Where Can I Find Freelance Writer? Content free from Copyscape

[EGOL]

No matter what you are buying you should consider your intended use.

If you are buying nails you should know that roofing nails, finishing nails and concrete nails are designed for different uses and can not be substituted for one another.

Even buying a commodity like manure requires one to pay attention.  Some types of manure will produce abundant weeds in your garden, others will burn your plants, a few types have the proper amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to energize your soil.  See here for an author who can write about this fine topic.

If you need someone to write about nails find a person who knows a lot about using a hammer.  If you need someone to wrote about manure find someone who knows his shit.

The average writer will not do a very good job at writing about nails or about manure.  They will have to do a lot of research and even then people who really know their stuff will immediately recognize a noob trying to pretend he is a farmer.

[RyanKent]

"If you need someone to write about manure find someone who knows his shit."

Best response I heard this month! Literally laughing out loud!

[EGOL]

I know a lot more about it than the average person but am not available for this job!   Actually... that should be the $1000 work you were talking about.

[bradkrussell]

Good advice from EGOL and Ryan. Once you have thought about your intended use, try a site like Text Broker.

I've found plenty of good writers on Text Broker. My advice - start with a few small projects and hire a number of writers. Then see who is the best and use those for the larger projects.

[nurzhyk]

For simple tasks you can use http://www.iwriter.com/ .

[DanielFreedman]

I am a writer and editor and TV producer and non-profit executive, turned web strategy consultant.

And I agree completely with the warnings about the perils of ultra-cheap content.

"You get what you pay for."

Truer words were never spoken!

<<rant mode="" on="">></rant>

It kills me that people will spend hundreds or thousands chasing the latest speculative SEO trend du jour, while also trying to get away with spending  50 bucks on an article that is is worth 500 dollars or more, if done right.

The priorities are all wrong.

This is not only short-sighted, it is actually evil. You are enabling and encouraging BS content that hurts everyone. End times are upon us!

Can the Zombie Apocalypse be far behind?

It makes me want to jump up on my desk, strip off my clothes, and shout out:

"Hire a F@#%ing professional writer!"

from the top of my lungs.

And then post the video to YouTube.

<<rant mode="" off="">></rant>

But here's the point:

Would you hire the cheapest possible developer?

Would you hire the cheapest possible designer?

If not, why then does it strike you as "normal" to hire the cheapest possible writer?

I normally include copywriting as part of my consulting services. But sometimes I get busy and need help.

I've been able to get first-rate, magazine quality, copy from professional writers for around $500 for case studies (anywhere from 500 to 1,500 words) that required several interviews and drafts. And the writers were happy to have the work.

But trolling el cheapo sites to get writers for 20 bucks instead of 80 bucks?

Not a smart idea.

The Web does not need more crappy content.

And you do your clients a disservice if you take that route.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Chanel27,

As you can see, your very simple query has generated some very thoughtful replies from 3 smart members here. I think what each member is encouraging you to consider is what your standards of good content and your goals for each given project really are.

Unfortunately, as cited elsewhere in this discussion, it is quite possible to hire someone to roll out some content for you at $10 a pop, but you have to be prepared for the quality of a $10 article to be less than sterling. And, at that price, you are probably going to need to be checking for copyscape issues yourself. On the other end of the spectrum, you can engage true experts in different fields and offer them several hundred dollars per piece to bring their expertise to your website for a series of articles or an ongoing project. This investment is far more likely to lead to prestige for the brand/business/website in question and possible extra benefits when it comes to link earning and Social Media buzz.

So, there just isn't going to be a simple answer. Does the business need to get by on a shoe string right now? If that's the case, I'd be urging the business owner to write the content himself, as, presumably he knows his core business better than anyone he can hire for $10 a page, right? I'd rather see a business owner develop 5 really good pages of content on his site than have him pay someone else pennies to publish 50 low quality pages for him.

Can the business budget to build relationships with expert writers in 2013? This would be ideal. Getting really good people to expand and deepen the message a website delivers is an excellent tactic for any publisher, and this service is deserved of good pay.

What you want to avoid is simply publishing 'stuff' because it's a 'tactic'. You want to have a real reason to write and really good writers to accomplish this work in a way that sets your brand apart. Copy created in this fashion will stand the test of time, while low level copy does nothing but drag down the validity and authority of your brand.

Bottom line: clients should be taught that their budget for copy is at the top of the priority list. Without words, a magazine is just a cover and a website is just pictures.

[DanielFreedman]

UPDATE:

I posted some of this thread to my Facebook Page, with these results:

• FJ Jerkus Agreed Daniel. Unfortunately you're up against a giant Indian army who are taught English from early grade school, live on rupees, and are well versed in the art of online research. You can scream as loud as you want, this battle will not end as Gary V summed it rather well in the past: "content's importance has never been higher, but it's value has never been lower"

  Cheap content isn't going anywhere. However, as annoying as Google is at times, they're getting exceptionally good and weeding out useless shit. Content filtration/aggregation/discovery tools is where I'm placing my bets.14 hours ago · Like

• Daniel Freedman FJ Jerkus I agree with you. And India is actually getting expensive for outsourcing. People are turning to the Phillipines and Vietnam.

  The big change in the last few months is Google's much improved algo. The old optimization tricks no longer work as well as they once did. And smart people have taken note and shifted tactics. After making a fortune on low quality content by nobodies, Livestrong went legit about a year ago. They actually took down tons of crap, hired editors and began courting well known authors and bloggers. The site is much improved.

  On one end of the spectrum, you have the marketing/SEO technicians who chase the algo. This is bit like being a momentum-driven trader who "trades the tape." It's almost impossible to succeed long term. There were people who actually lost their businesses (and homes!) after Penguin and Panda. On the other end of the spectrum, are what I'd call the "journalistic purists" who think it's somehow wrong or evil to spend time writing good page titles and descriptions or build an email list or run an SEO technical audit.

  Here's what I've seen in the last few months: the smartest minds in marketing are now very interested in content and working with the best writers. Of course, they are still doing A/B testing, conversion rate optimization, etc... But they increasingly recognize that content filtration/aggregation/discovery tools has to start somewhere: with unique content.

  There are plenty of people in the fitness world who are great at marketing, but have little to say. Affiliate marketing works well for them. At least for now...

  My point? Things seems to be tilting a bit more towards excellence in content. My rant -- originally posted to an SEO board -- was about people spending big on designers and developers, then outsourcing the content offshore and on the cheap.<abbr id=".reactRoot[99].[1][2][1]{comment10151135350880685_23704534}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[1].[0].[0].0" class="livetimestamp" title="Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 1:17pm">9 hours ago</abbr> · Edited · Like

[ReSEOlve]

whats peoples view on http://www.textbroker.co.uk/

they have different stars to grade there writers 5 star being the most expensive?

[DanielFreedman]

The site has no sample articles and no testimonials.

Prices should be 25 to 100 times more expensive.

See my comments above.

[Gordon_Hall]

Couldn't agree more!

I once started working with my brother who had been a landscape gardener for donkeys years. The first client we went to, I was down on the ground pretending to know all about different types of grass. The client turned to my brother and said "he talks a lot of crap doesn't he... new at the job?"

Hire a professional, who knows his onions (or blades of grass) and don't try to do anything on the cheap.