Today.com too good to be true

1. 59

   shashigaiposted 15 years ago

   I was led to this site by a plug on a work from home blog. I dutifully blogged daily for 73 days expecting them to keep their contract to pay me $1 a day. I worked hard to make my posts substantive and entertaining.
   
   They did pay me when I got to 50 days, per the contract.
   
   I just found in my spam folder an email from them saying that I was now a VIP blogger. Good? Nope. VIP bloggers get $2 per 1,000 unique visitors to your site - and my topic isn't a huge draw. The email was dated the same day they paid me.
   
   And here I thought they were rewarding quality as opposed to quantity. It was just the old bait and switch again.
   
   i suppose i am the one who deceived myself into believing that they would reward me for building a quality blog.
   
   to add insult to injury when i went to view the page i found advertising for "sexy singles" - not exactly appropriate for a blog on surviving cancer.
   
   i'm really disappointed. i grabbed as many posts as i could and am going to put them on wordpress.

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   1. 74

      Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      The contract was always only for the first 30 days and reviewed after that. You did get in when the going was because now you don't get paid for the first 30 days and then they review and promote you to the ppp rate (you do still get the $2/1,000 views)
      
      
      
      Nope they make money the same way as every one else on the web does - you need to be getting them lots of targetted buyers to the site
      
      
      With yourself for not getting the traffic? - fair enough - but today treated you honorably by the contract that you agreed to.
      
      BTW you gave up your copyright on the material submitted  - if you put them on wordpress or elsewhere you are stealing - you also are unlikely to get any traffic elsewhere because today has a great authority!  I have 2 blogs there which still get me paid - I originally wrote a hub on blogging at today and update on changes there and how you can still get benefit from the backlinks from today

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   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Why don't you turn them into articles and post them on HubPages?  It's likely they'll get a bigger audience that way.

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      1. 59

         shashigaiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         i might do that as we even have a category for it. and perhaps i also would reach my intended audience. Hubpages is great for getting comments, which i value more than money!

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         1. 86

            Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            HubPages is also good for getting money - you have far more chance of getting views here than at Today.com, and ultimately that means more chance of income.

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2. 77

   bgpappaposted 15 years ago

   That sucks, sorry to hear that.

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3. 70

   sunforgedposted 15 years ago

   BTW you gave up your copyright on the material submitted  - if you put them on wordpress or elsewhere you are stealing - you also are unlikely to get any traffic elsewhere because today has a great authority!  I have 2 blogs there which still get me paid - I originally wrote a hub on blogging at today and update on changes there and how you can still get benefit from the backlinks from today
   
   
   thats true...although i highly doubt they do any checking to see if you have reused the content...nor have the budget to send a legal team after you...you might not even live in a country that cares.
   
   Looks like its time to learn how to article spin

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   1. 74

      Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Its quicker than that you just remind yourself of the topic - and the right the post again without looking at the original - it will come out different enough!

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      1. 70

         sunforgedposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         well, that is how i do it..lol...i guess i should have said.."its time to start to article spin"

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   2. 59

      shashigaiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      well, at least i have learned how to link fellow hubbers. i put yours in my pochade box article after going to your sites. i'll have to go back when i am less scrambled...

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      1. 70

         sunforgedposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         much appreciated...but not necessary, you wrote a quality article it was to my benefit to link that article to my blog...ill keep watching your hubs any articles that relate to arts marketing, the business of art or general methods in art I will link to...as it is a benefit to my readers

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4. 81

   SweetiePieposted 15 years ago

   I wanted to start a blog with today, but my firewall kept me from doing so.  I signed up for a new blog and I will see how this one goes.

