DMS Slowing Down eHow Production
Well, the event people have been predicting has finally happened. Demand Media Studios has all but halted the production of eHow articles.
In an announcement made last week, DMS said that it will limit the amount of titles produced for the site for the foreseeable future. Titles are restricted to subjects that hasn't already been covered by eHow.
Hmmm, titles that hasn't already been covered by eHow... Articles on lengthy, in-depth processes that are worth a lot more than $15-$25 a pop. I don't see many writers spending their time writing for DMS any more. The lure of the fast buck is gone.
How to Present Yourself to Sources When You're Writing On-Spec
I recently received an email by a reader. Her question is a common one, and one I've dealt with: What do you tell your sources when you are writing on-spec? Do you tell them you are writing for the publication? Here was my reply:
The best way to go about this is to tell your source that you are working on-spec for XYZ Magazine and leave it at that. Most people don't mind and those who might care usually don't know what "on-spec" means.
If it turns out that your article isn't accepted, simply tell your source that the article won't be published with XYZ Magazine, afterall, but you are looking for another publisher that is well suited for the piece.
You don't have to go into detail about why the article didn't get published. Articles don't get published all the time, whether you are an expert writer or not. Publication needs change, magazines run out of money, etc, so there's no need to worry about your credibility.
What is Remilon?
I know a lot of freelance writers are looking for gigs that are like Demand Media, but have a better editorial department and nicer reputation, while still paying upfront for articles. Remilon is a website that pays upfront for articles and has a great reputation. Here are a few facts about the company:
Writers are paid by-the-hour They specialize in education articles Currently, they have over 200 writers Remilon pays twice a month through PayPal They produce around 2,000 articles per month Pay is $8 per hour and up Freelance writers must do 15 hours of work per week A test article is required before acceptance, but you are paid for the test article You have an assigned editor and can freely communicate with the editor The articles are 250-300 words
If you have any questions about this freelance writing job you can email
Update:
I recently received this email:
Hello Alina,
I'm writing on behalf of Remilon, the online educational resource you recently profiled on your blog. First off, thanks for showcasing Remilon to your readers. It's a great article but one point was concerning to us because we don't want to confuse prospective applicants: the third bullet point from the bottom is slightly misleading ("A test article is required before acceptance, but you are paid for the test article").
New Remilon content writers aren't paid for the test assignment specifically, but the orientation process as a whole is paid. I'd just like to remove the notion that the test assignment itself is paid so applicants aren't surprised.
Thank you!
Erin Malus
----------
Erin Malus
Publishing Operations Coordinator
Remilon, LLC
Suite 101 Stats for September
There's been a lot of talk that Suite 101 has hit bottom and is never coming back. For a while I believed it, but I was still making some money there so I didn't leave.
It's lucky that I didn't. My money has bounced back and is almost back to pre-Panda levels. I'm pretty excited since that is a big bunch of moola. Here are my stats:
Before Panda 2200 PVs per week Currently 2100 PVs per week My earnings have been going up by 10-50% each month By this time next month my earnings should be back to pre-Panda levels I have only posted 4 articles since Panda hit 314 articles in all
Update: I have almost doubled last months earnings and I haven't written a thing. This is turning out to be a great month for my Suite 101 earnings.
Finished My Ebook
Well, for all of you wondering, I finished my ebook with two weeks to spare. Since I have ghostwritten so many it was a piece of cake. Almost Free Art Supplies is now available to buy on Smashwords. (Watch for my tips on publishing with Smashwords in a future post.)
Here's how I've been marketing my ebook:
Blog posts An announcement on my art site's homepage Twitter announcement Facebook announcement LinkedIn announcement Forums announcement (in a forum that allows these types of announcements) Articles on similar topics that link to the ebook Guest blog posts (contact me if you would like me to do a guest blog)
Do you have a favorite way of marketing that I'm not taking advantage of? Let me know!
How to Replace Demand Media Studios?
