2. In a recent thread at webmasterworld, when asked if
members had 10 people to assist promoting their website,
what would they do. This interesting question produced
the surprising answer by one member that they would
have 9 people writing articles and one person linking.
3. Articles are a great way to get theme related one-way
links, linkable content and can be contracted for around
$10 per 400 - 500 word article. Prices vary though, and so
does the range of qualifications.
4. Article writing, like link building, is an excellent
candidatate for outsourcing, or perhaps more correctly,
Outtasking.
6. Oursourcing is great because you can purchase services
you need when you need them. You don't have to worry
about meeting payroll, or providing computers, desks or
equipment. While a freelancer is researching and writing
you can take care of other things.
7. Often, a freelancer represents a group, allowing you
access to the more resources and expertise.
9. One of the biggest misconceptions is you can 'just give it
to them' and it will all be good. Nothing can be futher
from the truth. In fact, the more time and effort you put
into it, the better the chances of success.
11. Before talking to my partners in the Philippines, I research
keywords and use the keywords to set up the titles and
content of the articles. This usually gives me 6 or 8 of the
article titles. Since not all articles get syndicated, I go to
several articles syndication sites and research which
articles in my area have the most links in YAHOO. This
give more data for article topics and titles and general
tone. Next, I decide what type of article suits the titles
best. Is it to be a "information about this" article or a
"how to" article with a bulleted list of actions the reader
can take right now?
12. Once all this has been written out, I send it to my partner
and ask to see 4 or 5 articles right away so that I can
confirm everything is on track.
13. Or course, I have specified in advance the articles must be
original, and I make periodic checks to make sure. Once
you have dealt with a freelancer a few times you can ease
up, but it still pays to check all the time.
15. There are lots of people offering software that scrapes
article syndication sites and/or the web for content, re-
arranges it, and spits out hundreds of articles. My
experience is it would have been easier and certainly
faster to write the articles myself, or hire someone to do
it.
16. Automated re-writes of scraped content seems to work on
the Search Engines for now, but how long it is going to last
is anyone's guess. The achilles heel of automation is that
it has to use templates and will always leave a footprint
that other automated systems (ie bots & crawlers) can
easily detect.
18. Most freelance writers take on more contracts than they
can handle and juggle turn-around times to maximise
immediate cash flow. At any moment they only have a
few contracts to work on, although they have many
outstanding. Sound familiar?
19. Knowing this, expect to get a low price with a longer
turnaround, OR a short turnaround with a higher price.
21. Don't choose the lowest price and don't choose the
highest. Review what they say and examples of their work
and make a decision on which one you like first, then look
at cost.
22. A team is also important. Ofter 'a freelancer' represents a
small group who work together. With a team of 5 people
writing 20 articles, you get different approaches and
points of view. I give preference and pay a slightly higher
price for a team.
24. Qualifications are important in relation to what you need.
I like newspaper writers because they are in the business
of writing snappy headlines and catchy articles, which is
what I like for my sites.
25. Other sites may prefer novelists or technical writers to suit
the tone of their sites.
26. Contracting out or outsourcing is still work -- just a
different kind of work. Managing freelancers takes some
skill and practice and if done properly, can increase
productivity and lower costs substantially.