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How to Manage Multiple Writers & Outsourcing projects

by tamshelton
15 replies
I've hired about 10 writers between oDesk.com and Freelancer who will produce at least 5+ writing projects each. It's becoming increasingly difficult to manage responses and drafts from all the writers through either of the sites management consoles or through my Gmail.

Does anyone have any tips on how to manage your outsourcing projects, especially with multiple projects simultaneously.

I'm trying out the free PM dotproject that can be installed from Fantastico, it's not that bad, but surely there could be a better tool out there.

Any advice is welcomed.
#ghostwriter #manage #multiple #outscourcing #outsourcing #outsourcing advice #project management #projects #time management #writers
  • Profile picture of the author Shimon
    Hi, I heard BaseCamp is an effective project management tool, it is also cloud based, which you can control anywhere. Here is the direct link to their website if you decide to look into it: http://basecamp

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks
    -Shimon
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  • Profile picture of the author Shimon
    Hi, sorry I realized I missed out the .com on the link. Lol

    So it's Project management software, online collaboration: Basecamp

    Thanks
    -Shimon
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  • Profile picture of the author alamest
    I am all the time which use Google Doc to manage my writers, I give the keyword and teach how to publish the article does it and it is keep on going without any problem.. if you want writer and I can provide you for cheaper price if you want, just give the keyword and topic I will help you hook with my writer..
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  • Profile picture of the author StacyGal
    I know that mine is not the most efficient way at all, but I just use a simple spreadsheet and list the contractor's name, what I assigned to him/her, the price of the project and then whether I paid them yet or not.

    It works well for me, but I don't outsource much
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    — Stacy —
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    • Profile picture of the author tamshelton
      Originally Posted by StacyGal View Post

      I know that mine is not the most efficient way at all, but I just use a simple spreadsheet and list the contractor's name, what I assigned to him/her, the price of the project and then whether I paid them yet or not.

      It works well for me, but I don't outsource much
      Yes that is exactly what I'd been doing, the trust old spreadsheet with names, contact info, their rate, and assignment. The free PM script installed on my Hostgator account seems to work, but not efficient for notifications, unless they update their assignment task. My email box was getting too cluttered with drafts and 'is this ok' type of emails.

      Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Mary Wilhite
    Originally Posted by tamshelton View Post

    I've hired about 10 writers between oDesk.com and Freelancer who will produce at least 5+ writing projects each. It's becoming increasingly difficult to manage responses and drafts from all the writers through either of the sites management consoles or through my Gmail.

    Does anyone have any tips on how to manage your outsourcing projects, especially with multiple projects simultaneously.

    I'm trying out the free PM dotproject that can be installed from Fantastico, it's not that bad, but surely there could be a better tool out there.

    Any advice is welcomed.
    I use Google docs to manage projects for 4 VAs. You can use it too. You can have one sheet for each writer and one combined sheet for all of them. For each writer capture the date, article title, article rejected or accepted, date of payment, keywords etc.

    Meaning at a glance you can tell how many article a writer has submitted and how many are pending payment. In fact you will let the writer do filling of the sheets. Your is to verify the details.
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  • Profile picture of the author Christopher Fox
    A cheap and easy way is to just use a piece of paper and a pen. 1 sheet for each writer. Write their name at the top, and then write their first project, skip a few lines, write their second project, skip a few lines, write their third project, skip a few lines ....

    And then keep track of the progress of each writer and each task with a few notes below each task. You can also print off a calendar and keep track of job tasks that way.

    You don't need anything fancy, just a little organization and notes you can easily reference so you can see where you are at with each job easily and quickly.
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    One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothing can beat teamwork.

    - Seldom Seen Smith
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  • Profile picture of the author YasirYar
    Base Camp is pretty useful from what I have heard as well. It can help you organize and keep a track of multiple projects without any problems.

    Besides that, you can try organizing things yourself using a calender and excel sheets. I do understand that things could get easily complicated though, with so many writers and articles.

    If you just don't have the time, another option is to train someone to deal with all these projects. Hiring a project manager can be costly but if you manage to find a really good one, your life will be a breeze
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  • Profile picture of the author JimWaller
    Since we IMers use WP for so many things, I thought this might be of help:
    WordPress › WP Project Managment Ultimate « WordPress Plugins
    I just glanced through the description, but it looked promising to me.

    Jim.

    P.S. If that doesn't meet your needs, maybe one of these will:
    http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/...nagement&sort=
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    • Profile picture of the author webjedi
      Originally Posted by Portlandrocks View Post

      I LOVE Asana Asana - Task Management for Teams. It has helped me a lot! Basecamp is really nice, but asana is free and in my opinion much better.
      First of all, thank you for the Asana reference.
      I am off andrunning using it, nice.
      2nd, Portland DOES indeed rock, Hamburger Mary's here I come baby !!
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  • Profile picture of the author tamshelton
    Hi everyone, thanks for your input.
    @
    Portlandrocks
    JimWaller
    YasirYar
    Christopher Fox
    Mary Wilhite
    StacyGal
    alamest
    Shimon

    I'll look into Base Camp, GDocs, Asana & WP PM plugin.

    Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    I think it depends on how much time you allot to manage them. I have more than 15 writers that I needed to contact daily, send assignments, receive articles from them, and I never use any kind of software. Just proper arrangement in my outlook folders... and good scheduling...
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  • Profile picture of the author contentwriting360
    Banned
    I concur what Adie said. That's basically how our Ops Team's Account Manager does the job in terms of assigning job codes to our writers and copy editors. Perhaps, our manager uses some tools or anything but that's basically how he does everything.
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  • Profile picture of the author mobapp
    Go for Google Doc to administer assorted Projects and aswell you accept to allotment with the absolute Team member. They can update, annul and do whatever they want.
    The a lot of important affair is that Its chargeless tool.
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