How to Hire Freelance Blog Writers (5 Proven, Affordable Ways)

Bonus Material: Free Blog Post Writing Template

Need to find a content writer who can write well-researched, high quality blog posts? Need someone who can do it at an affordable price (less than $500/blog post)? 

Over the last 5+ years we’ve perfected the process of finding great writers at affordable prices so our clients like Scott can get quality content to grow his business.

In this post I’m going to show you exactly how to find the best freelance blog writers to grow your business.

(Including five proven ways to get high quality blog posts for less than $500/post from skilled writers in your niche).

Grab the blog post writing template we give to our writers below:

Then give it to your writer, after you follow one of the five proven ways to hire them below.

How to Hire Freelance Blog Writers

1. Google Top Ranked Authors
2. Content Mavericks Writer
3. The Writer Finder
4. ProBlogger Job Board
5. Amazon Top Reviewed Authors

1. Google Top Ranked Authors

This is the #1 method we personally use to find the top writers in any niche. The process is simple:

1. Do a Google search for a popular topic in your niche. 

For example if I was in the weight loss niche, I might search for “how to lose belly fat” and find that the top ranked blog post is on a site called Healthline.

2. Click on the top ranked post and find who the author is.

For example, for the Healthline article above I can see from the top of the post that the author is Franziska Spritzler:

Note: If the author is not displayed, try right clicking on the blog post, go to “View Page Source” then press Command+F on your keyboard to open a search box to search for “author.” Most of the time, this will show you the author of the post.

3. Search for the author on LinkedIn in the “People” section.

4. Click on “Connect”, then “Add a note.” Send a short message asking if the author would be open to writing for your blog. Here’s the type of message we send:

5. Rinse and repeat this process for other top ranked authors on the topic, plus other topics relevant to your niche.

Note: If you can’t find the author, or the author says something generic like “Men’s Fitness Editors” skip it and move onto the next post.

This simple method will find writers in your niche who are proven to write well-researched, top ranking content on Google.

Just make sure to give them our blog post writing template so they can hit the ground running for the blog post you want them to write.

2. Content Mavericks Writer

If you’d prefer to not have to worry about sourcing writing talent yourself (messaging writers, negotiating rates, onboarding them into your business, etc) we created a done-for-you writing service where you can get a Content Mavericks style blog post for a flat rate of $499.

For $499, you will get:

• A skilled writer in your niche
• 3,000+ words
• SEO-friendly blog post
• 30 day money back guarantee

Our clients who have paid for this have reported really great results so far:

The quality level is so high because our content writing bees use our writing template (with detailed instructions), that we teach inside our Greatest Hits Content course.

After signing up, you get an intake form to fill out about your business, then one of our experienced content writing bees get assigned to you and start researching the best topic for your business (or you can provide one).

Once the topic is decided, the writing is then done in stages:

1. The outline is sent to you for approval.
2. The first 1,000 words are delivered.
3. The second 1,000 words are delivered.
4. The third 1,000 words are delivered.

It's generally one week between each stage. This is so you don’t get the whole blog post back and don’t like it, the quality is always meeting your expectations, and you can work with your content writing bee to give feedback for them to apply to the next 1,000 words.

The best part?

The deliverable is a Google doc, so you can easily whitelabel it and resell it to your clients if you want to.

No one will ever know your secret weapon 🙂

=> Get your own Content Mavericks style guide.

3. The Writer Finder

If you have a really niche business (e.g. hearing health, baby sleep, augmented reality flooring, etc) or hyper-specific writer requirements (e.g. a writer with 1+ years medical experience AND 1+ years copywriting experience) then The Writer Finder might be the perfect fit for you.

For $250 The Writer Finder will go through their 7,000+ writers to match you with three skilled writers in your niche in 72 hours or less. 

The service includes:

• 3-5 writers skilled in your niche
• Writing samples from each writer
• 72-hour turnaround
• 100% satisfaction guarantee

The best part?

If none of the writers are right for you, they'll keep looking, or give you your money back.

The only downside is the price doesn’t include the writer’s fee, so you won’t know exactly how much the writers they find for you will cost. 

When you sign up however, The Writer Finder will send you a short survey to ask what your budget is, then try to match you with a writer that fits your budget.

=> Get The Writer Finder to find you a writer.

4. ProBlogger Job Board

For $75 you can post a “blog/article writing” job on the Problogger Job Board for 15 days.

Top brands like Ahrefs use the Problogger Job Board to get their job ads for SEO writers in front of ProBlogger’s audience of bloggers.

Because ProBlogger has been around since 2004, they’ve built up an audience of over 300,000 bloggers.

This means when you post your job ad it will get sent to:

• 1,000+ RSS subscribers
• 230,000+ Twitter followers
• 100,000+ blog readers

With this reach, ProBlogger job listings regularly get 100s of applicants.

The problem?

With 100s of applicants, the quality and experience level between writers varies greatly.

