Archive for the ‘Freelance Writing’ Category

Check out the other posts in this series about Becoming an Online Content Writer:

• So You Wanna Write for the Web
• Building Your Online Writing Portfolio
• Finding Paid Writing Gigs Online

Accepting Payments

You’ve got a solid portfolio and you’ve been cruising various sites looking for your first paying gig. The first thing you need is a method to receive payments. The most popular online payment processor is PayPal by far. It’s safe, fast and secure. PayPal also gives you the ability to accept payments by credit/debit card. Setting up your PayPal account may take a few days because you do have to confirm your account using your bank account. You can still accept payments without this step, but you’ll want a way to transfer the money your make into your bank account so you can access the funds. PayPal also offers a Mastercard debit card that is free and will allow you to have instant access to your funds wherever Mastercard is accepted. You can beat it!

NOTE: There are other options besides PayPal, but I’ll leave those up to your research skills. Also, keep in mind that there are fees involved anytime you use an online payment service. PayPal takes a small percentage of your money to pay these fees.

When you make a payment or receive money with PayPal, you don’t communicate any personal banking information. You only use your email address.

How To Get Paid

We’ve discussed where to look for writing jobs. Now, you can accept payments. The only thing left to do is land that gig and get paid! Most gigs that you run into are going to pay you upon completion of the work. There’s nothing wrong with requesting up to half of the payment up front to begin the work and the other half upon completion. Becoming a content writer is about 75% writing and 25% marketing. You need to get that portfolio in front of as many potential clients as possible. It’s going to be slow at first. It really depends on YOU how quickly you advance in the business. Working smart and working hard will end in results.

Get To Work

Okay, let’s recap! So far you have:

• Made a decision to become a content writer
• Built an online portfolio of your writing
• Learned where to look for writing gigs
• Gained the ability to accept payments

Next up: I’ll tell you why you need a website and show you the cheapest way to get one! Yes, your very own corner of the web.  There’s much more to come. Subscribe so you don’t miss it!

 

Check out the other posts in this series about Becoming an Online Content Writer:

• So You Wanna Write for the Web
• Building Your Online Writing Portfolio

There are hundreds of thousands of places to find paid writing gigs online. Some are better than others. None of them will make you rich, but it is possible to earn a comfortable living. That being said, you will be disappointed by the going rates as a writer just starting out. Until you learn where and how to look for better-paying gigs, you’ll be writing for peanuts. Like anything else, finding good-paying clients take a bit of luck.

Where to Look

Well, who needs web content the most? You guessed it! Website developers! Your best bet at securing some decent rates is to network with web designers and developers locally. That’s right, locally. This may require that you step outside your comfort zone and do a little offline marketing. If you’re just not ready to do that right now, start with webmaster and internet marketing forums.

Forums

I started at Digital Pointin 2006. Digital Point is a HUGE webmaster forum that covers LOADS of topics. In later years, it has been dominated by diminishing quality posts, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find work there.

This next one is HUGE! If your portfolio is good, you will garner some attention at the Warrior Forum. The Warrior Forum is a large and helpful community of website owners and internet marketers. The rules are tight and there is a private area for paid members, but it’s not a requirement to find gigs and gain a lot of insight into doing this web thing.

 

Bid Sites

Bid Sites are websites where you land gigs by bidding. Usually, the lowest bid will win the gig. There is A LOT of work on sites like this, but it is often difficult to win gigs in the sea of bidders. A little bit of research can give you some tips on how to make your bid stand out.

• Guru.com
• Elance.com
• oDesk.com
• GetAFreelancer.com

Craigslist

Craigslist has had its moments of scandal and scam, but you can find legit writing gigs there. It’s a good place to start locally. Plus it’s free advertising. Check out their Fact Sheet. Here are a few highlights:

• 30 billion page views per month
• 50 million users in the US alone
• More than 1 million new job listings each month

So now you’re thinking about how much time you’re going to spend searching all those cities? There’s a solution for that as well. You can search ALL of Craigslist in one easy place: SearchTempest.com

Google

Wouldn’t that be a dream gig? Write for Google! Yes, please! But alas, I’m talking about searching Google for paid writing gigs. There are dozens of keyword searches that will bring you millions of results. As a writer, you need to know how to use search engines effectively to do your research. Start now by finding some places that will pay you to write.

