Writing online has become a booming business and most sought after profession for many people who do it either for their love of writing or as a means to a livelihood. You have a great many writers on hundreds of websites that offer specialized writing services on practically any topic under the sun. However, what needs to be seen is the quality of the stuff they offer and whether they are viable options for outsourcing your content requirements. In other words, are they really worth considering?

You need to always bear in mind that good content will reap enormous benefits for your site. Bad writing, on the other hand, like a bad back-link is bound to seriously affect your ranking abilities. This article will take you through some selected sites that offer quality writers on almost any topic and ensure that the client is happy at the end of the day. These sites, through their wide network of experienced and trained writers, fulfill your entire content requirements, and, more importantly, within your specified standards and budget.

Contentmart.com:

One of the leading and most popular sites for content outsourcing, Contentmart, ever since its inception, has been shooting up the popularity charts. It has turned out to be an ideal platform for mutual and fruitful interaction between clients and writers, both at the national and international levels. Clients are constantly posting jobs for writers to bid on them and once the job is assigned and completed, the writer is assured of his payment. The client has to deposit the amount with the site first and the writer gets paid after necessary commissions and taxes are deducted. Re-writes are permitted if the client isn’t satisfied.

Fiverr

If you’re looking for budget writers, try Fiverr. If it’s a small job particularly, you can get it done for as low as $5. Fiverr considers article writing as a popular “gig” rather than a business, and writers come aplenty. So you’re spoilt for choice. However, because of the large number of writers working for this site, undercutting each other is common. However, remember that cheap always doesn’t mean good and you have to test samples of writers you wish to employ for your jobs. But the overall writing standard is good. A reliable and reasonable site, overall.

oDesk, Craigslist & eLance

These sites too, have made their mark as reliable content outsourcing places. Their working principles are more or less the same: Freelance jobs are listed on these sites and you can either list your requirements for content writing while writers will make bids on the job. The writers list is also given on these sites and you could simply go through them and select one that suits your needs. Since the pricing isn’t fixed, you may also find premium writers who charge higher fees. The best quality articles could cost between $30 and $75.

iWriter.

iWriter is yet another dependable site which allows you to choose your writer’s quality and keep them enlisted permanently. This way you are assured of quality. However, you actually can’t dictate who’s to write your content. All you do is supply the titles, instructions, keywords and list your favorite writers and transmit your message. If you locate the right writer, your job is done. Free re-writes are allowed.

Additionally, asking around and recommendations from friends also help enormously in locating the right talent for content outsourcing. These may, however, be a trifle expensive but are most likely to increase traffic & sales on a site.

2. How To Hire Niche Content Writers?

Niche content writers are actually specialists who focus on particular type of writing or exercise their expertise in niches like health & care, business & finance, legal matters or science, to name a few. They work for various content creation platforms and offer their writing skills in specific sectors only. Take Contentmart for example. This site offers writers who are qualified and experienced to tackle anything from science and technology to kids, parenting, jobs and education. The inevitable question that now arises is: How does one hire them?

Identify Sources First

When you are looking out for sites that offer niche content writers, you’ll be surprised at the variety on display. Be it elance.com, textbroker.com, odesk.com, freelancer.com, or hirewriters.com, all sites have writers who can cater to almost any specific client need. It, therefore, becomes a somewhat tedious task to select the most appropriate writer from among hundreds who are offering their services.

Post Requirements Clearly

Communicate your requirement very clearly on whichever platform you advertise. A detailed website description of your exact requirement works great guns. Inappropriate or disorganized information simply doesn’t work with quality writers who apply. Find out clear details on experience and qualifications required so that those who don’t qualify don’t apply. Even if your exact requirements are not met, you can always work with the closest match and guide him to do a swell job. The following illustration will help you understand better.

Finding the Best Writer

Experience: Usually the most experienced writers in a particular niche are the best choices. They are knowledgeable, understand client needs clearly and deliver accordingly. In other words, they know their job. Contentmart gives out full details of the writer’s experience and qualifications by way of a detailed resume and any prospective client knows beforehand what the writer’s niches and abilities are even before he makes initial contact.

Check Out Past Samples: Smart authors make it a point to submit portfolios of past work in their niche so that prospective clients understand their abilities. Once you see what they have already done, it becomes easier for you to select the right one matching your requirements and preferred style. Reading the first paragraph of an article written earlier should tell you whether to accept or reject a writer.

