Writedge.com and DailyTwoCents. com, are they worth writing for ?

1. 67

   younghopesposted 9 years ago

   Lately i have been hearing a lot about these two sister sites, but just wished to know are they worth writing for in terms of revenue? I am sure some of you might be on these two sites, what is your opinion?

   replyreport
   1. 61

      UberGeekGirlposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Wow a lot has changed in 11 months. Both Writedge and dailytwocents new articles nearly always get ranked same day, some same hour, and some immediately. We pay $2.00 per 1000 views which will increase as more active writers get involved.
      
      We're the go to network for people not wanting to put all their eggs in one basket so to speak While we do have some people claim they're making more with us than with hubpages, that is certainly not true for all and we don't ever encourage anyone to leave a site for us, but rather to check us out while keeping your other accounts active.
      
      Like all writing sites we rely on ad revenue, although we do keep a 25k credit line available in case we need a quick expansion (lesson learned from bubblews). Unlike other writing sites, we offer full transparency and give writers a vote on changes and expansions.
      
      You keep 100% of all affiliate sales including Amazon.
      
      (disclaimer: only a dozen or so people making over 100 bucks a month. People who don't use social media make less, and people that don't use focused tags and titles make less. Of course the people who only write the minimum word counts don't make much either

      replyreport
2. 84

   CassandraCaeposted 9 years ago

   I have a lot of writer friends that are very happy with them both.   I myself get confused when anyone even utters WordPress so I haven't been able to actually use them.

   replyreport
   1. 61

      UberGeekGirlposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Danielle has included new software that allows people that hate/don't get wordpress to just post in a normal, non confusing field

      replyreport
3. 62

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Writedge requires a pay pal account. They claim they pay 5 cents per view!  The site is one year old. 
   
   DailyTwoCents is nothing but another Bubblews but it allows affiliate links.   Come on, they only require 100 word minimum.

   replyreport
4. 62

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Ooops!  Both sites pay 1/2 cent per view.  Where did I see 5 cents?

   replyreport
   1. 84

      Au faitposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It's actually for each unique view.  They estimate that you could earn up to $5 for 1000 unique views.  Read it here:  http://dailytwocents.com/faqwriters-guidelines/

      replyreport
5. 62

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   It appears as though one of the owners of Daily Two Cents, Danielle McGaw, was  writer on Squidoo.

   replyreport
   1. 73

      Barbara Kayposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Oh. I know Danielle from another site. She wrote at Infobarrel too. I remember when she introduced the site, but wasn't interested yet at the time.

      replyreport
6. 74

   Maximum Aposted 9 years ago

   The two sites are great. They're quite new, though, but their community is definitely expanding and they have a lot of good content. The first three articles will be reviewed, though. Daily Two Cents isn't actually like Bubblews. They don't pay the comments and there aren't like buttons, but the minimum word count is, well, minimum...

   replyreport
   1. 61

      UberGeekGirlposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      DTC only has a $5 threshold so people get paid out quicker

      replyreport
7. 62

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Maximum: When I saw 100 word minimum, first thought was Bubblews!  Owners are the same for both sites.  I don't quite understand the one site that tells us to use our adsense account in text. Writersedge reminds me of HP, Seekyt and Wizzley.  The one thing I do like is that our Amazon earnings, 100 percent, goes to the writer.

   replyreport
8. 72

   relacheposted 9 years ago

   Daily Two Cents is ranked 16,012 by Quantcast, gets less than 30k visitors per day, pays half a cent per pageview, seems to say nothing about where they are getting their own funding (a big read flag when it comes to determining the viability of a website) and their terms of use reads disturbingly reads like a document that has not actually been reviewed by a lawyer. 
   
   Writedge is ranked 217,622 by Quantcast, and their traffic is less than 600 visitors per day.  And their terms of use contains some seriously unprofessional and legally-questionable language.
   
   HubPages is ranked 75 and gets over 600k visitors per day.

   replyreport
   1. 31

      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      HubPages gets more than 33,000,000 views per month worldwide:
      https://www.quantcast.com/hubpages.com?country=GLOBAL

      replyreport
9. 62

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   relache:  I saw that they get income from ad income.  Flag: This is where bubblews gets their income to pay writers on there, and so many are complaining about not getting paid,and they aren't all rule breakers and are good writers from here and other sites.
   
   One year old sites and I have not seen anybody writing about these sites like they did for Seekyt, Wizzley, Squidoo, Zujava, etc which is another red flag for me.
   
   I agree about TOS.  It appears to be amateurish and rewritten from the TOS of multiple sites.
   
   There visitor numbers are not good at all for Amazon or other affiliate programs that we earn commissions from. The number of visitors shows that income will be horrible per month. 
   
