Where to find good writer?

Eveey one talks about good finding good writers, but most people forget to add that they are not willing to pay a good price for the quality they seek. Its like asking for a designer piece at a pittance. Yeah there are many writers who are willing to work for low rates, but if things were really hunky dory we wouldn't be seeing posts stating 'only native english speakers', who unfortunately aren't offered any better rates then other writers. If you offer a good deal, you will automatically attract good writers even here on DP who are 'underground'.

 

I wanted to put in a good word for TextBroker[.]com as well. I've used their services a few times before and it's quite solid. The $5 at the start is so helpful, it helps get you aquainted with the whole site, which helps a ton. Highly recommended.

 

Is there anyway to edit posts here? I made a couple of typo mistakes in my previous post and wanted to correct it but couldn't find any option to do so.

 

You have 8 hours to edit a post. Anything after that is permanent.

 

Would go to elance to be honest. May be a bit more pricey than the others mentioned but you get what you pay for. If not check out the BST forum on here. Always seems to be some decent writers offering there services.

 

Very true, I have sites that just aren’t making money at the moment so I can’t invest hundreds of dollars in content so I hire cheaper writers and a lot of times they are good but I always have to run their work through someone else for corrections and then run it though copyscape usually more corrections and a lot of time whole articles just get deleted.

I usually don’t complain I say good job, pay and send it to be corrected you get what you pay for and when you buy the cheapest don’t act like you should have the crème of the creme.

There are certain things you need to watch out for buying cheap, you get a whole site written by someone with little reputation all is good then 2 weeks latter they sell all the articles you paid them to write to 20 other people who post them in spammy sites now you site is screwed.

Most the cheap writes with no reputation get some jobs build some trust make bulk deals with a few people collect money disappear and throw away the user name. Then next week they are online with a different user name. They are making .001 a word but rip off %50 of the people so they are up to .002 a word, sad if they would build a reputation and work on skills they could easily make more.

But some people find a pattern and just work it all of their lives over and over never improving or changing.

 

I am adding a simple twist to the discussion here.Is it always the higher price that makes someone a good/better/best writer?

 

Of course not. But in the grand scheme of things, you do get what you pay for in the bulk of situations. There are exceptions to everything (in this case you may find a writer who's excellent at writing but a terrible marketer who lacks the confidence to charge what they could / should) - it's just stupid to ever assume that you're going to be the exception to any "rule."

 

Hey thanks for letting me know about the 'edit' bit, I hate making typo mistakes and I'm really hoping that this thread will get inundated with enough comments to 'hide' my previous post. I am going to add my two cents here on your question ashvaj

Price doesn't always define quality, but quality always defines a price. You don't get cashmere at the price of regular wool do you ? A good writer will always know his/her market value and would charge accordingly. Add experience and the service will always come at a premium. Its up to the buyers to decide whether they would prefer top lables and cough up accordingly or be happy with run of the mill stuff.

 

There are many good writers out there who are looking for clients to be long term partners. They look for someone who is fair, honest, and dependable. It seems that clients have the same problem when looking for writers. When you find a writer, or a client who is fair, honest, and dependable, you should treat them right to keep them working with you.

 

Thanks "neena".You have given the most appropriate expression to this situation.Quality should always define the price as a thumbrule,I agree. But does this happen everytime?
I have seen several people who claim to be writers and they just produce junk most of the time.I have noticed that these writers even do not feel shame in copying but it is because of their "networking" and being connected to a high platform they get acceptance and of course get paid hefty amounts as well.

Here again, you have defined rightly that it is up to the buyer to decide.Not every buyer is a quality buyer.So, a quality writer is always dependent on its own circumstances and the market he/she is addressing to.There are several other intrinsic and extrinsic factors that define this equation.

"Jenn" -Your equation holds true generally,I admitt.But don't you think that it is all about"being at the right place at the right time"?

