Question for Article Writers: Product Delivery

18 replies
I've been doing the article writing thing for about year now, and I've always delivered my work in plain text files. If there were multiple files, I just used 7Zip and sent one zip file to the customer.

I've switched over recently and started writing my articles in Google Docs (I have a laptop and desktop, and it's cheaper to go to Atlanta Bread or Panera and use their air conditioning than it is to run my own LOL). I can still save them as text files when I'm done, but I'm wondering if it would just be simpler to link the clients to the finished articles via Google Docs once I am done with them.

I offer a 72 hour revision, and this would actually make it simpler. On the odd occasion I have a picky customer, I could just ask him or her to highlight the parts they don't like. I could also deliver formatted articles this way since I've read that a Google Docs doc doesn't screw with WordPress like an MS-Word doc does.

For any you that are fellow content creators, how do you deliver just articles? (Not copywriting or sales pages or any of the fancy stuff...just good old articles.)

Thanks in advance!

-- j
#article #delivery #product #question #writers
  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    Sort-of copying from people much more
    experienced and better than me, I just
    send two articles in the body of the email.

    Because I don't use hardly any formatting,
    I just send it in plain text, too.
    Signature

    The bartender says: "We don't serve faster-than-light particles here."

    ...A tachyon enters a bar.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191608].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Ross Cohen
    I always use Word for single-article orders. There's a way to "track changes" with Word... and they can also highlight tid-bits as well, save it, and send it back. I've used Google Docs plenty, not for article delivery though... it has always seemed to work well for me. I guess whatever works best for your client would be your best bet.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191611].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    I always send the articles to customer's email in doc/word file format unless there is special instruction. Not all customers have google account and it's an inconvenience for them to require them to log-in to google and download articles every now and then. For multiple articles, just zip and send to customer's email.

    Just my suggestion and this is actually what I am doing for so long now.
    Signature



    Moderator's Note: You're only allowed to put your own products or sites in your signature.

    Signature edited.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191619].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
    Banned
    I have stuck primarily with Microsoft Word as well. It is more of a comfort thing than anything else. Usually clients don't send back for revisions anyways and if they do, they'll just send a note in an email saying "hey, can we play with the wording here, or change this here?"

    I've never used Google Docs myself, so I can't comment on whether or not it would be easy to just link them to it, sorry Jay.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191622].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      I usually send articles in plain text format. I started out with Word, however had a few clients request plain text due to the hidden characters that Word creates.

      I always create/write in Word though. I have not as of yet had a rewrite request.

      If I'm delivering one article, I'll either send it in the email body or as an attachment, if there are a few articles, I'll send them as attachments. However when it's a large order, I'll zip them all up and send just that one attachment.

      Personally, I'm not sure if clients would like the shared Google Doc or not, as it does require an account and log in to retrieve them.

      It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask clients though.

      Terra
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191696].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Rose Anderson
    I always send articles in .doc format unless the client requests something different. I've only had two clients who preferred to receive .txt.

    Rose
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191691].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author tess47
    I generally use plain text and Word, whichever the client prefers. I write a huge number of actual website pages, and my clients seem to prefer those in Word as they say they are easier to upload to their websites.

    If I'm just sending two or three articles, I will attach the files in the email; more, and I zip them up to send.

    I would suggest you do what's comfortable for you, and perhaps ask new clients if they prefer a particular format or form of delivery. Hope that helps
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191713].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author TheArticlePros
    Since I see a few posters who say that using Google Docs requires a login, I'll go on and correct that here:

    https://support.google.com/docs/bin/...&answer=180199

    You can set the permissions on any doc that you choose to share so that it can be viewed and edited by anyone with the link, but it can only be found by someone who has the link. It's two clicks to do it that way.

    I like the feedback so far...but I want to know if anyone has tried it the Google way yet?

    -- j

    EDIT: And I'm out of 'thanks' for the day...so anyone responding after this who doesn't get a thanks, I still appreciate your answers but I can't thank you for a day or two!
    Signature

    Posting About Life & Video Games:
    http://www.jarycu.com

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191737].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
      Banned
      Originally Posted by JaRyCu View Post

      Since I see a few posters who say that using Google Docs requires a login, I'll go on and correct that here:

      https://support.google.com/docs/bin/...&answer=180199

      You can set the permissions on any doc that you choose to share so that it can be viewed and edited by anyone with the link, but it can only be found by someone who has the link. It's two clicks to do it that way.

      *Snip*
      That's actually really interesting. Question though Jay (they alluded to it but didn't definitively say) can you and the person you are sharing with work on the doc and see the changes simultaneously? That would be ridiculously awesome. Being able to just jump on a Skype call and talk to each other while working on the piece would be cool...
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191768].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author TheArticlePros
        Originally Posted by Joe Robinson View Post

        That's actually really interesting. Question though Jay (they alluded to it but didn't definitively say) can you and the person you are sharing with work on the doc and see the changes simultaneously? That would be ridiculously awesome. Being able to just jump on a Skype call and talk to each other while working on the piece would be cool...
        There's a quick way to find out. I can add you to my FB or Yahoo IM'er (I don't have Skype) and we can try one to see. PM me if you want to try it.

