Webmasters and business owners who need content face a major decision — hiring a freelancer or using content service providers. With research, you will find benefits to both, but you may find that using content service providers has more benefits, especially if the provider has many freelancers at all writing experiences and levels.
Benefits to Hiring a Freelancer: When you hire a freelancer, you control the interview. You have the ability to negotiate pay based on the freelancer’s experience. You are also working with one person and can groom his or her writing style to your requirements.
Cons of Hiring a Freelancer: Most freelancers use some sort of online payment, but some may require that you pay via check. A freelancer may not have the means to accept credit cards, which could limit how much work you can request, unless you have a well-padded expense account that is not a credit account.
- You have to enforce deadlines. If the freelancer “disappears,” you have no other option but to take the time to write the piece yourself or look for another freelancer.
- You may have to purchase content that does not meet your requirements.
- You have to create a contract for each freelancer you hire, then worry about submitting tax forms at the end of the year.
- You have to ensure that the freelancer did not plagiarize content.
- You have to write the checks directly to the freelancer, then send each freelancer the proper tax forms at the end of the year.
Benefits of Using Content Service Providers: When you hire a content service provider, you have several benefits:
- Only One Contract: You have a choice of many writers, but create only one contract — the contract with the service provider.
- Deadlines: If you have a deadline that a freelancer doesn’t meet, any one of several other freelancers will pick up the assignment, so you are sure to get your piece on time.
- Writer Experience: If you need a simple piece, you can choose a writer at a lower level and pay less for the content. If you need someone that is a professional in your field, you can choose a writer with that experience.
- Peace of Mind: You simply upload the assignment a writer picks it up. Once the writer finishes, he or she submits the draft, and it shows up on your dashboard. If the draft isn’t up to your expectations, you can request revisions.
- Rejections: If the content service provider is a great provider, you will not pay for content you are unhappy with. Depending on the content service provider, you may ask for several revisions or you may reject the piece.
- Editing: You can have another pair of eyes edit the freelancer’s piece. This ensures that the freelancer didn’t miss something and that you don’t miss something.
- A good content service provider ensures its writers do not plagiarize material. A popular plagiarism checker, Copyscape, matches the writer’s text with search results from Google and Yahoo! to determine whether the content appears elsewhere on the Internet.
Cons of Using Content Service Providers: The one con of using a content service provider is that it may cost you a little extra. However, that extra small cost could save you money in the long run. If a freelancer “runs out” on you, your time is wasted. If you’ve paid for content ahead of time, your time and money is wasted. You have to create contracts with each freelancer. You have to edit everything that comes across your desk as opposed to having a second pair of eyes — if you elect to use the content service provider’s editing services — looking at the article before you receive it.
A Natural Choice
Choosing a content service provider saves you time and money; most of all, it keeps the headaches away. If you love a certain freelancer, you can assign articles to that writer or to a group of writers. If you need a lot of content quickly, you can upload the assignments in bulk and allow the general pool of writers at a certain level write them, or create a list of writers you like.
Cheryl B is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