 

Not at all. Smart writers (in the business sense) are smart marketers. They don't just happen to be in the right place at the right time. They create the right place or the right time (by actively building their networks, aggressively marketing their services, effectively targeting the right markets, or going out and showing prospective clients why they should hire them even if the client didn't realize they needed work done - the cold promotion side of things). It all starts with that targeting though. If you want to succeed in the long run, you have to know your client base. You have to know what they want, and often anticipate their needs even before they do (why I've been so successful here with press releases for example - I was showing webmasters for months why they needed press releases before many even knew what they were or how they could help them). You have to be proactive, and not count on finding that right place at the right time.

 

It goes with the price, at $5 for a 500-word article which may take a good write an hour or more to do, that's below minimum wage.

 

I agree with you ashvj, it is about being at the right place at the right time, and networking is a great way of achieveing that. Once you connect with the right people and they know your potential, work will come to you easily. There is plenty of good work that is never advertised, it is simply given to someone within your own social network. Marketing is a great tool but doesn't work unless you are a people's person.

 

Quality is directly related to price ~ is not true always. How regular you give work to the writer also matters.
Indian Writers are Cheap ~ is a misconception, among Indians. The 'so-called' cheap persons are passing their unemployment period in attempting to write. Good Indian writers are at par with writers from developed western countries, but they are a selected lot of couple of people.

Quality you get; depends on many variables, your project length / continuity, payment regularity and time of research you give to the writer, and above all your directions to the writer. Please do take some blame on your self as well.

 

You don't have to be a people person to be a great marketer - another common misconception. There are a LOT of ways to market your services, and many of them don't involve ever speaking to anyone. Just having a quality website and portfolio available is good marketing. Optimizing that site so you're found in search engines in marketing. Just posting on forums like we are here is marketing (and while we're communicating and networking, most people find it much more comfortable than picking up the phone for cold calls and such - in those cases I'd agree being a people person helps).

 

I'd try using E-lance.. I have received $1/100words on multiple occasions there...

 

Well I would disagree, posting on the forums is networking, not marketing. Most people would know you here for the advice you give as a concerned writer rather than someone who writes great press releases. Today if I needed someone to write a press release or had to recommend someone, I'd think of you first, I wouldn't even bother looking at websites or open a google search. I haven't called you, haven't seen your work, don't even know if you have a website but I'd still give you the job, because somewhere I relate to you as a person and your posts speak for themselves, thats how powerful networking is. I am not discounting marketing at all, its a great tool and people use it fabulously too, but nothing beats networking. In my past avtaar of working in the corporate world as an HR manager, I've seen too many deals happen over lunches and hunches, rather than great looking brochures and portfolios. However, if things work differently in the online writing world then I wouldn't really know, I only speak from my past experience.

 

Not true. But you're new, so you probably haven't seen my posts on press releases. The demand for press release writing wasn't strong here when I first came here. I made it my mission to educate webmasters on the forum about press releases and their benefits, answering their questions, correcting misconceptions, etc., and because of that my client base grew (a lot!). That's flat-out marketing.

Just for the record, I certainly don't knock networking. As a matter of fact, I've been nagging writers here about it for what feels like ages now. But networking is actually a specialized form of marketing (or PR - depends on the type of networking you're doing). For example, joining social networks and forums and posting with links to your service site - that's marketing, even though you build your network. Staying in touch with past clients is a part of networking, but every time you send your email signature or alert them of a sale or special offer, it's very directly marketing. Joining solely to chit chat with other writers / colleagues - that's PR (relationship-building, image-building, and exposure while oftentimes leading to the same end result as marketing tactics).

Before specializing in online PR, I worked in the non-profit sector, and a lot of deals were done face-to-face, so I understand what you're saying. But really, when you meet people and build relationships to improve your business, bring in clients and referrals, etc., it's what's known as word-of-mouth marketing. Remember, there's much more to marketing than the marketing collateral.

Just don't make the mistake of thinking of "marketing" as a dirty word - manipulative, flashy text and graphics, etc. - there's sooo much more to it than that, and relationships are a big part of it - heck, that's why we have social marketing, relationship marketing, etc.

 

I would have to recommend elance since they are extremely reliable and the people there tend to be professional.