How to evaluate (copy)writer's writing skills?

Recently I came across a strange problem: let's pretend that I want an article in English, but I'm not a native English speaker (and that's true, by the way), so I've to hire an English writer to make that article for me. I find a writer, he charges me, say, $50 for 300 words, but how can I know that his article is good enough for $50? I can check spelling and basic grammar, but just proper spelling doesn't cost $50, because a spellcheker is much cheaper. While it's rather hard for me to evaluate style, wording and other subtle things that make a good article look good. I can pretty do it for my native language, but not for a foreigh one. Of course I can hire an editor or something alike, but how can I know that the editor has good feel of style? So I need an editor to check an editor? It looks like a catch-22... Or should I just buy, hold and pray?

 

With one article, out of 100 people who read it, you can have, say, 80 of them not liking it. With another article, it could be 80 liking it.

On and on like this.

Bottom line is, if you like it, buy it.

 

$50 for an article is too much, even for an English speaker to be writing it. $50 for copy, maybe...

 

I charge $50 an article. I know what a $50 article looks like. Send me one or two of his articles, and I'll tell you whether they're worth $50. PM me for email address and whatnot.

Oh, and if he's got a portfolio of samples or a blog online, point me at it. If his portfolio and blog are worthy of $50 articles, it doesn't prove anything, but if they're not - I can save you from making the order. Trust me, nobody who writes $50 articles is going to make a $2 blog post. His ego won't allow it.

 

I guess the ideas written should be original and written in an interesting way. Most articles usually offer the same old stuff rehashed, restyled and rephrased. Besides the grammar and angling, I guess the novelty aspect makes an article worth that amount.

 

Articles can cost $300. I saw some webmasters paying that high. It all depends on quality and the thing you are talking about; if you are for example a doctor and writing an interesting article about biochemistry for a magazine, telling your experience in this.. this.. and how you did this.... you can get $500 or even more

 

50 dollars for a 350 word article makes it less than 20 cents a word dude...

There are magazines that have paid people I've studied under 4 DOLLARS a word.

Come back when you've got experience in the freelance writing field and begin talking rates.

DP is EXTREMELY cheap... mostly because the quality of articles is in the pi$$er, but also because labor in India is cheap and because people try taking shortcuts by using software to generate articles.

Regardless of how good the software is, it isn't a human writer and it never will be.

At least.... not at 50 dollars an article...

 

Seriously, for a mid-level publication, there's absolutely NO reason why $1 a word rates can't be available. When content and articles are your business's meat and potatoes, you're not just paying for a writer to "generate" (I hate that word in context of article writing) an article for you.

You're paying him to write an article that's going to

a) interest readers
b) hold readers attention till the end of the article
c) maybe even phrase things so readers will ABSORB what's being said

Think about it this way - you spend half a penny per word on some dude who doesn't speak English as his native tongue and he pops out articles for you left and right that are poor quality. Your reader base stays around 0 - 10. If you pay a native English speaker to provide insightful, interesting and catchy articles at 25 cents a word, you're paying 50 times what you used to, but your reader base is likely to INCREASE now.

I don't know about you, but I don't think you can put a price tag on progress...

 

Although I'm generally opposed to this method of thinking, you can always check his background.

By this, I mean ask for a resume and see the depth of his experience before you hire him. Check out some of the places he's worked, and make sure they're credible, good publications. This method will eliminate some good, inexperienced writers, but might be the easiest way for you to cover yourself.

 

Yeah, if you are going to spend real money to get expert articles you need a native speaker to review them or you will probably get burned more half the time.

Copywriters get paid to hype up stuff they will tell the audience that a .99-cent piece of plastic junk will change your life and make you a millionaire if you buy it for $999. They will also tell you the same stuff about their services and skills.

Don't buy into it blindly get neutral native writers to review it.

Is see so many high dollar writer ads the rave about how expert they are then you read their work and it is just SPAM garbage not worth the time to look at..

If you are going to invest money in stuff like that you really should make sure it is worth it I am afraid with a "hold and pray" strategy you will end up with a lot of over priced garbage.

 

One of the most frustrating situations is to have people offer you completely insulting prices for your expertise. But what is even worse is saying that you you can offer topnotch/quality/expert writing and knowing it's true because you used to be a consultant billed out at huge bucks per hour and asked to return time and time again for the same or better price...and then have someone else who cannot even write a post without typos, bad grammar, and wrong choice of words say exactly the same thing. The word quality then loses any value -- and the poor customer is the victim.

