Outsourcing post layout

[bernard]

Heard the guys at Authority Hacker talk about this as something that should be among the first to be outsourced.
What's your experience with this?
I'd like to have someone who could turn a text with shortcode instructions into a fully fledged, multimedia article. If I write ["list"], then they make a list with proper topical icons. If I write [gif], then they find or create a gif. If I write [stockphoto], then they find it and insert it.
Someone who has a knack for graphical layout of text, without having to be absolutely told everything in every little detail.
Where do you begin searching for such a freelancer?

 

[Ryuzaki]

@bernard, you could start in the Human Resources section here.

I'd be looking for someone who already understands SEO content and making pretty content. Basically someone involved in building their own sites. Perhaps someone who hasn't found their own success yet but know what they're doing.

Otherwise I'd hit up Skype groups or Discord groups or whatever looking for the same type of person. Someone in the know and in the community.

As a last ditch effort I'd hit up Upwork. You'd be guaranteed to find someone, but it wouldn't be a word-of-mouth deal or someone from the same groups you roll in.

What you've described should be easy though. All you need to do is write an operating procedure explaining exactly what each shortcode (I'd probably use something more like ***LIST*** than ["list"] so it's not confused with an actual shortcode) should expand into, with examples. If you set the expectations very clearly that way in a document they can reference as well as link out to other posts you think look good, they should catch on extremely fast. Better yet if they understand SEO.

 

[bernard]

Thanks @Ryuzaki , I was thinking finding someone young who is still learning, so is at a lower level because of inexperience, not incompetence. The major challenge will probably be to find someone who has initiative and doesn't need all specifics. If I say "get a stockphoto of a basketball hoop", then they'll go find one with guys playing in the driveway, not in the NBA, because the article is about home hoop,s not the NBA. In my experience, this is THE challenge with any kind of outsourcing.

 

[Future State]

Your best move is to develop an operating procedure like mentioned above. Not only would you have a PDF version with full explanations as well as a checklist version they can run through over and over, but you can record a screen video of you going through the whole process while narrating it. You only have to do these things once, then you can hand them out to each new hire, because try as you might to find the perfect hire, they won't stick around forever. It's better to have great training material so the quality of the hire doesn't matter as much, especially in cases like these where it's not rocket science.