Letter #56: How to improve long-term relationships with freelancers [template included]
Expert interview sharing a simple tool to curate trends in editing feedback.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by another (free) newsletter.
Meta, much? So be it. Because Justin Moore, the sponsorship coach behind this newsie is:
a) A very cool dude
b) Shares paid opportunities for creators like you to land brand partnerships — one person has even made $17,000 from brand deals shared in this newsletter
Chegg it out here 🥁
You know you’ve got to build relationships with hair stylists who bring out your personality, no? Sometimes (okay, often 🙈) even pay more as their charges increase.
Freelancers are the same.
When you find a good one, you’ve gotta retain them. The good news? You can do so without having to splurge those dollar ching ching.
Here’s how: invest in their professional development (read: help improve their craft). It’s a win-win, really. You get to create better, more on-brand content with them. And they get to learn.
This is exactly where the feedback rubric comes into the picture.
I learned about it from Michaela Mendes, the Senior Director of Integrated Marketing at General Assembly.
So I invited her over to share how she uses the rubric to:
Reduce the edits she has for her freelance writers
Invest in improving freelancers’ writing chops
Build a healthy, happy long-term relationship with freelancers
But first, the basics: be upfront with freelancers about whether they’re interested in this type of collaboration.
Michaela told me, “Sometimes freelancers may not want that type of relationship and that’s okay. But if they’re open to it and want to contribute content on a regular basis, it’s worth it for both sides.”
With that, let’s dive into the 3 regular questions we ask the expert every alternate Tuesday:
A mistake Michaela made using this feedback rubric
An actionable tip to get you one step closer to using this approach
And, a secret tip to using the feedback rubric to build stronger relationships with freelancers
Lezz go:
👉 Learn from Michaela’s mistake: Not letting the writer excel.
“I’ve made two different kinds of the same mistake. I’ve been a heavy-handed editor that makes all of the corrections for the writer, and I’ve also been too hands-off and vague. In both cases, it results in the writer not being able to take full ownership of their work and excel,” Michaela admits.
“If I’m too ‘in the weeds’ and I just make all of the edits on behalf of the writer, they miss out on the ‘why’ behind them. If I’m too vague and just say ‘close, but not quite -- try again!,’ the writer is left fumbling around in the dark trying to figure out what I mean.”
To solve this, Michaela created this rubric to “strike a balance between the two. Yes, I still go in and make comments and minor corrections in the copy, but when a batch of work is accompanied with this rubric, the writer is able to see trend lines and they get clear direction on where to go next.”
“Most people believe the role of an editor is to make the content better. I believe the role of the editor is to make the writer better.”
👉 Do this today: Use the rubric.
Start with getting a sense of the writer’s style first. And don’t use this until you’ve been working together for a bit.
That said, here’s how to use the tool:
“Editor keeps the writer’s feedback rubric open as they edit their work, inputting comments and examples as they go
Editor sends to the writer on a pre-determined schedule, i.e. bi-weekly
The writer gets a clearer view of how to get better”
Here’s your template.
👉 The secret tip to using the feedback rubric to build stronger relationships with freelancers: “Communication is key”
“If you want the writer to respond positively to this, you must have a conversation about why you are using it and your goals for your work together. I wouldn’t just send this along with no context.
I’d also tell your writers: we're going to try this for a set period, then let’s talk about if this is helping. Just following this process once or twice is not enough to show its impact. It’s important to commit for a longer period. And it’s also important to make sure both sides (editor and writer) feel like it’s helping, which should show itself in the work.”
Aaand that’s a wrap.
Toodles for the week,
Masooma