Outsourcing – It Can Take A Load Off Your Back
Yes, I have finally succumbed to what I have been thinking about for a long, long time but never had the guts to do (I always thought I had to do it myself to stay true…) – Outsourcing. I have outsourced the content creation for my second micro niche website! As soon as I did it I felt – FREE!!! If you are like me and find writing a real struggle, especially for something you have no clue about, it can be an absolute pain to sit at your desk hour after hour and try to come up with something that is readable, makes sense and sounds like you know what you are talking about.
Every day, day after day, I sat down frustratedly and tried to write. Didn’t know where to start or what to write. Delayed and delayed the launch of my site. Constantly had the feeling I need to do this, I need to finish it, I need to write. I can tell you, it is an awful feeling, and maybe you can relate to it.
So after a couple of weeks of trying to write, I finally decided to do this step towards my “last resort” – outsourcing my content writing. See, I knew what else I wanted on my site, I had the titles for my pages, knew what kinds of ads I wanted. It was just the 300+ words per page I needed to get on paper. I had never outsourced before, so I was a bit apprehensive. But I had heard in the past about Elance and that this was probably the best place to outsource my writing, so I signed up with them and posted my first project.
Within hours I had several writers on Elance bidding on my project. Basically, you post what exactly you want done and your budget range, and the professional writers on Elance can put bids in to say “I will do it for X amount…”. All you have to do is have a look at all of them and pick the one that suits your needs best!
Have a look at their previous feedback – it should be close to or more than 95% positive. Also check out some of their customer reviews, that will tell you a lot about the work they have done previously. It is also wise to check out whether they had repeat customers in the past, and how many. Repeat customers mean that they did a good job for other people before who decided to use them again. You should also make sure that they have included one or several samples of their previous work in their proposal for you to read. This will give you a better insight into what to expect.
The whole process for me was super easy and very pleasant. Within a week I had my 12 content pages written, including meta descriptions and proper keyword density, and I am very happy with the result. And the best thing was that after having assigned the project to a professional writer I felt that a lot of my valuable time had been freed up for me to do other pressing things instead having to worry for hours over creating content. For example, I could go off without feeling guilty and start studying for my bookkeeping again! 😉
You want to know about the pricing? I know that cost is a huge factor for many of us. I paid $83 for 12 content pages (that’s less than $7 per page) on something that would have taken me several weeks to complete, and it meant that I could concentrate my valuable time on other equally important things. To me that is more than a fair price. I even had an offer that was lower than that, but I decided to go with the slightly higher price as I had the feeling I would get more for my money in this instant. But this is totally up to you.
I for once am super happy to finally have taken the step to outsource my writing, because I suck at it and the prospect of having to produce good quality articles always made me feel under pressure. I truly feel that I have conquered one of the last big hurdles that might have been holding me back from real success, and I am very glad I found the courage to start outsourcing! If you are struggling with it like I do, it is something I would urge you to think about…. if you can somehow afford it, it is truly worth it!
…Once I have my new website live, I will add it to “My other websites” in my sidebar to the right so you can check it out.
Category: Article Writing, Content Creation, Niche Websites
About the Author (Author Profile)
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Comments (26)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
Sites That Link to this Post
- Outsourcing – It Can Take A Load Off Your Back – Petra-Weiss.com | November 2, 2009
Petra,
Outsourcing is my favorite thing to do. Basically, whenever I do this I always look to get help with what I either don’t like, don’t want or don’t have the skills to do.
Works pretty well.. But more importantly gives me the opportunity to concentrate on what I’m good at and what I love.
Take care,
Rob
FYI – http://seoarticles4you.com/
.-= Rob Canyon´s last blog ..The Secret Society of ‘Blog Traffic Hurricane’… Here Is Where We Meet. =-.
@Rob, that’s what I hoped to achieve – be able to concentrate on what I like doing, and moving forward. 🙂 I have checked out your link and I might actually give it a go! Thanks for sharing…
I started outsourcing much of my tedious work quite some time ago. There are some great people out there who can write and make graphics way better than I can. Plus once you find people that do a good job it makes getting your work done even easier.
.-= Jenny Carson´s last blog ..Kenny Chesney: Possibly the Hottest Male Crossover Artist in Country Music Today =-.
Hi Petra,
Outsourcing is indeed a big step and I’m glad you’re happy you took it.
Outsourcing for content writing is very safe I guess because you’ll be posting the content yourself, at least I would think so.
I would be more interested in outsourcing the technical stuff, design, graphics etc. if I made the big step. In that case I’d be concerned about the security of my site. I’m sure there are ways to make it safe but it still concerns me.
Writing content can be a pain at times but content to me is far too important to leave it to others, at least for now. I have used other content besides my own from article directories before – on my healthy diet site – but most of it I had to rewrite, at least partially.
Unfortunately it is still a content that others use and therefore a duplicate content which Google doesn’t care for.
Using Elance writers is much better but never as good as when you write it yourself.
I honestly find your writing of very good quality and don’t understand why you feel it’s not. I hope that you’ll still write your own content at least occasionally. It is very honest and to the point and it reflects you, which makes it completely unique.
I look forward to seeing your new site with outsourced content. So far I haven’t seen it – the link to it – here.
Vance
.-= Vance@Extraordinary Minds league´s last blog ..53 Extraordinary Minds League, Rich Schefren, Jay Abraham =-.
