Bhaav kam karo...Indian content writers...

"Bhaav kam karo," apparently, is Hindi for "make this price less." I thought it was an appropriate title for a post about Indian content writers.

Americans profess to love competition, whether it comes in the form of Sunday afternoon football games or holiday retail price wars. We flock to those who offer more for less and seek out values whenever possible. Competition is at the core of the free enterprise system and we commend those who find a way to offer lower prices or better service. We dismiss those who cannot keep up with competition as the natural casualties of the marketplace and don't shed a tear when bloated and inefficient enterprises are replaced by better alternatives. We congratulate winners. Competition is welcomed. It is, we say, the American way.

Hypocritically, we suddenly change our tunes when competition begins to have an impact on us as individuals. The very same writers who will compare prices and seek out better deals when buying office supplies are somehow offended at the prospect of dropping their own prices in the face of competition. We love the idea of competition as a society, but despise it as individuals. This is very evident to me when I look at American writers' reaction to Indian freelance content writers.

Economic realities allow Indian content producers to work for less than what American writers tend to believe is fair or feasible. Indian writers can "make this price less," and many of us simply hate it. Instead of recognizing the market forces at work and responding with greater efficiency or innovation, many American writers have resorted to complaint and the vilification of their Indian counterparts. I have chosen, instead, to compete with them.

American writers who understand the nature of the market and what must be done to retain sufficient business can compete with Indian freelancers. It requires more work, greater efficiency and a willingness to abandon the sense of "entitlement" many Americans seem to have. Competing with overseas freelancers necessitates providing a service that differentiates onself from the alternatives.

Can I beat every Indian content writers price? Of course not. However, I can reduce the cost differential considerably, rendering it virtually negligible. I can then produce a high quality product quickly and on time. I can do the little extras in terms of payment structuring and communication that make my offering more attractive. American writers can compete with Indian writers--it just requires a willingness to work. It requires a willingness to "walk the walk" of competition instead of just "talking the talk."

It would be easier to gripe and complain. It would be easier to join the chorus of voices who bad-mouth Indian writers, mock the occasional distractions of Indian English and adopt a tone regarding Indian freelancers that almost verges on racism. That's a route many writers seem to be willing to take. I prefer to compete honestly.

The nature of the world right now dictates that an Indian writer can often take on a project at a reduced cost. It's an undeniable fact of life. I think it is also a fact that a good American writer can produce better content for American audiences than can most Indian writers. I think most Indian freelancers would agree with both statements. American writers compose prose that can naturally resonate with American audiences in a way that most of those who grew up with Indian English probably cannot. The issue becomes whether or not an American writer is willing to do what it takes to make the price difference marginal and to increase the quality of work simultaneously. In order to successfully compete, Americans also need to be ready to offer high levels of consistency, in-project communication and other features that set them apart from the competition. Some of us are willing to do those things. Others are not.

I hold no grudge for an Indian writer who is willing to underbid me. I welcome the competition. I believe the competition will make me better at what I do. It constantly spurs innovation and motivates me to improve my performance.

Namaste,
Carson

A site endorsement...

I have added Plagiarism Today to the links here. After receiving a comment from Johnathan on my Articlebot post, I took a look at his site and thought it deserved a mention.

Plagiarism Today is a great resource for those, like me, concerned about online content misappropriation. If you have any interest in the subject, you really should check it out.

Happiness is a warm Articlebot...

Every once in a while, people ask my opinion on content generating software. More often than not, they focus their questions on Articlebot, which is apparently the industry leader in what is sometimes termed "content manipulation."

For those of you not familiar with Articlebot, it basically plays the role of a very over-caffeinated editor with a thesaurus who is hellbent on changing every possible piece of a manuscript as often as he or she can.

You give Articlebot text, it rewrites the text. Then, if you'd like, it will rewrite it again. And again. Ad infinitum. Take a simple sentence like "Writers cost money." Articlebot may come up with everything from "authors require cash" to "wordsmiths command filthy lucre." Well, maybe not, but you get the idea.

Basically, a person can take an article and "spin" it into thousands of articles.

Why would anyone do such a thing? Search engines. Search engines love content. The more you have, the merrier they are. And webmasters love it when those search engines list them nice and high, above the fold, on the first page of search results for their targeted keywords.

If you want to succeed with a site devoted to "sock monkeys," you can get quite an edge over the competition if you have plenty of sock monkey content.

