Outsourcing Article Writing - Ten Tips For Being Smart When Outsourcing

By Author: Sean Mize
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Online entrepreneurs are always looking for creative, effective ways to accomplish more tasks and reach their business goals in less time for less money. One very good strategy that can help you save money, frustration, and time in building your online business is outsourcing as much work as possible to external skilled service providers.

I've interviewed those people who have come to master the art of outsourcing and they seem to have the same tips for those people who are thinking about going this route. These tips are the following:

1. Don't expect your service providers to know everything you want. If you want to get the exact articles that you're looking for, you must take time in telling your service providers exactly what you want. Do you want short or lengthy articles? What's your preferred tone and writing format? What angles do you want them to target? What would be the keyword density? The more details you offer to these people, the better.

2. Carefully evaluate your potential service providers. As much as possible, you would like to do this right the first time. Make sure that you hire the ...
... best ghostwriter for your writing needs. Interview your prospects and ask as many questions as possible. Verify their skills and make sure that they have what it takes to give you exactly what you're looking for. Also, don't be afraid to ask for references and recommendations. Voice out your concerns if you have any as soon as possible. It's better that you address these upfront instead of having problems in the future.

3. Go with service providers who have relevant experience. Ideally, you want to hire somebody who is an expert in your chosen niche to make sure that he/she will be able to provide you with expertly written articles. So, when choosing your ghostwriters, ask if they've written similar topics before. This is very important especially if you're looking for articles that are very technical in nature.

4. Price shouldn't be the sole determining factor. Right now, there are so many people from all points of the globe who are trying to sink their teeth into the field of ghostwriting. However, not all of them have what it takes to deliver 100% satisfaction. Most of those who are just starting out or those that are inexperienced are charging way below compare to established ghostwriters. If you want to get high quality articles and if you want to get your money's worth, I'd say be willing to invest and be willing to spend at least $5/article.

5. Review samples and online portfolio. Make time to carefully examine the online portfolio of the service providers and ensure that their samples meet your expectations for style and quality. If you're still unsure if you found the perfect ghostwriter after reviewing their portfolio, consider asking them to write at least one article. Provide a basic outline and detailed instructions. Don't worry as most ghostwriters these days, particularly those who are dead serious about their job, will not mind writing sample articles for their prospective buyers.

6. Start small. When working with a ghostwriter for the first time, it's wise to start with a small project. Once you're confident that you can trust a particular writer, you can go ahead and entrust critical mission project to him/her.

7. Agree on payment scheme. Both you and your service provider surely don't want to get scammed. You don't want these people to run away with your money and these people don't want you to run away with their articles without paying for them. Before you start any project, talk about the payment scheme. It's best if you pay at least 20% upfront or use escrow service. This will give the service providers an assurance that they'll get paid for their job.

8. Communicate with your provider. It's important that you're always available to your providers who might have important questions or clarifications. It's also important that your define milestones. This is to make sure that these people will meet your deadline and that the articles will meet your standards. I suggest that you tie these milestones to your payments. For example, if they're able to finish half of the project, send them half of the payment. There is no doubt that this set up will make both you and those that provide your service happy.

9. Discuss copyrights and ownership. Before you release the payment, make your providers understand that you own the articles and that they cannot use them in anyway. For your protection, get this agreement into writing and have it signed by your provider.

10. Talk about revision request. As a buyer, you would want to be able to request for revisions as many times as possible. Talk about this issue with your service providers. Most ghostwriters will agree to revise your articles at least twice; some will do it until you're completely satisfied.
Sean Mize teaches coaches, consultants, and small business owners how to package their knowledge and sell it at a high price.

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