My Experience with Greatcontent

If you are a freelance writer who is just starting up, you might be wondering where to start. Content mills can give you the experience and the basic training, but they will not pay the bills, Indeed, working for less than $10 per hour is not how you build  a profitable business.

In the past few years, I have done a few projects for Greatcontent, and they were OK, but nothing special. You will not need to be  a Pulitzer winner to create product descriptions all day. You, however, will have to be creative. Just try to write something interesting about a white T-shirt that has a designer label on and costs $150.

The Pay on Greatcontent

You will get paid around a penny per word, which will certainly not make you rich, The salary on each project depends on your rating and writing level, as well as customers' ratings of your work. The fewer revisions and low ratings you have the better jobs you can take on. However, don't expect to have more than a few jobs assigned to you, unless you are on the top level so it will take you a long time to earn the payout minimum of £25.

The Workflow 

The reliability of the workflow is not the best, either. You will have to look out for the next project, and there are more writers than jobs. If the type of work you apply for is new to you, there is a limit on how many content pieces you can write initially. You will have to wait for customers to approve your articles, which will take weeks to take on more of the same batch, but by this time other writers will have picked up all the work. 

Revision Rates

I only had one revision after completing hundreds of projects, so that is not bad. Sometimes customers upload a template you can work with, but usually, you get a sample, so that is not bad. Some writers have complained about revision rates, but I had no issues so far.

Payment Schedule of Greatcontent

Unfortunately, you will not get paid immediately, or each week, and that means you cannot use this source as a regular source of income. The website states that after your work is approved by customers, you will get paid within two weeks, and the company makes a Paypal transfer every two weeks.  

The Good and Bad About GreatContent

Pros:

• Somewhat fair policies
• Bi-weekly payment
• Clear client instructions
• Low revision rates

Cons:

• Low paid
• Irregular work
• Lack of support
• Slow approval rates
• Hard to reach the payout level

Should You Work for GreatContent?

If you are just starting up as a freelance writer, and you don't want to spend hours on Freelancer or other sites bidding on projects, you should give it a go. Don't expect making a  living off the site, though, and be prepared for slow approval rates and irregular campaigns.

Authorr.com - My Experience as a Freelance Writer

Today I would like to review Authorr.com from the writer's perspective. While the site is pretty new on the "content mill" market, it claims to do things differently. Indeed, there are some differences, and some of them are not positive, either. If you are a freelance writer, looking to start up your career by signing up with Authorr.com, you are up to some surprises. Read the below guide so you will be prepared when the time comes.

The Sign Up Process

Here is what the company says about their application process:

Nothing concrete there, regarding payment, schedule, quality, etc. I signed up with the company a couple of months back. Then, I had to submit a sample article and wait a couple of weeks to get it accepted. I got an email that I was ready to start, but it took me another few days to figure out that I had to "opt in" for assignment types. Back then, you had to submit a bid for the type of project, and the maximum you could bid at was one cent per word. So I did, and started working. 

Assignment Types

Currently, there is only one, standard assignment type: "value article". It pays the amount you bid on, per word. I was - in the beginning- only able to opt in for 400-word articles, but I am currently being offered anything from 300 to 1000 words. The company states that you will be allowed to apply for "Niche Expert" articles in the near future, but I will cover this subject later in the article.

Website

The site, unfortunately, is everything but writer-friendly. You get notification about projects available through email, right, But that is the most information you will ever get. When you decide you are ready to do some work, this is what you see:

Now, this means that you need to take the first random assignment that comes your way, without knowing the topic. That is simply not good. Once you have taken the project, you have 6-8 hours to complete it. There is currently no "release" button. Instead of the "TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT" approach, the company offers a "TAKE IT OR GET PENALIZED" policy. If you fail to submit the article in time, Your rating score (only seen by the company, not you) is affected by completion rate, rejection statistics, and the number of revision requests, which - in most cases - are completely out of your hands.

You can review your completed assignments and your invoices on the site. The page does not state your outstanding balance, though, so you see how much you earned so far, but not how much is owed to you. 

There is a Support link with a contact from, but it takes a long time to get answers. No live support is offered for urgent issues.

Communication

On one particular occasion, I took an article that did not have enough instructions. According to the email, I "did not focus on the topic enough". I accepted that, there was nothing wrong with that. However, next time I logged in to the system, I got the very same assignment. I sent an email to support, no answer. After six hours, I got a message saying that I failed to deliver. I was a little angry, sent another support email, and the company simply acknowledged that they got the previous message. That's it. Not much of a communication or writer support there. 

Payment

One good aspect of the company is that they make the payment on time every Monday. I have another client on board that makes payments on Monday, but they are usually 12 hours late compared to Authorr.com. 

The Future of Authorr.com

The company sent me an invitation to a webinar that explains the future plans of the company. Unfortunately, it came in the middle of the night, only a few hours before start, so I could not attend. The recording was sent out later, and I watched the while hour of content. You can watch it below, too, to understand what the content site is trying to do:

How to Be Successful on Authorr from Authorr on Vimeo.

