I got all angry about Google’s Matt Cutts waxing poetic about Amazon Mechanical Turk as a form of sweatshop labor for linkbait. I shouldn’t be surprised that they’re not just interested in getting the written word on the cheap… they actual want professional artists to work for free! (Because Google really has to worry about their budget these days – they only reported a profit of nearly $1.5 billion in the first quarter of this year.)

The New York Times reported that Google has been courting professional artists to create skins for their Chrome browser. Sounds pretty cool, right? The problem is that the sole compensation they were offering is exposure. I’m hoping that exposure means more than a single mention of the artist’s name on the browser skin download page, but who knows?

Because, you know, they’re just artists. They just sit around and be creative all day. This is Google we’re talking about! Everyone should bow and scrape before them because everyone and their grandma uses Google to search the Web! Why should they have to pay artists money for their little doodles?

The sad part is that they did get some artists to work for them for free. Because, you know, they’ll get so much exposure to all of those people who use Google Chrome for their browser. Because those 500 people are totally going to hire  a professional artist based on the funky browser skins they may or may not download.

I wanted to equate this to freelance writers who accept ridiculously low wages for creating content. But then I realized that was a poor analogy. It’s far worse than that. It’s like every single one of us who has ever created any form of content online. Because we’re totally working for Google (and, to be fair, the other search engines) for free – because they all profit from scraping our content and putting so much of it on the SERPs that users don’t even have to click through to our sites anymore to get some of the information they want.

Google Wants Artists to Work for FREE is a post from: Christina Gleason - Founder of Phenomenal Content LLC

According to Matt Cutts of Google, Internet marketers should avoid the unethical practice of buying links by paying a few pennies to the folks who complete tasks via Amazon Mechanical Turk and scoring free links from their efforts. Let me rephrase that: Google says it’s wrong to pay for other people to link to your Web site, but it’s totally cool to score hundreds or thousands of links – not by paying a professional copywriter to create an awesome resource for you – but by spending about 20 bucks for a handful of people to perform cheap labor for you with Amazon Mechanical Turk. Don’t believe me? Watch this video.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Amazon Mechanical Turk, it’s a place where companies pay unwitting individuals a few cents to complete tasks that can’t be automated. Looking to work from home? As I write this blog post, you can earn a whole penny for taking 10 minutes to answer some questions about a news article. If you do six of these tasks in an hour, you’re making an hourly wage of 6 whole cents! I tried doing these tasks when I was unemployed last year, and even with my efficiency, I wasn’t even making minimum wage.

But according to Google, this is a perfectly acceptable way to outsource crowdsource your linkbait. Matt Cutts talks about someone who paid a total of $25 to get a whole bunch of people to compile a list of adjectives about top Twitter users. This is quality content. And not just any quality content, it’s pure linkbait gold. This is what  Google wants to index. It’s completely within their guidelines for ethical SEO.

As a damn good copywriter, I take offense to this. This isn’t quality content. This is crap. This is pandering to the lowest common denominator for a quick chuckle, and paying slave wages to make it happen. Where is the quality in that? Tell me, Matt Cutts of Google’s Webspam team, why would you promote the proliferation of crap like this online instead of encouraging people to invest in something of value?

Dude, I was a Quality Rater. I know what your quality guidelines are – or at least what they were a year and a half ago. Have you really fallen so far? Do you really want to tell the world that what the Internet needs is another insipid fluff piece about Twitter? I’m sorry, sir, but you’ve just discredited everything you’ve ever said about quality content online.

And what is “white hat” about paying crap wages for something inane that could potentially make your business thousands of dollars? That may not break anything in your Webmaster guidelines, but it certainly doesn’t seem ethical to me. Just because you can get away with paying someone a nickel for 45 minutes of work doesn’t mean that you should. In fact, it would be against U.S. employment laws if there was an employee relationship involved. But that’s a whole different rant about the abuse of independent contractors.

