Archive for the ‘Article Writing’ Category
Sep 3, 2009 Article Writing, Demand Studios
Demand Studios announced that their Quick Guide article styles will now be available to all writers. As you can imagine, the newly released titles were quickly snatched up. I ran across a couple of “Introduction to” article titles and accepted one assignment just to see what it looks like.
The first requirement for a Quick Guide is to find a picture. I prefer using third party sources, such as creativecommons.org that offers royalty-free images. You can use this website to find photographs for Demand Studios, but carefully read legal instructions under each photograph and credit correctly back to the image owner.
The second step is writing a short but engaging introduction, which should be 30-50 words. In some samples of Quick Guides that I ran across, the text is there to encourage people to click on article links below.
The worst part about Quick Guides is the third requirement – searching and selecting articles and videos that relate to the topic. Finding this information is not the problem, it’s the broken search function. I searched for “water fountains” and found a lot of garden topics but nothing that even mentioned the word “fountain”. Apparently, Demand Studios staff is aware that the search function is no working correctly and they are working on fixing it.
Quick Guide style pays $7.50, which would be really easy money to make if the search portion of it worked properly. I’ll wait until the issue is resolved and I’ll give one a try. They seem to be really good for search engine optimization and driving traffic to some of the already published work on Ehow.com that may not be getting as much notice anymore.
Tags: Demand Studios, example, quick guide, search, sheet, style
Aug 25, 2009 Article Writing, Demand Studios
I get this question a lot in e-mails and on Twitter. Demand Studios can be a great paying gig for freelance writers, and steady income. All you have to do is be willing to put in the hours and time to create content. Demand Studios allows you to earn as much money as you want, and yet it can be a full-time income working from home. I’ll do my best to give you an honest opinion of demandstudios.com and answer questions that so many of you frequently ask.
1. How much does Demand Studios pay?
That depends on what type of articles you are writing for them. Demand Studios has several article styles such as Fact Sheets, Strategy, How To, About and How Does. Fact Sheets are $5 and Strategy $15 a piece, with Fact Sheets being around 200 words and Strategy 400-500 words. Some How To styles pay as much as $20, although I have personally never written a Demand Studios How To article. I prefer Strategy and Fact Sheets.
2. Is it a flat payment or residual income?
Demand Studio pays per piece that is approved. If you write 10 Strategy style articles this week, you will be paid $150.
If you write 10 Fact Sheets, you will make $50. DS does have a revenue share system for certain articles, they are marked as revenue share but you will not get the flat fee after approval.
3. Can I write as many articles as I want?
Yes, you can write as many articles as you want for Demand Studios. Each article has to be checked by an editor and approved. You only get paid if an article is approved. You get one rewrite request and the article can be rejected if an editor’s rewrite request is not met. If your article is rejected, you will not get paid for it.
4. How can I make a full-time income writing for Demand Studios?
First, look over your family budget to see how much money you need to pay bills and what it is that your family considers a “full-time income”. For some people this is $2,000 a month, while for others it’s $5,000. Then do simple math, if you have to make $1,000 every week that would be 66 Strategy style articles at Demand Studios. That would be almost 5 articles written every day and approved by an editor before Wednesday night’s cut off. If you do not have articles approved by Wednesday night, they can roll over for next week and be paid out in the next week’s batch.
5. Who owns articles I’ve written for Demand Studios?
Demand Studio pays a flat-fee per articles, unless you are doing Revenue Shared work. Anything you submit and get approved by an editor is owned by Demand Studios. Ehow.com is where most of Demand Studios work is published at, so your writer byline will appear with each Ehow article. While you cannot resell the original article and its rights, you can use it as part of your published portfolio.
I will gladly answer your frequently asked questions about Demand Studios in the future. Remember, DS is what you make out of it and it can be a great paying gig if you apply yourself. The income amount is completely controlled by you. If you can turn in 100 articles a week, great for you! Although, your eyesight might end up being worse than mine!
Please be sure to read Demand Studios guidelines, available in the Resource Center. I don’t work for DS and I do not know how you can have every article accepted without a rewrite. Work well and play nice with the editors, and always follow the provided guidelines.
*This is not a sponsored post.
Aug 22, 2009 Article Writing, Web Content
September is quickly approaching and I am making a list of several writing goals. It will be nice to look back at the end of September and see if I managed to accomplish everything I set out to do.
Associated Content: I am over 170,000 page views as of today, and would like to break 200,000 by the end of September. This should be fairly easy, as my account gets 10,000 to 20,000 views a month even without heavy publishing. I will need to put new articles in or a hot topic in order to get over 200,000.
Constant Content: For this website, I would like to have 4 articles uploaded on technology-related topics. This would be four written, proofread, uploaded and approved articles. The articles do not have to be sold immediately, but I would like them ready and in the system.
Bukisa: One more article on Bukisa published, no specific topic.
Demand Studios: This is the challenging one – 40-70 articles a week, consistently. I do 20 a week easily, but would like to see if I can get over 40 in a single week. As rewrite requests are possible, the articles have to be approved in order to be counted.
That should be it as of right now for September writing goals. If I can think of anything I’ll add it in.
Do you have any goals for September? What are you trying to achieve with writing?
Aug 12, 2009 Article Writing, Demand Studios
We all need a little encouragement, it helps knowing that you are on the right track. Or that you don’t suck, as I like to say. “You’ve done a good job with this article.” – a sentence like that is enough to brighten up my day, and get me motivated to put some more work in.
I’m thinking of hiring someone just to tell me “You’re effin awesome!” every hour or so. My productivity level would be skyrocketing.