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5. 59

   shashigaiposted 15 years ago

   as i said, it wasn't made clear - and your response isn't clear either - particularly this part:
   
   
   
   and you didn't address the issue of the inappropriate ads.
   
   i didn't pull the published posts - only the ones i could delete. and as i said, i want to get paid for doing a quality blog - advertising sexy singles isn't my idea of a quality blog.
   
   i am not interested in doing article spinning or even making a lot of money. i just want to do a good job and have a clear contract about how i am getting paid.
   
   
   no, i am disappointed that they are using a blog on cancer to advertise sexy singles - its in VERY bad taste, IMHO. that is why i grabbed off my posts. i put them in a word document and contacted the editors. if they can fix it i would consider going back.
   
   i write well enough that i don't have to reuse the content. as i said, i want to create a blog that has useful information and links about a rare kind of cancer, and it would be nice to be paid for it.
   
   PS: i think they are still paying me, just not as much...its hard for me to believe that i might be getting 1,000 views per anything. but i can't back down on the sexy singles thing.

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   1. 74

      Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I had the same contract - I read it and it clearly said that $1/day per 100 word original content post was paid for the FIRST 30 days -  it was perfectly clear at the time - that as why I advised on my hub that people created 2 blogs (you cant do this up now) - so that they be guaranteed to make more than the minimum payout within the 30 day limit.
      
      
      I have no idea - I dont work for them - probably for the same reason I get sexy singles on my top religious sites of the world hub - if no one comes and views my page for ages the technology which serves the ads goes back to the common default - I know Paul has spoken up this on hubpages lots - so  I suspect the same thing on today -especially as my today blogs the ads are relevant even on my obscure Australian topics - but then  I am viewing in Australia and they are probably geo-tragetted ads
      
      
      That's legit then
      
      
      
      hmmm you don't actually thinks a human decides which ads to display do you? This is automated and I suspect there really arent that many ads on the topic - in fact when I google "cancer survivor" I only get around 5 sponsored listings, so there aren't many ads.
      
      
      
      Then set up your own blog on blogger.com - and run your own ads - you can control which ads are served  I believe
      
      
      They will still be paying you $2/1000 - get more readers they by promoting the blog in relevant forums etc and  I almost guarantee the ads will go on topic - start by adding a link to this thread :-)

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   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Lissie is saying that people who join Today.com now don't get $1 per post.  They have the carrot of getting upgraded to the $1 per post if their blog does well enough. 
      
      That makes much more sense, and I was always surprised Today.com offered $1 per post in the first place.  There was always the risk that hordes of people would sign up, write daily on their two blogs for a month to collect their $60, then ease up - or disappear altogether.  They must be substantially out of pocket over that offer, which I'm sure is why they've cut so many people back.
      
      Shashi, I'm sorry you weren't clear about the 30 days - I understood it clearly when I signed up so I'm not sure why it wouldn't have been clear to you.

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      1. 59

         shashigaiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         thanks for the explanation and the sympathy!

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6. 59

   shashigaiposted 15 years ago

   i will wait until they solve the ads problem before i promote the blog. until today, the ads have been related to the topic and appropriate.

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7. 79

   sunstreeksposted 15 years ago

   Ads are generally chosen based on the keywords in the text.  If the program that chooses the ads based on relevance is unable to find a suitable match, then you end up with some off ball ads. There are also instances when what you are trying to write about, and what the ad program thinks your writing about are totally different things.
   
   I would go through your post that seems to trigger the unwanted ads and put more emphasis on your keywords for that post. That could help it enough to find more relevant ads.

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   1. 59

      shashigaiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      it could be, but for the whole blog? i am going to edit to see if it changes things, but my partner has a blog where the same ads are appearing.
      do you think its the word partner?

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8. 0

   pgrundyposted 15 years ago

   Lissie, I had fun with Today but I've kind of given up on it because they dropped my rate way down (I wasn't posting every day anymore) and I just didn't have time to maintain HP, my freelance clients, and Today too. I thought just writing every couple of days would be fun, but I had a few unpleasant experiences and then I got the "You suck, we're cutting your pay" email and I thought, maybe I should let this die. I decided to focus on my own website instead---and I haven't done much there either!
   
