Selling Your Soul as a Freelance Writer

It’s shameful how many publications and editors are willing to take advantage of freelance writers. After all, those editors know writers need the work in order to earn income.

They know the writers need the exposure to help build their own reputation and exposure to help them gain new clients in other fields.

What annoys the CRAP out of me are those shameful editors who pretend to publish “reputable” publications, but then demand payment from businesses who want their story to feature in that particular publication.

Are you confused?

Let me draw you a picture. 

Let’s assume there’s an online publication out there known as News-stuff Monthly and the editor (and conveniently, also the owner) of that publication is called Jane.

Now, Jane has a little stable of obedient freelance writers who are told what to write every week. Those obedient freelance writers create lots of great content for Jane’s publication that earns her income. That’s nothing new. That’s called publishing. Get over it.

But let’s take the example another level further. Let’s now assume that Jane ALSO owns a marketing company outside of her online publication.

Jane’s marketing company charges clients who want to circulate their news or press releases to the world. She charges a handsome fee for her services. She ALSO charges those same clients a fee for having a freelance writer create a news-worthy ‘article’ that will be published in her online publication.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem as though there’s anything wrong with this business model.

What you might not realize is that the poor shmuck freelance writer doing the work of promoting businesses who are paying for the marketing are being ripped off.

Let’s look a little closer at this particular business model – and how much it stinks.

Fictional editor and publication owner, Jane, receives a press release from a paying client through her marketing company. She pays her pet freelance writer $30 to write an article about that press release to be published in her ‘reputable’ online publication. She sends an email to the poor shmuck writer, outlining the company and story she wants written and issues a deadline of a few hours away, because it simply needs to be published RIGHT NOW.

(Um…. $30? For a 600 word article WITH quotes from company execs and research on the company and  a news-worthy story being written? I won’t start a rant about the outrageously low pay for such work. But I digress. Let’s get back to the fictional story.)

So the shmuck writer isn’t given the opportunity to say his or her schedule is already booked with other work. The shmuck writer doesn’t get an option to extend deadline or explain that other, more regular, higher paying clients have standing orders in place that need to be written first.

The megalomaniac editor, Jane, doesn’t want to hear that.  The response is to write it NOW, or don’t write for that publication again.

So that silly, gullible writer is told to interview the company CEO and get some exclusive quotes to be published in the online publication NOW. Then that low-paid writer is expected to create a wildly wonderful, newsworthy article that will be published in just a few hours and that story is fully expected to go viral all over social media.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the writer is also expected to promote the piece written on all of his or her own social media profiles to increase circulation?

Go.

The writer stays up for 8 hours researching the piece, working out pertinent questions to ask the company execs, collecting quotes from the CEO, fitting them into the story, ensuring research is correct and completed, foregoing sleep and family, and ignoring personal needs.

For $30.

AND THEN the fictional editor, Jane, decides the article that was written is so great, she publishes it in HER OWN NAME, so the poor shmuck freelance writer doesn’t even get the benefit of a byline for those efforts.

Ugh.

I’m beyond disgusted with this story right now.

Matthew Hays, a Montreal-based author and journalist wrote about a particular ‘writer’ who took press releases received from clients, rewrote them, and then posted them on one of the world’s most popular publications (yes, I'll say it - it was for Huffington Post). His comment about that kind of behavior was:

“This is the exact opposite of what reliable journalism is supposed to be: It’s not about clients paying for advertising, but fair and reasonable assessments of what is going on around us.”

Now, let’s take the consistent abuse of freelance writers by asshole publishers and editors another step further.

Let’s assume that the fictional editor, Jane, and her fictional publication News-stuff Monthly also allows her pet freelance writers their own email addresses from the publication address (for example,. dumb-writer@news-stuff-monthly.com).

No matter what those poor freelance writers send out as questions to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies or marketing execs of globally-recognized brands, the editor goes into the account and edits the content being sent by that writer.

For example, let’s say the writer has posed some questions of a company exec and sent them out. The editor then logs into the writer’s account and asks a few more questions that are redundant in terms of the article being written.

But she does it AND THEN SIGNS OFF AS THE FREELANCE WRITER.

 Not only is this extremely unprofessional, but it’s also highly unethical - and likely illegal.

