There’s not many silver linings you’d wish to draw from a global pandemic, but the rapid acceleration of digital adoption is certainly one of them. Several major industries have benefited from the gradual transition to remote working and learning, none more so than publishers operating in the STEM industry. With online STEM resources, such as content creators and providers rising rapidly in prominence, the paradigm shift towards digital learning, be it company-wide upskilling or comprehensive student learning, is evident.
This development provides STEM publishers a massive opportunity to streamline their offerings and exponentially increase their revenue, by catering to the new-age STEM resources and education providers. STEM publishers typically have a wide market, and publish a wide variety of material such as curriculum textbooks, education journals and research material.
The biggest dynamic change amongst STEM resources over the past few months is the increasing gravitation of academic scholars and researchers towards freelancing. Dubbed ‘the expert economy’, freelance scientists and subjects matter experts are actively involved in diverse branches of STEM publishing, right from content generation to curriculum enhancement.
While there are many benefits to tapping into this freelance ecosystem of STEM resources, publishers are naturally wary of the risks too, such as expertise match, intellectual property and payment security. Here are 3 ways Kolabtree assuages these fears and makes hiring freelancers an easy experience,
Find niche STEM resources to diversify your range of content offerings
Even if STEM content essentially encompasses educational material, there is quite a lot of room for creativity. The onus is on the writer to tweak the content to make it engaging enough to captivate the attention of kids, who notoriously have shorter attention spans and are easily distracted.
Even complex educational topics for grown-up audiences, such as scientific or research guides, have to be written in such a way that the readers are engrossed in the material. If authenticity and accuracy of the content are the primary goals when it comes to penning and publishing educational content, engagement and diversity.
Expanding your range of offerings is a great way to capture the attention of your readers and even broaden your core clientele. Here’s where on-demand STEM resource experts can help you craft niche, specific content topics in line with what your audience wants at that point of time.
Kolabtree’s wide roster of educational writers cover the whole spectrum of STEM resources, right from science writing to research journals and guides. Their niche expertise, such as domain authority in machine learning, dietetics and medical informatics (to name a few), helps publishers broaden their offerings and deliver a wide range of subjects to their audience.
Diversity is key here, as STEM content is not strictly restricted to science, technology, maths and engineering. Gamification, such as adding puzzles and quizzes within the content material, is just one of the many ways expert writers can switch up your content and make it highly engaging for readers.
Cost-effective and direct collaboration without contractual obligations
For most medium sized STEM publishing companies, the greatest challenge is sourcing STEM resources and content whilst maintaining a lean, low-cost organizational structure. With platforms such as Kolabtree offering direct access to experts who charge much lower than traditional agencies, this presents an opportunity for publishers to explore low-cost and high-output alternatives to hiring full time employees or navigating through liaison agencies.
Negotiating complicated contracts is another problem that Kolabtree helps solve in a simple manner. With the platform’s experts available to be hired without any agent involved, publishers can scout, vet and hire experts without the hassle of operating through a middle man. There are also no heavy contractual obligations, as Kolabtree’s experts are available to start working on projects without the necessity of including a minimum contract period.
This presents a massive opportunity for STEM publishers to experiment with their content needs, testing ideas and exploring various course material with a wide range of experts. They can identify qualified subject matter experts who can assess their varying target demographic pools, devise effective development and delivery strategies, and create an optimal framework. Since Kolabtree’s roster of STEM writers have vast experience and a qualified track record across various spheres of education, right from physics and chemistry to complex topics like artificial intelligence, they can also act as consultants and advise the clients on their vision, overall strategy and execution of content ideas based on the training needs of their audience.
Build a steady, secure content pipeline
The pandemic has truly tested the flexibility and willingness of top companies to adapt to remote working and hybrid workforces. The best companies are already switching to contract based remote working models to maximize efficiency, and looking to hire the world’s best talent irrespective of location.
Frequent collaboration with the best STEM resources in the industry offers several benefits compared to building an in-house team of content writers to source material from. Top of this list is the emergence of the ‘expert economy’, a growing pool of writers, scholars and researchers who are gravitating towards offering their services on-demand to multiple publishers, instead of limiting themselves to one ecosystem.
Publishers need to scout these experts at places where they offer their services, especially freelance platforms such as Kolabtree that act as a one-stop shop for multiple resource needs. With myriad STEM domain experts, right from medical writers and mathematicians to biotechnologists and space scientists all housed under one platform, this offers publishers a chance to build a long term collaboration pipeline for their content needs.
An added significance is the data security and confidentiality guarantee offered by Kolabtree. The stringent T&C’s, custom agreements and NDA’s virtually guarantee that publishers retain possession of their intellectual property, and reserve the right to withdraw the freelance expert’s access to the material at any point. In addition, the platform’s payment guarantee ensures that the client’s money is only transferred to the expert once they confirm that the output meets their expectations. Kolabtree also provides a ‘full refund’ guarantee, safe in the knowledge that the experts on the platform are capable enough to deliver exactly what the clients require.
Ready to collaborate with the world’s top experts? Contact them directly here, or post a project for free and get proposals from our best independent experts.