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Why is it always "CHEAP ARTICLE WRITER"

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by phyza, Apr 13, 2009.

  1. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #101
    Well I'm sorry to hear you didn't find a way to make it work for you here, but I'm glad you've at least had success elsewhere. Everyone has to find their own mix, and I guess DP just wasn't meant to be a part of yours, and that's okay.

    I really wouldn't worry about smear campaigns and such. Competitors can find you if they really want to whether you're on DP or not - you'd be more likely to face those issues if you were topping the SERPs for highly competitive keyword phrases than posting a link here. You're proof that DP didn't work for you, but there are also plenty of us who are proof that it works just fine and brings in plenty of reputable business as opposed to people judging us solely based on a forum membership. Maybe it's the PR professional in me, but I believe wholeheartedly that we each create our own reputation and it can't be that significantly impacted by membership in a community. To each his own I suppose.
     
    jhmattern, Apr 19, 2009 IP
    Brennan likes this.
  2. ShiftChip

    ShiftChip Well-Known Member

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    #102
    I think cheap is good, business is business... Calling these cheap writers fraud or hacks isn't necessary. I know what I'm getting into when I buy cheap articles... Most people do.
     
    ShiftChip, Apr 19, 2009 IP
  3. hmansfield

    hmansfield Guest

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    #103
    If you are targeting work in English, but do not speak or write it well, you are just as much as a hack or a fraud as if I proclaimed to be a BMW mechanic because I read some books and know where everything is.

    Knowing English, doesn't mean that you can write it professionally. I know my limitations, and for someone who does not speak English naturally to be offended because their work is not good enough for sales copy and promotions is ridiculous.

    Welcome to the real world, and you are right..."business is business".
     
    hmansfield, Apr 19, 2009 IP
  4. stilloutthere

    stilloutthere Peon

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    #104
    You are partially correct. I was taught to put two full spaces after periods (full stops) and one space after a comma. I think it is taught that way in Canada and the UK and Australia and most English-speaking countries. However, some of the word processing software takes the two spaces after periods (full stops) and reduces them to one. That's not what I was taught, so I'm stuck with it.

    My apologies for the hijack.
     
    stilloutthere, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  5. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #105
    Actually many do not, which is part of the problem. They're scammed by writers claiming to have excellent grammatical skills in English, and they trust them to provide what they advertise. Many buyers at DP and elsewhere don't speak English as their first language, so they don't necessarily know how awful the writing really is. If they can make out what the writer is attempting to say, they think it's great. Their readers, on the other hand, are more likely to see it for the crap that it is.

    On one hand, if they can't understand the language of their target market, they probably shouldn't be pursuing that area in the first place. On the other hand, there's no excuse for false advertising to bring in work.

    This is why you see so many BS iTrader reviews here on DP saying that a writer is outstanding when they're anything but. Many of the buyers honestly just don't know the difference, even if their audience does.
     
    jhmattern, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  6. Sid_who

    Sid_who Active Member

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    #106
    When I joined DP a couple of months back, an article for 3$ was considered as 'cheap' by the buyers and now just have a look into the content section of DP. People are not even to buy articles at 2$... they too are costly.

    I don't know where is self respect gone..... its probably buried over those 'get unique CS passed articles, great qaulity @ 1.5$ only 500 words' thread !
     
    Sid_who, Apr 20, 2009 IP
    phyza likes this.
  7. hmansfield

    hmansfield Guest

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    #107
    This is sooo true. It's hard to speak on this without singling out a particular up and coming community of new web masters...so I won't.
    But I have purchased articles here based on iTrader comments and after receiving the work, was positive that they were either fake, or the commenters were all for the same "area" and speak the same broken American English...so I guess it would look good to them.
     
    hmansfield, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  8. alexa_s

    alexa_s Peon

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    #108
    Not in my lifetime. That was in the days of typewriters, before word-processing was widespread, and long before the internet. :)

    (One space after a comma is universal, of course: I'm referring to the double space after a period).
     
    alexa_s, Apr 20, 2009 IP
    phyza likes this.
  9. hmansfield

    hmansfield Guest

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    #109
    This is correct. The rules of grammar and diction don't change just because production technology changes. What you are doing is the correct way.

    Let the others who can only perform with technology be lost with out it.

    Some things don't change just because we have new toys. A writer should know the basic rules of punctuation, and not be reliant on software to do it for them.
     
    hmansfield, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  10. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #110
    Actually, the rules of grammar do change--quite often. The correct format in AP, APA and MLA style guides as well as the Chicago Manual of Style is ONE space currently.

    It isn't a case of the rules changing because of advances in technology. It was actually adapted to two spaces for typing on typewriters because of the specific limitations of that technology, being forced to use a fixed-width font. Unless I'm mistaken (and correct me if I'm wrong), one space has pretty much always been the actual standard in typesetting. Two spaces was a change solely for the use and teaching of typing with old typewriters, because the font spacing issues made it difficult to know when sentences ended. It did carry over into the earlier days of computer typing courses (I remember it when I was young), but all of the "official" style guides dictate that two spaces is incorrect. ;)
     
    jhmattern, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  11. hmansfield

    hmansfield Guest

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    #111
    So you are saying that the new technology automatically ads the appropriate spacing after a period, so there is no need to manually insert it ?

