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HELP how much should I be paying for quality articles?

by RaptorGabe
30 replies
Hey everybody,

I recently started a article creation and promotion business for offline businesses and I am looking at outsourcing my article creation. Currently I am on target to hit my first goal of 60 clients per month, which means ALOT of articles. I have done some article outsourcing before but this is going to be on a much larger scale (with each client getting 2-3 original quality articles per month you can see what I mean ). AKA I'm looking at around 190 articles per month. So here are my questions:
  1. What price should I expect to pay per article? I will obviously be ordering alot of articles so how much of a discount, if any, should I expect
  2. I need and will demand top top quality. Where is the best place to find the best article writers?
  3. Is there anything I should watch out for when I start looking for outsourcers?
  4. Any tips or tricks I should be aware of?

Thanks so much in advance and hope you have a awesome day
#article outsourcing #articles #outsourcing #paying #quality
  • Profile picture of the author adils29
    Try Elance.com
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  • Profile picture of the author Tony Dean
    Why not give the work to experienced article writers here on the forum at "Warriors For Hire"?

    I have used many of them and the cost is low for 400-500 word artilce written especially for you at around $5 each.
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    Yeah writers seems to be desperate here. I won't charge less than $50. Some 200-300 word articles or blogs I will do for about 20-30, but anything of decent length and quality is more.

    Here, you will find people to do this for a penny a word.
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  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    Originally Posted by RaptorGabe View Post

    1. What price should I expect to pay per article? I will obviously be ordering alot of articles so how much of a discount, if any, should I expect
    I used to publish a print magazine and often paid upwards of 25 cents a word. That is on the low end for real quality writing. Some writers get $1.25 a word or more for writing magazine articles. Internet marketers do not seem to worry about the quality of their articles and often pay 99 cents for a 500 word article. The bottom line is that you get what you pay for.

    I'm sure that this statement is going to be blasted by writers that will say they offer high quality articles for that price. My message to them is that they are undercharging.

    If you can find some of those people that honestly do good work for those prices, then take advantage of their ignorance.

    2. I need and will demand top top quality. Where is the best place to find the best article writers?
    If you read an article from somebody that you think is good, then email them directly. Others will say to go to elance or something like that, but you will spend countless hours weeding out the bad writers. If time is money to you, then pay a higher price for premium content from writers that you already like.

    3. Is there anything I should watch out for when I start looking for outsourcers?
    Yes, you should watch for whether or not you like their work and writing style. What else matters?

    4. Any tips or tricks I should be aware of?
    Most of the people on this forum look for writers to fill pages in hopes of getting found in the search engines. If that's you, then ignore everything that I've written. If you are looking to build a quality site that builds a list of followers, then follow my advice.
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    • Profile picture of the author donhx
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      [/LIST]I used to publish a print magazine and often paid upwards of 25 cents a word. That is on the low end for real quality writing. Some writers get $1.25 a word or more for writing magazine articles. Internet marketers do not seem to worry about the quality of their articles and often pay 99 cents for a 500 word article. The bottom line is that you get what you pay for.

      I'm sure that this statement is going to be blasted by writers that will say they offer high quality articles for that price. My message to them is that they are undercharging.

      If you can find some of those people that honestly do good work for those prices, then take advantage of their ignorance.

      If you read an article from somebody that you think is good, then email them directly. Others will say to go to elance or something like that, but you will spend countless hours weeding out the bad writers. If time is money to you, then pay a higher price for premium content from writers that you already like.

      Yes, you should watch for whether or not you like their work and writing style. What else matters?

      Most of the people on this forum look for writers to fill pages in hopes of getting found in the search engines. If that's you, then ignore everything that I've written. If you are looking to build a quality site that builds a list of followers, then follow my advice.
      This is about the best advice on writing I have ever seen posted here. I am a writer with decades of experience and know it to be right on target.

      Like everything else, you get what you pay for. IMO, if you are paying 1 cent a word, you are throwing your money away. You deserve better. But you won't get better unless you are willing to pay for skillfully done work. Writing is far more than just word count; there is an entire sales psychology that is part of the process if you want conversions. Every page is a landing page and should be converting.

      Too often, IM people are looking for a cheap price, not value for money. Then, they wonder why they are not succeeding. Writing is more than half the game in IM.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bill Jenkins
        Banned
        For a really good article I would be happy to pay $5-$6 in most cases. Seeing that one sale from that article will give me multiples on my investment.

        With articles I always choose quality over quantity. I want the people to click through to my site and the better the article the higher the click through rate.

