Am I better than you? Paid content writers vs. homegrown efforts...

I came across a post entitled "Paying for Content: Worth it?" at Devlounge, which is an interesting blog devoted to web design and related issues. The author of the post makes some pretty bold statements about professionally-produced content and I thought I would take a few moments to address them.

He/she (I don't want to incorrectly jump to conclusions re: AJ's gender) writes:

Don’t get me wrong, paid for content contributors can be great, but it depends on the type of site and type of content you have. In Devlounge’s case, I made the decision not to go with paid content...

A few things paid content seems to lack.

Real Meaningful Posts - No matter how well the writer is, and how much they know the subject they’re covering, in the end they are writing for commission, not for the benefit of the visitors.

Caring About the Community - When you have a group of editors willing to contribute freely, you get a more connected feel between your regular site visitors and your staff. There are follow-up posts, tips, comments from the autor, follow-up discussion, and you know the author was in it to help the community, not to help themselves.

It will come as no surprise that I don't necessarily agree with those statements overall. Although I agree with AJ that there are times when you might not want to call a pro, the idea that professionally commissioned content inherently lacks meaning or heart is incorrect.

A good writer can and will produce meaningful material. That will be spurred by the good ol' profit motive (we like the money and don't like the idea of a dissatisfied webmaster taking his/her business elsewhere after we provide lame text), but it will also be motivated by a commitment to excellence and pride in the craft. Good writers do care about the audience and will write great pieces to capture their interest.

Those lofty goals are reached because professional writers have the ability to write effectively. All of the respect for readers in the world won't amount to much if the person behind the keyboard can't effectively communicate. As a professional freelance content writer and copywriter, communication is my well-honed talent.

So, even if my monetary motivations did trump my interest in quality (which they don't), I could still provide more compelling copy than many well-intended webmasters. I could go on to discuss the fact that I could do it efficiently and cost-effectively, allowing those webmasters to redirect their energies to pursuits that better matched their economic interests and skill sets, but that's another topic...

AJ may have a point about developing a sense of community. A more personal, hands-on approach may work better in some situations where that sense of unique individuality is essential. However, those cases constitute a minority of content needs. Additionally, the overall increase in communicative quality may very outweight any disadvantage in terms of personalization. AJ goes on to discuss paid forum postings, which may be a perfect example of where homegrown writing makes more sense.

The Devlounge piece later states:

The best solution - write your own content.
Have original articles written by yourself and a home-grown group of staff dedicated to contributing good, quality entries and supporting the site and it’s visitors.

In a perfect world, everyone would have the ability to effectively communicate. Everyone who operated a website would have enough time available to write awesome content while still meeting their overall goals (financial and otherwise). Of course, things aren't perfect.

When it comes to writing, I might just be better than you! Your homegrown text might have a nice genuine feel about it and it might feel good to know that you wrote every word of your message, but all of that warm fuzziness is meaningless if you don't communicate effectively. Doing it yourself can also detract from more efficient use of your time and energy.

There is certainly a time and place for homegrown material, but don't fool yourself into believing that there's no place for professinally written content. Paid material can be more effective than many DIY efforts while packing a whallop in terms of efficiency and your bottom line.

If you aren't a writer by trade and feel as though you must write your own material, at least have a professional work with you during the editing process. That can help you get rid of everything from awkward sentences to improperly placed apostrophes.

I don't begrudge AJ for making the decision to handle content writing personally for Devlounge. I do think some editorial assistance could help make the posts there even more interesting and readable, but that's not really the point of this response. I just want to remind folks who are tempted to handle all of their content writing and copywriting personally that such a decision warrants consideration of what a professional can do for you on a variety of levels and that hiring out your writing will not inevitably result in a lack of meaning or heart.

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Where to use the good stuff...Isolating quality content locations...

Adding new content to your site is important in terms of improving SERPs at Google and the other major search engines. As I've mentioned a kerbillion different times, it works on multiple levels.