Tags: Demand Studios, freelance, income, makin money, payment, review, writing
Jun 19, 2009 Article Writing, Associated Content
Writing is often about believing in yourself, and having patience that hard work will pay off. This week, I am celebrating a milestone at Associated Content – 132,000+ views so far on my published articles. While this is not a million views, it is still an achievement to be proud of. Of course, I am so very grateful to everyone who takes time to read my work and to Associated Content who has always helped to promote me as one of their writers. The best part about Associated Content is their awesome community of AC writers, who are so helpful and ready to have your back at any time. I have made some great friends at AC, it’s great to be a part of a community that supports each other and everyone’s work.
Here is a picture of my Associated Content tote bag, and notebook that I recently won as runner up for a “Green Contest”. I’ve been using the bag often, and last night AC made it to a Mets vs Orioles ball game.
Tags: Associated Content, page rank, page views, tote bag
Jun 17, 2009 Article Writing, Demand Studios
Demand Studios new changes have made me happy, and this week I’ve concentrated most of my writing time with them. The new fact sheet prices are a great change, but the queue changes are even better. Currently, I have 18 active assignments. Some articles are already completed and pending review, others are titles I picked up to do in the next couple of days. With the queue change, I believe that someone can really turn Demand Studios into a full-time income. With that opportunity comes responsibility, and here are some important tips on successful writing for Demand Studios:
Demand Studios is the place to be for freelance writers.
The company is changing into a very professional freelancing outlet. In a recent e-mail sent out to all contributors, DS wants its writers to have professional biographies. A professional biography gives more weight to an author, especially if someone is interested in browsing through your other DS contributions. That someone could potentially be a private client, or a high-paying job opportunity. You never know who’s looking, so constant professionalism is a must, but it should start from the biography. After all, it is what you have chosen to write about yourself, and those words represent who you are.
I also ran across this AARP article, titled “Earn Extra Cash by Selling What You Know“. Freelance writing was competitive enough before, but now it is also an opportunity others are willing to try out, and make some extra money on the side. Look at it this way, our country is in a recession and people are losing jobs. Even if they still have a job, they might have bills piling up or are looking to make money to put into a savings account. Demand Studios is making noise, and getting talented writers every day. Keep your fingers busy with work, and turn in professional material. If not, someone else will be willing to take your spot.
Reducing amount of Rewrites on Demand Studios
I particularly love the fact that Demand Studios is willing to inform, and properly train their writers on what exactly they are considering as quality work. In particular, the recent changes also brought out the need for further fact checking by Demand Studio Editors. A way for Demand Studios to remain as a source of talented writers and great articles is to have their work created in a professional manner. No one should be offended by a rewrite request, it can tell you exactly what DS is looking for and it’s very easy for anyone to miss a mark on an occasional article. DS is however giving your free advice on how to reduce rewrite requests. The information is easy to follow, easy to understand and priceless in terms of learning a good writing skill and applying it to other websites that you write for.
All DS contributors were e-mailed a link to a Power Point Presentation, “11 Tips for Surefire Success in Demand Studios.” Learn from it, apply it to your writing and enjoy the success.
Longer Review Time Complaints
I have heard from several writers about longer wait periods, and articles sitting in the queue. The new fact checking is now a must for every Editor, so longer wait times are to be expected. While I am never a fan of waiting, I understand why it is necessary. Again, DS is moving in a very professional direction and the changes will only benefit us. So patience, grasshopper. The queue change is most likely as a result of review delays, so writers do not complain as much about being able to write 10 articles only.
Overall, the changes are good and I am onboard with learning to adapt. Demand Studios is excellent when it comes to communication, and informing writers about upcoming changes. I cannot stress the importance of taking the time and reviewing the free information they provide. If you know exactly what DS wants, you’ll have no problems making money by writing for Demand Studios.
Tags: about, approval, Demand Studios, fact sheets, review, time, under review
Jun 15, 2009 Article Writing, Demand Studios
Today is a big writing day for me. Since the weekend was a “no-write”, I am punishing myself by writing as much as possible for all websites that publish my work. It is a rewarding day for them, they’ll be blessed with my “gems” of pure genius. Or something like that…
I am singing Demand Studios praises today, for all the great improvements and new features that freelance writers can benefit from. It is nice to see an article publishing website working on improvements, and offering new monetary incentives. The new, ubertastic features that I have noticed so far today are;
Fact Sheets Pay Raise at Demand Studios
It used to be that Fact Sheets at DS paid $5 flat fee. This morning, new titles are showing $7.50 flat fees, which is a nice pay bump. I am a huge Fact Sheet fan, as I can write up a 10 of these beauties quickly. DS Editors also approve Fact Sheets fast, often within hours of me submitting work for review. Never discount Fact Sheets, the pay may seem small at the start but the fast review can allow you to write up a large batch.
The fact sheets at DS can be written up quickly, as they require around 200 words.
Changes In Assignment Queue
At Demand Studios you are given a queue of 10 assignments. It means that you can have 10 working assignments at one time, and the articles have to be completed before other assignments can be added in. This used to cause complaints, because a writer could fill up their 10 assignment queue and have to wait on approvals in order to get a chance to write more.
Well, the new improvement is that articles marked as “Under Review” are pushed and space is freed up for you to claim more work. For example, I have 3 currently “Under Review” and the system is allowing me to find additional 3 assignments to fill up my active batch.
This particular change at Demand Studios is spectacular, and makes unlimited earnings at DS a true possibility. I know of several writers that are dedicated to DS, and have always wished to turn this gig into a full-time money earning opportunity. The two big changes with Fact Sheet pay raise and assignment queue should make those wishes happen.
Tags: about, Demand Studios, fact sheets, how does, how to, queue