        Bill
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    • Profile picture of the author peetred
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      [/LIST]I used to publish a print magazine and often paid upwards of 25 cents a word. That is on the low end for real quality writing. Some writers get $1.25 a word or more for writing magazine articles. Internet marketers do not seem to worry about the quality of their articles and often pay 99 cents for a 500 word article. The bottom line is that you get what you pay for.
      Yep. You get what you pay for. I have bought the 99 cent articles. They are crap. If you want anything worth reading for your CUSTOMERS I would pay at least 4-5 cents a word. That will get you a basic article that's easy to read and gives SOME value, but it will still be rehashed information. Pay more if you actually want a writer who can use their "voice" and make the article interesting.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      [/LIST]I used to publish a print magazine and often paid upwards of 25 cents a word. That is on the low end for real quality writing. Some writers get $1.25 a word or more for writing magazine articles. Internet marketers do not seem to worry about the quality of their articles and often pay 99 cents for a 500 word article. The bottom line is that you get what you pay for.

      I'm sure that this statement is going to be blasted by writers that will say they offer high quality articles for that price. My message to them is that they are undercharging.

      If you can find some of those people that honestly do good work for those prices, then take advantage of their ignorance.

      If you read an article from somebody that you think is good, then email them directly. Others will say to go to elance or something like that, but you will spend countless hours weeding out the bad writers. If time is money to you, then pay a higher price for premium content from writers that you already like.

      Yes, you should watch for whether or not you like their work and writing style. What else matters?

      Most of the people on this forum look for writers to fill pages in hopes of getting found in the search engines. If that's you, then ignore everything that I've written. If you are looking to build a quality site that builds a list of followers, then follow my advice.
      More words of wisdom from Brian.

      It always depends on what you want it for.

      Many people who are buying what they think of as "articles" are thinking of them as "something to attach to a backlink" for SEO purposes. You don't need a writer for that: you just need someone who can put together a chunk of text connected with a given subject and its keywords in a way that will be accepted by article directories. That's not an expensive skill.

      Others want something slightly different: an article about a subject which will encourage people who've found it through a search engine to keep reading all the way through and click on a link at the end. A different skill, and slightly less readily provided, although still not expensive at all, especially in these days of international competition and such a broad marketplace.

      Some people want a writer who can provide articles which will be widely syndicated by webmasters of authority sites, and other context-relevant high-PR sites, so that they can depend on subsequent copies of their articles increasingly attracting high quality backlinks and already-targeted (by others), buying traffic after they've been published, leading to some real residual income. This is a different skill altogether, typically found only with more difficulty and certainly far more expensive, because many writers who can provide it know exactly what it's worth in monetary terms. You don't see this service advertised or promoted anything like as much, because these writers' clients tend to return again and again, so it's very easy for them to build a business, and their order-books tend to be full. It's by no means always easy to find one who'll take on a new client.

      To writers like this, who tend to be turning clients away, an article will typically take 2 - 3 hours of work, for which they expect to be (and are) paid at a professional hourly or per-item rate according to their experience and success, so the pricing for this service is, understandably, very significantly different.
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  • Profile picture of the author wanna-succeed
    5-6$ not going to get you a "really good" article, I shouldn't think.
    People (the right people) are willing to pay 12-15$ per 500 word articles, and even more, if the article is longer. When you charge that much per article, and can back it up, people will pay you quickly because they know that with good content, they can yield a lot of rewards. They are paying you a lot of money to gain attention, and most importantly, impress the reader.
    I have noticed that I get my highest rates by people who approach me anonymously.
    They come to me based on reviews from others and are gladly willing to pay a nice price.
    You talk about outsourcing your writing, this will harm your work effort I think.
    You might make more money, but you will be making less per article. If you hire other writers for the aforementioned price, I believe you will be correcting a lot of mistakes, improving interaction spots etc.... For 5$, you can't guarantee your customers flawless work, and that is the bottom line, for me personally at least.
    I make sure of perfection when I deliever articles. Then again, you are creating a bussiness from it. I don't have as much work, but that's fine, as I am trying to build websites as well. I enjoy having the extra income easily cover my starting costs.
    You can find decent writers for that price, but you may need to simply look over their shoulder frequently.
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  • Profile picture of the author jonnoryan
    around 10 bucks for a good 500 word SEO optimized article is what I usually pay
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  • Profile picture of the author commoditytrainer
    For super professional articles it is about 500 bucks for a 500 word article.
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  • Profile picture of the author RaptorGabe
    Thanks for all the info guys its greatly appreciated. I am honestly expecting to pay between $5-10 per article. These articles will be for local businesses with some basic SEO on the search terms. Seem reasonable?
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  • Profile picture of the author Shane N
    You get what you pay for, obviously.

    You pay peanuts, you get monkeys!

    Realistically, each article should cost you about $5 ON AVERAGE,
    whether you are writing them yourself ($5 worth of your time)
    or outsourcing them.

    Articles in my opinion offer the best ROI and are the cheapest, best form of targeted traffic. Especially when you calculate costs for each click from your articles, compared to PPC...

