A colleague mentioned to me yesterday that he has found various sites where individuals are provided a topic and length stipulations and write a blog post or article for monetary compensation that is in turn used for SEO. He could not recall the different sites he had found this on but mentioned he had done it in the past. Has anyone used such services? I am thinking of possibly adding this as an occasional assistance for content marketing but would love any insight. If you have used it have you encountered any issues in quality? Is the use cost effective? Are there any specific sites or companies you do or do not recommend?

Thank you fellow campers!

While I haven’t actually used such a site, it sounds potentially tricky for content marketing assistance. Budget aside, I’d recommend you get that assistance from someone who understands your brand/goals on a more regular basis than someone who submits an occasional post on a subject. I just think it’s better getting that help from a content marketer who gets to know you so they can craft their content with your brand’s voice in mind.

I think having variety of voices is a good idea for your blog, especially if there are a few people in your company.  It adds character and personality to your company.  Give each of them their own author credits so potential clients can relate to people in the company.

I think if you browse through SME’s articles, you’ll see a variety of people who write the posts and how they handle cycling through different voices and people.  It’s a good way to handle it.

As for ghost writing, I do it.  It takes time to develop an understanding of the voice the person you’re ghosting for has and keeping the message consistent with what they want to deliver.  I would say if you wish to “ghost” write, you may want to pick a subject/topic area and approach a particular business to do this.

On the other hand if you want to “guest write”, rather than ghost, it may be more in line with what you have time for.  Guest writing/blogging is where you are yourself and offer your expertise to write for someone else’s blog.

I have guest blogged for others.

In one VA organization, there were about 5 volunteers including me, that were scheduled to provide 1 blog post per month free for membership in their organization.  It gave me the opportunity to pick my own subject, as long as it was directed to businesses that were looking for small business tips in a variety of areas and each of us Virtual Assistants blogged about specific services we were experienced with and how we could help the small businesses.  It gave me some experience of doing guest blogging above and beyond my own blog.

I have also provided “ghostwriting” services for some of my clients who really struggle creating regular posts for themselves.  Not only do I write on their behalf, I do the research for subject matter.  It is sometimes hard though, as it takes time to adopt their style and be able to understand their viewpoints on the subject matter and how it relates to their business.

@Carolyn Chen-Whatley is right about that aspect.

Alexandra, somewhere on here I started a forum about tips for buyers on iWriter.com. I used the site for various purposes, even just to speed up my own writing while still maintaining high quality and standards. It’s a discipline game I play.

I think I shared a lot of insight about using such services and how to locate the best writers, or at least how I made my list. I still write for them. I try to do it as a daily exercise to force me to at least write 500+ words a day. Believe me — it is not a job for the inexperienced.

The buyer puts up the money and usually within a few hours they will have their article. They do not have to buy it, so poor writers do NOT hang around or survive for long. My guess is the place is filled with ex-reporters who are disciplined to pump out numerous articles in a single day. This is definitely not an amateur’s game. If you pay a little extra, you will definitely find good, consistently high quality writing.

The key to it all is writing extremely good instructions. I don’t waste my time or talents with buyers who don’t know what they want. I write seo, business, and legal articles there. I imagine other writers pick their own niches there in much the same way. Write what you know and can wow them with.

Once I get a 5-star rating from a buyer with detailed feedback, I have something with which to judge other writers’ unseen work. I follow my Buyer’s page back to see reviews of other writers he’s reviewed. I look for details that his opinion of the writer was either comparable to or better than mine. I’m talking five-star writers with detailed explanations of how they went above and beyond and wowed their buyers.

I only follow or work for buyers who’ve demonstrated that they, too, are excellent writers and have an eye for quality. By scouting for good quality buyers, I’ve accumulated an awesome little team of writers I know I can trust for seo/article marketing content in three hours or less. For $5-10 an article, that is very hard to beat.

If you spend less, you get the masses and the newbies who are either below four stars or have less than 30 articles written so can’t show consistent ability yet. All their great writers went through that process there, too, though, so it is possible you might get one for $3-5.00 when they’re first starting or when the stock of higher priced article orders are low, but that’s a gamble.

Several of my buyers order articles 30-50 articles at a time, so I work simultaneously with 10 or so other writers. I’ved noticed we do gravitate toward the same type buyers and all of them are 4-stars and up. If I were you, depending on what you want, I would scroll through in the writer’s side view and find the 4+ star writers who write for attorneys. They CANNOT fake their way there. They’re either good or they get crucified. Attorneys or their seo companies, can be brutal to the average. They want excellent, engaging, and precise copy on the first attempt. Fail and you’ll get a 1-star rating, horrific feedback, and overall lowered  ratings.

Just wanted to share a range of what you might find there. Hope this helps.

Robin Carlisle

@alexandrabriggs