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a question for those who outsource writing

by The Lady
12 replies
i'm debating on an intro offer for my new subscription service - considering a min of a 3 months at 5 dollars a month for 1-2 articles a month - would that make some one feel comfortable paying that amount, and finding how the service works ect? am i asking to much? each article would be custom ordered....
#content #outsource #question
  • Profile picture of the author sylviad
    First... are YOU doing the writing? (either alone or in concert with other writers you might have on board)

    A few concerns if you are:

    1) multiple typos just in your one short post
    2) at least one typo/spelling mistake in your writing services web page.

    I didn't read more than the first few lines to spot those errors and if this is an example of the quality of your service, you might want to spend some time spellchecking everything you put out there... including your posts.

    Now to your direct question.

    It might make more sense to offer people access to your service once you have some articles already in there that they can use, and for signing up, offer them 2-3-5 or whatever articles written specifically for them.

    Your registration fee can be $5 a month for the first month which will include your 2-5 personally written articles, and then increase the rate to $10-$15 per month thereafter and provide them with several batches of articles AND a few specially-written articles.

    I don't see how a membership site would work if all you are offering is a few personally-written articles every month.

    Sylvia
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  • Profile picture of the author The Lady
    first, what typo's on the page, i'll go back and double check, i just worked on it some more this morning. ***just found it and fixed it, feel free to review. thank you for bringing it to my attention***

    second i rarely focus on that in a forum, for me it's about the only place i just post, and it doesn't occur very often that i double check my posts - perhaps i should be, but typically it is more of my conversation piece.

    third, thank you for responding. i do appreciate it - i'm not hoping to develop the membership site to only offer a few pieces of content every month. the smaller 5 dollar package thing is merely to introduce ppl to the membership site - or at least that's the brainstorm. this is a once the site is launched idea - i'm brainstorming constantly about it, while i'm creating content for it. yes, it is myself and others writing for it. some on my team are snydicated news writers.

    ( i have no clue how those two fell into my lap but i'm thrilled to have 'em on board)

    so scrutiny w/ the work is actually done insesently.

    this membership site will not be a plr site. everything on the site will be original content, w/ a deadlink after download. only deliverable one time to one person. but every month there is a fresh array of content that will be posted in each client's given niche for them to chose from in addition to the custom articles that will be a part of their membership subscription.

    i hope i make a lil more sense w/ this...
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    • Profile picture of the author sylviad
      Maybe it's me, but why would you want to post ANYTHING that your potential prospects can see... without making it your absolute best writing? Your latest post is a good example of what I discussed above. Spelling mistakes and capitalization are important, even if your post is just "conversation", as you put it.

      Remember that everything you put out will be scrutinized. It is viewed as an example of your work. If you can't spell big words like "incessantly" correctly, what makes you think people will believe you when you say you offer quality articles... or maybe you don't say that, I didn't really take notice.

      I reiterate... you might want to take another look at your writing, posts and all, for spelling, grammar and punctuation.

      Sylvia

      so scrutiny w/ the work is actually done insesently.
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      • Profile picture of the author jdmitchell
        I am outsourcing this very message! : )
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        It Does

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      • Profile picture of the author The Lady
        Originally Posted by sylviad View Post


        Remember that everything you put out will be scrutinized. It is viewed as an example of your work. If you can't spell big words like "incessantly" correctly, what makes you think people will believe you when you say you offer quality articles... or maybe you don't say that, I didn't really take notice.

        Sylvia
        odd b/c spell check didn't say that particular item was misspelled.

        perhaps you're correct in your approach. perhaps as i tend to be more laid back in the forums i am merely dropping the hammer on my own foot. yes, spell check is my best friend while i'm writing, and i do chose to utilize mozilla for the same reason. of the clients i've written for in the last 4 plus years, only one has ever questioned my quality. the unfortunate fact was the work was written at an off time (about 3am w/ 2 feverish children kind of off time) certainly not the best time to have been writing in the first place. certainly not the best way to provide quality work to anyone. i would likely have been doing well to write my name instead of an article batch. an obviously poor choice on my part, that i subsequently learned from. to be honest, that one client - from nearly a year ago - is part of the reason for chosing to develop the membership site. but that's a whole other story.

