*UPDATE* I haven't updated this Examiner review in many years, so I figured now would be a great time. Things have changed a lot with Examiner since I first started. I was actually beginning to get some subscribers and readership. Unfortunately, something changed that ruined Examiner for me. I had one relatively good month. Back when Diablo 3 first came out, I wrote an article about the error codes many were experiencing when trying to play online. It was the only article I wrote that was promoted by Examiner on their Facebook, Twitter and featured pages. It was also before their site-ruining changes. I earned $150 that month from that article alone. Unfortunately, I would never again see cash from Examiner like that.
Just did a video review of Examiner.com; a freelance writing site. Take a look at it and see what you think. If you're interested the go here and see what they have to offer. Again, be sure to vote on my poll and comment with any questions, comments or ideas.
Hello again! I recently applied to become the San Diego Examiner for Games and Technology. I am very excited about this site and, after using it for a bit, I will do a complete review, both written and video, covering everything I learn over the next few days. Hope everyone is enjoying the site and please vote on the poll below to let me know what you want to learn more about.
Thanks for your patronage and I look forward to your comments and votes.
UPDATE #1: Quick update freelancers. My friend Stephen Davies commented something very useful to everyone looking for payment information regarding MyAMS aka LondBrokers.net. His comment is at the bottom of this post but here is the meat and taters of it:
Good for starters or as a filler but better sites exist. Pay rates are really embarrassing for writers, no matter your experience level. Scripted is better, as is Great Content; Problogger for job hunts; iwriter is another abysmal site imo. One of the best ones is Writers Domain.
anyway on MyAMS, or London Brokers, rates are: Minimum of 300 words: $2.00 per article Minimum of 400 words: $3.00 per article Minimum of 500 words: $3.50 per article Minimum of 750 words: $5.00 per article Minimum of 1,000 words: $6.50 per article
Writers Domain pay $15 minimum for 400 words. MyAMS want to pay $3.00....
They have been around for a while as their margins are probably high. They always win on the profits.
Those rates are pretty much dead to rights. MyAMS is bad when it comes to pay and even worse when it comes to the amount of drudgery they expect from writers. You'll never get burned out quicker than when you write several UAWs in a day. Anyways, be sure to check out Stephen's LinkedIN group. It's an awesome resource for freelance writers and something you should keep in your toolbox.
UPDATE #2: Hello again everyone. It's been a few months but life got a hold of me and I had no time for writing. I'm going to start again though and would like to update my opinion of MyAMS. Let's jump right in.
I've read the comments below and looked into the policy over at MyAMS. On their FAQ they state:
Do I have to be a native English speaker?
Yes. This is an absolute must and there is no exception to this rule. If you are not a native English speaker but still join us, please note that we close your account and don’t pay you for the work you have delivered. We also don’t use the articles you wrote of course.
We have writers from USA, Canada, England, South Africa.
This is taken directly from their FAQ and is ridiculous to me. Wouldn't you make that decision according to the skill of the writer? Not their nationality. I know many excellent non-native writers. I've looked into this more and realized that MyAMS is not the only site that does this. Most Pay-upfront sites require the author to be from an English speaking country. I guess it's just the name of the game.
On to another thing I've noticed over the two or so years I've been associated with MyAMS. Their affiliate pay scale, and pay in general, is pretty low for the amount of writing. I've stopped writing all together for them as the amount of time versus the price per article is unbalanced. Also, I have over 500 affiliates and receive maybe $10 every 2 to 3 weeks. That's it. I feel they either don't register all of my affiliates or they don't pay when I've been inactive for a couple weeks. When I do log-in I typically have to click a link that "reactivates" my account. I think that's just a slick way to not have to pay. Thanks for reading.
Okay, so this is a freelance writing site that I work for as an affiliate. I want to be upfront with that. However, I am going to try my best to provide a completely unbiased review. The site has many unique features and the pay is decent; you're not going to get rich from it, but you can make a relatively good wage and they pay every Friday morning through PayPal or Payoneer. So, let's get started.
The Pros of Freelance Writing for this Site
MyAMS has a unique Job Board that, on average, has upwards of 500 projects available at any time. They also include a couple different types of bonuses. The first type is a 5% bonus on all there articles that are not urgent. A writer can get this bonus by turning in the project within 24 hours. In regards to the second type of bonus, it works a little differently. This bonus is based upon an urgent article. These are projects that typically have less than 24 hrs to complete. They pay an extra $1.10 depending on the urgency of the project. By examining the job board, you can find projects that are urgent and pay a lot more for a lower word-count. This a good way to make extra money while doing less work.
