This is part 3 in my case study on the Five Figure Niche Network. I will cover how to outsource content creation in this segment. Be sure to read Part 1 Here and Part 2 Here.
Now that I’ve purchased some domain names after researching them appropriately it’s time to move onto the next stage of my niche network five figure case study – content creation.
Why Outsource Content Creation?
The primary reason why I have started to outsource content creation comes down to the time I have available in the day to work. It’s convenient to simply pay for someone else to write the content, but I also have domain names in niches where I know little about the subject matter or where I have no interest in learning enough to write about them. These make ideal candidates for outsourcing, especially when I am trying to target search traffic only. I believe the requirement for quality writing is only truly needed when you’re trying to build a website as an authority AND drive repeat readers. i.e. I would never outsource articles on this blog because I believe that I’m speaking from a position of authority (well at least some authority lol) and the people that re read my blog every time I post a new article do so because they want to hear the unique perspective I can put into the articles that I write. But if you’re searching for information on cotton candy machines do you really need to have a leading authority and unique voice behind the writing to get the information that you need? No of course not, and this is precisely why I’ve gone the outsourcing route for content creation on my niche websites.
Where I Outsource Content Creation
I’m still in the process of evaluating multiple methods of outsourced content creation, but I started first with TextBroker.com. I paid for 6 articles to go on 2 of the mini sites I was building out. Text Broker allows you to pick the quality of writing that you want and pay accordingly so I decided to go with one step up from the good which comes out to $1.60 per 100 words. I placed the order Friday night before I left for a spring snowboarding trip that would keep me away from my computer on Saturday and Sunday. When I got on my computer Monday I had all 6 articles complete and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. Some of the writing I thought was better than mine lol (note to self: never become a freelance writer) and I didn’t have to send any back for revisions. This could be a fluke because other reviews of their service I’ve read required revisions but the articles I got were just what I needed.
The other two places I would suggest looking for inexpensive writers include Odesk.com and Elance.com (I’ll do follow up posts if I find one works better than the other). Finally, the more risky but potentially more rewarding place to look is on Craigslist Manilla and try to hire full time workers from the Philippines. If you go this route you should approach it like a traditional job application process to weed out the least qualified cantidates. I have a few internet marketing friends that have had success with this method although I’ve yet to try it out (don’t have enough workload yet).
Closing Thoughts
I believe content creation has slowly transitioned towards a commodity especially where the web property the content is being published to is targeting search traffic. Just look at eHow, Mahalo etc. all of these websites have terrible content for the most part but they don’t care because if you search for a phrase in Google there is a good chance you might land one one of these content farms. I still believe quality content has a place online, but if you’re looking to build out minimal effort niche websites I wouldn’t bother writing the content yourself.
In the next update to this case study I will look at link building strategies and monetization methods. If you like what you’ve seen so far be sure to subscribe to my blog.
I think if you’re looking to make money from affiliate sites or a small niche site, then like you mentioned, you don’t need to work on content creation yourself. For this reason, I have hired a writer from Elance who does decent work for cheap. It serves my purpose for now.
There’s bigger fish to fry so.. go fry ’em ๐
.-= Moon Hussain´s last blog ..Fun Friday Round-Up: Delish Posts to Savour =-.
Hey just a heads up the textbroker link is wrong. It should have an ‘s’ at the end.
I have not had much luck with outsources. I always get content that needs to be rewritten anyways. I will have to check these sites out, especially textbroker, thanks for the info.
.-= Patrick Toerner´s last blog ..Picking the Best Domain for SEO =-.
Doh – thanks for the heads up I just fixed it.
Gotta say… I have been a fan of Textbroker for almost a year now, and with their help (The Authors of course) can build 5 new 15-25 page sites every week now.
Once you get 2-3 authors that you KNOW their writing style, trust their work, and have to spend a minimum of time explaining WHAT you want, its like clockwork!
We order anywhere from 10-25 articles every day for our sites now… just reinvesting back into the existing, and creating for the new ones.
I have used 4 different content outsourcing methods in the past, nothing has come close to TB in quality, time to deliver, or cost as it relates to quality.
Good article Chris!
.-= Mark – The Niche Store Builder´s last blog ..5 New Sites Added to the Clearinghouse =-.
Hey Mark,
Nice to hear from you again. Who do you use for your linkbuilding?
Still doing most of it myself… and by that, I mean, outsourcing it! LOL
Truly – I “Launch” each site with a basic launch marketing package from an online friend… then its just article marketing (no spinning though) to lateral sites and article directories.
Mark
.-= Mark – The Niche Store Builder´s last blog ..5 New Sites Added to the Clearinghouse =-.
I think you should take what you’ve learned and go after some of the big time search terms / verticals.
I think you could make even more money… thoughts?
I usually find people for content creation outsourcing trough DP forum. There are many good writer in better price there.
.-= Dana @ Blogging Tips Blog´s last blog ..Lightened Your WordPress Security, Please! =-.
I guess I just like the idea of the simplicity of TextBroker.
Simply log in and pay for what you want and someone does it. If you don’t like it, ask for revisions.
