eLance, who's used it ?

I wish I could but the content I need is made for canned sites so I need it by the bucket load. If it was for an important site I would follow your suggestion or go through a my professional contacts. Effectively I need highschool level english, if you could suggest where I could get that please do.

 

eLance .....

 

If DP had a reputation system and the prices were competitive I would think about it. Unless I am mistaken there is no rep/review system is there ?

 

hahaha

thats great!

 

There is a iTrader system here, that would help you deciede.
One the left hand side of my username, just under my post count, you'll see a iTrader rating. I have 21 positive ratings.

If you click that number you'll see who gave the feedbacks.

 

oic.. well that is interesting, thanks for pointing that out.

 

Take a look here, though I must mention I am from India. So if your perception is that Indians are incompetent, you may not wish to hire me.

 

No I like Indians, I just need someone to write decent US English.

 

From the reviews i've got here, i think serenity is a pretty decent writer.

Try her out.

 

I like DP more but as compare to Elance I will recommend “GURU" this website also providing out sourcing in INDIA. Only the registered companies survive or allowed here.

But this site charge some monthly or annually fee for biding and for placing projects. This website provides good and cheap hard working companies in INDIA.

The main benefit of this site is it can’t disclose the bid to another competitor so that there should be no chance of fraud.



Rock

 

So check my ghost writing services here http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=71191.
I have pretty decent english as well as extensive domain knowledge. Since I am new and looking, my services are pretty cheap as well.

 

Have you tried www.guru.com? I would like some advice.
Thanks

 

Article Authors has used elance extensively, and built up a pretty good rep there. I like using it for finding new business, however, it's a bitch sometimes to compete with the offshore firms. I mean it's one thing to work for peanuts, but the shells?!?!? LOL!

If you need help with bulk content and high school level (or greater) writing, drop me a line sometime. I've got over 70 profressional writers on staff that can and will assist. Manyof them are even published offline as well.

 

I'll do that. You seem to have a good rep on here as well.

A bit off topic, but from reviewing elance it looks like writers want a client that knows what they want. What does that mean ? How should I prepare a request for writing services ?

for example.. do you just need a topic list ? do you need more direction ?

 

I usually review project requirements from the very simple:

"I need 2 500 word articles on cats"

to the more elaborate-

"I need 12 400 word articles on cat collars, emphasizing the attached keyword list with a keyword usage between 7-8% per paragraph. Please utilize the attached outline as well to provide the framework to your content...."

As a provider (or writer), we generally like to take on detailed project requests because we know what we're getting into when we bid and receive a project. There's no guesswork.

However, to alleviate any guessword for the simple project guideline jobs, we have no problem communicating with the client's about what they want specifically before we start the job. This way, it gets the "unknowns" out of the way before the job starts. It also helps cut down on the revision requests too.

 

I personally prefer Rentacoder over Elance. I used Elance before but didn't get the bidders I was looking for. (Make sure by the way that you cancel your project in case the response is not good enough, otherwise they charge you, I think, about 25 US)

In my experience, depending on the quality you are looking for, you need to be more specific. Jeeplaw's elaborate example is a good one.

The less specific you are at first the more time you are probably going to be busy with email exchanges, additional explanations and rewrites.

The rep system at Elance as well as Rentacoder are among one of the first things I check when I get a bid. It's a pretty strong indication on what you can expect.

Another thing I pay attention to is the wording and the language used in a bid. Bidders plunking in their long winded template bids are a hassle.

 

elance is great; but the site is so damned slow that doing anything is an actual investment of time and patience. I've gotten some very good people off elance (2 I have used for over a year now and give consistent work too, I think one makes a good living off me LOL). Others have sucked, but on a whole, I like the service.

 

I agree with chinaman. +1 on using rentacoder vs. elance. I think Elance has a good UI, so many people initially prefer it when they compare it to rentacoder, scriptlance, getafreelancer, etc.

 

Getafreelancer is a fraud.
They claim that buyer and sellers review each other so that you can select a reliable partner for a project and contract.
In truth, GAF does not let buyers give bad reviews on sellers.
So sellers accumulate good reviews and are protected from bad reviews.
The sellers know this and commit massive fraud.
Sellers use multiple profiles that lie about their abilities. For example they claim many college degrees, certifications, and experience that they do not have. The sellers get contract and the subcontract the work out to the lowest 3rd world bidder they can find.
The fraud is rampant. The product is trash about 80% of the time.
GAF charges the sellers a % of their contract.
So GAF protects the sellers to keep a steady stream of new suckers coming in to be Buyers.

 

I've used elance and also getafreelancer. There are a lot of younger kids, I ran into a 13 year old, looking for work.