Dealing with Textbroker

I have a new appreciation for Textbroker. I believe they are a top-notch operation. I believe they’re trying to do things in a fair and honest way. When I signed into my Client account and uploaded money for the articles I needed, I was contacted by Textbroker. They wanted to make sure that it was actually me that uploaded the money and not someone who had gotten a hold of my credit card.

During the confirmation process I got a chance to chat with Christina Zila. She was very pleasant and helpful. I was a bit humbled to find out that she was familiar with the NJFM blog and reads it every so often.

Placing My Request

Here’s where I think I messed things up a bit. I needed 5 articles on one topic. Each article was to explain a different aspect of the topic. So, for example I had article “A” which was an overview of the topic. Then I had article A1, A2, A3 and A4 all which took a different part of the overview to explain it in more detail. Well…that’s what I wanted.

What I wanted and what I got were two different things. The overview went just fine and article A3 was fine (with a few modifications). My problem was article A1, A2 and A4. What I got was three different versions of my overview “A.” They were all fluff (one was a well-written piece of fluff, but fluff nonetheless).

It took quite a bit of time going back explaining what I wanted, how I wanted it, what I wanted the reader to walk away knowing when they finished reading the article. By the time I received the revisions on all of the articles, I dreaded opening my emails from Textbroker because I knew I would have to spend time correcting and re-explaining what I wanted.

I thought about it for a bit. Of the 5 articles written, I believe 2 of the writers put their best foot forward, one tried hard and the other two…well, let’s just say that I stopped requesting rewrites and figured it would be less stressful if I were to write the articles myself.

How Could I have Made the Experience Better?

Maybe I needed to spend more time on my original specs explaining what I wanted and how to approach the articles. Maybe I should have requested level 4 or 5 writers instead of level 3 writers (although the articles were not difficult to do at all). Maybe I should have written them myself. After all, I’ve had to rewrite three of them.

Lessons Learned:

• Textbroker is still a top notch operation.
• I see why some writers get direct orders and others do not
• I’m a writer who earns money from her own writing. Don’t fix what aint broken.

The first time I used online writing services, about 6 or 8 months ago, I found the articles to be okay. I did a lot of re-writing and I ended up only using one of the four I paid for. They seemed to be a bit stiff and lacked feeling.

Most recently, I used CyberHub. I was very impressed not only with their website, but the way in which I was able to track my project. The cost was cheap and they are a legitimate outfit.

My Nit Picky Displeasure

I ordered 4 articles on a particular topic. Two of the articles were to be written in the third person while the other two were to be a little less formal and could be written in the second person. All four articles were to use the same keywords.

I received 5 articles instead of four (a little perk). All of them were grammatically correct, they used the keywords the proper amount of times and they complied with my wishes of two in the third person and two not.

What Was Missing?

Well, I tried to explain to my hubby, a non writer, why I wasn’t thrilled with the work (I don’t think its CyberHub’s fault). Using a food analogy, which always works in my house, I was able to explain my disappointment. I looked at my hubby and said, “The articles were similar to me giving you a plate full of gravy for dinner. That’s all, nothing but gravy.” While my daughter, who is the gravy queen, would enjoy such a treat, my hubby and my son on the other hand would look at me and say, “Where’s the meat?”

The articles were missing the meat. I didn’t care whether or not the meat was seasoned  (meaning the personal flair), it was all fluff and no meat. There is no doubt that the articles were perfectly SEO’d and would probably be well received from an SEO standpoint, but I found that I was unwilling to put my name on the articles and claim them as my own (they are actually mine since I paid for them) without a hint of meat.

On to the Next

Okay, I’ve tried two types of online pay for writing services. I think the next step in my growing ability to delegate is to find writers who are willing to add a little meat to their gravy. Gravy is cheap, but meat costs…wait a minute…I think meat is the reason why I never delegated in the past.

Oh boy, I’m back to where I started. Oh man, the more things change; the more they stay the same. I guess I either have to loosen the purse strings or get back to the keyboard (I tried to get my son to write for me, but he claims he’s too busy with school work…likely story).