Who wants to write a thousand articles about sock monkeys? Alternatively, who wants to pay a guy like me to write a thousand articles about sock monkeys? That's right, nobody. Enter Articlebot. A site owner either forces himself to write a few sock monkey pieces or hires someone like me to write a few. Then, he "spins" them with Articlebot and comes up with thousands of pages--each of which is sufficiently manipulated to make the search engine believe it is a wholly different article.

So, I must really hate Articlebot, right? It is seemingly stealing a lot of work from me. Instead of an order for a thousand sock monkey articles, someone is just ordering two. I must truly believe Articlebot stinks to high heavens, huh?

Not really. Personally, I think it is a clever idea. I also think it was probably inevitable, considering the nature of current search engine algorithms. I also don't see it as a competitive threat.

The people who use Articlebot to create a slew of pages in orders to grab search engine placement are concerned with one thing: search engine placement. They see content as a means to that end.

My clients recognize that component of the content game, too, but are viewing my writing from a different perspective. They are generally hoping to offer something that will actually attract readers to visit and stay at the site. The better search engine rankings are great, but they are looking for more.

Additionally, those who use Articlebot to create articles galore would never be interested in hiring me to write the damn things in the first place. The reason spinning articles with Articlebot is attractive to some is because of the low per-article cots. They can produce gobs of seemingly unique articles on the cheap. If Articlebot was not available, they would not hire out the task to me--they'd simply focus their efforts elsewhere.

Finally, the inherent limitations of Articlebot-created articles do nothing to really cut into the market for freelance writers. Every single article produced by the software will, by its very nature, be worse than the original. Some of them will be absoutely attrocious. None of them will really appear to be wholly "organic," in my opinion.

All of this is not to say that Articlebot isn't good at what it does. It is. However, when an author writes something they choose their words with a purpose in mind. They convey a certain style with their choices. When the 'bot comes through yanks a carefully chosen word and replaces it with a "not quite perfect" synonym, the readability and flow of the original work is often crushed.

Yes, it is still readable. It just isn't as good. I know the folks at Articlebot would probably at least feign disagreement, but many of the generated articles unintentionally turn out pretty funny.

I personally believe the idea of creating Adsense sites around Articlebot articles is probably not as effective as those sites based on real author-produced text. Sure, the Articlebot user may get some "escape" clicks on ads, but that is going to be about it. I think most Articlebot fans would even admit that the CTR is a little on the low side compared to what would happen with real, directed content. They simply hope to make up the difference with either higher traffic numbers of a greater sheer number of sites.

If you want a thousand sock monkey articles you can pseudo-hide from visitors and show to search engines in order to get a push on Google, Articlebot may be decent investment. If you want to produce content that someone will actually read, you come to me.

Personally, I think some who want to "game" Google with robot-generated content will also try to maximize their site pefromance by also trying to provide a good end user experience via a professional content writer. Articlebot doesn't force a move away from using a writer. Seems to me that the smartest people out there using Articlebot will still be looking for good writers.

There are those have moral objections to Articlebot. They will tell you it is cluttering the internet. They will argue it is a tool for plagiarism. I am not interested in the morality of Articlebot. It is software. Software cannot be evil. It can be used for evil purposes, perhaps. But it is not evil, per se. Articlebot is a gun. Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

I have read the owner/programmer of Articlebot defend his product against the moralistic articles. Personally, I approach his spirited defense the same way I would the arguments of an AK-47 producer lobbying in favor of Second Amendment rights. He's got a motivation to dismiss criticisms of the product regardless of how "true" they may be.

I don't like guns designed to mow down co-workers in fits of rage, and am really suspect of firearms in generally. Maybe that's why I find Articlebot a little distasteful. However, I am yet to see Articlebot used in any armed robberies and I don't think it is the end of the world.

Some people are using it to create hideous sites filled with absolute bunk. That may be a bad thing, then again, it might lead to something better.

In some twisted way I am almost rooting for Articlebot to become a universally-used tool. I think the pressure that could be created on search engines by users in the face of finding Articlebot-dominated sites toward the top of results could result in some quality innovation on the part of Google, et al.

Plagiarized content can ruin a day...

I was finishing the editing on some of the content I purchased from other providers. There was something about one of the articles that just felt "different." I had already checked everything (so I thought) through Copyspace, but I just had a hunch that something was amiss with one of the articles.

