Pretty much every one of my experiences with outsourcing my work so far have been bad. I guess it's true that you get what you pay for, but I didn't expect it to be quite as horrible as it is. I hired a guy on here 2 weeks ago to write a few simple articles by getting the information based on what I had already written on the site I was promoting. Instead, what he did was just copy and paste every single article word for word from article sites WITHOUT giving credit to the author and then tried to hack in a sentence or two about my own site in the body of the work. Some of the articles even had reference to my competitors! The whole purpose of outsourcing was to save me the time of writing them myself, but instead I spent an entire afternoon fixing his mistakes and then ended up writing them myself anyway. That was my last time doing that. Recently, I needed a coder and, even though I had lots of applicants willing to do the work for cheap, I hired the more expensive person from my own country because he understood what I required of him the first time without further explanation. Lesson learned.
1. Depends on where you're getting your writers from. You can get quality work for $5-$10 or even less if you look offshore (foreign writers). At least that's how it was before I left. But you'd have to look really hard. Most good writers in the US and other English-speaking countries won't settle for that low. What's reasonable depends on how much you expect of the writer. The more work you give them per article, the more you should pay. Do they have to come up with the titles and keywords? Do they need to do a lot of research? Or do you give them leads on what resources and references to use? Writers who are paid low hate it when they need to do a lot of work besides the actual writing. So if you're going to pay low, take on some of the work yourself. Give them leads on research. Give them a specific format to follow (e.g. subject headings, titles, keywords) and leads on research. You can also make the work a LOT easier for both of you if you get writers who write only about topics they like. When you post ads, specify your topics and try to get writers who are knowledgeable in those. This will mean less work for both of you. You said this one good writer you have takes a week to produce articles. Maybe they're doing a lot of research or other projects besides yours? 2. No. You pay after a quota is reached. You must agree on this beforehand. For example when working freelance offshore, I was given the choice to accept payment based a) number of articles, or b) amount of payment earned. To avoid getting scammed, check the applicant's background first. Ask for a resume. Their payment info should also give their real name and other details. 3. Keyword density? I'll have to let others answer this question. Some projects I did required a keyphrase (not keyword) to be used 2-3 times per 500 word article. Others specified 4-6 times. But I don't know yet what works best. It seems keyword density is overrated though.
Just wondering: Did you tell them in advance "no copy-paste" and that you'd check their work with Copyscape or Google? To ExtremeEzine and others still considering outsourcing: When hiritng a writer, ALWAYS tell them they must pass their work through Copyscape. And if not, that you'll do it yourself. If you hire a writer that does this, let them know you caught them. Do NOT pay for articles without doing a plagiarism check first. Don't give them your website URL either until you're sure you can trust them. (Yeah, disgruntled people = click bombing and other stuff.) There was no "mistake" in what this guy did. He knew exactly what he was doing or else he was an idiot.
I am not a native writer and when I started my freelancing career, I priced my services quite low. What I have noticed from my experience is that if I accept a project which pays me low, I don't feel like doing too much research on it. I have also noticed that there are more grammatical errors in those articles. On the other hand, when I accept a project with a decent pay, I do lot of background work before starting the article. As a result, my writing is more fluid and contains minimum errors, if any. Therefore my advice for you is to pay your writers well, you will be doing a favor to yourself.
@digicam: "Did you tell them in advance "no copy-paste" and that you'd check their work with Copyscape or Google?" Well, I just assumed that when I said I needed him to write articles (as a writer) that he understood I didn't mean I was hiring a copy/paster. I thought it would be the same as when I hired blog posters who wrote the material themselves (the writing wasn't so bad, but the unreliability was horrible). I'm learning myself what to look for as I go along. I hate outsourcing my work because I prefer to do everything "hands on" myself, but that's becoming quite impractical lately. Hiring outsourcers is still a new concept to me, so I appreciate the tips I read here.
Before answering your questions, I'd like to address what you called "crazy high rates." I'm not sure what you were quoted, but there are obviously differences in the amount people are willing to put time into research for, and the types of work they'll do. For instance, there are some people here on DG who won't do an article for less than $100. Others consider it reasonable to ask for between 3 and 5 cents a word for an article; that's my present range. The lower the amounts start to go, the more worries you'll start having as to the quality of the work you're going to get. Now, that's only my opinion, so don't hold me tight to those numbers. lol Now, to answer your questions: 1. A reasonable rate is probably between $10 and $100, depending on what you need the articles for. If you pick a topic such as SEO, those are relatively easy to crank out for someone who knows something about it. However, I had been asked to write an article on something that I'd never heard of, and to also supply 20 images to highlight everything. I asked for $100 because I knew it was going to take a lot of time to research and find 20 images, and the guy balked. At that point, it's all about fairness; $10 for what would have amounted for 5 hours of work for just one article doesn't work. In essence, think about what you want to get paid based on an hourly rate, and assume that whomever you hire will probably want at least something close to that. 2. The way I've done things is that I get the assignment, write them all, and send samples to the potential client, along with how much I need to be paid for everything. If the client likes it, I get paid, then I send everything. However, based on some suggestions around here, at least for new clients, I think I'm going to change things up to getting a small deposit, because it still takes time to write all those articles, even if, at the end of it all, the client decides he or she doesn't quite jibe with it. Now, once a relationship is established, the terms could probably change in some fashion. Right now I have some clients who pay me before I write a word, and some who pay me weekly after I send them everything. 3. Keyword density is overrated if you ask me. The figure used to be 2% at a minimum, but sometimes it just messes up the flow of an article and reads artificial. Other times, it flows just fine. If it's something you're worried about, give two or three keyword phrases you'd like inserted somewhere at least a couple of times and let it go at that. The hope is that you'll read what someone sends you anyway, and if you feel that you want to add an extra word or two, then do it. What you'd really like is a well written article, I assume. However, if you want linkbait, so to speak, then get at least 2%.
