Hawaii Life Blog Center
Outsourcing
We understand that sometimes other tasks get prioritized. Outsourcing is a great way to beef up your output, but it often requires as much of a time commitment as blogging for yourself. If you simply can't find the time, we're here to help ensure you're making consistent contributions to the blog with the help of freelancers. Here are some frequently asked questions about blogging, advertising, finding freelancers, and getting the most our your relationship with a hired writer.
FAQS
Why Blog?
Blogging builds trust and instills confidence. It helps to position you as a subject matter expert (SME) in your industry. Capture readers’ attention with simple, smart, relevant and helpful content. Add captivating headlines, photos and videos. The goal? Lead generation.
Hawaii Life is on the leading edge of content marketing in our industry, driving more than 3 million visitors to our website each year and generating more than $200 million in leads through our website alone. At Hawaii Life, you are part of a ‘brain trust’ of more than 250 talented agents and brokers statewide. Our readers want to tap into your industry and market knowledge through the Hawaii Life blog.
We strongly encourage you to experiment with blogging in different ways on your own before seeking outside help. As an experienced real estate professional, you're the best knowledge resource for home buyers and sellers. Our website audience wants to get to know you, your personality and most of all, they want the information you have at your fingertips. If you can explain a process for doing something in a professional email, then you can blog. If you can take great photos of your listings, then you can blog. By tapping into your local market knowledge and positioning yourself as an expert in your field, you can reach an audience of more than 3 million readers!
What Are Best Practices for Placing an Ad to Hire a Writer?
In accordance with Hawaii Life’s advertising policies, we kindly request that you do not post on any public forums using the Hawaii Life name or brand. When seeking outside assistance to fulfill your role, you’re developing a private vendor relationship – between you and a third party. The heading should not include the Hawaii Life name. The content of your message, posting or advertisement cannot mention Hawaii Life. You can, of course, disclose that you’re a Hawaii Life agent or broker in your personal correspondences.
What Are Best Practices for Hiring a Third-Party Vendor?
We encourage you to be a strong, positive advocate for Hawaii Life when dealing with third-party vendors. While you cannot publicize the Hawaii Life name (see above), respondents to your ads should walk away with a favorable impression of Hawaii Life. Treat them as you would any prospective client by replying to emails and calls in a timely manner. Be sure to pay them fairly and promptly for services rendered. Hawaii is a small community. Remember that they will be strong advocates for you in the community if you treat them with kindness, fairness and respect.
How Do I Get the Best Results?
Before you place an ad, be prepared to brief respondents on yourself, your style, your goals, your expertise, topics, and ideas. This will help to determine if a prospective writer is a good fit for your needs. For best results, create a solid creative brief before you contact a writer. A creative brief will detail the expected word count, tone, style, and desired content, as well as your goals in publishing a blog post. If you’re looking to generate leads, prospect new sellers, attract buyers for a listing, or simply showcase your industry knowledge, you should pinpoint your goal in your creative brief.
What About Copyright?
Sensitivity to copyright law and trademark law is especially important when it comes to blogging. According to Company Policy, agents affiliated with Hawaii Life cannot copy or post any copyrighted information without providing appropriate credit. By posting on the Hawaii Life Blog, you agree that the content is owned by you, created by you, or you have explicit permission to publish it. By posting on the Hawaii Life blog, you accept full liability under Copyright Law. Copyright applies to both copy (text) and image (photo) content. For more details, we refer you to the Hawaii Life KnowledgeBase.
How Do I Know I’m Getting Original Content?
There are some available tools to screen content created by third-party vendors for plagiarism. In our Pro Tips section, we recommend using Grammarly (available at grammarly.com) for spell and grammar checking. The Grammarly Editor will also cross-check your text against over 8 billion web pages, detect plagiarized passages and highlight previously published sections. The free version has good capabilities and the paid version offers extended features that are well worth $139/year. The best way to ensure you're getting original copy is to write it yourself!
How Do I Improve a Blog Once It's Complete?
If you’ve provided a detailed creative brief, then a quick review of your writer's work should suffice. Next, you'll need to provide high-resolution images and a captivating Featured Image. Grammarly is a useful tool for correcting spelling and grammar errors across several platforms. It works inside your web browser (Chrome, Safari, et al.), correct spelling, grammar and punctuation as you write. It works in your Gmail account, within WordPress, and on social media platforms. We recommend you run all of your blogs through a similar tool that checks for spelling and grammar, as well as one that checks for plagiarism (see original content section, above).
What Do Freelance Writers Typically Charge for Article and Blog Writing?
Our experience is that writers typically charge $75 - $100 per blog post or short article. Expect to scale that fee for more complex or lengthy articles, for additional research, or for one-time projects. If you choose this avenue for increasing your output, we recommend that you build a relationship with someone who produces good work. You're likely to get a better rate if you're hiring someone on a continuing basis.
How Do I Find Out A Qualified Writer?
We recommend that you first ask responding freelancers for “clips” or writing samples from other sources. Ideally, they will have published clips from newspapers or magazines, websites or blogs. Also, request a copy of their resume or a link to their LinkedIn profile that details their work experience in a journalism, communications, marketing or public relations field. If their experience or clips reveal their work experience as a writer, then get a feel for their ability by commissioning them to complete one project, blog post or article.
How Do I Proceed After a First Successful Blog Post?
If a writer’s first project wows you and they deliver it on time, monitor the feedback you receive from friends and colleagues to that first blog post. Then consider hiring that person to complete a small batch of content pieces for you. Again, we highly recommend that you treat vendors like a partner or member of your team. Build a relationship with someone who delivers the goods. Make them your preferred resource. Freelancers love to have a steady stream of income, so it is to your advantage to find a talented writer and then negotiate an output schedule and fair payment terms.
Where Do I Find a Skilled Writer to Help Me Share My Ideas?
We understand that sometimes it helps to outsource some tasks when you’re just too busy. If you’re short on time and you just don’t have the bandwidth to blog, here’s a short list of writers and resources you can use to seek out freelance writers. Word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and colleagues are a good bet, too.
Craigslist
Upwork.com
LinkedIn.com
Need recommendations for your island? Contact Us