The writer’s reputation in the industry is ruined. The writer’s credibility in the industry is destroyed. The writer’s name becomes known for being nothing more than a cheap hack, writing for a publication that insists on being paid for any kind of publicity offered in their cheap-ass bull$hit publication.

Seriously. It’s ridiculous the lengths some freelance writers will go to just to try and ‘break into’ new markets.

The Moral of the Story

This little ‘fictional’ story is actually happening to a friend of mine RIGHT NOW. He’s a qualified journalist with a long history of writing for some of the world’s most prestigious publications. And he got duped into working with a dodgy publication with an amateur ‘editor’ with a God complex just to get his name into an international market.

And the silly writer won’t stop. Apparently, he thinks he’s getting valuable ‘exposure’ for all those efforts and that below-minimum-wage payment.

Personally, I think he’d be better off flipping burgers and Micky D’s if he wants to earn that kind of bullshit money.

My advice – steer clear from any publication that doesn’t pay PROPERLY for your time and effort. 

And completely avoid those editors who only want to use you for what they can get without paying you properly for the privilege of your time and effort.

End rant.

 >:[

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Are You Giving Away All Your Rights When You Write on Bubblews?

Blowing Bubblews

You've probably heard all the hype surrounding revenue-share site Bubblews. There are plenty of people singing the praises for Bubblews being an 'easy way to make money online'.

The rules are so simple. Write about anything you want, make sure your post is at least 400 characters long, post it and you make money. 400 characters is around 100 words, so it's quick to get going.

What could be easier?

The site is filled with thousands of people posting endless 'bubbles' about what they ate for breakfast or about some mundane thing they saw on the way to work.

There are also loads of posts containing highly personal information, such as kid's names, family member's names, pet names, locations of where they live, personal family photos, and other personal trivia.

Of course, there are also people there willing to publish their own creative inspirations, such as poems and short stories, all in the hopes of earning a few extra pennies.

What Are Your Rights?

When you write anything at all for Bubblews, you do all the hard work. You do the writing. You promote your posts. You try hard to find more people to view your work. And then Bubblews pay you a few pennies (if you get paid at all, that is....)

But what does Bubblews get out of the bargain?

Maybe it's time to read their Terms of Use a bit more closely and see what you're REALLY giving away.

If you look at Paragraph 5, Section C in some detail, you'll notice a lot of legal sounding jargon that looks as follows:

Bubblews.com owns a copyright in the selection, coordination, arrangement and enhancement of such content, as well as in the content original to it. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works or in any way exploit any of the content, in whole or in part.

Is Your Work Still Your Own?

So, once you've published your 'work' on Bubblews, do you still own it? Or is the copyright for your work handed over to Bubblews in return for a few pennies?

What about those beloved photos of your kids and pets you posted to the site? How about those precious poems you labored over during their creation? Do the rights for those now belong to the site's owners?

I've seen it written that many people are happy to post "otherwise under-performing" articles on Bubblews in the hopes of making a few extra cents.

When the next big revenue-share site fad is launched and you want to shift your work over to the new site, what happens then? If you delete your own posts on Bubblews, they deduct money from your account. If you don't have much in your account, your bank balance will drop to a negative figure indicating that YOU owe THEM money for removing THEIR content!

Let's find the nicely worded section in the Terms of Use that explains that little bit of trivia more clearly. You'll find it in Paragraph 5, Section D:

...you grant Bubblews.com and its assignees and licensees right to review and make public any and all game play, film, photograph and record your name, nickname, pseudonym, persona, picture, biographical material, voice and/or likeness and to use and distribute the same in any manner or media whatsoever, by any and all means, media, devices, processes and technology now or hereafter known or devised anywhere in the universe at anytime in perpetuity, for any lawful purpose whatsoever, including advertising, publicity or trade.

Blowing Bubblews Back at You

In Paragraph 5, Section D, it actually states that by posting any of your work to Bubblews, you're handing it over to them in exchange for a few pennies. That's right, folks, they can do what they want with YOUR hard work. You accepted the pennies in payment and they get to do what they want with YOUR work, photos, artwork or whatever else you post to the site.

Aren't you generous?

By submitting material to any public area of this Site, or otherwise submitting materials to Bubblews.com, you automatically grant, or warrant that the owner of such material has expressly granted Bubblews.com the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, edit, creative derivative works from, distribute, and sub-license such material (in whole or in part, through multiple tiers and/or via syndication) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such material. You also permit any other user to access, view, store or reproduce the material for their personal use.