BONUS

This is a giant list of sites that pay writers. Good luck!!!

Next Up…

I will discuss making your first money online. How to do it, different ways to get paid, and the basics of what you’ll need to start getting some money!

 

Getting Started

So you’ve decided that you want to write content for the web. The first step in this process is to well, start writing. It’s not rocket science. The only requirement is a good command of the English language. It’s a good idea to know what good web writing is. YoU CaN’T jUmP oUt ThErE AnD wRiTe LiKe ThIs and using cliches like “it’s not rocket science” isn’t great either. There’s no place in content writing for text speech either. If u wrte like this, U will jst make ppl mad. You won’t land any paid work like that either. There’s a time and place for this type of communication…and it’s not in article writing or blogging.

Think of some articles you’ve read recently online. Maybe it was a link a Facebook friend posted, maybe it was another post in this ProWebWriter series…whatever the case, a well put together article is one that uses simple language and is consistent with its focus. It’s a good idea to format your online writing in digestible chunks using bullet points and subheadings. This caters to two types of readers: the reader who reads an article start to finish, and also the reader who scans for the specific information they want to read.

Publish

At this point, you should have a topic you’d like to write about. If you’re really proactive, you might even have some content that’s ready to publish. Now the question is where? Where to publish? Here are some options:

• Content Mills — I don’t necessarily condone doing much work for content mills, but it’s a great place to start and change your status from unpublished to published. What is a content mill? A content mill is one of the many places online that hire A LOT of writers to populate a site. It might pay or it might not. Either way, don’t expect much. Very few writers have made significant money this way.
• A Free Site or Blog — There are a lot of places on the web where you can claim a free website or blog. It’s a good place to start publishing your content. You can always move your work later if you upgrade to a paid website. Some places to get a free site are Blogger.com, WordPress.com, Weebly.com and Webs.com.
• Your Website — If you have your own website, there’s no better place to publish your content. It’s a good idea to write for a couple other places as well though if you plan to procure freelance jobs in the future.
• Guest Posting –  Write a guest post on a friend’s blog or site that is already established. Don’t know anyone? You can contribute to ProWebWriter. Contact me by writing your idea or pasting your original article directly into my Contact Form. I will be in touch with you within 24 hours.

Promote

When you begin publishing your writing on the Internet, share it. Post up a link to your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Google+ or all of the above. The more the merrier. (another cliche) Not only will you get support and feedback from your friends, but it lets them know that hey, you can write for the web. It’s basic “word of mouth”. In addition, this begins building traffic to your site or articles you’ve written on other sites so it’s easier to monetize in the future.

Then What?

Next, ProWebWriter will discuss how to find paid writing work online. Having a few pieces published on the web is essential to this step, so what are you waiting for? Get started! Subscribe or bookmark us, so you don’t miss the next step!

It seems simple enough, right? You enjoy writing. You might even have some experience writing online in the form of a blog or even a Facebook status. Hey, it counts! No one said it had to be good…YET! With the questionable economy, many have turned to the Internet to find work just to stay afloat or supplement offline work. You might be surprised to know that thousands of people make their living working online.

I had this epiphany in 2006, and I’ve pursued it in various ways in the last 6 years. You’re reading one of them. I figure if those people can do it, then so can I…and so can you! There’s a lot of things to know about getting paid to write online. I’ll be covering these right here at ProWebWriter. Now is a good time to subscribe to the feed in your favorite Reader.

Gather Your Resources

Whadya got? No, I mean on your hard drive…what kind of writing do you have saved there? Pull it out. Your best stuff that shows you have the ability to not only string 2 sentences together, but do so coherently. It can be creative or informative. It can even be a school or college paper. Get out your diary/journal. No, I don’t want to see it! Thumb through it. I’m sure there’s something there that is brilliant and worth sharing. Find it and bookmark it.

