This guide will help you FIND and HIRE a writer on OnlineJobs.ph who not only has excellent written English skills but is also reliable, articulate, and brilliant enough to give your online store a voice in the vast ocean that we call the Internet.
Content is KING when it comes to the Internet, whether it is helpful and useful information about products, news and current events, trends in business, pop culture, and so on.
Having unique, interesting, and valuable content that will drive traffic and potential customers to your online store can make or break your business, especially if you’ve just started.
This is why it is essential to get the best writer suitable for your business who will not only drive traffic and potential customers to your online store but also give it authority and increase its reputation as a genuine destination to purchase the various products you are offering.
Luckily, the Internet has created brand new possibilities when it comes to conducting business and earning a living with cost-effective methods when it comes to Internet marketing such as Outsourcing and Freelancing professionals at affordable prices.
Step 1: Sign Up at OnlineJobs.ph
Registering with OnlineJobs.ph is simple and straightforward. Go to the website and at the top right corner, you will see a “Register” button which you will click and then be redirected to the page below.
From here you should click the “I want to HIRE” button and you will be shown the registration form where you will input your Full Name, Email Address, and Password and check the box to agree with the Onlinejobs.ph Terms and then click Sign Up.
You’ll be able to fill in additional details later on such as the Business/Company name, Address, City, Country, Zip/Postal Code, and so on.
You’ll receive an email to verify your account for Onlinejobs.ph. Simply open the email and follow the instructions written inside and click the link that will verify your email instantly.
For our own business, we pay the monthly fee once only and then de-register a week or so later when we’ve found the person we’re looking for.
When you cancel payment OnlineJobs.ph still retains your account information.
Step 2: Post a Job on OnlineJobs.ph
After signing up, you’ll log in with your account details and you’ll be taken to your account information page and from there you can click on the various Post a Job buttons as seen below.
Your current account on OnlineJobs.ph doesn’t yet enable you to post a job unless you have PAID the required monthly fees.
So you’ll be redirected to their pricing page where you will select the $49/month fee to be able to post jobs on the website, contact workers, and more, as seen below.
Pay the fee, but add a note in your calendar to cancel the recurring payments a few days before it is due if you’ve managed to find the person you’re looking to hire.
After you’ve filled in the necessary forms to let you post a job, just simply click on the Post a Job button again and you’ll be redirected to their job posting form/template as seen below.
Step 3: Write a compelling Job Title
The Job Title is the header for your job posting. This is the first thing potential employees will see when looking for a job.
You need to write an eye-catching Job Title that will entice people to apply for the job you have posted. Make it interesting, exciting, compelling and a must-read.
When writing the job title, always remember to input the Job title itself as well as a CALL TO ACTION included even though it is not really required. You can even put the salary you are willing to pay the writer to make it more attractive.
Here are a few examples:
- Full-time Writer Needed for eCommerce Company
- CALLING ALL WRITERS: Apply for a Lucrative Work-From-Home Career!
- URGENT FULL-TIME WRITERS NEEDED! 10,000-20,000 PHP/ MONTH
- *** WORK FROM HOME *** Full-time income for dedicated, reliable writers
We use a range of punctuation marks and capitalization techniques to make the heading stand out from the others. This helps employees to skim read through all the listings very quickly.
Remember to keep it SHORT and SWEET. People nowadays skim through everything faster than ever and you need to get their attention with something that doesn’t look like a wall of text to read.
Step 4: Write a useful but short Job Description
In the Job Description you will write a short paragraph or two describing what the nature of the work that will be done by the applicants and also further expanding on what you have written down on the Job Title above.
If you put in the expected salary range in the Job Title, you should follow it up on the Job Description making sure that you are clear on the terms.
Some employees on OnlineJobs.ph will post their expected part-time salary, which effectively doubles their full-time salary. This can be an interesting surprise when you go to hire them.
Also mentioning the work hours you are requiring the writer to put in once they are hired is a good thing to remember to give the applicants your expectations when it comes to the hours and days they are required to work for you.
We usually agree on a starting time each day and ask the employee to stick to it.
Don’t be afraid to mix it up a bit by adding in some sort of a writing test or requesting sample articles to make sure they have the necessary skills to help your online store grow. This also helps prevent joke applicants and spammers from applying to the job posting.
Asking for more information or a more in-depth resume/CV from applicants, rather than what they have given on their OnlineJobs.ph accounts.
You can also post further contact details here like your Skype ID or messenger if you wish to go for a direct interview, though we strongly advise against it since you are just starting out.
Here are some good examples of a Job Description:
- Full-Time Writer Template with Sample Article Requirements
We are a well-established, reputable company based in the United States and we’re offering a unique and very rare career opportunity for writers to earn money while also learning more about how you can improve your writing skills for Internet marketing and eCommerce.
