Outsourcing Your Articles... Easier Said Than Done.

[Michael Ellis]

I see a lot of posts about outsourcing - how wonderful it is - and how much time it can save you, etc.

Honestly, anyone that says it's an easy way to free up your time doesn't have a whole lot of experience with outsourcing. That's my opinion.

Take article outsourcing…

I've done a ton of it, and I've found that 90% of the people that charge less than $10 per article simply can't do the job (poor at research or english or both, and no, examples of work doesn't completely filter these folks) and the remaining 10% of the keepers have to be watched like a hawk.

Why?

Well, here are a few things that my good 10%'ers have done to me:

• Up'ed the price (can't blame them for that)
• Resold my exclusively purchased content as PLR
• Sold my research (keywords and content) to others that created similar websites targeting similar keywords while using some of my purchased content
• Created similar articles for themselves based off of my purchased articles and submitted them to article directories

And just when I thought I had a decent group of folks churning out the articles for me, I run into this a new issue…

In the past 6 months I've run into 3 instances where 3 different writers had basically taken articles from elsewhere, and just changed the wording enough to pass copyscape. I mean, each paragraph is obviously a dupe of the original. It's not like they took a "7 tips" article and made it a "3 tips" article and expanded on the 3 tips. It's like they took a 7 tips article and make it another 7 tips article with some basic word changes.

I'm surprised copyscape doesn't catch these simple changes. The only way I found it was by doing a search on the article title. And yes, the titles were so similar to the originals that the originals pop up in Google.

Now, I advertise for 100% unique content. I also specify that I will check using Copyscape. So, I'm feeling a little cheated right now.

I've spoken to two of the writers and they've agreed to stop creating the articles that way. However, I doubt I will order any more from them. Is that being too harsh?

Please note: I'm not knocking writers - there are a lot of honest ones out there who work very hard and provide a great value to your business, but there are plenty of cheats also.

Infact, I hire GREAT writers from time to time at $30 - $50+ a pop for a 300 - 500 word article. The content I get is awesome, but I just can't pay this kind of money for all my niches, it just isn't workable, profit-wise.

I guess the moral of the story is that outsourcing is not all potatoes and gravy… Sure, in the case of content creation, you don't have to write the content, but you now have to filter past all the wannabe article writers and then keep close watch on your good writers. Is it worth it? Most of the time, yes, but it's WORK!

And don't depend soley on Copyscape!

[Steven Wagenheim]

Michael, all I can say is...welcome to the real world.

And it gets even uglier than that.

This is why I will never, never, never, never, never outsource my article
writing.

If I can't write it...it don't get written.

Bad English and all.

[Bev Clement]

Michael, the problem you are facing is the teaching that many writing coaches give, and that includes some warriors. They say take an article and make each paragraph into a tip, or take 7 tips and make it into more tips. For some reason they don't see that as copying which of course it is.

I have yet to find a single client who has asked for articles to be written in a lit format, 7 tips or 3 tips.

I never recommend someone reads an article directory when they do research on a subject. Two reasons, a lot of them have misinformation included in the articles, and too many are so badly written why would you want to use them?

I don't know what niches you are in, but I do know a number of people who we have been teaching who do not copy articles.

[howlinghawk]

Doing it yourself or making a bot do it for you is the only way to succeed.

-Howlinghawk

[GeorgR.]

100% agree, can be VERY hard to get good ones. As i wrote in the other thread, i really think most of them don't realize how bad those article actually are ;/

[Nigel Greaves]

Originally Posted by Michael Ellis

I've spoken to two of the writers and they've agreed to stop creating the articles that way. However, I doubt I will order any more from them. Is that being too harsh?

Too harsh? I think you've been more than generous in not demanding your money back Michael. To my way of thinking that's pretty close to obtaining money by deception.

Nigel

[SullyUI]

That's the problem with internet marketing as an industry. 90% or more of the content online is just rehashed. Truly unique content is a rare thing, and writers who are good at what they do are also in the minority.

You do get what you pay for. Although high quality content might cost a little more, just think on the difference it will contribute to your business as a pose to low quality content. You might get enough traffic from just one unique article to cover the cost.

[Sandi Valentine]

That's not writing, it's plagiarism in some cases and simply unethical in others.

Biting the hand that feeds you that way doesn't make any business sense at all, and I'd certainly think twice before paying for work like that.