Brainstorm

I am an avid brainstormer. Sitting within arm’s reach right now, I could show you no less than 8 brainstorming lists. I’m not saying you have to write a list, but you need to think about what kinds of writing you like to do. This will help you consider what areas of online writing you should focus on. Consider the websites you like to visit and what kind of writing you read there. If you’ve ever visited a site and thought, “I could write better stuff than this”, you are probably right.

Do Your Research

If you don’t know how to use a search engine, NOW is the time to learn. I don’t mean just “Googling” things…I mean seriously know how to find answers using a search engine. Here’s your first assignment: research some sites that will help you learn what effective online writing is like. Here are a couple hints: “writing articles for the web”, “writing for the web”, “copywriting vs. article writing”

Up Next…

I’ll tell you how to get started. Yes, making money from writing…now. Don’t forget to subscribe, so you don’t miss it.

Looking for a way to break into the writing business? I found one! My dear friend Ava told me about a site on Facebook called Freellance (sic) Writers. They post daily different job sites where you can submit stories, be a ghost writer, write magazine articles, etc.

It was through that site that I found God Makes Lemonade. It is a series of books containing inspirational true stories from regular folks. I sent in my story, and they informed me that they were going to include it in their upcoming book! They paid me $250, and I get 10 free copies of the book once it’s published to share with my family and friends! It’ll be my first published work, and it gave me the inspiration to keep writing.

Freellance Writers posts new jobs daily, and I’m always checking to find new ways to make a little extra money, and build my writingportfolio. It’s a great way to fill your spare time, and it is not only financially rewarding, but it can also give you a great sense of accomplishment and pride when someone tells you that your writing is good enough to be published.

I’m going to keep looking for new avenues and opportunities in the writing business, and I hope you will too! If I find anything of interest, I will be sure to pass this information on to you!

And be sure to watch for the God Makes Lemonade book, to be published later this year!

Guest Post by Lisa M. Lane

Lisa Lane is an up and coming writer. I asked Lisa to write a post because she had taken and avenue into freelance writing that I had not by utilizing Freellance Writers. I felt this was a viable resource for writers everywhere and who better to present it than someone who has utilized the system. I’m trying to convince Lisa to blog! Help me out!

If you would like to contact Lisa with questions or to hire her to write for you, please use the Contact Form below:

[contact-form 2 "Contact Lisa Lane"]

My pricing listed on this site has accidentally ended up being a year long experiment. I tried to go with the school of thought that if I listed higher rates, then I would command higher rates. I undersold SEVERAL competitors to cover more bases. I’m sure there’s some marketing rule written or otherwise that I am breaking, but basically, neither tactic worked.

A lot of freelance writing sites would have you believe that you are selling out if you take low-paying work. Somehow, it devalues THEIR work. I’ve heard this before when I moved in the web design circles as well. In fact, designers have a whole movement devoted to the idea. The situation of Speculative (Spec) work is that you work on a design, enter it in a contest, and hope you win the specified pay. 99designs is the best example of this type of work.

When I was in design school (2004), my professors would say that a logo or “corporate identification” paid $3000 on average. “You may say that I’m a dreamer…but I’m not the only one.” What I found is that the places willing to pay that are few, far between, and called things like Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and McDonald’s. It’s the same with writing.

A Look at My Pricing Table with Commentary

First off, ALL of these prices are inflated except maybe the How To Articles and Tutorials depending upon length. In the current economy, there are few companies that have the resources to invest this much in written content. Limiting yourself to only those few companies is a significant limit. You might as well forget working with small businesses or working locally in your area unless the businesses you contact ( or sit around and wait to contact you) are extremely successful.

I can’t tell you how to price your services, but I can tell you what has and has not worked for me…and these prices DO NOT work. The best judge of price is YOU. How much would you pay? I surely wouldn’t pay $25 for a blog post. I would write it myself first…even if I weren’t a professional writer. Make sense?

I’ve adopted a new strategy:

• Do your own thing; don’t listen to the competition or any naysayers
• Go with your gut
• Price with your heart
• Negotiate
• Be transparent
• Interact positively with the community

The Backstory (You can skip this if you want.)

