Freelancer: Why To Avoid It - GoFuckYourself.com

Arnox · 10-06-2013, 01:20 AM

As X Copywriters is a relatively juvenile writing studio, I felt that it was in my best interests to size up the competition and see how others compared to our services. A few weeks ago, a client stated that he was waiting for a response from someone on Freelancer: now, I've never heard of this site in particular, but I do know of others like it. What I didn't realize was just how terrible the experience was for people looking to get work done. Here's my story.

I started by setting up the project. To me, it seemed as if using one that was outsourced to X Copywriters was the most organic way to go about it. A few days ago we were asked to write small teaser reviews of porn sites averaging 50 words a piece. I picked a site allocated to us as a base for a sample that 'writers' on Freelancer would produce. AssTraffic.com was the paysite of choice - a nifty anal-focused smut hub that does a good job of providing surfers with access to high quality porn.

So here's the review that we wrote:

"Ass Traffic is a classic porn site that has stood the test of time. Specializing in big beautiful rears getting their just deserts, Ass Traffic offers full 1080p content at 12 Mb/s bitrates showcasing the most gorgeous asses the porn industry has to offer. Join Ass Traffic today if big booty porn is your thing."

Now this isn't anything fancy. I didn't pick this because it's a stellar example of the writing we do: I picked it because it's an average representation of what any client should expect. It's grammatically correct, it's easy to read, it speaks about the content and it has a call to action. For the size of the review, it does a solid hybrid job of introducing the concept of the site to the user while making it attractive enough that the owner sees a return via clicks and joins. I wouldn't submit it for an award, but I think it's a decent piece of work.

Anyway, I made the specifications of the job on Freelancer and set about getting some samples rolling in. The whole process of Freelancer itself is, quite honestly, shockingly insulting to the user - I'll talk about this later. Firstly, let's take a look at the samples I got.

"All the best porn action in the web with high-definition quality videos for low membership fee. Join in on the fun as you will experience the most exquisite sexual experience ever on the web. From pink tits to rounded asses to lavishing porn stars. Members get free access to fast downloads from dedicated servers. Register now or simply take a free tour."

Now. There are a number of grammatical errors here, namely: "in on the web", "a low member ship fee", "as and you will", "to and lavishing porn stars". They aren't terrible, but these are clear signs that someone does not speak English as a first language. Additionally, some sections are just awkward to read: it does not flow, and that's a huge problem for keeping someone interested. After the writer finished up this text, he sent me a personal message: "loved the collections of models you have on the site. fresh new faces that make me cum for more. ass pounding at its very best.". Ew.

As mentioned, this was the first, and boy, did they get a hell of a lot worse.

"This is a high quality adult video site. There are many high quality movies which length is 1920x1080p, HD 1280x720p and stream the 960x540p and 480x270p . People should join this site to see and daonload."

The spelling error at the end was almost insulting. Not to mention the fact that AssTraffic has this in its description: "Members can download the full length HD 1920x1080p, HD 1280x720p and stream the 960x540p and 480x270p movies.". Nine words - about 33% of this review - are taken directly from the site without any editing whatsoever. Additionally, take a close look at the space between 270p and the full stop in the review - see where our writer has simply deleted the word 'movies' and forgot to delete the space? Shocking. The sample is only 36 words long as well. When I asked about the errors, this is the response I got: "This mistakes has done only for my hurry-up. but a genuine reviews will not be happened.". Speaks for itself.

Next up, I got two sample reviews from the same guy!

"You must have come across many adult websites that gives you various ways to enjoy the adult moves. But here you would get the original moves in a very lucrative way where you here the feelings and enjoy their ways of sexual enjoyment in a pleasing way."

"Feel the touch, make the love and enjoy the moves. Get more enjoyable scenes in front of your eyes with different attraction which would make you to feel the touch of love and lust. Open up now to watch the hot adult moves alone or with your partner for best mind relaxation."

I honestly felt as if I was reading spinner text that was really, really poorly constructed. I can see what he's trying to say, but why are they both so hard to read? Why does he use the word 'moves' instead of 'movies'? It's just frustrating to think that someone like this has gotten work. This person actually had the biggest profile out of the people who wrote for me, having numerous reviews - all but one of which was positive. To an outsider, this person looked like a reliable source of copy. To an insider? He needs to work a hell of a lot more before getting paid, because this final product is not satisfactory.

I plan to do a "Part 2" to this post, detailing my overall issue with Freelancer, because I think their practices are completely unacceptable. I might not get around to finishing any time soon, but it will come, and it will be scathing. For now, I hope you can appreciate from my little adventure that getting people to produce something as simple as a 50-word site review can have some terrible consequences.

http://www.xcopywriters.com/blog/freelancer-avoid/

baggg · 10-06-2013, 01:51 AM

Freelancer is full of indians/pakis who claim to be expert of everything ,take and bid on any job for $5,avoid it!
Check out elance and odesk,they are a bit better

Arnox · 10-06-2013, 02:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baggg

Freelancer is full of indians/pakis who claim to be expert of everything ,take and bid on any job for $5,avoid it!
Check out elance and odesk,they are a bit better

I'll definitely check them out. Maybe I will find someone who gives us a run for our money.

k0nr4d · 10-06-2013, 02:20 AM

I think alot of guys dont care if their texts are all that readible... in alot of cases people hire copywriters to make unique text for seo, not to make readible text that people will actually view.

