The Web is flooded with low-priced content writers these days. Paying $5 – $15 per page or per article can sound appealing to budget-conscious business owners. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right option for your business.

You’ve heard the old saying “you get what you pay for,” and that couldn’t be more true in the world of Web content writing. Shoddy content, no matter how cheap, can come with real costs.

How Cheap Web Content Can Hurt Your Business

Here are some of the potential problems you’ll come across when you hire the least expensive content writers or bloggers you can find.

• Many writers in this price range aren’t native English speakers. Some writers who speak English as a second language are truly fluent and they’re excellent contributors to your site. But most are not. If readers constantly have to stop and say “huh?”, the writer isn’t the only one who looks bad to your customers. So do you. Show them you don’t believe in your product or service enough to invest in a professional Web presence and they’ll show you they don’t believe in your product or service enough to buy it.
• Plagiarism is common among extremely low-end content writers. If you’re caught, your business or website could take a major hit to its reputation. Is cheap plagiarized content worth the PR nightmare? Not really.
• If you receive this kind of “rewritten” content, it likely violates the copyright of the original author. No one but that copyright holder has the right to authorize a derivative work to be created. That’s what rewriting or “spinning” is. You might not pay much for a “writer” to slap that content together for you, but you certainly could end up paying if you’re sued for copyright infringement. And remember. Plagiarism checker tools like Copyscape can’t usually identify derivative works. So don’t assume those tools will protect you from this kind of common infringement. Plenty of these folks pride themselves on being able to “beat” Copyscape and similar tools without getting caught.
• You might assume that most people wouldn’t sue you for infringement anyway. First, that’s not true. Plenty of us protect our copyrights actively. And lawsuits aren’t all you have to worry about. When I find my content is stolen, for example, I usually go after the infringing party in a few ways — getting their content de-indexed from search engines to hit their traffic source, getting their ad accounts or advertiser relationships suspended for TOS violations using infringing content, and sometimes having entire sites shut down by hosts depending on the extent of the infringement. Those things are easy, and free, and they’re very real risks you face if you hire cheap content writers who can’t deliver unique work.

The next time you think about taking someone up on a bottom-of-the-barrel content writing offer, think about the shoddy content you’re likely to receive. And consider the risks to your business. Your best bet is to a hire a professional writer with experience in the type of writing you need or experience directly in your industry.

If you’re on a tight budget and you can’t afford a professional writer yet, consider writing your own content. You can always hire an editor to help you clean things up at a lower rate than hiring someone to craft custom professional content. Just make sure you look at all of your options before you settle on something that might hurt the business you’ve worked so hard to build.

Whether you’re a business owner or a consultant, as a professional it might be a good idea to consider writing a book. I’m talking about nonfiction books of course — ones that have the potential to help you in your business. Having recently finished the first draft of my own first nonfiction book (The Query-Free Freelancer), I want to share some of the reasons for the decision and how writing a book might help you too.

Here are four reasons professionals like you should consider writing and publishing a book.

A Book Sets You Apart From the Competition.

When you write a book, that book showcases your expertise. It’s an accomplishment many of your competitors probably haven’t reached yet. When you’re a published author of a well-received book, you become a recognized authority source. That makes you stand out.

Books Can Help You Land Media Coverage

If your business itself isn’t regularly covered by the media, that might change when you publish a book. If you write about an in-demand topic or something timely, you might be able to run a media tour and land interviews that otherwise would never have come. And that publicity helps both you and your business.

Books Can Help You Secure Speaking Engagements

Speaking engagements can be another opportunity for reaching a broader audience and building a reputation in your industry for you and your business. Having a book under your belt can make you a more attractive prospect when organizations are looking for speakers. You also get a double whammy benefit if you can sell books at the speaking engagement, sending people home with a copy of your book that keeps you fresh in their minds for a longer period of time.

Books Can Bring in Additional Income

While it might not be your primary motivation for writing a book, an additional income stream never hurts. You can earn direct sales if you self publish your book or you’ll earn royalties if you work with a traditional publisher.

Books have business benefits you might not have considered before. But think about it. Would a book set you apart and help you expand your visibility significantly? Then consider publishing. If you aren’t able to write the book yourself, you can always hire a ghostwriter, co-author, or an editor to help you develop a salable product.