How quickly should Outsourcers write?

40 replies
Hi all,

I am sure some of you use outsourcers for writing content.

I was wondering what a reasonable expectation should be for their output.

For example if 1 article is equivalent to 1 page how many pages of writing should a good outsource writier produce per day without compromising on the quality.

Look forward to hearing your opinions.
#ghostwriter #outsourcers #outsourcing #quickly #write
  • Profile picture of the author Jamesmoru
    Hey there James,

    I believe that a good writer who doesn't want to compromise on quality, can write up to 8-10 articles of 500 words a day MAX , that is individuals and not a company service (in that case it would be totally different).

    Hope I could be of help!
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    • Profile picture of the author JOSourcing
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Jamesmoru View Post

      I believe that a good writer who doesn't want to compromise on quality, can write up to 8-10 articles of 500 words a day MAX , that is individuals and not a company service (in that case it would be totally different).
      That's a ridiculous claim.

      Anyway...

      Originally Posted by jamesutterson View Post

      I was wondering what a reasonable expectation should be for their output. For example if 1 article is equivalent to 1 page how many pages of writing should a good outsource writier produce per day without compromising on the quality.
      I've seen many people claim they can pump out a quality article (a page) in an hour, but I've also seen the results, which often resemble elementary school essays. I suppose it depends on what you call quality.

      One suggestion you might want to try is give each prospective writer a sample job, and then make your calculations from there. You'll probably discover that duration and quality are unique to each writer, and that there is no real, universal gauge to measure by.
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      • Profile picture of the author Anthony Lex
        I agree with Amanda on this, it really will be dependent on the ability of the writer and many other factors, such as the length of the articles and how many are required.

        The level of experience the writer has in producing engaging content and their familiarity with the subject at hand will also have a major bearing on how quickly they can produce content too.

        Above all you shouldn't worry about how long it takes rather you should be more worried about the quality of the writing you receive from your outsourcer.
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    • Profile picture of the author Formal Shorts
      Originally Posted by Jamesmoru View Post

      Hey there James,

      I believe that a good writer who doesn't want to compromise on quality, can write up to 8-10 articles of 500 words a day MAX , that is individuals and not a company service (in that case it would be totally different).

      Hope I could be of help!
      I would have to disagree with this. I just can't see how 5,000 words a day is a good idea. Now, if you're happy with bland, uninteresting keyword stuffed articles then fair enough, but if you are looking for quality, thought provoking articles that are written for people, then there's no way an outsourcer that has to research the subject can spit out high quality pieces at that rate.

      Unfortunately, there seems to be a huge difference between what many consider good quality and what actually is good quality. I'm sure if I wanted to I could write 8 500 word articles from scratch in one day, and I could probably find many people who would consider it good writing, but there isn't a hope in hell that it will be nearly as well written as it should be.
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      • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Formal Shorts View Post

        I would have to disagree with this. I just can't see how 5,000 words a day is a good idea. Now, if you're happy with bland, uninteresting keyword stuffed articles then fair enough, but if you are looking for quality, thought provoking articles that are written for people, then there's no way an outsourcer that has to research the subject can spit out high quality pieces at that rate.
        You can't denounce one blanket statement with another blanket statement you know . Some of us can pump out 5,000 words per day without sacrificing on quality. Just because you can't (and others you have interacted with can't) does not mean that all of us can't.

        Anyways to the OP, a writer needs only to write as fast as they told you they would write when you hired them. It's that simple.
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        • Profile picture of the author Formal Shorts
          Originally Posted by Joe Robinson View Post

          You can't denounce one blanket statement with another blanket statement you know . Some of us can pump out 5,000 words per day without sacrificing on quality. Just because you can't (and others you have interacted with can't) does not mean that all of us can't.

          Anyways to the OP, a writer needs only to write as fast as they told you they would write when you hired them. It's that simple.
          Of course I can. It's called The Shorts Effect, and it's all powerful

          That's interesting Joe - lets say you had 10 articles to write on 5 different subjects. Would you be confident that you could research and write those articles in one day and be perfectly happy with the quality? That taking it over 2 days wouldn't increase the quality of the writing? Genuine question btw.
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          • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
            Banned
            Originally Posted by Formal Shorts View Post

            Of course I can. It's called The Shorts Effect, and it's all powerful

            That's interesting Joe - lets say you had 10 articles to write on 5 different subjects. Would you be confident that you could research and write those articles in one day and be perfectly happy with the quality? That taking it over 2 days wouldn't increase the quality of the writing? Genuine question btw.
            For me? Probably; but I'm well rounded on a variety of subjects. I wasn't speaking of 500 word "articles" (probably better off calling them blog posts?) anyways. It's a different kind of writing. I'm talking pieces that are a minimum of 1,000 words. That narrows down the number of topics to be covered for starters. But anyways, yes I am quite confident that the 5,000 words I can put out each day are of the highest quality.