Do you think adding some sort of non compete agreement would make a difference?

[Akogo]

Not that it will make things easier for yourself or the rest of us, but where you do you get your article outsourcing done?

[Tyrus Antas]

Originally Posted by Sandi Valentine

Do you think adding some sort of non compete agreement would make a difference?

Do you think the people providing $4 articles care about that kind of stuff? They'll accept the agreement only to break it a week later.

Tyrus

[Michael Ellis]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Michael, all I can say is...welcome to the real world.

And it gets even uglier than that.

This is why I will never, never, never, never, never outsource my article
writing.

If I can't write it...it don't get written.

Bad English and all.

I just wish my fingers were as fast as yours Steven!

[Cerberus]

I have had some good experiences with writter through rentacoder.

You have to watch everything like a hawk. I completely avoid emerging markets, you must be a native english speaker.

I absolutely hate writing articles so outsourcing is my only option.

[bannor32]

Instead of hiring a writer have you considered partnering with a writer? You do the marketing, backlinking etc. They write the content. That way they have the motivation to produce the best content possible without turning around and packaging it as PLR, or submitting it to article directories. Obviously there would be hurdles to establishing a working business relationship, but it could ultimately solve your problem of finding an honest and reliable freelancer.

[Mac the Knife]

I think the $4 market may dry up...I don't think this is an area that will see competition continue to drive prices lower as people realize over time their content is worthless. While I don't think it is cool for people to raise prices on you DURING a project, those that deliver quality content will simply have to raise their prices over time to continue to deliver quality, original, on time content. People have told me that $10/article is ridiculous and that no one pays those rates...well, I wonder what their IM efforts are pulling in for them monthly?

[Michael Ellis]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

I don't know what niches you are in, but I do know a number of people who we have been teaching who do not copy articles.

That's good to know. I will definetly keep your name in mind on my next projects.

Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises

I have heard of "writers" doing some of the things you mention but not those that sell the keywords and research to other people. Unbelievable!

Tina G

Yea, I was shocked. It happened twice (that I know of).

Originally Posted by howlinghawk

Doing it yourself or making a bot do it for you is the only way to succeed.

-Howlinghawk

Ahh, no thanks.

Originally Posted by Sully Chaudry

You do get what you pay for. Although high quality content might cost a little more, just think on the difference it will contribute to your business as a pose to low quality content. You might get enough traffic from just one unique article to cover the cost.

I tend to agree. However, there are some very profitable business models where you only need decent, unique content to drive SE traffic... it just isn't profitable with high-end writers on those sites. To me, this is a dream job for a writer... you just need to be grammatically correct and semi-useful. Easy work.

Originally Posted by Sandi Valentine

Do you think adding some sort of non compete agreement would make a difference?

Here's my requirements:

-----------------
- Each article should be between 350-500 words in length (no bio needed)
- Each article must be 100% completely unique and written by you (Please note: I use the Premium version of Copyscape to verify content isn't a recreation)
- Your agreement that I, upon payment in full, will receive complete 100% ownership of the articles and have the right to do whatever I want with them
- Your agreement that you will not resell these articles or use them in any way
- Your agreement that you will not share details my work request with others, or use this information for competitive purposes
- Your agreement to complete the articles within 2 weeks of order placement
------------------

I would think that should be sufficient.

Originally Posted by Akogo

Not that it will make things easier for yourself or the rest of us, but where you do you get your article outsourcing done?

Anywhere and everywhere. I've hired great writers from here on warriorforum - Vince Runza comes to mind. Great writer for IM niche. I typically go the Craigslist route for the lower cost writers.

[tommygadget]

I'm sorry, but I have several people working for me creating articles relatively inexpensively. I simply cannot run my business without offloading some of the work, it is that simple. If I stop outsourcing, I stop growing. Don't give up trying to find good writers and people to help you out. Doing it all yourself is great until a certain point. After that, it is either find help or stop growing your business.

TomG.

[LilBlackDress]

Hi Michael,

I am a writer and I have a group of women that write for me for private clients. Each one signs an NDA, I approve all work and I have never had any issues. It is really sad to read that you experienced such a lack of integrity from the people you have worked with.

There are many quality writers out there who would never dream of selling your research, spinning your articles etc. Writers who believe in providing value to you and who value you as a client. And many of them will write 500 words for $10. (Though I am not one of them ) It is just a matter of finding a few quality writers that you can trust.