What About Using Graphics on Your Bubblews Posts?

Almost everyone uses graphics to highlight their Bubblews posts. Some people make their own graphics featuring nothing more than their name or random pictures. (yes, Bubblews owns those too - you submitted them. You got a couple pennies. They're not yours any longer...)

However, lots of people choose to use images from royalty-free stock sites. As long as you have the rights to use and reprint those images - and you credit the source correctly - you have no problem.

But if you spend even 5 minutes on the site, you'll see tons of Bubblews posts float past the 'recent additions' scroll featuring images that are copyrighted to other people. There are pictures of celebrities and products and name brands floating around on the site at any time.

So, what happens when the rightful copyright owners decide to take up legal action against Bubblews for publishing a copyrighted image? Yet again, their Terms of Use make it really clear how they intend to deal with that. Just read Paragraph 6, that states:

Any controversy, claim or dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service, its breach or claimed breach shall be settled by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its Commercial Arbitration Rules in Virginia, except that, to the extent you have in any manner violated or threatened to violate Bubblews.com 's intellectual property or confidentiality rights, Bubblews.com may seek injunctive, monetary or other appropriate relief in any state or federal court in the State of Virginia (and Bubblews.com may assert both intellectual property causes of action and other appropriate causes of action in any such action), and you consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in such courts.

Awesome!
They even TELL you they're coming after you to seek compensation for any damages YOU caused them by publishing whatever you want in your 'bubbles'.

Did Bubblews Make it Clear Enough Yet?

Just in case you didn't read the rest of the Terms of Use on the Bubblews website, they decided to make it abundantly clear in Paragraph 8 that YOU will be held responsible if someone decides to pursue legal action against them in anyway, including coming after YOU for their expenses and fees:

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Bubblews.com, Bubblews.com affiliated companies and their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, assignees and licensees from and against all claims and expenses, including attorneys' fees, resulting from (i) any breach of these Terms of Service or your negligent and wrongful conduct; (ii) your use and access of this Site, including the posting of any content on this Site by you; and (iii) violation by you of any applicable law, rule or regulation.

Think Before You Bubble

If you're happy bubbling away on Bubblews, fine. Go for it! Have fun!

Just be sure you think about what you're posting - because you're giving away all your rights the moment you hit that submit button.

I still refuse to endorse any site that makes getting paid a random event.

Freelance Markets to Avoid: Work-Online

If you're searching for a freelance writing market that accepts non-US writers or international writers, then Work Online might be a starting point for you. However, be aware that I've officially placed this listing into the 'markets to avoid' category as they've reduced their pay rate since the original posting.

Sigh.

Well, it's almost a paying market. The pay rate is terribly low, but it is in UK pounds. At least UK pounds give a semi-decent conversion rate as compared to the US lately.

The basis behind Work Online is that you write a quick 'story' about the keywords you're given. The article only needs to be a minimum of 400 words, but it must include the keywords chosen by the client at the density requested.

You're paid via PayPal if your account reaches a minimum of £10. The terms say 'within 14 days', although I've seen comments from writers saying they've received their payments in 3-5 days.

If you're in the UK and happy to receive UK pounds, then you'll receive the following:

- for the first 100 articles you write, you're paid 25p
- between 101-300 articles, you're paid 50p
- between 301-500 articles, you're paid 75p
- for every article after you hit the 501 mark, you're paid £1

The original post had a list of exchange rates showing how much this pathetically low amount converted to in Indian rupees, Philippines pesos and Hong Kong dollars. As the pay rate has been reduced even further since I wrote it, I've removed them.

The pay rate at Work Online is appalling. If you'd like to add a little bit of filler income to your freelance cash flow then feel free to join up and see how you go.

If I still haven't put you off, you can join up with Work Online here: http://work-online.org.uk/join-now
If you want, you can add my referral code when you join - it's WOR:0441

... but I'd suggest you can find far better options for your writing elsewhere.

Freelance Jobs to Avoid - Content Gurus

Thanks to the reader who emailed me the link to this site.

