If you’re a writer that frequents any writing boards you’ve likely seen the requests from writers that are looking for people to outsource their writing work to. Well, I’m one of the writers that pick up those job. There’s some controversy as to whether or not it is ethical to outsource your writing and I think that the answer lies in who originally commissioned it and how up front you are about it.
I know two writers on a non-board level (we were part of a larger community at one time and one of them became my mentor for a time) that outsource writing and both of them make it clear on their web sites that they have a team of writers that work with them. I think this is the best way to go for those who want to outsource because it is up front and the clients know that their writing may be done by others. On the other hand, I know that some writers just gather as much writing work as possible with the intention of having others write it at a lower fee and they don’t tell the client. I don’t think this is agreeable as the client has hired them based on their writing skills – not someone elses.
I don’t have a problem picking up outsourced work when I know that the person doing the outsourcing is one of the writers that is public about having a team of writers. And I find that the people that I pick up outsourced work from are generally a great group of people. Will I do it again? Absolutely. It is a source of writing that writers should utilize.
Another advantage of picking up outsourced writing work is that the writers you’ve done work for are often willing to give you a reference. I was quite happy to see that Sharon Hurley Hall gave me a glowing reference on my LinkedIn profile. That’s a great advantage for me as I plan on using LinkedIn to get more writing work and to profile my experience. Thanks Sharon.
So, I’m curious – do you pick up outsourced writing work? If not, why?
Article by Danielle
I'm a social media junkie and professional freelance writer living in small town Manitoba, Canada. I drink a lot of coffee and love my computer (named Garcia after Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds - the ultimate girl geek!), my kids, my husband, and my cats. In 10 years I hope to be that crazy lady travelling across Canada and the States with her three cats and her loving hubby. :) If you're interested in my professional services please visit my professional writer's site to find out more about my services or check out some testimonials from some of my clients.
has written 254 awesome articles for us at The Social Freelance Writer
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: janettefuller
March 15, 2011 at 1:52 pm
I have never done any freelance writing but I might try it in the future. Do you use ELance to find jobs?
Janette Fuller recently published this rocking post..Confessions Of A Book Blogger
Twitter: DanielleMcGaw
March 15, 2011 at 5:23 pm
I dabbled with ODesk very briefly but found that I just don’t like the whole concept of bidding for jobs. For the most part I have avoided the bidding sites. The majority of my clients have come from networking (online and offline) and forums, and later, from referrals. I think a post on finding jobs from forums is in order…There are other options as well though. Many have a lot of success working for other companies like Internet Brands and Demand Media Studios. Also not my preference. There are so many ways to get jobs. A post in itself!
The trend today has grown into outsourcing ghostwriters. I’m not that comfortable with the idea. Unless of course, just like what you said, the employer would disclose the information that he or she has a team of writers writing for his or her blog. On the other hand, I really think it’s impossible for a blog owner to produce that many articles in a day. That’s just inhuman. Hence, the need for hiring writers arises. I guess the most ethical thing to do is to be honest to the readers, if in case you are going to hire writers to write for you.