It is sad you have been taken advantage of and I hope you find quality, ethical writers in the future.

[Kael41]

On the backside of management from one of these larger content houses, I used to deal with writers who were part of my group who exhibited poor moral business ethics in engaging in some of the activities listed in this thread.
See, some of my writers are actually outsourcers themselves, but i didn't know it at the time. I've made it a point when hiring writers that the only work that they would contribute to a project was made specifically by them. That wasn't the case a couple of years ago..

My background is in the realm of computer forensics and the law. Needless to say, I have a couple of specialty tools that enable me to see whether someone is being truthful or not most of the time when they send me completed content for client delivery. I weeded out a bunch of writers that way, but it as a business owner it opened myself to a world of liability and if my bottom wasn't being kept- unique content paid for.

[ASM Marketing]

In my opinion, after you find a decent writer (and there is no shortage of places to find them), it's really not hard at all...

I hire writers to write one or two blog posts a week for me based around a keyword list I provide. Let's say we agree one one article a week, and I pay $40 a month. As long as my ROI per month from that blog is higher than my expense, I am not only profiting - but it's automated growth to my blog. That blog then becomes a self-sustaining business, and as an asset it grows in value for every post that my writer produces.

[J Elizabeth Dize]

You should contact these writers for your money back!

I'm fortunate that I have worked with a lot of great, ethical writers in my time (they are out there!!), but there are some stinkers too, as evidenced by your experience.

I agree with asking for a non-compete agreement. Draw something up that specifies you are requesting unique work, and that you are the sole owner of the rights. This will "scare off" someone who might consider using your work in the ways you describe.

Thankfully, I haven't run across any writing coaches who teach to just rewrite tips out of articles, like Bev was mentioning (that's not to say that tips articles aren't good -- they can be VERY effective for article marketing. It's just bad when you rewrite an article someone else wrote in the tip format..aka plagiarism ). I teach my students the importance of quality research, from a wide variety of credible sources.

While many students are aware of these techniques, there are some who are shocked that you can't just rewrite. However, the vast majority of the writers I have worked with are quality, honest, and hard working. I promise you they are out there!

The writers you describe give all of us a bad name!

[Sandi Valentine]

Originally Posted by Tyrus Antas

Do you think the people providing $4 articles care about that kind of stuff? They'll accept the agreement only to break eat a week later.

Tyrus

Point taken

The list of requirements he posted later in the thread is more than clear - I was trying to see the best in people, but apparently there's no "best" to see after all. If someone can read those details and STILL provide copied content, it's obviously not a misunderstanding.

I second Jenn's opinion - ask for your money back!

[Jeff Williams]

Michael,

Ever thought about hiring locally?

The only downside is, you would have to train them yourself. However, that could be a good thing as you would be receiving content to your exact specifications.

Plus, it's easier if they have no experience. They don't think they "know it all", they're open to instruction, and they very rarely have the urge to compete with you or repurpose the work.

In fact, when you are ready to upgrade from part-time freelancers to full-time staff, your local writers will be easier to corral because usually, you are their only "client".

Some ideas: You can hire a few college students or retired people to start. Let them do lesser niches as they will have the highest turnover. Have them write the first 5 articles for free to test quality, accuracy, and timeliness. (free content)

Also, if you run ads in your local paper and use headlines like "Writer Needed" or "Like To Write?", I'd immediately follow with "No experience needed." Sometimes people only glance and assume they need a college degree or journalism background.

Anyway, could work for you if you find the time to train them. Thoughts?

-Jeff

[Shannon Tani]

Wow! I simply can't believe what some people will do. Reselling your articles? Copying others' work?

I don't blame you for not hiring those writers again.

Love,
Shannon

[M0n3yMan]

We are looking at this all wrong I think lol,
put it like this, say you find that great perfect writer and you pay them well and they create a great original article just as you required, then one of your competitors will simply reword/rewrite your article and publish it anyway, what im trying to say is unfortunately it really wouldnt make much of a difference even if you found a great honest writer because the results will be the same.

What we should all do is accept that this happens because its not going to change so as long as your articles are reasonably genuine and you get them out there first and you get your desired effect ie links traffic ROI then you shouldnt worry about others copying you because you cant control or change it. So long as outsourcing is growing your business then that is what should count.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

I cannot afford NOT to outsource. There aren't enough hours in the day.