I began writing for Demand Studios in July of 2009. At the time, it was a dream come true. I was living in a sleepy little town with no jobs. Demand Studios met me right where I needed them to and provided writing opportunities that fit my abilities and expertise. At that point in time, Demand Studios boasted right around 20,000 Writers in their employ. There was a steady stream of a few thousand titles to choose from and while searching for titles was time-consuming, I always found something to write about.

Some full-time freelancers shun them as just another content mill…even though they are the highest paying such mill that I know of. When you break it down, they pay $15 for a basic article in various formats. That $15 buys ALL rights to that content. It comes down to if you are willing to sell ALL rights to your work at that price. I look at it like this…when I started out working for Demand, I could punch out an article in less than an hour. I found solid resources (because it’s required) and basically rewrote the content. If someone wants to pay me $15 for mediocre…fine with me.

I definitely needed the money. In this economy, and with the large influx of freelancers, no one is paying $25+ for content anymore. People who say they are, find it beneath them to offer proof or any REAL methods to land this type of work yourself. That’s a whole other post in and of itself. Let me see if I can get back on track here. I’m gonna focus on some of the  troubles I’ve experienced in recent months with Demand Studios.

Over the last year and a half, it has become increasingly difficult to be a “Demand Studios Writer” for a number of reasons:

Less Viable Titles

Demand Studios is notorious for crazy titles…such as:

“How to Build Your Own Keyboard Mouse Scanner”

I consider myself pretty intelligent and computer savvy, even well read about do-it-yourself type things, but uh, I have no idea what a “Keyboard Mouse Scanner” might even be. A Google search delivered no results as to what the heck it is either…much less how to “build your own”.

So while at the time of this writing, there were 295, 066 titles available to write, a crazy percentage of them are like the example above or something like:

“Backflow Check Valve Installation”
“How To Remove a Printer’s Print Codes”
“How To Use Frame Machines”

Large Writer Pool

The last I knew, there were 20,000 Writers working with Demand Studios. No doubt that number has increased over the last year and a half with the addition of Demand’s social media outlets and Craigslist listings for Writers. I was unable to find anything recent stating how many Writers are currently working for Demand Studios…not even in the Writer Forums. Since this information is being kept on the down low, I must logically assume that there are too many Writers.

Increased Editing Times

When I started with Demand, my articles were usually edited the same day…sometimes in a matter of a few hours. The last several times I have submitted articles, the editing time lagged and I didn’t get paid for some of them until the next payday. Demand Studios is not a place to earn a quick few bucks anymore now that editing times are impossible to predict.

Inconsistent Editing

Demand Studios has set strict guidelines for their Writers, and I can only assume the same to be true when it comes to editing. An Editor is responsible for knowing the Writers’ guidelines for all types of articles (15 formats as of this writing), and their own set of rules as well. I wouldn’t be familiar with that since I’m not an Editor. Granted, I’m sure it’s not the easiest job and I think they make about $3.50 per article. Inconsistency in editing is unavoidable, but that doesn’t make it less of an aggravation for the Writer. Knowing what you can get by with in the editing phase, inadvertently shapes the way you write your articles. Editors who are sticklers are trouble.

Everchanging Strict Guidelines

Demand Studios has guidelines out the wazoo. If they were any more strict, they’d be telling you what to write word for word. They have overall guidelines, and then separate guidelines for each format…yeah, 15 formats. As if that weren’t enough, they have blacklists of resources that you cannot use as well. First on the blacklists are all the sites that compete with various Demand Media websites. You also can’t use Demand Media sites to reference your article either. So, once you have a good handle on all the guidelines and blacklists, they change them…oh yes, at least once a week there is some kind of addendum to the “Studio Guidelines”. Ad nauseum, ad infinitum.

The Wrap-Up

This article is not meant to discourage anyone from giving Demand Studios a try. It’s worth a try. Heck, you might know what a “Keyboard Mouse Scanner” or a “Frame Machine” is. Here’s hopin’ you can find a viable reference to support your article so you can get paid. I get a lot of traffic on this site to the articles I have written about Demand Studios, so I know a lot of people are in the same boat and trying to figure out where to go from here. I wish I had your answer. Goodness knows if I was making bank in freelancing, I would have let you know by now.