@Vance, I do have a good look over all the articles I get back and make some slight changes to them. And I have only outsourced content for my actual micro site(s) so far. I will never outsource content for this blog or my Healthy Diet Weight Loss blog – they are too personal, and I like writing for them. I do not want people to think that I am not the author of what’s written here (or on the other blog). They are “me“. It’s the content for articles or websites I am struggling with.
I haven’t been able to put my new site up yet as XSitePro keeps crashing on me at the moment, it has to do with some other programs on my computer and I am in the middle of resolving the problem. Once it’s up and running again, I should be off!
You write so well. When you say ‘if you are like me and find writing a real struggle…’, I find the part ‘if you are like me’ to be ‘objectionable’ 🙂
.-= Gouri@quotes´s last blog ..PageRank updated for October, 2009 =-.
@Gouri, I do write everything for my blogs myself, and that’s ok. it’s the content for my sites, or articles I want to submit that I am struggling with! 😉
@Petra
Was just kidding. I fully understand the context 🙂
When you are not related to the topic for the last several births, it’s really a pain struggling to write on that. Further, you will never be confident that you did justice with your job. The best option in such scenario definitely is to outsource to somebody specialized in the subject. However, though the decision by itself is not so tough, most of us fail to take timely decision on this.
.-= Gouri@quotes´s last blog ..PageRank updated for October, 2009 =-.
I actually have one project “hanging over my head” that I might outsource the content writing for. Nice, profitable niche but nothing that inspires me to write about at all! Normally I always prefer to write my own content (little control freak that I am) but this time I might be game! SY
PS I signed up for elance using your link 😉
.-= hospitalera@Gummi Crib Rail´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.
@hospitalera, good on you – take the plunge, it might not be as cold as you think 😉 Thanks so much for using my link to sign up to Elance – that’s true spirit between fellow Internet Marketers!
I also recently started outsourcing some of my content creation. I am using NeedanArticle and so far I am somewhat pleased with it. It has definitely freed up some time. However the quality of the articles aren’t as good as I would like.
I spend a few minutes touching them up when I get them. And then I check for duplicate content on the web. Everything I’ve gotten back so far has been 100% original. That’s what was most important to me when I started looking to outsource.
I use it mostly when I get side tracked by family matters. It allows me to focus on my family and at the same time know that my business is still growing. Gives me peace of mind.
.-= Steve @ Self Hypnosis Weight Loss´s last blog ..Hypnosis MP3 Weight Loss Programs =-.
@Steve, they are very good reasons to outsource! And I do the touching up as well, it only takes a few minutes, nothing serious.
Hi Petra,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. This is my fist (and not last) visit here, and I like your writing and your blog.
I have my own small internet marketing business, and last month I started to outsource my content tasks too. Since English is not my native language, it is the best way for me to create unique quality content.
I’ve been using Elance as well and I’m very happy with its services.
Thanks again for your hospitality, I promise to visit you again,
Guy
.-= Guy@At-Home Teeth Whitening´s last blog ..Dental Teeth Whitening Kits And Teeth Whitener Products =-.
I have yet to make the leap Petra. Outsourcing my writing will likely be the very last thing I outsource. I’m still a bit apprehensive about it. The concern is always a quality one, but I’m sure if you’re not satisfied you can just not use that writer again right?
.-= David @ Inexpensive Gifts for Men´s last blog ..Christmas Gifts for Men =-.
I have been struggling with the idea of outsourcing my writing…should I, should I not…I have to be in the right creative mood to produce a semi-decent article, and even then I struggle. After reading your post on the subject of outsourcing, I think I may just go ahead and find someone to do my writing for me. You opened my eyes with your tips, especially the one about looking at an Elance project bidder’s previous feedback.
Kathleen, I have not looked back!
I have yet to try outsourcing yet – the only reason is the lack of money that I have – and the lack of money that I am making also. If I knew I would benefit from it that would be a different story but until then I will just continue to write, which is one of my passions anyway. 🙂
.-= heather@dental assistant training´s last blog ..Begin A Career With Dental Assistant Training =-.
I think all seo company provides this facility, but I have used a company like medicalwebexperts.com in the past and my experience with that company was outstanding. According to me it’s also helpful to you.
Petra, thank you for writing about this. I have heard of people doing it but have never actually read about the experience. As anybody who does websites knows, it takes a while before you will see the results. I am sure that this was $80 well spent. Let us know down the road if it was worth it and thanks for the info.
.-= Richard@How To Videos´s last blog ..How To Open A Roth IRA =-.
Hi, thanks for sharing this good things in outsourcing. I believe that outsourcing will help retain customers and gain new ones, create additional revenue streams and leverage economies of scale to deliver services quickly to new customers. Above you help also others to find their living.
Alesandra recently posted…Adult Musketeer Costume
Outsourcing now a days is highly in demand. I have to tell you I love Outsourcing and it has improved my business more then I ever imagined.
TryBPO recently posted…BPO Philippines- Indispensable Business Process Outsourcing Hub
You have good experience of outsourcing but I have very bad experience. I have outsourced a project of $300 and the work has to complete in 12 days but it was incomplete after passing 75 days
jhon recently posted…Maigrir en Santé !
jhon, where did you outsource to? It might have to do with whom you deal.
I am really interested.This is great page and excellent articles of about outsourcing . Awesome blogs! thanks a lot.
best regards,
Catherine
Thanks for sharing a nice information.
IT consulting servies