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Beware of dodgy 'Native English' writers

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by alexau, Sep 9, 2010.

  1. phenominal

    phenominal Peon

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    #21
    I agree with some of the posts here, just like the old adage goes "you get what you pay for!" If you want quality writing then increase your rates.

    DP has been "Indianized" if you will. Most of the writers here are Indians, I'm not saying it's a bad thing,It could be good in a sense.And some Indian writers are extremely good! You just have to do a little bit of research on the writer before setting up a payment method.
     
    phenominal, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  2. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

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    #22
    Well put.

    One also has to realize that in addition to having an article free from grammar errors, and whatnot, articles have to have selling buy-this-right-now power, have personality, a bit of edge to it, perhaps have a touch of entertainment to it....

    Too many focus on just the grammar aspect of articles. They think they are getting a good deal if they get a grammar-free article for $5.

    But, if those articles are boring, no sales power, lame...the buyer of the articles probably just lost his money. And, in addition to...losing repeat visitors, which means more money lost!

    So, um, yeah, you think you are getting a good deal with those $5 articles? Think again.

    From what I have seen from, God knows how many articles (mainly how-to articles), they are just booooooooooring, which explains the main reason why so many webmasters do not get as many repeat visitors as they hope to get.
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2010
    Perry Rose, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  3. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

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    #23
    Just reading that made me laugh so hard, I think I broke a rib.

    Oh, I think we know. lol

    People will always amaze me.
     
    Perry Rose, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  4. grandislandne

    grandislandne Peon

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    #24
    You get what you pay for.

    Want it cheap? then get it done in India, and don't complain. Be willing to edit what they write and rephrase all those awkward sentences. Yes the average Indian writer on DP writes awful English, but remember that if you had to write in Hindi or Deutsch, your writing would suck even worse. They are handling a foreign language much better than you ever will.
    Got money to burn? Get it done locally, put an ad in your local newspaper, you can find college students who will write articles for $10 a page.
     
    grandislandne, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  5. grandislandne

    grandislandne Peon

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    #25
    Let us see a 'native' write one good sentence in Deutsch or Hindi :)
     
    grandislandne, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  6. nativewriter

    nativewriter Peon

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    #26
    I couldn't agree more.
     
    nativewriter, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  7. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

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    #27
    Uhhhh, we can't. But that's not the point, now is it. *rolls eyes*
     
    Perry Rose, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  8. writerforever

    writerforever Peon

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    #28
    I would like to put a little input on what I think about this post.

    Regarding your title, "beware of dodgy native english writers". Well, it's happening here in DP and people are coming here for cheap price of course.

    It's already a given fact. Buyers do post, $2 or $3 budget per article and worst $1 per article. Then, you expect a very well-written article for that price?

    The scenario is this:

    Native English writers are living in developed countries which of course tantamount to having high cost of living and minimum wage of $6-$7/hr or $12-$13 per hour in some areas it depends on the job too.

    Certainly, you can't get a Native English writer to write article at $3 per pop. It's a waste of time. I mean, it's too small. If a writer on an average write 1 article per hour, then a Native one can write the same, then he or she has to write 2 articles in an hour to earn $6 to commensurate his or her hourly rate.

    Now, let's go to Pakistanis, Indians and Filipinos...Why they can dive in to small amount of money as payment for a single article. Well, here is a concret example:

    In the Philippines, the minimum wage is about $6-$7 per day. I have to repeat "per day" that's 8 hours of work. The daily wage is equivalent to the hourly rate in the US. Filipinos have to live by every single day on that rate. The cost of living is cheap and they can afford to receive $2 or $3 per pop. If a Filipino can write 10 articles a day at $2-$3 per piece, he or she is living the life.

    Now you know the difference and why natives to want higher pay compared to Pakistanis, Indians and Filipinos.

    The problem lies on the buyer. Why? Requirements will entail basically most of the following:

    -native English speaker
    -write articles free from grammar and spelling errors
    -can meet deadline

    Budget: $2-$3

    See? Who would grab such opportunity only the Indians, Pakistanis and Filipinos. So, in order to get the job some will tell they are native English speakers, using American names and email ad, etc in order to get the project.

    Note: Do not be persuaded by thread imposing cheap rates and telling you all they are native English writers. In reality, a native one will not dive on wriitng $1-$3 per article. The price can't cope up with the high cost of living in their country.