After watching the video, I have a couple of questions for the management of Authorr who would like to find, select, and promote niche expert copywriters:

1. How can they determine if you are a niche expert or not if you cannot choose your profits?
2. Why is the company promoting "minimum formatting", if it is not good for SEO? Are they considering clients' interest here, or just want to reduce workflow?
3. How writing at a 9th Grade level improves the quality of content?
4. Are creative writers welcome by the company, or do they prefer to work with robots?
5. Is it fair to have a rating system that is not "public"?
6. With the lack of feedback on work, I believe that he company is not working towards empowering new writers, but it does indeed discourage them. 
7. The company has removed the "bidding for price" option, Does it mean that all writers are the same, creating the same quality articles? I don't believe it, and I think that other sites, such as The Content Authority do a better job by "rating" writers, reviewing their work regularly, and determining the pay based on quality. After all, this approach serves the interest of the company, customers, and writers, too. 

Share your thoughts and experience with Authorr or other content mills below. 

Good luck with your writing career. 

Breaking into Freelance Writing

It is not a simple business. Freelance writing's definition is changing constantly. There are several ways of writing online, and being a freelancer - while it provides freedom - comes with several disadvantages.

Types of freelance writing businesses I have looked into and considered before:

1. Academic writing

This is a business that can create a steady monthly income. Most companies are owned by Russians, therefore, not all pay the same way. Some need to be threatened (have done it) to issue the payment.
Pros: relatively easy to get into, constant flow of orders in school time
Cons:  you have to live with the knowledge that you might potentially help people cheat in higher education. This means that you might help  more incompetent lawyers, doctors, or nurses getting a job.

2. Text broker sites
These content mills used to have hundreds of orders and you could quickly get through a lot when you needed some quick cash. However, with the requirements changing, they have gone quiet; either went out of business or stopped accepting new writers.
Pros: Fast cash and reliable payment systems
Cons: Low quality jobs, mostly SEO articles, and lack of orders recently

3. Revenue sharing sites
HubPages and Squidoo used to be good for some extra income. But they got scared of Google's updates. Therefore, you might get your content ranked higher on your free blogger blog than on these sites today. Not even enough for beer money.
Pros: You can have some real fun
Cons: Unreliable low payment

4. SEO agency work 
This is the type of work that pays well. It is hard to find these jobs, as many companies have their in-house team.
Pros: Great pay and training
Cons: Not suitable for starters

5. Freelancing sites
You must have come across Freelancer, eLance, and oDesk. These sites are dedicated to connecting clients with freelancers.
Pros: Loads of jobs offered for freelance writers
Cons: Plenty of competition from 3rd World countries, which means one dollar for 500 words is the standard for clients. Companies take commission but the dispute resolution system of the sites is rubbish. Might be good for clients, but certainly not the place for aspiring writers.

So how do you get started?

"Being a nobody who wants to become somebody" - this is the status of all freelance writers who are planning to break into the market. A market that is highly competitive and unfair. Without a name, it is hard. But if you don't make it through, you will never get a name in the industry.

Google's new authorship rules make it easier to position yourself as a writer on the market, but nothing happens overnight. You will have to constantly learn and prove yourself an expert in different styles and genres. Clients will want to see a portfolio.

There are some great free portfolio sites you can try. You just need to add links to your published work and share the sub-page. I mainly use two: http://copify.com and https://www.journoportfolio.com/. 
You can check out my portfolio at: http://laurafarkas.skyword.com/

Further, you need to add sites you write for to your Google Plus account to set up your authorship.
You might want to look around on sites like

http://www.mediabistro.com/copywriter-jobs.html https://www.freelanced.com/ and  http://www.bloggerjobs.biz/ to find projects that pay and suit your profile. Good luck and remember:

Challenging Yourself As a SEO Freelance Writer

I love challenges. They make me feel alive. In my career, I have always been looking for new challenges. And that is the reason why I was never happy with my job. I used to live in a dorm between the age of 14 and 18. The school was ran by the nuns. There were two dorms: one with the "noisy" people and one with the "quiet ones". I kept on moving from one to the other. I wanted challenge, new inspirations.

When I had a J.O. B. - Before I became a Writer

I had this job in the bank. It was receiving calls from customers who wanted a loan. I had to sell the loan and upsell to hit my target. I loved it first. Then it went really quiet. I was offered a role to help out another department: complaints. I went. I needed new challenges. When this ended, I was happy to move back to my original role, until I found a new challenge. Activating dormant accounts. I did it for three months. Next, I wanted to try another department. I completed the training for record management in three months. It took others usually 18. I was still bored, so I moved back to my original role. And so on....

Self-Employment Challenges You

Becoming a self-employed writer, I had to face many challenges. The market was overcrowded. There were millions of Asian writers offering 1000 word articles for 3 dollars. I had to learn the skills. I had to adapt to clients' style. I had to understand the market. Being a freelance writer is still a challenge. But it is full of opportunities to learn new skills. That is worth more than a million dollar paycheck.