Author contact: Once you shortlist your author panel, contact them individually and ask experience and job-related questions to judge finally whether they actually fit in with your scheme of things. Watch out for slow responding authors as they tend to miss deadlines as are those who fail to understand your exact requirements.

Provide Detailed Information: Once you’ve selected your man, give him absolutely specific and detailed instructions on how to deliver the desired goods for your niche. Whether it’s a product review or a generic article, give clear directions on how he must write it. Make sure that there’s no ambiguity in your communication which results in an undesirable product.

Decide on Payments Beforehand:

Prompt payments to authors on the completion of an assignment is a matter of sheer ethics and you need to decide beforehand what you are going to pay to your niche writer. The ideal way to determine remuneration is on the article’s length and the average going rate is $ 4 to $ 9 dollar for an article of 500 –700 words.

The abovementioned steps will make it easier for you to outsource your niche content-related work. And, more importantly, result in not only getting the right person but also in building up a long term relationship with him.

3. Should You Outsource Content Writing?

Getting the right content is often hard. And this is more so in the case of many businesses which are perpetually struggling to consistently create top-quality content which is capable of engaging their respective target audiences and in achieving organizational goals. The bottom line, however, is that if you feel that your content – despite all your sincere efforts — is not yielding the desired results, it’s time to outsource.

Outsourcing content has worked wonders in the B2B segment. Statistics show that 44% B2B marketers resort to outsourcing content creation while nearly 57% of B2B marketers of technology outsource their content writing, editing, design and distribution efforts as and when required.

When you outsourcing your content requirements to an external agency like Contentmart, say, you are actually hiring experts specializing in and catering to your exact needs. Moreover, as you outsource your content requirement to a trusted agency, your abilities to scale are limited only by your budget and not your internal team’s personnel resources or time. This is particularly helpful in the case of fast-growing startups.

When you outsource, custom technology empowers your team. In other words, the external agency, say, Contentmart focuses on collaborative and effective content creation which enables you to use its tools instead of using general software that fails to meet your definite needs. Also, you are not having to construct your own technology network or team that requires significant financial investment, talent and time. For instance, a client may get access to the content vendor’s proprietary content-creation technology for viewing content analytics as also showcasing all published content on its public profile. This makes the whole process easier, more transparent and more enjoyable definitely.

You may have a crack team of content writers who are simultaneously involved in numerous marketing initiatives and are obviously burdened with huge work pressure. This may lead to a situation where content creation, its management & distribution may not be on time and of the best quality always. This is where outsourcing ensures timely, efficient and high-quality content. Thus, you save valuable time and money. To tackle time crunches, using a set template for knowledge management also helps in streamlining your efforts at content creation also.

However, it always pays to remember that before you outsource your content, you need to ask yourself a few basic questions: Does the external agency have the required knowledge for my job? Does it’s style fit in with my business and/or brand? How long has it been in the business of content creation and what are their proven results? What is the experience and skills of its team of writers? Will it help me achieve my goals? Are they cost efficient?

Moreover, you need to be selective about the agency relationship type. There are basically 3 agency relationship types that help you to decide what you actually need to make your outsourced content work in your favor:

Curator: The content curator collects, organizes and delivers relevant content on social platforms which helps you develop a following. His work is generally confined to blogs and electronic newsletters.

Implementer: The implementer takes a documented strategy and subsequently executes the overall content creation. A team of writers churn out articles that are based on your specific parameters like quality, cost and time. A preferred option for companies that want to produce large quantities of average content fast.

Partner: The partner handles everything ranging from developing strategy to creating content, editing, analytics, publishing and distribution. The partner agency often assigns content strategists, account managers, editors and writers who first analyze your organizational goals and audience before creating the required content.

4. How to Find Awesome Content Writers?

Let’s begin with a simple question: Do awesome content writers actually exist? The general feeling is, they do. Those writers who have been regularly contributing to the major online sites like elance.com, textbroker.com, odesk.com, freelancer.com, hirewriters.com and contentmart.com, to name a few, and have over the years, earned a reputation of being experts in their respective fields may be called awesome. It’s the quality of their work, ability to promptly meet deadlines and profound knowledge on their subject that sets them apart. They are often referred to as five star writers and it is a matter of pride for many sites for which they write.

