that it creates perverse incentives.

First, it encourages wordy content.

Second, it separates price from results. (I can’t imagine a 3,000-word piece  performing twice as well as a similar 1,500-word piece.)

This is just a weird way to pay someone—imagine paying a surgeon per cut, a chef per ingredient, or an artist per brushstroke.

Writing is creative knowledge work. So I prefer the philosophy of Dan Pink in Drive:

“The best use of money is to take the issue of money off the table.”

To do this, calculate and then pay a flat rate.

Let’s say you’d like an article around 2,000 words, and you’re paying a writer $0.15/word. You set the rate of that piece at $0.15 x 2,000 words = $300.

If the article is really difficult to write, and it comes in at 1,850 words, the writer earns $300.

But maybe there’s a lot to say, and it comes in at 2,200 words. (Ask any writer—sometimes it’s easier to write more than less). The writer still earns $300.

I’ve been using this system for a long time. I always explain the reasoning behind it and have never once had a writer turn in a skeleton piece to cash out.

If a piece feels natural at 1,850 words—but a writer must meet a minimum word count or stands to lose $22.50 by coming in short—you’ll get a 1,850-word article with 150 words of pointless fluff.

This isn’t a writer trying to cheat you. This is a human being responding to the incentives placed before them.

For most writers, it takes away pressure and allows them to deliver great content.

The only writers who hate this system are wordy ones, who will fight you on rates and then quit. A win for you!

Coming up in part two: how to be a great project manager and lead your team effectively.