Hello everyone!
Today is my first day at CC! I received my approval email this morning and was so thrilled! I am looking forward to getting to know how things work around here and submitting my first article.
I started freelance writing full-time in May of this year and currently write for Writer's Domain and Crowdsource. I also wrote for Y!CN until they closed.
I have an AA in Accounting, which became useless when my disability forced me to stop working outside my home and am working on my BA in English. I have dreamed about being a writer since I was a little girl and feel absolutely blessed to be paid for doing what I love. I've been fortunate enough to be able to earn a living through WD and Crowdsource, but was very excited about the chance to write here as another way to get my name out and write more in general.
Besides writing, I am also an Avian advocate and consultant. I co-founded a parrot rescue and am very passionate about Avian welfare. In addition to blogging on my rescue website and working with parrot owners & the Avian community on Facebook, I also spend a good deal of time answering questions about parrots on Yahoo Answers. I'm hoping to find a market for parrot articles through this site.
Question - does anyone else here also write for Writer's Domain? If so, how does it compare?
I am really excited to be here and would appreciate any insight or tips from experienced CCers! I plan to spend the day reviewing the site and the forums - and I'm hoping to get my feet wet right away!
Greetings!
Moderators: Celeste Stewart, Ed, Constant
Re: Greetings!
Writer's Domain sounds familiar. The online writing industry isn't what it used to be from years ago. It's a good thing. You can't get away with the spun garbage anymore, so people are looking for experts in a field. I'm doing a lot better since Panda, although I'm trying to get myself out of this burnt out stage.
The sites you mentioned I think were content farms? Content farms are dead.
Although, I was an editor for a big brand out there. They cut their content marketing and fired us all (fffuuuuuuu that was an awesome gig), but the VP of Content Marketing was quoted in a magazine saying the content we did brings in 80% of their sales. Content marketing isn't dead. But, you need quality instead of the standard junk pushed out by Demand Media.
The sites you mentioned I think were content farms? Content farms are dead.
Although, I was an editor for a big brand out there. They cut their content marketing and fired us all (fffuuuuuuu that was an awesome gig), but the VP of Content Marketing was quoted in a magazine saying the content we did brings in 80% of their sales. Content marketing isn't dead. But, you need quality instead of the standard junk pushed out by Demand Media.
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typicallytracey
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:32 am
Re: Greetings!
Thanks for the insight.
I'm new to the freelance writing world, so I've jumped at any opportunity to get paid for writing. Because I can't work outside of my home anymore, the earning potential was the most important thing to me. Whether it's a content farm, mill or whatever (for Crowdsource I just answer questions with a couple hundred words), I'm happy to get paid to write anything. I'm not operating under the delusion that every site that I write for will be in business for the next hundred years - so, I'm always looking for new opportunities.
Writer's Domain is very stringent about submissions, but I have enjoyed some success. What I make writing for them part time supports my family, so I feel pretty blessed to have the gig. Of course, like any writer, I dream about writing Pulitzer Prize winning articles and great novels - but like any single mother, my first priority is feeding my family. Even if that means I'm writing about junk I don't care about in a predetermined, cookie cutter style.
I can definitely see why freelancers might become cynical - there seems to be a multitude of nonsense jobs out there. I find jobs that offer one or two cents a word all the time, but after starting out at seven to eight cents a word I get a bit disgusted by rates that low. I've also been very surprised by the writing that some sites will accept - Y!CN for instance - some of the contributors on that site were terrible writers. My 15 year old daughter could have written circles around some of them and they were still getting paid up to $25 per article.
At the end of the day, my goal is always related to how many dollars go into my bank account, but I do want to improve my writing skills. I have chosen to pursue this career because I love writing - it's who I am. I know I won't always be content to write mindless web content, but I have found that it's a good place to start and even a good way to become a better writer. Practice, practice, practice.
I desperately hope that this site will help me become a more well-rounded writer and that it will help me get paid for writing about what I know. My areas of expertise are pretty focused and slightly unique, so finding a market for what I have to share is a challenge. If I understand correctly what CC does, I think it might be the perfect place for me.
I'm new to the freelance writing world, so I've jumped at any opportunity to get paid for writing. Because I can't work outside of my home anymore, the earning potential was the most important thing to me. Whether it's a content farm, mill or whatever (for Crowdsource I just answer questions with a couple hundred words), I'm happy to get paid to write anything. I'm not operating under the delusion that every site that I write for will be in business for the next hundred years - so, I'm always looking for new opportunities.
