JohnT, I'm receptive to your advice, but in my world, money is not my only drive. More is better than less in my book, but I'm not a slave to it. There are more important things in my book. Part of which, I would hope is evident in my yes, long posts. I may have over-estimated the DP readership.. My response was to help and answer the question posed. You of course, may be wiser than most, and have already figured everything out. Not me. ..By any means, but there are areas that I believe I can contribute and offer short cuts rather than the long course I had to follow. My obviously too long in your book response, was geared not to you, but the author of this thread and the same person who asked me the question directly. I'm all for tomfoolery (johnfoolery?) and welcome anybody who wants to put on their clever, creative, sarcastic, or even mean spirited (I don't think that's you, btw - ) hat, to suggest better names for your now, biggest fan. I'll start a thread about it if you like, or you can. PleasePleaseYankMyChainRob P.S. Although definitely less clever, and much more time consuming, why don't you actually answer the question and share your infinite wisdom: enlighten us!: or do you only RIB DP contributors (besides of course promoting your for profit business relentlessly, of course). Ironically blowing your own trumpet.. P.P.S. Sarcasm, despite a provided smiley face, can sometimes be tough to interpret in print, especially if the reader believes there's ill will within the air. We're either on the same page or not.. Bring It On, Brother! -
Tell me Rob -Are you in a deep and meaningful relationship? 'RobbieNoMates' Must fly, lunch to be eaten, Vin to be drunk John
John, Adorable banter we have here. I have no response to that, your last post. Funny, for a fellow to say, who has 500+ more posts than myself, and seems to be gravitating to this thread as if it were your drug of choice. Hmmm. Odd... ImSleepingWithYourWifeRob
Dangerous thing to say Robbie boy - 'ImsleepingWithYourWifeRob' you never know what you can catch. 'WheresTheNearestClinicRob' J
I would say $15 to $20(price debatable, may be less depending on type). Do check out our articles at blogosquare.com for an idea about the quality of our posts/articles. I would suggest checking out this review I did on bla.st: blogosquare.com/2007/05/17/blast-a-card-directory-to-blast-your-online-presence/ and many more down in our archives.
Right, so back to the original question: Finance is something I'm familiar with, but not one of my specialty niches. Depending on the exact topic of an article and the amount of detail required, research would take anywhere from fifteen minutes to a few hours. My rates vary from $25 for a very basic, "Why Buy Stocks," to $100+ for a more complex, "The Gold Standard and its Effect on Us Today." I know you used finance as an example, but the same is true for almost any niche. I choose not to work in some where I don't have a strong background (such as gambling or overseas affairs), but I also specialize in some such as education, parenting and teen interest. I'm sure most writers who don't consider themselves general content writers can say the same. Thanks! Rebecca
Having read through this thread with interest I have come to the conclusion that, actually, most of the people that are offering their services you should stay well away from. Why? Well, to put it simply, their grammar, punctuation, choice of words, spelling, phraseology, everything, sucks! That also includes, nay, more importantly, EXCLUDES, the "ohIamsowonderfulRob". I cannot believe that someone who *claims* to be such a highly sought after copywriter can write so terribly, even if they are forum posts. To answer Rob's question, How would I know that I was hiring someone that could write? Easy, read what they write, critique their replies as if they were the actual article you would want them to write for you. If you have a good understanding of the English language, that shouldn't be too difficult, even a mediocre grasp of the language would tell you if someone's grammar, spelling or whatever was "up to scratch". To be brutally honest, the only person that I would consider hiring, if I were in your position, would be JHMattern, unfortunately, my experience there is she is too busy to even to respond to PM's. My opinion only. Laz
Yes, unfortunately that's very often true. The best way to get a response is to email me. I check that multiple times per day whether I'm technically working or not. My PMs tend to get buried and forgotten rather quickly, because I don't go through them as often. But thanks for the vote of confidence in my posts. Jenn
Hi everyone, nicuz, I believe that though pricing can be a decisive factor when you are hiring a writer, it can't really guarantee you certain quality of work. A freelancer who's bidding $1/100 words can be producing content of quality that will actually be worth much more, and vice versa. One way to check it is to ask for samples of writing and some testimonials from previous employers. But of course to be on the safe side you might like to turn to an agency with established reputation and legal obligations. At that you won't always have to overpay. Some agencies (like Copywriting911, for instance) have highly competitive prices and are completely reliable in terms of deadlines and quality, and bear responsibility for their work. (Like with us it is only around $15 for a 500 word SEO article; you could check our rates on copywriting911.com) So don't lose your faith in decency on the web, only be more particular in your choices! All the best, Tanya
is it just me or is every post made by "Tanya" AKA Copywriting911 just blatant spamming of his/her "service"? I thought that was a no-no here on DP, especially for a n00bie
do a search of all his/her posts, you will see what i mean.. i dont mind the odd post advertising your own services if you are giving something to the community in return, imo he/she isnt *shrugs*
Get a niche-pro you are looking for the content. Write down all the tips, notes and tech-knowledge he tells. Then forward to your English language editor/writer for writing quality article that makes sense. From my own experience - not many copywriters can write very technical articles, even after some research.... if the niche is very technical and requires in-depth knowledge.
aww gee, I guess that I upset somebody with post #29 thanks for the red-rep, by being so petty it just reinforces what I said, imo I probably know who gave it me too, but no names eh?
I agree. Don't hide behind anonymity. The only problem with this logic is that few people write forum posts the same way they write articles. If they did, forums would be too formal and disgustingly boring. IMO someone who writes a forum post like an article is probably more interested in auditioning for writing jobs than in contributing to the forum. I do think webmasters should at least gauge the person's grasp of the English language and look for basic grammar, spelling, and punctuation skills. Then use that to weed people out, not to make a final decision, and certainly not critique a post it as if it were an article. Of course, when you're paying your money to have something written, you can select your writer however you choose. But, I wouldn't want anyone missing out on a good writer because they focused too much on the quality of mere forum posts.