Outsourced Blog Content Writing – It’s Not Evil if It’s Not Abdicated

“Is outsourcing your content marketing evil?” asks ducttapemarketing in a post forwarded to me by friend Damon Richards.  (Since my business, Say It For You,  depends upon corporations and professional practitioners outsourcing many of their inbound marketing content creation to us, Damon knew I’d want to weigh in on just how much “evil” I was perpetrating by doing freelance blog content writing!)

To kick of the discussion, ducttapemarketing’s John Jantsch points out that 74% of small businesses surveyed recently said they were, in fact, using content marketing, with three quarters of them saying they planned to do more of it going forward.  61% of those surveyed claimed they did all their own content writing, with the rest using what Jantsch calls “hired guns”.

As a corporate blogging trainer, I want to encourage readers to take a closer look at two of Jantsch’s key statements:

“Outsourcing content creation is an essential tactic, especially for small businesses.”

My Say It For You website lists some key reasons content creation is so essential. Your content attracts new customers and keeps your regulars coming back. Content gets you noticed online and makes your business stand out from the competition.  Your content presents the benefits of your products and services, the history of your business and your own journey, successful case studies and testimonials, news of importance to your customers, and your perspective on trends in your industry.

“Outsourcing is not the same as abdication. You need to maintain tight control on themes, voice, message, and specific topic needs”.

Blog content writing actually bestows a “training benefit”.  What I mean by that, is when you blog, you’re verbalizing the positive aspects of your business or practice, putting your recent accomplishments into words, and reviewing the benefits of your own products and services. So, are those “training benefits” are lost to business owners or professionals who hire freelance blog content writers to be their “voice”? Really, the answer is “no”, at least not if things are done right, with your blogger becoming a true part of your marketing team. The very process of choosing themes, sharing strategies, and planning for content creation involves both the owner and the writer, creating a 2 + 2 =5 synergy effect.

Jantsch, though, is onto something when he cautions owners against totally abdicating the process of content creation.  The more involved the owner can be in discussing the messages to be conveyed in the company’s or practice’s blog, the more effective those messages are going to be.

A professional blog writer’s mission is to create content based on understanding you, your business and your message.