Few companies can afford to keep a professional copywriter on staff, despite constant need for quality content.

Consider using an on-demand copy marketplace like Helium. Helium is similar to Odesk, the developers community we discussed in It’s a small world. Here’s how it works- publishers submit their article requirements (a brief description of the piece), choose a channel (a specific content category like Travel, Business, or Technology), then specify a deadline, word count, and cash prize amount. Helium uses a rating system to qualify writers, but any member of the community can take a stab at your piece. At the end of the competition, you choose among the submissions and award a winner.

Helium is an ideal solution for the company who can’t commit to in-house talent and doesn’t have the time or energy to sift through freelance portfolios. You choose content a la carte and there is no commitment to the writer who provides the material.