screening process

[reliable1]

I have found that a VERY high percentage of writers / writing services writing for web as found on various freelance sites are stealing articles and reselling them or just re-writing existing articles based upon making a few word changes. That in itself is bad but it can also hurt your page ranking for a website. Copyscape affords a minimal level of safeguard against this at best. So I'm curious what you are doing about this if you are buying writing services?

[myst woman]

I write all original articles. But I find most buyers have no idea what they are doing and what they want, and leave the scope so broad it's sometimes impossible to fulfill expectations that are neither quantified nor are they qualified to judge. The best hiring commissioner of articles says I'd like a first person, 2nd or third person voice, this many words, some keywords and perhaps some citations.

Picking up a magazine and becoming frustrated that your writer's article does not match in tone, style, or form is not the author's fault if the buyer never mentioned what they want. I have been burned by about 70% of "legitimate" buyers looking for ways to exploit any system that burdens the writer with originality, freelance research, self-supporting business premises, and marketing responsibilities.

There are also a number of people using elance and other online services to jumble the work of others and commission writing and credit so they can "acquire" the work of others that becomes "unsatisfactory" after they have made use of. I have copyscaped my unsold articles before and found them in strange unauthorized places, but what freelance writer has time to be a web cop in their "free time"?

Many hiring article webmasters ordering content know their is no da*n way a writer can come after them for content infringement without spending about 5000% of the time it took to produce the content. So likely they just will take the burns to keep the small percentatge of decent commissioners hiring them.


I spent about a year brokering my hard work at guru.com and found a number of people getting writing for free. They used phony credit cards, used their businesses to shelter blame for "unauthorised" charges. These platforms always bow to the custromer, who promises more revenue if the "little misunderstanding" can be cleared up.

This time last year I withdfrew from guru to find the broker for the same gig using me directly online. I wrote a few articles when I realized they'd shortly be showing up on the same website that claimed my work was "below expectation". This was one of many strange and strongly subversive attempts to claim work without paying.

After a LOT of work, I decided the only way for me to get satisfaction was to show up at the office of the client business and demand to see the webmaster or IT manager or human resources person, who could explain the two months of emails authorizing further work through the guru.com platform.

Naturally, that company's accounting department "suddenly" realized someone had used the American Express card without proper approval. They reversed the charges. All this time I had to forfeit other bids or delay responding to better requests because these schemers kept me busy using guru.com as a front.

I've had calls from Asia, gmail addresses up the wazoo, office executives acting really strangely on the phone, and disappearing clients. Of course, Guru didn't discover how fraudulent they were until after i'd done quite a bit of the work.

Writing online is like Ebay, where bad buyers will always have more money and credentials to produce new profiles and get the very best of customer service from money hungry client platforms eager to keep credit card holders happy. Meanwhile, content writers get burned enough times and go away.

Until there is a universal IP specific reporting platform for bad phone numbers, credit card numbers, email addresses, and websites with halls of shame for duplicitous article hiring commissioners, the very best of content writers have little incentive in a crowded field to stick their neck out for someone who wants a #3 Google ranking after 1800 words.

And evidently lives in China, needs my resume and home phone for 300 word blurbs, only answers their telephone on weekends after 1 am, and wants a photo.

[Acro]

I, too, write my own copy and have seen it skimmed and used elsewhere. At some point I'd send a C&D to the web host of the offending site.

Consider this fine example of a rip: my old domain & business, timechange.com from July 2003 and UK-based rippers "Kallistra Graphics" using a ripped design & stolen copy since, allegedly, 2004.

[myst woman]

Constant content really offends me by providing skimming opportunities. They require one third the text of the article be viewable (and copyable and pastable) for every qualified submission. Kind obvious why nobody has to fork over money, huh?

[DDC_Cyn]

I have found that a VERY high percentage of writers / writing services writing for web as found on various freelance sites are stealing articles and reselling them or just re-writing existing articles based upon making a few word changes. That in itself is bad but it can also hurt your page ranking for a website. Copyscape affords a minimal level of safeguard against this at best. So I'm curious what you are doing about this if you are buying writing services?

To start with, pay more for the service. At a couple of dollars per article an author is more likely to "borrow" chunks from elsewhere just to make his time pay.

Other than that, reputation. Hire someone you can check up on.

Lastly, a real obvious sign that many people miss - if they can't write an email to you in proper English, but the article reads like something from the Wall Street Journal - they stole it.

[myst woman]

I forgot to say there are good apples too.