The new addition to my growing list of freelance jobs to avoid is Content Gurus. (also known as Content Marketing Pros)

http://www.content-gurus.net/

There are a lot of angry writers on the net lately making it very clear that this site promises VERY low pay ($2.50 for 400 words) - and then they don't pay their writers! (see evidence link here: http://www.freelancewriting.com/forums/index.php?a=vtopic&t=523 plus several disgruntled comments on this post from unpaid writers)

The double-whammy of extra low pay plus the bonus of not paying their writers means Content Gurus definitely earns a place in the writing markets to avoid listing on this blog. This also means avoiding Content Marketing Pros (CMPros International). Content Marketing Pros is the new company name given to the failed Content Gurus and owned by the same untrusthworthy people.

If you or someone you know has written for this site, please leave a comment and let us know your story. We'd love to hear it.

EDIT: Since Rachel, the owner of Content Gurus has clearly stated she DOESN'T pay $2.50 per article, I've since found a link showing that she's offering to pay $2 an article. She was telling the truth! Here's the link if you want to see it for yourself: http://www.simplyhired.com/job-id/rupu3f5nie/freelance-writer-jobs/

So at an even lower pay rate than I initially reported, Content Gurus is definitely an entrant into the Freelance Markets to AVOID

Update: We've had a couple of comments added to this post from an angry webmaster and an angry owner of Content Gurus, denying they pay their writers ridiculously low rates and accusing me of writing on 'hearsay' only.

However, we also have SEVERAL comments from ex-Content Guru writers who haven't been paid at all and are seeking legal action.


So, if you're a writer and you want to earn some income - Avoid Content Gurus. Avoid CMPros International. Avoid Content Marketing Pros.

:)

Freelance Job Boards to Avoid - WebMaster-Talk.com

Sigh.

It's happened again. I found yet another pointless, useless freelance 'job-board' filled with silly writers lining up to be paid 50 cents an article. This one is called 'webmaster-talk.com'. There are plenty of webmasters there offering plenty of writing jobs. NONE of them are paying anything worth checking out.

The only reason webmasters and article marketers think they only need to pay these really low rates is because those 'writers' are STUPID enough to accept those rates in the first place! Stop it!

Accepting ridiculously low rates like this not only hurts you and your income, but it hurts the entire writing market as well. You honestly wouldn't spend an entire day at your paid day-job only to earn $2, so why would you do it as a writer? You'd make more money flipping burgers at McDonalds.

If you're ever tempted to accept a writing job like this, grab a shovel, dig out your self-respect from wherever you buried it and stand firm that you want more money than slave-labor pay for all that time and effort. Eventually these sharks will figure out that they have to pay FAIRLY for our time and our work and everyone benefits.

If you're still interested in checking out this pointless "job site" for yourself, it's here:
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/freelance-writing-jobs/


/end rant

Writing Jobs to Avoid: Sample Article Requests

While it's true that prospective clients have the right to request samples of your work so they can see what kind of quality they're going to be paying for, there are some unscrupulous marketers lurking in the waters actively aiming at ripping off new writers.

I'm going to bring back Mr. Writer to illustrate how the scam works.

The scam is simple:

Mr. Writer sees a fabulous opportunity listed on Craigslist or on Guru or some other freelance job site. The opportunity always promises that there will be lots of work available for the right writer and always promises decent (if a little low) pay.

The person who listed the opportunity will explain what keywords he/she needs to focus on and then asks any writers wishing to apply to send in 15 sample-articles on those keywords displaying their best work. Of course these sample-articles have to be in great English, approximately 450-500 words and optimized for the keywords specified.

Mr. Writer promptly submits 15 brand new, unique articles and double checks that he's read the guidelines properly. He spends a lot of time getting his application worded correctly so that the client can see he's the best writer for the job.

A week passes...

There's no word about Mr. Writer's application from the person who posted the job. Mr. Writer thinks the poor guy must have been swamped with applications and he's just reading through them all. So he waits a while longer.

Another week passes...

There's still no word from the person who posted the job listing and Mr. Writer is getting worried now that maybe he wasn't successful in getting the position. He opens a new email, intending to create a carefully worded query as to the status of his application when he receives a new email in his inbox.

It says:

"Dear Mr. Writer,

We regret to inform you that your articles have been rejected for various reasons. We thank you for your submission, but must unfortunately decline your application at this time.

Kind Regards,
Mr. I.M. Scam-Master

p.s. if you want to send a new set of 15 sample-articles on these new keywords that I've included below, you may re-submit your application and try again."


:::shaking head in disgust:::

Are you seeing what I'm seeing?