   All I can say about new writing sites, is that if they seem iffy, they are a good spot to post articles that you don't want to post elsewhere.

   replyreport
   1. 72

      relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Sites that say all their money comes from advertising are extremely high-risk.  What you want to see is a chunk of start-up capital, you want to know they can pay their bills AND their writers until the site is actually paying for itself.  Start-up money also means they had to get the money from someone which means they had to explain their business plan to a third party.  Which means they have a business plan.

      replyreport
      1. 61

         UberGeekGirlposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, we had to present a business plan to get the credit line we keep in reserve 'just in case'. As of April, the site began paying for itself, but no one has ever not been paid, or received pay late. The sites are still small though so unless you have a huge social media following they're not going to be enough to live on alone yet. They're great for stuff you don't want to put on hubpages though

         replyreport
   2. 60

      deathwalk60posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      And some people are complaining about people stealing other people's writing. I just pulled my writing from bubblews and asked them to delete my account.

      replyreport
10. 87

    Marisa Wrightposted 9 years ago

    In my view, anyone who signs up to  brand new revenue-sharing site is stark, staring mad (or a hopeless Pollyanna).
    
    If large, long-etablished sites like Associated Content/Yahoo! Voices, Suite101, Squidoo, Helium, Bukisa etc etc can't make a success of that business model, why do you imagine these small sites will do any better?
    
    This is one of the few things that Google announced loud and clear - they hate content farms and have been out to "get" them since 2011.  They also made it clear their definition of a content farm is any site made up of articles on miscellaneous subjects by a variety of writers.    So investing your time in any site that meets that description is doomed to failure.  At best, you'll find yourself on a site like Infobarrel or Zujava where you can earn steady pennies, but it will never amount to much.
    
    HubPages seems to have sneaked out from under that definition by not being a single site - we all have our own sub-domain.  It still surprises me that that ploy seems to have worked!
    
    Bubblews is a success (relatively speaking) because it doesn't rely on Google traffic - it's selling ad space to advertisers based on internal traffic.  If you can find another content farm that can play the same trick, it may be worth trying.   However I do wonder how well that's working out for the advertisers - I doubt if most Bubblers pay any attention to the ads.  If the advertisers start to feel they're not getting a return for their money they'll stop paying, and that will be the end of Bubblews.

    replyreport
    1. 91

       misterhollywoodposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Loved reading this. I think you made a lot of good points here. I had no idea how the revenue thing worked at the other guys!
       
       I would also add that it makes sense now why HP upped the quality requirements for hubs to get a "do follow" link. This way, they protect themselves from being considered a link farm.

       replyreport
    2. 88

       Cardisaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I agree with you Marisa. I think the only reason why HP is surviving IS because of the sub-domain thing.

       replyreport
    3. 61

       UberGeekGirlposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       Google does make exceptions for sites like Examiner and Daily Two Cents etc. by considering them as 'news portals' rather than content sites that just regurgitate the same info that can be found all over the net. All the sites doing revshare like Squidoo are having trouble. Hubpages is surviving because it only shares some of it's ads (you share what is on your article, but not what is on my article) and they keep part of our amazon sales.
       
       Because of this revenue model, I imagine they'll never die unless they want to. It's easier to make a pay per view site pay off because advertisers also pay per view (or impression as they call them) so if you have the right advertisers you can make a PPV site profitable within a year or 2.

       replyreport
       1. 87

          Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Can you explain WHY Google considers Daily Two Cents a news portal?  I can't really see the difference between HubPages and DTC - they both seem to contain articles about non-news items.

          replyreport
          1. 84

             psycheskinnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             The also consider Examiner a news portal.  It is one of the mysteries of the universe.

             replyreport
             1. 87

                Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                this may be a silly question, but how do you know Google regards Examiner as a news portal?

                replyreport
                1. 61

                   UberGeekGirlposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                   Because it shows up in google news on a daily basis.

                   replyreport
          2. 61

             UberGeekGirlposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             I'm not sure either to be honest. We did have discussions on being part of google news and we have several categories with the word 'news' in them, but I'm just guessing here. I do know that we continue to have people rank quickly and well so I'm not going to complain!

             replyreport
11. 92

    Michael Kismetposted 9 years ago

    I could watch Marisa enlightening others all day, including myself.   

    replyreport
12. 87

    WryLiltposted 9 years ago

    Personally I would never be involved with a Wordpress based revenue sharing site again. Don't much see the point. It's easier to go and create my OWN niche Wordpress site. In fact I have over a dozen (plus a stack of blogspots).
    
    At least with sites like Hubpages and Wizzley, there is an actual coding and SEO trained team and proper moderators, which is what you're really investing in.
    
