Hi Ken
For outsourcing I go on Scriptlance and I put a bid out for say 20 articles for $1 each and I say (lowest bid will win). Plus I set my time for 1-2 days, I find that this makes people do a mad rush, so I get a whole bunch of people to choose from. My choices regarding choosing people with and without reviews, varies. I find 3 people that had zero reviews and they are really good writers. I usually figure out what type of articles I want beforehand so when I write the ad I can get the right people. So i do something like:
Looking for 20 articles at $1 a piece, lowest bid will win. I need 20 articles on the following subject:
Subject1
Subject2
Subject3
etc
Each article SHOULD be 400+ words, and should pass through copyscape (I will check). I need these articles in X amount of days. Also, you should notice that I will NOT do escrow and YOU will get paid after the article is done.
Then I go ahead and pick the lowest bid or the person(s) that have the lowest bids Ill talk to them and make sure they aren't complete morons and can actually type out a complete paragraph! Then I pick who is the most competent. When they win they are then under the understanding that I wont pay until they do the articles, that way there is no mix up and they wont get pissed off when you don't pay them upfront for the articles. They only get paid for the work they did, that's that.
Thus far I haven't had any problems with people writing for me and it NOT passing through copyscape, even if you don't actually put the article through, the actual threat of saying you will, usually keeps people from copying articles word for word from other content. And then when they are completely done with the project I pay them the $20 and.. voila done.
Of course writing this out and having you read it, makes it sound like a long tiresome process but its really not. Just by taking a few (careful) steps you can get these people to write articles for you that you will RARELY have to run through any spell check / grammar programs (unless they really are dummies or are from another country like UK and add extra letters to words lol). Its quick, painless and best of all its cheap. Of course you can go to Elance or GetAFreelancer or wherever you want to go but I always liked SL the best and they are the ONLY place I haven't had problems, although the $5 fee does kill you sometimes because you get charged for it EVERYTIME you put a project out.
I had my last guy who is a Brit do everything perfectly and I asked for VERY exact information's. Like okay I want you to do 20 articles altogether. Do 5 on art, 5 on games, 2 on this 2 on that, etc etc. Don't worry about keywords. Essentially when your doing articles for AC its not the same as me doing articles for you guys. YOU guys care about in article optimization. But for AC? The point is to get the articles UP and published as soon as possible for upfront payments and or CPM.
I had a guy do 5 testicles on video game reviews. He got stuck on #5 so I told him go to Gamespot.com find a review and just re-write it in your own words and it STILL passed through copyscape. So unless you pick a really dumbass you guys should have really good luck with outsourcing and if they are REALLY good and they listen well I even keep them on after that project for other projects because then they are liable to trust you and you them. Its all about zee trust!
Did I answer everything? I'm over detailed.. sorry heh. Oh and to the guy I said I wanted to slap for paying someone .50 cents an article? Your still a douche bag but now I sort of get the cheap paying scale. Still $1 is MORE than 50 cents