The best advice I have is get yourself a website. You won’t get rich, but you’ll have an outlet for drivel like this AND for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Throw some ads on it, and enjoy the 2 or 3 cents a month it brings. No, but seriously…your own site is the way to go.

I applied for the job at Demand just before I was laid off as a full-time Technical Writer. I had done some freelancing here and there on the side for extra money and I had applied at a number of the “content mills” on the Internet. I really didn’t think that Demand Studios would be much different. So, I took a nonchalant approach to putting together my application. While I can’t remember what articles I used in my application, I just copied and pasted something I had on my hard drive at the time.

I really didn’t know anything about Demand Media, and I wasn’t concerned either way with getting the job. I think I half thought it was too good to be true since it was the highest paying “content mill” I had applied to. Two weeks later, I received my approval email. I updated my profile, and there it sat from February to July 2009. I jumped into writing for Demand with both feet on July 4th. This followed a cross-country move, and several months trying to secure full-time employment.

Part of the reason that I had procrastinated so on getting started was the extensive guidelines set forth by Demand. There are General Guidelines, and then separate guidelines for each article type. There are 12 different article types currently at the time of this writing. If you’ve checked into or been accepted as a DS writer, then I’m sure you have experienced how overwhelming that can be.

Needless to say, I was rather nervous when I submitted my first article. It ended up being a fairly painless process and it was approved with only a small change. There was no stopping me after that. While my contributions to the Studio have slowed somewhat since I’ve gotten a full-time job, I still write occasionally.

It’s important to note that if you can write coherently, show that you have some professional writing experience, and submit a couple decent articles, becoming a Demand Studios writer should be no big deal for you.

Isn’t this the loaded post? With the downturn on the economy, hordes of displaced workers have turned to the Internet to find income streams. Web and computer savvy individuals everywhere are taking their MySpace, Facebook, and professional skills online to eek out a living to supplement their income. Many are finding that it’s not as easy as it sounds including yours truly. Building an online presence and brand is hard work. Online workers often put in more hours than one might at a conventional job. Working online has its perks like working in your pajamas or working anytime from anywhere with an Internet connection.

The thing that almost everyone wants to know though, is where to find freelance jobs and clients. This is the biggest challenge of working at home. You are your own boss, marketing department, IT department, secretary, etc. It sounds great in so many ways, but it is a very big challenge without a plan and resources. I’m going to list some tips and resources to help you find freelance jobs. You may know some of them, and others may have never occurred to you. Hopefully, this will help you advance your freelance career.

• Friends and family – Talk to your friends and family about your online endeavors and gain their support. This is how you begin growing your network.
• Online friends – Starting spreading the news of your intentions through your social interactions on the web.
• Get a website/blog – It’s easier than it sounds. If you don’t know how to go about it, chances are that one of your friends does. Research online how to go about it.
• Email – Put a link your site in your email signature. Each time you apply for a job whether on or offline, your website outlining your skills goes out with that email.
• Polish your resume – Make it shine and put a PDF version for download on your website. Don’t forget to remove your address and phone number if you don’t want the entire world to have it. Leave your email.
• Keywords – Figure out what they are and how to use them right down to the domain name your choose for you site.
• Marketing – Learn how to go about it on and offline.
• Social Media – Learn what it is and how to use it to your advantage.

If you’re not already plugged in all over the web, you have a lot of accounts to create. Visit these resources, learn from them, and learn how to use them.

