Six Tips to Help You Hire the Right Employees

A recent survey found that poor hiring costs small business owners roughly $10,000 per wrong hire.  We also learn that just under half of all new hires fail within their first 18 months of the job.  This happens so frequently because flaws are often overlooked during the hiring process.  Wondering how hiring managers can identify the qualities that make happy and driven employees in order to avoid hiring mistakes? These six tips are key to hire the right employee:

Assess the work ethic.

Ask your candidates to elaborate on their work experience.  Listen for details and keep your ears open for signs of excitement and motivation.  If you’re interviewing recent graduates who may lack in the experience department, see what extra curricular activities they took

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part in. 

“Listen” to their resume.

Resumes are simply a story about their author.  Check for jobs and activities that coincide – an indication of a strong work ethic and the ability to commit multiple activities simultaneously.  Look for patterns in previous positions such as length of employment or job structures they gravitate towards.  Make a note of gaps between jobs and have the candidate tell you about them.

Determine integrity.

Ask the candidate about his or her biggest failure or disappointment.  Have them tell you more and it and pay close attention to see if they took the right level of responsibility for it.  Were there moral conflicts in their decision-making process?  If so, how was it handled?

Evaluate maturity.

Have the candidate share where he or she hopes to be in five or ten years to get an idea of their career drive.  Also have them share one of their biggest regrets.  As they reflect on their regret, listen for maturity about it instead of bitterness and whining.

Throw them for a loop.

Instead of shaking hands and sending your candidate off at the end of the interview, invite them to join you on a tour of the building or in the cafeteria.  Watch how they act and converse in a more casual setting.  The new setting will really illuminate his or her personality traits and give you idea who they really are.

Heed your gut.

Candidates need to have strong examples of how they handle situations.  If they give weak answers, make sure to ask targeted questions during their next interview.  If you have any doubts, don’t ignore them.  If your gut is telling you something isn’t right, listen.  You don’t want to hire someone who gives lots of  “right” answers if you simply don’t feel they’ll be a good hire.

Hiring the right employee is a challenging process.  Hiring the wrong one is costly and time consuming.  Take the time to find a candidate who will mesh well with your team and you’ll reap the benefits of a positive impact on your total work environment.

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Questions to Ask a Writer or Writing Company Before Hiring

You have a business and need a writer, but aren’t sure where to begin?  As when hiring any employee, be sure to get all of the facts straight. Here are six questions to ask a writer before you hire:

How will you communicate and deliver completed assignments?

When you hire a writer, you will likely have a primarily virtual relationship.  Today, more writers work via email.  You may never work with the writer face to face throughout your relationship.  Make sure to find out which ways your writer will communicate and how you will receive completed work. Effective communication is key to company success.

What is your turnaround time?

Deadlines must be must – no matter what.  If writers don’t have assignments over in time, that isn’t a good

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thing.  Your projects deserve to be handled with care so make sure to hire a writer who can commit to meeting deadlines.

What is included in the quote?

Find out what quotes from your writer include.  Revisions, and if so, how many? Does the writer expect time for travel, if applicable? Does he or she charge for in-person meetings? These are all important things to know prior to hiring him.

What industries can you write about?

Usually freelancers can writer about a variety of topics.  It’s great to find out where your writer excels, and which areas he or she does not feel comfortable with.  A good freelancer identifies his or her weaknesses and sets limitations.  During an interview, request samples of the writers work to see if his or her claims hold true.

What are your freelance work hours?

Find out if your writer is a full-time writer or if he will be writing around several other commitments.  Depending on your needs, the answer to this question may be a deal-breaker.  If you have short deadlines or the need to reach your writer immediately, and he or she has a full time job, this writer may not be the best choice for you.  However, even writers with other commitments can still work out well.

Do you know how to optimize content for search engines?

In today’s world, experienced writers are proficient at optimizing blog content – and it’s considered part of the process of writing an assignment.  Make sure your writer knows how to optimize a title and blog content and write a compelling meta description that makes readers click.

Before you hire a writer, ask some key questions to help you get to know the writer a little better.  By doing so, you can hire someone who is hardworking and dependable and forge a long lasting relationship.

What questions do you ask a writer prior to hiring him or her?

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What Good Writing Says about Your Business

One of the biggest ways people learn about your company, product or service is by reading about it. It would be wonderful to regularly meet potential customers face-to-face, and have the opportunity to give them the long version about the features and benefits of what you offer. Unfortunately there isn't enough time in a day to make those types of meetings cost effective- it's important to reach the masses and get your name out there.

Thanks to the Internet the written word can be available globally for all to see, at any time. Those words can be impactful, and not always in a positive way. It is necessary to hone your writing skills, or hire someone to write for you. The first impression you leave with consumers may be a lasting one, so put your best foot (or hand) forward and become an intelligent voice for your business.

