Article writing & Content Outsourcing What's your Experience?

[spikey99]

I wanted to get some feedback from fellow Warriors on outsourcing content/article creation.

My wife is getting ready to launch an article writing/content creation service business. I hoped some of you fellow warriors could share with me your experiences with hiring outsourced writers or services that write seo optimized content.

What have you found most difficult about outsourcing content/article creation?

If you continually use a particular outsourcing service or individual why have you stuck with them?

Is price one of the #1 things you consider when outsourcing writing jobs?

Thanks to all of you who comment. I have my opinions on the topic, and for me I look for a happy mediums between price and quality. How ever I tend to find myself frustrated a lot with the article quality I get. It seems with some services no matter how much detail I provide the article is never quite as good as I'd hoped.

[Zeus66]

Originally Posted by spikey99

What have you found most difficult about outsourcing content/article creation?

If you continually use a particular outsourcing service or individual why have you stuck with them?

Is price one of the #1 things you consider when outsourcing writing jobs?

Most difficult = getting articles back on time. 2nd place = poor quality (spelling, grammar, syntax, punctuation).

The writers I've stuck with produced good, error-free content ON TIME consistently.

Price is NOT the #1 consideration. If you go cheap, you'll most often GET cheap. You'll end up spending valuable time fixing what you paid for. What's the point? And that goes for writers providing their services. Don't undercut yourself. There is a big demand for competent, professional (ie, on time consistently) writers. Charge accordingly, if that's you. Don't be afraid to ask for $10 or more for quality 400-500 word articles. Even $25+ is regularly paid for articles that short if you are exceptionally talented and professional about your services.

John

[John Sullivan]

You will get all types of replies to this. From my experience I have found some really good people here on the forum who offered low prices, I suspect to get customers but got swamped and delayed delivery. Others who simply didn't do the work and vanished.
I have since decided to hire my own staff mainly for this work as I got fed up chasing people for delivery dates etc.
There are many people offering writing services and if you provide a good service and keep to the agreed delivery times with a competitive price you could have many customers.
The problem is there are many people using outsourcing companies abroad who do good quality work for low prices so there is a lot of competition.

Good Luck

John

[Spencer Haws]

I personally use Textbroker.com. Its great because I can literally ask for 10 articles on the same topic and I will get 10 unique articles back very quickly all from different writers with different opinions etc. One writer would take a long time, and they would tend to sound the same.

However, I have outsourced a number of places and the #1 concern I have is quality. I don't considered myself a great writer, but I have RARELY been given back an article that I couldn't have done better myself. Also, many authors just don't have specific enough knowledge about certain niches. So, it tends to be difficult to find someone knowledgeable about a particular subject AND happens to be a good writer.

[Swastik]

What have you found most difficult about outsourcing content/article creation?

Finding reliable writers who can produce quality content within agreed time.

If you continually use a particular outsourcing service or individual why have you stuck with them?

I stuck with a couple of writers 'cause they are professional, product nearly flawless content and are reliable.

Price, for me, is not a major factor. In the long run, it's about quality and professionalism.

Hope that helps!

[acedalright]

It's the million dollar question - How can you find really good articles for a good price?

I am looking for someone to write quality articles and then get 25 backlinks to them. I'm still lookning

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Zeus66

Most difficult = getting articles back on time.

As a writer, I have a boatload of trouble with that. My creative process is fragile, and it takes me about two hours to get into "the zone." It's not hard to get knocked out of it, and if that happens two or three times in a day, hardly anything gets done. Fortunately, most of my clients are very understanding of this... but if anyone has good tips to fix it, I'd love to hear them.

[Kevin Regier]

I agree with Dark, right now the only profession I am making money at is as a content writer, and it also takes me about 2 hours to get into the zone before true article creation begins.

Also agree with a lot of the above replies. Price is NOT NOT the most important factor.

I think the most important factors you have to look for are projects being turned in on time and at least a basic level of editing (i.e. spelling, grammar, structure, being familiar with online style,etc..)