Today's Challenge

Those who know me might be aware that my immune system is almost dead. Literally. I have asthma, wheat intolerance, hayfever, Vitiligo, and so on... But I can live with it. As I cannot do much cardio with my asthma, I do yoga. Today, I came across Sadie Nardini's new "badass" yoga practice. I started it. I ran out of breath in the first 30 seconds. But I did not give up. I refused to take my inhaler,ass well. I drank some water and told myself: "come on, you lazy lungs, I can make you work". I completed the whole 15 minutes of training. And now I feel good. I am a bit sweaty, but feel accomplished. Ready for new writing challenges.

Today's takeaway: Growth is painful. If you challenge yourself, you grow. Yes, it will hurt, but you will develop skills that are making you stand out from the rest of the people in your industry. Be ready to learn and grow. 

Why I am a Freelance Writer and Have Left the Corporate World

This is a personal story, maybe very familiar to many of you. Recession cost national economies a great deal of jobs. Back in 2011, I was offered to to to work 40 miles away or 15 miles away to the same company, or to take the redundancy money. I trusted myself enough to take the money, learn copywriting and - even though often struggling to make ends met - go out on my own. My reasons for the decision were simple:

1. I didn't want to depend on others any more. During the last few months I had four different teams and managers. It was horrible. I left with my heads up high, and to be honest, I couldn't wait. I left as a team second.
2. I saw loads of stress ahead. I saw more changes, didn't want to commute hours to work. Not that I was afraid of change: I was afraid of other people's decisions. I wanted to do more. 
3. I trusted myself and my abilities to be able to do the job better than corporate leaders do. I wanted to make my own decision. 
4. I wanted freedom. Nobody likes asking for a holiday 18 months prior to the date just to be told one month before the holiday that "things changed". 
5. I wanted to spend more time with my kids. I wanted to be able to see school plays, basketball matches, and drama performances. 

Three years later, I see that I made the right decision to become a self-employed copywriter. 

• I can see my kids play, have conversations with them every day and be there for them when they need me. 
  
• I have taken more than ten holidays in the past three years, among them, I visited India. That journey could never have happened if I were still in the corporate world. 
   
   
  
• I might not be a millionaire (yet), but I feel good about working hard for every penny I earn. And now I have time to spend on meaningful things.
• I took on yoga, completed a yoga teacher training, and managed to improve my health.
• I can volunteer at a local business charity, and recently started volunteering for the local police as well.
• I am no longer limiting myself, but empowering my future.

Today, I read this article. It made me think.Another office closure affecting 645 people How much stress and frustration my ex-colleagues went through during the past three years just to "keep their job". In August, 645 people will lose their job again, facing redundancy. They lived in a false sense of security. Or they were living in fear. None of the options is better.

This article made me want to continue on my path, carry on building my business, even if it is hard. Among the people leaving this year, there are many who are talented, clever, and - to be honest - wasted in the corporate world. Going out on your own is scary. Being a freelance writer and starting up with no reputation, background or name is even harder. But for me, it is the only option. I would never look back. I don't think I will ever go back to be a number, statistical figure again. Or to be just one of the 645 people losing their jobs. Instead, I work on my own copywriting business.

The message for today is: believe in your abilities and check if what you trust to be secure is really providing you safety. Look at what you would like to change and work on it. Don't let yourself be carried by the tide. 

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Being Away

One of the best things about being a freelance writer is that you can do your job from anywhere. You don't have to ask for holiday.

I am currently "resting" in Malta, Gozo. I have internet, my laptop, and can work when I choose to.
I usually work when the Sun goes down so I don't miss out in the weather. Indeed, there are over 14 sunny hours now on the island. I love it.

When trying to re-focus your business as a professional service provider, you sometimes need to take a step back. I do this every now and then. It helps rethinking your priorities and preferences.

Being a freelance professional is not only about freedom: you need to make sure you don't burn out.

At this point, I am collecting experiences that will help me finish off some of my books I started. I reflect on the topic, meditate on the roof along with morning and evening yoga.

The real reward of being a freelance writer is not independence or freedom: it is a combination of responsibility and the opportunity of becoming what you want to be.

BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE, LEARN TO SAY YES TO EXPERIENCES AND LEARN TO SAY NO TO THINGS THAT DONT SERVE YOU.

Enjoy life and create a new YOU that is valuable for your customers.

Share the joy on social media!

Katie Perry Again... Dark Horse

Well, I am a great fan of this group, they are amazing in finding the weaknesses of songs and make the parodies better than the original most of the time.

I am happy that I am not the only one who has noticed that KP's lyrics suck. They suck a lot. As I have mentioned in the previous post, she has no idea about the difference between postmodern and random. You should watch the video above and listen carefully. The artists (I call The Key of Awesome artists) find the real essence of the problem. She doesn't even know what a metaphor is, not to mention intertextuality. Even rappers belonging to a sub-culture know better.

I would like to read your views on the video, no matter if you agree or not.
Thanks for listening to another grunt about popular culture. Enjoy the video.