Why Hire a Freelancer Instead of a Forum Content Company?

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So you've decided that giving your forum a boost by paying for content is a good idea, but you're not sure whether you should hire a freelancer specializing in this work, or one of the bigger companies that provide forum content. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

Where the big company is king

• If you have a big job, where you are hoping to have what looks like a large number of people on site, the big company is hard to beat. They have the bodies to throw at the job. Theoretically, I can be up to ten “people” as a freelancer but am not comfortable beyond four or five. (That's why I have several affiliated writers I can trust to help me out. Even with that, I'm in no position to handle a huge order for 20 or more usernames).
  
  
• Easy to make an order. With the big companies you go to their website, fill out their form, choose a package, pay (often multiple payment methods available) and they do the rest. I'm only able to offer Paypal at this point. To make my life manageable, new clients can only contact me via email. I have one phone line and I can't afford to have one random person blow it up.

Myth

Requesting a package offering ten usernames means you have ten writers working for you. If the writers for that particular company see your order as prime work chances are you have only three writers. You would have to make it clear to the content company that you want different writers for all usernames from the start or that is not what you'll get. Ordering from several different providers still won't guarantee you're getting the variety of live writers you think you are. Most of the really good forum content writers I worked along side took as many job slots as they could (I learned to do the same). Not only that, most of them work for all of the top forum content providing companies at the same time. Don't let that bother you, though. The writers that do this are quite good and you are unlikely to be able to figure out which users are in reality the same people.

What the little guy has to offer

• A more personal working relationship. Administrators with the big companies are good at what they do but with a freelancer like myself you are working directly with the writer. From top to bottom, it's my financial well-being and reputation on the line. 
  
  
• Consistent quality. If you hire a good freelancer you can be pretty certain of what you're getting. You don't have to worry about a problem writer sneaking in. I've seen it happen before. A new writer claimed a couple job slots where I worked regularly and started doing unacceptable work. The administration was tipped off by one of the other writers. The culprit was pulled from the job and replaced but it is still possible damage was done. I read the offending posts. They were a horror.

If this service is right for you, a freelancer like myself might be the way to go. I'd be happy to fill this need and build working relationships with new clients such as yourself.