Lately I have been writing a lot for Demand Media Studios. Here's why:
They pay twice a week I can make $30 an hour or more The articles can be written using very little brain power I can do $100 worth of work in a few hours and spend the rest of the day working on my ebook, blogs or websites
There have been rumors swirling, though, that DMS is having financial trouble and won't be able to last much longer. So, after tapering off for a few weeks, I'm back to the client hunt so I can keep more eggs in my basket (I have several clients other than Demand) while I build my own website and write my ebook. The problem is I keep seeing job ads offering writers less than $30 an hour but want more work. I usually click right past them because I think of the easy money at DMS.
What happened to all of the good jobs? I'm guessing the recession mixed with a heavy dose of Panda has made most website owners wary of paying writers what they are worth.
Before I get emails contradicting me, I know that there are good paying clients out there. They are just few and far between. I also know that DMS is a content mill. In DMS' defense, though, they are trying to change their image by specializing and going after big name clients.
I guess I'm going to stick with doing the DMS thing for a while longer while I get my own projects off the ground.
How Important Are Photos to Search Results?
You've probably heard the old SEO tip that you should add photos to your articles because it will give the article more Google juice. The file name of the photo gives you an extra place to put a keyword and sometimes people search for images with certain names.
I decided to check on the last part of that tip. How many people actually come to your site through an image search?
According to my stats, out of 1,000 page views, only three of them came by image search. This information came to me via my art blog that almost only consists of images. I suspect a blog that consists of mostly text would fair even worse.
Food for thought.
Day 5 of 30 Days to Make, Market and Sell a Fabulous Ebook
So, I'm still reading Angela England's "30 Days to Make, Market and Sell a Fabulous Ebook" (affiliate link) and I have made it to day five. By this point, readers have come up with an ebook idea, brainstormed chapter ideas and have completed an outline of the ebook. Using Angela's tips, I have all I need to start my ebook with a well though-out plan.
I'm pretty impressed about how smoothly this is going so far. Usually a large project like this overwhelms me and I procrastinate, but the ebook is keeping me on-track.
30 Days to Make, Market and Sell a Fabulous Ebook: Day 1
I have been meaning to read Angela England's "
30 Days to Make, Market and Sell a Fabulous Ebook
" (yep, it's an affiliate link) for a while now. It's an ebook and I don't particularly like reading ebooks. After hours of staring at my laptop screen while doing my freelance writing for clients, the last thing thing I want to do is read a book.
It seems that the fates are smiling on me today, though, because I just received my new Kindle 3. On the first day of the month. Which coincides with Angel's ebook format because it is divided into 30 day projects. Simpatico. So, since today is the first and I can read the ebook on my new e-reader there's no excuses, right? Right.
I jumped into the first day's homework with both feet. It is focused on gathering ideas for your ebook by taking a look at subjects you already write about. Sounds simple enough, but it really opened my eyes to subject possibilities.
Needless to say, I am really enjoying my first day on the road to writing an ebook using Angela's methods.
How to Promote Your Articles in Less Than 3 Minutes
I hate promoting. Unfortunately, though, promotion gets readers and readers generate money in the residual income world. It's a good thing, then, that I found a nifty tool that lets me promote my articles in less than three minutes on a wide range of social networking sites.
The tool is called AddThis. It's free and can be installed to your web browser's toolbar so it is always easy to find. To use it you simply open up the article you want to share, click on the AddThis button on your toolbar and click on the social media site where you want to share the article. I repeat the process with all of the social media sites I am a member of and I'm done.
Here is the list of sites I post new article notifications to:
My article links blog on LiveJournal LinkedIn Facebook Myspace Twitter Blogger blogs like this one (I only do this occasionally and only if the subject may be of interest to my readers!)