Anyone who’s on the lookout for good content will obviously prefer the “awesome content writer.” The moot point is: How do you locate them? Start by carefully going through all the major content creation sites and you will find that all of them have a list of writers they consider “excellent,” “most reliable,” “top notch,” “most preferred” or “verified writer,” as Contentmart calls them.

Most of these writers also have published portfolios of their work which you can scrutinize and decide for yourself on their quality. Should you find a niche writer who fits your requirement well, you can take a call right there. However, do remember that such writers come for a price and you have to pay them to get quality work. After all, you are paying someone who will give considerable time to research and deliver a free-flowing and extremely informative article that will attract leads and boost sales.

It goes without saying that these so called “awesome writers” are absolutely passionate about their work and it shows also. In this era when digital marketing is beginning to make its mark, many writers have created outstanding Web campaigns and may be safely hired for your digital marketing needs. If you have a particular niche for which you require articles, hire a writer who focuses and writes only in that niche. After short listing a few names, ask them to submit at least 10 to 15 samples of their previous work in that particular niche so that you can judge his abilities well before zeroing in on him. Here, the thumb rule to be remembered is that anyone who submits 4-5 articles may not be the expert you are looking for.

Another potential source for awesome writers is Linkedin where some really experienced and knowledgeable people with a flair for writing try and construct their portfolio and display their work history. They are often happy to pen pieces for you at discounted rates or even for free to build up a suitable online profile. The greatest advantage of this option is that English speakers can be hired and have acquired degrees or diplomas from renowned academic institutions with years of work experience behind them also.

Facebook groups are yet another source that helps locate excellent writers and experts belonging to each group. Often people with common interests bond and from groups, offering writing services on highly specialized issues that many notable content creation sites may not be able to offer. The rates for top influencers, however, vary between $20 and $150 for 100 words by average industry standards.

5. How To Hire Quality Content Writers For An Affordable Price?

With the unstoppable march of Internet marketing, content is now king. The better the content, the better the results. And that’s a proven fact. No doubts about that. With the recent Google crackdown on Internet marketers who were taking undue advantage of techniques pertaining to poor-quality link building, moreover, content creation and its subsequent marketing is back to the forefront once again. The content that is being created by websites like Contentmart for example, bears ample testimony to that.

However, even though the Net has seen some awesome content in recent times, scaling up content creation and also making money is becoming difficult. Quality writers don’t come cheap while it’s also becoming harder to keep working with good writers for extended periods of time. However, it’s not that cheap writers are becoming a rarity and with a little effort can be found and made to stick as well. Here’s how.

Keep regular tabs on Linkedin and Facebook Groups where students and new writers constantly keep advertising their talents. They are trying to build up their portfolio and will gladly work for a lesser fee as compared to prevalent market rates. Sometimes, they are even willing to work for free if it helps their online profile!

Locating the right writer is also of prime importance and helps you make money faster. A good way to do this is to contact the creative writing and language departments of your nearest universities and look for freelancers who are willing to write either to fund their education or to earn some pocket money. If you put up a notice, chances are you’ll get a flood of responses. Or else, you could send a mail to the heads of the language, creative writing and public relations departments stating your specific requirements and they’ll probably forward it to deserving candidates who might just be fit enough to cater to tour needs.

Once you receive these student responses, ask them for samples on selected topics and then hire them based on their quality of writing. They’ll come for a much cheaper price. That’s for sure. Once you have a team in place, you can start scaling up and promoting the young writers to senior positions and who will be accepting articles from new writers for review and editing before being sent to a client. Once this chain is created, there won’t possibly be a dearth of young and fresh writers who’ll work at much more reasonable rates.

Another way of attracting students is to offer them slightly higher wages for their writing skills as compared to on-campus jobs. It also pays to remember that once a writer finds interest in his niche or subject, he is most likely to stick around and deliver some quality stuff. Moreover, for those looking for making a career in mass communications, this is a wonderful thing to write on their resumes.

Certain websites like Fiverr and Contentmart, too have writers on board who work for very reasonable rates. You just have to quote your fee, a prospective writer will bid for the job and get it. On completion, you just pay him his pre-determined fee.