Manual blog vs. autoblog ???

Hi, I am embarking on set up of a few manual blogs. I am just wondering if it is worth it - say paying $5 per article vs. tons of autoblogs that are competing for all keywords.

Questions: Is there ROI for manual blog (assume good keyword research, blah blah), and can these indeed beat autoblogs (due to dupe content...).

I cannot reasonably spew out as many pages as autoblogger do. So is it hopeless?

You can do both at the same time.

Set up an autoblog for a topic. If it pays well and converts invest the money into another blog with great original content and work on SEO.

Do an autoblog, but link back to the sources you are getting the content from. You won't get hit for dup content then. Those that do are trying to rip content and pass it off as their own. So long as there is a link back to the source, google views it as syndication, not duplication.

Just a note on this.. this is why so many people using WPRobot have a hard time when they use the article feature. Use something like BlogSense and you will have more flexibility, and you can link back to your sources in a variety of ways, not to mention customize various other content sources to be included all within each post.

Like SaraJ just pointed out, if you hit on something, you can then build it up with better converting pages, more targeted content, and other extra special sauces to make your site a tasty money maker.

Depending on your subject matter, I agree that it's smart to start with autoblogs. Writing original content is always excessively time-consuming, especially if you're not an "expert" on your subject matter. Once you start seeing some forward movement with the autoblogs, then try your hand creating a manual blog. But Mr. Gemini is right. Linking back is key to success, not just with the auto blogs, but with the manual blogs you create. Look at sites ranking above you to see where they link to. Examine your keyword competition.

Having been an SEO/copywriter for a few years, I've decided to go it alone and build my own websites. After reading (many)of threads and Mr Gemini's posts, I decided to try half unique and half duplicated content.

All posts indexed, 9 strong, relevant backlinks and after not even 4 weeks I'm no3 on Google for my main keyword (in domain too). Although my hosting company just deleted my site (as I was adding a new one today) so I'm back to square one, but even still, it shows that a link on the bottom of the page for a ripped article still adds weight.

I've just had an autoblog built today, and will be marketing it as if it were a normal site. I'll let you know (and hope) I have the same successes as my regular site.

having both would be the best option because there will be tons of keywords that an autoblog will produce content and get ranked for which you would have not thought to create content for. Later when you see those pages getting traffic, you can create a unique article and allow that to rise in the serps.