Once you understand the content your buyers want, it’s time to give it to them.
So, how do you do that? Today let’s talk about building your content team.
Leverage your existing talent.
Before bringing in a contractor or new hire, take a look at your internal resources. If you have a subject-matter expert in-house, consider having her write and hiring an editor to add some professional polish and clean up any errors. If you have in-house writers, take a look at their existing schedules: Is your new initiative something you can plug in? Always assess your internal talent before looking outward.
Create and nurture in-house skills.
While you’re assessing that in-house talent, don’t forget to assess their potential and desire for growth. Do you have a smart, detail-oriented team member who wants to try his hand at writing? Consider enrolling him in a writing course or having him tackle the first draft of articles, blog posts, or newsletters. Then ask a professional writer go over them.
Is there someone on the team who wants to learn a little HTML? Put her on the content-upload team and have her train closely with a more senior team member.
There may be times when you need to bring in another team member for a new project; other times the solution might be to build up a current team member’s skills.
Hire or contract new talent.
Once you’ve assessed the time and talent available to you in-house, it’s time to fill in the gaps with contractors or new hires. How do you find and hire the right talent? We’ve had a lot to say on this topic, and wrote an entire series of articles just for this purpose:
- How to Hire a Great Content Strategist, Part I
- How to Hire a Great Content Strategist, Part II
- How to Hire a Great Social Media Strategist
- How to Hire a Great Social Media Manager
- How to Hire a Great Content Manager
- How to Hire a Great Editorial Director
- How to Hire a Great Web Writer, Copywriter, or Blogger
- How to Hire a Great Art Director, Part I
- How to Hire a Great Art Director, Part II
Get everyone onboard.
Once you have your team in place, you’ll want to make sure everyone is on the same page. Bring your entire team together for an overview of the project. Make sure you address:
- Who is responsible for what facet of the project?
- What are the overall goals of the initiative?
- Who should team members contact with scheduling, technical, or other issues?
- What is the priority of this initiative when weighed against their other tasks?
- Why does this initiative matter? (Why should team members care?)
- How are you going to support the team?
Once everyone understands the project, its purpose, and their individual roles, it’s time to launch! Be sure to check in with your team on a regular basis to find out what’s working, what isn’t, and what new ideas you might be able to incorporate.
Have any other team-building tips? Please leave them in the comments below.