The past few days I’ve been reading The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Understand, I’m not making a judgment one way or the other but I do think it is an interesting concept. I guess I’m wondering about the cost/benefit aspect. As well, in the past I’ve ranted about bidding sites , which I guess could be an outsourcing resource.
Here are the pros and cons as I see them:
Pros
- If the quality of the writing is acceptable, it would free up time for site design or finding clients.
- Many folks advocate very frequent posting. If you’ve only got one or two in you every couple of weeks then frequent postings may boost your traffic or page rank.
- Having a fresh take on your niche topic may breathe new life into your blog.
- Having a fresh take on your niche topic may inspire you to write posts you otherwise would never even have considered.
Cons
- An obviously different voice may turn of loyal readers
- The cost for good quality writing may be prohibitive, especially for newer blogs.
- Posting that is too frequent may be too much for your current readership to keep up with and you may end up losing readers or subscribers.
- It’s your baby, and it can be hard to give up an element of control over this very important component of your blog.
I’m not sure I would outsource. At least not at this tender young stage where I’m still trying to figure out what I want this blog to be when it grows up.
I am curious though. Have any of you outsourced? Was the experience good or bad? What helpful hints would you give to the readership?
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I’m not at all likely to outsource because my blog is so personality driven. I would consider it if I had a blog that was more about delivering information and news.
Tracy,
Personality driven. Hehe. THAT’s an understatement!
Try and find someone with your level of personality – I double dog dare ya!
George
I see this more like a “guest post” maybe – but one that is paid for. There’s the reverse where a guest would pay you to post their content on your blog – like Sponzai.
Agree on your pros and cons though. But I don’t think I would allow “regular” outsourced posts on my blog anytime soon. I own a personal blog and prefer 90% or more of the posts to be mine. Haha. I’m a bit possessive like that. haha!
.-= reyjr´s last blog ..I am the cutest baby Tarsier in Bohol! =-.
Reyjr
I was thinking about it in terms of guest posts too. That is a kind of outsourcing for sure. I think the same pros and cons still apply.
Cheers
George
Begs the questions though, if you allow paid for content to be put on your site, would you also want to pay someone to allow you to guest post?
Or in the context of our discussion, would you let your work be published as outsourced work on another site?
.-= reyjr´s last blog .."Contemplation" =-.
Hey Reyjr,
In terms of the second part of your comment, I already do. My voice is very close to the blog owners and it has worked out well.
George
I don’t think I’d ever outsource my blogs. I mean, I’ve had guest posts, though. Oh, I just read the comment above. You know, when I was reading your post, George, I was thinking along the lines of “ghost” outsourcing where it would appear that you wrote it, but didn’t. I would never do that.
Yeah, guest posts are awesome. Not only can a fresh voice chime in, tons of new readers can be made aware of your blog by just following the guest blogger over.
Now, the tech stuff…. THAT, I outsource!!!! LOL
.-= Michele´s last blog ..I’m Alive – Reviews, Contests, Recipes Coming Soon! =-.
Michele,
Outsourcing the techie works for me! Guest posts are definitely a form of outsourcing and I bet some folks also set up jobs at bid sites or through other means.
George
George, there are some bloggers I know who buy content from Constant Content and I have seen ads for blog posts on various topics (ghost and not), so it’s a thought for sure….
.-= Michele ´s last blog ..Julie and Julia: Blog, Book, Movie =-.
I’ve had a very busy second half of the year which has meant I’ve been able to blog a lot less than I wanted to. As a result I think I’m probably going to invite regular guest posts on Write for Your Life to try and fill the gaps when I can’t make the necessary space. It’s potentially a gamble, but with the other things I have in store for the site, I’m hoping it won’t affect things too much.
Hi Iain,
I think there has to be a bit of a balancing act. If the content is marvy then there could be some benefit. I think as long as folks know you haven’t abandoned the site then it should all be ok!
George
Yes and no
I publish Flash Fiction and Guest posts written by others but…
my budget is $0 so I’m not actively searching out writers. Wish I could pay for submissions, but it’s not happening right now.
.-= Heather´s last blog ..Weekly Inspiration – Dec 14th =-.
Heather,
I think you hit the nail on the head for most folks. I know that unless the Prez has got some TARP funds headed my direction, my budget will stay at zero as well!
George
Indeed, I’ve chosen not to include advertising on my site, so there’s definitely no budget!
Great post George,
I too have that book although I must admit that it is sitting on my bookcase still waiting for me to read. As far as outsourcing for my blog goes I don’t think it would be something I would do. This is my blog and my baby as you call it. If I have followers and readers they come to read my opinion and my voice and I wouldn’t feel right cheating them by having someone else write as me. I would accept guest posts etc, but they would not have my name attached to them.
Hope this answers your question.
Amanda
Hi Amanda,
Indeed it does. And your points are valid. I think lots of folks are inextricably weaved into their blog and it would be very difficult to outsource content. We are protective of our babies!
George
While the idea of having someone else write some content for me has its appeal, I really can’t imagine hiring someone to write my blog posts. I think it would defeat the whole purpose of writing a blog, which by its very nature is a somewhat intimate glimpse into the mind of its author. A friend suggested I outsource my tweets, but even that seems, well, not quite right.
Hi Charlotte,
Thanks for dropping by and commenting. I think that most folks have the same sentiment. If we say that “blog” is short for “web log” it makes sense that we are logging our thoughts. And I can’t even imagine outsourcing my tweets!
George
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Only time I come close to outsourcing… is being the person hired, not the person doing the hiring. I prefer to keep my business simple and not have to worry about finding someone I can trust. Sure it’d be nice to post more often, but I don’t think it’d pay off. I’m fortunate to get an occasional guest post as they’re always high quality.
Been blogging for nine years. I am sure it could do better, but really… my first priority is my clients. Though a blog with higher traffic could help there… it’s still a lot of work to build it up and maintain it.
.-= Meryl K Evans´s last blog ..50+ Writer Uses for Facebook =-.
Geez Meryl, It’s hard to argue with that kind of success. No doubt this blogging thing is a lot more work than I think folks realize.
George
I agree with you George… I’ve seen countless startup blogs write awesome content for a couple of weeks and then just “die”. Blogging takes a lot of time and effort, but I think its worth it in the long run
As far as guest posting is concerned, I haven’t yet begun to do that.
.-= Brad Ney´s last blog ..Further Accelerate Your Blog – MaxCDN is offering 1TB of Bandwidth for $10 =-.
Hey Brad,
Thanks for dropping by. If you ever want to write a guest post over here, I’d be happy to have you. I went over and checked out your site – it looks great! Nice design and really helpful content. Had to subscribe, I did!
George