What Do Need to Know About Hiring a Professional Blogger and Being Hired

Lorelle VanFossen

Sep. 24, 2008
2 min read

The How to Hire a Professional Blogger For Your Business session at Blog World Expo this past weekend in Las Vegas was incredible. It featured Jim Turner of One By One Media Social Media and Professional Blogging Consultants, Gregory Go of About.com Guide to Online Business, Will Chen, editor of Wise Bread | Personal Finance and Frugal Living Forums, and Darren Rowse of Problogger.

These expert bloggers are also business managers, managing the bloggers on their network and blogs. They have to hire, fire, put out fires, negotiate, guide, instruct, hunt, and deal with bloggers of all skill levels on a daily basis.

Blogging as an industry is still new. Blogging with hired-gun bloggers is also still new and a mine field for both employers and potential employees. There isn’t a lot of concrete information out there. There is a lot of guessing and little history to help both sides understand how this works.

The group conceded quickly that hiring bloggers isn’t the same as hiring writers for a magazine or website. Bloggers are a new group of employees and freelancers requiring special needs and attention as well as guidance.

Over the next few articles, I’m going to break down what they said to complement other articles I’ve written here on the subject of getting paid as a blogger. These include:

I also recommend you check out the following articles as they apply to the discussion on making your blog valuable as a resume, which is essential to getting hired as a blogger.

Getting Hired as a Blogger and Hiring a Blogger

Getting hired as a blogger and hiring a blogger begins no differently than any job: Keep it professional.

The speakers were very clear that professionalism is the only path to success in getting hired as a blogger and hiring a blogger.

Clean, neat, concise, specific communication is essential. Don’t waste their time with clutter and nonsense. Remember, you’re being hired as a communicator, or hiring someone to communicate for you. If either side isn’t communicating well, you’re not setting a prime example towards clear communication in the future.

Read the instructions and follow them exactly. Don’t think you are above the rules. By not following the instructions you are telling your future employer that you won’t work well with them nor follow their instructions. You aren’t good employment material.

If you are hiring bloggers and don’t follow your own instructions or commitments, you are also sending a clear message that you can’t be trusted. Bloggers live in a tiny world where everyone is their neighbor and they practice virtual picket fence gossip very well. If you treat a blogger wrong, a thousand people will know in just a few minutes.

Darren Rowse of Problogger told the attendees to remember, “You are hiring bloggers because they are bloggers.” This means they know how to blog and they know how to blog about YOU. Make sure they have only good things to say from their experience whether they are hired or not.

Set an example at all times. If you want to be hired as a blogger, your blog must speak well of you and your skills and abilities. If you are hiring a blogger, your blog must speak well of your business and potential to interest the blogger.

All online and offline communication should set the tone of the type of business you are as well as the type of blogger you want to attract. Like attracts. Set an example that encourages others to want what you do and have.

If you are looking to hire bloggers, or want to be hired, keep it professional at all times.

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Lorelle VanFossen

The author of Lorelle on WordPress and the fast-selling book, Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging, as well as several other blogs, Lorelle VanFossen has been blogging for over 15 years, covering blogging, WordPress, travel, nature and travel photography, web design, web theory and development extensively as web technologies developed.