    Best,
    Shane
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  • Profile picture of the author GuruGazette
    To be honest, it all boils down to what you consider an article and your definition of "good" or "quality".

    A the moment outside the warrior world, decent 400-500 generic info and how-to type *web* articles are going for $15-$25.

    A magazine style article generally includes one or more: photos, interviews, quotes, statistics, sidebars, references and research. These start at $50-100 depending on the topic matter... which brings me to the next point. Someone with the expertise and skill to write about solar power engineering, herbal medicine or taking a company public is going to cost more than someone who writes about how to create a facebook ad or advertise on craigslist. If the subject matter experts are even available to write in the first place, because those who are good tend to be booked far in advance.

    On the subject of volume discounts: (good) writing is not a commodity. A writer does not buy words and paper in bulk, distribute the words evenly then sell all the papers in volume to make up the difference in income. All good writing starts from scratch and is hand crafted every time. So anytime a writer agrees to "volume discounts" they're actually just agreeing to a reduction in pay. Personally the only reason I' ve ever offered discounts for any services over the years was for 100% upfront payment. Volume didn't matter because the level and quality of work didn't change, but giving 10% off was worth not having to waste time and effort chasing payment down later.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kecia
    Like everyone else, you pretty much get what you pay for when it comes to how much you are willing to pay. "Quality" is a relative term, and means very different things to different people. Some see quality content has having no misspellings or grammatical errors, while others expect this AND factually accurate information. Still others will expect quality articles that are suitable for a scholarly journal. The more expectations you have, the higher the price becomes.

    I'd say you should shoot for the higher end of the $5-$10 you mentioned, if not a little above...depending how your definition of quality. Some will probably give you a discount because you will be essentially placing a bulk order with them, given that you will only be selecting 1-2 writers for the content creation portion of your business. I suggest watching out for those who offer to write your articles for $1.00/article. Again, you get what you pay for. Good luck with your outsourcing!
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  • Profile picture of the author pethanks
    I think 4-5 dollars per article is already fair to the writer and you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Charlotte Jay
    As others have said, you get what you pay for when you sign up for the 99 cent articles. Good quality, readable and original content should be at least $15-20 on the low end of the spectrum. I know a lot of print publications pay more like $200-300 for a well written 500 word article.
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  • Profile picture of the author gvannorman
    Originally Posted by RaptorGabe View Post

    Hey everybody,

    I recently started a article creation and promotion business for offline businesses and I am looking at outsourcing my article creation. Currently I am on target to hit my first goal of 60 clients per month, which means ALOT of articles. I have done some article outsourcing before but this is going to be on a much larger scale (with each client getting 2-3 original quality articles per month you can see what I mean ). AKA I'm looking at around 190 articles per month. So here are my questions:
    1. What price should I expect to pay per article? A minimum of 5 cents per word. I will obviously be ordering alot of articles so how much of a discount, if any, should I expect Nope no discount you want top quality
    2. I need and will demand top top quality. Where is the best place to find the best article writers? Right here in the Warriors for hire
    3. Is there anything I should watch out for when I start looking for outsourcers? Quality, and any good reviews.
    4. Any tips or tricks I should be aware of? Scammers...anyone charging a penny or less are probably just new and not really that good.

    Thanks so much in advance and hope you have a awesome day
    I really hope the above tips help...I would offer my services but I no longer write for others..I have officially entered the affiliate marketing business.
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    • Profile picture of the author steveblum
      No offense to anyone but I would NEVER pay $500 for an article. That's insanity! I don't care how professional it was.

      Yes, there is a ton of spun junk articles out there for .99, and there are also very well written PLR articles available for .99 each. A few simple tweaks to these articles and you have a brand new article.

      $500 can get you a ton of great articles, probably enough to pay for itself over the long run.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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        Originally Posted by steveblum View Post

        $500 can get you a ton of great articles, probably enough to pay for itself over the long run.
        Only "probably"?!

        That's not much good, is it? :confused:

        $500 is a lot to pay for an article, in our context, I agree ... but there are certainly plenty of people regularly buying articles for $250 which can earn them $500 - $1,000 quite quickly, and build up some reliable residual income, too. Otherwise they wouldn't be going back and buying more all the time, you know?
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  • Profile picture of the author JHC81
    $2.00 per article is an average for me, before you hire anyone to work on your project always check their work, ask them for a sample of their past articles.
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    $6.90 for an "ezine style" article.

    (It's simply a compromise what many "cheap" writers charge on certain forums and a pretty good average)

    And why there are always people chiming in comparing simple ezine articles about dog training or colon cleanse with "print publication" quality articles is certainly beyond me. It's a total different ball park.

    Furthermore: I actually don't think that $3 or $4 are "fair" by a long shot. If you pay $4 for a 500 words QUALITY article and think it's fair - you are welcome to sit down and churn out 500 words yourself and decide whether the pay is "fair".