    Anyone can go out and open up a revenue sharing Wordpress site.
    
    The two in question are SO messy and unattractive, looking at the front page. Even less of a reason I'd write there.

    replyreport
    1. 88

       Cardisaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I just had a look at both sites. Funny how they look exactly the same.

       replyreport
       1. 88

          lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          They are run by the same people is what I heard

          replyreport
          1. 61

             UberGeekGirlposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             Yes, both sites as well as the rest of the network are owned by former writers, with a coder on call. The layout is the same due to brand building, the only difference being logo's, colors, and of course word counts and allowable links changes per site (from 2 to unlimited depending on which site).

             replyreport
13. 88

    lobobrandonposted 9 years ago

    Susannah, it's not necessary that a simple wordpress site doesn't have anyone focused on SEO (Coding not keywords).
    
    Wordpress as a whole is a decent platform, but I go into the code to make it better and there are always tweaks required to rank better.
    
    Of course the two in  question don't lure me, not that I'm interested nor got the time to write for other sites other than HP anymore. Even here I just stick to modifying the current hubs as they're doing well.
    
    Personally, I'd just begin a new site than write for someone else. But, there are quite a few people who don't like coding at all and theses options are worthwhile in such cases. (provided there's a good person behind the coding - someone who knows what needs to be done).

    replyreport
    1. 87

       Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       If people are afraid of coding, they have two very very easy options to create their own site.  One is Blogger.  The other is Wordpress.com - which costs only $99 a year, is very powerful and very easy to use, and even has a community (and yes, I know that for those who feel more confident, it's much better (and cheaper) to run your own site on hosting and run the Wordpress.org software, but some people simply don't want the hassle).

       replyreport
       1. 88

          lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          If I'd have to pick between wordpress.com and Blogger I'd pick blogger as it allows ads and personalisation.

          replyreport
          1. 87

             Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

             I was talking about the paid version of Wordpress.com, which does allow ads, affiliate links etc.  It is slightly more expensive than your own self-hosted blog - but honestly, if you're working on making a living online and aren't prepared to invest $99 a year, you've got the wrong attitude!   
             
             The big advantage of Wordpress (both versions) is the far superior navigation, which makes for a much better reader experience and keeps visitors on your site much longer.

             replyreport
             1. 88

                lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                That's true Marisa, but I assumed a person would be willing to buy their own hosting if they were gonna pay $99 lol. But the way you put it makes sense too.

                replyreport
                1. 87

                   Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                   I always thought the same - but having helped a few people get started with Wordpress, I've learned that setting up and managing a self-hosted Wordpress site is just too complicated for some people.  For the technically challenged, paying a bit extra for the ease of use of Wordpress.com is well worth it.    Plus, you get to be part of the Wordpress.com community which some people prefer.

                   replyreport
                   1. 88

                      lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                      Ooh good to know

                      replyreport
                   2. 88

                      lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                      Ooh good to know

                      replyreport
                      1. 87

                         Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                         Wordpress.com has a feature whereby you can find and follow other blogs on your topic - when I had a blog there I made quite a few useful connections.   Ultimately I had to move to self-hosted because I wanted some ebay functionality I couldn't implement on Wordpress.com, but I have to say I miss the networking.

                         replyreport
                         1. 88

                            lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                            I only had a wordpress.com blog before I joined HP for maybe a month or so. So, never really spent time there and was an newbie at the time.
                            
                            You couldn't implement eBay functionality even on the paid version? Or did you have the free hosting option.

                            replyreport
                            1. 87

                               Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                               I had the free option, but even on the paid version I couldn't have implemented what I wanted as I needed a plugin to get the functionality.

                               replyreport
                               1. 88

                                  lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                  Alright thanks for the info. I always thought you'd be allowed to add plugins etc. Just checked out their site to see what they offer.

                                  replyreport
                                  1. 87

                                     Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                     Yup, that's the limitation.  They have a wide range of themes and quite a lot of functionality built in, like Jetpack for instance (which works really well on Wordpress because it's on the same server, but creates problems on a self-hosted site).  But they don't have plugins.

                                     replyreport
                                     1. 88

                                        lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                        Tried jetpack and hated it. Now I know where they got those positive reviews from lol

                                        report
14. 75

    Seanspageposted 9 years ago

    I think the best way to earn a decent revenue is to stick with one site and put all effort into it... but that's just my opinion

    replyreport
15. 62

    LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

    lobo. You have to buy Wordpress site, get hosting that you pay for in order to use affiliate liinks, etc.  The Free WP is nothing more than a journal type blog.

    replyreport
    1. 88

       lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I know that Linda, I have a few myself. The free version holds you back a lot though - a lot!
       
