I need to go back to check our website. I'm sure there are errors. I only have two hands and there is so much to do. BUT, this isn't an excuse. I will go back and proofread the site. Thank you for your comment.
It's difficult for content agencies to be upfront about pricing for the same reason it's difficult for development agencies.
(I'm a freelancer in the same space as this service):
Much like development, cost depends on the scope and complexity of the project. It can't be measured as a multiple of a single metric that can easily be displayed on a price grid.
Another reason to be coy about pricing is so that they can charge different rates to clients. Most content creators wouldn't charge Google the same as they'd charge bootstrapped new tech startup.
It's also possible they simply aren't interested in dealing with excessively price-conscious clients. The "if there are no prices, it's too expensive" approach isn't accidental. It's done on purpose to avoid having to deal with the lower end of the market. It sends a strong signal to the wrong sort of client.
I do something similar in freelancing work: I'm not interested in working for people who want me to write blog posts for $40 a pop, so I price myself way too high for this sector of the market. I also don't display prices because I don't have to — referrals and reputation are sufficient.
This is 100% spot on. 1000% spot on, really. We aren't done with the idea of displaying prices though. We might go back to it. But for now, this is what we're going with.
Looks interesting. Given your service is all about writing, you should fix the spelling errors in your landing page ("luckilly" was one that jumped out at me).
Thank you for this. I am going to go back and edit the site. I didn't realize how many errors there were if it weren't for HN. So thank you for showing me that there's more to edit and for the tip.
What's a reasonable cost per word for specialized content? EG, something about a specific field (although doesn't require a college degree to write, some specialized knowledge would be good).
I've seen about 20 cents per word, making a 2k word longform around $400. Is that somewhat realistic?
I work for them. My opinion of them is very positive.
Clients who know what they want will put articles in the general author pool and then invite authors they like to a team. So they pay less as a screening mechanism, then pay a bit more for quality work. It is generally way less than 20 cents a word.
Your site repeatedly crashed my phone browser. I had to check it out on a tablet to see it at all.
I don't see any means for writers to sign up.
I don't see prices.
As others have noted, your site has grammatical errors and misspelled words. Given that your product is writing, this is just deal breaking.
I work for a different service that I really like. I am skeptical of your business model here. In a nutshell, it seems rather canned and inflexible.
It also looks very controlling. I realize you are framing that as a feature, not a bug. It looks like a bad model to me. It also looks like a black box.
It also comes across as egomaniacal and braggarty. This just makes me feel like you are full of hot air.
Curious how does it look controlling to you? It isn't supposed to come off like that. Actually the opposite, so i'm curious.
I am on my phone, so from memory here:
You don't do revisions.
You sound like you want to talk for your clients, but not with your clients. That does not work.
You dictate length and frequency of blogs without any real justification.
I am used to working for a service where the client decides price point, length of articles and a whole lot more. I cater to their needs. I don't dictate anything.
I will try to look it over when I am again on a tablet and see if there is anything I am forgetting.
It starts at $300/mo for two blog posts a month, a keyword analysis, and a monthly content calendar. Goes up to $600/mo for 4 posts a month, a keyword analysis, and a monthly content calendar. I think we're going to add pricing to the website. Thanks for the comment.
It starts at $300/mo for two blog posts a month, a keyword analysis, and a monthly content calendar. Goes up to $600/mo for 4 posts a month, a keyword analysis, and a monthly content calendar. Averages out to about $150 a blog post.
Starts at $300/mo for two posts, a content calendar, and a keyword analysis. Goes up to $600/mo for four posts a month + the content cal and the keyword analysis. We actually aren't close to agency prices. We've internally grappled if we should make them public or not though.
After finding this ~2-months old Medium post* strongly advocating for showing pricing upfront, I'm now curious to know why they changed their "philosophy" and if and in what way it affected their pricing.
Hey there. Good find in the blog post. I'll be dead honest here. I had rent to pay that month and bills to pay. We thought we were being bold by making that claim, but in reality, it killed our sales process. Leads come in in double digits, not in the dozens. It was a bad decision, and I own up to it 100%. I should probably make the blog post unlisted.
Thank you for your question. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Also in my past experiences, there needs to be retrospective of what worked and what did not. Provision to include analysis to arrive at data driven decisions will add a lot of value to your service.
„We manage blogs ... so the owners don't have to.“
On a first look someone who has not run content-marketing before will say: „WOW...great...no work for me“.
My experience in having run content-marketing campaigns for various products is that you really have to define what you want to achieve with the content. Otherwise it is a waste of time (huge factor) and obviously money which you would have better spend running ads.