So, I quickly googled a phrase that seemed to be from another voice. Sure enough, I found it (and a lot more of the article in question) was lifted from other sources verbatim. I must have somehow neglected to run that particular article through Copyspace or something.

Now, I feel the need to go back through each and every article in the bundle and double-check for any other content misappropriation.

It's obvious to me what happened. The writer, in an effort to meet her deadline, decided to cut a few corners on one of the last articles. Either she didn't think it would be noticed or she lacks an understanding of the seriousness of the matter. She's relatively new to the content writing world, so I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt in terms of her intent. I am not willing to say this offense had the sufficient level of mens rea to warrant regarding her as a crooked dealer. It is, however, very frustrating and it is going to add to my workload.

You would think that if any group of people would be hypersensitive to content misappropriation and outright plagiarism it would be content writers. I, for one, take the matter more seriously than virtually any component of my business. I am willing to stake my reputation on the fact that every word I type for a client will be mine. That's not just for the clients' sake, either. Plagiarism hurts the content writing industry as a whole.

I plan on addressing just why content writers must take a strong stand for the sake of their very profession at some point. In the meantime, I'd like this post to serve as a reminder to everyone buying content to make sure they don't end up with stolen work.

Use Copyscape. Google phrases that just don't "seem to fit." Take it seriously and don't let any freelance content writer get away with sliding you stolen goods. It's bad for a client's business and it's bad for the writing industry, too.

I am not ashamed...

I came across an article written by Deb Powers discussing the negative perception many authors have regarding content writing. Powers defends the vocation but notes how others feel:

"Half the world doesn’t acknowledge that it exists. Those who do-- especially other writers-- are almost uniformly derisive of writers who choose to make their money writing it. Many sniff and declare that they "take their writing more seriously than that." Others bemoan it as the death of intelligent writing. Do we write porn? Seditious pamphlets? Articles for the National Enquirer. None of the above. My unnamed cohort and I write-- brace yourselves-- search engine optimized web content."

Deb's article discusses the "shame" one of her friends experiences when forced to admit she writes content for the web.

Elsewhere, I find forums stuffed with alleged writers who bemoan the substandard pay rates afforded to content writers and who believe their craft should fetch far more than it does on the open market. They are ready to wring the neck of anyone willing to accept less than ten cents per word, claiming such heretical acts are an assault on writers everywhere.

Personally, I don't mind those who find content writing beneath them. Their refusal to visit the bad part of town leaves more work for me. I'm also glad there's a contigency of writers out there who cannot comprehend the nature of the marketplace and who are pressuring others to hold out for the big bucks. That kind of thinking keeps me busy.

For every starving artist there is a starving writer or two. These potential wordsmiths are busy banging their heads against crumbling brick and mortar walls as virtual enterprise flourishes. They believe in magic query letters, collecting clips, maintaining all rights to their work in perpetuity and that five hundred decent words should bring at least a C-note.

I believe in finding needs, filling them, getting paid and moving on to the next job.

The prospect of waiting for an editor to thumb through seven hundred query letters in order to decide who should get the thrill of writing a fluff piece for an airline magazine doesn't excite me. I don't get to collect clips and credits to show off to my writer friends. Instead, I win repeat customers and collect checks. I am willing to send my text out with a release of all rights to the purchaser and I can give you five hundred damn good words for under ten bucks.

So, why the wide disparity in outlooks? Is my writing a low-quality joke compared to these potential Pulitzer winners? Hardly. I've seen the work produced by a lot of these folks and haven't found it much more compelling, on average, than what a solid, sleeves-rolled up, content writer will produce. In fact, I find much of it weak and hackneyed. When I write content, I don't promise to bring you to tears or to change your life, but I will get you text that gets the job done. I understand what the market wants and can deliver just that.

I think many of those who frown upon content writers tend to have a romanticized vision of the writer's life stuck in their noggin. When they find that days lounging in a hammock by an English garden with a notebook and fountain pen are alot less likely than late nights hunched over a keyboard meeting a deadline, they simply cannot deal with it. They refuse to accept that the monetary value of the vocation is determined by supply and demand. They want the romantic ideal of being "a writer" but don't have the blue collar mentality necessary to make it pay the bills.

I am a content writer. Yes, like anyone else attracted to words I have a more literary side. I let that inform my content work, but it doesn't govern it. The idea that my skills are so special that I should command a week's expenses for five hundred words of fluff escapes me.