       That's why for those who want more freedom, but don't want to pay for hosting or bother setting it up or maybe they dont want to dive into the code to make it better, joining a site like writedge or the likes of it may be a viable option.
       
       Personally, I'd stick with HP and my own sites even if I had all the time in the world.

       replyreport
    2. 87

       Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, the free version of Wordpress.com is a blogging platform.  However if you use the paid version - which you'll note I referred to - you can do anything you like.  It's the same Wordpress.org software as on a self-hosted blog, but all the technical back-end is taken care of for you. 
       
       I think it's a good way to start a blog for the tech-phobic, because if you eventually get brave enough to upgrade to hosting, it is amazingly easy to transfer your whole site and preserve all the URL's.

       replyreport
16. 67

    Hamshiposted 9 years ago

    It's good to have more than one basket to throw your eggs in, but, you've got to be a little picky about each basket.
    
    Some baskets look nice but have poor quality and won't last long.
    
    Out of all the revenue sharing sites I've ever come across so far, I like HP the best. I've only been here for just over a year, but have been watching the site go through its ups n downs for at least the past 4 years.
    
    I used to drop in and read blog posts/forum posts here whenever I had time and was quite impressed by the way HP staffs handled things here.
    
    I took my sweet time to convince myself that this place won't be a waste of my time/effort and so far, HP hasn't proved me wrong.
    
    So HP will be the last revenue sharing site I ever write on and I'm focusing more on my own sites.
    
    No matter who owns it, I won't waste a second on any other wordpress multi author sites.
    
    Write on HP and start taking steps to build your own niche site. That will be the best investment you can make for your future.

    replyreport
17. 64

    Tricia1000posted 9 years ago

    I have read all the posts with interest since I am quite tempted to join dailytwocents.  The site's stats seem to improve as well.  It just shows that one has to search a bit deeper before committing your writing to any site.  I am really surprised that a site such as Triond is still around while Squidoo had to shut down.

    replyreport
18. 70

    aingham86posted 9 years ago

    As a writer on both sites, I find them easy to work with and great extras to add to my basket. I'm earning more than I have done on HubPages, InfoBarrel and other sites and they both pay on time each month.
    
    The support is also great and I've found a lot of my articles rank well on Google. I've been there since March and constantly see an increase. Some of the advertisements are from private advertises as far as I understand and there's no need to have your own Google AdSense account.
    
    I'd love to make money from my own sites but they just don't seem to do as well as writing on sites like HP, Writedge and Daily Two Cents so I choose to focus on those sites instead.
    
    I've written reviews about both of the sites on HubPages with my personal thoughts and opinions since writing on them. Feel free to check them out.

    replyreport
19. 91

    Carola Finchposted 8 years ago

    Examiner has dramatically changed its requirements for writers to boost the quality of the site.  Luckily, I have been whitelisted so I can continue to publish there without an editorial review.  Will be interesting to see how the site fares with the new changes.

    replyreport
    1. 84

       psycheskinnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       I stopped posting there when they put multiple pop up ads on every page.  If I can't stand to read a site, I don't feel I should post there.
       
       There was also a case where an Examiner rights bamboozled a company I work with's PR staff enough that they gave a lot of info to this "journalist" and she basically wrote an attack piece.  That put me off them even more.

       replyreport
20. 73

    Barbara Kayposted 8 years ago

    I"d like to hear a current answer to the question. Are these sites worth writing for or do they get little traffic.

    replyreport
    1. 92

       Chriswillman90posted 8 years agoin reply to this

       I too am curious to know. I'm trying to expand revenue streams and could use some advice on which site to choose.

       replyreport
    2. 61

       UberGeekGirlposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       Daily Two Cents is growing rapidly and offers many features and transparency not found elsewhere, but Examiner gets much more traffic still as it's a lot older with 20x the writers active

       replyreport
21. 82

    ologsinquitoposted 8 years ago

    I think revenue-share sites are a legitimate option for people who are just starting out. (Blogger is also.) Someone who knows little about online publishing will probably fail miserably if they attempt to start their own WP site right away. There is so much to learn.
    
    Then, as soon as they can, they should have their own site or sites. Because you don't own these properties, changes can happen swiftly and suddenly. If you are depending upon them for income, these changes may not be to your liking. At the moment, I am very disappointed with the revenue-share model. IMHO, Hubpages is one of the better ones and one of the more stable platforms. Wizzley does not get the same type of traffic as HP, but it offers many different ways to earn.

    replyreport
22. 87

    Marisa Wrightposted 8 years ago

    I agree with ologsinquito.   I've tried several sites and none of them has ever earned as well as HubPages for me - even now, when HP earnings are way,way down on what they were.

    replyreport
    1. 82

       ologsinquitoposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks Marisa, you've always had good advice when it comes to online publishing.

       replyreport