We’re looking for a Full-Time writer who has excellent written English skills which includes perfect grammar and spelling.
The job is a full-time position – 5 days a week, 8 hours a day and we’re not looking to hire part-time writers for the time being.
If you are serious in applying for this position, send us a 150+ word sample article describing our website at sampleonlinestore.com and how you can improve it.
- News Writer Template using bullet points to state the in depth requirements, qualifications, and compensation for the position
We are an Australian-based company looking for Full-Time TRENDING NEWS WRITERS. We are specifically looking for talented writers who are updated and knowledgeable in various trending niches (i.e. entertainment, technology, sports, games, music, movies, etc…).
Once hired, qualified, committed, and determined applicants will receive incentives and promotion on top of base pay.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Knowledge of news-writing style/AP Style preferred
- Must be able to write 5 articles a day (M-F) and 4 articles (Sat)
- Must be fluent in written English
- Must know how to follow rules
- Must be ready for training
- Open to flexible work hours
COMPENSATION + OTHER DETAILS:
- Monthly article quota: 130 articles
- Writing Schedule: 5 articles (MF); 4 articles (Sat)
- Compensation: $2 per article, on top of incentives
- Promotion and incentives are provided depending on performance
If you’re interested, please send the following:
- Cover letter
- UPDATED Resume (with contact details and picture)
- 2-3 sample NEWS articles ONLY
Indicate on the subject line “Trending News Writer Applicant – (Your Name)” as confirmation that you’ve read this job posting.
Be part of the team and send in your applications!
- Web Content Writer (A shorter version using bullet points)
We are looking for a motivated and hard-working freelancer who can help us with the following things:
- Write articles
- Re-write articles
- Post WordPress articles
- Post Youtube videos to WordPress
- Find and post relevant images to website
We are looking for someone with at least 2 years of writing experience. Please state your previous work experience in your e-mail to me.
About the job
- You will work for a Dutch online marketing company
- This is a full-time job
- You will receive a 13th-month bonus in December
- This can be a long term job if we are satisfied with your work 🙂
- We can pay around 250 to 340 USD per month
Step 5: Decide on an hourly wage
If you have already written down the expected salary or wage you are going to give on the job title or description, you still need to fill this form because it is one of the first things that applicants will see when searching and opening the job posting on OnlineJobs.ph as you can see below.
As you can see it is very important to fill it out to have a chance to compete with other companies or businesses that are also looking for talented writers.
You can either set or input it in various currencies including the Philippine Peso, United States Dollars, Australian Dollars, and so on. It is a good idea to use Philippine Peso since it is more attractive to Filipinos and they don’t have to compute for exchange rates.
You can also put it as Negotiable if you are still trying to find the right budget for a writer. Of course there are different skills and experience for each writer and they are expecting a certain amount of salary or wage for what they are offering you.
Just keep in mind that it is generally better to have a set amount of salary or wage you are going to offer because applicants will mostly have an idea of what salary they want to get for their services. This also gives them the idea if the work itself is worth the time and effort to go for.
We usually pay around $2/hour for a VA or writer and will increase this rate as they prove themselves to be competent, reliable and consistent workers.
Step 6: Choose the Type of Employment
This is a drop-down selection of what type of employment you are looking for. It is either Part-time, Full-time, or any employment.
We advise you to select Full-Time writer for now, since it is more appealing and easier to manage rather than asking someone to work part-time.
Not to mention you will be building a good relationship with your writer as time goes on and thus making your business grow more along with your writer.
Step 7: Require ID Proof Greater Than …
This option helps you filter out any unnecessary or not so trustworthy applicants.
To put it simply, applicants are required to confirm what they say or put on their profiles when signing up for OnlineJobs.ph and that includes various government documents, IDs, Facebook integrations, and so on.
The higher the number the more reputable or genuine applicants you will be able to get to apply for your job posting. Although this is not really required, it is a good idea to select at least 70 and up as an ID Proof greater than option since it means you’ll be getting the most trustworthy applicants.
Step 8: Choose What Skills Are Required
This section of the Job posting is where you will be able to narrow down your search for a writer for your online store.
There are a total of 13 main categories of skills you are able to select and each of them will display a different or more specific skill set when clicking or selecting them.
The skills you select will determine how many viable applicants will be able to apply for the job posting. With that being said, this has an inverse proportion to the applicants who have registered in OnlineJobs.ph since they are only allowed to max out or select a few skills they want to display that they are the best at it.
What this simply means is that the more skills you select on this field, the fewer applicants will be able to apply for the job posting. So it is a good idea to select only a few skills to give you a broader selection of applicants.
