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Doing content rightSEO BlueprintMOFU
Conversion-focused content strategies
Content StrategyPositioningSEO
Common Hiring Mistakes:
Flawed Content Production Process:
Process Adjustment:
Hiring Criteria Shift:
Content Marketing Manager or Editor:
Founder/CEO:
Acknowledging Hiring Difficulty:
Importance of Hiring:
Our Hiring Experience:
Endorsement of Difficulty:
Simplicity: Google Form is user-friendly and uncomplicated.Cost-Effective: It is a free tool, making it accessible to all.Data Management: Entries are systematically arranged in a spreadsheet, allowing efficient data handling.Information Collection: The form helps gather essential details from candidates, including writing samples, reasons for wanting to work with us, and their career goals.
Writing Samples: Evaluate the pure writing ability of candidates through provided samples.Cultural Fit Assessment: Understand the motivation behind their interest in working with us and gauge their alignment with our cultural values.
Our approach is specific to what works for us, and there may be alternative successful methods.Individuals are unique, and exceptions to the outlined personas exist.Our understanding of the ideal candidate evolves, and we continually update our criteria.
Less experienced as writers, avoiding ingrained bad habits.Background knowledge and drive compensate for the writing experience.
Emphasis on clarity of thought rather than perfect English.Evaluation based on candidates' ability to extract unique, original, or controversial ideas from client interviews.
A strong desire to learn marketing and accept feedback.Contributes to a collaborative team environment, fostering continuous improvement.
Clarity of Thought: Assess candidates based on their ability to articulate unique and original ideas.Interesting Backgrounds: Candidates with backgrounds involving challenging problem-solving or business initiatives most times exhibit clarity of thought.Hunger to Learn: This is especially relevant for collaborative team environments like ours.Matter of Fact Writing: Look for matter-of-fact writing in portfolios—clear, straightforward breakdowns of concepts. This trait is challenging to teach and aligns with our emphasis on clarity.
Courses Hub
Case study examples:
Courses to take:
Alex Garcia
The Blueprint Training
SEO MBA
How will this offer make them feel
Focus on output
Launch: Results will depend on...
This will require... is that possible?
Support the point of contact at the client
Collaborate
Language of possibility and joint exploration
Talk about annual numbers traffic, revenue, etc. not monthly
Cliff notes for stakeholders. They don’t need a laundry list, but “what’s this project about?”
Never use “You should” = There’s an opportunity
Every slides says 1 thing
Be explicit about what better and improvements look like
Slide titles should have opportunity and context
Client relations are a game of habits
Recommends to a [plan, map of what’s ahead of us
Statement of Work plan
Objective, ambition, explicit goals
Scope: should be a section or portion of a website
Break into phases and seperate activities from deliverables
Assumptions: what needs to happen for success?
Timing
Costs
Production and Oversight TBD
Cvent vs Hallpax compare two pages
AOV avg order value
Framing our ideas as opportunities
SEO strategy: product pages; site quality; editorial content
Offer statement:
Helping early stage African startups grow sustainably and increase revenue with:
We help early stage African startups scale sustainably with better:
By working with founders and marketing teams to ensure your content strategy and brand positioning are primed for targeting and conversion from you ICP.
This is exactly what we do, this is who we do it for, and this is how we deliver
Blueprint Training
Notes:
Offer is not:
What you do
What they’re getting (no. of deliverables)
What you’re charging
Offer is:
Output or results of benefits
A solution to painful problem that results in more customers
4 Q’s
Is there a pain
How painful?
Purchasing power
Customer easy to find?
Offer statement:
Who is it for?
What do they want?
How do they get it?
SEO MBA
Content Marketing is not
no. of blogs
impressions
engagement
professional kudos
Positive PR stories
Grow and Convert
Hiring and Managing Writers for Maximum Impact.
5.1 Reimagining Content Writers Hiring Practices
Many companies mistakenly believe they should hire experienced bloggers or writers with industry expertise. However, experience has shown that hiring individuals with a keen interest in writing, a capacity to learn marketing, and a hunger for excellence yields better results.
The conventional approach involves assigning a topic to a writer, expecting them to become instant experts, and deliver content aligned with the company's viewpoint. This method often leads to dissatisfaction as writers may not grasp the company's perspective.
Our approach involves leveraging internal expertise, having writers interview subject matter experts, and turning that knowledge into cohesive articles. This ensures content aligns with the target audience's expertise level, a critical factor discussed in Lesson 2.1.
The emphasis shifts from hiring writers with existing subject matter expertise to finding individuals skilled in translating interviews with experts into compelling articles. This strategy ensures content resonates with the audience and maintains a high level of expertise.
Roles and Responsibilities in Content Creation
As a manager, your responsibilities include identifying excellent writers, providing necessary information for successful writing, editing articles, offering constructive feedback, and leading the strategy and SEO efforts related to articles.
If you are not directly involved in content management, your role is to find talented writers capable of strategizing, handling SEO, and editing. These writers, known as "content strategists," can manage the entire content creation process with support. It's acceptable not to be directly involved in content strategy if you can find writers with these multifaceted skills.
Navigating the Hiring Challenge
Hiring writers or content strategists is acknowledged as a challenging task. The process has its complexities, but the rewards are significant.
Hiring is a pivotal focus for CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and remains a challenge across various industries. Despite its difficulty, the rewards of finding exceptional writers or content strategists are transformative.
Despite facing failures in hiring, we've learned that perseverance is key. The process might not be perfect, but having a system to filter candidates can lead to discovering exceptional individuals who make a substantial difference in content marketing operations.