Do you want to purely do SEO content to drive traffic to your site? Possible with an outsourced service.
„You don't need a rocket scientist to plan out your content.“ Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Do you want to build an audience around your company/brand? First: this is a gigantic time/resource commitment which MIGHT pay off longterm in a big way. From my experience this is very hard to do right using someone external who is not in someway affiliated with the company itself.
These are all good questions and thoughts to think about as we're moving forward with our value proposition. We do have content marketing experience but not tons. But from our startup experience, we've found that startups don't need TONS of experience. They need content and they need to put that content in the right places. It's not as intense when you're at that stage.
34 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 85.3 ms ] threadSeems to be the default behaviour for people offering content services. Why I don't know, because all it does is make me not bother asking?
(I'm a freelancer in the same space as this service):
Much like development, cost depends on the scope and complexity of the project. It can't be measured as a multiple of a single metric that can easily be displayed on a price grid.
Another reason to be coy about pricing is so that they can charge different rates to clients. Most content creators wouldn't charge Google the same as they'd charge bootstrapped new tech startup.
It's also possible they simply aren't interested in dealing with excessively price-conscious clients. The "if there are no prices, it's too expensive" approach isn't accidental. It's done on purpose to avoid having to deal with the lower end of the market. It sends a strong signal to the wrong sort of client.
I do something similar in freelancing work: I'm not interested in working for people who want me to write blog posts for $40 a pop, so I price myself way too high for this sector of the market. I also don't display prices because I don't have to — referrals and reputation are sufficient.
Then IMHO they should say that on the site and give some examples with ranges.
Better yet, add a price estimation tool. Something like this, for example:
http://howmuchtomakeanapp.com
> if there are no prices, it's too expensive
Could be my personal bias, but since it was a show HN it didn't seem to come over as that type of high end play.
In my experience, agencies of this sort are almost always low-grade content mills that pay writers next to nothing.
I've seen about 20 cents per word, making a 2k word longform around $400. Is that somewhat realistic?
https://www.textbroker.com/clients-prices-conditions
I work for them. My opinion of them is very positive.
Clients who know what they want will put articles in the general author pool and then invite authors they like to a team. So they pay less as a screening mechanism, then pay a bit more for quality work. It is generally way less than 20 cents a word.
Your site repeatedly crashed my phone browser. I had to check it out on a tablet to see it at all.
I don't see any means for writers to sign up.
I don't see prices.
As others have noted, your site has grammatical errors and misspelled words. Given that your product is writing, this is just deal breaking.
I work for a different service that I really like. I am skeptical of your business model here. In a nutshell, it seems rather canned and inflexible.
It also looks very controlling. I realize you are framing that as a feature, not a bug. It looks like a bad model to me. It also looks like a black box.
It also comes across as egomaniacal and braggarty. This just makes me feel like you are full of hot air.
(Signing Up) Writers can sign up at - www.publoft.com/marketplace
(Prices) We've been back and forth about making them public or not. Right now we're testing the "not". It ranges from $300-$600 per month.
(grammar)- I will go back and double check. Im sure they are right. As a one-man show, I can only catch so much, but this is inexcusable.
(Skeptical)....Curious how does it look controlling to you? It isn't supposed to come off like that. Actually the opposite, so i'm curious.
Thank you for the feedback. I really do appreciate it and value it. Hopefully, I cleared some of your questions up.
I am on my phone, so from memory here:
You don't do revisions.
You sound like you want to talk for your clients, but not with your clients. That does not work.
You dictate length and frequency of blogs without any real justification.
I am used to working for a service where the client decides price point, length of articles and a whole lot more. I cater to their needs. I don't dictate anything.
I will try to look it over when I am again on a tablet and see if there is anything I am forgetting.
"If I have to ask, I can't afford it"
* https://medium.com/thepub/publoft-has-upfront-pricing-heres-...
Thank you for your question. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Also in my past experiences, there needs to be retrospective of what worked and what did not. Provision to include analysis to arrive at data driven decisions will add a lot of value to your service.
On a first look someone who has not run content-marketing before will say: „WOW...great...no work for me“.
My experience in having run content-marketing campaigns for various products is that you really have to define what you want to achieve with the content. Otherwise it is a waste of time (huge factor) and obviously money which you would have better spend running ads.
Do you want to purely do SEO content to drive traffic to your site? Possible with an outsourced service.
„You don't need a rocket scientist to plan out your content.“ Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Do you want to build an audience around your company/brand? First: this is a gigantic time/resource commitment which MIGHT pay off longterm in a big way. From my experience this is very hard to do right using someone external who is not in someway affiliated with the company itself.