Not enough work from Upwork

SEOHoneyBadger said:

I'm constantly looking for technical writers. Do you have any tips for those looking for Copywriters?

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• Manual outreach: If I'm looking for writers for a very specific topic, sometimes I'll look for sites in the same niche and contact writers directly. This isn't always possible, but if you can do it, it works really well
• Be clear - When I create listings on Upwork and Problogger, I'm very specific and clear about what I'm looking for. I mention my quality guidelines, formatting, the level of research I expect, etc. It tends to scare off the lazier writers who aren't going to put in the amount of research the content will take anyways. The tradeoff is a lot of times you'll get fewer applicants.
• Detailed briefs - This is particularly true in the beginning. A lot of writers have been pleasantly surprised by how detailed the briefs I give them are. I used to do freelance writing and I know first hand that most clients don't give writers good enough briefs. Never assume writers know what you're looking for. You need to explain exactly what you're looking for, preferably with examples. When I'm looking for writers for a new site, I'll write the first article myself to show them an example of what I'm looking for.
• Samples - Similar to the note I gave the OP, always ask for samples of published work. This disqualifies lower-quality writers right away.
• Post to multiple places - When I use a marketplace, I typically go with Upwork and Problogger and I'll put my listing on both. Some writers will only be on one or the other.
• Location-specific - I generally only hire writers in the U.S., Canada or U.K, particularly for sites I'm really trying to grow.
• Set them up for success - Recently, I started giving writers access to SEO tools to help them do research. A lot of freelance writers don't have access to tools like Ahrefs, Mangools and SE Ranking, so giving them access can really help them create better content.