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Is It Even POSSIBLE To Compete With Sub-Par Content?

by Ross Cohen
11 replies
Competition out there in the Internet marketing world is fierce. More than ever. It's becoming harder and harder to become an earner as more and more people are simply falling flat on their face.

And when someone is entering the IM realm and trying to earn their part of the pie, they start small. They want to have the lowest start-up costs as possible so when outsourcing, they seek cheap content in the $5/500 word range.

Now this content is great for some stuff... but your money site? Not so much.

There are millions of blogs out there with that sort of content on it. You know, content that kind of makes sense but is for the most part just rehashed information from other websites. Nothing mind blowing, and nothing that would make you want to buy, opt-in, etc.

The blogs and websites owned by people who will eventually become very successful are those with slammin' content. Content that rolls right off the tongue. Information that makes so much sense it's scary... that stuff that's truly unique... not just in the eyes of Google.

But not everyone can write like this. And not everyone can afford this kind of content. It can easily exceed $25/500 words.

So sure, lower upfront costs are great. But can those people ever succeed? Is it even POSSIBLE?

If they can succeed, how?

If they can't, how can they? What if they can't write that smokin' hot content nor afford for it to be written?
#compete #content #subpar
  • Profile picture of the author Really
    Well, I write my my own content, it doesn't even cost $5. I don't make millions but I survive.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ross Cohen
    That's good. Would you consider your writing the $5/500 word type or more the $25/500 word type? Because whether the $5/500 word sort-of-content is produced by yourself or outsourced, in essence and in the eyes of readers, it's the same. Not saying that's the caliber of your writing... just giving an example... for all that I know you could be the next Dr. Seuss!
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    • Profile picture of the author Really
      Originally Posted by Ross Cohen View Post

      That's good. Would you consider your writing the $5/500 word type or more the $25/500 word type? Because whether the $5/500 word sort-of-content is produced by yourself or outsourced, in essence and in the eyes of readers, it's the same. Not saying that's the caliber of your writing... just giving an example... for all that I know you could be the next Dr. Seuss!
      Honestly? I don't know. I like to be honest (which rules out 99% of the writers out there ) It is not "targeted", I barely know what "SEO" means.

      The main thing, I guess is that I'm not one of those "copywriters". I sell things that actually help to make money. Not much money, but more than you would ever pay me for it. I don't promise to make anyone $1000 a day or whatever.

      I write to convey information, I genuinely have opportunities which can make money with very little work, and I can prove them. They are not risk-free, but the risks can be managed.

      Some people seem to like that
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan Curtis
      Originally Posted by Ross Cohen View Post

      Would you consider your writing the $5/500 word type or more the $25/500 word type?
      I hadn't really thought about it until you asked this question. I don't actually know how much I would have to pay to get the writing quality that I expect of myself, but I would guess it would be $200 or more for 500 words.

      I certainly wouldn't produce articles for someone else for less than that, but then again I am not in the business of marketing myself as an article writer and I don't have the time or inclination to do so.

      I have hired many writers at various price ranges. I hired writers for $3/500 words and I hired writers for $40/500 words. We did not negotiate these prices; these were the amounts that they bid.

      Most of the writing was mediocre, with a very few that produced what I would consider fair quality, even for the $40 articles. I saw very little difference in quality despite the difference in price. None were outstanding.

      However there were many writers that were asking for much more per article, but I didn't hire them. Perhaps they could produce outstanding content. They certainly made that promise.
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  • Profile picture of the author dklab756
    Ross,

    You are right. To keep people coming back to you over and over again, you need to have great content. I do believe that even new to IM person can do it. It has nothing to do with experience but with dedication and passion for the subject.

    On other side today you can make dicent money still with rehashed content. Will you get a lot of visitors to come back - unlikely. Can you get bunch of new visitors and monetise them with adsense or something like that -yes you can. I don't believe that this is long term strategy. As you pointed out it become harder and harder to compete with this type of content. It will not get easier.