        and yes i do mention quality on my website b/c i think that is the cornerstone for building any form of website, and beyond.

        thank you for showing interest in my success, and encouraging me to re-evaluate my approach to forum conversations. you have certainly given me a great deal to reflect on. thank you.
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        • Profile picture of the author sylviad
          Originally Posted by The Lady View Post

          odd b/c spell check didn't say that particular item was misspelled.
          Spellcheck is only as good as the person who entered the words into the database. If that spelling is in your database, then it is wrong. It's possible someone chose to "add" that word, thinking it was right.

          yes, spell check is my best friend while i'm writing, and i do chose to utilize mozilla for the same reason. of the clients i've written for in the last 4 plus years, only one has ever questioned my quality.
          One thing you'll realize is that many people seek 'your' services because they do not have writing skills and seek your guidance / quality product. They are relying on you to deliver. They probably don't even check what you send them - and if they do, they don't recognize errors.

          Spellcheck, even if you include grammar check, can only provide so much help. There are many words in the English language that might be spelled correctly, but grammar check can't always tell you if you chose the wrong one. Speaking of which, in the above quoted text, the word you used should have been "choose", not chose - an error you have repeatedly made - as in this next quote.

          ...is part of the reason for chosing to develop the membership site. but that's a whole other story.

          and yes i do mention quality on my website b/c i think that is the cornerstone for building any form of website, and beyond.
          Then you might want to reevaluate.

          Sylvia
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          • Profile picture of the author Matias1021
            Originally Posted by sylviad View Post

            Speaking of which, in the above quoted text, the word you used should have been "choose", not chose - an error you have repeatedly made - as in this next quote.

            Then you might want to reevaluate.

            Sylvia
            that seems a bit harsh, no?
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            • Profile picture of the author The Lady
              matias -

              each of us have our own approach and style. some may come across harsh, but often it is merely their style of writing.
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            • Profile picture of the author Amber_Writes
              Originally Posted by Matias1021 View Post

              that seems a bit harsh, no?
              I don't think she meant to be harsh by any means. She was only pointing out to the OP that she should make sure her grammar and spelling skills are up to par before she makes public posts.

              Regardless of the topic, when you are a writer, people will sit up and take notice to most anything that you say. They will critique you because you are a writer, therefore, some things should be obvious to you (i.e., proper capitalization, punctuation, etc.).

              The OP is posting without respect to proper sentence structure or grammar. Anyone who might consider the OP's talent based on the current demonstration would probably come to the determination that she is not so skilled as one would have hoped.

              It's things like that which sylviad was trying to make a point of, not to be "harsh" to the OP. It's a well thought out suggestion that should be considered for it's validity. The OP could possibly ruin her reputation by such posts if it were noticed enough, and that surely would not be a good thing.


              Concerning the OP's original concern:

              I think that you should focus more on adding value before trying to determine a price. Also, when planning a subscription type service, it would be wise to consider the cost of your time and how it would be spread before settling on a price level. This will ensure that you're not overworked while at the same time providing a service that your clients can appreciate.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jordan Matthews
    Grammatical points and all that aside, the service you're talking about would be a good value, but most people are going to want much more than 1 or 2 articles a month. I personally hire for about 80/month from various people. You might want to consider taking on fewer members at a higher price for more articles.
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  • Profile picture of the author ITOutsourcing
    Call me bias but for me it's all about outsourcing and outsourcing right :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Lady, Sylvia is giving you good advice which you seem bound and determined to ignore.

      Many people, myself included, rarely take online sales materials at face value. They run searches on the provider, looking for evidence that the provider can deliver on their promises.

      If I ran a search on you, and found this thread, I would not assume that you normally do quality work and simply take a casual approach to posting on forums. I would assume that you either don't care or don't know any better. Either of which would kill any possible purchase from me...

      And your forum postings can come back to haunt you. I have a Google alert set up to monitor my name. From time to time, I get alerts linking to posts I made to an email discussion list over ten years ago.

      I'm not suggesting you become a wombat over this, but just a modicum of effort would dress up your posts (and your image) immensely.
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