The job listing never existed. Mr. I.M. Scam-Master got 15 unique articles based on the keywords he wanted and then didn't pay for them. Not only has this guy just gotten away with theft, but the job "offer" was worded in such a way that you can't even go after him to get fair compensation for your work.

This is because you voluntarily handed him 15 articles.

Do a search on any plagiarism website for portions of your own text. I'll bet you find several variations of it after Mr. I.M. Scam-Master has blasted your original article through one of those article spinning software things 20 times.

So... the moral of this story is:

Learn to spot a scam at 15 paces. Then run fast in the other direction.

When you stop running from the scam, pause long enough to tell as many writers as you can possibly find to avoid "job-listing" scams like this.

Enough said.

Freelance Job-Boards to Avoid - Digital Point Forums

Sigh. Here we go again!

I really appreciate it when other writers offer me suggestions for finding more freelance work. I've found some great new clients this way and even though I may already have a full plate of clients and content-creation companies supplying me with steady work, there's no harm in finding more just in case work slows down a bit.

So I always look at every recommendation other writers give me. That's how I ended up on Digital Point Forums - and I wish I hadn't.

Take a look for yourself: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=102

This is the 'Content Creation' job board, where website owners advertise when they need new writers and writers flock to grab the jobs.

I guess I spent 20 minutes going through the posts. I spent the entire time staring at my monitor in absolute horror at the rudeness of webmasters demanding unique, quality work of 500 words and then offering $1 or $2 per article.

That's appalling! They want content so they can make profits from high keyword placements, increased ad revenue and high affiliate sale commissions - and yet they treat the people who will be making their profit for them like SLAVES!

I hope you're as disgusted as I am right now, because it gets worse.

Not only are the writing jobs advertised ridiculously insulting to writers - but the writers are lined up begging to be considered for these same jobs.

Yes, you read that correctly. Writers respond to these job boards begging to be given these low paying slave-labor jobs. They even start new threads trying to undercut each other for lower and lower prices.

If you plan on making a career out of freelance writing, then I strongly suggest you AVOID this site completely. You have far better options available to you that will pay you properly for your time and effort - as any professional deserves.

Enough said.


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Freelance Jobs to Avoid - DataEntryJobs.us

LOL :)

I just had a great laugh. It wasn't just a bit of a giggle. It was an actual long, guffawing belly-laugh.

And I didn't even visit a joke site. I'm still grinning while I type this - that's how amused I am!

I'll let you in on the joke so you can laugh a bit too.

I receive quite a few emails from people asking me about different freelance job offers they've seen on the 'net and when I get time I go and check them out. Some I close in disgust, some I investigate further and some.... well, some just make me laugh so hard it brings tears to my eyes.

Someone emailed me a "job listing" for a site by the name of DataEntryJobs.us, which I visited to check out further.

I started smiling on the very first page, but it wasn't until I reached the "Content Writer Jobs" page that I began laughing in earnest.

Here's a snippet of the joke... um... I mean sales spiel...

Content Writing Jobs - is one of the best content writing job on internet. People who really wants to spend there time in putting the best contents on internet here is the right place. All you've to do here is arrange the different contents from different companies database to their online server. This Job is no time consuming, No work Load, Nothing...

I'm giggling again. Seriously, this is a content creation website, offering their services to webmasters all over the world and this tripe is the standard of quality on their own site? Please. Spare me.

If you're not giggling as much as I am yet then maybe this choice little piece of quality writing will get your funny-bone active:

We designed, this Content Writing Jobs in such a manner, that you won't feel any type of work load, burden or not even you've to worry about the accuracy. Daily we get atleast 500+ content writing Job from world wide.

Now that's funny. Are you seeing the humorous side of this post at all yet?

This 'company' is advertising for new content writers with the promise of plenty of work. I'm guessing the testing for new writers won't be so difficult - especially when the webmaster can barely write legible English anyway! LOL.

Content Writer is the best Jobs we think. Its very interesting, and many cases we found that our candidates like you who did great content writer jobs are hired by different companies and now working for them as a part time and full time and making massive income. This content writer job, is very good and career oriented.

No, I didn't giggle at that last snippet. I couldn't giggle because I have no idea what it means. After all, it's not written in any type of English I've ever seen before!