I think if writing is not your strong point your time is better spent on what you do best. So outsourcing is beneficial. But you do need to find someone good and start a business relationship. It just takes work up front. 1. Look for someone with great samples of their work. 2. Make sure their writing style fits yours. Just because someone can write doesn't mean you'll like their style of writing. 3. If content isn't important to you than the writing won't matter as much, but if you really want to put out a quality site and give value to the reader you want a writer who can really WRITE not just string words and facts together. As for rates, from what I've seen lower rates often equal lower quality but not always. I've been a journalist for many, many years so I can write, I have the credentials, but I'm trying to establish myself online so I've recently lowered my rates to get in and build that trust. It's competitive out there.
Hi everyone, Well, thoughts came in as I remember how I faced this "time" problems while managing my internet marketing business. It's been a long time since I am a little screwed with the things to be done in order to keep my website promoted and to gain affiliates, referrals and more resources as well and until I found out, it's really quite impossible to do it successfully by your own. I have been inspired when a friend emailed me about this website which I also wanted to share with everyone. You can try checking it out at: http://www.massoutsource.com and you'll see that this Australian guy gives free access to his videos telling entrepreneurs how outsourcing can really help you survive in the competition of internet marketing. For me, it's been a great resource and help especially for those who are just starting in the process.
When doing business with others I try to remember the old saying "Speed, quality, price--pick two". If the particular project in mind can't justify the normal price for the quality I would like, then I try an find someone who will do it in exchange for a more extended deadline than normal.
The reason for outsourcing content writing is that you do not have enough time. There are many good writers in Philippines. Just make sure you come to legitimate company run by Americans too.
Outsourcing is not always poor quality. You find the worker for the work - and the choice is frequently very great. Quotations on copywriting time depending on quality and is separated speed at 5-10. To find the executor of work approaching for difficult, but once it is necessary to do such operation and to stop on 2-3 responsible and hardworking writers.
I have had mostly good experiences with outsourcing small things but I am really careful and look at people’s history and only orders small amounts of work at a time. BUT I do have to edit a good 60% of outsourced articles I get.. ( I have heard about the same from people who outsource coding also) If you are looking for quality work that you do not need edit you should defiantly hire a local writer. The most luck I have had is with people that had a good history and good written posts or blogs. I notice a lot of the people on the outsourcing boards have short histories and like to take bulk orders this seems like a scam just waiting to play out. A native editor is usually needed or readers usually notice the difference. Just like when you call a service center and they direct your call overseas people can tell. You have to be careful also because the Internet has a short attention span if things read bad people just click close. I always open articles and just squint my eyes and click close. Poor writing. I like supporting the local economy when ever possible I only outsource small personal jobs that I can’t afford to hire local help on. If a client has a job and they can’t afford to use local workers on then I usally don’t take it. Outsourcing is a hassle a lot of times you have to deal with getting bogus work, people disappearing off the internet with the deposit, trying to sell you stolen clip art for custom graphics work, selling ripped sites as custom sites, ect no thanks.. I don’t mind getting a few dozen articles every once in a while but much more then that no. It takes time to try to find good outsourcing places order stuff and correct stuff on my little side projects that is ok but to try to do that with a large project someone is paying me by the hour for. No. They can buy all the stuff correct it and make sure it is not stolen then bring it to me.
Thanks everyone, especially averyz, for your thoughtful response. So far people are divided as to the overall quality/worthiness of outsourcing offshore. But generally people seem to agree that simple, low-risk tasks are OK to outsource; writing too if it isn't your strength or you can find a good writer. I learned a lot from here. Personally, I've seen a lot of great offshore writers who deserve more than they are paid. But they seem to be fine with it when the schedule and the employer are flexible. I'd hate to see competent local writers lose opportunities to offshore writers just because the latter offer lower prices. At the same time, I've seen how offshoring has helped people in those areas. So for me, the best thing to do is hire whoever is most appropriate and matches your budget the most. If done right, either way your job gets done and someone gets paid. On a final note, here's a hint to webmasters who want to try offshore writers for a lower rate: The less research they have to do, the more they like it. Remember these folks are thikning by the hour and the day - by how much work they can do within that period so they can earn more. The less research they have to do, the more they get to write. So think on the projects you want to outsource first and judge how much work it requires. Also, no matter how good they are, offshore writers won't bend over backwards to produce extraordinary work- they'll follow your orders and get the job done, period. So for *extraordinary* pieces, well... get an extraordinary writer, pay extraordinarily or DIY.