How do you create content that your prspective buyers and Google will find useful and rank accordingly in SERPs? As the expert in your field, one way is to draft creative content marketing that entertains, engages and educates your readers.

But what if you're too busy building your company, and you don;t have the budget to fire a digital content marketing agency?

The second-best option is to find other experts in your field, who are not competitors, to write the content for you. Freelance writers offer the expertise and skill to create editorial content that engages readers to stay on your website.

The idea of finding people with proven writing ability with expertise in your business sounds appealing. The question looms: How do you find these people? Of course, you always can find people who write, bring them aboard your staff, and teach them the expertise. But that takes time and resources as you add staff with salaries and benefits.

Freelance writers serve as another option as they often specialize by field or region, and you only pay for what they produce. Many also carry the benefit of having established a following among those interested in your business.

You also must convince freelance writers that you are looking for reputable editorial content, not the SEO-generating content marketing that many companies offer. Freelance writers work off their reputations. They won't want to damage that by producing sales content.

How do you find these writers? Do you scour trade publications? Search reputable media sites? Throw an ad out on a job board such as Upwork? All are possibilities, but likely to be hit and miss. And who can afford to miss?

Recently, I had the good fortune to discover a startup that connects companies with freelance writers all over the globe. I invited ContentGrow CEO Enricko Lukman to share some insights on a podcast.

ContentGrow features some 2,500 freelance journalists and writers, many based in East Asia and the United States, and has about 100 clients. Enricko and co-founder Leighton Cosseboom founded ContentGrow in 2015 after recognizing the difficulty companies had in connecting with qualified freelancers.

As freelance writers themselves, Enricko and Leighton initially worked within their network of freelance writers to create connections with their clients. As the company began to scale, they found the company's manual operation needed to automate to offer clients the best matches. They also find the need to continually grow their writer database as new clients demand new expertise. As an example, Enricko noted they recently had to search for freelance journalists working in South Africa.

Enricko was able to confirm my suspicion that companies that hired writers without expertise in their field ended up getting regurgitated material that only echoed the top writers in the field, rather than generating new content that adds to the conversation in the field. This type of content does not fool Google, nor does it engage interested customers.

It's no longer enough to publish good content. If you want to rank in slots 1 through 4 in a competitive market, you have to publish outstanding content to execute an effective growth marketing strategy.

If Enricko and I have piqued your interest in learning how owned media can generate more leads and sales for your business, consider enrolling in my Owned Media Pivot Program. In 12 weeks, we'll analyze and optimize your website, create content to establish your place as a thought leader, and speed the buyer's journey from interest to purchase.