            Some of us can get it right quickly and the first time. Your experience may vary, which is why I said that blanket statements don't work, at all. (Oops that is a blanket statement. I-ro-ny.)
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    • Profile picture of the author 27coupons
      Originally Posted by Jamesmoru View Post

      Hey there James,

      I believe that a good writer who doesn't want to compromise on quality, can write up to 8-10 articles of 500 words a day MAX , that is individuals and not a company service (in that case it would be totally different).

      Hope I could be of help!
      I agree with this figure, I had worked with an outsourcing team and they used to write articles at this pace.
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  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    It depends on how much research is involved, the skill of the writer, and many other factors.

    Back when I was pumping out articles while writing for sites like iWriter and Textbroker I could write a 500 word article in 15 minutes. Clients loved them, but I don't think they know any better. :p

    Now I can spend anywhere from one to six hours on one article trying to get it perfect...

    On average I would say I write about one 500 word article an hour. To produce good articles you need time to research and tweak things so they sound good and will do what you need them to do, such as get a reader to share the article on Facebook or click a link. The better you want your content to be, the longer you should expect to wait.
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  • Profile picture of the author DOMINO214
    Having been writing articles now for 5 years, I would agree that to produce top quality work takes time, research and refining.
    One other consideration to take into account is the typing speed of the writer.
    My own personal belief is that quality is far better than quantity.
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  • Profile picture of the author Halcyon
    I agree with the previous posters. It mostly depends on the writer, their talent, familiarity with the subject and their workload. Very good to excellent writers are hard to find, so shop around.

    But your results also depend on what you want .
    If you want articles done in a flash, you can easily find writers to churn out an article an hour. Just understand that the quality will be compromised.

    You can have it fast or good but not both.
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  • Profile picture of the author greenleaf5
    The depth and breadth of research a writer has to do is one among the many elements that decide the time it takes to write an article. If I am already familiar with the topic, I can write quite fast. Otherwise, I would have to spend at least a few hours researching the topic.

    Quality articles go through the write-review-edit cycle at least one time. So, writing informative and useful articles take time. The end results, however, can bring better returns on investment of time, effort and funds.
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  • Profile picture of the author SamDermot
    Banned
    Well, 10 to 15 quality articles can easily be written daily!
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    • Profile picture of the author ketset
      Originally Posted by SamDermot View Post

      Well, 10 to 15 quality articles can easily be written daily!
      I agree - if you're looking at 500 Page Articles which are around a page - ish - then 10-15 maybe 20 should be do-able!
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  • Profile picture of the author martimoney
    I agree with Joe. A writer needs only to write as fast as they told you they would write when you hired them. It is up to you to decide if the quality is at your standard or not. Peronsally I spend my money on quality PLR and re-write them myself. That way I know the quality is of the standard I want and can accept. However, writing is not a super difficult challenge for me. I would suggest you order small from an outsourcer and find one that delivers the quality and quantity you like then book further.
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  • Profile picture of the author giljimenez
    Hey James!
    Great question. Although, a good to great writer should be able to
    put out a 300-500 word article in about 30 - 40 minutes, that doesn't
    include the workload they might have on top of yours.
    But if you're just talking about you being the only project, I would
    guesstimate 30-40 minutes without compromising.
    Do you mind sharing where you get your content outsourced?
    That has been my biggest setback.
    Thanks!
    Gil
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    • Profile picture of the author Player87
      Originally Posted by giljimenez View Post

      Hey James!
      Great question. Although, a good to great writer should be able to
      put out a 300-500 word article in about 30 - 40 minutes, that doesn't
      include the workload they might have on top of yours.
      But if you're just talking about you being the only project, I would
      guesstimate 30-40 minutes without compromising.
      Do you mind sharing where you get your content outsourced?
      That has been my biggest setback.
      Thanks!
      Gil
      Hey, if you need to outsource you work try me

      PM me if your interested in any of my services.

