Occasionally we invite professionals to wax poetic about issues of importance to Elance clients in general and startups in particular. Here are some thoughts from Carlo Pandian, a big Elance fan and successful entrepreneur.
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Practically every guide to social media marketing guide will assure its readers that quality content is the single most important key to success. That’s great news if you have within your team the talent to implement this sound advice, but if not then the requisite know-how will have to be ensured utilizing independent contractors.
In-house or not in-house.
There are advantages and drawbacks to using remote workers for the web content provision.
While you will find many great freelancers on Elance, you will have to be sure they have the necessary experience and knowledge of your niche industry to produce anything other than generic content.
The talent in that case may require some tracking down, or else you can train in-house resources, which will take time...and money.
Integration with existing systems, security risks, knowledge transfer and management issues are other areas you’ll have to give some thought to. Using accounting software such as the QuickBooks from Intuit will help smooth out some of the cash flow issues when an outsourcing option is implemented.
Main benefits:
By hiring skilled online social media experts you’ll be assured of top quality, on-time content and will be able to manage your project more effectively than if you have to rely on in-house talent which may not be up to the challenge.
You’ll also be able to hire expert video, illustrators, copy and infographics providers only when you require them, so you won’t have to pay for a permanent content provider even when there’s no work going on.
In terms of the online market and big competition, smaller niche companies are able to exert effective leverage when they outsource to professional content providers. They’ll also be able to concentrate more on customer satisfaction once production has been transferred out.
Preliminaries
Business owners should assess the relative merits of various outsourcing companies before hiring them, as it is crucial to identify the services on offer before engaging. You need them to be able to create original, fresh and often innovative content which is targeted specifically at your market audience.
The proficiency levels of writers and image manipulators can be checked on by giving them sample tests before responsibility for the project is handed over. Before hiring a particular company for the task in hand, carry out some preliminary research and consultations. Take a good look through their portfolio and read some client reviews of previous projects they’ve been involved with.
You may even choose to hire the social media services of more than one specialist provider, depending on the volumes of content you need and whether it will be on a regular basis.
In terms of internet marketing strategies, web content is absolutely critical. Without effective content, businesses have no means of attracting the all-important search engines and generating the necessary web traffic.
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About Carlo:
Carlo Pandian is a freelance blogger that is interested in social media, start-ups and freelancing. He is a regular contributor at Techli and loves writing about how small businesses can share great web content thanks to services like Elance.