Arnox · 10-06-2013, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k0nr4d

I think alot of guys dont care if their texts are all that readible... in alot of cases people hire copywriters to make unique text for seo, not to make readible text that people will actually view.

With blog posts you're spot on. When they're ordered we hand-write them, but I'm currently building incredibly advanced spinners in order to automate a lot of my own website content. Because I write so much for X Copywriters, I find that sorting out the logic and syntax of spinning material a welcome break.

However, stuff like reviews, escort texts, product descriptions, etc. all need to be good. There's value in having people staying on your site for longer from an SEO perspective, as indeed there is from a potential link scenario.

I've written more about the value of good content as opposed to 'third world' content here:

http://www.xcopywriters.com/guides/w...-seo-purposes/

RubyGoodnight · 10-06-2013, 04:21 AM

As with anything, you get what you pay for. If you're spending $5 on 1000 words of text and expecting not to get something that looks like it's been churned through Google Translate a few times, that's a bit silly. Like you said, if you just want word salad or fodder for the search engines, you can get a decent deal on unreadable text.

But, I wouldn't smack down sites like Freelancer if you want higher quality text as well. I take a lot of 'one off' jobs on sites like that, for a reasonable rate. There are people on there that are looking for quality content, or delivering quality content. You just need to know how to find them. ;)

edgeprod · 10-06-2013, 09:04 AM

Not to derail the thread, but you're calling out other people's spelling errors while you have one in your own sample.

Sid70 · 10-06-2013, 09:32 AM

Who would read so much text?

Arnox · 10-07-2013, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edgeprod

Not to derail the thread, but you're calling out other people's spelling errors while you have one in your own sample.

Were you referring to just deserts?

Quote:

Noun

just deserts (plural only)

(idiomatic) A punishment or reward that is considered to be what the recipient deserved.

It may appear that they're getting ahead by cheating, but they'll get their just deserts in the end.

Usage notes

Deserts here is the plural of desert, meaning "that which one deserves". "Desert" is now archaic and rarely used outside this phrase.
The spelling just desserts is non-standard. It is sometimes used as a pun in, for example, restaurant names.

Understandable how you might think this was incorrect, but it's a common English phrase.

96ukssob · 10-07-2013, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k0nr4d

I think alot of guys dont care if their texts are all that readible... in alot of cases people hire copywriters to make unique text for seo, not to make readible text that people will actually view.

Who reads content anyway when they are looking for porn

edgeprod · 10-07-2013, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arnox

Were you referring to just deserts?

Wow, you're absolutely right! What an odd idiom! Sorry for incorrectly calling you out.

Arnox · 10-07-2013, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bossku69

Who reads content anyway when they are looking for porn

We write a lot of material for other adult services, as I mentioned earlier. Things like paysite reviews and escort website material, plus testimonials for penis enlargement pills and/or Viagra. For blog posts: you're pretty spot on.