    ----------------

    If only there is no discrimination imposed in the article writing industry, then this could not be happening. It would be best to hire someone because of his or her skills not simply he or she has English as a first language.

    There should be a fair playing game but in reality this is the opposite. Natives can't get a lot of work because of tight competition due to lower rates offered by other writers.

    If you want quality articles do not look at the race of the writer, where he or she come from. Look at the experience and if you may, contact satisfied clients and ask their feebacks about the writer. Be prepared to pay the price.

    If you are lucky and good at treasure hunting, you will find good writer at $3. A writer who is willing to write at this rate is like a diamond and must be treasured.
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2010
    writerforever, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  9. alexau

    alexau Active Member

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    #29
    Unfortunately, it is not always the case. I have tried a number of native English writer from this forum. There are good writers here and there are not good enough. Some of them may charge high rates ($4-5/100 words) but they do not provide high quality articles that I would expect. You will get articles written in perfect English with no grammar errors, etc., but the content itself is poor researched, may not contain all relevant details or may contain not relevant details at all. Some writers are straggling to filter more important information from less important. As a result they may write too much about not important things, and the most important points may be missing at all.

    At the same time, cheap non-native writers very ofter provide well-researched content, which contains only relevant details.

    So, the best way to go is to get well-researched articles from non-native writers, and then ask a native English writer to re-write them and correct all the errors, etc.
     
    alexau, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  10. phenominal

    phenominal Peon

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    #30
    That approach would cost you even more! But it definitely does not hurt to try it :D
     
    phenominal, Sep 10, 2010 IP
  11. parsibagan

    parsibagan Active Member

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    #31
    Ich liebe dich! :eek:
     
    parsibagan, Sep 11, 2010 IP
  12. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

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    #32
    I am so tired of this chatter about standard of living. Standard of living has absolutely NOTHING to do with the value of an article.

    An article's value is in its ability to make someone money and/or bring traffic to the site.

    As to the ridiculous and non-relevant challenge...since German has already been used...Mei tumsey pyaar kartaa hu!
     
    YMC, Sep 11, 2010 IP
  13. grandislandne

    grandislandne Peon

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    #33
    I have used writers who are not fluent in English. Then I would sit down, pop two tylenols and re-write and re-phrase everything. But then nothing in life is easy... writing is difficult, making money is difficult, girlfriends are difficult.... and overseas writers are difficult........ sigh !
     
    grandislandne, Sep 11, 2010 IP
  14. parsibagan

    parsibagan Active Member

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    #34
    Excellent mate... just the last word should be `hoon' (as in `moon')

    मैं तुमसे प्यार करता हूँ (in the Devanagri script)
     
    parsibagan, Sep 11, 2010 IP
  15. parsibagan

    parsibagan Active Member

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    #35
    As you yourself stated, you have used writers who are not fluent in English. One need not be born and educated in the United Kingdom to be proficient in English.

    Psssst: Girlfriends are easy, and so are overseas writers who are fluent in English.
     
    parsibagan, Sep 11, 2010 IP
  16. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

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    #36
    Shucks, here I thought I was being so clever. FWIW - the phrase was from here - http://www.linguanaut.com/english_hindi.htm
     
    YMC, Sep 11, 2010 IP
  17. BRUm

    BRUm Well-Known Member

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    #37
    You can't beat UK based writers. Home of the real English ;)
     
    BRUm, Sep 11, 2010 IP
  18. parsibagan

    parsibagan Active Member

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    #38
    @YMC, not your fault... it was phonetics at play. If you recall, the name of the late Chinese premier used to be written as `Mao Tse [`T' silent] Tung by publishers all over the world, be it magazines or newspapers. Only about a decade or so back they have rectified it to the correct phonetic pronunciation in the Roman script as Mao Zedong (3 words changed to 2)

    @BRUm: No! Not even in our wildest dreams do we think about doing that. We just compete healthily. Honestly, I love the Yorkshire accent.
     
    parsibagan, Sep 11, 2010 IP
  19. BRUm

    BRUm Well-Known Member

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    #39
    Heh, funny :)

    Yorkshire is my county and the best one too.
     
    BRUm, Sep 11, 2010 IP
  20. parsibagan

    parsibagan Active Member

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    #40
    Wow! I'm sure that you know Geoffrey Boycott, the cricketer. I simply adore his accent... pronouncing `cut' as `coot'. Hmmm... can an accent be adored? My dear father will never forgive me for this gross mistake.
     
    parsibagan, Sep 11, 2010 IP