I type fast. I think fast. I am well-informed. When I need background or information I can get it and digest it in a hurry. I work hard. I work long hours. Those are special skills, and I know just what the market is willing to pay for them. I have found that those skills can earn me an adequate living. I don't get to do book signings and daydreams of interviews with Charlie Rose aren't in by subconscious' repertoire. I work.

I write and I am not ashamed.

Adventures in role reversal...

I have been very busy lately, working on a variety of writing assignments. In fact, I have been so busy that I have had to outsource some work to others.

I refuse to outsource content writing orders from paying customers. I believe that when someone hires a writer they are paying for the work to be completed by the chosen author. I also feel strongly about providing my clients with high-quality content for which I can personally vouch. The prospect of simply acting as an intermediary worries me a little bit in that regard.

However, I have been able to outsource various components of my forthcoming new product. In order to stay on schedule with the "side project," I was compelled to actually hire two writers to work for me. It's been interesting to be on the other side of a content transaction.

I hired one writer directly and found the other through Rent-a-Coder. So far, it's been great to work with both of them. My interactions with them, however, have given me some additional perspective on what it must be like for my clients to hire out their content writing needs.

Specifically, I can better understand why clients tend to get a little antsy as deadlines approach. Even though the two assignments I doled out were both relatively small, I felt myself feeling a bit apprehensive as the due dates got closer. Both of the writers with whom I worked were great front-end communicators--we discussed my needs in sufficient detail and they obviously took great care in making sure they understood what was expected. After things kicked off, though, all I could do is cross my fingers and hope they would deliver as expected.

Fortunately, both did a pretty good job. I had to perform a little light editing, but otherwise the materials provided met specifications. I was lucky enough to pick two winners right out of the gate. However, that time period between starting the project and the deadline was a little unnerving.

This adventure in role reversal has had an impact on how I will be doing business with my clients. I have always provided progress updates on larger jobs, but now I will also be making sure to touch base with clients during every project. If someone has a relatively small job with a two-week turnaround time, for instance, I will be making the extra effort to contact them at least once during that time just to let them know they are not forgotten and to advise them of the project's status, etc. I feel as though I would have felt more comfortable as a buyer had that happened with me.

It's easy for those of us who write content to look past some of those details. We grow accustomed to taking an order, completing it before deadline and moving on to the next task. I am always writing with the specific client and his or her needs in mind, but it is easy to neglect communication during the process. When I am exceptionally busy, for instance, I might schedule even a small project to be completed within a week of ordering. If I know I can complete the assignment relatively quickly, I may not even place it on my scheduler until a day or two before it is due. Although I know it will get done to specification on schedule, it's very possible that the client may have some concern if they haven't heard a thing from me in five days. They don't need to worry--but it is natural. I think that a little extra effort just to let the client know everything will be done on time can take some of the stress out of their outsourcing experience. I think that kind of extra contact might be especially nice for those clients who are working with me for the very first time.

My experience as a buyer at Rent-a-Coder was also a source of some perspective. My simple bid request generated a slew of bids. Some were low-ball offers from questionable providers. Others were ridiculously over-priced bids. Sorting through the bids, checking each writer's profile, looking at various samples, etc. was pretty annoying. The idea behind outsourcing is to make one's life easier and more efficient. I found that the Rent-a-Coder process was less than optimal in terms of efficiency. The need to communicate on-site was also a minor aggravation.

Meanwhile, my examination of bidding coders made it very clear that there are a lot of horrible would-be content writers out there looking to snag a buck. Many of the bidders for my project seem to specialize in other areas but are willing to take on content work, even though they clearly cannot write effectively. It is as if every coder on the system is ready to go after a content job. I had several programmers with no writing background and profiles that were so poorly written you could barely decipher them bidding on my content job.

There are some good providers on Rent-a-Coder. I will occasionally bid on projects there myself. However, it really is difficult to separate the good from the bad and a cursory examination of things showed a disproportionate number of writing jobs end up in arbitration. From a buyer's perspective, I would be reluctant to use Rent-a-Coder to find a writer again.

The new project is nearing completion...

Those of you who know me exclusively as a freelance content writer might be surprised to know that I am about to start the test marketing of a new project. It is content-related, but represents a departure from my usual efforts.

Right now, I anticipate a small-scale release of the new CDB product on December 18. If all goes well, I plan to expand on the idea considerably. I am excited about this one and am excited to get things going.

Keep your eyes open for more information. If you are a webmaster who would like a surefire way to produce monthly traffic spikes you might be particularly interested in the project!