What, if any, are the benefits of "cheap" content?
I am reacting to the news that Yahoo bought Associated Content and "scored" tons of freelancers and "cheap" content. My blog post on it is here: http://bit.ly/cJy0wE
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Brian K.
Marketing Copywriter
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Hi Christy,
Some forms of content writing are commodities. There are people who's writing skills are only barely above average and their work is not that unique and can be bought cheaply. In the SEO world, people who are just trying to rank for keywords will buy cheap content that doesn't require any skill to produce to past all over their websites to help them rank better. They're not necessarily interested in the experience of the reader, but are playing a marketing game.
But I don't think these kinds of writers and this kind of content is going to undercut anybody. If your talent is more rare, you will be paid appropriately for you work and your skills. A corporate marketing manager looking for a good copywriter will not hire one of these commodity content writers, they will hire quality writers and pay them well.
So, I think there are different tiers of writers and talents, and each level should be able to leverage the appropriate pay without worrying about lesser skilled folks undercutting them.
Now, if the good copywriters suddenly started doing work for $5 an article I would be worried.
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Nichole B.
Copywriter and Brand Storyteller
Best Answers in: Writing and Editing (1), Professional Networking (1)
That it's cheap.
Great post, Christy. Writers who jump at the chance to sell their gifts and talent--words are just the manifestation of those--are an insult to the industry. The best writers make what we do look easy, even effortless, but those of us who sweat to produce great work know it's far from that.
I am constantly asked about price by prospective clients. I've gotten to the point where I tell them my fees are based on the value of the service I provide and that if cost, rather than quality, is their main concern, they would be better-served by writers on sites like Elance.com, etc. I immediately red flag--and avoid--prospective clients whose main concern is price.
Jen B.
Writer/editor specializing in healthcare and corporate marketing communications
Great post.
I don't really mind being undercut. Just like restaurant prices are a function of the product + the experience, so are mine. Some people just want a meal off the dollar menu, and some people want a fine dining experience. Either way, you get what you pay for.
Fresh out of college, I was thrilled to work for very little money just to prove myself and build my portfolio. I don't have to do that anymore, and I'm glad, but I don't begrudge other people their low prices.
I have a lot of repeat business because I do good work the first time around, and I know what questions to ask. I provide a good client experience and a good product, and I can charge more for that than an inexperienced writer can. But an inexperienced writer will never be able to charge more for a quality client experience, if they never get project experience in the first place.
Michael P.
Writing, Editing, Creative Consultancy
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Lower expectations and an upsurge in illiteracy...
Jeff J.
Senior Research Project Manager, Assessment/Education Research Industry
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My understanding of the purpose of these services is that they serve to drive up traffic. Essentially, the more fresh content you have on your site, the more attention your site gets from search engines. So, say the General Widget Corporation wants to attract visits to its website: It does market research and finds out what kind of news stories its customers are interested in -- say it discovers that purchasers of widgets seem also likely to buy men's hair loss products and sports cars -- then pays for cheap news content about those topics.
General Widget isn't under any illusions that people are going to its site to read about men's hair loss products -- but it is hoping that its "news content" page will show up in search results when people search for stories about those products, and, oh, gee, I just happen to have stumbled on the General Widget site, and gosh I need some of those, too!
More importantly, though, the theory is that, when other people directly search for "widgets," the extra traffic has meanwhile caused General Widget's site to rank higher in search results than its competitors, XYZ Widget, Southern Widget, and Widget Universe.
I'm not endorsing that method or the cheap content, just saying that it's my understanding that this is the reason the market for it exists. Its benefit is Search Engine Optimization and nothing else. It certainly doesn't result in a more informed or educated public.
Sara T.
Freelance advertising and SEO copywriter
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I agree with Jeff, but I think it's a temporary phenomenon. As social media and online marketing continue to evolve, it won't be enough just to rise to the top of search engines. Eventually the "free ride" that permits slapdash content will be over.
As happened with print and broadcast, higher standards of creativity and quality will be required in order for the very best to succeed.
I try not to spend a lot of time worrying about the cheap content phenomena and, instead, put my energy into doing excellent work and building customer loyalty.