 

You need to understand what that means.

When you're that quality of writer, your services need to be marketed to clients that can get good ROI from your work.

Most people who buy articles are just... well, retarded. They did some basic keyword research, and they're going to buy some articles, but they don't know if they're going to make money or how much. And we all start there, so there's nothing wrong with that.

But comparatively few of them will ever see the ROI that makes it worthwhile to order a $5 or $10 article. And even then, only a tiny minority of those will understand when and why they want to get a $50 or $100 article.

So if you're selling a $50 or $100 article, you need to make damn sure you're selling it to someone who knows what he's doing. Someone who understands how to turn that article into $500 or more in a reasonable timeframe.

You don't often find that someone on a free public forum. Check some of the mastermind forums run by the mid-level names in IM; the places that cost $197 or $297 a month.

 

It's confusing on what to do, reagent, but think of that bottom line.

You could also have him write half of it, send it to you for your approval, and ask others, like the ones on this board and on other boards what they think.

I myself have read $50 articles that were just crap; it took only 3 minutes to read, and then read $10 articles that were some of the best.

If it were me, if I was in your situation, I would not spend that much. Take a look at these high-priced articles, and then compare them to the cheaper ones. Ask him for sample articles. You will find that in many cases there is, basically, no difference.

 

Most scammers posing as high-dollar article writers buy their samples from real high-dollar article writers. So their web site, and their portfolio, are worth that kind of money they charge... because that's what they paid for it.

It's better to ask for a short sample on a specific keyword you give him. "Just a couple minutes worth." I have great luck asking for samples about Egyptian cotton, which isn't something you're likely to have lying around.

 

CDarklock, could I read an excerpt or two from a sample article of yours? I'm eager to read a $50 article as I'm interested in writing them myself. Only if you don't mind "sharing" your success secrets, though...

 

One other piece of advice, reagent, if you don't know this already, when comparing these $50 articles to other articles, check them out at ezine and About.

Who knows, you just might be surprised.

There are a lot of morons who think that an article is good, JUST because there is a $50 price tag to it.

And hell, after all that, you may decide that you can write such an article yourself.

If you can talk, you can write.

http://www.amazon.com/If-You-Can-Ta...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263435376&sr=8-1

 

Here's my one and only article at EZA:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Internet-Marketing---Its-Your-Turn-in-the-Barrel&id=2658123

It's about to be joined by the proof-of-concept for my .357 Article Method; the report contains a complete walkthrough of writing an article, and I submitted the article - word for word what's in the report - in the wee hours of the morning. It's currently in final review, and should go live in a few hours.

 

Wait - a $50 should take more than 3 minutes to read? Professional articles aren't priced by length necessarily, but by the depth of knowledge and the readability. You should be able to read it faster because you don't have to go back tripping over poor word usage and usual phrasing.

I'm sure that there are articles that read the same priced at $50 and $10 based on words alone - perhaps a writer doesn't realize his worth or is better at marketing at writing.

The best way to distinguish a high-quality writer from those of lesser quality is through their presence and referrals. The tested writer who charges higher rates will have repeat clients and a successful online presence. She or he is going to have the element of professionalism that comes with higher priced work.

If a writer is trying to charge you professional rates without a professional presence online, you're playing with fire. For the record, I define a professional presence as the writer's own website or blog and perhaps an authority-style bylined content website - although not EZA or the like.

 

As mentioned many times before. $50 for an article is probably going to be worth the money. I would probably be more skeptical of a writer who is charging $10 for the article or even less.

I'm also a native English speaking writer, but I don't charge anywheres near the $50 mark. Not because I dont feel that I am not worth it, but mainly becuase I have yet to figure out how to make more money.

 

A lot of thanks to everybody for your replies, it was extremely interesting to read all of your ideas!
But I'd like to post one more little question. What can be the price of an article like the below one? (I mean here price for its quality, not length):

"With the weather about to turn, it’s important to give some consideration to your workout gear. If you think that winter fitness clothing has to feel bulky and uncomfortable, you should think again. With many of the new technologies in winter wear you can find the perfect fit that will keep you at just the right temperature for your workout without the extra fabric and heavy pieces."

But honestly, I'm interested neither in the author nor in the topic. I just would like to confirm or disprove some my theoretical ideas with help of expert judgement.