I am a web content writer. Maybe not a great one, but definitely a good one! I began this blog after I quit my job, and found it a good way to pass time. I wrote when I found the time, and on topics I thought would be useful.

Then last month, I had a good e-commerce idea, and decided to launch a site [more on this later]. I did not have the time to write so many articles so I thought, “Well I’ll hire some writers.”

I went to sites like, freelance.com, elance.com and vworker.com, and posted my project. The going rate is apparently $1 per 100 words. I would never write for so little, but I can understand people in India, Pakistan, and other small economies working for that amount.

So, I hired a couple of writers from two different websites at the rate of $1/2 per 100 words. I divided my projects, and had the writers begin the work. I thought, if the work needs editing, I can do it myself.

Well let me tell you something, it is not worth it!

I posted the projects 15 days ago, and set the deadline for 35-50 articles, 100-200 words each, to be sent in after 8-10 days. I asked the writers to let me know if they would be delayed. As long as they sent me a couple of articles every day, I would have no problem with the delay.

This is what happened:

VWorker.com: I hired two writers.
One writer was in the UK and one in the US. I assigned both two sets of articles 50 and 36.
The first writer with 36 articles sent me 21 articles after 8 days [he had said he could have the articles in 7 days]. Surprisingly, they were well written. So I suggested he take 2 more days, and send me the rest. The writer agreed. Three days down the road, I had no idea whether the work was being done. Then, the writer sends me the work. He sent 6 new articles, and 9 he simply resent.

So, I asked him to rectify the mistake. He did so after another couple of days. It took me one whole day to edit the work he sent me after the 21 articles. There were numerous grammatical mistakes, punctuation errors, research problems, and more. The only thing he did was kept begging me for a 10/10 rating. Really!

The second writer sent in all 50 articles only a day late. The problem was the articles had punctuation errors, grammar problems, and even capitalization issues. Now, I could have edited them, but I was paying the writer $100 for 50 articles. I asked her to edit them, and send them in after 4 days. That was 6 days ago; I have heard nothing from her.

As a result, I cut about 10% from the first project payment and 20% from the second. Each of these writers was rated at above 9.8/10.

Elance.com
Again I had two projects. Both projects were for 50 articles 100-200 words each. They went for around the same rate. I set two milestones of 25 articles after 1 week.

After a week one writer sent me 25 articles—completely plagiarized. When I complained, he said I should have informed him that I did not want research from other sites. Excuse me-really? I have put the project in dispute, as I had stated specifically in the projects details that I could reject all the articles if even one was plagiarized. 90% or more of the work was plagiarized!

The second writer, whose work was due yesterday, February 13, 2011, has yet to send anything!

Crowd sourcing and Writing:
I chose workers/writers who were apparently from the US, UK and European states. I had assumed that they would be good writers. I am now, not even sure their profile is real. As a writer, I could write the articles myself, but I thought I would save myself some time. Reality check!

I have got to thinking, why would anyone hire a writer who would work for such a minuscule amount?

I know you save money, but after 15 days all I have is a headache. I would rather pay someone a higher amount; get the work done on time, and save my resources. Crowd sourcing may be working for other industries, but writing, from my own experience, has a long way to go!

Bottomline:
The freelance sites online are an amazing resource. However, their rating system is flawed. I had an unprofessional writer begging to be rated 10/10 even after a project fiasco. How many employers just give the rating?

Do the freelance sites check where the writers are located or are the profiles fake?

Before hiring anyone off these sites, make sure you have a guarantee of sorts; otherwise you will be out of time and money. Better bet is hiring someone who you can call, and talk to in your own state of residence!

Tags: Creative Writing, crowdsourcing, Publishing, Writing
Posted in Web Content |