        -- j
        Signature

        Posting About Life & Video Games:
        http://www.jarycu.com

        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191777].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
          Banned
          Originally Posted by JaRyCu View Post

          There's a quick way to find out. I can add you to my FB or Yahoo IM'er (I don't have Skype) and we can try one to see. PM me if you want to try it.

          -- j
          Update: Jay and I tried this, and it works very well. You can see changes that anyone makes to the document in real time, and there is a built in chat for you to communicate. A very cool tool, although I'm sure some will fear it just because it is from the big G.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191844].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Rien
    I send them over in two formats - plain text and MS Word Doc.

    I let all my clients know upfront and if they have any other
    requirements then I send them over in their requested format
    as well (i.e. PDF).

    If the order is just a few articles then I just attach it to the
    email, anything larger gets zipped up.

    I also send two emails - one with the content attached and
    the other letting them know it got sent over. Early on I
    sent content to a client and went on my merry way. A few
    days past the deadline he sent me an email asking what
    happened.

    Long story short, his free email service provider saw the
    large attachment and sent it to his SPAM folder. Luckily
    he was able to retrieve it.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191738].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author TheArticlePros
    Thanks Joe for helping me confirm how easy this was to use! (No thanks button till tomorrow....)

    OK now that we have that solved and we've shown what an easy collaborative tool GDocs is to use, does anyone think that it could be good for content delivery?

    You have the ability to tag docs into a 'folder' and then share the whole folder just like you can share a document...this solves the problem of sending an email per file as you can just email a link to the folder instead.

    I may try this with my next customer and see what he or she thinks of the process.

    -- j
    Signature

    Posting About Life & Video Games:
    http://www.jarycu.com

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191860].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Originally Posted by JaRyCu View Post

      Thanks Joe for helping me confirm how easy this was to use! (No thanks button till tomorrow....)

      OK now that we have that solved and we've shown what an easy collaborative tool GDocs is to use, does anyone think that it could be good for content delivery?

      You have the ability to tag docs into a 'folder' and then share the whole folder just like you can share a document...this solves the problem of sending an email per file as you can just email a link to the folder instead.

      I may try this with my next customer and see what he or she thinks of the process.

      -- j
      Be sure to let us know how that works out for you.

      You have my curiosity piqued now, lol.

      Terra
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191973].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Nate Simms
    I have always stuck to .txt documents.

    Two reasons:

    1. Not everybody has MS Word installed on their computer. It wasn't until I ran into this problem a few times with various clients did I realize that MS Word is not exactly universal.

    2. MS Word embeds hidden characters into the copy. I'm sure most are aware that it is a pain to copy and paste from Word to WordPress. Because of that, I will typically write in Word and then copy and paste into a .TXT document and send it off that way.

    As for Google Docs: I have absolutely no experience using it. But, I'm going to look into it to see if it is worth switching to from .txt documents.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191888].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Yogini
      As someone who buys articles, I prefer text though I know others prefer doc files. For me, text is better because I personally find that when something is in doc format and I try to copy/paste it into my blog either the paragraphs have no spaces between them or they are spaced with an extra space. I am not sure why that is.

      I also don't like bullet points and lots of formatting so I find that text works better. For writers that do send doc files, it is important to see if your client wants doc or docx as they may not be able to read one of them depending on their computer.

      Debbie
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191909].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dianzo
    [DELETED]
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191960].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author TheArticlePros
      Originally Posted by Yogini View Post

      As someone who buys articles, I prefer text though I know others prefer doc files. For me, text is better because I personally find that when something is in doc format and I try to copy/paste it into my blog either the paragraphs have no spaces between them or they are spaced with an extra space. I am not sure why that is.

      I also don't like bullet points and lots of formatting so I find that text works better. For writers that do send doc files, it is important to see if your client wants doc or docx as they may not be able to read one of them depending on their computer.

      Debbie
      I've noticed that myself when I'm typing up articles for my own sites. I used to type them in Word, then paste them into Notepad, and then paste that into WordPress so they'd come out right.

      As far as formatting, you'd rather receive something completely bare and just do it yourself?

      Originally Posted by Dianzo View Post

      I often ordered Articles, and usually they send it via email, and put in the attachment in the form of 7Zip.
      Do you like this or do you with there was another way?

      Originally Posted by NateSimms View Post

      As for Google Docs: I have absolutely no experience using it. But, I'm going to look into it to see if it is worth switching to from .txt documents.
      Joe & I had a really good time with Google Docs...there was so much you can do with it. In addition to the word processor (Word), it also does spreadsheets and presentations (Excel & PowerPoint). What got me thinking about switching my delivery over was an article I read Wednesday on CNet. Here's the article:

      How I learned to say, 'Hi, Google Docs; bye, MS Word' | Internet & Media - CNET News

      -- j
      Signature

      Posting About Life & Video Games:
      http://www.jarycu.com

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6191993].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Stoney
    Yup. Good ol' Word docs work the best for me.
    Signature
    BEGINNING ONLINE MARKETERS:
    Tee2 Online Sales Profit Hub- Learn and Profit
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6192403].message }}

Trending Topics