      Thanks!
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    • Profile picture of the author DistinctWords
      Originally Posted by giljimenez View Post

      Hey James!
      Great question. Although, a good to great writer should be able to
      put out a 300-500 word article in about 30 - 40 minutes, that doesn't
      include the workload they might have on top of yours
      .
      But if you're just talking about you being the only project, I would
      guesstimate 30-40 minutes without compromising.
      Do you mind sharing where you get your content outsourced?
      That has been my biggest setback.
      Thanks!
      Gil
      Yes, this. If you ask a writer how many articles/posts they can produce in one day, that doesn't necessarily mean how many they can write for you as they may have other clients. So, to find out the availability of the writer, you should ask specifically how much time they can devote to you each day for writing, and then go from there.
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      • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
        Banned
        Originally Posted by DistinctWords View Post

        Yes, this. If you ask a writer how many articles/posts they can produce in one day, that doesn't necessarily mean how many they can write for you as they may have other clients. So, to find out the availability of the writer, you should ask specifically how much time they can devote to you each day for writing, and then go from there.
        That responsibility should fall on the writer as well. If you tell someone "Oh, I can write ten articles a day" and nothing else you are kind of leading them on. If that statement (or something similar) is all that you give a potential client as an availability, of course they are going to think that you were quoting for them specifically. A writer should know better (since we are supposed to have an understanding of words/phrases and how they are interpreted) be more complete with their statements. Something like one of these statements:

        "I can produce x amount of articles/words per day, split up amongst any clients I have at the time and yourself."

        "I currently have other clients who take up x amount of my daily workload. I have time to produce x amount of articles/words for you."

        It's as simple as that, and avoids problems down the road.
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        • Profile picture of the author DistinctWords
          Originally Posted by Joe Robinson View Post

          That responsibility should fall on the writer as well. If you tell someone "Oh, I can write ten articles a day" and nothing else you are kind of leading them on. If that statement (or something similar) is all that you give a potential client as an availability, of course they are going to think that you were quoting for them specifically. A writer should know better (since we are supposed to have an understanding of words/phrases and how they are interpreted) be more complete with their statements. Something like one of these statements:

          "I can produce x amount of articles/words per day, split up amongst any clients I have at the time and yourself."

          "I currently have other clients who take up x amount of my daily workload. I have time to produce x amount of articles/words for you."

          It's as simple as that, and avoids problems down the road.
          I completely agree that a writer should be the one to give the specifics but, just to be safe, a client should ask if the writer is not specific.
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          • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
            To answer your question simply, the answer would be as quickly as they can to produce a high quality, original and unique piece.

            However, there are many factors to take into consideration as already mentioned, and those varying factors truly depend on the author/writer themselves.

            For instance, some writers will deliver a "piece" while others will provide you a "masterpiece".

            It really depends on how the writer tackles their writing if you will. Some view writing articles with speed as the most important factor and subsequently operate much as a factory line, mass producing content with perhaps just a minimal variance here and there.

            On the other hand, some writers are like artists that take pride in their work and go about writing in the same way artists do, selecting the finest of materials, and handcrafting a quality original with each piece they create. They don't settle for good, they strive for perfection, something they are proud to have their name/business attached to, and this does indeed take time.

            So as Alexa stated, these writers really wouldn't want to create more than an article a day, ensuring that they will deliver the very best, that their work will be the answer to a question and solution for a quest.

            It's not a secret that while searching for information on the internet to solve a problem or get relief, that dull, dry, bland, boring run of the mill content abounds leaving searchers craving more and utterly unsatisfied. That is why Google has been changing their algorithms. They're determined to provide a good user experience. How do they go about this? They give higher ranking to the websites with the original, unique, quality masterpieces.

            Artistic writers understand this and thus seek to create articles to be a desert oasis that promises beauty and cool shade under large plush green leaves of foliage bearing sweet sun-ripened fruit beside the clear blue refreshing water that invites readers to feel, taste and dive right in without thought or hesitation and find complete satiation. These pieces won't come from a quick moving assembly line, however.


            So perhaps a better question to ask would be which writers can deliver masterpiece articles for my outsourcing needs.


            Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by SamDermot View Post

    Well, 10 to 15 quality articles can easily be written daily!
    I find one per day is plenty, myself. I have occasionally managed two, but couldn't do that regularly, and I wouldn't want to.

    Maybe we have different ideas about what "quality" means.

    Originally Posted by jamesutterson View Post

    How quickly should Outsourcers write?
    Call me pedantic, but outsourcers hardly need to write at all, if they're outsourcing the work. Outsourcees, now, that's a different matter.
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  • Profile picture of the author bangzenk
    first of all, you need to set your writer goals..
    for Adsense site >> user experience/interest base
    for Amazon site >> product reviews
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  • Profile picture of the author Ross Dalangin
    In my experience, a good writer can give you 5 to 7 quality articles in a day.