Another cool thing that this freelance site offers is titles. Each title pays 1 cent. Most projects need 25 titles. Some need 100 or more. The great thing about the titles is that MyAMS provides what they call a title spinner. This unique widget can help you create the titles quickly. For example, 25 titles typically take about a minute to create. So, it is important to look for projects that need titles as this is a very simple way to make some quick cash.
They also offer a comprehensive help page and Live Support. The help page covers every type of project they offer, how to use their system and a plethora of other advice. It also has numerous video tutorials that are very helpful. The Live Support is almost always on line and you can have any questions answered immediately. When they are offline they will get back to you quickly with answers to any questions.
The Cons of this Freelance Writing Site
The site is still under development, so if you dislike ugly websites then you will hate this one. It's plain but functional. However, some of their seemingly simple functions do not work as intended.
As an affiliate for their freelance writing site I have noticed that not all of my writers show up on my payment page. I have contacted their accounting department about this and still have not received an answer. It makes me worry that I am missing out on payments because they are not properly tracking what my writers turn in.
You will not get rich from this website. However, it is a good starting point and they always pay. The only bad part is that they take full control of your work once you submit it, so there is no real way to build a portfolio through this freelancing site.
There are a ton of projects to choose from, but many of them can be very boring unless you simply enjoy writing no matter the topic. Most are UAWs which includes 1 original and 2 rewritten articles. This can become an arduous task when you do them over and over.
So, Why Should Freelance Writers Work For AMS?
There are many reasons. The most simplest is that you can completely stop bidding on freelance sites and work strictly for them. You will typically make more money than projects on the aforementioned websites and you will never have to worry about getting screwed out of a payment by an unscrupulous employer. Which I have experienced many times, and I am confident you all have as well. They pay every Friday morning and there payment screen does a relatively good job of tracking your jobs and how much you are owed.
After a year or so of working for other auction sites I finally discovered MyAMS and was ecstatic that I could finally pick and choose the projects I wanted to do. The Job board is by far the coolest thing I have seen. It tells you everything you need to know in a glance; how much the project pays, the deadline, any applicable titles and any special instructions.
If you're tired of placing bid after bid on site after site then I highly suggest you check-out MyAMS. Or, watch my freelance writing video reviews on my channel and embedded here.
Thanks for reading and Freelance Mike Signing Off!
I finished a really fun and, hopefully, helpful video and written review of ContentSpree; a new freelance site strictly for writers. But now I am lost as to what to write about next. I need your help here. It's really simple though.
Just vote on the poll below and let me know what you want to learn more about. Once I get a few votes on a certain topic, I'll write a post covering it.
Or, leave a comment. Ask a question or tell me one of your ideas. I am always learning new things from other freelance writers. In this way we can help each other and, hopefully less experienced writers will pick-up a thing or two along the way.
In this world of internet entrepreneurship, the freelance writers in the mix need to stick together and help each other as much as possible. That is my sincere goal and I want to jump-start that community cohesiveness here.
So let's do it. Let me know what your thinking, where your concerns lie and I will do everything I can to answer your questions to the best of my ability.
So I finally found the time to write this review of the buyers side of ContentSpree. If you read or watched any of my previous posts then you are familiar with the basics of this new freelance writing site. I spoke with Andrew, the webmaster of CS, about his goals and future plans for this writers-only-website. His excitement and energy about the direction of CS and his genuine desire to provide a better, securer atmosphere for buyer and seller piqued my interest. Over the course of this series of freelance video reviews I have seen Andrew's ideas begin to take shape. This review is going to cover the buyer's side, so I will start with those changes.
Already, over the course of a week, the amount of quality writers available has risen tremendously. When I say quality I mean the exact definition of the word. I have used many other sites to hire proofreaders and editors for my work, as I do not have the best grammar (I am sure some of you have noticed), with typically the same results: digging through dozens of useless bids to, hopefully, find that one person who can actually meet your needs. Then, if your lucky, that one person might complete the project to your liking. That's if your lucky. Andrew and I agreed about the lack of writing specific freelancers on the other websites. It seems CS is on it's way to becoming a hub for talent in an internet field that is rapidly growing.
And I really think that is what Andrew is trying to provide on the buyer's end of CS. A place where the growing masses of internet businessmen and women can find skilled and professional individuals to provide them with intelligently built content.