You know what? I feel like I'm a presenter at a freak show. I'm giggling at the tragedy we're witnessing but at the same time I'm horrified and appalled. It's a bit like watching a train wreck happening in slow-motion.

Watch carefully....

Q) Is there any type of Accuracy going to be counted, or what If I see any spelling mistakes in the contents?
A) There is no accuracy here, as you gonna use the contents from their database, so even if there is mistake in it, you don't have to worry.
However, if you want you can make spelling corrections. But its all very rare things, 99% there won't be any mistakes,

LOL!! Stop laughing. This is serious. ;)

Of course I'm saving the best parts for last. The bit that really made me laugh out loud is on the FAQ page. If you intend on working as a freelance writer at all, then you'll have seen enough freelance job sites to know what's okay and what's laughably stupid.

DataEntryJobs.us definitely falls in the latter category.

You might think of it as the punchline in all this silliness - but it's worth it...

Registration Fees [Non Refundable]
Professional Content Writers (Pro Writers) - $ 55 or Rs.2000/-
Featured Content Writers - $ 95 or Rs.3500/-

HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!
Oh my, now I'm laughing uncontrollably again. They actually want writers to PAY them before getting any work? HA HA!!

Final word - DataEntryJobs.us is definitely a great candidate for the "Jobs to Avoid" bin.

Enough said

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Writing at Helium

I received a lot of negativity for my post about Avoiding Revenue Share Sites - so I thought I'd do the right thing and put my writing where my mouth is.

Now I have actual statistics to write about ;)

I joined at one of "those" sites. I wrote a few simple articles. I submitted to the Marketplace. I have my stats now and won't be going back.

Here are the stats.

9 articles = $2.41
1 MarketPlace sale = $42

Total $44.41

Not impressed. Each of those articles was 500 words or longer. In a "normal" writing market environment, they should have been paid at close to $50 EACH = not $44.41 for 9 articles.

So... to all those who told me it's possible to make good money there, I say this: "It's also possible to make much MORE money elsewhere for the same amount of work."

If you want to break out of the low-paying pocket-money freelance ranks and earn some serious full time income, you'll need to write for markets that actually value their writers. Helium isn't one of them.

Cheers! :)

UPDATE - April: This original blog post was written and posted back on the 15th October. It's now April and those numbers have changed just a bit. Here's the new numbers and new verdict:

9 articles = $11.42
3 marketplace sales = $264

Verdict = one of those marketplace sales was for $200 - if you remove this unusually high sale (because this is not a regular sale price for Helium's marketplace) - you end up with an extremely LOW paying market that was a complete waste of the time it took me to write the other 11 articles.

If I'd sold the same articles on  Constant Content, I would have received $50 per article, which is $600.

Anyone who continues to tell me that slave-labor sites like this are worth the effort are either beginners and haven't been taught any differently yet or they're fooling themselves.

How to FAIL as a Freelance Writer

Yes, it's very possible to earn a very healthy income from writing. But it seems if I tell everyone how to do it, they ignore the advice and go their own way anyway.

So I'll list a few ways that will STOP you earning an income as a writer. If you do the following things, you might earn a few cents. You won't get rich. You won't make a full-time income.

But you'll be writing a lot.

Here's the top ways to guarantee failure as a writer

- Join a revenue-share article site.
Guaranteed to keep your writing career stalled and in obscurity for a long time while you earn 3 cents per week.

- Refuse to learn more about the profession
After all, it's a JOB. It's not a fancy, artistic, noble calling. It's a job. You WORK and you get paid.

- Buy into the "Easy Way" systems
That's right. Anyone selling the "Easy Way" to do anything is getting rich off you buying their stuff. They're not teaching you anything about being a writer or increasing your income or running a writing business.

- Only write about topics you love
Hmmm.... the reason work is called WORK and not "fun" or "play" is because you have to WORK. Not all writing is fun. Not all of it is easy. Sometimes the research can get tiring and the article might begin to bore you. Sometimes a short story doesn't work out the way you wanted and sometimes publishers reject submissions. This is called a "Writing Business". It's normal.

Just do it. Write, submit it to a PAYING publisher and get paid. It's called WORK.

- Only write when inspiration strikes
So what happens to your income if inspiration only strikes twice a year? Writing is a business. Those who work on building that business will earn six-figure incomes. It's not that hard. Those who don't work and don't actively keep learning, keep writing, keep submitting and keep expanding different types of income won't make any income. Easy math.