    Ross
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    • Profile picture of the author Formal Shorts
      Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

      To answer your question simply, the answer would be as quickly as they can to produce a high quality, original and unique piece.

      However, there are many factors to take into consideration as already mentioned, and those varying factors truly depend on the author/writer themselves.

      For instance, some writers will deliver a "piece" while others will provide you a "masterpiece".

      It really depends on how the writer tackles their writing if you will. Some view writing articles with speed as the most important factor and subsequently operate much as a factory line, mass producing content with perhaps just a minimal variance here and there.

      On the other hand, some writers are like artists that take pride in their work and go about writing in the same way artists do, selecting the finest of materials, and handcrafting a quality original with each piece they create. They don't settle for good, they strive for perfection, something they are proud to have their name/business attached to, and this does indeed take time.

      So as Alexa stated, these writers really wouldn't want to create more than an article a day, ensuring that they will deliver the very best, that their work will be the answer to a question and solution for a quest.

      It's not a secret that while searching for information on the internet to solve a problem or get relief, that dull, dry, bland, boring run of the mill content abounds leaving searchers craving more and utterly unsatisfied. That is why Google has been changing their algorithms. They're determined to provide a good user experience. How do they go about this? They give higher ranking to the websites with the original, unique, quality masterpieces.

      Artistic writers understand this and thus seek to create articles to be a desert oasis that promises beauty and cool shade under large plush green leaves of foliage bearing sweet sun-ripened fruit beside the clear blue refreshing water that invites readers to feel, taste and dive right in without thought or hesitation and find complete satiation. These pieces won't come from a a quick moving assembly line, however.


      So perhaps a better question to ask would be which writers can deliver masterpiece articles for my outsourcing needs.


      Terra
      Originally Posted by Ross Dalangin View Post

      In my experience, a good writer can give you 5 to 7 quality articles in a day.

      Ross
      There's a subtle beauty in the order of these posts
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  • Profile picture of the author TheArticlePros
    Originally Posted by jamesutterson View Post

    Hi all,

    I am sure some of you use outsourcers for writing content.

    I was wondering what a reasonable expectation should be for their output.

    For example if 1 article is equivalent to 1 page how many pages of writing should a good outsource writier produce per day without compromising on the quality.

    Look forward to hearing your opinions.
    After reading through all of the posts already in this thread, I find myself agreeing with the usual suspects that I normally agree with.

    As a writer, here's how I handle it: When a client places an order, I look the order over as I prepare the invoice in Paypal. If the client has asked question in the order form, then I will answer those first before I bill them. (For example, I had a client ask me the other day if his keywords were any good. I did a little quick research on them and found them to be severely lacking. Instead of billing him, I sent him the results that I came up with and told him I didn't feel good about writing the articles.)

    Anyways, if there are no questions that need to be addressed, I will send the invoice to the client. Once it is paid, I will look at my queue and then email the client back and give them an approximate time of delivery. If there are any delays at all, I immediately email all affected clients to let them know there may be a delay.

    I know I didn't directly answer your question here, but that's because there is no answer. It is different for every single writer, and it also is based upon the topic(s) to be written. If you want speed, I can produce speed. Over the last 8 months, I've taken English 102 (yes, I'm a 34 year old college kid!) and I.T. Writing something or other...for both classes, I wrote 500-1000 word papers every week and they never took me more than 15-20 minutes, including research time, and I scored perfect grades on all of them. For a client, since I'm getting paid, I'll spend a minimum of 1 hour on a 1000 word article, and sometimes 2-3 hours to ensure that I'm giving them the best content I can provide.

    I've had no complaints yet.

    -- j
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  • Profile picture of the author jamesutterson
    WOW!

    I log off to go watch the FA Cup final...which chelsea won (yeeeeessssss!) and I come back to a multitude of opinions.

    It seems to me that there is a difference between the pace that 'we' can write compared to our outsourcers.

    So let me be more specific...does anyone out there use Philipinnos? And if you do how quickly do they write?