As I browsed the different categories of writers and read their profiles, I found legitimate credentials in their resumes and flawlessly written articles in their samples. I inspected a few written by a person who claimed to be skilled in SEO and keyword placement. I know a thing or two about these tactics as well, so I figured I would put his content through the Freelance Mike Inspection for Quality Assurance (actually, I just made that up but I did go over his work thoroughly). I found them to not only have proper keyword density and placement, but to read naturally and flow perfectly. His grammar (as far as I could tell) was impeccable and the point of each article was clearly and concisely made. All in all, ContentSpree does not lack for talent.
One of the main points Andrew made as we spoke was ease-of-use. He certainly achieves that with this Beta version of CS. The site is simple to navigate and easy to traverse. He provides multiple ways to access various areas and it's ridiculously easy to post projects. Want to invite a writer to a job? Simply jump to their profile page and click invite, a box pops up to confirm and they're encouraged to bid through a message sent to their inbox. With notifications, the writer will receive an email as well. If there are a few writers that have worked well in the past or just ones that meet your requirements simply add them to a watch list and they're easily accessible anytime you post a new project.
ContentSpree is still in Beta testing so I'm sure a lot of Andrew's other ideas will be implemented over the coming months. As it is right now, I think CS has the potential to be one of the better freelance writing sites available. And the fact that it is strictly for writers and the buyers that need their work is what I like the best. I believe that the growing market for internet content will help propel CS and Andrew's past experiences and future goals will make it a profitable venue for individuals to ply their written web wares.
Here is the buyers side video that I put together. Take a look at it and decide for yourself whether this Freelance Writing Site can be beneficial for you.
Hello all! It's me again, Freelance Mike, with a quick post and video. As you all have seen I have been reviewing a Beta freelance writing site called ContentSpree that is, finally, strictly for writers.
Andrew, the Webmaster of CS, has an energy about him that came through during our Skype convo. His plans and ideas are unique and interesting and I wanted to share their freelance writing video here. We went over many things that can be watched here and read here.
So take a look at their quick video plan-of-action, so to speak, and decide for yourself if CS is worth checking out.
First off, I would like to thank Andrew - the Webmaster at ContentSPREE - for giving me an exclusive interview of his beta freelance writing site. We had a good discussion about the future of ContentSPREE and what he wants to do differently than other providers. He had many interesting points concerning future plans and his back-story is just as compelling. I'd like to cover them all here as well as an overall review of the beta site.
Now as Andrew and I spoke over Skype he explained in detail his vision for his site. But before I go into that I would like to fill you in on his background and why he decided to create CS. It's highly relevant because I believe we all have gone through what he did.
Andrew began just like 99% of freelance writers out there, myself included: Bidding on multiple projects on multiple sites. Bidding on project after project only to have it suddenly closed, awarded to another writer or, if luck (or bad luck) was on his side, himself. After dealing with unscrupulous employers that never paid, user-UNFRIENDLY interfaces that took hours to setup a simple profile, low-pay for writers and lax security for buyers, Andrew had seen, learned and been upset and angered enough to create a plan; a vision.
This is his vision:
• Ease of use
Through Andrew's dealings, whether good or bad, with other freelance sites he began to see a disturbing trend. As he explained it to me, and I am paraphrasing here, "Most sites are extremely difficult to navigate. And when I say that I mean on both sides of the coin: the writer’s side and the buyer's side. The navigation is confusing and typically difficult to use. With ContentSPREE, we want the writer to be able to easily jump from open projects to works-in-progress without having to switch screens or even tabs. We want to streamline the entire bidding process and make it quicker and more efficient for the writers."
He said that last after we both had agreed and laughed about the arduous and time devouring nature of other freelance sites and their bidding processes.
In my honest opinion, Andrew has delivered a sound platform that is simple to use. When you check out the video reviews of ContentSPREE you'll see more clearly what I am describing here. Because if a picture is worth a thousand words then what's a video worth?
• Higher Pay For Writers
As we continued our discussion, Andrew went on to describe how he wanted to implement new ways to pay writers more for their work. A current implementation on the Beta version is a higher minimum bid than any similar freelance site that I have seen. This basically means that ContentSPREE will only allow employers to post projects at a set lowest bid amount. On Andrews’ site it is currently set at $50 with no way for the buyer to lower that amount. This translates into more money for the writer.
Some of his future ideas are interesting and promising for a freelance writer. He mentioned increasing pay based on word count and higher payments depending on the type, urgency and difficulty of the project. These are all unique and clever ideas that I have never seen on a bidding portal such as this and if Andrew follows through with them all then I have no doubt that his site will prosper and help writers do the same.
