Writer's Domain Outsourcing

[KatyaG]

Those of you write for Writer's Domain probably know that we already ran out of articles and it's just the 3rd. This obviously means that outsourcing is a bigger problem than we once thought. Last year when the articles were a lot easier to write, we still didn't run out of articles this fast. I'm really angry and need to rant...

I know that we shouldn't rely on one writing site, but that's beside the point. Even if people are writing a lot to get ready for the holidays, there should still be plenty of work to go around..If outsourcers are taking dozens of articles a day, it isn't fair to the rest of us. We shouldn't have to write 20+ articles a day to reach our goals..

[blinky]

Now you know why people quit sharing their sources of work and quit posting when they knew sites were hiring. I watched quietly as the WD drama blew up and I knew this was going to happen. It can no longer be a source of income for me, either.

It's understandable that you and I should be angry over this. My advice is that when you find a source or a niche, keep it to yourself. Maybe everyone else will learn a lesson from this, too. When you send out a cattle call for work, you invite outsourcers. They hurt everyone.

I hope you find something to replace WD.

Blinky :-)

[SallyW]

Considering that WD itself blasted the fact that it was hiring all over the Internet -- even saw it on Facebook -- I don't think that it being mentioned here had much effect. I also don't think outsourcers are the major problem. They just hired too many writers is all.

[michaelj]

I don't think it has anything to do with people sharing sources of work. WD would keep hiring until they had the number of writers they wanted. And it's not like WD isn't a well known company, people would find out regardless.

Jeremy has said repeatedly that you can't compare last year to this year. He's also said that instead of a big drop on the first of the month there are daily drops. There will be more articles tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that, etc. Why do people not understand this? Or am I foolish for believing Jeremy?

The problem, as I see it, is how quickly they go that day. I'm on the west coast and they were gone when I checked at 11 a.m. I'm also not that fast a writer yet so I'll be lucky to get one even if I do get up early enough before they're all gone.

[Kiernansmom]

Posting it here actually does have a pretty big effect. The wahm site is so popular that it's often one of the first hits I get when I google a company. Also, I have seen many company names posted here that I never would have heard of it were it not for this site, and I have definitely seen less work on some writing sites after they had threads here. Most people who see this stuff lurk and never post. I know I lurked here for about a year and applied for lots of stuff that was posted here. I don't think it's the only factor, of course, but it is one.

[SallyW]

Originally Posted by Kiernansmom

Posting it here actually does have a pretty big effect. The wahm site is so popular that it's often one of the first hits I get when I google a company. Also, I have seen many company names posted here that I never would have heard of it were it not for this site, and I have definitely seen less work on some writing sites after they had threads here. Most people who see this stuff lurk and never post. I know I lurked here for about a year and applied for lots of stuff that was posted here. I don't think it's the only factor, of course, but it is one.

It does, certainly. The number of lurkers here is huge, and I always sort of cringe when I see yet another post about another egg....my point, though, was that WD itself posted here that they were hiring as well as put it out there elsewhere. It was everywhere.

[SallyW]

Originally Posted by michaelj

Or am I foolish for believing Jeremy?

.

Sometimes. He isn't dishonest, but corporate doublespeak is his native tongue.

[Ella R.]

I agree that their outsourcing policy is silly. What's the point of screening writers when they don't have to be the ones writing the work?

I also agree though that outsourcing isn't as likely of a problem as too many writers and too little work, made worse by the paycut. People now need to write more to make their financial goals or click the payout button.

A third also to this:

Originally Posted by SallyW

Considering that WD itself blasted the fact that it was hiring all over the Internet -- even saw it on Facebook -- I don't think that it being mentioned here had much effect. I also don't think outsourcers are the major problem. They just hired too many writers is all.

They actively recruited all over the place, including making a personal post here, so I think this time around word of mouth made very little difference. In fact, they were still advertising online when keywords were already running low.

Of course, the keyword shortage is a good thing for them. Keyword drops are made, immediately picked up, reviewed, and done..ready for clients. The work is now being done at lighting-fast speed for less money, a super achievement for any company.

I did like to have WD for some extra cash, but the lack of keywords and paycut are big letdowns.

[beanandpumpkin]

This just seems to be par for the course when writing for a content site. It's not the outsourcers who are causing the problem; it's all of the extraneous hiring that WD has been doing for the past few months. And that extra hiring benefits WD, so they're not going to start paring down existing writers in order to make more work for the ones that are left.

Remember, their goal is to get quality work to their clients. Period. It's not to make sure that their existing writers are well-fed. That's the reality of freelancing; the site (or client) has no obligation to the writer/contractor other than paying for services rendered. They don't have to hire you or to continue hiring you to perform said services. So it's in their best interest to overhire, even if the writers don't like it. If a bunch leave because they don't like the status quo, then there are plenty more writers left to do the job.

[michaelj]

I'm new to the content writing game and already I can tell that it's in your best interest to differentiate yourself somehow from the great masses.

Bouncing around from content mill to content mill, fighting for scraps with all the other writers out there, constantly worried that someone will spill the beans and ruin your "egg", just isn't a very good long term strategy, it seems to me. There has to be a better way!