Recognizing that hiring is not a flawless process is crucial. Achieving perfection may be challenging, but having a systematic approach—a funnel that filters candidates based on criteria—can help uncover gems that significantly contribute to operationalizing content marketing.
5.2 Navigating the Writer Recruitment Process
Locating exceptional writers isn't a straightforward task, and no specific job board or platform guarantees consistent success. As mentioned earlier, hiring writers is a complex process that involves more than just finding individuals and assigning projects.
Funnel Approach to Hiring
This process begins with posting a job listing, followed by a form with questions aimed at filtering candidates based on their portfolio, writing clarity, and future aspirations. The final stage involves testing candidates with paid projects, first with a test piece and later with real client pieces, allowing us to assess their performance in a practical setting.
This process helps us land the ideal candidate, which based on our experience, possesses intelligence, a drive to learn marketing, and demonstrates clear, non-beginner writing skills. Emphasizing these qualities over specific topic expertise has proven effective for us.
Platforms Tested for Candidate Recruitment
We have experimented with AngelList and Craigslist to attract candidates into our hiring funnel. While these platforms may not represent an exhaustive list of the best places, they served our purpose in exposing us to potential candidates. AngelList appealed to the tech community, with writers accustomed to nuanced software products, while Craigslist's broad reach exposed us to a diverse pool of candidates.
Using A Google Form as an “Application” to Filter Candidate
We employ a straightforward and cost-effective approach by utilizing Google Forms as our application tool. This facilitates the collection of candidate information, and the entries are neatly organized into a spreadsheet for easy assessment.
Benefits of Google Form:
Assessment Criteria:
Practical Application:
Columns can be added to the spreadsheet for team members' thoughts on candidates, streamlining the evaluation process without the need for complex hiring software. This approach has proven effective for us, managing over 800 applicants efficiently.
5.3 What To Look For In Candidates
Disclaimer
Before delving into our criteria for evaluating writer applicants, it's crucial to acknowledge a few disclaimers.
Personas We Avoid
There are exceptions to all rules and in hiring there are a million exceptions. But right now there are two personas that we tend to avoid: the marketing blogger and the experienced journalist.
1. The Experienced Marketing Blogger (EMB):
We generally avoid hiring experienced marketing bloggers due to entrenched habits that often conflict with our content strategy principles. EMBs may rely on clichés, lack specificity, and produce content mirroring prevalent industry standards. Exceptions include proactive referrals and individuals demonstrating a keen initiative to learn.
2. The Experienced Journalist:
While journalists bring valuable skills, their adaptation to our content strategy is challenging. Journalists may resist our questionnaire and outline process, prefer entertainment over education in writing, and resist shifts in their established writing methods. Exceptions exist, with individuals like Jonathan Santiago on our team who seamlessly adapted to our approach.
The LESH Persona We Seek
Our evolving preference is for candidates characterized as Less Experienced, Smart, and Hungry (LESH). This persona has proven successful for us and is defined by three key attributes:
1. Less Experienced:
2. Smart:
3. Hungry:
What to Look for in Candidates
While filtering for the LESH persona, focus on:
5.4 How to Hire Writers
A has been provided on how to hire great blog writers. Watching the video will establish a comprehensive overview, setting the stage for a deeper dive into the hiring writer modules.
After absorbing insights from the video, revisit the corresponding hiring writer modules. This approach allows for a more connected understanding, bridging specific lessons with the broader context provided in the video.
5.5 The Test Project: Evaluating New Writers
In a quest to identify promising writers, we have refined our approach by incorporating a test project into the selection process. This project, akin to crafting an actual piece, is a pivotal step after shortlisting applicants based on the "LESH" criteria: less experienced, smart, and hungry. The test project involves assigned tasks such as listening to interviews, completing questionnaires, and drafting specific sections of ongoing pieces.
The rationale behind this method stems from past experiences where directly assigning new writers to real client pieces proved stressful and time-consuming. New writers require additional time, coaching, and editing to align with our established style. By involving them in an existing project, we assess their abilities in a controlled environment.
Applicants receive $200 for their efforts, even if they don't progress beyond the questionnaire stage. This not only compensates them for their time but also maintains a positive and respectful engagement.
Initiating the Test Piece
A crucial aspect is providing clear instructions for the test piece. Transparency and guidance are essential for new writers. We share comprehensive background information and instructions through a standardized email template, ensuring clarity on expectations and tasks.
Evaluation Criteria for Progression: Focus on Quality and Fit
Why do we ask new writers to draft only the introduction and the first section? This deliberate choice stems from the belief that these sections offer sufficient insights into a writer's capabilities. The questionnaire phase usually reveals whether a candidate is suitable. Competent writers showcase spot-on responses and a thorough outline.
Exceptional writers invest effort in the outline, demonstrating a deep understanding of the topic. This includes analyzing existing content related to the target keyword, identifying gaps, and presenting a comprehensive plan. The drafting phase, particularly the introduction, becomes a litmus test for translating a well-thought-out outline into polished prose.
Upon completion, a comparative analysis is conducted between the new writer's piece and the one produced by our team. This process fosters learning and improvement, providing valuable insights for both parties.
Transition to Real Client Pieces: Setting Expectations
Successfully navigating the test project doesn't guarantee an immediate transition to authentic client pieces. We emphasize to new writers that the initial client pieces also serve as a trial period. This approach acknowledges the potential need for a rapport and rhythm to be established before a consistent workflow can be guaranteed.
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