Press Articles VS Writer Question

[bradmleeb]

I am in the process of starting a hockey specific info, stats, opinion page.

I have been in contact with the Canadian Press (affiliate to Associated Press), they have a good monthly news feed for hockey with a cost of over $1000.

I have been debating trying to find my own writer to 'copy' the top news stories of the day and write in his/her own words. I think this will give me original content, place for affiliate links, and more key word count. I also think I could find a writer to write the same top story article(s), for same or less money per month. There would be little research to be done per article.

QUESTION IS:

Do I go for Canadian Press content. The news people will want to read because of the 'trust' factor with Canadian Press. I could still write articles with some SEO content. OR Do I find my own writer to cover the same daily top news stories? and where is the best place to look for a hockey writer??

Any info is appreciated.
Thanks.

[matted]

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[matted]

You should do it yourself. That cost is unreasonable and it its all duplicate content. If you had a guy wrikte 3 articles per day that is about 90 per month. I pay my writers 10 to 15 per post if they aren't on a monthly contract.

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[bradmleeb]

Thanks for the input. May I ask where you find your writers at?

[matted]

I use craigslist. I try to keep it to about $10 for a 500 word article (although I want a well written article, not one contianing X words). If research is involved, I'll kick it up as high as $15. Most professional writers want about $25 for that same article.

Most of the time I get college kids or recent college grads. And because I'm postinng in the writing section, I get a lot of journalism type people.

Some things I've found:
Hiring one personto write that much content is unrealistic. They'll say they can, but really cant. Hire 2 or 3 guys to share the workload. There will be turnover at the start and after a few months. Also, make them sign a contract indicating what is expected, how you pay, and other expections (content is yours once posted, they aren't an employee and responsible for their own taxes, must write the article themselves, etc...)

It's a bit of legwork upfront and managing, but is worth the time over a canned news feed.