Building My Empire » Outsourcing

May 11

Outsourcing Article Writing

Outsourcing, SEO, Web Content No Comments »

Outsourcing in general is a rather scary proposition. I was more than a bit apprehensive about the whole outsourcing thing, because I’m not rich and I’m not able to just throw money at a project and if it bombs… oh well. No, I fall into the “oh shit” group and so I haven’t outsourced any part of my empire. This I have come to realize has been holding me back from making money. Seriously - I can’t do everything, no matter how much I would like too.

So I did the scary deal and went to Get a Freelancer and put up a project post. I gave it 7 days and I waited. Now the niche I wanted to have written didn’t bring in a lot of bids, and as you’ve read - I was waffling between a very polished article writer and those who showed potential but either had few reviews or none at all. In the end I chose one that was relatively new, but had a good number of reviews.

I have to say this was one of the best experiences I’ve had. Not only was she fast, she was accurate and wrote very well. I’m hoping the articles written do help with my site. I’ve also got her tapped to do some more article writing next month for another site of mine. This time - more on the SEO part - keyword rich text… please and thank you.

I am more than relieved with this outcome, let me tell you! What have your experiences been with outsourcing your writing? programming? I’d love to hear your stories.

Popularity: 4% [?]

May 03

Selling Links and Outsourcing

My Websites, Outsourcing, Web Content 1 Comment »

Yesterday I was seriously thinking about taking down the pixel blocks that I have on the sidebar of this site. I thought the ship had sailed on that sort of advertising, but as I’ve said before - I like to test things out. I wasn’t losing out by keeping it there - but figured if it hadn’t done much I’d let it go.

Yesterday I got an email from Stu over at PimpmyPageRank and he let me know that the script that I had for adding the content wasn’t working from a consumer end. So he emailed his info and away we went - he’s now loaded up on the top of the squares. He was totally right on the money when he said that I was selling the blocks for far too cheap. I will totally agree, this is a steal of a deal. I kept it so low, well, because I’m crazy

On July 1, 2007 you will see an increase in the pricing for the squares, but for now they’re going for the super cheap rate of $1 a square - more details on that here, if you’re interested.

Another step I’ve taken as of yesterday… was to try outsourcing some of my work. This past month has been “good” enough to leave me with a few extra dollars, and I thought why not invest it back into my sites rather than spending it on other things. Start looking at this as a business that I want to develop. Of course, I’ve never really used any freelance sites, and so I decided to ask Thanks Dan and Stu for your insight into it. I checked out Dan’s recommendation - Constant Content and it looks like a pretty good site. I scrolled through what they had to offer, and from what Dan had mentioned there is a private request area, so you can submit a proposal and see who’s interested. Not bad, and if you take a peek you might find a few things to start new niche sites or enhance the ones you already have.

Stu mentioned Get a Freelancer and I had signed up with them eons ago - as a provider. Nothing came of it, but my login was still on my computer and I managed to get in and it was here that I made my proposal. I thought the subject was a bit hazy - not persey the type you’d get alot of requests for. As of this morning I’ve got 9 proposals.

Now this is where it’s going to get hard for me. I see there are some applicants who have been at this for a long time and know what to say to make me feel confident in their skills. There are also those who don’t have a lot of experience on Get a Freelancer, but I feel for them and want to give them a chance. Maybe I see a bit of me in them… and how hard it is to get things moving on sites like this when the big boys have the reputation and you’re just trying to get a foothold on the site.

Do I pick an underdog? Do I go with a sleek, professional?

I have 6 more days to decide…but this isn’t going to be easy. Also if you’re still interested in writing, please drop me a line with your skill = samples of your work and I’ll add you to the mix of proposals.

Popularity: 3% [?]