First, the engines love it on its own merit. Their robots chew it up, find it easily digestible and reward you for the feeding.

Second, your visitors love it and that compels them to link back to it. That backlink creation process is muy importante with regard to the search engine algorithms.

Third, visitors tend to return to content-rich sites repeatedly. Thus, you get more play from each individual and a better opportunity to display your wares.

Fourth, the long tail phenomena helps content-rich sites gather stray traffic even where they might not have expected it.

Etc., etc., etc.

Okay, so you need a lot of content. Content Done Better will be happy to write that content for you. You might be saying, "this is not breaking news, Carson." True. Either is the core topic of this post, but it is important and it is often overlooked.

When someone finds your site via Google, where do they go when they click that friendly link? Hint: It isn't necessarily your main page.

SERPs consist of URLs to individual pages, not to sites en toto.

Now, a second question: When people do find you via Google, where do you want them to go? If you are like most webmasters, you would probably love to get them on your landing page--the place where you actually make your big pitch for whatever product or service you are offering. Your landing page might be the "home" page of multi-page site. It might be a long form sales letter that (theoretically) produces an irresistible urge to make a purchase. No matter how you structure your online business, though, you can probably think of one particular page where you would prefer your visitors land.

Which brings us to the point. You need to make sure your preferred landing page features the best possible content. You might be able to rationalize utilizing mediocre material elsewhere, but that desired landing page needs to sizzle from the heat of high quality content.

That quality exists on two distinct levels.

First, it needs to contain the right keywords. Yes, as much as we all like to talk about putting the user first and letting the search engine deal with it, you do need to keep Mr. Google in mind with respect to your top landing page's content. You want good SERPs for the right keywords.

Second, it needs to be well-written. You want readers to love it, bookmark it, share it, link to it and, last but not least, to be completely persuaded by it. After all, it is your preferred landing page for a reason: making sales.

Take a few minutes to think about your site. Where do you want those visitors to go? Now, look at that particular page. Does it scream PERFECT CONTENT? If not, you need to make improvements.

You might not have to be quite as picky with your 2,478th article page. Of course, quality is still a good idea even in the deepest recesses of your site (especially when you can get good work at a reasonable price). However, it is an absolute imperative that your preferred landing page is optimized in terms of its attractiveness to the search engines and human readers.

Is this just a plug for you to contact me to get some great new material for your most important content areas? To some extent, it is. No matter how you get the job done, however, you will need to do it right. That may involve some serious work on your own, it may lead to contacting another freelance content provider and copywriter, or it might mean getting in touch with Content Done Better.

Remember where you need to put the good stuff, regardless of how you plan on getting it!

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Irresistible morsels of link bait…Why buy links when you can earn them? Reason #902 to hire a content writer…

Content is a good thing. It gives the people something to read. It gives the prospects reason to buy. It gives the search engines something upon which to chew. You have to have it. A site without content isn’t a site, it’s a template. You probably think that if you read “content is king” one more time, you will begin to get ill, but you will see it again and again because it is the bottom line truth.

The internet, stripped to its core, is about information. Providing information and finding information are what it’s all about.

If you run a website, you are in the providing business. It’s your job to lay out content that will serve your (probably financial) purposes. You want to encourage a purchase, build your credibility, and keep people on task long enough to convert them into $$$.

I’d be shooting myself right through the keyboard if I told you content wasn’t important, on its own terms, for good Google placement. The search engine algorithms still put gold stars on the charts of those sites who provide regularly updated, fresh, themed content. That’s why you want to add to your core while developing a nice long tail, covering both in search engine spiders in hopes of becoming the darling of Google so you can bring more people to look at that content.

However, collecting links is just as important as collecting words. You won’t hear that from a lot of writers who’d prefer you just keep buying text with a 1.75% keyword density ad infinitum, but it’s the truth. Links create direct traffic flow that doesn’t rely on search engine mastery. Meanwhile, they still find the time to help you in your quest for page one SERPs.