We would suggest you click on the English selection and check Writing and then click on the Writing selection and check on Web Content writing as shown below.
Step 9: Choose Your Email Address and Contact Name
This is the last section of the Job Posting form and it is required to be filled in.
Here you will use your working email address and contact name (can be first name only or full name). This will be displayed for applicants to see and is an easier way for them to contact you directly.
Keep in mind that EVERYONE will be able to see this email address and it can mean a small wave of spam will come your way.
This field is important to fill since the OnlineJobs.ph messaging or emailing system is a bit underdeveloped and can be a mess to handle for both employers and applicants to use.
Normally when someone is applying for a job they are sent a separate email from OnlineJobs.ph to their email address and not their OnlineJobs.ph account.
From there the applicant can either log back in to their OnlineJobs.ph account or use their current email address to reply to your message. It is obvious that they would rather go for the more convenient route and use the email service they are using right now rather than go to all the trouble of using OnlineJobs.ph’s messaging system/service.
And there you have it, you are ready to post your job on OnlineJobs.ph and this is just one step closer to FINDING and HIRING the best writer for your online store.
Step 10: Multiple job postings and reach out for applicants
After posting your job offer on OnlineJobs.ph, you will have a small selection of applicants who have replied to it for the first 24 to 48 hours since there are around 60,000+ writers who have signed up as of writing this guide.
Remember that you are also competing against other employers and companies to get the best writers for their business.
This means that you need to actively reach out to the applicants by posting the same job multiple times and searching for applicants and emailing them directly.
We post the same job, but with a different job title, every day for a week. The different job title means that it can catch the eye of more people and posting every day means that we are able to keep our job on the first page of the results pages.
With so many employers now using the OnlineJobs.ph platform it is more likely for your job posting to slip off the first page after a few hours. So, that’s why we re-post the same job every day.
However, this is not enough to get the higher calibre employees! You must also search through the employee lists and invite them to view the job posting and apply.
Step 11: Review Your Applicants To Narrow Down Your List
So now you’ve got a good list of applicants and it is time for the hard part to start with reviewing them and choosing the best writer for your online store or ecommerce business.
Although there are a couple of preferences that you’d be leaning towards, we’ll be helping you filter all the applicants who are not suited for you or find the ones who are not the right person for the job.
First thing you have to check out is people who can’t write coherently. Once you start reading applications, it is easy to spot which one isn’t a good writer. If they can’t form their thoughts and opinions properly and in a coherent fashion, you know from right there and then, that isn’t the person you should be hiring.
Remember, you are looking for a writer who will be your VOICE on the internet and whatever that person writes will determine the success of your online store.
The next step is to check or assess if they have met your requirements on your job posting. Whether they meet the required years of experience, degrees, the test or sample article that you requested, additional information like a resume or CV and so on.
This is a very important factor to consider since it will show you if they know how to follow simple and concise instructions when it comes to work.
Remember to look for applicants who show creative insight when it comes to judging their test or sample articles. There are thousands of people on the Internet and chances are you’ll have plenty of competition to go up against. Being unique, interesting, and creative is a must to have an edge against the competition and this is especially true when it comes to writing articles online.
Even though you have set your Type of Employment to Full-Time, you still will probably get applicants who are not able to do so or those who haven’t changed their profiles in a long time. This is another “tell” that they don’t follow instructions very often or are not very attentive.
Most of the writers on OnlineJobs.ph are individuals but over the last year, we’ve noticed that more agencies are signing up and spamming employers with writing services, rather than an individual contract. You can usually spot the agencies as you’ll receive the same application a few times over but from a different person. Their email address is also a dead giveaway if it is generic.
Once you’ve done the first steps mentioned above you’ll get a smaller list of applicants by now and have narrowed it down to the most viable person for the writing position.
With that in mind let’s go to the next step which is asking for a second opinion.
It is always good to ask for an objective opinion and that is why you should ask for another person’s opinion, preferably your partner or worker or staff or even a close family member if you don’t have anybody else. Let them take a look at the applicants’ credentials and resume, and if you had them take that writing test, let them take a look at it as well.
After all of the steps you’ve done, you have probably narrowed all the applicants down to quite a few. Choose at least 10 of the applicants who you think are the best and deserve to be taken to the next step.
Step 12: Reply to the Applicants
The next step is to reply to the applicants via your own email system. Avoid using the inbuilt messaging system on OnlineJobs.ph. It has very limited capabilities and is not helpful in managing the back-and-forth nature of the next steps.
Here you will send them an email message detailing that they have met your criteria for the writing position you have posted on OnlineJobs.ph and are willing to go forward to the next step.
The email should be structured so that is EASY TO READ and has all the necessary information that is relevant to the job posting and application.
