The best place to find freelance writers

What is your experience with hiring freelance writers? Where can we find good writers? I think that Fiverr has some great writers(tier 1) and if you are looking for high quality you can check elance.

 

I think any 'writer' who goes through a third party to get hired/paid is a hobbyist at best - not a writer. I think content buyers would get much better results hiring writers who are in business for themselves than opting to use some third party source, like the ones you mentioned.

 

Writing is more of an art than a job. If money motivates you, you can't write as beautifully as you want the text to be. But if it is passion from within that makes you concoct those words, a great writer is born.

 

Good freelance writers = Elance.

I say that only because I find work on there sometimes

 

I recommend needanarticle

 

You can find some good writers in odesk.

 

That's a VERY limited point of view. Personally, I always used the bidding sites (and still would if I didn't have regular clients) because I'm not full-time. I don't have time to do all the marketing, so I need to have job listings I can whip through and pick out good stuff. That doesn't make me a "hobbyist" or any less of a professional than someone who works full-time: it makes me a part-time writer. You can't assume someone sucks because they don't have time to do craploads of marketing.

While I agree that a "serious" writer (i.e. someone who treats their work professionally) is almost always better, being in business for yourself is no guarantee of quality. Trust me - I've seen some writers who have their own site, portfolio, publications, testimonials and everything... and who can't put five sensible words together to save their life. Such is the nature of the Internet.

In some ways, you could get better content out of a part-timer who loves what they do, rather than a full-timer who's cranking out articles all day.

Agreed. From experiences hiring on oDesk, Freelancer and Elance, the highest quality has definitely (and consistently) been Elance. There's just something more professional about it, compared to the others.

 

I have used Fiverr.com in the past, but I have found that you tend to find higher quality writers on freelancer.com. Since then, Ive built up a team of really good writers across mutiple niches from freelancer.com

Az

 

Actually, I find the process of finding and hiring content writers on DigitalPoint to be quite good. The thing is that you simply post a message here and you get all kinds of different answers and you can easily weed out the crappy ones from the responses. At the freelancer websites you see that the replies are either copied or rehashed. People know they need to make a good first impression and will try to trick you by flashing a good reply. Here you will get a lot of replies (most bad) and few of them can even be found to have someone passionate of that specific subject.

Note that the most important part when hiring freelancers is to test several. Weed out the worst ones, give the rest a couple of jobs and check how quick they are, their english, etc. I've tried different freelancer sites, but for content I always come back to DP.

 

Well, some very interesting points. Personally, if you're trying to find a good freelancer, you may take the following steps:

1. ODesk or eLance - they've merged. personally, I like ODesk's interface better and spend my time there bidding on jobs and getting invited.
2. Do a google search for professional copywriting services and find writes with an established website with good copy and samples.

I have to take exception with the idea that just because you get work from ODesk, for example, you're not a professional. I routinely make an average of $3K to $4K on ODesk alone each month. Now, I have outside clients as well, and don't simply rely on bidding sites.

But as mentioned, they do streamline the process. I've been an entrepreneur all my adult life, and know that any good business person looks for revenue wherever they can find it. There's no shame in using OD, eLance or Freelancer, and a full time income can easily be pulled from just one of these sites if you know what you're doing.

Now, back to the freelance sites - if you want a good wirier, pay for a good writer. Don't expect quality for $5 an hour. SeachSearch writers with high hourly rates. It doesn't mean you have to pay that rate, but you should find a profile and portfolio with jobs that justify that rate, along with a high rating.

For example, I charge $80 right now on ODesk, but still get offers for and apply to plenty of fixed-rate jobs that are affordable to clients. Hourly is a bit of a gray area in criting. if I get paid $100 to write 3 500 word articles, let's say, and it takes me 5 hours, oh well, I made $20 per hour. On the other hand, if it takes me 2 hours and the quality is at the level my client and I both expect from me, then I made $50.