- Make Excuses
"I'm too busy". "I don't know how to submit articles". "What if they reject me?"
Yep - all lame excuses and all designed to keep you in the pits of failure. Also a great sign that the person doesn't want to learn anything about a profession or take any time in building a successful business. Stop making excuses. Search the net. Learn from those who are already doing it. Or you could just give it a go. You might surprise yourself.

- Refuse to visit professional writing sites
There are plenty of great sites around willing and able to help you make a real income from writing. So why do you keep visiting the ones that only pay a couple of cents here or a measly two dollars there? Stop it. Go visit the pro's and see how it's really done.

Try http://www.absolutewrite.com/ or http://www.writing-world.com/ or http://www.freelancefactor.com/
and LEARN about the profession you're trying to get into.

- Refuse to diversify your income streams
I hear so many writers complain that they can't sell enough articles to make a living. I can't understand this complaint. There's always plenty of work to be had! You're either not looking hard enough or you're not working enough.

You cold always charge more, I guess, but why sell only articles? Why not branch out and give your muse something else to work on?


Increasing Writing Income

Yes, writing articles forms a very big part of my income. But it's not all I do. I'd go crazy if that's all I did all day. BORING! So I branch out into other forms of writing. It's good for me to think about other projects and it brings in extra cash - which boosts my overall profit!

Here's some things you might branch out into other than just articles:

Write fiction.
There are some fabulous sites and ezines out there offering help and advice (at no charge!). And of course there are some complete duds, only wanting to sell you their overpriced stuff or rave on about themselves. Only subscribe to ezines that are teaching you about writing fiction. Here's a few of the best ones I've found.

http://www.fictionfactor.com/ or
http://www.writer2writer.com/ or
http://www.writergazette.com/

They'll teach you how to earn an income from writing fiction stories and selling them to real paying publishers.

Write a blog.
There are places out there that will pay you to blog. You might as well earn some extra dollars while you're writing anyway. I've already posted about this, so click the link to check it out.

Write for forums.
Yes you really can get paid to make short posts in forums. I like this option as a reserve for several reasons. 1) I get paid and 2) I get my link out to the world in lots of forums that brings more visitors to my site. They're basically paying me to advertise my own site!

This one isn't big money - but it sure adds up when you consider the visitors I get into my site at no cost while I'm being paid ;)

So... next time you think up another lame excuse why you can't make an income from your writing, ask yourself if you're really doing everything you can to make that income happen - or whether you're setting yourself up to FAIL!

Associated Content Don't Pay Non-US Writers

I am really offended today. A lot of my writer friends write for Associated Content. They receive a small upfront payment for articles and the rest is accumulated from revenue-share. Unless you're not in the US. Then you get no up-front payment and ridiculously low share of revenue.

Isn't this just a form of discrimination against Non-US freelance writers?

Apparently the content site, Associated Content, will accept articles from any writer anywhere in the world - but for tax reasons they won't pay the upfront payments to anyone who lives outside the US. Non-US writers are only eligible for the miniscule "pay-per-view" amounts (I think it's something stupidly pathetic like $1.50 per 1,000 page views).

Now, if they're not going to pay for work submitted by non-US writers, then why on earth are they encouraging submissions from international writers in the first place?

More to the point - when is another freelance writing company going to give Non-US freelance writers a fair break at earning an income from our writing efforts?

If you're NOT from the US, then perhaps you might like to look elsewhere than Associated Content to create your writing income?

That is - until they start paying us the same way they pay them.

Now I have my rant out of the way about non-US writers - I'll begin my tirade on Associated Content in earnest.

I'll put it as plainly as I can for you: If you join AC you'll never be a full time freelance writer.

Simple enough?

They might promise you a tiny upfront payment and a miniscule share of the revenue they might maybe perhaps raise from your article - but is that enough? After all, you're the person who sat down and wrote the article. You worked and typed and checked and uploaded.

And you're given a few measly cents for your hard work.

So what do Associated Content get in return for paying you a pathetic couple of cents? They get increased page views, higher page ranking in the search engines, more content to use for keyword optimization - and WAY more revenue than they bother to pay you.

Hmmm.... sounds like a one-sided relationship to me. You have better options, writer!

This post definitely goes in the Writing Jobs to Avoid bin.

Enough said.


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