It is good to remember and write down what impressed you or what made them stand out from the rest and mention it in the email.
Another good tip to remember is set the terms of the training/test phase where they will be competing against the other top contending applicants for the position.
Also ask for other additional information that you might find interesting or helpful to you when judging the applicants, something like their blog URL, articles they have written online, other online resume profiles, ask if they have used your preferred payment method (Paypal, oDesk, Orbit remit, etc.), and confirm if they are willing to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
To give you an idea of what a good reply letter/email looks like, see below:
Hi [insert name],
Thank you for your application.
[comment on what you liked about their writing]
We are looking for a good writer because that is one skill that takes years to learn, and you will either have a passion for it or you won’t! The rest of the skills you’ll need we can teach you while you work.
You’ll be required to write a step-by-step guide that teaches people how to find a good blogger for their online store.
Focus on providing your best writing. There will be other people also taking on the exact same trial task, and if you really want the luxury of a full-time, work-from-home job then you’ll concentrate on doing the best work you can.
This is your chance to show us what you can do and why you’re a better writer than everyone else.
To accept, just reply back with the following:
- your resume or online profile, if you have one
- blog or article URL, if you have one
- confirmation that you can work 5 days a week, 8 hours per day
- your oDesk profile URL or a Paypal account
We will send you a full brief for the writing task, a deadline and criteria for making it awesome.
Best regards,
Your Name
Step 13: Organize a Skype Conversation or Interview
This is the last step for FINDING and HIRING a writer for your eCommerce business and is the most important to some employers.
But we’d like to think of it as the last resort or just to “iron out” the details simply because most of the applicants who have made it this far into the hiring process will definitely get hired or at least be in a trial period for a couple of weeks.
So after the applicants have replied to your reply email/letter, you will probably have a good idea which applicant/writer you want to hire now. We’d suggest narrowing it down to 4-5 applicants during the trial phase which lasts around a week or two.
During the recent exchange of emails you would have gotten the applicants’ various contact information and that includes their Skype ID. If not, send them a message and ask for their Skype ID as well as giving yours.
Set a date and a time for the conversation/interview to happen and that is convenient for both parties.
When the date is set, all you have to do is talk to them like a regular applicant as if you are doing a job interview in the real world. You get to ask numerous follow up questions and additional information all you want from here on out.
Of course another good benefit from an interview or conversation like this is that it will give you an idea how well-spoken or how good the English skills of the applicants really are and not to mention what you will be working with for a couple of weeks, and hopefully years.
After the interview, you’ve probably chosen which applicant will make the cut and will go on the paid trial phase for a few weeks. If one underperforms to your expectations, you will have to let them go. Remember to always strive for the best and always have a backup plan and that’s why you get the top 4-5 applicants to do the trial phase.
The paid trial phase is simply a set number of weeks where you will be testing out the applicants in a real work environment and it will show you how they do their work. This will ultimately determine if whether or not they are suited for your online store or eCommerce business in the long run.
And there you have it. That is how you FIND and HIRE a writer from OnlineJobs.ph. This guide will able to help you find and hire the best writer for your new and upcoming online store as fast and as quickly as possible as long as you follow the steps and tips.
Learning from Others
It is always good to learn from examples and what better example than learning how other people do it. Below are a couple of Good and Bad Examples of Job Postings on OnlineJobs.ph
Good Examples of Job Postings
- This example job posting gives the applicant a lot of information right from the start with type of employment, salary, and ID proof all filled out.
- Although ID proof was not specified, this example gives out a detailed Job Description and a test/sample article requirement as well.
Bad Examples of Job Postings
- This one not only has very few details specified but also is requiring a low ID Proof, Part-Time, and again not very good Job Description and Title.
- No ID Proof, no additional information or requirements stated, it doesn’t state if Full-Time or Part-Time is preferred.
Final Checklist
Here is a short summary of the entire hiring process so that you don’t miss on anything important while doing so.
- Make an OnlineJobs.ph EMPLOYER account and make sure to go for the $49/month so you can be able to post a job on the website. Cancel the account as soon as you have hired someone suitable.
- Post the same job, with different job titles, multiple times so you can show up on the first page of results every day for a week.
- Actively reach out to 100+ employees as many are not constantly monitoring the OnlineJobs.ph site for new jobs.
- Organize a Skype conversation or interview to narrow down all the applicants that you have chosen to be part of a paid trial phase.
This how-to guide will not only help you FIND and HIRE a brilliant and competent writer, but also help kick-start your online store towards the path of success. OnlineJobs.ph is just one of the many outsourcing platforms you can find a writer, but it is one of the most reliable and varied platforms you’ll be able to use.
