I'm interested in starting a writing service. I once owned a blog, hired writers to do the writing, I managed everything and after a few years the blog was a success. I later sold the blog. Now I'm interested in managing writers again but this time taking corporate clients and doing their writing for them. But I'm new to providing a b2b service. Do you have any suggestions on the first few steps I can take to get started correctly? I was thinking of corporate blogging as my first service, finding companies who want us to write on their blog everyday, or once a week. Then I can add more writing services later. But I dont know if this is a good first step, or how to find companies that want to outsource their writing.
Sounds like you know most of the important pieces but lack the confidence to jump back into the fray. For more than a few years I have been in love with the Lean Startup approach and the MVP. There will always be pros and cons to any approach, but this methodology still packs a lot of horsepower. I have built several companies in just 90 days. My efforts are turbocharged now with this simple approach. More thorough plans are possible than otherwise might be the case.
I use the Lean Canvas by Ash Maurya as my template for any new idea or project that I need to explore in detail before deciding to jump. Then I live in it and share it with others as needed. Those nine blocks in the canvas are pure gold if approached with a few pieces of common sense in hand and if (very big IF) you are willing to take some direction. Look it up at leancanvas dot com and if you want some insight, schedule some time and let's make it happen.
Answered 8 years ago
Focus on a niche market first--whichever industries/topics your writers are most comfortable with--and find businesses there.
Research from the Content Marketing Institute shows larger companies (1000+ employees) are more likely to outsource some of their content needs.
Don't forget that although writers are in demand, today's content market is not only verbal; it now has a highly visual emphasis. Look for writers who have experience crafting visual content: video or video scripts/storyboards, infographics, etc. so you have something more to offer clients.
To start finding clients, keep in mind that B2B services are exchanged as part of a relationship, not as a commodity. Most of your clients will come as referrals. Use your current network to get referrals to potential clients. Get to know the people in the niche/s you choose, not just the niche as a whole, and you'll probably notice referrals coming your way through them, if not direct contracts.
Use your website as a referral tool, as well, by building up a body of content and offering a "lead magnet" to grow a subscriber base you can keep updated by showcasing your writers' expertise with articles of interest to them and notifying them of your company's changes and special offers.
If you have any questions about tools and strategies, I'd be happy to talk it through.
Answered 7 years ago
It is not a surprise that 88% B2B marketers use content marketing as their main marketing strategy. This is because the stakes are higher in B2B. When people are striking partnerships, it can be a do or die situation. This is the reason why; prospective business partners need to know about the business as much as possible. Online business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces have found easy business in financial inclusion for small and medium businesses (SMBs) which struggle for capital from banks. Tie-ups with Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFCs) and lending platforms work both ways for the online B2B platforms — ensuring a behavioural change in SMBs to shop online for their sourcing needs by extending credit facilities, as well as arming the marketplaces with data on SMBs to create a significant credit scoring mechanism for the small merchants. While marketplaces make less than 1% of the transacted amount in commissions from sharing the credit scores for businesses with the lending institutions, the practice for extending credit to SMBs for their buying cycle mimics the loans extended by suppliers offline. The potential of the B2B market pegged to grow to $300 billion by 2020 has caught the attention of financial institutions who are trying to bridge the gap which banks find too expensive to fill.
Hence one thing is for certain that the B2B marketplace is highly profitable one and your content writing service will earn a lot of profit if you do it step by step. To start a content writing service here are the following steps:
1. Make a Business Plan: A business plan does not have to be anything fancy. A business plan is just a list of goals you need to achieve to set you on the road to success. Setting goals helps you channel your energy to a laser point. You can attain your goals more efficiently. One of your main goals should be a financial target. You obviously want to make more than you are making now, which is why you are starting a content writing company in the first place. Use your latest earning capacity as a benchmark and double it. If you make $300 a day as a freelancer, your initial personal income should be $600. This could mean you need to set rates that will attract freelancers to work for you, that clients will find acceptable, and still have enough left over to reach your goal. Your business plan can guide your path. If your initial strategy does not help you attain your goals, then you know you must try something else. When it does succeed, you can make it part of your success formula. You can be methodical in your approach, instead of just winging it.
