Off shore content brokers?

[technoflutemom]

I had an experience with a content broker from India recently. Anyone know if these guys are on the up and up? He had a generic email address and his own writing was atrocious. He promised content from native speakers, though at a really cheap rate.

Anyone have any experience with something like this?

[eria]

yeh, I had an exp with indian and pakistani guys for SEO and writing related jobs. I feel pakistani people more professional than indian, although tey cost more than indians. but i found it worth paying to them.

[technoflutemom]

eria; do you mind telling me about what you paid? Just ballpark would be great. I'd really appreciate it.

[Ceruleah]

I would never do this. But then, I'm paranoid. LOL

[technoflutemom]

Ceruleah;

I'm leary, too. I didn't go through with the deal because it sounded dubious. I'm always suspicious.

[Hoosierhunter]

I have heard a mix of reports about outsourcing content writers. You can typically find cheap writers if you look hard enough, but outsourced work is sometimes grammatically inferior, which makes hiring one of these sites a waste of time. In addition, some of them use a funny program that strips pieces from several articles. Then, they have the employees work over the content to make it seem cohesive. Although this is a clever concept, you have to take into consideration that a place that cuts corners opens a webmaster up for grief later. In addition, do you get a guarantee of originality for your content dollar? Google is currently emphasizing "original content" for websites weighing higher than repeat. Good luck, and be sure to let us know about your positive or negative experience.

[zach]

I agree with hoosierhunter, originality can be a problem with offshore work. Be sure that you do not get ripped off.

If you work with Indians, I do not see why you would have a problem due only to the fact that they are Indian. The Indian schooling system teaches British English, and they usually write well, with proper grammer and spelling. They have strong Indian accents, but obviously, that isnt a problem for written work.

I doubt that you will get anything extraordinary from offshore work. It usually isnt creative. If you buy articles, it is basically like paying for words. You buy 800 words, not 3 great ideas or concepts.

If you are looking for site promotion, then insist on keyword rich articles. Explicitly give the keywords which you want to appear, and the number of times which you want them to appear within the article.

I would ask for sample work before you start. If you want more writers to choose from, check out elance.com

[Hoosierhunter]

I also recommend never paying partial up front. I recently heard of a scam where companies ask for half down and never deliver.

[duck]

Quote:I feel pakistani people more professional than indian, although tey cost more than indians. but i found it worth paying to them.

I had a web developer from Pakistan help me with a project and he was incredible. His English was excellent too. His rates were more than Indian rates but very worth it. I'm sure there are great Indian developers too, and I'm sure there are bad Pakistani developers, but that was my experience.

I also bought content from a guy from India and I don't think he even realized that his English was terrible. I think he truly thought he had excellent English, which is want he told me. I was very disappointed and I ended up throwing away money on the project. I say you get what you pay for.

[LyricB]

You guys should check out some of the freelancer websites out there. There are plenty of native-born speakers looking to get started writing and willing to do articles for next to nothing.