The point is that the better writers charge more money. not that this is a certainty, but a high-priced writer should be able to prove he or she is worth it. So in order to find a freelance writer who's good, go after the high hourly rate writers and offer them fixed rate jobs. If they're good, they'll make their wage or close to it, and you'll get what you want at or near a price you want.

phew...

As for writing being an art, this is a nice thought, but it's not realistic. Sure, writing the Great American Novel, as it woer, if a worthy artistic pursuit. But writing has, and always will be, a highly-skilled profession. It's a science as much as an art, especially in copywriting.

There are things I do for art's sake, but I am a copywriter to earn a living, not to make an artistic statement. Sorry

 

Agreed, There are many talented writers on Linkedin - I usually pay around $15 for 450 words.

 

By "third party", I meant just that - a third party handling the transaction and benefiting from it in the form of fees accessed for matching buyer with seller.

 

You can definitely find talented freelancers for a low price on sites such as oDesk and Elancer.

 

For me, I feel the best are freelancer.com, elance.com and freelancer.com

 

Why would you want to find freelancers at low rates? if you really need a copywriter, not an article writer, per se, but a copywriter, to craft a successful sales, email or marketing campaign, why wouldn't you hire someone at $80 to $150 per hour, or an equivalent fixed rate who can actually make you money?

I know it can be expensive, but guy's like Bob Bly, for example, amake several hundred per hour because they will write copy that sells.

I personally charge $86 at this point in the game because I know what my skills are worth, and when beople hire me, I get real financial results.

That's not to say you can't find a decent CW for $25, but if you want a $3 guy, don't expect much. There are certain truths in this universe and one of the biggest is you don't get something for nothing.

I know that the financial reality of any given person or business may limit you, but if you want to grow and profit, you have to stretch out and take a chance.

I've always done well in business when I overestended myself and took a leap. And with a copywriter, at least you get a chance to see the work first, test it, rework it and so on.

Just some thoughts.

 

Never get articles from Fiverr because they just spin them and give them to you. I always look on Elance and Odesk to find a good writer who has already done some work. Iwriter.com is also crap.

 

I know it doesn't add much to the conversation, but I just love that. Four-word review, says everything it needs to. Concise writing FTW!

 

You can try Odesk, or any other site offering a database of freelancers, a database running a rating system and where feedback are available for freelancers, i believe in feedback, if some clients say he/she is a good writer, i have no reason to doubt it. Do not underestimate the writers on the "third-party sites", even a super writer has to start somewhere. Good luck

 

Professional online networks like Linkedin or general social media communities like Facebook, Twitter etc. are some good sources to get freelance writers. You will find a lot writers' groups on Google+ and similar sites. Job boards exclusively dedicated to writers will help too.

A lot of people who write freelance full-time have their own websites and blogs. Just punch something like 'writing services', 'copywriting solutions', 'content editing' etc. in Google and other searches. This should also fetch you some good info.

I would not recommend forums where '$2 for 500 words' type writers offer services because competition is like hell there and people contend for any dirt cheap rates to grab clients. The lowest generally wins the bid but what buyers get is only utter crap. (Some of these writers can't even construct a single sentence properly that is readable, understandable and grammatically correct. You will mostly be offered spun or plagiarized content. CAVEAT EMPTOR!!! :O)

Not quite sure about content mills like Textbroker and iWriter or freelance hubs like Odesk, Guru, Elance, Fiverr etc., but it appears that the scenario is not really much different from what I mentioned above. Not saying there are no good writers there. There certainly are. But then make it a point to check out their rep and ratings/reviews/feedback provided by their clientele.

Hope this helps.

 

I have found that with writers compared to virtual assistants and data entry or even graphics workers can be a real nightmare. They tend to have a high flake rate and are not commited to work. And that is without bringing their quality into question.

I have had US writers that have been good but with lots of typos such as bad spelling of keywords they are targeting.

However I found the best writers on the WAHM writing forum and my best writer came from word of mouth and was a local writer.

Good luck with finding one as it can be hard.