How To Hire a Freelance SaaS Writer Who Will Reliably Create Top Quality Content
Once you launch your SaaS, it’s time to spread the word around and draw in some clients. Various marketing methods can help you achieve this. One of those methods is hiring a SaaS writer expert to write engaging content that will boost your organic reach and let people learn about you through Google.
In this article, we’ll show you where you can find a freelance SaaS writer and describe a hiring process that allows you to determine who the best candidate for the role is.
Where To Find Freelance SaaS Writers—Top 5 Job Boards
When it comes to finding professionals interested in content and copywriting roles, there are 30+ online job boards you can rely on. We had to hire 45+ writers in under 2 years, which meant we had to meddle with many of these job listing websites to find out which work the best.
Here’s our pick for the top 5 job boards for finding freelance writers in SaaS:
Indeed
Glassdoor
LinkedIn
Upwork
PeoplePerHour
Indeed
Indeed is the most popular job website in the world with over 250 million unique visitors each month. While not all of them are content and copywriters, it’s still a great place to find SaaS writer professionals looking for a new job.
Price
Pros
Cons
Free job ads
Sponsored posts from $0.10 to $5
Easy to use
Free to use
Process automation
Large number of writers
Access to candidates’ resumes before messaging them
Sponsored posts can become pricey
Promotional emails
Hard to search and filter candidates
Candidates apply multiple times
Glassdoor
Similar to Indeed, Glassdoor is an online job board that attracts companies and job seekers from virtually every industry.
As a company, you need to pay a fee of at least $219 a month to post a job listing, but you get to tap into a large talent pool, compare your offer to your competition’s, and have a more detailed view of each applicant.
Price
Pros
Cons
$219–$599 a month
Customizable company profile
Large talent pool
Ability to see competition salary offers
Expensive
Too many promotional emails
Poor tracking functionality
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a professional network (some call it social media of the business world) that is by far the most popular website with regard to company life. The website has 810 million users from over 200 countries.
While job listings are not its primary function, LinkedIn offers you the chance to connect with many freelance SaaS writers who seek a job on the network.
Price
Pros
Cons
Free
Sponsored ads $5 a day
Free ads
Popular among writers
Scheduling interview feature
Easy to integrate with an ATS
Have to pay extra for the tracking feature
Sponsored ads can’t target freelance writers
Easy Apply brings incomplete applications
Upwork
Upwork is a website dedicated entirely to freelancers. You can use it to find a large number of freelance writers, which allows you to hire experienced freelancers from all over the globe instead of confining yourself to the local market.
Hiring on Upwork is project-oriented, meaning that you’ll need to plan out the entire strategy and publishing calendar before a freelancer accepts your offer.
Price
Pros
Cons
3% of hiring fee
Great for freelancers and part-timers
Access to a global talent pool
Large number of writers
Can get pricey
Difficult to differentiate good candidates
PeoplePerHour
PeoplePerHour is also a project-oriented website that offers only freelancers available at any price point. The way it works is that you post a project (i.e., how many articles you need written), and freelancers will reach out to you with their own proposals.
Price
Pros
Cons
Free job ads available
“Promoting” job ads starts from $15
Freelancers available at any price point
Global talent pool
Employers can see history and rating of freelancers
High platform fees, often leading to inflated prices
Poor customer support if you encounter technical or payment issues
What Makes Hiring a Skillful, Experienced Freelance SaaS Writer Difficult
Regardless of whether you’re looking for a SaaS content writing freelancer or a freelance copywriter, finding one won’t be as easy as posting a job ad for the role you’re offering. This is especially true for SaaS companies, who require a specific approach to both content and copy due to the nature of the business model.
Various job boards have different hiring processes, meaning that you’ll need to post a job ad on some of them, while others require you to create a project opportunity for which freelancers apply.
Another issue you’ll face is finding a SaaS writer with the skill set and experience required for creating SaaS-related content and copy. It’s not the same to write a fashion blog and to create an article or a landing page for a SaaS company.
When you dig even deeper, there are nuances between B2C and B2B SaaS writers’ jobs, which makes the whole hiring process even more tedious.
Whenever you post a job ad, you’ll have hundreds of applications from freelancers who don’t have the required skill set or experience to write blog posts or create promotional material that’s up to the required standard.
While there are writers who meet the criteria, they are scarce and are highly sought-after. This means that you’re fighting against the clock to hire a high-quality freelancer before they accept another company’s offer.
You’ll need to evaluate as many candidates as fast as possible to hire the best one. We’ll show you how.
How To Hire a Better Freelance SaaS Writer Faster
Whatever you do, you’ll never be able to avoid unqualified applicants completely. Every job board is full of mediocre writers and newbies who try their luck with any job ad they see. You can, however, drastically lower the number of unwanted applications through a detailed job description.
The first step is to make sure you use a proper title. The title of a freelance writer can cover every content writing job there is. Your initial step should be to give candidates an idea of what they would be doing even before they read your job description.
Think of the particularities of the job and what kind of content they need to create. Here are some ideas for a job title you can use:
How To Write a Job Description That Will Attract Only the Best Candidates
Now it’s time to write a job description. The goal here is to be as specific about the role as possible. Mention all the requirements candidates need to meet to be considered for the role.
For instance, list that they must have experience in SaaS content or copywriting. Describe what type of articles or landing pages they’ll have to write and what type of industry they need to be familiar with.
Another aspect of the job description you need to go into detail about is the benefits you offer.
While extensive requirements will deter unqualified applicants, your job description should also serve to attract the top-performing freelance writers. Mention everything that comes with the job, including career advancement opportunities, potential salary increases, healthcare plans, etc.
If you’re having trouble with writing your job description, you can take a look at some of ours and see how detailed it needs to be. Here are a few examples:
Once you receive an application that seems great on paper, you have to find out if the applicant’s skills match the portfolio and resume. The only way to do this is to test them.
You need to come up with a test that will allow you to assess their use of language, research skills, copywriting prowess, and any other aspect of their job that is important to your company.
When you’re creating the assignment, make sure you don’t overdo it and end up with a test that’s too complex. Most candidates won’t make the effort of doing a test that takes a whole day to complete.
Once you create a test you’re happy with, it’s time for candidates to showcase their talent. You should be meticulous in your assessment and invite for an interview only the candidates that show a certain level of promise.
While the testing phase may seem a bit too much to you, most writing candidates are used to it and have completed many of them before. The testing phase is crucial if you want to avoid hiring the wrong person and end up spending $1,000+ on poor content that you can’t publish.
Set Up a Fully Automated Hiring Funnel With Workello in 5 Minutes
Workello is an ATS dedicated to hiring content team members, be it in-house or freelancers. When you create an account, all you need to do is post job ads on various boards and watch candidates stream in.
With Workello, you’ll have a one-page dashboard that allows you to track and micromanage candidates throughout the hiring process. You only need to change their candidate status from the drop-down menu, with the available options being:
Application Received
Application Rejected
Test Candidate
Test Complete
Reject Candidate
Interview Candidate
Send Offer
Every time you change a candidate’s status, an automated email will be triggered to inform the candidate about their application. This speeds up the hiring time tenfold and allows you not to waste your time on manual correspondence.
Workello allows you to speed up the process and find the best candidates faster. You’ll also cut your hiring costs by 50%!
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