If you do decide to post a job ad on the ProBlogger Job Board, make sure you get people to fill out an application form with some qualifying questions relevant to your business.

For example, here are some of the qualifying questions Ahrefs ask using a Google form:

I imagine if people answer any of the below:

• >$1,000 per 1,000 word article
• <1 year experience in SEO
• No, I haven’t ever used Ahrefs SEO tools

Then Ahrefs content team will automatically disqualify those applicants. They will then pay a handful of shortlisted applicants for a short test article to find the best writer to hire.

Without a fast way to shortlist your most qualified applicants like this, you can get overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of applicants on ProBlogger.

=> Post a job ad on the ProBlogger Job Board.

5. Amazon Top Reviewed Authors

Amazon is one of the most untapped places to find the most ridiculously experienced writers, as well as experienced retired authors who will charge a fraction of the price of less experienced content writers.

Here’s how to find them:

1. Go to the Kindle Books section of the Amazon website.

2. Search for a popular topic related to your business, then sort the books by “Avg. Customer Review” and books that have reviews of “4 stars & Up”.

3. Look for books that have 10+ reviews.

4. Search for the author on LinkedIn in the “People” section.

5. Click on “Connect”, then “Add a note.” Send a short message asking if the author would be open to being a paid contributor for your blog. Here’s the type of message we send:

Note: It’s important when following this method to phrase your message as a “paid contributor” vs a “freelance writer” as author’s often see themselves as experts, not freelancers.

Also, because book writing is different from blog post writing, make sure to give them our blog post writing template so they can hit the ground running for the blog post you want them to write.

Where can I hire a blog writer?

The top 10 websites to hire a blog writer are:

1. Content Mavericks Writer - $499 for one 3,000 word blog post
2. The Writer Finder - $250 to find three skilled writers
3. ProBlogger Job Board - $75 to post a job ad
4. Scripted - $199/mo to $1,299/mo for 2-10 blog posts
5. ContentFly - $300/mo to $2,400/mo for 4,000-32,000 words
6. CrowdContent - 3 cents (entry level) to 13.5 cents (expert level) per word 
7. WriterAccess - 2 cents to $2 per word + $39/mo to $99/mo for the platform
8. SEMrush Marketplace - $40 to $300 for 500-5,000 words
9. FATJOE - $10 to $438 for 250-4,000 words
10. VirtualStaff.ph - $100/mo to $1,000+/mo for a filipino content writer

How much does it cost to hire a blog writer?

On the low end it can cost $10 for an entry-level writer to write a 250 word blog post with basic subject research and content only (no images). 

On the high end it can cost $10,000 for an experienced writer to write a 10,000 word blog post with thorough subject research, interviews, custom illustrations and contextual calls to action. 

$10,000 is the price we were offered by HubSpot:

How do I hire freelance bloggers?

You can hire freelance bloggers via:

1. Done-For-You Services (e.g. Content Mavericks Writer)
2. Marketplaces (e.g. Scripted, ContentFly, CrowdContent, SEMrush Marketplace, Constant Content, Upwork)
3. Matchmakers (e.g. The Writer Finder, The Content Panel, MarketerHire)
4. Job Boards (e.g. ProBlogger, Dynamite Jobs, Freelance Writers Den, WorkingInContent, Contena)
5. Software Platforms (WriterAccess, Contently, ClearVoice)

What is the average salary for a freelance blog writer?

The average salary for a freelance blog writer is $56,324 per year in the United States. This is the equivalent of $1,083/week or $4,694/month. (Source: ZipRecruiter)

How do I hire high quality writers?

You can hire high quality writers by looking at their writing samples. If you like what you see, offer to hire the writer to write a blog post for you. Some things to look for in professional blog writers, include:

• Short sentences
• Short paragraphs
• H2s
• H3s
• Writing is concise
• Writing is actionable
• Add screenshots where appropriate
• Add calls to action where appropriate

Hire Your Next Freelance Blog Writer Now

To recap, the best ways to find an elite team of writers to grow your blog include:

1. Google Top Ranked Authors - search on Google for writers who have written content that is proven to rank on Google, then message the writers to ask if they are open to doing a freelance writing gig with you.
2. Content Mavericks Writer - hire our team of experienced writers to write a Content Mavericks style guide for you, for a flat rate of $499 for 3,000 words.
3. The Writer Finder - pay $250 to get matched with three skilled writers in your niche in 72 hours or less.
4. ProBlogger Job Board - pay $75 to post a “blog/article writing” job ad for 15 days and get 100s of applicants.
5. Amazon Top Reviewed Authors - search on Amazon for Kindle Book authors who have a proven track record of writing content that gets 4-star reviews and up, then message the writers to ask if they are open to doing a paid contribution on your blog.

However you decide to hire, make sure to grab our blog post writing template below and give it to your writer, so you get back a well-structured blog post with a unique angle and well-thought through outline.

Then let me know in the comments:

How will you hire your next freelance blog writer?