    In other words how many pages a day...?
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
    Banned
    I'm not seeing where speed/quantity would be affected by nationality. Pricing and (sometimes, not always) quality may be effected; but speed and quantity still come down to the individual and not where they came from.
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    • Profile picture of the author Formal Shorts
      Originally Posted by Joe Robinson View Post

      I'm not seeing where speed/quantity would be affected by nationality. Pricing and (sometimes, not always) quality may be effected; but speed and quantity still come down to the individual and not where they came from.
      I'll agree with this, and I'll also revise my previous statement as I seem to have underestimated the ability of some to write at speed without compromising quality. Regardless, what's important is the ability of the outsourcee in relation to your expectations.
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  • lol. Let them go at their own pace. Some people are quick and others seem to never get anywhere. That is why I always pay per task for writers.
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  • Profile picture of the author alphadude
    Perhaps write the articles yourself instead, it will better then what someone else can produce.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
      Banned
      Originally Posted by alphadude View Post

      Perhaps write the articles yourself instead, it will better then what someone else can produce.
      Good thing that this is absolutely not true, otherwise I would have never gotten any momentum going online :rolleyes:.
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    • Profile picture of the author jamesutterson
      Originally Posted by alphadude View Post

      Perhaps write the articles yourself instead, it will better then what someone else can produce.
      Possibly true, but there is only one of me.

      The whole point of outsourcing is to free up my time for other tasks plus increase the productivity of my business.
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    Writing is a subjective thing. I find that some articles I can write in 15-20 mins and others can take an hour if more research is involved.
    Instead of asking how long a writer "should take" you need to discuss it with whoever you outsource your work to.
    I can always tell my clients when they will have their work done by but I don't ever say i will do it within an hour or whatever because I always have other work to do first.
    So instead of asking broad questions, I recommend dealing with your outsourced writer and asking the questions to them directly.
    I hope that makes sense and helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dragontech
    I think you can expect 1-3 articles/day from most quality writers who would be relatively busy in famous outsourcing networks like Freelancer and oDesk.

    Just never push them and be nice to them if quality is priority (coz some of them might revenge)
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  • Profile picture of the author denis57
    I my experience, a 500 word or less shouldn't take anymore than a day. 500-800words or so, would expect two days for quality. Some of it also would depend if the article needs a lot of research.
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  • Profile picture of the author Seatbelt99
    You've already gotten some excellent answers here but I'll throw in my $.02 as well I guess.

    I think when you hire someone to write you need to be ABSOLUTELY clear with what you're requesting (or the writer should ask for more information).

    If someone contacts me asking for a high quality, researched article about a specific topic I'll quote them a price based on how much research and time it will take me. Obviously since this will take me a while it will be more expensive than just quickly turning out an article to fill up some space.

    To give some 'real world' examples.

    I have one client who wants a ton of articles at about 300 words each on the same client. I do about 40-50 per week for them. He is not looking for the absolute highest quality but just wants it to be good quality and sound like it was written by an American. Since I'm from the good old US of A I can do that no problem. I'm a very fast typist and since I've written over 250 articles on this one topic, I can whip these out fast. (3-7 minutes each typically). I can do 20-30 per day or more if I'm feeling particularly motivated.

    He pays me around $.03 per word for them.

    Are these my absolute best work? Nope, not even close. Are they exactly what he wanted? Yes Sir!


    On the other hand, I've had people ask for extremely high quality articles on topics which I did not already know a lot about. For him I will take hours to write the article, and then charge quite a bit more as well.


    The bottom line is, what type of articles are you asking for? Quality? Quantity? A little bit of both?
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    • Profile picture of the author cashp0wer
      I use to freelance write and each article would take me a different amount of time, depending on how much I knew the topic and how much research I needed to do. For example, if it was an IT article, I would whip those out very quickly. If it was on a topic I did not know about and had to research the article would take me much longer to write.
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      • Profile picture of the author Shadowflux
        I don't think it's a good idea to set a per day quota on a writer. I think it would be a much better idea to set a deadline, like 1 week.

        The thing with writing is that it's a creative endeavor. It doesn't matter if you're writing about pooper scoopers, you still need to be creative, and have your creative juices flowing, in order to produce a readable article on a rather boring subject. (let's face it, most of these subjects are very boring)

        When clients need content from me I try not to write more than 5 (500 words or so) a day. Sometimes I'll write more if I'm really in the zone but I've found that after 5 articles I simply can't approach a new article with a fresh mind. Plus, I have other work I need to do and other clients I need to manage.

        I would say you should just give your writers a reasonable deadline. Don't expect more than 15-20 from one person each week, this will help ensure quality. Giving them a deadline allows them to manage their own time and approach your articles in the best way for them.

        A daily quota leaves your writer scrambling to fill the quota everyday which will eventually cause them to burn out.
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