10-06-2013, 01:20 AM	#1
Arnox Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Radelaide Posts: 2,161	Freelancer: Why To Avoid It As X Copywriters is a relatively juvenile writing studio, I felt that it was in my best interests to size up the competition and see how others compared to our services. A few weeks ago, a client stated that he was waiting for a response from someone on Freelancer: now, I've never heard of this site in particular, but I do know of others like it. What I didn't realize was just how terrible the experience was for people looking to get work done. Here's my story. I started by setting up the project. To me, it seemed as if using one that was outsourced to X Copywriters was the most organic way to go about it. A few days ago we were asked to write small teaser reviews of porn sites averaging 50 words a piece. I picked a site allocated to us as a base for a sample that 'writers' on Freelancer would produce. AssTraffic.com was the paysite of choice - a nifty anal-focused smut hub that does a good job of providing surfers with access to high quality porn. So here's the review that we wrote: "Ass Traffic is a classic porn site that has stood the test of time. Specializing in big beautiful rears getting their just deserts, Ass Traffic offers full 1080p content at 12 Mb/s bitrates showcasing the most gorgeous asses the porn industry has to offer. Join Ass Traffic today if big booty porn is your thing." Now this isn't anything fancy. I didn't pick this because it's a stellar example of the writing we do: I picked it because it's an average representation of what any client should expect. It's grammatically correct, it's easy to read, it speaks about the content and it has a call to action. For the size of the review, it does a solid hybrid job of introducing the concept of the site to the user while making it attractive enough that the owner sees a return via clicks and joins. I wouldn't submit it for an award, but I think it's a decent piece of work. Anyway, I made the specifications of the job on Freelancer and set about getting some samples rolling in. The whole process of Freelancer itself is, quite honestly, shockingly insulting to the user - I'll talk about this later. Firstly, let's take a look at the samples I got. "All the best porn action in the web with high-definition quality videos for low membership fee. Join in on the fun as you will experience the most exquisite sexual experience ever on the web. From pink tits to rounded asses to lavishing porn stars. Members get free access to fast downloads from dedicated servers. Register now or simply take a free tour." Now. There are a number of grammatical errors here, namely: "in on the web", "a low member ship fee", "as and you will", "to and lavishing porn stars". They aren't terrible, but these are clear signs that someone does not speak English as a first language. Additionally, some sections are just awkward to read: it does not flow, and that's a huge problem for keeping someone interested. After the writer finished up this text, he sent me a personal message: "loved the collections of models you have on the site. fresh new faces that make me cum for more. ass pounding at its very best.". Ew. As mentioned, this was the first, and boy, did they get a hell of a lot worse. "This is a high quality adult video site. There are many high quality movies which length is 1920x1080p, HD 1280x720p and stream the 960x540p and 480x270p . People should join this site to see and daonload." The spelling error at the end was almost insulting. Not to mention the fact that AssTraffic has this in its description: "Members can download the full length HD 1920x1080p, HD 1280x720p and stream the 960x540p and 480x270p movies.". Nine words - about 33% of this review - are taken directly from the site without any editing whatsoever. Additionally, take a close look at the space between 270p and the full stop in the review - see where our writer has simply deleted the word 'movies' and forgot to delete the space? Shocking. The sample is only 36 words long as well. When I asked about the errors, this is the response I got: "This mistakes has done only for my hurry-up. but a genuine reviews will not be happened.". Speaks for itself. Next up, I got two sample reviews from the same guy! "You must have come across many adult websites that gives you various ways to enjoy the adult moves. But here you would get the original moves in a very lucrative way where you here the feelings and enjoy their ways of sexual enjoyment in a pleasing way." "Feel the touch, make the love and enjoy the moves. Get more enjoyable scenes in front of your eyes with different attraction which would make you to feel the touch of love and lust. Open up now to watch the hot adult moves alone or with your partner for best mind relaxation." I honestly felt as if I was reading spinner text that was really, really poorly constructed. I can see what he's trying to say, but why are they both so hard to read? Why does he use the word 'moves' instead of 'movies'? It's just frustrating to think that someone like this has gotten work. This person actually had the biggest profile out of the people who wrote for me, having numerous reviews - all but one of which was positive. To an outsider, this person looked like a reliable source of copy. To an insider? He needs to work a hell of a lot more before getting paid, because this final product is not satisfactory. I plan to do a "Part 2" to this post, detailing my overall issue with Freelancer, because I think their practices are completely unacceptable. I might not get around to finishing any time soon, but it will come, and it will be scathing. For now, I hope you can appreciate from my little adventure that getting people to produce something as simple as a 50-word site review can have some terrible consequences. http://www.xcopywriters.com/blog/freelancer-avoid/

10-06-2013, 02:20 AM	#4
k0nr4d Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 9,228	I think alot of guys dont care if their texts are all that readible... in alot of cases people hire copywriters to make unique text for seo, not to make readible text that people will actually view. __________________ Mechanical Bunny Media Mechbunny Tube Script \| Mechbunny Webcam Aggregator Script \| Custom Web Development

10-06-2013, 04:21 AM	#6
RubyGoodnight Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: SE New England Posts: 577	As with anything, you get what you pay for. If you're spending $5 on 1000 words of text and expecting not to get something that looks like it's been churned through Google Translate a few times, that's a bit silly. Like you said, if you just want word salad or fodder for the search engines, you can get a decent deal on unreadable text. But, I wouldn't smack down sites like Freelancer if you want higher quality text as well. I take a lot of 'one off' jobs on sites like that, for a reasonable rate. There are people on there that are looking for quality content, or delivering quality content. You just need to know how to find them. ;) __________________ Just your run of the mill former fetish performer who is now writing for adult web sites. If you want authentic detail that gets noticed, get in touch. email: smut [at] rubygoodnight [dot] com \| twitter: @RubyGoodnight \| Skype: RubyGoodnight portfolio : rubygoodnight.com \| non-exclusive adult written content: downloads.rubygoodnight.com

10-06-2013, 09:32 AM	#8
Sid70 Downshifter Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Road trip Posts: 16,413	Who would read so much text? __________________ Русня, идите нахуй!

10-06-2013, 01:51 AM	#2
baggg So Fucking Banned Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: EEA Posts: 1,432	Freelancer is full of indians/pakis who claim to be expert of everything ,take and bid on any job for $5,avoid it! Check out elance and odesk,they are a bit better

10-06-2013, 09:04 AM	#7
edgeprod Permanently Gone Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 10,019	Not to derail the thread, but you're calling out other people's spelling errors while you have one in your own sample.