[dsmpublishing]

Hi guys

i think its very difficult to find good writers as it is all about a good skill. With general outsourcing like bookmarking its never a problem as a basic data entry person does the trick. But article writing is so much harder.

It took me two years to find a decent one ( a fellow warrior) then he disappeared on me about a month or so ago without a word. so im getting to the point were i need to find another one and start the process again. By the time i find one i could have done the work myself.

kind regards


sam
X

[Shannon Tani]

Spikey -- one bit of advice for your wife. Many people recommend starting with a low price to "build up your clientele". But a lot of writers have found that it then becomes hard to break out of that price. The customers that are the ones that will pay $5 for an article aren't always the ones that pay $15.

As for CDarklock and Kevin -- I find that one of the best ways to always get things done on time is to give yourself longer that it would really take. Don't promise a 24 hour turnaround. Tell the person that it will take 3-7 days (or whatever). That way, if you can get it in earlier, they're delighted, but if you get stuck or something comes up, you don't disappoint.

Love,
Shannon

[spikey99]

Shannon Tani, dsmpublishing, Swastik, John Sullivan, Zeus66 thank you for your input and feedback on your experiences. What I'm hearing is that.

Sticking to Delivery Times and Writing quality (spelling, grammar etc.) seem to be the most important or frustrating things when dealing with outsourcing writing projects.

Price, while important isn't the main thing and it's important not to price to cheaply off the bat as it's difficult to raise your pricing later.

While only one of you mentioned the basic understanding of the subject, I know a basic knowledge is required so the article makes sense.

I thank each of you for this feed back.


Kevin Regier, CDarklock thank you for your insight on the actual process of writing for others.

The Redfox, I have used TextBroker and I found it was taking me more time to send content back to the writers as they weren't following some of the most simple instructions. I've since stopped using them all together.

Any one else have any feedback on their writing experiences?

What they find most frustrating about outsourcing content creation?

Why you've continued to order from a particular service provider?

Cheers,

Spikey

[Bev Clement]

For those who have a problem with their deadlines

Managing your Project

This is a major problem that writers face, because many of them are not used to managing a project.

Even worse, you have to calculate how long a project will take, and how much that project will cost.

I worked in a profession where every job was given a time budget. I also had to write the budgets for many staff members, and then review them when they went over budget.

How do you calculate a time budget?

How much would you charge for a service?

Ask 100 people and you are likely to come up with 100 answers.

Now, the question can be worth asking especially if you take a note of all the answers. It could give you a good price range to work on. But, the reality is only you as the service provider can say what the value of your service is.

I‘ve had a lot of people asking me, how much do you think I should charge and how long do you think I will take. Again, it is impossible to answer, because everybody is different.

Here is my standard answer to each of the questions, and yes they are both linked together.

To see how to apply this, we will take a client who wants 100 x 500 word articles written.

Each day is seen as the number of hours you can work on the service.

1. Decide how long an article of 500 words will take you to research and write. You might need to write a test article to see the results. For this purpose we are going to say it will take 30 mins to research and write.


2. If 1 article takes 30 mins then 100 articles will take 50 hours. Multiply the number of articles by the time taken per article.


3. Decide how many hours a day you have available to write. Maybe, you can write for 5 hours a day. Divide the total number of day by the number of hours available. 50 hours divided by 5 = 10 days.


4. Remember, not all days are created as equal. Do you want to write 7 days a week, or is one day not available. Take the number of days, and add an additional day for each one you can‘t work. 10 days + 1 day = 11 days


5. Check the diary to see if there are any special days, which will mean another loss of day, maybe a birthday or anniversary. 11 days + 1 day = 12 days


6. What if you find that the research will take longer to do than expected, then budget for it. Add in an additional day for research. 12 days + 1 day = 13 days


7. Add an extra day in for proof reading and corrections. 13 days + 1 day = 14 days


8. Add an extra day, because you might be wrong with your calculations. 14 days + 1 day = 15 days

You now have your time calculated to tell the client when they can receive the service promised.

The problem is people think they have 15 days, and don‘t start until day 6 or even later, and then wonder why they have run out of time. It is simply because they failed to budget their time.