All content is paid for in one form or another. I happen to make a living writing quality content because, during my stint as a Quality Rater, I actually wanted to try and make the Internet a better place. What’s the difference in paying writers (say, bloggers perhaps?) to review and link to your product than paying someone to produce content for you in order to attract links? On one hand, the money goes to the writer to manipulate people into linking, on the other hand, the money goes to the writer who was “manipulated” into publishing the link.

Oh wait, that’s right… bloggers should work for free and shouldn’t be paid for linking to companies in the first place. That’s essentially what it’s come down to when Google instituted this “no paid links” policy. The companies don’t suffer. They’re getting free freaking publicity by not paying bloggers to link to them. Yeah, I’m a blogger, too. It’s ridiculous how many moms I know are working for free so that they can have the “honor” of reviewing a $5 product and not get slammed for writing a paid review. It’s crap.

But Google doesn’t respect content creators. That much is clear. It just wasn’t obvious to me just how badly the search giant wanted to screw content producers until now. Google doesn’t really care about quality content. They just want everyone to jump through their hoops so they can keep making money hand over fist for other people’s hard work.

Google Says Quality is Dirt Cheap, Don’t Hire Copywriters is a post from: Christina Gleason - Founder of Phenomenal Content LLC

I’ve been working on a lot of content for my article writing clients.  There is a lot of information “out there” on the Internet that writers like me use for their research.  Some topics have more information available than others, and we all have a short list of Web sites – or classes of Web sites – that can be considered trusted sources.

Like most Internet Marketers can attest, the .gov pages are pure gold – although marketers value link juice from these sites more than the informational resources they provide. Information on most government sites can be considered trustworthy, so writers often use these sites in their research when applicable.

Major news sites are generally pretty accurate, although writers need to be wary of the use of statistics and editorial bias.  Breaking news is less accurate than in-depth pieces, but reporters have a vested interest in the accuracy of their words.

Then there are a handful of professional or expert sites – Web sites run by doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, architects, and other professionals. We trust what they professionals say because they are the experts in their fields. The information contained on their Web sites is assumed to be an extension of each professional’s personal knowledge base, and many writers use the sites in the research without verifying the accuracy of the information. After all, these are licensed  professionals, and they wouldn’t want to risk their reputations by providing false information.

The problem is that many of these professionals do not possess professional writing skills – or if they do, they don’t have the time to write their own Web site content because they are busy doing the work they are paid to do.  Web site content is either outsourced or completed by another member of the office staff.  Because the quality of the research depends largely on the quality of the writer, this is a very risky proposition.

I’ve been using some of these professional Web sites as research resources for my client work.  I like to make sure my content is more comprehensive than other content out there, so I use multiple sources.  I encountered my first instance of false information last week.  Three more articles uncovered even more instances of blatantly inaccurate information this morning.  Because many of these professional resources cannibalize each other, they tend to parrot the false information found on their competitors’ Web sites.  Who is writing this stuff?

Sadly, the writers who were charged with creating the content for these professionals were not very diligent. To be honest, a quick glance at Wikipedia would have told the writers that the information was wrong.  There is something  wrong when Wikipedia is more reliable than an article published on your accountant’s Web site. How do I know that Wikipedia was right?  I Googled a few related search terms to determine which  information was correct. Wikipedia won every time.

If you are a writer, you need to check your sources. You need to use a variety of different types of sources. Using four doctors’ Web sites in your research is not the same as using a doctor’s Web site, the FDA site, an article from a medical journal, and an article from the New York Times. You can’t take shortcuts if you want to protect your own reputation and the reputation of your writing clients.

If you are in the market for buying content, make sure you trust the writers you end up hiring. You know you’re not going to get anything resembling proper English if you hire $1.00/article writers from India, and you’re not going to get diligent research from a writer who is trying to crank out enough $10 articles as quickly as possible to pay the bills. You’re going to have to do your own research to make sure your writer is going to do theirs.

Because honestly, you don’t want to find out that the information on your Web site is less valuable than the information on Wikipedia.

