Hi Jenn, don’t know if you are aware but Demand Studios recently changed their policies so that articles that are under review no longer count towards your limit. That means as soon as you submit an article, you can claim another! This is a really great update that will allow writers to work as much as they want. They are also in the process of making other changes, like allowing writers to see their quality score and have more direct content with editors.

Oh, and I also write for Examiner, but I went into it knowing it wouldn’t be a big money maker. I mainly view it as an opportunity to learn more about a topic that I’m interested in (yoga) … and maybe get some free yoga classes in the process! : )

My experience with Examiner.com was that in the preliminary stages of signing up, they wanted way too much personal information. For instance , the contract they wanted me to sign said that my credit would be checked during the process. Why? When I asked my contact at Examiner.com, they told me, “Oh, the company we use does that as well, but they never do it for this job.”Well, a contract is a contract and by signing it, I would have been giving them permission to pull my credit history. No way. I went no further with Examiner.com

Jenn,
Yep, I was ok with the criminal background check. But saw no reason to nose around in my credit history…..or that of my spouse, since that would presumably come up , as well.

I,too, was looking for mainstream opportunities, and although the pay was meager, the visibility may have been what I originally wanted. The price was just to high. Contracts are binding and my signature would have given approval for the check.

There are more things out there. Thanks for the tips.

I am one of those suckers who took Jenn’s advice and started writing for examiner (he he, just joshin’ jenn!), and while it’s not a lot of money, it’s good exposure for the moment. Once I get some more clients, I’ll probably let it go. In the meantime, I’m amusing myself by trying to mention monkeys in as many posts as possible (see: http://www.examiner.com/x-11767-Atlanta-Rock-Climbing-Examiner~y2009m6d17-Finding-the-right-climbing-shoe).

I also write for Demand Studios, and it is the Web site that has earned me the most money, consistently, so far! I like the How To articles. I have 2 dogs, so I write all the articles I can find on dogs. I can complete a How To article in about an hour, and the flat fee is $15.

Demand also has Revenue Share articles, where you only get paid according to how much traffic your article gets. At the moment, Revenue Share seems to yield less than examiner, but we shall see…

[...] like Demand Studios, Constant Content and Textbroker offer writers money for articles. Content sites like these have lower barriers to entry than [...]

Hi there, Show Me. I agree – Examiner.com is trying to expand too much and it seems like the writers lose. I’m still watching a couple of the more prolific “Examiners” to see if they stick with it or decide to give it up, especially as the turf fragments.

As for claiming residuals, it’s funny you should ask. I wrote them an email saying I no longer wanted to write for them, but I still get mailing list mailings and the other day someone used me as a reference! We’ll see if that $50 comes through. (If so, the money I made from referrals will far outweigh any residuals I’ve seen. Which is so very, very sad.)

Thanks for stopping by! I really do recommend Demand Studios. They can be a comfortable supplemental income if you write something you know. Stop back by sometime and tell me how it went, will you?

Hi Tasha, thanks for stopping by and sharing your story! I’ve given up on Examiner.com for good now, and am making a lot more money with strictly private clients with a little Demand Studios mixed in from time to time.

As for your point about how Examiner may not have a future, I agree. And even if it does have a future, it’s probably not a future as a reliable source for local information. After all, since pay is so low, the quality of writing will continue to degenerate as people chase the almighty buck, and then nobody will be happy. I’m taking my couple of months with Examiner.com as a learning experience and moving on to greener pastures!

Count me in as another writer that swallowed the Examiner story hook line and sinker. They only page page views and as most of my work was showing up WAY down on Google search when, for other websites I write for, my work was showing up on page 1, there’s just no money to be made there.

With a fair few articles posted in a week, I’d made the astounding sum of $4.87. Amazing! I struggled with it for a few more weeks and gave up. For serious writers who actually want to make money, Examiner.com is CRAP.

Hey I just came across this post and I was wondering, did you delete your Examiner account or did you just stop posting? I couldn’t find a way to delete mine, but I don’t think I’m going to post there anymore.

I just started writing for examiner.com yesterday so I honestly can not give an opinion either way. However building up residual income takes time and this is what examiner will be for me. So many people have the same complaint about hubpages but after several months of posting 1-2 articles a week on hubpages I’m now earning a decent amount for what now takes me about 2 hours per week to do.

I’m going to stick it out with examiner for a few months and see how it works out for me. If nothing else it will be a nice link to toss into my profile.

Hi Christina,

To be honest, I don’t write for any of these guys anymore. I was, thankfully, able to build my client list up enough that now I make money at my billable rate and don’t have to write for any of these guys. That’s not to say that I didn’t just recommend Demand Studios to a friend last week. She’s a great writer who has a byline on many text books, but due to personal issues, her life is so crazy right now that keeping and maintaining regular clients would be a real challenge. While Demand Studios doesn’t pay the rate she could command elsewhere, it is a good stopgap for her to make some extra cash and maybe even get a few more clips in her specialty, education.

If you’re serious about building a writing business – which I can tell from your other comments here at Life and Times that you are – I highly recommend looking for private clients. But that doesn’t meant that sites like Demand can’t be fabulous stopgaps for the slow times. Like I always tell people, I made $15k my first year freelancing. I don’t care how wonderfully you write, its going to take awhile to get established, and sites like Demand can mean the difference between Ramen and er… chicken for dinner.

Hi Christina,

As for your questions, nope, an English degree isn’t necessary. (I have a history degree.) You can be a good writer no matter what you majored in. One of the best writers I know didn’t even go to college! Still, she’s an awesome writer and is well educated in other whats, and that’s really what it takes.

I started making full-time income after about a year. And that still was about what I had made at an entry level corporate job. After about two years though, I was doing very well. Substantially better than most communications corporate jobs pay here in Atlanta.

Some people get away with never talking to clients on the phone, but I recommend that you do. People trust people they’ve seen or talked to more than they trust someone who’s just words on a screen. And having your clients trust and like you is very important. Of course, whether you talk to them or not is up to you. I rarely talk to my clients on the phone, but it does happen. You should also put your phone number in your email signature in case someone needs to get in touch with you in a hurry!

I am so glad I came across your posts.

I was just recently accepted as an Examiner, but didn’t really feel like it was a good decision. I was jumping at any writing jobs that came up.

Thanks for the tips. I’ll definitely take a look at some of the sites you’ve recommended.