[Sandi Valentine]

Originally Posted by M0n3yMan

We are looking at this all wrong I think lol,
put it like this, say you find that great perfect writer and you pay them well and they create a great original article just as you required, then one of your competitors will simply reword/rewrite your article and publish it anyway, what im trying to say is unfortunately it really wouldnt make much of a difference even if you found a great honest writer because the results will be the same.

What we should all do is accept that this happens because its not going to change so as long as your articles are reasonably genuine and you get them out there first and you get your desired effect ie links traffic ROI then you shouldnt worry about others copying you because you cant control or change it. So long as outsourcing is growing your business then that is what should count.

The difference is, he's not paying his competitors - he's paying these people, and they're ripping him off.

[activetrader]

The situation is even worse with PLR articles that come with a resourse box and a link back to goarticles!

[Rob D]

First of all some of the stuff you mention is just plain wrong. It's shocking that people will stoop to selling your research or reselling articles you paid for.
But...I'm going to play devils advocate a little here.

Article Marketing and BUM Marketing are two terms that tend to be used almost interchangably. Travis provides a how to that does basically what you are complaining about in terms of content. Quote "All the research you need is already done". Just go to an article director - find something already written on the subject and rewrite it as your own.

The difference is in the word 'rewrite'. SOme people think that means change a few words, others think it means rephrase it in your own language, still others think it means use it as a starting point for your own articles.

Personally, when I do freelance writing(and I rarely do now having all my time soaked up between my little girls and studying for MS certification) I've found that it's not worth my effort(research time vs income) to accept less than blocks of ten articles on a topic, and when I get that you go to the library find an 'idiots guide to (topic) and you've got a reliable source of information on the topic that's already been through an editor/quality control etc etc.

Article directories are far from a reliable research source. I conducted a little experiement some time back where I presented an article on property flipping to a number of article directories. It had 5 deliberately FALSE facts in(incorrect reporting of government regulations, false statistics and Referring to Hillary CLinton as the Russian president) and only 1 of 5 article directories rejected the article(and then based on the link not the content). Worse still there were cloned articles of that feature within a week. To their credit all the article directories removed the content within 5 days of me emailing them my results(one blocked my account).

Anyway, slight tangent there. My point is that in many cases the first introduction people have to online writing is the 'rehash an article' approach, and when the BUM marketing doesn't pay for them immediately they resort to the 'instant cash' of freelance writing. Using a site like rentacoder provides you with ALOT of protection. Use an experienced writer and don't be afraid to go back to rentacoder two weeks later if you find them reselling your work. Rentacoder pretty much always sides with the buyers in disputes(you guys bring the money to the site).

[sbucciarel]

I use need-an-article.net and have no problems. Get unique articles for cheap and done in a reasonable amount of time.

[James Seward]

Hey Michael,

Well there are always some risks when outsourcing anything! All I can say is that you truly get what you pay for... I mean if I was working with a writer that did some things to me I would ask for 100% refund of my money! So you are not being too harsh, not at all... ;D

You say you can't afford to pay $20 or $30 to have an article written but the real question is: would you rather pay $30 to have a great article and work with someone that meets deadlines and delivers great content (and does not copy it ;D) or to have six articles (paying $5 for each) and then find out that the provider copied them and put them on the web or sold plr to them? I mean, it makes you think!

Anyway not all outsourcing is an headache but it takes some time to find a good, professional and reliable worker ;D

Best
James

[GeorgR.]

Originally Posted by LilBlackDress

Hi Michael,

I am a writer and I have a group of women that write for me for private clients. Each one signs an NDA, I approve all work and I have never had any issues. It is really sad to read that you experienced such a lack of integrity from the people you have worked with.

There are many quality writers out there who would never dream of selling your research, spinning your articles etc. Writers who believe in providing value to you and who value you as a client. And many of them will write 500 words for $10. (Though I am not one of them ) It is just a matter of finding a few quality writers that you can trust.

It is sad you have been taken advantage of and I hope you find quality, ethical writers in the future.

i also have one EXCELLENT writer (and submitter!) which writers for $10...but my plan is to do this large scale (3-5 a day)..and i do NOT want to spend $50 day for articles.

