What is your favorite outsourcing resource to get quality articles produced? Odesk, Elance? What type of price range do you like to pay for a 500 word article suitable for ezinearticles.com
Good Answers (4)
Patrick C.
SEO in Dayton / Dayton Social Media Consultant / Dayton Mobile SMS Text Marketing
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As someone who's been hired, and done the hiring on Odesk - and belong to a number of different freelancing sites I gotta say Odesk makes the most sense for me.
Also got agree with what Carlos regarding Get samples, only use Americans, and avg of $5/article.
I have written a good review of both sites but I personally prefer oDesk to Elance. It is easy to use and you can find well paying jobs. Also the oDesk community is quite vibrant with many helpful members. Check out the review.
Links:
Jen B.
Writer/editor specializing in healthcare and corporate marketing communications
I agree with those above who've posted that writers charging $5-8/hour are not going to provide quality content. It takes both time and skill to research, plan, compose, proofread, and edit even a brief piece.
However, you specified that the article should be suitable for ezinearticles.com. Given the level of writing I see there, maybe $5-8/hour will net you the level of quality you seek.
Another option I suggest is browsing examiner.com to see whether you can find a decent writer there. At least you'd have a chance to read their writing ahead of time.
Best of luck!
John K.
Direct Response Copywriter: Telling YOUR customers in dollars and cents language why it PAYS to do business with YOU!
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As a professional writer, $5 for an article sounds like a stinging slap-in-the-face insult to me ... but I WOULD be interested in seeing what a $5 article looks like. Might be an education.
When facing competition from the article mills, my recommendation is always, "Tie your compensation to results." That way you're never even up against the desperate few who would crank out a 500 word article for a penny a word.
More Answers (16)
Judy B. M.
Business WRITER | Editor | Blogger | Strategic MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS | B2B | Web Content Creator | BusDev
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Here's a link you might find interesting re ballpark fee estimates. As a writer, I can tell you that quality comes first. You get what you pay for.
Links:
Peggy I.
Editor/Writer
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see my private note
Randy B. H.
Multilingual, multicultural communications specialist
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Maria's answer is excellent because it illustrates Judy's point so well. It was immediately apparent from her post that she is not a native English speaker. It's also clear from the comment about getting the "writer's" work to "pass CopyScape" that we're talking about work that is at least partially plagiarized but masked sufficiently to deceive a computer program. To my mind, work of that caliber is overpriced at $8/hour. But as Judy said, you have to decide whether you want to pay with cash in exchange for professional quality content or pay with your reputation in exchange for amateur quality content.
Carlos S.
Internet Marketer @ DaytonSEOServices.com | Most Connected LinkedIn Member in Metro Dayton | cscarpero@gmail.com
$5 an article is pretty standard for an American on these sites. The foreigners are cheaper but the quality suffers. I use Odesk but any of them will do. Get samples first before you hire.
James B.
Freelance Copywriter | Marketing Consultant | Email Copywriting Specialist | Owner-Livewire Copywriting
Odesk and Elance?? Tried it once and never again. The person I hired for driving traffic to my blogs...could not follow simple directions.
Anyone who uses these sources, does so at their own risk.
Personally I do not like getting 10 emails about how to do a simple job.
Clarification added May 15, 2010:
Amen Tia!!!!
Tia D.
P.T. Barnum in a skirt producing intelligent creative to sell your stuff.
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I charge a buck a word (that's $1.00 per word) to write anything on the planet.
A friend of mine (who's a graphic artist) charges $1,000.00 per project no matter what the project is - from a tiny illustration to something much larger/complicated.
We both collect 100% of our fees upfront.
In our world, the referenced sites above don't exist . . . our client base wouldn't touch it.
Peace and profits,
Tia D.
Margaret P.
Writer, Editor, Lecturer, Blogger at http://yourtravelwriter.blogspot.com
Who in the world would write an article for $5? Certainly not a professional writer with any kind of credentials. You could make more working at McDonald's/
Clarification added May 15, 2010:
McDonald's.
Maria M.
Strategic Business Advisor from Planning to Execution, Speaker, Trained Life Coach, For Financial Advisors & Accountants
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Ranges of professionals are $300-$500
Sara T.
Freelance advertising and SEO copywriter
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$5 per article? For 500 words?
Why not work at Wal-Mart?
As others, like Tia and James have pointed out, those freelance sites are a joke. The are insulting to professional writers who should be paid accordingly and they mislead businesses into thinking that good writing comes cheap. A professional writer is going to charge more than $8 an hour. You get what you pay for.
Nichole B.
Copywriter and Brand Storyteller
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Ditto all the other writers who spoke against these writing sites. A professional writer bases his or her fees on the value offered, not on the cost of doing the work. So, I guess the first question to ask yourself would be, "Am I concerned more about quality or time (money)?" If your answer is the former, you'll find a number of professional, detailed, first-rate copywriters to aid in your project here on LinkedIn. If your answer is the latter, choose either of the sites mentioned in your question. You certainly will get what you pay for.
It sounds like I'm on the same page with several others who have already questioned the insanity of a "professional writer" providing a 500+ word article for $5. Here is a recent rant I posted on Elance to that effect:
An Elance.com "vendor" from Dubai told me that my rates are "unrealistic" because I wouldn't write a 1000 word article for $3. This shows me that this website has now degraded itself (or is in the process of doing so) into a "sweat shop" for outsourcing & tearing down legitimate American businesses and service providers. In the past I have had great luck with quality client relationships on Elance. If I was sure that such quality clients have fled the site, I would cancel my membership and flee the site with them. But I'm not entirely certain of this. Either way, I find it extremely disturbing that Elance would support (and perhaps encourage?) such business practices.
@ John Keever: Yes, to a direct-response copywriter, $5 an article is ridiculous. But, there's a distinct difference between content creation and copywriting...since you're a copywriter, the jobs you do are about way more than creating content.
And to answer the question, The Warrior Forum is the best place to find low cost article writers. They offer great pricing and you can get reviews on them since it's a forum format.
Links:
Ana D.
Freelancer
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I had heard horror stories about oDesk and eLance but I figured I'd see for myself how bad it was. From what I saw the clients and providers on those sites are hacks and they're littering the web with crap.