    I stand corrected, but somehow I still feel right:(
     
    hmansfield, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  12. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #112
    Exactly. Double spacing was started because the old technology couldn't handle the correct spacing between sentences, making typed documents more difficult to read. There wouldn't have been a need to go to a two-space style at all had it not been for "faulty" technology in the past. Word processing software, and even browsers, already correct spacing between sentences automatically. So even if you were to type in plain-text fixed-width format in notepad or something to upload to a website, you wouldn't need to add two spaces. In fact, if you add two, some browsers will automatically convert it to a single space when it's displayed. Double spacing just seems entirely antiquated at this point. I mean, there may be a style guide out there somewhere that still suggests it, but the primary ones certainly don't.

    Something I found interesting when I was researching proper manuscript formatting for different book publishers was that every one of them who asked for fixed-width fonts (Courier New is fixed-width, right?) still only wanted one space between sentences. Adding more is apparently a hassle, because their typesetters then have to change it during publishing if they pick up your book.
     
    jhmattern, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  13. alexa_s

    alexa_s Peon

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    #113
    Yes, that is interesting. (Yes, Courier New is fixed-width: it's basically a "typewriter font", isn't it?).
     
    alexa_s, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  14. £££

    £££ Peon

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    #114
    What is absolutely truly astonishing on this forum is that such appalling writers seem to pull in lots of work, whilst perfect native English speakers and writers who do it for a profession, cannot here pick up at times, hardly any work at all.

    Not so long ago, I posted up a new thread offering article writing, with the promise of giving away too, three review copies completely free of charge in exchange for an honest review of my writing skills, lo and behold, not a single reply, it was most weird. I closed the thread down shortly afterwards.

    Then you get someone comes along, 'canna speel four tofee' and actually pulls in work!

    And to bloody well boot, receives reviews from DP members saying the articles were superb, even though the spelling and English sentence structure makeup and/or construction was mindbogglingly atrocious, as seen by their opening thread offering their service.

    This forum is just nuts at times, so much about it just seems to fly in the face of reason, from situations like this to the constant infractions and trigger happy moderator bannings of posters, even if said posters have thousands of posts to their names.

    It's all most exceedingly odd.
     
    £££, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  15. hmansfield

    hmansfield Guest

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    #115
    I know how you feel. I have purchased articles just on the recommendations of so many people that gave good feedback, only to find that the article flows like it was translated using the Google translator, or, if the English is tolerable...the education level of the writer is that of a 5th grader.

    I too wonder, "What the hell do these people see, that i am not getting ?" "This sucks !"

    Yet the "kudos" and iTraders keep rising.
     
    hmansfield, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  16. hmansfield

    hmansfield Guest

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    #116
    I wish everyone knew as much about their "profession" as this. Very nice JMattern. I guess I certainly showed my age in this thread :)

    I'm gonna go listen to a few LP's
     
    hmansfield, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  17. gafadi

    gafadi Peon

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    #117
    welcome to DP , cheap is another name for Dp , for a buyer its a great place but for a seller its not :) i sold many of my domain like 4x 5x than what i was offered by domainers or buyers from here
     
    gafadi, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  18. BadBoyzStudioZ

    BadBoyzStudioZ Peon

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    #118
    What I want to know is... Where are the original posters of this thread at in this debate? I don't see too much interaction from them on here.

    Words are funny. The art, yes; Art, of crafting them is tricky. Email and textual based conversations like a forum will really educate you on expressing yourself clearly. You have no idea how many "virtual bar fights" I have been in because someone took a post I made out of context.

    Cheap is a bad word to use to describe anything. Generally indicates inferior product. I want nothing "cheap" that I pay for with my hard earned cash. Affordable, reasonably priced, below market pricing, competitive pricing, etc. These are powerful phrases that say something substantial. They are telling your potential buyers that you are a professional and you are competitive. Not cheap.

    The term prostitute (whore actually, I am being nice ;) ) comes to mind when I hear cheap. Sacrifice quality output to satisfy inferior requirements. Cheap.
     
    BadBoyzStudioZ, Apr 20, 2009 IP
    £££ likes this.
  19. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #119
    You know. . . the attitude that DP is only a buyer's market is actually a very good thing for those us wanting to pull in the higher paying gigs that do exist here. While there's plenty of low-rate "non-competition" floating around, there aren't a hell of a lot of people really using the platform well on a more professional writing level. Whatever floats your boat folks--more work for the rest of us. :p

    While they likely didn't anticipate it, I have to say this is actually one of the most engaging and constructive threads in this section in a long time. It even inspired a blog post this morning (including link to Yolander for her excellent insights on the entitlement issue). ;)
     
    jhmattern, Apr 20, 2009 IP
  20. stilloutthere

    stilloutthere Peon

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    #120
    But in mine. Word processing came in when I was in my middle 30's.

    The original comment was about using one space after a period. They still teach that, don't they?
     
    stilloutthere, Apr 20, 2009 IP