Writer's Domain is very stringent about submissions, but I have enjoyed some success. What I make writing for them part time supports my family, so I feel pretty blessed to have the gig. Of course, like any writer, I dream about writing Pulitzer Prize winning articles and great novels - but like any single mother, my first priority is feeding my family. Even if that means I'm writing about junk I don't care about in a predetermined, cookie cutter style.
I can definitely see why freelancers might become cynical - there seems to be a multitude of nonsense jobs out there. I find jobs that offer one or two cents a word all the time, but after starting out at seven to eight cents a word I get a bit disgusted by rates that low. I've also been very surprised by the writing that some sites will accept - Y!CN for instance - some of the contributors on that site were terrible writers. My 15 year old daughter could have written circles around some of them and they were still getting paid up to $25 per article.
At the end of the day, my goal is always related to how many dollars go into my bank account, but I do want to improve my writing skills. I have chosen to pursue this career because I love writing - it's who I am. I know I won't always be content to write mindless web content, but I have found that it's a good place to start and even a good way to become a better writer. Practice, practice, practice.
I desperately hope that this site will help me become a more well-rounded writer and that it will help me get paid for writing about what I know. My areas of expertise are pretty focused and slightly unique, so finding a market for what I have to share is a challenge. If I understand correctly what CC does, I think it might be the perfect place for me.
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JasmineStone
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2013 5:10 am
Re: Greetings!
I wouldn't necessarily agree that writing mindless web content makes people better at writing. It's kind of like being taught to drive by a bad driver...you'll almost certainly pick up some of their bad habits. And on this site, those bad habits are punishable by CC death (suspension). The other thing is never to use your real name when writing for content mills...if future clients search online for your content, they might come across old stuff that doesn't look so good.
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typicallytracey
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:32 am
Re: Greetings!
My experience with writing and advice from well established writers is that writing everyday, no matter what you're writing, is important. Many also encourage new writers to try not to get overly caught up with grammar or to take yourself or your writing too seriously.
I certainly wasn't saying that writing garbage would improve my writing. Writer's Domain is very stringent and only accepts good quality articles. Based on the definitions as I understand them (being new to the freelance writing world), I don't write for a trashy content mill. However, as I indicated in my previous comment, I am open to all kinds of opportunities that will help me earn a living and don't feel there is anything wrong with that. I also would not put my name on anything that I wasn't proud of, regardless of what it paid.
Every client has different expectations. I write to those expectations, which has nothing to do with habits. I am in no way concerned that the writing style required by another site will have any influence on my writing for CC. I plan to apply CC writing guidelines and feedback to what I write for this site, just as I apply the writing guidelines and feedback of other sites to what I write for them.
One of the things I prefer and very much appreciate from Writer's Domain is the wonderful sense of community. Writers share best practices, encourage each other and create a really positive atmosphere. I look forward to interacting with some positive-minded writers here as well.
I certainly wasn't saying that writing garbage would improve my writing. Writer's Domain is very stringent and only accepts good quality articles. Based on the definitions as I understand them (being new to the freelance writing world), I don't write for a trashy content mill. However, as I indicated in my previous comment, I am open to all kinds of opportunities that will help me earn a living and don't feel there is anything wrong with that. I also would not put my name on anything that I wasn't proud of, regardless of what it paid.
Every client has different expectations. I write to those expectations, which has nothing to do with habits. I am in no way concerned that the writing style required by another site will have any influence on my writing for CC. I plan to apply CC writing guidelines and feedback to what I write for this site, just as I apply the writing guidelines and feedback of other sites to what I write for them.
One of the things I prefer and very much appreciate from Writer's Domain is the wonderful sense of community. Writers share best practices, encourage each other and create a really positive atmosphere. I look forward to interacting with some positive-minded writers here as well.
Re: Greetings!
There is a thread on Elance's forum from a guy who not only stole his portfolio content, but his English is horrid. Elance is "positive only" feedback, so basically this guy is wasting everyone's time, has a plagiarized portfolio, and unless the customer is stupid, will make us all look bad. Instead of Elance acting on it and allowing people to say "WTF dude stolen portfolio and your English sucks. GTFO" we are forced to be nice.
As much as I hate it sometimes, I've had people tell me I suck in coding and writing. The great thing is that they tell me why I suck, and I've become better at both because of it.
Moral of the story: if you stick to positive only feedback, you'll never know where you're going wrong. It's better to join a forum where it's rougher. Writers.net is one such forum.
As much as I hate it sometimes, I've had people tell me I suck in coding and writing. The great thing is that they tell me why I suck, and I've become better at both because of it.
Moral of the story: if you stick to positive only feedback, you'll never know where you're going wrong. It's better to join a forum where it's rougher. Writers.net is one such forum.