A few months ago, I wrote about my struggle to find top-notch freelance writers to contribute to the various blogs my company manages. To discover high-quality contributors, we launched a contest, asking writers to submit posts on specific topics.
While each winner’s post would earn them $75, that wasn’t the only perk: any writer whose work stood out to my team had a chance to become a recurring contributor, someone we’d turn to in the future to write paid posts.
Now that we’ve had a chance to review the entries, choose winners and publish their posts, I want to share the results with you — both to recognize the winners, and so you can read and learn from the blog posts that made the cut.
While some writers submitted only one piece, several entered posts for all three topics. The final decisions were tough, but my team and I were happy to read some great contributions and connect with new writers.
Have a look at the winners below!
Blog: Brazen Life
Winner: Betty Vine
Post: Networking in San Diego: 8 Groups for Broadening Your Professional Network
Why we published it: This post had a solid introduction, which contributed posts often lack. Betty included eight high-quality events in her list, and detailed each of them in a way that was fun and helpful.
Blog: The Penny Hoarder
Winner: Renee Knight
Post: Thinking About Running a Bed and Breakfast? Read This First
Why we published it: We received several well-written submissions for this category, so it was tough to declare one winner. But Renee’s post included both fun anecdotes and useful advice. She also used subheads to effectively break the post into sections, which made it easy to read and digest in digital format.
Blog: IWA Wine
Winner: Ivana Ivanovic
Post: Building Your Wine Collection and First Cellar: Dos and Don'ts from the Experts
Why we published it: We were looking for an expert’s point of view, and Ivana accomplished that; not because she’s a wine expert herself, but because she interviewed people who know about wine and whittled their best advice into this dos and don’ts list. The variety of perspectives from those interviews also made the post more interesting.
Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who submitted a post!
Want to work as a freelance blogger? Join my database of freelance bloggers, and we’ll consider you for upcoming assignments.
Hi Alexis,
That´s an awesome idea on attracting the best talent for your team. Congrats!
I´ve just listened to your interview for Tom Ewer course Paid to Blog and loved it. Really inspiring. Thank you.
I´ve “discovered” you in the blogosphere through Jessica Lawlor and since then I bought your ebook on “How to Build a Part-Time Social Media Business”, follow you on social networks and read your posts. I learned a lot about having the courage to do what you love.
I´m a PR and social media professional from Madrid, Spain and I´d love the opportunity to join your team of freelance bloggers. I tried the above link ( database of freelance bloggers) and it´s not working.
Could you please give me another link?
Thank you so much and again congrats for an awesome work.
Corina
Thanks, Corina! And thanks for the heads up about the broken link — just fixed it.