No matter what type of business you have, at some stage you might need some good copy. This could for instance be text for your website, for advertisements or for brochures. Unless you have the time and excellent language skills to do it yourself, it's helpful to employ the services of a freelance copywriter. However, copywriting is a very competitive industry and you'll need to know a few tricks to find a quality freelancer who is right for your project.

There are several websites where you can outsource almost any kind of project to a freelancer. Freelance workers from all over the world use these sites to look for projects that they'd like to work on. The advantage for you as an employer is that you can find the best person for the job, even if that person lives in Kathmandu.

One way to get the best freelancers to respond to your advertisement is to know how to describe the project. Be clear about exactly what you want and what skills or knowledge you need the freelancer to have. If you want the text to be in a language other than English, place your advertisement in that language to ensure that those who respond really can speak, read and write the language. Also find out what market-related fees for the job would be because good freelancers won't apply for a job that pays far too little.

You'll probably be inundated with proposals, so you'll need to create a shortlist of likely candidates. Start by checking the grammar, spelling and general writing style of each proposal, because this can give you an idea of the applicant's writing abilities. Professionals will write personalized proposals rather than using a generic template and they'll usually quote within the range of the market rate. They'll also be realistic about the time they'll need for the project.

Don't let yourself be guided by applicants' nationalities. Great English copywriters don't necessarily live in countries where English is the main language. At the same time, living in the USA, the UK, Canada or Australia doesn't automatically mean that someone can speak English or can write copy.

A step that will require some time but is essential is to look at the profiles of the possible candidates. If you can barely understand the way they describe themselves, you probably won't understand the way they describe your product either. Their portfolio may give you insight into the style in which they write while their resume should tell you more about their education, their work experience and any special expertise they might have, such as knowledge about computers.

Freelancing job sites normally allow employers to review the freelancer's work. Read some of these reviews rather than simply looking at the overall rating the person scores. The negative reviews are especially useful for identifying potential issues, such as poor communication or missed deadlines. You'll also get a sense of the freelancer's level or professionalism and their personality by reading how they react to negative reviews.

It's a gamble to use any freelancer that you haven't used before. To prevent losing too much when your choice turns out to be the wrong one, leave sufficient time for reviewing the completed project and finding ways to fix problems such as bad quality or missed deadlines. However, your gamble may also pay off in the form of a freelancer who'll be an asset to your business.