That’s because the search engine algorithms interpret those links back to your site as votes of confidence from the internet community. If no one is linking to you, the algo reasons, you are probably lousy and don’t deserve great placement. If the whole world is linking to you, there must be something happening at your place!

You can trade links. There’s reason to believe that reciprocal links won’t help as much in the search engine department as do one-way backlinks, though. You can buy links. There are a thousand different ways to spend cash in order to get that attention. There’s another way, and it can be the most effective and economically feasible solution.

Buy content.

Yes, this is a sales pitch from content writing services. However, it’s a sales pitch with a very sound foundation. I used to say, “good content will naturally inspire others to link back to your site as a point of interest or reference. This will result in a growing number of ’natural’ links that will help your placement in major search engines.”

Today, we have a better name for that. Link baiting.

Link baiting, refers to publishing content specifically designed to create attention and backlinks to your site. It combines all that is already good about content with the power of viral marketing.

If you have the right link baiting content, it can garner you countless backlinks to help with Google and a healthy direct traffic flow. The strategy is immensely powerful today because the social bookmarking scene and sites like Digg can lead to massive attention for the right material in a hurry.

Link bait can come in many forms. You can be controversial, informative, funny, argumentative or newsworthy. As long as your content is ATTRACTIVE, you can and will create enough of a firestorm to get some attention, traffic and links.

So, post a job request on one of the bid boards for some “content to serve as link bait,” take the lowest bid, and you are off to the races, right? No.

You need the good stuff. You need to find a freelance content writer who understands what works, what doesn’t, and who has the creative capacities to write something that will make your site’s hook utterly irresistible to all of the fishies floating around in the information ocean.

The links you get from a good piece of bait are going to be more valuable than the ones you’d buy directly or through a text link broker. They will be organic, based upon the actual interest of other sites’ users. They will receive placement where people actually look for something, instead of being hidden on the bottom right corner of a long sidebar or on a “resources” page.

Plus, they will start to multiply on their own. When person A raves about your bait, person B will visit. Person B will undoubtedly have their own opinion, which they will then provide on their site. Everyone who goes to site A or B may be doing likewise. If you thought the viral power of traditional article marketing was awesome (which it is, by the way), the potential of link baiting with the right material will blow you away.

In a world where blogs are exploding and social bookmarking is becoming an all-out phenomena, link baiting makes perfect sense.

Get the right content and the links will take care of themselves.

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CDB for KPO...Don't let acronyms fool you...

Business process outsourcing is BPO. Knowledge processing outsourcing is KPO. Content writing falls under the KPO umbrella.

Apparently, the acronyms make life easier for some people. They want an easy-to-use expression to indicate the kind of outsourcing in which they engage and they choose to make a delineation between the more routine aspects of daily business operation (BPO) and the more creative/skill-based elements (KPO).

So, Content Done Better is a great resource for those looking to for a KPO solution to their writing needs. Yet, for some reason, this post represents the very first time I have used the acronym in this blog. Why?

Although I first saw "KPO" quite some time ago, I didn't really see a need to label Content Done Better that way. That's because knowledge process outsourcing is a big tent with several parties and the writing jamboree only takes up one small corner. It's also because I didn't really hear my customers using the expression, which made me think it was probably fairly marginal in terms of recognized jargon.

Over the last few weeks, however, I have noticed "KPO" used with greater frequency. It seems to be a favored expression among Indian firms offering BPO and KPO services, in particular. In fact, when I do a quick Google for "KPO content writing" (no quotes), the majority of first page results link to Indian operations and one of them offers a long list of KPO providers dominated by Indian entries.

I know that many North American, UK and Australian writers have strong opinions about Indian writers. I personally don't share much of their concerns (see: Bhaav kam karo... and Indian content writers revisited...), so I don't plan on going into some diatribe about outsourcing to India.

One thing we can all agree upon, however, is that Indian providers in a number of fields have done a great job of securing business from US-based businesses. Many of these folks really know how to market their services attractively and effectively.

