Hiring Bloggers is More Than Hiring Content – It's Hiring Community Outreach

I have been getting a number of calls and emails recently from a large number of companies that are wanting to hire a blogger to get that needed content on their website, but a few savvy companies are also asking about community outreach.  Community outreach is a part of the professional blogger’s repertoire.  Bloggers for many years have known that when you are a blogger part of your job is to build your readers, to increase the subscribers to your site, and to provide a way to grow your community.  You must go out and seek out new people to know you are there and to come and join your discussion.

This is the mistake that many bloggers make when they come to me and tell me that they want to be a professional blogger.  They are great at copy and great at the written word, but that is where the skills end.  One of the things I like to see in my bloggers is not just that they can generate quality content and provide those needed words on the page, but I like to see how they interact with their readers.  I also like to see how they interact within their communities or in their niche.  Are they commenting on other sites, joining in threads in forums, microblogging on the sites like Twitter or otherwise doing more than their standard blog post? These are the important questions I like to have answers for when I respond to potential clients about their inquiries about the bloggers networking abilities and their skills.

If the potential customer or client has not asked those important questions themselves, I also like to educate them on these realities.  Bloggers are more than just writers.  You are not paying for their prose alone or the fact that they understand grammar and spelling, but you are also paying for that special skill known only to the most prolific bloggers and those that have influence–they participate.

[Photo courtesy of Andyrob}