• Digital Point – Digital Point is the largest webmaster forum on the Internet. It is packed with information about everything you need to know to create and maintain a website/blog.
• Twitter – If you haven’t heard of Twitter, you must have been under a rock for the last couple years. Create an account. Download TweetDeck. It’s a client for use with Twitter. Create a new column with keyword search terms pertaining to your niche. For example, I have a column that updates anytime someone tweets about “freelance writing”.
• Facebook – Get an account and start adding friends. Post your skills and information. Post links to your website. Post when you update your blog. Who knows, you may find your long lost high school buddies.
• Craigslist – Craigslist has job classifieds. Check them out. Don’t forget the “gigs” section directly under the job listings.
• Delicious – Delicious is a social bookmarking site. You can keep all of your bookmarks online so you can access them from any computer. You can add friends and browse their bookmarks to find additional resources. Look for freelance job listings.
• Google – If you are not Googling what ARE you doing? Google is the best search engine on the Internet. If Google can’t find it, no one can. Type in search terms and look for job listings.
• YouTube – And you thought YouTube was just for entertainment! Create an account. You may think you’ll never make videos, but you’ll learn that you can convert all kinds of things to video like still images and PowerPoint presentations. Upload them to YouTube with a link to your site and take advantage of the millions of YouTube users daily.
• StumbleUpon – StumbleUpon is a nifty add-on for your browser. Hit the “Stumble” button and discover unique websites. StumbleUpon is also a traffic tool. By “Stumbling” your site, you submit it to StumbleUpon for others to discover as well.
• Digg – Digg is another social bookmarking site, but it works a little differently from Delicious. Submit important website and blog posts to Digg to get traffic to your website.
• Entrecard – Entrecard is a networking tool for bloggers. It can be time-consuming and will bring traffic to your website. The problem is that most of that traffic isn’t there to see your site. However, the networking power and small amount of genuine traffic generated by Entrecard does have its benefits.
• Work Place Like Home – WPLH is a forums that lists legitimate work at homes jobs including virtual assistant, phone representatives and writers.
• Index of Legitimate Work From Home Jobs – This is…well, an index of legitimate work from home jobs.
• GenuineJobs.com – An online job site with no fees and no bidding!
• AuthenticJobs.com – Job listings for web, design and creative professionals.
• FreelanceSwitch.com – Articles and job listings for freelancers.

For Writers:

You know I had to have a special section just for writers. Writers, heed all below in addition to the above tips and resources.

• Demand Studios – Demand Media owns the likes of sites such as LiveStrong.com, AnswerBag.com and eHow.com and they are constantly looking for writers, editors and videographers.The pay ranges from $3 for a simple 50 word article up to $30 for more intense writing.
• Break Studios – Break Studios runs several sites that target men such as Break.com, MadeMen.com and Chickipedia.com.They hire writers and editors to fill their sites with relevant content. The pay once a month, but I’m unsure of the amount per article.
• About.com – About.com hires guides and contributing writers to their various categories of pages. The pay is decent and their demands aren’t too rigorous. It’s pretty hard to break in and get your foot in the door though.
• AllFreelanceWriting – AllFreelanceWriting.com is and excellent resource for anyone considering freelance writing as a career. The site is contributed to by several freelancers willing to relay their experiences and provide helpful tips.
• PoeWar.com – A writing career site with job listings.
• BloggerJobs – Jobs for those who want to blog only.
• FreelanceWritingJobs – Check out freelance jobs and read some informative posts. FreelanceWritingJobs has some of both.
• Be A Writer for MakeUseOf – A freelance writing opportunity with a decent payment structure.
• FreelanceWriting.com – Articles and job listings for freelance writers. FreelanceWriting aggregates all the writing jobs from sources like Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com and Craigslist.org in one spot for easy searching.

Bidding Sites:

• WritingBids.com – WritingBids.com is a large freelance writing side with hundreds of projects.
• Scriptlance.com – Scriptlance has a large amount of listings for writers, designers, programmers and more. The site is free as opposed to many other bidding sites, but you’ll have to wait 30 days for your first payment.
• GetAFreelancer.com – Another bidding site.
• Elance.com – Aaaaand….another one.

Resource Sites (Articles and Information):

• Freelance Water Cooler – A resource for freelancers of all types.
• How to Make Money on the Internet – An eHow article with a lot of ideas.
• A List of Resources from The Freelance Rant – The Freelance Rant’s list of resources for freelancers.
• 85+ Tools for Freelancers – I don’t like Mashable for personal reasons, but they do have good info.
• The Freelance Forum – A message board. This board isn’t really active yet, but it’s worth a join if you’re a freelancer.

This should give you a good start and quite a bit of reading and research to help get you started. You will find pretty much everything you need at the sites provided here to launch into a successful freelance career.