• Contests
Another idea he briefly went over was contests. We’ve all seen the typical contests on other sites. They are difficult to enter, require massive amounts of input and entries and, sometimes, even cost the writer to participate. Andrew wants to go in a completely opposite direction. However, as he explained it, he’s treating it as an experiment and has not decided on whether he will implement it into the finished website. I explain how his current contest concept works in my freelance writing video review.
The number one thing that I love about CS so far is that it is strictly for writers. There is absolutely no competition between web-designers/writers or logo creators/ghost writers, etc., etc. When you bid on a project your bidding against other writers only. This ensures quality freelancers for the employers, which is very important for the overall prosperity and growth of this freelance writing website. I delve into the buyer side of CS in an upcoming video and written review.
I have high hopes for Andrew’s direction with ContentSPREE. This could be a prosperous and reliable source of lifestyle sustainable income for anyone that can write fluently in the English language.
Be sure to watch the video review and make any comments you like. I would love to hear about what you think, any new things you may have learned or answer any questions you may have. Stay tuned.
found SEED recently. It is a subsidiary of AOL, which is a prestigious name. I thought I would register and review the site all at once, however they are currently upgrading their site so you'll have to watch my video to learn more about that.
SEED offers a large assortment of free tutorials and freelance writing lessons. So, if nothing else, go there, click Academy and read their advice.
Being part of AOL they can connect individuals to a wide variety of consumers through a near myriad of affiliate sites. Every partner of the AOL Network is involved with this.
Freelance Writers, photographers and filmmakers can all get their content sold through SEED's pricing and usage rights process.
Payment: This is quoted from their site.
How It Works
Get Started
How can you get paid for what you create? There are several ways that what you produce can also earn you money:
Content Requests
When SEED posts an assignment or suggested topic and you make a submission, you can get paid in one of two ways if AOL accepts your Content.
1. AOL acquires an Exclusive License to your work for publication on one of our network sites or a third party site and pays the price listed with the request you responded to.
2. AOL acquires a Limited Exclusive License to your work for publication on one of our network sites and pays you a Calculated Earnings share based on the profit it generates.
NOTE: AOL will not accept content that does not meet our Publishing Guidelines and / or quality standards.
Each day when you log onto SEED, you can see if what you’ve sent in has been reviewed, and see a rolling total of the Calculated Earnings your work generates when it appears on our network.
Getting Paid
You can set up how you want to be paid (PayPal, check, or direct deposit) through your SEED Dashboard.
When the Calculated Earnings share you’ve earned exceeds a certain amount, a “Pay Me Now” button appears automatically on your SEED Dashboard. All you have to do is click it, and your payment is processed.
This is where you go to learn how to write specific assignments offered on SEED. They also offer general information to help you write better. Certain assignments have special instructions and they explain them clearly. Take this one for example: (It's long so skim it, but it gives you an idea about how much help they offer.)
This is a page specifically meant for the people working on our project to interview and write profiles of the musicians playing at the South by Southwest festival in March 2010. If you are interested in joining the project, read this post on Spinner, our indie music site.
Thank you for choosing to work on a profile of a musician scheduled to play at the South By Southwest music festival this march. This document is meant to offer some tips and guidance for you.
If you've got a question, please ask it in the comments below. We'll respond promptly so all the other writers can see it. Please feel free to post your own tips about this project below too. If you would rather, send your questions to SXSWSeed@aol.com.
Contact the band's publicist or manager to arrange an interview.
Don't wait, because you only have a week to conduct the interview and submit the article. If we have contact information, we have included it in your assignment e-mail. If not, search for the band's MySpace page and its own Web page. You should find a manager or press contact. If you're stumped, contact us atSXSWSeed@aol.com.
Ask the manager or publicist to e-mail you a photograph of the band that will run with the article.
Research the band. Listen to the band's songs you find on the Web. Read what you can about them.
RECORDING THE INTERVIEW
Prepare to record the interview if you can. Your local RadioShack or office supply story, has gadgets that can hook up a telephone to a recorder. Another option is to conduct the interview on speakerphone, so a recorder can pick up the conversation.
While recording the interview is a very good idea, it's not required. Just be prepared to take very good notes.
If you do record the interview, be sure to tell the person you are talking to. In many states, that's the law.
CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEW
Interviews must be conducted by telephone (or in person, if you happen to be where the band is.) E-mail interviews are not acceptable. The only exception is if the band doesn't feel comfortable in English. If you do conduct an e-mail interview in this case, feel free to e-mail back follow up questions in the (likely) case the initial answers are too terse.