How to Find Titles at Demand Studios
Now that Demand Studio's available titles are down to almost 7,000, I thought I'd share with you a few tips that I use to keep my Work Desk full:
Type keywords in the search box that relates to any type of knowledge you may have. For example, if you like to write about sports don't type in the obvious keywords like baseball, football and soccer. Instead, type in kick, pitch, ball, cleats, etc. Be willing to write about things you don't know much about. The key to writing a good article without a lot of research is to choose titles that are relativity simple. I don't know a lot about costume makeup, but making your kid look like a wolf is pretty simple, so I claimed, wrote and submitted the article. It was accepted without a hitch. Find article titles that can be interpreted into something that you know about.
Never Stop Searching for Freelance Work
Sometimes Sites Stop Paying Residuals
During the past 12 years of freelancing I've always had one mantra, "Never stop searching."
As a freelancer you never know when that lucrative project will end. You never know when a residual income site will shut down. You never know when Google will put the smackdown on your website.
So, when you think that you have too much work, that is when you have just the right amount.You never know when one project will end so stock-up like you're hording toilet paper for the apocalypse.
Demand Media Tanking or Just Tapering Off? You Decide
You may have read my earlier post on the mass firings done at Demand Media a while back. Well, it looks like the reason for all of the firings is clear.
I checked the queue for available assignments and it's down to 13,000. (Note that this 13,000 includes all of the special sections I am cleared for.) This may sound like a lot, but probably 90% of those articles can't be written by 99% of the population.
With there being very little work, there isn't a need for as many writers.
The downsizing may be due to the fact that DM's stocks are crashing. At last check, a share was only worth around $9. Compare that to the $24 per share they were getting in March, and you can see how far they've fallen.
If you're using DM as your main source of income I am strongly urging you to find more clients. You never know when Demand Media may need to do another mass firing.
Why I Still Write for Suite 101
After Panda, Suite 101 face-planted into the asphalt of the Google highway. Many of my writer friends there quit or just stopped writing. Some went on to create websites and blogs specifically aimed at roasting Suite.
Me? I stayed.
My reasons may not make sense to everyone, but I'll share them anyway:
I still make a decent chunk of change there. My earnings are steadily going up and are almost back to pre-Panda days. I am now what Suite calls a "Topic Editor." I'm over two sections, Mixed Media Arts and Painting/Drawing. The position only pays $.5 an article, but I don't really do any major editing. I scan over the article, tweak a few things that need fixing and make sure that there is nothing majorly wrong with the article. If there is I boot the article up to the section editor. The process takes just a couple of minutes. Plus, I have over 300 articles at Suite and I've been there since 2006. Kinda hard to let go.
Demand Media Studios Cuts Writers
If you haven't checked into your DMS account lately, maybe you should. From what I understand, Demand Media Studios just cut a huge number of writers from their system and put many of them on probation in the Writer Development Program.
I myself hardly ever go into the forums because it's usually a lot of complaining about copy editors. My account is fine, too, so I didn't know there was anything wrong. Today I had heard a rumor, though, that something big was going down so I checked in. Writers are in a tizzy to say the least.
From what I gather, writers with a grammar and research scores under 3.8 are getting the smack-down. Especially if they aren't part of any special projects such as LiveStrong or Tyra Banks.
If you haven't received an email from DMS and your account is still active, breath a sigh of relief. DMS says that all letters have been sent out and there won't be a second wave anytime soon.
Update: Some are reporting that only 35% of Demand's writers are left after the mass firing/probation.
How Do You Please Google? Here Are the Answers
Since Panda hit, people are frantic to find out exactly what Google wants from articles and websites so that they can rank high in search results. Well, the answers are forthcoming and view-able. Google's Webmaster video series on YouTube answers actual writer and webmaster questions. I've learned a lot from this free series, so I thought I'd share this resource with my readers.
Magpie Has Been Bought by IZEA
For those of you that have been following my adventures in paid tweeting (Tweet for Moneyand Update on Tweeting for Money) you may be interested to know that Magpie has been purchased by IZEA. IZEA own several blogging- and tweeting-for-money sites, most notably, SponsoredTweets.