2. Do your Research: If you are a successful freelancer, your rate as a writer should give you a good idea of what the market can handle. However, you need to know that freelance writers do not have the same overhead as an established company, so the rate can change significantly depending on many factors. On the other hand, if you charge more to make a profit, you could be pricing yourself out of the market. The best way to find out how much you can charge is to find out what fees other companies are charging. You can use this information to help you strike a balance between competitiveness and profit. Your fees are certainly an important factor in making you stand out among your competitors, but it is not the only one. You can differentiate your company by charging the same rates as everybody else but offer excellent work and extra services to draw in clients. You can use many marketing strategies to promote your company outside of price point. You also need to understand your target market, and the factors motivate them to push that buy button. Some people go for the lowest price they can get, and never mind the quality. Others rely on what other people recommend, while still others run counter to what the reviews say. Some tools can help analyse competitor and buyer behaviour and make out what channels other companies are using to promote their business:
1. Similar Web – Check how your competitors are ranking by using this online tool. You get traffic data as well as insights on the marketing strategies of any site you choose.
2. SEMrush – This is a tool specific to search engine marketing (SEM), particularly valuable for search engine optimization (SEO) and web analytics. It monitors and analyses the use of keywords by the competition. It also tracks backlinks on your site.
3. Majestic – Speaking of backlinks, this website specializes in mining important information from backlinks on your site as well as other sites.
4. Google Analytics – You should also track your own website traffic. You can use this plugin direct on your website to do that. This can help you improve your strategy.
3. Establish your Financial Strategy: You need to manage your finances, so you know if your company is making money. You must make the most of your available resources when starting your content writing company. You need to create a realistic budget, and for that, you need to do a lot of research. Fortunately, as an online business, your biggest investment is in your website. It is where you get both your talent pool and clients. Make a careful plan on creating and designing the best possible website you can manage on what you can afford. You also need to figure out how much you can afford to pay your writers and spend in marketing efforts. Aside from operations, you need to know the legal requirements of starting your business. This includes licenses and taxes. When you know your costs, you will have a good idea of how much you should charge your clients to get a decent return on investment.
4. Launch a Website: It is perfectly acceptable to create and launch a website using any of the excellent web authoring platforms available for no charge. However, you really should buy a domain name, and choose an authoring platform that will allow you to self-host, because free hosting can limit your reach. Most free hosting services are slow and restricted in features. You want to create credibility and trust by paying a good service to host your website like WordPress or Shopify. They usually come with a company email, which you can use to communicate with writers and customers.
5. Get a Pool of Freelancers: The raison d’être for your content writing company is generate more income than you can manage on your own. For that, you need other writers to help. You need good writers willing to work for your company as freelancers. There are quite a few sites you can tap to find and recruit them. A good one is LinkedIn. You can also try online job boards such as Upwork (formerly oDesk) and Freelancer.com. If you can, get them to write a short article so you can gauge for yourself if they are as good as they claim.
6. Market Your Company as Widely as Possible: Make sure people can hit upon your company website by being outgoing. Create accounts on appropriate social networks, and build your online reputation. An excellent way to promote your site is to post a writing competition. You can generate a lot of interest; you might even discover good writing talent at the same time. People are more likely to visit your site if your blog is full of attention-grabbing and important content. You can use the opportunity to form relationships with your audience by engaging them as much as possible. An Adwords campaign might work if you plan it carefully. Alternatively, you can get a reputable SEO company help you rank high in search engine results. It might cost a bit, but it might be worth it. The top site in any search gets almost one-third of search traffic, after all. The potential for profit is significant if you play your cards right.
7. Start Strong and Keep Up the Good Work: Put your best foot forward with your first clients and gain their loyalty. However, you need to continue to deliver the same quality of work each and every time if you want to sustain your company. Your reputation is only as good as your last job, so make sure you start as you mean to go on. Maintain high standards, and people will eventually line up to get your service.
8. Do not Stop Improving: The biggest mistake of any successful business is presuming it will always be the case. Never rest on your laurels and become smug about your accomplishments. Always strive to become better than you are right now, and always be on the lookout for fresh talent. There is always room for improvement and being innovative in an increasingly competitive marketplace will help you stay on top and expand your business.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
Answered 4 years ago
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