[spikey99]

WOW bev, thanks for the great reply. This is fabulous info. that will greatly help as this venture lifts off.

[BigRedNotebook]

Originally Posted by The Redfox

I personally use Textbroker.com. Its great because I can literally ask for 10 articles on the same topic and I will get 10 unique articles back very quickly all from different writers with different opinions etc. One writer would take a long time, and they would tend to sound the same.

Something to think about for those who are using Textbroker. Anyone can set up an author's account there and then check through the available jobs, giving them a chance to see your keywords.

I think you can see how that might be problematic. If you've found a great little niche with high search volume/low competition keywords, you could be sharing your discovery with people who are ready, willing and able to get things up and running before you get an article.

Now, back to the OP...

New marketers tend to think price first. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do. Those who've been around the block a few times are willing to pay more if the writer can get the job done on time, doesn't require hand-holding and constant "coaching", and will write articles that actually produce results.

Price, reliability, expertise/efficiency and (the bottom line) results.

Carson

[Josh Spaulding]

Most experienced marketers who outsource writing understand that they get what they pay for.

I'm not worried about the price. I'm worried about the quality. I know if I'm paying $5 per article the quality isn't going to be up to par.

At the same time I know if I'm paying $12 or more the quality is going to be good in most cases.

In one word: Quality - That's what's important!

[Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter]

I hired a writer who works for me part-time. She completes about 15 articles a week in about 20 hours. The quality is good and because we work together all the time she consistently delivers articles with a voice "consistent" with mine.

Right now you can hire surprisingly skilled writers for $10/hour.

[spikey99]

Originally Posted by Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

I hired a writer who works for me part-time. She completes about 15 articles a week in about 20 hours. The quality is good and because we work together all the time she consistently delivers articles with a voice "consistent" with mine.

Right now you can hire surprisingly skilled writers for $10/hour.

This is a great way to go about it. I've often thought about working with local university students on a part-time basis. I went the less expensive route when I started online to get content created etc. and it just wasn't worth it.

The feedback I'm getting here from all you warriors confirms what I thought. If you've been doing online marketing for any length of time money is secondary to getting what you need to get the job done within reason.

Again thanks everyone for comments and feedback.

-Spikey

[Ewan Cormack]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

As a writer, I have a boatload of trouble with that. My creative process is fragile, and it takes me about two hours to get into "the zone." It's not hard to get knocked out of it, and if that happens two or three times in a day, hardly anything gets done. Fortunately, most of my clients are very understanding of this... but if anyone has good tips to fix it, I'd love to hear them.

I have exactly the same problem ALL the time.

Here's what I do:

I always make Sunday the deadline, for every project.

I write the articles for Friday.

This isn't just to give me a chance to catch up on my work without missing a deadline (although that is helpful).

I do it because the most powerful motivating factor for me is to have to work weekends. That thought in the back of my mind gets the juices flowing again nine times out of ten.

[Lindsay Brynn]

There's definitely some great advice on this thread. As a content writer that started a few months back, I would say to stick with it even if it's tough at first! I dealt with lots of people telling me my prices were too high even though they are lower than a lot of others I've seen.
Eventually you will be paired with people that appreciate well researched, good quality articles. Now my schedule is full most of the time without even needing to advertise.

[Jack Chua]

The quality plus the punctuality of the article is the most important factors that I look in outsourcing article writing. Each writer should be given a strong deadline and should make an article that speaks of what they are. If he consider himself as a great writer or person then he should be able to produce a great article.

[miwriting]

I think there a few factors to keep in mind if you're just getting going as a content writer/service.

First, you have to decide what kind of service you want to be known for. Do you want to be the person clients come to when they need 15 articles in a hurry or do you want to be the person they come to when they need one or two well-researched articles?

Beyond that, you need to show you are dependable - whether it's with quality or deadlines, etc.

From my own writing experience, I found that most clients returned to me because of quality and dependability. My articles were typically a little more expensive, but most repeat clients weren't concerned about that at all.