One of the biggest benefits of using Verblio is that we combine the easy-to-use technology of our crowd-sourcing platform with access to excellent writers with diverse experiences and areas of expertise. Our platform makes it for you to send out requests and receive content, but writers depend on you for strong requests and feedback.
In this article, we'll go over best practices to make you successful in the platform and to teach writers exactly what you're looking for.
1. Use our request template (linked here)
Both too little information and too much information can result in you not receiving submissions. Writers need enough guidance to be successful, but providing too much information can be overwhelming, especially when the word count of the request is longer than the post itself.
If you have external resource documents to attach, consider combining them/synthesizing them into an attached one-sheeter or synthesizing them in the request itself.
2. Get into a regular rhythm on the platform.
When choosing requests to write for, writers want to submit to someone they believe will review their submission in a timely manner. Make sure to…
Get on a regular schedule of when you activate requests, review new submissions, and take action on those submissions.
Promptly review submissions in your queue. Take action on drafts within a few days of the content being submitted, taking care to either purchase, request edits, or decline.
Make purchases before your credits renew each month. This shows writers that you are active in the platform, whereas a backlog of credits can indicate that you rarely purchase pieces on the platform.
3. If a draft isn’t 80 or 90% of the way there, decline it!
This is a healthy part of the process and opens you up to receive content that better fulfills your request.
4. Stick to 1-2 rounds of edits.
When requesting edits, consider: is this a higher-level issue with the ideation or formation of the work overall? Or, are these stylistic/grammatical edits that could be easily handled in 1-2 rounds by the writer? If you think these edits are more involved/higher-level issues, then consider declining the piece.
For more guidance on how to assess submissions & request edits, consider reviewing our editing guide here.
5. When you accept & purchase a piece, make sure to leave feedback.
Consider feedback as part of the iterative process of teaching writers what you're looking for. Always leave feedback when you purchase a piece (your feedback doesn’t need to be too detailed or lengthy!).
Identify 1-2 specific aspects of the piece you liked and 1-2 aspects of the piece you think could be improved in the future. Writers can see the feedback on your purchased pieces and can use this feedback, along with the purchased content, to continue improving their content.
6. When you decline a piece, provide constructive feedback.
Give polite feedback to the writer letting them know why you declined. Many writers will take your feedback to revise and resubmit, while other writers can see your decline reasons and feedback and will use it to guide their own submissions.
7. If you're an agency, prefer 3-5 writers within the first 30-60 days. Diversify your preferred writers.
As you begin receiving submissions, start preferring writers. Your goal should be to build a pool of 3-5 preferred writers within your first 30-60 days on the platform. The more pieces of content you purchase each month, the more preferred writers you'll want to have.
The more subscriptions you have, it can be helpful to have more preferred writers, diversified amongst your different subscriptions. That way, you have more options when assigning writers.
8. If you're an agency using direct assignments, consider opening up your request beyond your preferred writers.
If you’re having trouble receiving content and have assigned your request to one of your preferred writers, consider activating the request without assigning it to a writer. This will open the request to the writer community, and can potentially introduce you to a new writer you’ll want to prefer.
9. Give yourself 48-73 hours to receive a submission, and up to a week to receive submissions for highly niche content.
While you will often receive submissions much sooner, this gives you a sufficient amount of time to receive submissions and to decline any submissions you receive that aren’t up to par, receive new submissions, and request edits as needed.
10. Don’t hesitate to contact support.
If you’re having issues receiving a piece of content (a writer has claimed the request but hasn’t submitted a draft, a writer has claimed and abandoned the request, a request hasn't been picked up by any writers) make sure to reach out to support, either through our support chat in our help center or by email at [email protected].