Paraphrasing Sample and Why I Prefer Working Directly With A Client

What's the connection between paraphrasing and why I prefer a one to one with clients? I was writing for content companies between 2007 and 2012. In my personal experience, when the turn around time is suffocatingly short, quality suffers. 

As a general rule, I put a couple of sentences of the articles I submit within quotes and Google it, to check if the articles have been posted by the buyer. Next, I check if the buyer has made made any revisions. In my experience, most buyers barely give it more than a cursory glance. Some proofread and edit it. A very small percentage use the articles as research and put their own stamp on it. No matter what they do, I am left feeling inefficient.

If no revisions have been made, the errors nag me. If the articles are edited, I feel guilty for not doing a better job. If the client makes revisions, I feel my skills were tested and found lacking, but this is the easiest to shrug off.

Click here to read the About Us Page of a website I wrote for a couple of years back. Had I been in direct contact with the client, I would have offered to edit it. You'll find my edited version of it under the subheading 'Rewrite'. The actual webpage and the 'Rewrite' prove my point.

The Reasons I Prefer a Direct Client - Writer Relationship

1.  I wrote the 'About Us Page' and all the other pages on the said website. Turn around time was 2 days. I did not work directly for this client. I wrote through a content writing company. Every time I read these pages, I wish I could write them again. 
2.  I have since realised that I don't like working through a third party.  Being a blogger myself, I have definite ideas of what I want each post to look like or to convey. When writing for a client through a third party the lines of communication between the client and the actual writer are non-existent. The end product is therefore not something either the client or a conscientious writer is totally happy with.
3. Most companies taking up bulk writing are more concerned with profits rather than quality writing. They expect writers to turn in 3-6 articles a day @ $1 or $3 dollars per 500 words. The big joke is they expect both quality and quantity and insist that doing this should be easy for a good writer. Often writers are forced to write about topics for which they have neither the interest nor the aptitude. This naturally reflects on their work.
4. The turn around time is hardly an hour. I for one can't write a well-researched article within that time frame. A well-researched article means verifying facts before writing. I don't see any point in simply rewriting content from the top 3 or so pages on the Search Engine Results Page. Isn't there enough fluff out there already?
5. It is also impossible to turn in quick error free articles. There are bound to be typos and other minor errors in the final draft. I tend to make revisions to my work as and when new ideas pop into my mind. No matter how many times I read my articles after I've written them, some errors escape my attention. But when I read them the next day, they are glaringly obvious. Over the years, I've realised that this is because, when I read an article immediately after writing it, I read it with my mind rather than with my eyes. A writer producing bulk articles can never turn in well-researched, error-free articles that also have excellent sentence structure.

That said, here's how I would have written the About Us page had I had a little more time.

Rewrite:

We are Matt Doyle and Bex Burns. We own StringItNow. Though we are based in the South of England, our services are available to everyone within the UK. We understand the significance of the dynamics between your racquet strings and your individual playing style. That’s why we proudly claim to be the best in the business.

We stock nothing but the best. Shop with us for racquet strings, grips and other equipment from leading brands like Wilson, Luxilon and Prince amongst others.  We have over 300 products of top-notch quality for you to choose from.

Place your order now. Barring unforeseen delays, we ship orders the very next business day.

Call us if you have any questions or if you need help choosing products.

Our business philosophy is “Put your customers first and they’ll put you first”.