I found a good source now which writes/submits 300-350 words for $3.50...good articles. $10/article just wont work on such a scale. You CAN find them if you look long enough on webmaster forums, sooner or later. As for myself: I will try dragon natural speaking today

[gapsapman]

I do have the contact of a great writer who is loyal and produce quality stuff at a great rate, but that's really a One in almost 30 writers i tried, so i got lucky. If anyone wants the contact , just drop me a pm.

I agree that plently of outsources writers either sucks, or are not reliable.

[Audrey Harvey]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

This is why I will never, never, never, never, never outsource my article
writing.

Agreed. I do all my own writing for my clients, and my own pet niche sites; I can't see the point in outsourcing to writers who don't know the topics as well as I do. I have a few other non pet niche sites where I have outsourced the research and writing. In most cases, I was disappointed.

I plan on doing all my own writing from now on and outsourcing the technical aspects like social bookmarking and backlinking. We'll see how that goes.

[Rachel Goodchild]

I've never done any of those things- and I also regularly outsource and they don't do it either.
one thing I've learnt is if anything is happening to you on a regular basis- look at your processes- it will be that that is at fault.

[Michael Ellis]

Originally Posted by tommygadget

I'm sorry, but I have several people working for me creating articles relatively inexpensively. I simply cannot run my business without offloading some of the work, it is that simple. If I stop outsourcing, I stop growing. Don't give up trying to find good writers and people to help you out. Doing it all yourself is great until a certain point. After that, it is either find help or stop growing your business.

TomG.

You're absolutely right... Let me clarify, I agree that outsourcing is something you really need to do once you reach a certain point. There's just not enough hours in the day to do everything yourself. However, it has proven to be somewhat of a hassle for me and something really I don't want to manage.

I'm looking more into hiring a local project manager to take care of that end of the business. I *think* that will make it a much more manageable process... of course, there's the added cost.

My point of it all was that outsourcing isn’t as easy or profitable as a lot of people advertise. You know, the “just head over to elance and post an ad for $2 bucks an article” kind of claims. It’s just not that easy. Not if you’re looking for results.

[ramone_johnny]

Originally Posted by Michael Ellis

I see a lot of posts about outsourcing - how wonderful it is - and how much time it can save you, etc.

Honestly, anyone that says it's an easy way to free up your time doesn't have a whole lot of experience with outsourcing. That's my opinion.

Take article outsourcing…

I've done a ton of it, and I've found that 90% of the people that charge less than $10 per article simply can't do the job (poor at research or english or both, and no, examples of work doesn't completely filter these folks) and the remaining 10% of the keepers have to be watched like a hawk.

Why?

Well, here are a few things that my good 10%'ers have done to me:

• Up'ed the price (can't blame them for that)
• Resold my exclusively purchased content as PLR
• Sold my research (keywords and content) to others that created similar websites targeting similar keywords while using some of my purchased content
• Created similar articles for themselves based off of my purchased articles and submitted them to article directories

And just when I thought I had a decent group of folks churning out the articles for me, I run into this a new issue…

In the past 6 months I've run into 3 instances where 3 different writers had basically taken articles from elsewhere, and just changed the wording enough to pass copyscape. I mean, each paragraph is obviously a dupe of the original. It's not like they took a "7 tips" article and made it a "3 tips" article and expanded on the 3 tips. It's like they took a 7 tips article and make it another 7 tips article with some basic word changes.

I'm surprised copyscape doesn't catch these simple changes. The only way I found it was by doing a search on the article title. And yes, the titles were so similar to the originals that the originals pop up in Google.

Now, I advertise for 100% unique content. I also specify that I will check using Copyscape. So, I'm feeling a little cheated right now.

I've spoken to two of the writers and they've agreed to stop creating the articles that way. However, I doubt I will order any more from them. Is that being too harsh?

Please note: I'm not knocking writers - there are a lot of honest ones out there who work very hard and provide a great value to your business, but there are plenty of cheats also.

Infact, I hire GREAT writers from time to time at $30 - $50+ a pop for a 300 - 500 word article. The content I get is awesome, but I just can't pay this kind of money for all my niches, it just isn't workable, profit-wise.

I guess the moral of the story is that outsourcing is not all potatoes and gravy… Sure, in the case of content creation, you don't have to write the content, but you now have to filter past all the wannabe article writers and then keep close watch on your good writers. Is it worth it? Most of the time, yes, but it's WORK!