Check Your Sources – The Prevalence of False Information Online is a post from: Christina Gleason - Founder of Phenomenal Content LLC

I have to admit, the whole concept of what to charge for content creation can be quite confusing for writers, which makes the concept of how much to pay for content confusing for content buyers. There are all sorts of different methods used to bill for content creation, and I’d like to take a look at some of the most popular.

Pay Per Hour

Some writers get paid by the hour. Most often, these writers are hired on a full-time or part-time basis by a specific company.  Their whole job is to write whatever the company needs them to write, whether it’s Web site content, sales letters, press releases, blog posts, or any other hundred things needed by one department or another.

These writers get paid quite literally for every minute they spent brainstorming, researching, preparing, writing, formatting, editing, and finalizing the content they create. If a writing project takes longer than expected, the writer does not get shorted for going above and beyond the call of duty to do things right. On the other hand, companies may not know if all the time they are paying for is  time being well spent. While many writers are quite diligent and work very hard, others are not as productive.

Pay Per Word

The prospect of getting paid by the word can be quite exciting for some writers, especially those of us who have a tendency to be quite verbose. Getting paid by the word encourages writers to fully develop the subjects they are writing about. When writers are asked to deliver 300 words, they know they will be creating a far broader, more generic article than they would when asked to deliver 750 words on a subject.

The problem for both writers and those that hire them is that of filler.  Writers may try to stretch their word count with unnecessary words and phrases that do not add to the overall value of the piece.  While some writers may do this intentionally to squeeze some extra money out of their work, others may do it out of perceived necessity.  If they are contracted to write 750 words on a subject, where they are getting paid specifically to write 750 words, they may struggle to add more when they discover their fully developed article comes up short at 625 words. Paying by word does not take into account time spent doing research on subjects with little information that is readily available.

Pay Per Page

Many writers opt to be paid by page written.  While the definition of a page is open for interpretation, freelance writers often define a based based on a word count range. As they are not being paid by the word, this grants the writer the freedom to determine the appropriate length for each individual topic.

When companies pay per page, they may wonder why they are paying the same amount for a 550 word page as they are for a 950 word page. The answer lies in the fact that the amount of time spent on each page is probably pretty comparable. While pages of 500 words or less are often generic overviews of a topic, and are thus billed accordingly because of the minimal research needed, pages up to 1,000 words are generally written as comprehensive resources on specific topics.  Some topics have more information available than others. When an abundance of information is available, writers may find it easy to come up with 980 words. When informational resources are scarce, it may take just as long to research enough to write 450 words as it did to write the previous 980 word page.

Essentially, when you pay for content by page, you are paying for the amount of research, time, and effort involved to create each page.

My Rates

This all, of course, applies only to general Web content, the type of content designed to provide information for your visitors. Sales copy, press releases, and other types of promotional content are a completely different  animal. But with that disclaimer out of the way…

My article writing rates were created on a per page basis. I have separate rates for up to 500 words and over 500 words. This has very little to do with actual word count, and more to do with the extensiveness of each page.

If you hire me to write 100 of the <500 word pages, I know you want some pretty basic content that won’t require much research. You are billed accordingly, even if I happen to go over 500 words on some pages.

If you hire me to write 100 of the >500 word pages, I know you want me to do some pretty extensive research, going into as much detail as possible, up to about 1,000 words. Basically, I will do everything in my power to make your page a better resource than any other single page online on the topic. Sometimes I’ll hit over 900 words, but other times I may not scratch 500. But rest assured, I probably spent just as long on the shorter page – maybe even longer – than I did on the 900 word page, just trying to find enough material to make each page as informative as possible.

Your Thoughts

What are your thoughts about content creation pricing? I’m interested in hearing from both writers and people who hire writers.

What Are You Paying For When You Buy Content? is a post from: Christina Gleason - Founder of Phenomenal Content LLC

It’s been one week since I launched my new business, and I can’t believe I’m booked for the next month! Crazy, right? I’ve got a few requests for content hanging out there, and it kills me that I’ve had to turn work away.

