Discovering Web Copywriting

After spending months scratching at various revenue share writing gigs on the web I decided to take the advice of someone who had commented on a post and check out textbroker.com. The things I wrote for textbroker were different from the writing I was accustomed to doing, which was why I resisted. But it offered something I needed; guaranteed payment for my writing through web copywriting.

For the most part this copywriting has not been rocket science. I'm not writing commercials for the Superbowl. There's landing pages for the websites of small businesses, product descriptions, catalog pages, and some sales articles with keywords disguised as informational. It's sometimes fun, sometimes tedious, sometimes grueling -- like most other jobs, I suppose.

 I not only do web copywriting  for textbroker, but also Writer Access and ecopywriters.com. I'll also still put up an occasional revenue share article, but the bulk of my income is through web copywriting.

When I say this is "guaranteed work" take it with a grain of salt. In reality, the work isn't always there, but if you find it in the queue and take it, it's yours. The work is not a bid, like with elance or odesk, nor does it sit until someone decides to buy it, like Constant Content. The Writer Access queue, in particular is a lot like going fishing. Last month was dry -- I caught about $200, the previous 2 months I had cleared $500. Writer Access has been my favorite of the three to work for, so I really hope things pick up there soon. The staff seems personable, even though the company is online.  The payment varies just over a penny a word to nearly a nickel is the base pay, but clients are able to add bonuses or indicate a higher pay rate. I've actually caught a couple articles that paid over $100 -- now that was a big 'ol bass to hang on the wall!

Textbroker is a little less personable, but very professional. They have been paying twice a month and plan to switch to weekly soon. I'm a level 3, which means a penny a word. Most of the time there is something, but the work does clear out from time to time. I've also gotten more picky about what I take from there, and stick to topics that really sound interesting or will be easy to research. Right now I have something about cold injuries, frostbite, etc. I live in Minnesota, I know something about that so I'll be able to write it quickly.

Ecopywriters was a little less pleasant to deal with in the beginning. Right after I joined they went through a surge of testing-- those multiple choice tests which always make me second guess myself. Turns out I'm rated kind of low, my payment is about 2 cents a word and assignments are sparse usually, unless there's a surge. Last week there were a ton of product descriptions, which I was thankful to have. Payment goes through a longer approval process, but it comes eventually.

I also tried Copify. After 3 months I got a $7.50 assignment only to find their payout minimum is $20. They run mainly out of the UK, and it looks like there are many more UK opportunities with them than there are in the States. I'm hoping I will be able to make that $20 sometime in the next year. Approval also took a while, and required a CV rather than a resume which is kind of like a condensed autobiography, The process left me exhausted.

Someday, I will figure a way to take orders directly without the go-between of these sites. I'll set rates and stick to them. Demand a fair wage for my hard work, but I am thankful for the income I have generated from these sites so far. It's a great way to learn the ropes.