With DP it’s like you post an ad and get responses from wayyyy too many people 90% of which can’t even form a sentence. Then it’s a pain to weed through the other 10%.
Agreed..
I also like that I can specify and see info about the author before assigning them the project (Completed texts, fail rate, age, where they live, etc)
Another HUGE bonus is the textbroker API which just got opened to developers. I spoke with one of the founders last week and a WordPress plugin is already being tested, so everything can be handled from within your WP-Admin very soon! ๐
I have used man… including Amazon turk, DP, WF, and several content only networks like Cyberhub, nothing can touch TB yet!
Mark
Tell them to start an affiliate program for referring clients! ๐
I agree with Mark, I’ve used all of those writing networks and TB has some of the most competitively priced and reliable writers. Though, it’s slightly more expensive, but it saves you from SO many head aches.
The trick is to test out a few writers, then do direct orders after you find someone good.
Thanks for this post Chris. I have a new blog and one of the most challenging aspects is creating content. I used to run a different blog for a niche market business I setup online and I tried outsourcing content many times. It wasn’t as cheap as I had hoped and the quality was hit and miss.
I have always tried Freelancer.com which is similar to Elance. I have found some awesome outsources on Freelancer just not for articles.
I will check out your textbroker recommendation. I’m hoping this will be my go-to solution!
Thanks again,
~Sean
http://startupfreedom.com
.-= Sean Gallagher´s last blog ..Facebook: From The Bedroom To Half A Billion =-.
I never hear dof textborker before. Can tehy really provide those quality articles that tehy are promising?
.-= paul | entertainment tonight´s last blog ..The top directors that made an impact in the world =-.
It’s not an expensive service. Just deposit $20 and get 3-4 test articles ๐ They were good enough for me.
Though, one downside of Textbroker is they monitor ALL you’re messages, so you can’t hire the writer’s off site;(
Yah that’s true. I would prefer to use it as a place where I can slowly hire people etc.
Hi Chris,
Not sure if I understand what you are doing with this content created by the TextBroker writers. Let’s say I order 5 TB articles with keywords that I want to link to an Amazon Affiliate blog. Where are you posting these articles? Just on random article websites like HubPages, etc? If this is the case – why wouldn’t you use a program like articleranks.com to spin one article into 200? Or are you using the content created by TB on actual blogs that you own? I’d love some input — thanks!
MJ
.-= Michael-John Wolfe´s last blog ..Start a Headshot Photography Business for Supplemental Income =-.
I’m using the textbroker articles on blogs / websites I own. Part of my goal with the niche five figure network is to build the sites out entirely without doing any of the writing on my own. The only thing I do now (which I may outsource later) is set up / install wordpress and customize the wordpress theme and the only reason why I do this is because I haven’t bothered to set up an additional hosting account.
Once again, great article Chris! I’m learning so much from your blog that I’m even going to sign up to your newsletter. Keep it coming ๐
Hey Chris, I was surfing the net for this type of information and found your site.
Good information and great interaction.
I was looking for information about outsourcing forum posts and article creation. Your post and comments have been helpful.
Thanks,
Mike
.-= Mike Helton´s last blog ..Building Relationships Through List Marketing =-.
Nice article, maintaining three niche websites and having a full time day job is pushing me to outsource some content writing. Yes it’s true, as much as possible I won’t outsource the content of my blogs but for link building purposes (gust posting, article directories, etc.) I think it is worth doing it.
Informative article, thanks.
I actually just wrote my first article for TextBroker, and I must say, I enjoyed earning a quick couple of bucks by writing an article for about 250 words. My client accepted my article and I got paid immediately. I’m guessing the TextBroker system works well for bother writers and clients, and you definitely have a point that if you have no interest in creating the content yourself, then it’s better to pay to have someone else create it.
I gotta say I believe content creation is moving in a different direction. Content strategists use creative writing, SEO, marketing, and analytics to research and create compelling content and then promote it by seeding it out for their client. This service doesn’t fall under the “copywriter” category. I foresee a big need for this kind of expertise in the very near future because it is this kind of well-researched, backlinked, and optimized content which gets ranked by the engines.
Great post there, very well written.
Outsourcing of content is one of the best and most efficient ways to run your website today. When you Outsource Content you assign your work to a capable writing team who has had experience in what they are doing and are able to write a 100% unique article
This also saves you time and helps you focus on other activities.
Thanks for letting me know so many more sources where we can outsource content and same time look for more work ๐
Thanks
Chris
I need to thank you for 2 things.
1 – I just purchased Guest Post Hunter to help me increase my traffic with guest posts and Guest Post Hunter is rediculously awesome. You could charge $100 for it and I would buy it with no hesitation.
2 – I read this article on outsourcing and I just signed up for a Text Broker account and place my first order.
You da man
Hey Dan thanks. Yah a lot of my products are priced too low lol ๐ I’m working on some changes to a lot of them and adjusting my marketing as well for those products.
Chris
Yea, Im a new blogger and know guest blogging is huge. With your product I reached out to 57 bloggers this past weekend! Took a long time, but I have already been accepted by 4 bloggers with nice followings to write guest posts for so this is really big for me.
thanks