Comments on: Freelance Writing Jobs for Wednesday, September 19, 2007

By: mike sedgwick

mike sedgwick — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:44:27 +0000

Can anyone give me a couple of good places to look at for someone who wants to try their hand at freelance writing? There are so many scammy-looking ones floating around it really is scary. Thanks

By: Arturo

Arturo — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:11:49 +0000

Does anybody have experience or know anything about Winner Within Us? I received their writer guidelines, but no mention of what they pay.

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:03:16 +0000

Yes I agree. I was just putting my two cents worth about my experience with AC.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:52:30 +0000

People you don’t know, that should have said. I’m griping about spam, not reading circles and other friendly arrangements.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:51:46 +0000

Micah, it’s nice if you have a group of friends with whom you share your work, like reading each others’ blogs. What isn’t nice is when people email you out of the blue to get you to click on their articles, just so that they can earn one one-millionth of a cent.

By: Mariella

Mariella — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:51:00 +0000

A-C is nice if you just want to read. I just hope those who wish to earn from their referral scheme would stop spamming craigslist. It’s quite annoying to answer an ad and receive a referral link in return.

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:39:09 +0000

In another forum, many of us sign up for others published work to read it. I think it’s nice.

By: Mariella

Mariella — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:38:12 +0000

I know! The referral spam mails are killing me. These minions remind me of the Orcs in Lord of the Rings.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:30:55 +0000

Oh, I thought you were talking about AC charging a membership fee! Ha ha, good catch, Mariella.

I don’t know if Associated Content has spammed Craigslist lately, as I haven’t looked for work in about six months due to my overbooked summer. (I’m actually working on some website updates right now so I can get started looking again.) However, AC used to spam the boards constantly.

I think the reason why they’ve stopped (if they have) is because now they’ve got their groupies doing it for them — they started offering a referral fee. Also, since they implemented the performance bonus, I’ve started getting everything from random emails from CPs inviting me to “check out their work,” to MySpace bulletins advertising someone’s newest article!

In other words, the spam is still there, they’ve just figured out how to get others to do it for them!

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:20:40 +0000

I was talking about AC spamming craigslist. Guess I am just lucky. I am in a dry spell right now and it’s driving me nuts. So I work on other stuff.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:15:15 +0000

A couple of years? LOL, that’s awesome.

By: Mariella

Mariella — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:11:21 +0000

Micah>> Are you talking about AC spamming craigslist or AC asking writers to pay? If it’s the former, then you’re lucky because I’ve received one too many A-C spam mails.

Ack! The whole $1 per 500 word article deal brings back bad memories. I’ve had someone email me demanding 5-10 page reports on the most boring subjects (golf, landscape, etc) at $1 per 500-word page. And she was asking footnotes, extensive research, and impeccable written English. Actually, Katharine, I gave her one of the brush-offs in that article you linked in your blog. I told her that I’m fully-booked for a couple of years. BTW, I never wrote for this client.

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:46:31 +0000

Lol. Yes it’s not the real world. Can’t let fear run our lives. It’s good that you look out for us newbies Katharine.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:40:55 +0000

I guess that’s okay… LOL.

Well, just don’t let it keep you from looking for better paying gigs. I’ve seen AC writers get caught in this trap where they become afraid of writing in the “real world,” and allow AC to take up all their time as a way of avoiding decent-paying work (and potential rejection).

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:34:05 +0000

Ok. Sorry I was right in the middle of something. I meant I enjoy just writing and I like submitting to AC. Some people do not and that’s fine. I don’t have gigs taking up all my time like some of you guys so it gives me something to strive towards sometimes. No settling involved.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:06:44 +0000

Good, good.

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:04:37 +0000

No no no. I’m not saying I’m settling.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:59:07 +0000

Micah, you don’t need to choose between AC’s $3-$5 per article and someone else’s $1 per article, even when you are first getting started. I started out writing articles for $15-$20 per article — and that was with no freelancing experience whatsoever. Don’t settle for a raw deal just because there are worse ones out there!

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:47:26 +0000

AC is how I got my start actually. I’m not as advanced as many here but it really is a good place to start. Not to mention…I’d rather get paid something for an article I want to write than do articles for some of these pay 1.00 for 500 words. I don’t work like that.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:41:49 +0000

Ha. AC doesn’t have an upfront cost, but there is a hidden cost: They pay rock-bottom rates. Seriously, what is the difference between charging writers a membership fee and then paying them (supposedly) decent rates, and not charging them a membership fee but paying them extraordinarily LOW rates?

By: Kristi N.

Kristi N. — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:35:48 +0000

Thanks! I figured as much, just thought I’d check.

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:29:42 +0000

I have not seen AC doing that though.

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:29:04 +0000

I did not join gofreelance btw…it was a different one. Sorry to be ditzy. I have been all over the place on the net signing up and looking. I would not pay (now) to get a job. Like others have said…scam, scam, scam.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:26:41 +0000

Mariella is right. The “membership sites” for finding freelance work are just someone’s “get rich quick” scheme. There is plenty of work to be found online for free.

By: Mariella

Mariella — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:06:00 +0000

Actually, I would strongly suggest not to join anything which requires payment for you to be employed. I learned that from a freelance veteran.