    Some of my sites got slushed because of this problem, yet some with still conent which I'm not proud of are still around and kicking.... Not sure for how long.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill Hugall
    Cheap content made IM. It all depends on your traffic methods. Google never did me any good. I pay for my traffic and I still have cheap content in a few places that do well. Not great but when you pay you get results. The results you get are based solely on your content when using Google and that is just to much money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tangycontent
    I think the "[del]higher rate[/del] = better quality" thing is a misnomer that needs to go.

    Many people believe that you have to pay a lot of money for high-quality content, but this is certainly not the case. If you're in need of excellent content writers and you can't afford to outsource to a content team (like mine!) then you should check your local university campus. There are many Arts students that are capable writers that are willing to work under-the-table for peanuts.

    Having said that, I don't believe in ripping people off. If you want top quality, you should be willing to pay for it. I pay my writers anywhere from $20 to $50 an hour because they're worth it. And yet even with paying them that rate I am still able to run a profitable business charging my clients $4-$6 per 100 words.

    Yes - you can always go with content that is written by a foreigner who is pretending to be a first-language English speaker and pay some ridiculously low rate.

    ...but as they say: you get what you pay for.
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Originally Posted by Tangycontent View Post

      I think the "higher rate = better quality" thing is a misnomer that needs to go.

      Many people believe that you have to pay a lot of money for high-quality content, but this is certainly not the case. If you're in need of excellent content writers and you can't afford to outsource to a content team (like mine!) then you should check your local university campus. There are many Arts students that are capable writers that are willing to work under-the-table for peanuts.

      Having said that, I don't believe in ripping people off. If you want top quality, you should be willing to pay for it. I pay my writers anywhere from $20 to $50 an hour because they're worth it. And yet even with paying them that rate I am still able to run a profitable business charging my clients $4-$6 per 100 words.

      Yes - you can always go with content that is written by a foreigner who is pretending to be a first-language English speaker and pay some ridiculously low rate.

      ...but as they say: you get what you pay for.
      Hmmm,

      Did you realize that you contradicted yourself in your opening and closing sentences in between your subtle self promotion?

      Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author Tangycontent
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        Hmmm,

        Did you realize that you contradicted yourself in your opening and closing sentences in between your subtle self promotion?

        Terra
        Great point. How about this:

        I think the "ridiculously high content rate = better quality" thing is a misnomer that needs to go.
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  • Profile picture of the author esk
    I have an excellent writer that I pay $20 per hour. This is not the cheap and not the high end option. I usually like to settle for something in the middle.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cheryl Low
    I agree wholeheartedly about the fierce competition and the need to stand out from the crowd. But what is "quality" content and how much you have to pay for it is highly debatable.

    Quality content as in new information, great writing and well-researched is not always the key factor that draws in the crowd. Just take a look at the websites of the internet gurus out there and the ones making millions. Whatever it is that brought them their hundreds of thousands of loyal followers, it doesn't seem to me that it's their quality content (as per my definition).

    If there are people out there who can produce the kind of content that draws in that sort of following, they would be in business on their own, not writing for other people even at $100 per 500 words.

    Now, I'm not saying great content isn't important and I'm not saying great content wouldn't make you more successful than crappy content. I'm just saying that a lot of money may not necessarily buy you the kind of content that attracts lots of buyers, and paying less money for content may not get you the opposite.

    I think people buy from people they trust and once the trust is earned, you can fill your blog or follow up emails with nothing more than here's how I spent my day sipping margaritas and people will still read and buy. (This is from my observation of some successful internet marketers).

    My 2 cents. I'm sure not everyone will agree.

    By the way, I write my own content right now and have never outsourced. When I do, I hope I've figured out the formula that brings me my followers and keep them loyal and I'll tell my writers exactly what to write and in my style. That being the case, I don't expect I'd need to pay for the very best - only those who can write and follow instructions....

    Cheryl
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