So I’m going to talk with some business type people for some advice on how this works. I know that I need to file a d/b/a, and I should talk to an accountant… And then I’ll be looking into adding another writer or two to help me out with the writing. (I’ll still do final edits on all work, because it’s still my name and reputation we’re talking about here.)

This is still all in the “idea” phase… But I wanted to let everyone know what I’m working on. So if you were one of the people who was disappointed to hear I was booked, maybe you can be slightly less disappointed now.

I’ll make an official post when everything is in place.

P.S. I’ll be contacting writers individually. I have specific people in mind based on the content requests I’ve received already.

Looking to Expand is a post from: Christina Gleason - Founder of Phenomenal Content LLC

Article writing and blogging are completely different animals. There are some spectacular bloggers who couldn’t write a quality SEO article if their lives depended on it. Likewise, there are many article writers who just aren’t cut out for the world of blogging. It’s a lucky find when you encounter a person who can do both. (It’s your lucky day!)

I’ll tell you why I love to blog. Blogging offers a lot more freedom than article writing. I can let my personality shine through. I can connect with readers and start conversations. And all of those grammatical rules I love so much? I get to break them occasionally for stylistic reasons. (Can you spot where I did it in this paragraph?)

Let me blog for you. If you’ve got a corporate blog that needs someone to help make your business seem less… corporate, why not let me make it more human?  If you’ve got a personal or hobby blog that you just don’t have time to update regularly, let me help you out with some fresh blog posts.

Rates are negotiated on a per-project basis, starting at $100 per blog post. Big companies may ask for $150-$300 per blog post, but they charge the same to large clients and small ones. I’m not going to ask Suzy’s Scrapbooking Blog to pay the same as Giant Monster Corporation Blog. If you need blog posts, make me an offer when you contact me. (Don’t forget to include total number of posts you want, or the frequency of posts you want on a recurring basis.)

Blogging Services is a post from: Christina Gleason - Founder of Phenomenal Content LLC

As QualityGal, I didn’t get much opportunity to write articles myself, but writing has always been a passion of mine. I’m a tiny bit OCD, which is good for the research process, as well as for getting everything just right.

Having created SEO writing guides and my own style manual, I have a handle on how to write Web content effectively.  My specialty subjects include health, mental health, children, family, gifts, special occasions, and product reviews, but I am willing to research many other subjects. I may not be the best fit for a highly technical guide to CSS or Perl, but I could write a page that explains what CSS is and what it’s used for.

If you know what content you need, I can write it for you. If you think you need content but don’t know what exactly needs to be written, I can help you figure that out for a nominal consulting fee, and then write it for you.

My rates will vary widely depending on the type of content needed, the amount of research required, and any special requirements. In general, my rates start at $.06-$.07 per word for general Web content requiring basic research. Large SEO companies or content companies will charge you $.14 per word (or more!) for the same work, and not necessarily return the same high quality work that I would. (I know because I’ve helped set company content creation rates!) By going directly to the source (me) you cut out a lot of overhead, and you know that you’re getting a top rate writer, not a 1 in 200 chance that the writer who works on your project has the same high standards as me. You won’t necessarily need to pay a copy editor to double check my work, either, unless you really want to.

Here is a starting point for negotiation, assuming basic research and no special requirements:

• $35 per article for general Web content, up to 500 words. (Less research needed.)
• $75 per article for specialized Web content, 501-1000 words. (More research needed.)
• $50+ per product review, plus product to review. (I won’t write a review without actually testing out the product. Sorry, but that’s the way I roll. Quality and ethics. Rate varies depending on depth of review.)
• Larger or more complex projects negotiable.
• Print media rates also negotiable.

These rates are subject to change based on project scope and non-standard writing requirements. Please contact me for more information.

Article Writing Services is a post from: Christina Gleason - Founder of Phenomenal Content LLC