However, there are reasons why hiring a freelancer direct might work better for you than entering into a long-term contract with an agency.
For a start, there's the obvious question - if they're hiring freelancers anyway, where's their profit coming from?
Well, speaking from experience, I'd say the articles I write as a freelancer cost about half as much, when sold direct, as customers were paying for the same content in my agency role.
The difference comes from the type of service offered - I can write your content, I can format it according to the HTML you need (bold, italics, heading tags, blockquotes etc) and I can upload it to your website, if you have a content management system like WordPress that I can log into.
Agencies, on the other hand, tend to offer more complete customer service and troubleshooting, or deliver the content in a specific way that requires you to make changes to your website.
Depending on your needs - and particularly for larger companies - the latter approach may be preferable. But if all you need is content written to a high standard and delivered to you or placed on your website, without all the add-ons, you can save a substantial amount of money by hiring a freelance SEO blogger directly.
Experience
Not all freelancers are chancers who decided to work for themselves because they didn't fancy a 'proper' job.
In my case, I left my full-time agency role after almost five years, basically because of burn-out. I'd been writing roughly 5,000 words per day - all of which needed to be researched, written and edited before publication - and I just couldn't take any more of working at that pace.
I still keep that top gear in reserve for when a client has a particularly tight deadline - such as the 8,000-word brochure I wrote in 24 hours last weekend - but generally I stay around third gear, and the quality of my content is higher as a result.
You will often find that freelance copywriters are better able to manage their own workloads and give your content the attention it needs, as they don't face the same pressures to drive profit margins higher that are faced by agencies with large overheads to pay for.
By hiring an ex-agency freelance copywriter in particular, you get that same level of experience (formal SEO training, professional accreditation to several industry-specific press websites, and roughly 30,000 articles published since 2006) without paying for the things you might not need - the technical support, the customer service, and the sales calls.
Ambition
I mentioned above that I believe agencies face unique pressures in terms of producing content as cheaply as possible, in order to maximise their profits and cover their overheads.
Put yourself in the position of being their customer, and ask yourself whether that aligns with what you need from them.
Now consider yourself as the customer of a freelance SEO blogger - our ambitions, our potential positive outcomes, are based on our need to maintain good long-term relationships with our clients, and build a strong reputation in order to win new work.
That means we aim for:
- top-quality content
- no compromise on deadlines
- value for money
- supportive aftercare
- your aims are our aims
On that last point, I hope it's plain and simple logic that proves that, if you profit, we profit.
I've had clients who have been able to increase their marketing budget thanks to the success of our initial small-scale efforts, and agency clients who have steadily increased the number of their clients that I'm writing for.
Ultimately, the best way to hire a marketing professional - and that is what SEO writers of all kinds really are - is to enlist one whose own interests are met best by your ultimate level of success.
With agencies, on the other hand, you're often trapped in a long-term contract that guarantees them a fixed level of income, regardless of their success or failure.
About Phronesis
Phronesis is not just the name I give to my copywriting work - it is the concept by which I operate, and can be summarised fairly effectively as "doing the right thing for the right reason".
If I seem a little down on agencies, it's because I've been there and done that, and I'm genuinely convinced that I offer better value in my current freelance role.
However, if you want the full service of an agency copywriting contract, let me know and I can refer you to a reputable SEO agency.
I have contacts mainly in the Manchester area, so if you're somewhere in or around the city, I can suggest a decent Manchester SEO copywriting agency to you, and help you to avoid the ones that I've found to be less worthy of working with.
You might even find that I end up writing your content anyway, but with the added bonus of the agency's customer service and tech support, which is a win-win situation if you're looking for a full-service copywriting contract.
Whatever you need, I'm more than happy to help figure out the best options for you (even if they don't make me any money!) so don't be afraid to get in touch.