And don't depend soley on Copyscape!

Outsourcing CAN work and DOES work, and it CAN save you a lot of time, if you are smart enough during your hiring process.

The hiring process should be almost identical to that of actually hiring someone for a traditional job. A simple "you look okay, go for it..." will only result in this very situation.

Learn to outsource correctly, and hire good people, and you wont have this problem.

[Michael Ellis]

Originally Posted by Rob D

First of all some of the stuff you mention is just plain wrong. It's shocking that people will stoop to selling your research or reselling articles you paid for.
But...I'm going to play devils advocate a little here.

Article Marketing and BUM Marketing are two terms that tend to be used almost interchangably. Travis provides a how to that does basically what you are complaining about in terms of content. Quote "All the research you need is already done". Just go to an article director - find something already written on the subject and rewrite it as your own.

The difference is in the word 'rewrite'. SOme people think that means change a few words, others think it means rephrase it in your own language, still others think it means use it as a starting point for your own articles.

Personally, when I do freelance writing(and I rarely do now having all my time soaked up between my little girls and studying for MS certification) I've found that it's not worth my effort(research time vs income) to accept less than blocks of ten articles on a topic, and when I get that you go to the library find an 'idiots guide to (topic) and you've got a reliable source of information on the topic that's already been through an editor/quality control etc etc.

Article directories are far from a reliable research source. I conducted a little experiement some time back where I presented an article on property flipping to a number of article directories. It had 5 deliberately FALSE facts in(incorrect reporting of government regulations, false statistics and Referring to Hillary CLinton as the Russian president) and only 1 of 5 article directories rejected the article(and then based on the link not the content). Worse still there were cloned articles of that feature within a week. To their credit all the article directories removed the content within 5 days of me emailing them my results(one blocked my account).

Anyway, slight tangent there. My point is that in many cases the first introduction people have to online writing is the 'rehash an article' approach, and when the BUM marketing doesn't pay for them immediately they resort to the 'instant cash' of freelance writing. Using a site like rentacoder provides you with ALOT of protection. Use an experienced writer and don't be afraid to go back to rentacoder two weeks later if you find them reselling your work. Rentacoder pretty much always sides with the buyers in disputes(you guys bring the money to the site).

Very good points Rob...

Travis is good guy, and Bum Marketing works very well. However, the Bum Marketing madness has left the article directories (including EZA) polluted with a heavy majority of utter garbage.

Look at the popular BM courses. Where do they say to do your research? EZA. They tell you to find what's popular and rewrite it... Basically pollute the net with more inaccurate garbage. Which is why I think Google will one day lose all of its love for those kind of repositories. If the people searching get junk in return, they won't likely be back... We'll see.

Thanks for posting.

[Michael Ellis]

James (Seward) - point taken. Thanks.

GeorgeR - Yes, the search continues. It becomes more of a problem when you add more writers into the mix. I usually have between 8-12 article projects (by 8-12 different people) happening at any given time. Each project is typically done by a unique writer with at least some specific knowledge of the niche.

I'm think the project manager is the way to go, for all of my outsourcing needs, not just writing. That way I'm free to do what I think I do best.

ramone_Johnny - I guess I'm just not smart enough. Thanks for your input.

Thanks a lot everyone. You've all had great input and have been a great set of shoulders to cry on during my dilemma. LOL. I think I need to spend more money.

[ramone_johnny]

Originally Posted by Michael Ellis

James (Seward) - point taken. Thanks.

GeorgeR - Yes, the search continues. It becomes more of a problem when you add more writers into the mix. I usually have between 8-12 article projects (by 8-12 different people) happening at any given time. Each project is typically done by a unique writer with at least some specific knowledge of the niche.

I'm think the project manager is the way to go, for all of my outsourcing needs, not just writing. That way I'm free to do what I think I do best.

ramone_Johnny - I guess I'm just not smart enough. Thanks for your input.

Thanks a lot everyone. You've all had great input and have been a great set of shoulders to cry on during my dilemma. LOL. I think I need to spend more money.

Dude, you dont need to spend more money, you just need to be smarter.

This is the process that I have adopted.

