job writing sites

1. 60

   Peter Owenposted 12 years ago

   I wanted to get a feel for how many people use job writing sites ie Freelance Writing Jobs.com, or others. Are they worth all the effort to bid on jobs or is it just working for $1 per hour.

   replyreport
   1. 52

      sansevenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      also want to know that, I wanna have a try basing on it

      replyreport
2. 93

   habeeposted 12 years ago

   I've been well paid for some Constant Content articles. And for some Helium Marketplace articles. I have hubs about both.

   replyreport
   1. 60

      Peter Owenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi - are these job sites where you bid on jobs? I thought CC as similar to hubpages

      replyreport
3. 77

   Uninvited Writerposted 12 years ago

   Helium is similar to Hubpages except that you don't own your articles. Payout is $25 and I have been trying to reach it for a year now. They keep changing their TOS. I would't recommend them. I have written lots of articles there and I don't have a writing star which makes it possible to earn well in the Marketplace articles.

   replyreport
   1. 0

      kims3003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Helium has really gone downhill in my opinion. They are terrible for just submitting an article to as you do with Hubpages since I believe they don't rank very well.
      
      The only way to really make any money with then is through Marketplace. But this can be pretty tough too. They did offer writing to empty titles/suggesting a title which they no longer offer and changed in December of 2010.
      
      When they had the opportunity of writing to empty titles I made over $1,300 in 10 months with them. Since they don't offer this any longer or should I say their rules and pay have changed, I earn now about $13.00 a month with over 220 articles on the site - with most of my articles sitting at the 1st or 2nd spot - which is real good but the pay is not.
      
      With their new structure and policies for empty titles, etc. its very difficult to make any decent money - it seems as if you are just filling their site with well written content and get nothing or little for it. I no longer write on Helium and stopped the day they made this change.

      replyreport
4. 0

   EmpressFelicityposted 12 years ago

   I've recently started bidding for jobs on Elance.com and have earned just over $60 so far.  There are a lot of "$1 for 500 words" jobs but funnily enough, nobody tends to bid on them much.
   
   My own benchmark for writing 500 words would be a minimum of $25.  There's no point in giving away your rights to an article and only earning a few dollars on it - you really might as well write a hub about that subject instead (at least it will be yours at the end of the day).

   replyreport
   1. 60

      Peter Owenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I find it hard to understand how people come up with their bids on Elance.
      A job may consist of 5 - 1000 word articles and they bid $10 per hour. Or worse, the job will ask for several articles per week ongoing and the people bid a set price - how they determine this is beyond me and noone was much help in the Elance forum when I asked the question.
      Then you have those, many from India, Pakistan, and middle east who bid $2 per hour on almost anything, regardless if they have any background in the subject matter.

      replyreport
      1. 0

         EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         I'm rubbish at costing jobs myself, so I feel your pain. 
         
         One helpful thing that Elance does is that it lets you know the higest, lowest and average bids for any "live" job at any given time.  So you can make a choice whether to undercut the lowest bidder, or put in a higher bid.
         
         Most providers do seem to go on price though, although if you've done lots of jobs and have good feedback then I think you'll find it easier to pitch your bids a bit higher and get work. 
         
         What's frustrating is the number of providers who post jobs that are clearly aimed at one person ("Mabel, you've done work for me in the past and I thought you might be interested in writing these SEO-optimised articles about the mating habits of the spiny echidna" )

         replyreport
         1. 60

            Peter Owenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I agree. I just follow the bidding pattern that is already posted and then just decide how much to bid. Hopefully after I get some jobs and good ratings, I won't have to undercut the job and can come in above average on the bids. But even then, the pay is not great.

            replyreport
5. 60

   Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

   I think similarly ($25 minimum), although I've sold Constant Content stuff for $10 or $15.  I've taken short, Internet, assignments that fell into my lap for $15 or $20 when the topic was bearable, and I knew I could whip something up in under an hour.  Some of my Helium stuff has sold (either with the rights to it, or else on "license terms" and for less). That's fine.  The stuff was already written when someone paid for it.  I won't write according to someone else's guidelines (as in Helium's marketplace or other compete-for-pay arrangements) if it's a matter of competing to get paid for it and running the risk of not being paid and, instead, having the thing end up in only the "revenue-sharing-only mode" (Helium).  I'm just not going to introduce competing into any professional-writing efforts; and I'm REALLY not about to introduce competing into my spare-time writing efforts. 

   replyreport
   1. 49

      Pookiepooposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm just starting out and so this thread is really interesting for me. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

      replyreport
   2. 0

      EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      ...especially if you can't take your article down and publish it elsewhere (I gather Helium won't let you do this - correct me if I'm wrong).

      replyreport
      1. 89

         Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, you're right Felicity.  Every article you write for Helium stays on Helium forever.  They take exclusive rights for the first year only - but as you know, with the penalty on duplicate content, you can't re-use it anywhere else anyway.
         
