Why Businesses Should Buy Blogs: More Reward than Risk

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Here at BlogMutt we take the responsibility of connecting businesses with excellent writers very seriously. At the same time, we understand that it isn’t always natural for a business to think about outsourcing their content. By taking the time to listen to our clients’ concerns and questions, we have gotten a good feel for what most business owners are thinking about the subject.

When Taking A Risk Leads To Reward

It is understandable that many business owners would hesitate to buy blogs from professional content creators. These business owners are deliberate thinkers who must weigh the costs and benefits of any decision that they make, and often initially feel that letting writers outside their organization create their blog content presents too much of a risk — financially or otherwise — to be worth it. We recently heard a story from one of our writers that highlighted the risk/reward calculation:

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I am a new and relatively inexperienced driver who only obtained my driver’s license about six months ago. I began driving alone about one month ago in a truck that is nearly as old as I am. When I made the decision to visit a friend who lives more than three hours away, I could only hope and pray that the truck would make it the distance. Still, my excitement reached new heights.

As I began the journey I happened by a local driving school I had attended. I knew the owner of the school and was quite thankful for the driving lessons that he had provided. I knew that the trip I was taking would not be possible if that man had not instilled in me the driving skills I now have, so I spontaneously decided to stop in and see if he was present at the school.

Concern that I might be intruding on his operation entered my mind. I also worried that the whole experience could lead to an awkward or embarrassing memory. However, those fears quickly subsided when I was warmly greeted despite having gently interrupted the class that he was teaching.

I shook the man’s hand and told him how appreciative I was for the lessons. I even took a few questions from the current crop of students that he was educating. I will admit that I stumbled on the first question asked of me, about the meaning of a particular sign. However, I redeemed myself by perfectly reciting the safe following distance rules prescribed by my instructor. Though I was only there for a few minutes, I exited the classroom to a round of applause from the students. The experience not only brought a smile to my face, but validated the risks I took both by making the trip and visiting the school.

Take this story for what you will, but we feel that in many ways, it mirrors the experience so many have with content creation. Though maintaining a consistent, quality blog is now almost as much of a necessity in business as driving is in life, putting yourself out there to begin the journey can be intimidating. Though you might find you can’t keep up with your blog yourself, there is always an initial fear that allowing others to write for you will end in disaster. Given enough time, many discover that those fears were overblown. Though stumbles in the beginning do sometimes happen, in the end the success and peace of mind it brings to outsource your blog writing are worth it.

One of the biggest troubles that many business owners have on their blogging journey is running into their own case of writer’s block. It pushes them into the tough spot of not being able to create the content that they need to keep their blog current and valuable for their readers. Let’s take a look at this (very common) problem and why hiring an outsider writer may be the solution.

Why Does Writer’s Block Occur?

writers blockThe image of a writer is often that of someone with boundless creativity and ability to produce the written word. The reality is that every writer is human and possesses human flaws. One such flaw is the inability to produce quality work from time to time. Todaymade.com suggests that one of the problems faced by so many writers is the need to always seek perfection in their work:

Give the rough draft a fair chance to exist. We want things perfect from the beginning, and so we self-edit as we write, choking the words before they can get on the page. Write freely and know you can edit later. When it’s time to write, write. Editing and refinement will follow.

This mentality can take hold easily and be crippling to the person impacted by it. Cases of writer’s block will sometimes subside with time and the acknowledgement that perfection is not attainable. However, some individuals — especially those who don’t write for a living — find that they simply lack the ability to produce the kind of content they desire.

We hear constantly from our prospective customers that they just haven’t set up their blog yet because they didn’t know what to write about, or it took too long to produce the quality posts they needed, and in the meantime their marketing efforts have suffered because they lack the good content a business needs to draw in an audience and keep it interested.

One must first realize that having writer’s block or even lacking the writing skills to produce great content is not a character flaw. It would be unreasonable for someone to walk into a hospital and perform surgery if they lacked a medical license. So too is it unreasonable for someone without writing experience to expect to create masterpieces, and do it consistently. The real question that you must ask is how you plan to handle the situation. Bringing in an outsider may seem risky, but there are real advantages to consider.

Avoid The “Yes Man” And Hire An Outsider

Even if you know your business better than anyone, writing your own content or assigning the task to someone who works for you is not always the best option. One common issue is a restricted style of writing or scope of topics. If the person who writes the blog already works for the business internally, it may keep them from thinking about the content in unique ways, especially if they’re busy with the other day-to-day responsibilities that make up their jobs. Thinking beyond one’s own daily activities to come up with unique topics and angles can be exceedingly difficult, especially for employees and owners of small businesses. It’s easy to fall back on what you know best, which can produce repetitive content that is unhelpful to your readers. As Digital Sherpa explains,

Too many SMB owners get wrapped up in using blog posts to write about their company. While the occasional post that shares an exciting update about what your company has going on (launching a new product, moving to a new location, etc) is perfectly fine, your audience really wants your blog to be helpful and offer value.

Often, those who do not work directly for your company are in the best position to write from a different perspective and offer value in ways you wouldn’t have thought of. They bring their own unique outlook on the world and do not have the inhibitions or “blinders” that can result from being so heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. They possess the ability to expand upon ideas in new and interesting ways — while still working within your guidelines.

Improve Outcomes By Knowing What You Want

Business owners are often under the assumption that writers do not want to be told what to do. They believe that instructions frustrate writers and choke off their creativity. However, this is not necessarily the case. It is remarkable to see how seasoned writers can meet the challenges thrown their way and produce beautifully written content on just about any topic, and within explicit guidelines.

Writers tend to appreciate when their clients present them with precise but reasonable objectives. When the writer understands what a client is looking for, they are better able to provide quality content. A good working relationship between a business and a content writer is one in which the business provides some guidance on subject matter, voice, and style — especially in the beginning — but lets the writer do the heavy lifting.

Experience Less Stress, Better Outcomes, And Faster Turnaround Time

Getting out of doing some work is always a worthwhile reward for any business owner, especially when it’s work you never had time for anyway, like writing blog posts. When that individual can look to another person to do the daily work of filling a blog, there is no reason for them not to jump on the opportunity. Running a business is stressful enough without the added work of creating content.

Writing quality improves with an experienced individual handling it. Business owners no longer need to fear writer’s block or poor quality content that they just didn’t have time to get up to snuff. They can rest assured that the person they have contracted with is going to produce for them.

Finally, in all likelihood an individual hired to produce content will do so in a timely manner. Writers, including freelancers, take their work seriously, and those who write for a living can generally produce excellent content quickly. They know that their pay depends on it. With these factors in mind, business owners can know that outsourcing their blog writing is not nearly as risky as they first thought. In virtually all cases, the rewards are bountiful.


 

Editor’s Note: This post is an example of the longer posts we now offer. You can choose a plan that gives you posts at 250+ words, 600+ words, 900+ words, or 1200+ words, like this one. The posts are not only longer, but are written by more experienced writers.

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Verblio

This post was written, as well as any other posts with the author "Verblio," by one of our 3,000+ U.S.-based writers who write for thousands of clients monthly, across 38 different industries. Only the top 4% of writers who apply with Verblio get accepted, so our standards for writers (and content) are high.

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