   Seriously, for the amount of work involved it wasn't going where I wanted it to. I don't totally blame them and I certainly do not blame you (although I do feel kinda guilty since I told you I would do it forever and ever)--I just think I can not get paid at a blog I own as easily as one I don't.
   
   I've tried a number of other blogging sites, and HP is always my favorite.

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   1. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Yes Pam, I've given up too.  Don't feel guilty - Lissie must have got some commission from our first month's work! 
      
      Today.com reminded me why I gave up on blogging before. To be a success at blogging, you must be able to write 200-300 words every day on the blog's subject.  I don't think it would matter what subject I picked, I don't think I could go on being new and original every day on the same topic for months and months and months. 
      
      That's why I think HubPages suits me so much better.  I've only written about one Hub a month for the last year or so, yet I'm still earning $30 to $40 a month.  If I was only posting once a month on a blog, it would have sunk without trace by now!

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      1. 0

         pgrundyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         That's been my experience too. I do blog for a number of clients who do the promotion part of it. I suck at that. I like to write but all the other behind the scenes stuff--ack! Associated Content pays well but I don't write for them either. Still, if someone is looking for a site that pays pretty well as far as pages views and so on, HP and AC are both pretty good in that regard.
         
         Plus, at HP you keep the rights to your work. At AC you can choose from a number of options on rights. So many sites want you to fork over all rights. I think that's a bad deal eventually. If you are successful, you don't own your own stuff. So you do all this work, they reap the benefits.

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9. 78

   Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

   I am also at Today.com and I like it very much. I like the community and there are some wonderful blogs there.
   
   I'm now on the PPV plan after a month of $1 for a post. I have almost had 1,000 views this month. Posting every day is the key...or writing your articles in advance. It's no sweat for me to write a 200 page posting. Promotion is the key. I signed up for Entrecard and find that helps also. Even with so little earned this month, it is still way over what I get on my Blogger blog.

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10. 82

    LondonGirlposted 15 years ago

    Sorry to go all off-topic, but congrats on the 100 score, sweetiepie!

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11. 67

    Moonmaidenposted 15 years ago

    I was also quite upset when today.com took away the $1 a day for me. The real frustrating part is I have about $35 sitting in my today.com account, but they don't pay out until $50. So I either have to forfeit my earnings or slog away at about .03 a day until I reach $50, then take my money and run. Ugh.
    
    I also didn't read the fine print that said I was giving them the copyright to my writing. Double ugh.

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12. 78

    Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

    I do have one complaint about Today. Since I started my blog there I have been writing author's biographies on their birthday. Now another literary blog there is doing exactly the same thing, they weren't doing it until I posted a comment on their blog. I know I can't exactly copyright the idea but I find it rather annoying and unethical.  She even made a comment on her blog today that since another blogger had already written a biography on John Steinbeck today she was writing about someone else.

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    1. 0

       pgrundyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, I didn't really find the community aspect of it as friendly as I'd have like it to be. I think it's a lot harder to set up a site like this than it sounds.

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13. 81

    dineaneposted 15 years ago

    I'm a bit disappointed in today.com too. I procrastinated too long to get two blogs started as Lissie originally advised - by the time I started I could only have one for the $1 a post for 30 days. I've only earned around $30, and since the $1 per post expired, I'm averaging about 75 cents a month.
    
    Then again - I haven't worked on backlinks for my blog much at all. And I don't post anywhere near daily.
    
    I think the most aggrevating part is all the spammy comments - a few everyday. When I have an email from Hubpages that someone has left me a comment, my heart soars! When the email is from today.com, I dread logging in.
    
    I plan to just keep puttering with it though. Maybe one of these days I'll have time to try to drive more traffic there. And it is the only place where I write in a specific niche, so in time it might pay off.

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14. 0

    terrygposted 15 years ago

    Have you read my hub on Bukisa?
    
    With content of any worth, you will make much more then $1.00 per post or day. Paypal payout at $10 as well.
    
    I do not mean to self promote or anyhting but Bukisa is proving to be quite the little gold mine at the moment as well as seo benefits.

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