I write for Demand Studios. I have been writing for them since July 4, 2009. I was accepted as a writer long before then, but it was in July that my financial situation hit dire straits. I can’t remember what articles I sent them as samples, but I am almost certain that they were unremarkable. I half expected to be easily accepted and half expected them to be somewhat of a scam.

When I received my acceptance, it was nice since I had just lost my job. At least I had *something*. I hesitated to submit my first article after reading their strict and tedious guidelines. I thought, “I’ll never remember everything.” I started out writing Strategy articles. A Strategy article back then was almost like a tutorial. My first article was approved with a rewrite that only required a couple small edits. That gave me the confidence I needed to continue. I branched out and wrote a couple of other different kinds of articles: About and Fact Sheets.

I continued having success submitting articles and eventually fell in love with How To pieces. I write them almost exclusively now. The problem that I’ve had with Demand Studios is that I’ve had a really hard time meeting my financial goals writing for them. I know I can do it. It shouldn’t be that hard to write 40 articles and make $600 in a week…but it is. There are many variables that must be in sync when it comes to having a successful week with Demand such as:

• Writable titles
• New titles
• Figuring out when Demand uploads new titles
• Beating other writers to the good titles
• Exercising self discipline
• Keeping a schedule
• Maintaining a strong focus

Demand Studios has more than 160,000 titles available for claiming as of this writing. You would think that with such a large number of titles to choose from, it would be easy to find 40 to write. The truth as of late is that it takes HOURS to find just a few titles that are actually writable. I define writable as something that is possible to write, fits within my realm of knowledge and research, and is properly categorized. While you can search for any keyword you like, you may or may not find viable titles pertaining to your keyword choice. One of my favorite keyword searches is “photoshop”. As of late, there is less than a page of titles on Photoshop available. A few of these titles don’t make sense…they are not writable. A few of them specify that the article be about Photoshop Elements which is a completely different piece of software. These variables eliminate those titles as writable. Demand does have a category search, but it has been out of whack for months.

I don’t spend much time in the forums at Demand Studios, because hello! I need to be writing. The forums seem to be wrought with a lot of complaints regarding the copy editors and issues surrounding the writing and approval process. I’m not sure if not participating in the forums is to my detriment or not. Perhaps there’s something that I am missing. Supposedly, there is a set time each day that Demand uploads new titles, and if you are in the know about when this is, you have a chance to grab all the good titles. I don’t know when this moment happens, and the last couple weeks has proven that to me with a vengeance. It’s frustrating when you spend 2-3 hours searching for titles and end up with four.

The rate of pay is also up for debate. Until last week, the most you could make on a Demand Studios article was $15. That is tough to swallow when there are freelancers out there who claim to be commanding $50+ per article. So where I need write 8 articles per day with Demand, at that rate, I could get by with three. It saps one’s motivation. When I first started at Demand, all the writers were basically on the same level. Now they’ve launched a Premium program where they hand-picked writers who are eligible to write articles that pay as high as $75. Yours truly was not selected. I’m trying not to be bitter.

When you get down to it…I’ve been writing for Demand for 8 months and I still can only claim 10 articles at a time with consistent scores well above average. I have had 76% of my articles approved without a rewrite, and I can’t even get my queue increased 5 more articles. Speaking of consistency, the copy editors are not…in the least bit consistent. I won’t elaborate because I don’t want this post to become an outright bitchfest…and yeah, they *score* you. They score you based on grammar and research. Both things where it is easy to let one’s personal pet peeves take over.

Pros

• Demand Studios pays twice a week
• Payment is consistent and on time
• Large pool of titles
• Writers must be native English speakers
• Guidelines are well outlined

Cons

• Title to writable title ratio is opposite what it should be
• Recently expanding writer pool to the UK and Canada
• There are no briefings for articles
• Interpretation of the title is left up to the writer’s discretion
• Copy editors are inconsistent
• Huge pool of writers

If you are thinking about applying for Demand Studios, think about it. I won’t tell you not to do it because they have been a viable source of income for me and I’m not sure what I would have done without the opportunity. My best advice is to keep your options open, and you can do that while writing for Demand Studios. If you want to write for Demand or you already do, drop me line, I really like to network with my colleagues.