As Jennifer Boyer noted, when you deliver great product and a good customer experience, people keep coming back. That's been my experience.
Ruth E. T.
Freelance writer, editor, proofreader, speaker; author, "Get Paid to Write! Getting Started as a Freelance Writer"
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There are no real benefits of cheap content, other than to the entity that gets away with paying peanuts for writing work that might be worth more. I'd just as soon see people not write for content mills, but have started to think that the more people spend their energy there, the fewer people compete for the good gigs!
I'm with Susan - I focus on working with clients and publications who respect my experience and abilities.
Andy B.
Brand Positioning, Sales Messaging, Copywriting, Creative Direction, Research, Marketing & Communications Planning
Best Answers in: Advertising (1), Branding (1)
Advertising maverick Howard Luck Gossage famously said, “People read what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad.” Gossage-style advertising may indeed be an anachronism today, but his legacy begs the question: Has the noble profession of copywriting truly devolved into ‘content’? I concede that people today want information, not another sales pitch. People may not want to be sold, but they’re still very willing to buy. I’m not sure ‘content’ can make the difference. But I know a good copywriter always will.
P.S. Gossage was great compatriots with the likes of John Steinbeck. How many literary geniuses does the blogosphere produce?
P.P.S. For more on Gossage, read ‘The Book of Gossage,’ written by Jeff Goodby (of the eponymous San Francisco ad agency). You can find it on Amazon here: http://tinyurl.com/28a3nh9
It’s fifty bucks, but if you’re a copywriter, it’s worth more than any class you ever took in college.
Links:
Hi Christy,
As an Editor of several years standing, I am only too aware of the downsides of 'cheap' content. It devalues your end-product and it makes any high-end aspirations falter. Too many publishers, especially these days, tend to think that 'cheapest is best', especially if the writer commissioned is moderately capable. However, not allowing enough budget for a writing task to be carried out will result in poor quality eventually. Poor quality will make that publication, whatever it is, falter. It may also draw into question the integrity of the supplier. There are too many people purporting to carry out specific tasks in the writing field, who straddle the line between creating independent copy and advertorials. Playing the 'fill-in the blank' game is both an insult and drops standards even further than they have fallen in recent years. Sadly, there is a tranche of 'young' writers and journalists entering the scene, very few of whom are capable of using The Queen's English properly. In fact, most of them cannot spell correctly, let alone deal with the rules of the trade. To boast of buying in 'cheap' content is like an ultimate slap-in-the-kisser from purportedly responsible people and operations. My advice would be never to read their contents again!
Best wishes,
Iain P W Robertson
Kimmo L.
Copywriter & Marketing Communicator who can help transition your B2B marketing from bragging ('we') to helping ('you').
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I tend to go with the "you get what you pay for" school of thought. If an organization is just looking for content optimized for search engines, regardless of quality, they'll soon have to eat that.
Good content comes at a price. There's no getting around that.
Also, some of the people willing to offer content at bargain-basement prices are budding writers for whom the top priority is to get gigs and build their portfolio. Think of this as a kind of apprenticeship or internship. When they get good at what they're doing, they won't cut prices any longer.
So, the benefits of cheap content? If an organization happens to find someone who will produce good content cheap, good for them.
I will tell you what I was told by a business owner when I asked a similar question on here a few months ago. He uses cheap content and pays $7-$10 per 1000 word article.
Out of 10 articles he commissions:
1 will be good
2-3 will be passable with some editing
The rest will be binned as rubbish.
He gets 3-4 half decent articles for peanuts.
I guess it depends on what the articles are to be used for and whether the company can still turn a good profit at the end of the day while using cheap content. As long as they are converting the traffic that the articles drive to the website you won't persuade them to act otherwise.
And as this guy said to me, in some parts of the world $7-$10 per article is a lot of money for someone if they write several articles a week.
A very sad but true economic fact.
Us copywriters can squeal about it and hate the situation, but in every industry there is a bottom rung and in ours cheap content is it. We will never be able to get rid of it. All we can do is educate businesses towards making the decision that is right for their individual circumstances.
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