         Helium are making some huge changes to the site right now as a result of the algo change. They say it will take some months for all the changes to work through.  I think it'll be a better site as a result, but whether it'll be good enough to be part of - that's another question. 
         
         Helium borrowed $17 million in 2008 (and cut 30% of their staff).  It was mentioned that they haven't reached profitability yet and the algo change has hit them hard, so you'd have to think their investors would be nervous.

         replyreport
         1. 0

            ryankettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Helium is a great place to go and steal some titles. I mean, think about it.... they go and do the keyword research, and then ask people to write to those titles for a dollar or two.
            
            You COULD write the article that they want you to write, OR you could go and write it somewhere else

            replyreport
            1. 80

               FaithDreamposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Great idea ryankett!!
               I had problems with Helium and security issues with my computer. After using the site a few times, my anti-virus gave me warnings on there.
               I never went back but I like your idea about the title swap.

               replyreport
            2. 77

               Uninvited Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I have grabbed titles from Helium

               replyreport
6. 57

   laurelfposted 12 years ago

   I'm a newbie at this, so thanks for the information

   replyreport
7. 0

   SilverGenesposted 12 years ago

   There are so many people suddenly wanting to earn money writing online that companies are reversing things and writers end up underselling themselves badly. If you are a professional writer for a newspaper, online, or anywhere else, there are guidelines that can help keep things in perspective. Writing is a skill and it takes time to do a job well. Here are the standards of the industry in Canada. Keep in mind, 500 words is about a page.
   
   Online Writing rates for pros:
   Varies widely; "business" sites pay higher
   $1 to $3 per word
   $60 to $100 per hour
   
   It really makes you wonder why anyone would even consider writing anything for companies offering $1! From what I have seen, the minimum recommended for one page of professional writing is $50. Some earn much more.

   replyreport
   1. 60

      Peter Owenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I should think the reason is competition. It's not easy to break into professional writing without a good set of credentials and name brand sites, magazines or newpapers on your resume. $10 for an article is better than $.05 for adsense per month. I would love to charge more but there are so many people bidding on jobs  and undercutting price, the only option is find job elsewhere. I'm not complaining since i am don't need to write to eat. But some people do and they will accept any amount they get paid.

      replyreport
8. 69

   tritrainposted 12 years ago

   Too bad all you good writers couldn't band together... 

   replyreport
   1. 60

      Peter Owenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      maybe we could, and then all go on strike.

      replyreport
      1. 0

         SilverGenesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I'm in!

         replyreport
9. 58

   MelissaBarrettposted 12 years ago

   I content write for an online-encyclopedia type site.  Pay is lower than magazine/professional rates but I manage to support my family with my income alone. I don't think I could do Demand Studios or Constant Content and HubPages isn't paying the bills yet.  15-20 dollars for 400 words adds up quickly enough to keep me afloat.  It doesn't leave me much time for other writing.

   replyreport
   1. 77

      Uninvited Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      If you don't mind, what site is that?

      replyreport
10. 60

    Sun Pen 50posted 12 years ago

    To know the really low prices and price paid for rewritten and spun articles visit freelancer.com. The best money I have got for writing is for the ongoing blog posts with $6/500 ( one post per day. I do not think adsense revenue can match that???

    replyreport
    1. 77

       Uninvited Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       You are kidding right?
       
       I don't write a 500 word article for less than $10.
       
       I have an ongoing contract to write 250 word blog posts for $5 each.

       replyreport
       1. 60

          Sun Pen 50posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Please visit the site I have given though I did not made a link. All the bids are open, except for the jobs for which the employer calls for sealed bids. Just see the competition (on global market)in writing. Besides, I am very new to writing.Thank you for reply.

          replyreport
          1. 77

             Uninvited Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             I have been there, I will not bid on jobs for $1 an hour...or $1.50 for 500 word articles. And I'm not interested in writing spun articles.

             replyreport
             1. 0

                EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Nor me, yet I've noticed there are often loads of people bidding on them.

                replyreport
11. 71

    leigia67posted 12 years ago

    I write for demandstudios and wisegeek. I make $12-$18.50 for a 400 word article which takes me about 20-30 minutes to write. It's certainly not what I used to make practicing law, but  make enough to be able to stay home with my daughter. My income here is virtually non-existent, but then I write hubs for fun, not with income in mind.

    replyreport
12. 51

    linhe117posted 12 years ago

    It is a really hot topic!

    replyreport
13. 73

    Karen Banesposted 12 years ago

    I've never had any success bidding on job sites. Maybe because I'm too cheap to pay for the premium versions, but I hear they have the same badly paid jobs, just more of them! Now I pitch websites direct with articles (after checking their guidelines to make sure they pay) and my peices are usually accepted and I've never had a problem getting paid either (which is sometimes a problem for writers who work through job sites, I've heard). I've written a hub on how I find markets for my writing without going through the job sites if anyone is interested.

    replyreport
    1. 0

       EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I have one recommendation for anyone working on job sites: never take a job unless the client is happy to use escrow.
       
       
       
       
       Sounds interesting - I'll go and check it out.

       replyreport