How to Hire A Blogger to Promote Your Business (10 Tips)

In today’s digital age, leveraging content for your business is not a luxury but a necessity.

A strong online presence is pivotal for success in our interconnected world. Blogging isn’t just about writing; it’s a strategic tool. Bringing a seasoned blogger on board can elevate your business, as they understand both the audience’s preferences and search engine nuances. So, the real question isn’t “Should I hire a blogger?” but “How can I find the right blogger to amplify my business?”

Understanding the Difference Between a Blog and a Website

First things first, understand the difference between a blog and a website before you go hunting. After all, they both contain content, and they are both on the Internet. For starters, blogs typically have dated content that is updated frequently, often daily. Additionally, a blog has posts or articles, which are in reverse chronological order, meaning the most recent posts are listed first. Websites, at least most of them, have static content. You don’t know when the pages were published, or how long since the website was last updated. Blogs are crawled by search engines more frequently, which makes them the best platform to strengthen your online presence.

Knowing When You Need Help

Content marketing and advertising walk a fine line. Tilt too much towards advertising, and your audience might dismiss your content as mere promotion. If writing isn’t your forte or time’s a constraint, consider seeking help. Effective content goes beyond brief sentences, delving into deep-value offerings like blog posts, eBooks, press releases, and more. An adept blogger can also assist with WordPress maintenance or other CMS tasks. So, where can you find the right blogger for your business? Numerous platforms can connect you to top-tier blogging talent.

10 Tips on How to Hire a Blogger to Promote Your Business:

1. Decide the Employment Status

Before getting started, you need to determine whether the blogger should be a full-time employee in your company or a freelancer to assist you in your blogging endeavors. Each employee’s status calls for a slightly different wage and tax structure. The three most common statuses that bloggers typically hold are employee, contractor, and vendor. While most bloggers are freelancers and prefer working as independent contractors, it is still up to you to decide according to your requirements.

2. Pay Model

After you’ve completed the employment status, your blogger will hold. The next thing you need to do is to determine his or her compensation package. The payment structure you choose mainly depends on the tasks and the responsibilities of the blogger. For example, a blogger who only publishes content gets compensated differently from a blogger who performs multiple tasks. It includes writing and publishing content responding to comments and promoting the blog through other channels. You can develop your payment plan based on some of the most common blogger pay structures, which include pay per post, flat monthly rate, pay by the hour, and so on.

3. Use Job Boards

An effective way to look for bloggers to promote your business is to post a well-crafted job advertisement on specialized job boards. Although the idea of free sounds too good to be true, there are, in fact, several popular sites that allow you to advertise your jobs for free. It includes Indeed, Google for Jobs, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, PostJobFree, etc. However, there are plenty of good bloggers you can find on job listing websites, such as Upwork, Fiverr, FlexJobs, CareerBuilder, Monster, Nexxt, and so on. All you must do is write a job ad that is descriptive yet concise and post that ad to as many job boards as you can. You need to be careful with your job post because the stronger your job ad is, the more success you’ll have in attracting quality leads.

4. Connect on LinkedIn

Do you know anyone who is in any type of professional position who doesn’t have a LinkedIn profile? Guess not! LinkedIn is a prime hunting ground for job seekers and over 85% of employers or hiring managers use the platform to search for potential candidates. So, if you’re looking for potential bloggers for your business, LinkedIn is the professional place to be. LinkedIn is practically a search engine for finding professionals. It can also play a significant role in the effective marketing of your business. You can connect with potential candidates you see fit for the position on LinkedIn and ask them to have a quick phone call to know each other and discuss open roles.

5. Advertise on Social Media

In today’s competitive market, no tool is more capable of shortening your hunt for potential candidates than social media. Without a doubt, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit are the elephants in the social media zoo. Social media platforms have become key resources for hiring managers who, on tighter budgets, turn to their network to fill positions. Like job boards, you can post your requirements here to reach out to a pool of potential candidates.

6. Ask for Referrals

Asking for a referral may seem intimidating, but it can be an effective way to turn your search for potential candidates into effective results. You spend so much money to advertise jobs to people you already know. So, why not ask for recommendations from your colleagues, friends, or hiring managers who’ve worked with bloggers in the past? Seeking potential candidates for your business through referrals is one of the best ways to find candidates for free. Not only you can cut down on advertising costs, but you’ll also speed up the entire hiring process.

7. Look for Blogs and Magazines

There is one likely route you can take to find a blogger to promote your business. You can read through many blogs or magazines and find the authors whose writing most resonates with what you’re looking for. There are tons of blogs out there doing something like what you expect from your blog, or what you hope to accomplish. You can find the authors’ information easily in the author bios at the bottom of the post. Use the links in their bios to approach them and offer them work.

8. Send a Straightforward Email or Message

Most people still love the good old email system. Emails are simple and get to the point right away. You should take a straightforward approach while writing a simple message or email to a potential candidate. This person possibly has the knowledge required to promote your business. Take time to go through active blogs in your industry by reading media kits, searching blog-hosting sites, scrolling through blog directories, and so on. Do your homework before reaching out to bloggers. Be precise and straight to the point as you don’t want your emails ending up in a bin.

9. Perform a Basic Google Search

A basic Google search might suit you particularly well if you’re looking for bloggers in your area, someone who already knows the ins and outs of the online realm. Try entering specific keywords, for instance, “freelance blogger” and your city/neighborhood name in the Google search bar. The search will probably turn up results for articles and a list of bloggers in your area. In hindsight, you should not let geographical boundaries limit your search. The internet has created for us a global village so you can also reach out to bloggers in other countries.

10. Define Blogger Guidelines

Before hiring a blogger, you must create guidelines that tell candidates what they can and cannot do on your business blog. The first thing you can do is find some ways to promote your business while ensuring your business stays out of trouble at the same time. Start making a list of specific dos and don’ts, along with a detailed document with rules and guidelines for the content on your blog. Then communicate these with the blogger(s) you are considering for the job. Related Article: 10 Tips for Hiring a Blogging Virtual Assistant (And Getting Results)

Wrapping Up

When you decide to hire a blogger, you need to make sure you find the right candidates who not only understand the technical aspects of using blogging tools but also know how the social web works. When you know your budget and the type of blogger you need to hire, you can spread the word about your open blogger job. To find and hire a blogger to promote your business, the first thing you should do is to check the prospective writer’s blog and get to know their online writing style and behavior. Perhaps you can already gauge here if he or she is suitable for the job. Vetting a potential candidate before hiring him is a good way to know if he’ll be a good fit for your business. There are millions of bloggers worldwide, many of whom are professionals who write content consistently. Checking previous posts of prospective candidates is one good way of gauging their capability. You can also ask your candidates to write a test blog post. Next up, you may want to explore a guide on how to set up a service arbitrage business.