Top 5 Things To Outsource as a Blogger (and How to Do It)
If you just started a blog, you might be feeling overwhelmed at all of the tasks in front of you:
There’s content writing, keyword research, web design, guest blogging, link building, affiliate marketing – the list goes on.
It’s tough to prioritize tasks and even know where to begin, especially if you’re building your blog on the side of your full-time job.
When I first started my blog in 2019, I was working 50 hours a week at a tech startup in Austin. It was a demanding job.
One night shortly after starting my blog, I remember driving home from work in rush hour traffic. I got home and sprawled out on the couch. I turned on Netflix and the last thing in the world I wanted to do was hop back on my computer and work on my blog.
The idea of creating a successful blog, let alone one that makes over $80k per month seemed impossible.
Then it clicked.
Why don’t I outsource some of this so that I’m making progress 24/7, not just after work?
Then I could truly manage my blog like a business and pull the biggest levers instead of just writing blog posts when I got home.
So to stay sane while building a side hustle, I had to outsource certain aspects of my blog to spend my limited time in the most meaningful ways.
What’s Your Time Worth?
Let’s say you work 40 hours a week at a full-time job and want to work on your blog another 20 hours per week.
How much can you accomplish with 20 hours?
On average, it takes 1-2 hours to write 500 words.
So if you spend 20 hours writing, you could publish between 5,000 and 10,000 words per week. That’s a pretty good number and would equate to 2-3 long-form blog posts per week – more than enough for your own blog.
However, that leaves no other time for the business side of things. No time for link building, no time for guest posts, and no time for building relationships with other bloggers, adding affiliate links, or growing your email list.
The things that you absolutely 100% need to do to be successful.
Remember, you’re a business owner, not just a writer. Sometimes content creation is not the most important thing you could be doing.
So how should you optimize your time? How do you maximize the value of your time spent on your blog to make money in the shortest timeframe possible?
How can you grow your blog at startup speed and leave your job in six months and not six years?
In this guide, I cover the 5 best things to outsource as a blogger (and the best ways to do it).
By maximizing the value of your time and focusing on the right tasks, you accelerate your path to passive income.
Let’s get started.
What Should You Outsource as a Blogger?
When I look at my blog processes today, I spend the most time on the following five things:
- Guest blogging/link building
- Publishing new blog content
- Affiliate marketing relationships and monetization
- Updating and refreshing old content
- Building my community (email list and Facebook Group)
Now, I could try to do all of these things myself, but I wouldn’t be very effective. By outsourcing certain components of these tasks, I can both scale my blog’s growth, and influence in my niche.
So what do you outsource first?
1. Content writing.
This is a big one. While I don’t outsource every single blog post on my site, I can’t write every word myself.
For example, if I need to publish a 5,000-word post, I have two options:
- Option A: Spend 5-10 hours writing the post myself.
- Option B: Spend one hour editing and publishing a ghostwritten post.
With option B, I still do keyword research and plan my content, but I don’t have to write the entire post. I simply have to open the finished Google Doc, edit it myself, convert it into WordPress, and publish it.
How to outsource:
Hire one individual writer to create first drafts for your blog. Use the Mammoth .docx Converter plugin to transfer Google Docs into WordPress.
How to hire a writer:
A lot of bloggers use sites like Fiverr or Upwork to find writers, but I don’t recommend this as a long term option. Writers on these platforms often juggle multiple clients and struggle to provide consistent work. Instead, you should hire an individual writer that is focused on your blog and can provide consistent volume.
When I hired my first writer, I published a job opportunity on the ProBlogger job board. There are a ton of great writers looking for work on this site and you can post unique job opportunities that match exactly what you’re looking for.
When writing your job opportunity, look at examples of other job listings and make sure to include:
- Who you are
- What your site is about and your niche
- How many words or articles you’re expecting per week
- Ask them to share their rates and provide a few writing samples
After I posted a job on ProBlogger (and promoted it), I got over 50 applications within two days.
Next comes the (not very fun) part: narrowing down your search based on resumes and writing samples.
Scan your submissions and look for writers that match your style, price point, and have experience in your niche. Once you’ve narrowed it down to your top 3-4 picks, send them an outline so that they can each write a draft article for you.
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