1. Advertise as you have done already outlining the job requirements on various boards.

2. Once you have say, 100 people apply, shortlist the applicants .

3. Have them do an english test - go here English Test, Online Language Grammar Test it costs about $9.95 WORTH IT!

4. Shortlist again in alignment with results.

5. Have those on the shortlist do up 3 HIGH quality articles on any subject of your choice.

6. Shortlist again!

7. The remaining 5 applicants, should then sit a SKYPE interview, in which case, you will be able to actually speak with them and get a feel for them.

8. Make your decision and hire!

Sound easy enough?

[Alice Seba]

Originally Posted by Michael Ellis

Honestly, anyone that says it's an easy way to free up your time doesn't have a whole lot of experience with outsourcing. That's my opinion.

Or it's just the opposite. Inexperience means one may make more hiring mistakes. But find the writing team and you've got a great asset on your side.

Alice

[birdfood]

I don't believe that writing articles yourself is normally the best way. by outsourcing, you have more free time to add income streams, expand business, work on new products etc.

The question is how to effectively out source article writing. Don't have an answer to that one

[ramone_johnny]

To run a successful business you simply MUST outsource! Think about it...

Property developers make a lot of money right? You think they lay tiles, pour concrete, paint and landscape???

Of course not!

[Dan Grossman]

You can outsource writing, there are good writers out there. But you are unlikely to find them on Warrior Forum, Digital Point, or a freelancing site. I've made the offers, and the only replies I get on forums suffer the problems the original poster mentioned. They give you XXX words of garbage.

Real writers are usually not exclusively web workers like us, that's why you can't hire them here. Post a job listing on CareerBuilder or Monster.com or Craigslist.

[pmlharry]

Outsourcing is definitely useful and the basic premise is simple... but I agree it's not easy to accomplish.

If you had stated your conditions beforehand, then it's absolutely unforgivable for the writer to breach the terms of agreement e.g. by selling your articles as PLR. But if we don't state our terms clearly at the start, then we really have to share part of the blame for our oversight.

And it's important to remember there are crooks everywhere so I suppose this comes with the territory if you want to look for outside help.

That doesn't mean there aren't good and ethical writers out there though. You just have to keep looking and managing the ones you have already found. And if you ever find a cheap and good and fast writer, then count your lucky stars because that's a real gem.

And if you are feeling generous, do come back here and give us a heads-up or something. I for one am always looking for value-for-money writers. :-)

[dsmpublishing]

With me it has taken me four years to find a decent one - unfortunately that is the way it goes and you can do nothing about it. You now need to find your one good one!!!

kind regards


sam
X

[1wisewoman]

With all the talk about outsourcing as the answer to making a decent income online, this post definitely gave me some things to watch out for if I do decide to outsource articles:
*Keyword research being sold
*Writing articles for themselves from your research

Thanks

[The Expert]

One of my 24 month goals is to create my "assistant" site.

This is a site that has a single purpose of generating about $2,200 p/month which will be set aside as an investment in an in-house, full-time, super assistant.

This would be someone that would be willing to dedicate 8 hrs a day to maintaining my sites, linkbuilding, blog farming, setting up my foundation for new sites, and creating killer articles.

Once my super-assistant is in place I will be able to focus on things that really matter. Like getting back to a more normal life where I spend time with my family. (and creating more sites)

[MikeGriffith]

Michael, I have learned the hard way that in some...many...most cases you get what you pay for when you outsource your article writing. That's why I write my own articles. Sure, it takes some time, but how much time do you spend with people who don't care about anything but how much money they can get from you?

It ain't worth it.

But don't give up on article marketing. I still believe that it's one of the most effective and least expensive ways to drive targeted leads to your website or blog.

[Tyrus Antas]

Maybe searching for writers outside the usual Internet Marketing circles will get you better results? You'll also likely pay a little bit more.

Tyrus

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Michael Ellis

I've found that 90% of the people that charge less than $10 per article simply can't do the job ... and the remaining 10% of the keepers have to be watched like a hawk.

So let's say you buy ten sample articles, and ninety percent of them suck. Then you pay the one decent writer a hundred bucks for ten articles, and when you go over them, you find that one of them is crap you can't use. So you've paid $200 for ten usable articles, or $20 an article - plus you've had to examine 21 articles, for let's say ten minutes each. That's two and a half hours.

If your time is worth at least $40 an hour, that's another $100, for a grand total of $300... and you may as well have hired the $30 writer! Not to mention he probably would have delivered faster!

You pay for what you get. What you don't pay in cash, you'll pay in time, effort, and aggravation.