Which is why I finally decided to accept the KPO designation with respect to Content Done Better. I suppose you could say I am copying my Indian counterparts in that respect and I wouldn't deny doing so.

According to a quick check on Nichebot, the term "KPO" is getting some search activity (although not much yet) and "BPO" gets quite a bit of action. I don't want potential customers to take their business elsewhere just because I am not toting the acronym for which they are looking.

So, if you have KPO needs with respect to content writing, don't let the predominant users of the acronym fool you. There are competitively priced, high quality alternatives here in the U.S., too. We might use "content writer," "freelance writer," "ghostwriter," or some other expression to refer to ourselves, but we are right there in the KPO tent ready to help you out.


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Lawsuit protection for freelance writers...A few ideas...

This post is directed more to writers than to content buyers. However, those who do purchase content might be interested, as it should have some impact on how they handle the buying process...

Last year, you wrote a few articles for a health supplement company. As per their request, the articles were favorable in tone and extolled the virtues of Product X.

Today, a process server is knocking on your door. You are being sued! Apparently, Bob Kuzdemer read your articles, was attracted to Product X because of them. He used it and has developed a series of disabling medical conditions as a result.

But wait...That's not all...

The same process server also hands over a second set of documents. You wrote this great article a few months ago about how to install a rustic-looking kitchen sink antique tin backsplash. You didn't mention just how sharp that cut tin could get or that someone might want to use gloves. Mary Wreeder is missing two fingers and blames you.

Deep breath. The one thing you know for sure is that anyone can sue anyone else for anything. The question is always whether they can actually win--and if the sued party can afford a defense. These claims must be baseless, right?

Maybe, maybe not. I am not an attorney (I bailed out on that pursuit just in the nick of time) and don't pretend to be one, either. Nothing in this blog post should be construed as legal advice of any kind. Nothing. Re-read this paragraph before you decide to use it as a basis for any action of any sort.

Now, re-read it again.

Okay, so you may or may not be in trouble. It could depend on a few things. First, whether your articles were really misleading, inaccurate, etc. Second, the nature of your contract.

We're going to leave the matter of whether your content was a proximate cause of injury alone for a moment. That appears to be a fact-based determination guided by any number of potential legal precedents, etc.

Your contract is a different story. If you are like most online content writers, your immediate reaction is probably, "What contract? I didn't get a contract." Even if you did, you are probably going to be disappointed. Why? Because most publisher contracts include an indemnification clause. When you agree to write for pay, you sign off on liability for any damages arising from the content you provide. That's right, it falls on your shoulders.

That fact, combined with a legal tradition that tends to lean toward holding publishers harmless probably puts you in a tough situation even if you didn't have a contract. There are exceptions to the "publisher's free ride," and many of those exceptions would apparently manifest in most online content situations. However, even if some sort of shared liability were to develop, there is no reason to believe that you, as a writer, would be completely off the hook if disaster should strike.

Admittedly, these scenarios may seem a little far-fetched. Kuzdemer is more likely to go after the makers of Product X for producing such a crummy supplement. Wreeder is more likely to attack the tin manufacturer or the tin snip producer than to try to milk you dry, if the idea of suing you even crosses her mind.

However, it is possible and defending oneself against disaster can make a lot of sense when the stakes get too high.

So, what can you do?

Insure yourself. Buy liability insurance. That might not fit into your budget right away, but in the long run it may make sense. That's especially true if you work in an area where your work could have the kind of consequences that tend to produce litigation (i.e. medical subjects).

Write carefully. If it isn't true, don't write it. If it may not be true, mention that. If you are called upon to write compelling and slanted prose, find a way to accentuate the positive without any misrepresentation. If you are offering advice, make sure it's damn good advice. Include a paragraph in your work indicating that readers should consult with an appropriate expert--an inline disclaimer, of sorts. Don't be libelous. Write sufficiently comprehensive work that is factually accurate.