    It's not a matter of fairness..but simply adaption/compromise to an extremely competitive market flooded by zillions of so called "writers" who write semi-english non-coherent "articles" for $2 nowadays.

    As to answer OP's questions:

    1. What price should I expect to pay per article? I will obviously be ordering alot of articles so how much of a discount, if any, should I expect
    See above, but it depends on the purpose of the article. Are you planning to distribute to article directories or on your own, high quality blog? Do you need a detailed strategy on SEO or plasma physics - or a simple 400 word article about dog training or whatever clickbank product?
    1. I need and will demand top top quality. Where is the best place to find the best article writers?
    Forums
    1. Is there anything I should watch out for when I start looking for outsourcers?
    Yes. Make sure they can write in English And they should be able to understand instructions and concepts like "anchor texts", keywords etc. Demand references.
    Often, getting a few articles from them is needed first to get an idea about whether the writers are suitable or not. MANY advertise themselves as the best writers on this planet - but then you get the articles and you want to rip your hair out because you cant believe what you are reading. Seriously.
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  • Profile picture of the author sarahberra
    It depends on who you hire. Most real writers and journalists will not accept less than $10 per article, but most ask for more. However, you can find good writers who are just breaking into the business and pay them $5 per article. Some writers also provide discounts if you buy in bulk. Truly high quality original content is not cheap and it's getting more expensive as time goes on. Companies like Demand Media pay their writers $15 for each basic article.
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    • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
      Originally Posted by sarahberra View Post

      Most real writers and journalists will not accept less than $10 per article
      Is that the going rate at the Wall Street Journal?
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      • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
        Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

        Is that the going rate at the Wall Street Journal?
        LOL! With the way newspapers are slashing budgets these days, it just might be!

        Seriously, though, in response to the OP, outsourcing your writing is no different than buying anything else. Would you expect to get a filet mignon for the price of a Happy Meal? You're not going to get a quality article for peanuts. Just because you're online doesn't make it any different!

        If you think you're going to get quality articles for $5 or $10, I'm afraid you're going to be mightily disappointed. After all, at that price (from the writer's perspective), the focus shifts from crafting something of quality to simply cranking it out quickly, in order to turn a profit.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by sarahberra View Post

      you can find good writers who are just breaking into the business and pay them $5 per article.
      Perhaps, very occasionally, with an extremely low overall success-rate, a lot of very good luck and a following wind, and even then it's likely to be pretty temporary.

      It's exactly the same as finding a good copywriter who's just breaking into the business and will do a $2,000 job for $200 because he desperately wants the experience and the testimonial for his website and doesn't really care about the money. Yes, it can happen, but the proportion of times it does happen is really too small to discusss.
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      • Profile picture of the author Devid Farah
        You may have to visit some freelance arena such as guru.com and post your articles needs.

        You will surely get competitive bids and when you choose those that seem good enough, you have to test their writing styles.

        Once that is done and you are satisfied, you can offer the regular writing job at discount rates.

        Many good writers will consider the offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author VGreg
    It really depends on the quality, but I think that for a 500 word article decent quality (7/10) 25$ is a reasonable price.
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  • Profile picture of the author Coby
    Expect to see prices from $1 to $50 (and upwards) per article. Really you will find crap at every price point, so the best thing to do is once you find a good writer pay them more and offer them guaranteed work (which should be easy in your case) and this should keep them around and committed to working for you.

    The problem with article writers is often they are either overbooked or underbooked which means you could pay huge sums or pennies for content. Also, freelance writers will often fall off the charts because they found a "better gig" or just because they couldn't do the work.

    For your scenario, it may be best to try to assemble a team of writers that way you can test new writers and weed out the bad ones and also not put all your eggs in one basket so to speak.

    I personally usually charge $5 to $25 per article but have taken less when I was guaranteed work. For example, I recently took on a job that paid less than what I normally charge but I was guaranteed 2 articles a day (I chose that number, I have the option to add more work as wanted). I took this on just to have a little backup and it doesn't get in the way of my other clients and my own marketing efforts since its just 2 articles a day, but now I add a almost guaranteed $10 a day to my portfolio.

    As for discounts, seeing as how you are aimed at higher quality content I wouldn't expect too many discounts, but as I said many writers will negotiate with guaranteed work. However, I would focus on finding good writers rather than bulk discounts.

    But seeing as how your biz model will typically gross about $200 a month per client you can afford to spend more for quality. Keep this in mind as you scale your business up.

    Hope this helps feel free to pm me with any questions
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  • Profile picture of the author masterofinternate
    You can find some good writer on odesk.com and elence.com
    Ranges varies according to the topic and word density. About 400-500 words article ranges from 1.50-5 which is depending upon the contractor profile and quality. You've the option of bargaining so don't take stress about the payment.
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