What do you do if you have a Magpie account? According to the email I received today, you will be able to access your Magpie account using the same log-in information at the SponsoredTweets site.
Since this switch-over I can't even log into my SponsoredTweet account, but I can log onto my Magpie account just fine. Let me know if anyone else is having trouble.
Tricks for Making More Money With Demand Studios
Though I don't promote using Demand Media Studios (also known as Demand Studios and DS) as a full-time gig, it is great for when your freelance assignments are at a trickle. That's what I've been using it for over the past few years.
The trick to making decent DS income is to find titles quickly and write them quickly. Here are some of my tips:
Make use of the "Save Searches" function. Choose what format you like and the rate, then use a certain keyword to find titles and save it. You can save up to 20 searches. This saves time because you can just click a link to bring up a previous search instead of ticking boxes and typing out keywords. Focus on only one or two formats. I only do how-tos. I've gotten so good at them I can whip through one in about 15-20 minutes, including research. That's around $60 an hour. Stick with subjects you know a lot about. This reduces your research time. I stick with video games, fine art and crafts. Some keywords I use to search for these articles are "watercolor," "yarn," and "Pokemon." Stick with subjects that you have reference books for. I almost only use books that I have on-hand as references. A CE can't argue with the validity of a book's advice and I don't have to fight with Google to find a website reference that isn't on the blacklist. Be nice to the CEs. Say please. Say thank you. Let them know that your article is a little short because you didn't want to fill it with fluff. Tell them why you think you qualify as a reference, don't just assume they'll notice it in your bio. If you think explaining why you make a good reference takes to much time, create a boilerplate explanation that you can copy-and-past into the comments section. Here's what I use on art articles: "Additional Reference: As noted in my bio, I have over 20 years experience as a professional artists. Thanks!"
Let's Talk Fiction
Let's talk fiction.
Do you ever read a novel and want to toss it on the floor and stomp on it? I had that feeling the other day.
I was reading a novel from a popular author that is both prolific, and, well, rich from his work. So you'd think the book would be good, right?
I wish.
I often work as a freelance editor for fiction writers and I usually can't turn it off when I'm reading a book for fun. So, of course, with this stinker my critic went into overdrive. What sends my stinker meter into the red? Here are some tips for new fiction writers:
Nix details that don't pertain to the story. If it doesn't move the story along, don't tell me about it. Period. Don't use overused descriptions. Please, please don't get your description ideas from a 1970's romance novel! If you describe someone as having "eyes the color of a stormy sky," "a doughy physic" or "cream-colored skin" go back to your keyboard and hit the delete key. Boring! Avoid describing the surroundings too much. Okay. I get it. You want to set the mood. Just please try to get your description done in less than a page-length. Kill heroes that whine too much. I want my hero to be human, but not a crybaby.
When to Do Freelance Assignments
Let's say you have several clients. That means you have several projects that need to be done at a certain time. So, when do you do what? I have a method I like for sorting out my writing schedule.
Do I need money right away? If so, I choose to power through assignments that pay me sooner. The ones that pay me on publication or next month are put on the back burner.
If fast cash isn't an issue, I go by my pay-per-day guideline. Each month I decide how much money I need to make, then I divide that number by the amount of days I want to work. For example, if I decide I need to make $2,000 this month, but only work 26 days (that means I get two days off each week) my math would be:
$2000/26=$76.92. So, each day I will strive to do projects that earn me around $80 dollars (I round off to the nearest tenth).
Okay, this method can be a little confusing, so I'll give you an example. Say I have a client that needs a $20 blog post done, another client that needs a $200 article done and a client that needs a $75 article done. Now, I could do the $75 article and a quick Demand Studio article and be done for the day. Or, I could do the $20 blog and around a third of the $200 article to reach my goal. I like to mix and match to fit my moods.
It sounds complicated, but it works for my needs.
Do you have a method? Let me know!