Negotiate terms. Here's an example. Today, I wrote an email to someone looking for a writer to work on a project involving various financial topics. I replied with my rate and all of the other expected information, but also indicated that I would expect the buyer to accept my "work for hire" content contingent upon a release of liability for any claims emerging from the work. I don't need Wreeder's and Kuzdemer's neighbors going after me when a recommended investment plan turns out to be a dog. In the traditional publishing world, you might be stuck with the onerous indemnification clause. As a freelance online content writer, you have more flexibility in terms of negotiation. Use it.

Incorporate. You may be able to protect personal assets in the case of a lawsuit if you are incorporated. However, it appears as though the completely foolproof "corporate shield" is harder to create than one might think. Just hopping through the necessary hoops to get an "Inc." behind your name isn't necessarily enough to create a tough-to-pierce barrier. Incorporation also leaves your business at risk, even if it does protect you. Incorporating can help in some cases, and it can have other advantages, but it certainly isn't perfect protection against litigation.

Optimally, one would manage to use all four elements in order to provide maximum security, I suppose.

What does all of this mean to content buyers? First, buyers should recognize that if the topic area under consideration brings with it a substantial risk, they should be prepared to provide adequate compensation for research time and quality assurance. If you want me to extoll the virtues of your high blood pressure solution, you need to give me time to do it in a way that will cover my backside.

Buyers should also understand that being reasonable in terms of indemnification and liability can be helpful to all involved. Accepting responsibility for the nature of the content allows online writers to avoid high insurance costs, which is one of the reasons why they can provide materials at a competitive rate.

A failure to agree to reasonable indemnification terms could convince many quality writers they should look for another job. Buyers should also recognize that they have the "last look" at all content before using it and that they can always insist on proper editing and changes to reduce the risk of litigation.

Buyers should also realize that if these issues are raised, they have probably found a professional who is interested in doing a good job and who takes his or her work seriously. If you buy content, consider questions on these topics to be a good sign.

Remember, I am not an attorney. I do not play an attorney on television, radio or stage. Anything smacking even remotely of legal advice should be discussed with a high-quality, practicing attorney. This blog post does not constitute an attempt to persuade anyone to pursue a particular course of action and instead seeks merely to raise the issue of writer liability for comment and consideration.

I'd be interested to know what other buyers and writers think about the liability issue, so feel free to comment.

Oh, and I hope you don't get sued today.

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The big, big world of content writing...Beyond articles...From A to V...

I write articles. Lots of them. Some day I will add them all up and the number will undoubtedly be staggering. However, I do a lot more than articles.

I think it's too easy for people to think of freelance writers specializing in online content as nothing more than article writers.

I also think that reminding people of all the great things a content writer can do is a good idea. You might not need articles, but I might be able to do something else for you. Even if you do need articles, there's no harm in tacking some additional material onto that order.

I came up with this list "on the fly." It isn't comprehensive. It doesn't delve into some of the things a person could do with respect to technical writing and it doesn't touch fiction at all. A thirty-second stream of consciousness produced the following (though I did alphabetize the list for effect):

A freelance content writer may be* able to produce:

• Articles
• Audio scripts
• Autoresponders
• Bios
• Blog posts
• Brochures
  
• Classifieds
• Disclaimers
• Ebooks
• FAQ's
• Fillers and sidebars
• Instructions and guides
• Interviews
• Newsletters
  
• Press releases
• Reviews
• Sales pages
• Site copy
• Solo ads
• Squeeze pages
• Summaries
• Video scripts

*I say "may be" because not all writers work in all formats. I recently discussed topic area specialization (see: Choosing a writer based on topic expertise... and Mixed reaction re: writer flexibility...). There is also a great deal of format specialization among many of those in the writing community.

Personally, I think working on a diversity of project types keeps me sharp and helps to inform my overall perspective, so I consider myself something of a "jack of all trades" (although I am not a technical writer and don't pretend to be one), and Content Done Better has tackled all of the above-mentioned areas at one time or another.

Do you need a writer? Before you say "I have enough articles right now," consider some of the other things with which a good content writer can help.

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