How To Hire a Writer For Your Real Estate Business
If you are creating an online marketing plan for your real estate business, you’ll probably discover pretty quickly that there can be a lot of writing involved. And like many agents, you might find yourself wanting (and needing!) the help of a writer.
Hiring a writer—or really any creative professional—can be tricky, but I have several tips for getting started. In this video, I share a few key questions you should ask when hiring a writer. (If you’d rather read my tips, keep scrolling!)
What specific tasks do you need a writer to do?
First of all, what are you looking for in a writer? Figure out the specific tasks you need a writer to do.
Do you need a writer because you’re creating a new website and need help creating “evergreen” content, like buyer and seller guides? Do you need a writer to help you write blog posts? Or maybe you need someone to write your social media posts, the text on your postcard mailings, and your listing remarks. Or maybe you want help with ALL of the above! Take the time to write a list of exactly what you need.
Does the writer you hire need to have additional skills, such as graphic design?
Once you’ve made a list of the writing-related tasks you need help with, consider if you are hoping your writer will actually have some other skills, too. When I first started working in real estate marketing, I was often initially hired just for my writing skills, and I would write blog posts and some evergreen website content. But over time, it turned out that it was also really helpful for me to have a basic understanding of how to use the backend of websites. It was also important for me to be able to package things up and share on different social media platforms. And of course, sharing to a very visual social media platform like Instagram meant I needed to have some graphic design skills.
A lot of the skills I have now were born of necessity. When my client needed something, I would figure out how to provide it for them. In addition to being a strong writer, what other skills will be required?
Do you need a writer to already have all of the skills you need, or are you willing to help someone less experienced build these skills?
As you’re thinking about hiring a writer, consider whether you’d like them to already have certain skills, or if you’re willing to help someone build these skills. If you’re hiring a seasoned marketing professional who already has a huge portfolio of work, expect to pay more. You can also expect that working with this person will mean less work for you.
Now, if you’re hiring someone who is still in college (for example) or maybe new to this type of work, they won’t cost as much. However, it will likely require a lot more work on your part to guide them and work with them to make sure they are gaining the skills you need. Generally, I do believe that you get what you pay for, but there are no right or wrong answers on who you should hire here. It’s just important to be realistic with your expectations.
How do you know if someone has the right skills for the job?
To start with, a writer (or really any creative professional) should have a website with a portfolio sharing examples of their work. These examples don’t even necessarily have to be real estate-related. The important thing is that you should be able to get a sense of this person’s writing skills and their ability to write clearly and in a conversational tone, or whatever voice you might be looking for.
The same idea goes for design work or social media experience—ideally, this person is going to have examples of their work, even if it’s not in real estate.
Now, if you are looking for a person who has more than just writing experience, be prepared to pay a bit more. In my opinion, this is so worth it—this way you don’t have to have a separate person to do a ton of separate tasks. It’s much more streamlined this way. However, there are limits to this—don’t expect a person with some basic web skills to be able to design an entire website for you, and don’t expect a person with some basic design skills to design an entire magazine for you. They certainly might be able to, but for bigger projects you may need to bring in professionals with more specific areas of expertise.
Once you’ve found the person you’re thinking about hiring, have them do a few trial tasks, and of course pay them for their time. Maybe they just write one or two blog posts for you and you see how it goes. Maybe you have them prep a few social media posts with graphics for Instagram. Take it slow and figure out if it’s going to be a good match.
Finding the right writer or creative professional to work with may take some time, but I hope that these tips are helpful along the way!
Thanks for stopping by! If you found this helpful, you might enjoy my webinars, in-person classes, and workshops. Click here to learn more about Home Scribe Creative classes.
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