DP Writing absolute crap?

You could try finding a professional writer and pay them a decent amount for a well-researched article.

You can't pay $3 or $4 per article and expect high quality......

I don't find fault with writers who charge less to cater to the numerous clients looking for low-cost articles. To make a certain amount of money per day, either they write 5 quality articles or 20 'crappy' articles.

What you get depends on what you pay.

 

Ahh I agree, there we go sounds like great stuff. Content trumps presentation. I am a fairly good editor and can make small errors go away. I can't do that when there's nothing there to fix.

 

There are some very talented writers on DigitalPoint. To name but a few;

• jhmattern
• DeniseJ
• internetauthor

You'll have to pay more than $3 an hour mind

 

I sometimes offered my services for $1 per 100 words when I was looking for a little bit of cash (usually to buy domains ) but have since decided to stop, as I feel I can command a much higher fee. Anyways, now that I've done so, I agree with the statement... you get what you pay for

 

Im on the opinion that its about finding the right person.. I usually work for 10$ for 200 words and my writing hasnt so far gotten itself a negative remark..

 

That's simply not true. This weeds out all the non-english speaking writers that work for pennies.

Plus, you can still get good deals. I was offering my services on DP for only a little over $1 per 100 words a few months ago. Of course, I work at 5-10 times that amount now

It's just a matter of finding someone who doesn't know they are worth more money than they think they are

 

I actually hired a writer to do me 500 word article and paid him $1 per 100 words. The article was of great quality. However he was quite experienced in the niche, as I then asked him to do another article on a totally different niche and it was very poor. If you get someone who knows the topic you want an article on for $1 per 100 words then you don't always get rubbish articles.

 

Few points I too have in my kitty...
1. We observe that every buyer wants a "Fansis Bacon" or "Mark Twain"
or "Thomas Hardy" to write articles for them.
2. Most of the buyers even do not intend to pay what those writers used to
earn in their times !
3. The writers also live with a mis-conception. They think whatever they are
writing is worth winning a "Nobel".

There has to be balance everywhere. Quality is always a relative concept. It is something like "The beauty lies in the eys of the beholder".

I know I am trigerring another debate here. But let it be. In will be in the interest of everyone.

 

Quality IS relative depending on who you are talking to.

Some people are happy with keyword stuffed garbage. If you are only looking to attract adsense revenue or something similar than it probably doesn't matter how reader-friendly your articles are.

On the other hand - if you are trying to attract visitors to your website then you must have content that isn't riddled with spelling errors, poor sentence structure and grammatical errors; all common flaws when you're paying peanuts.

Zac: While there may be a small minority of people who can actually write decently at those rates, the truth of the matter remains that if you want quality you are going to have to pay for it. $1/100 words just doesn't cut it, and 9 times out of 10 the articles gathered at those rates will not be up to par.

 

quality can be judged very easily by a sample. People know whether they are buying a quality article or a second rate keyword extravaganza just by talking to the person and reading a sample.

I don't buy it that writers are at fault here at all. The only blame we can put on quality writers is that perhaps they shouldn't be selling their work here, and should go somewhere where they will actually get paid!

 

I agree Monty.

I can't remember the last time I worked with a DP client who was actually willing to pay decent rates. As such, I don't tend to find work through DP or any forums for that matter because the rates are simply not worth my time.

People who want to turn writing into a real and viable career should realize that the majority of their work will NOT come from forums. Are there people here willing to pay decent rates? Yes. But they are few and far between.

 

Some DP writers are great, some are average, some are not writers. And I have found a couple of very capable ones here through DP.

But you cannot expect consistently high quality for $1 per 100 words. You truly do get what you pay for in this regard.

I have worked as a web dev for 10 years, and I have encountered many, many clients who want a $5000 website for $500. Or who have told me their niece/nephew/son/cousin could do the work for less. I hear the writers here take issue with low rates being offered by some clients, but my advice is to leave the low hanging fruit to those who want/need it. Make a site with writing samples and you will attract clients who will pay you commensurate to your worth.

~tasty

 

the thing that annoys me is that people on her seem to think THEY are in charge, as if we cannot get ANY business other than theirs, the customer is almost never right on dp.......

 

I don't deal with clients on DP so I'm not sure how they are in regards to the issue you're speaking about Monty.

But I have dealt with difficult clients in the past in general. I'm not competing with writers who charge ridiculously low rates, so I don't feel the need to bow down to ridiculous demands.

If a client wants more than they are willing to pay for, I politely tell them to look elsewhere. I don't need to go to the ends of the earth for a client who isn't willing to pay for it.

 

Well it's just you get a bunch of people pm'ing you asking you to do crazy amounts of work.

1 example which really got me annoyed:

"I am looking for an article writer to write 5 500 word articles for me in relation to cars. Would you be able to do this? I will pay you 25.00 for the job via paypal, if your work is good. Are you interested? And how soon do you think you could have this completed?

2007 Ford Mustang GT
Maserati MC12
Ferrari F430
Ford GT
2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR 722

make sure u use keywords supercar and sports car to refer to the car.
compare the reviewed car to its rivals and predecessors, review the technologies used in the car."

For a start, he's offering $5 per 500 word article. Then he wants effectively 2500 words of detailed analysis of supercars, so it would take a load of research, and then he says "if you're good" I mean jeez, what do you expect for $5????

some people....

 

I would have laughed in his face.

A lot of people on DP expect the world for peanuts. It's NOT going to happen.

 

Well, I wouldn't necessarily put down DP as a viable source of good income just yet. It's where I get my work, and I couldn't be happier.

Places like getafreelancer.com or constantcontent.com just have major flaws that I don't agree with.

I think it is more of a problem that writers don't know how to market themselves, than them actually finding good paying work.

Just yesterday I got a PM from someone wanting a 700 word article for $15 I think it was. I politely denied him my services, claiming my rates are higher. And lo and behold, he raised his offer to my levels.

Again, I politely declined, because I'm far too busy as it is . Long story short: barter if you have to. You'll find that buyers can be just as desperate as you.

 

Lol... they should have a worst ever writing jobs thread on here.

Here's mine:

 

It's not fair to generalize to that extent - many of us are willing to pay quality rates. I know I do. Like I said above, there are always people, in every market, who want to get something for nothing.

 

I'm glad DP works for you Zac. To each their own. Well paying clients are possible to find on DP but they are hard to come by - they don't typically advertise what they are looking for, because they don't want every unqualified "writer" under the sun applying.

I don't recommend forums as a viable place to find well-paying gigs if you are serious about writing as a career. If someone wants to make a little extra income on the side however, then forums are the way to go.

EDIT:

Tastey, I certainly didn't mean to imply that EVERYONE here expects something for nothing. As you can see, I said a lot - not all. And from my experience, that's how it's been. I am fully aware there are people on DP who are willing to pay decent rates.