Let's review a few important things to take note of when writing for your company:

• Communicate Effectively: Keep your writing straight forward; remove extra unnecessary fluff words to maintain credibility. Try to avoid filling in the gaps with information that isn't pertinent to your company or business. Be sure to use powerful and appropriate terminology, just make sure the words aren't made-up or sound gimmicky. It's also important to write properly when communicating internally, in email for example, and with marketing brochures and advertisements.
• Check and Re-Check: It is absolutely necessary to check your writing for proper grammar and use of words. Regardless of your level of knowledge, improper grammar will cause your message to be lost amongst the errors. Typically it's simple misuse or misspellings that could easily be caught with a quick search tool before posting your communication. Some fairly common mistakes include using "your" instead of "you're", "there" instead of "their" (or vise versa!), and using apostrophes incorrectly. Take the time to review or learn writing basics, and always ask someone to proofread your work; a fresh set of eyes can be extremely beneficial. Proofread emails to make sure you are getting the appropriate message across to the reader.
• Be a Stand-Out: In the same manner bad writing can hurt your business, great writing can put you on top. People will appreciate your professionalism and recognize the attention to detail. Quality business writing will help consumers view you and your company as industry leaders and come to you to meet their needs. Having well written hand-outs and marketing slogans will bring your company to mind and ultimately result in more sales revenue.

In the event you decide to hire an individual or service to handle your writing duties, be sure to carefully research and review sample writings. The only thing worse than making mistakes is paying someone else to make them for you.

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Where to Hire Freelance Writers

Successful companies typically use social media, email marketing and newsletters to help people learn about and discover their business. With the power of the internet, it's important to take advantage of the opportunity to get the word out. You are busy running and growing your business and may not have the time to focus on tasks that involve writing. It's likely the perfect time to hire a professional to help out.

Freelance writers can assist with blog posts, marketing, general content and information on your website. Companies will also utilize freelance business writers to do email and letter templates; this not only simplifies things but insures that you will send out professionally written correspondence every time. Your current and potential customers will take notice and look to you for guidance within your industry.

Now that you have discovered the need, where can you look to find someone? It's also important to know what to look for in finding the right fit for your business. Below are some suggestions to help get you started and off and running with your business writing.

The World Wide Web

Where else would you begin a search but on the Internet? Of course that would seem like the first place to start when looking to hire a freelance business writer, after all a lot of what they can do for your company will center around your own website. A Google search will return several hundred spots to check out; as with most things some are more reputable than others, and some free or fee-based. Ask for recommendations from friends or business associates, and if you don't have any, start chipping away at the list or try some more detailed searches. Elance, Guru and Freelance.com are a few to help you get started. These sites make it easy to see how many writers are available in a specific field. Freelancers can post  their skills and budget requirements, making it easy to quickly narrow down the choices to match your business writing needs.

Universities and Colleges

A lot of college students and recent graduates, especially journalism majors, want to practice their skills and have high hopes of having work published. The key to their journalistic futures often lies far outside their college papers. They may also require lower pay than their professional world counterparts which can be a nice bonus for you; they get a few bylines and you get a writer with fresh perspective, win-win. Obviously these students can be found online as well, but check out local universities and job fairs- it might be nice to meet your potential employee face-to-face. Always ask for examples of their writing and consider having a sample test to see how well their writing represents your company.

Hiring freelance writers is an important decision and can make a really big impact on your business; take the time to find the right person. Do you currently use outside writers for your business?

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What is Ghostwriting Anyway?

In the world of freelance writing attaching the pre-fix "ghost" is pretty commonplace; but to the layman it may sound like an unusual term to describe what you do- albeit intriguing. The word is actually used quite literally. Most would consider a ghost to be invisible, and generally speaking a ghost writer is essentially just that to the reader- unseen, unknown, invisible. So what is the benefit? Why would someone let another take credit for what they have written? Let's get to the know the term and concept a bit more to answer those questions.

The Definition: The actual definition goes something like this, "a person who writes one or numerous speeches, books, articles, etc., for another person who is named as or presumed to be the author." Sounds simple enough. With this comes the fact that the author has no rights to the work they have done, it belongs to the individual that commissioned the work. You will not be referencing these pieces on your resume for example. But that isn't always a bad thing.

The Why: Simply put, ghostwriting is a job that pays money. Everyone does something to make a living. And unless you have just written the Great American Novel, in most cases you probably don't mind who gets the credit, as long as you get to cash the check. Many people have the need for writers and don't take on the task themselves; whether due to time, skill or a variety of other reasons. Sometimes you may get paid nicely to make someone sound better than they could themselves- people do it everyday through press releases and public speaking engagements.

The Maybe Not: As mentioned above in the definition you, the writer, won't get credit. Likely not ever for pieces that you have written for someone else under these terms. You cannot use these as examples to get additional work or build your writing resume. If your intention is to maintain and create a writing career it may be best to limit the ghostwriting assignments that you accept. Or at least look for other opportunities as well to fill in some gaps and allow you to produce some credible pieces for reference. If you feel a ghostwritten piece could be beneficial to your portfolio consider requesting a byline or negotiating for some credit. Don't be surprised if the client doesn't agree to either, it is after-all a ghostwriting gig. Hopefully you can at least get a good professional reference.

Ghostwriting can be an exciting way to hone your skills and also give you the opportunity to learn new things, build a strong client base and of course earn some money. How do you feel about writers being hired to write for others?

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