Mega Project: Problem Exploration

Freelance Marketplace

The unfortunate events of 2020 have pushed tens of millions of people into unforeseen and challenging circumstances. Self-employment, freelance, and remote work have all seen dramatic and exponential growth in the last twelve months.

Pakistan is among the top five countries globally regarding freelancing and generates a significant calculated amount of $0.5 billion entirely from freelancing. Pakistan is ranked as the 4th most popular country for freelancing in the Online Labor Index published in 2017 by Oxford Internet Institute (OII).

The freelancing industry in Pakistan is rapidly progressing. The national community of freelancers has generated $216.788 million by exporting their services from July to December during the fiscal year 2021–22, which is almost a 16.74 percent rise from last year’s earnings for the same period. According to a report, Pakistan is home to 9% of total freelancers globally.

By Q4 of 2020, the total number of freelancers had swollen considerably, as more people were forced to seek other forms of income. A fresh swarm of competitors had poured into the freelance writing industry in a few months.

And that’s precisely where the problem lies.

Key Learnings about Content Writers in Pakistan

If writing is easy, you are doing it wrong — Bryan Hutchinson

Currently, almost one million content writers are working in Pakistan. As a freelancer, making a living and a good one is possible. However, to do so, one needs some basic skills and knowledge of the freelancing world.

We started discussing the challenges writers face when they enter the content writing industry. Here’s what they said:

I can’t find any platform to learn how to find clients for content writing. I’ve been searching for a client on Facebook for two months but still no success. And if I find any, they do not sustain with me. I thought I didn’t have enough skills to write well-developed content, so I tended to enroll in online courses to improve my skills and how I could incorporate SEO in my writing. I think whatever courses I take, I can’t improve myself unless someone hires me and tells me about my areas of improvement —A content writer from Sahiwal.

I haven’t worked enough to show clients my samples. And no one is going to hire me if I don’t have samples. Even though I write on some of the topics to show clients, I don’t have anyone to proofread them and highlight my areas of improvement. It’s like a Bermuda triangle that I don’t know how to solve — A student at the University of Lahore.

Talking to our target users, we realized that they need practical knowledge and mentorship from someone already in the field and working.

While asking about the effectiveness of various courses available online that teach different skills like Udemy, Coursera, Digiskills, and many more, we got the following response:

I have enrolled myself in different courses of Digi skills, and even I purchased one on Udemy; they are like teaching me theories, and I wanted someone who could teach me baby steps of writing. I know what content writing is etc., but I don’t know about the market and what it demands. I am ready to work underpaid or even unpaid for some time, but I think clients need well-experienced content writers and they do not waste time with newbie writers — Content Writer from Sukkur.

Writers are not untalented; they are just unskilled. Newbie content writers need someone who does not teach only the basics of content writing but also helps them reach their full potential. Writers need knowledge about different writing formats and expert advice on their writing for improvement.

So, apart from content writers, we had a little chit-chat with some freelancers who always look for new content writers to add to their team. We ask them about the challenges they face while hiring content writers. Here’s what they say:

It’s tough for me to find writers as per my demands. Also, they do not have professional content to show; therefore, selecting writers is not easy. So, I look for writers from India or Bangladesh because they are more skilled — A freelancer on Upwork.

Sometimes, I do not assess the samples thoroughly due to workload and hire writers anyway. And even if I pay more than others, I get poor-quality content from writers. They do not differentiate between transactional and commercial articles even— Head of content writers at Socialist Fox.

We have concluded that even hiring teams are fed up with the poor quality of content the content writers deliver in Pakistan. We concluded that clients need writers who have published portfolios so that they can review their writing thoroughly before hiring.

Potential Causes of Unskilled Content Writers

As we also belong to the same industry so, during our journey, we have observed that so many writers claim they’re expert content creators, editors, or copywriters, without even the most basic grasp on what’s required to write effectively. After taking online courses, content writers do not perform optimally. Why is that?

a) These courses provide theoretical knowledge about content writing, and if there is any capstone project in the course, there is no reviewer or checker to validate the writings. Eventually, writers do not get feedback about their improvements, so they are stuck in their journey.

b) The content which grabs attention online is written in a certain way that distinguishes it from other pieces of content required by the clients. This means there is a big difference in the understanding of the content writers also.

There are already many local platforms that teach content writing. So, I studied their pattern with my team; I then figured out a difference in how these platforms teach. Content writing is not simply writing, but it means that the content developed should fit the parameters required for any content to reach large audiences.

Many things are involved in content writing that eventually builds a good engagement, like Search Engine Optimization, Keyword Research, Competitive Analysis, Backlinking, and Keyword Density.

Maybe the writers know these skills, but some have learned them from webinars and workshops, while others have taken course-based training. So, there was a difference in the way they were taught, and that is why I started looking to develop a content writing course that is focused more on practical knowledge to help content writers.

Portfolio Designers: Start Freelance Content Writing From Scratch

Our solution differs from others on the market in that we begin mentoring for free. Still, participants may receive paid certifications for this mentorship, ensuring that it does not lose worth among content writers. We will also organize a bonus session on Fiverr for those who have completed the course so that mentees may continue with these sessions and not lose interest until the course is completed.

Our target users are not only content writers but also freelancers who hire content writers. So, we concluded that if we provide activity-based live sessions and teach different formats of content writing, then writers will create high-quality content and build their portfolio on famous niches that will help them find high-paying clients.

Expert writers will proofread these published portfolios. It will also make it easy for clients to assess the writing skills of writers in one go. Our course will span over one month, where we will teach writers about different writing formats. The course will comprise five sessions and eight tasks. Writers will have to write articles on six famous niches and two PR articles to make their professional content writing portfolio.

Timeline to Achieve Milestones

Our Team and Responsibilities

First Phase of Our Project: Activities Performed

We attracted a massive pool of content writers because it is unpaid mentorship. Then we had a mini-competition of blog writing (300 words) to see who was genuinely interested in learning and had a firm grip on English. Out of 40 writers, only 24 were selected. Beginning with the orientation session, we covered the timelines, work submission method, and how we will complete this mentoring. All of the mentees gave us positive feedback.

The first session covered different kinds of content writing and how to produce well-researched and structured articles. Many students could not attend due to Ramazan, so we shared the recording and assigned them the first task. Only 17 learners completed their first task, while others did not even bother to answer. We gave them the first warning, but we had to remove seven mentees due to their irresponsible behavior.

The next phase was to proofread their assignments when I got them. Proofreading content written by someone else was a challenging yet exciting task. I provided comprehensive feedback about the content in the comments area, highlighting their errors in grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. The mentees corrected their mistakes and published their articles on their medium accounts. It’s the first step on their journey to becoming successful content writers. They were delighted to receive a thorough review of their efforts. Here’s what one of them had to say:

I appreciate your kindness in helping me reach my full potential. Thanks for being such a great mentor. I’ll try to work on your suggestions as best I can — Snam Khursheed.

Writers are assigned their second task, which is yet to be completed. But I must say that teaching your skills to others is a groundbreaking task. We got a very non-serious response and careless attitude from writers, whether about research, session attendance, or tasks submission. We have to remain strict with them; otherwise, they take it as a free ride. Keeping this in mind, we introduced a bonus session with them about Fiverr so that they can sustain their interest in this mentorship. We need writers to publish all their articles on Medium to develop their professional portfolios. We are heading to achieve other milestones, so we are excited about it!