Many brands find themselves in the position of having to constantly churn out new content. Whether your marketing strategy is focused on search engines, email, social media or elsewhere, having valuable content for readers and customers to interact with is a must. In general, content is also necessary for organic visibility in search engines.

Pumping out all of this content can get tiresome, however. This situation is not unusual, and an entire industry of freelance writers has sprung up to handle the workload and give brands a break when needed.

Determining when to use these services – and when not to use them – can help reduce stress and guarantee a quality content stream to your audience. Let’s look at when you should consider these services, and when handling it in-house is the best option.

Evaluate Your Mood

Perhaps one of the most important elements to consider when deciding whether or not to hire freelance help is your own feelings on the content in question. If you currently feel swamped – but nevertheless enjoy writing some of the content – then consider splitting the workload into two camps and handling that which you love.

Ultimately, a subject you know much about and enjoy will probably produce better content when written by you than by somebody else, but if it is work that feels like a grind or that you’re less than skilled at, there is nothing wrong with offloading that onto a freelance writer.

Evaluate Its Income Potential

Every piece of content should have a potential to generate income. Whether that be through traffic to your website that ultimately produces ad clicks or results in direct purchases, all content can be monetized. Pinging your website with lots of content that doesn’t have substantial income potential may be necessary in some cases, but when it’s not, consider scrapping it altogether.

If, however, the content is likely to generate a large sum, then giving it to a freelance writer isn’t such a bad deal. Particularly true if you’re under a lot of stress and the content will far exceed its cost in terms of money generated, simplifying life for yourself just makes sense.

Evaluate Its Necessity

Many brands are under stress to produce tons of content. You may feel that if you’re not pinging your website with fresh content on a continuous basis, you’re losing out on customers, traffic and profit. However, many brands ultimately discover that they are producing some content that provides no real value at all and isn’t even necessary.

In cases such as these, scrapping the work altogether may make sense. However, any work that is considered an absolute requirement can be evaluated by one simple question: can it be outsourced and handled effectively? If so, you can then use the above criteria to further consider whether it is something you should do, or whether it can be passed onto someone else with experience in the niche.

Freelance writing services definitely have a niche, and virtually every brand that is in the business of creating ample amounts of content can benefit from them. Before you make a decision one way or another, however, consider both the necessity of each piece of content, its monetary value and your own mood toward it; doing so will ensure you’re making the right decision in every situation.