In the interview, be sure to ask the questions on our list below. Feel free to add a few of your own. Be polite and curious.
If the person you are talking to doesn't really answer the question in a colorful way, ask a follow up to draw more out. You need more than a few sentances for each question.
SIGNING UP FOR SEED
If you haven't already, sign up for an account on at www.seed.com/signup. Please use the same e-mail address you have used to apply to write for Seed.
Go to the "Dashboard" (the first page you see after you sign in). Under "Recommended Assignments," choose the "Arts & Entertainment" category from the drop down menu.
Look for the assignment called "SxSW Artist Profile." You may need to skip forward by a page or two.
Click on the title of the "SxSW Artist Profile" assignment. Then click "Claim This."
You will see a page that allows you to enter and edit your article. Put the band name as the Article Title.
If you have a photograph of the band, click on the "Click to Add an Image" button. Press "Upload." Then insert the filename of the photo the band sent you. (Don't use photos from other sites that may be copyrighted.)
Click "Save." Whenever you return to your dashboard on Seed, you'll see the article listed under "works in Progress."
WRITING THE INTERVIEW
Go through your notes and recordings to extract the most sharp, interesting and informative quotes.
Write a two or three sentence introduction to the article that simply sets up the band, where it's from, and a general description of the sort of music it plays. Make sure the tone is that of a reporter describing the band (with style), but not a critic or a publicist. It's not your job to say whether the band is good or not.
The rest of the article is simply the questions you asked in bold face, followed by the answers.
No single answer should be more than 200 words. And the entire article cannot exceed 1,000 words.
Be sure to include all four of the core questions and at least four other questions.
The answer to each question should be a direct quote. You can add additional information to make things clear [in brackets]. You may skip parts of the quote using ...ellipses to indicate that words were skipped. Of course, do not in any way alter the meaning or emphasis of what the artist said.
WRITING THE BIOGRAPHY
Use the information you learned from the interview, along with what you learned researching the band in advance.
Use reliable sources, including your own interview, the band's publicity information and web site, the site of their record label, and mainstream publications such as Rolling Stone. Wikipedia is often a handy starting place, but verify any information you find there.
A chronological structure is usually handy for a biography. Again, your job is to describe the band, not to offer opinions about its music.
Write 300-500 words.
Link to all your external sources, and identify for us any other sources you have that aren't Web links.
Be sure to use your own words, not copy those of others.
SUBMITTING YOUR WORK
It's best to write your article, using the editor on Seed.com. There are buttons, however, that allow you to paste text into the Seed editor and to paste formatted text from Microsoft Word.
Simply append the biography to the end of the interview in the Seed. Put the heading "Biography" at the beginning.
When you have finished writing your article in Seed and proofread it article, press "Save & Next." Write a short summary of your interview on the next page.
Press "Preview" to see your article one last time. Then press "Submit."
We will read it and get back to you within seven days.
If we like your work, we may offer you the chance to write more SxSW interviews.
IMPORTANT GUIDELINES
When speaking to the band and its representatives, you can describe yourself as on assignment for AOL Music and Spinner.
You may not describe yourself as working for us in any other context.
Do not approach SXSW, or any other organization, and ask for press passes, tickets or any other favors.
Do not write about any band if you have a personal or professional relationship with any people or companies connected to it in any way.
Do not accept any tickets, goods, meals or anything else with a more than a nominal value from anyone connected to the band.
You must use your full real name as the byline of the article.
GETTING MORE HELP
If you have a general question, ask it in the comments below. That way we can share our answer with the rest of the SXSW writes. Feel free to discuss the project amongst yourselves. Also you can e-mail us at SXSWSeed@aol.com with any questions or concerns.
The End
Well, that is all for now. Check out my video for more information. Also, once I can register I will show ya'll that as well.
Been away for awhile. A high volume of projects came in suddenly to my delight.
So my friend Mike Sarono is a network marketer. We were talking the other night and he showed me a website that helps people promote their blog. This site, Empower, is a WordPress enabled blogging platform that takes all the legwork out of promoting and sharing your blog. They provide services that allow a blogger to do what they do best: blog. One great service that I particularly like is the automated pinging. Everyday, Empower shares it's clients blogging efforts with the world through the most popular blog search engines. They also offer unlimited websites and hosting. That pays for the $25 Empower fee right there.
Anyways, I wanted to give a quick heads-up about the guest post I am doing on his blog. If you're interested in learning more about promoting your blog or any network marketing endeavor take a look at Mike's site and my guest post.
I am back and have some interesting information to share with everyone. Stay tuned!
