Freelance Jobs on the Internet for Writers

A recent spam email promising me all the freelance writing jobs I could handle piqued my interest in the freelance writer's internet market, so I started surfing the web to find out more and, just maybe, find one of those promised jobs. Here's what I discovered.

My first exploration was here at associatedcontent.com where we are invited to write informative articles about anything and everything. You can even upload audio, photographic and video content to meet the growing need for those formats. Associated Content pays on a per view basis as well as up front payments for articles they accept for their professionalism and timeliness. It is doubtful any one will ever get rich from providing content to Associated Content; but no one who can string the words together in a sensible manner is turned away, and they don't demand the writer surrender any property rights to their content. In spite of low pay for many of us the chance to be published, get paid for it and be recognized for our efforts is all we want.

That being said, I must sadly report the next reviewed web sites offering freelance jobs to writers were more than disappointing. All had terms and conditions that exceeded 5,000 words, except ifreelance.com which had no apparent links to their terms and conditions. With that in mind the website received immediate thumbs down for hiding important information and no further research was performed at their URL.

Vworker.com guarantees results to the people wanting to buy ridiculously low paid writers. Their home page states the buyers will pay 36% less to the Virtual Workers than to a Traditional employee which means the writers receive 36% less than from a real employer or client. As with several other researched websites, Vworker requires the writer to download their software so the writer can punch a time card. Adding insult to injury this site requires the writer to provide billing information before any jobs can be viewed.

Next up is Freelancer.com which acts as a broker between buyer and writer (provider). This is the same business model as many other web sites offer freelance jobs. Membership is required but free for writers, however, because this site also acts as the banker for payments; they take out whatever fees they want before the writer gets paid. At no place on the site did I see a rate card, so writers beware. Another slap in the face to writers using this web site and others such as odesk.com is the term that providers must surrender all property rights to any content sent to their web site.

Most of these web sites promising freelance jobs to writers, web site designers and other workers who can easily telecommute, follow through with the jobs, but getting one of them is a real crap shoot. Providers are required, in most cases, to bid for a project, and you have probably guessed by now that the low bidder wins. It seems the newest trend in internet auction sites is to make sure the sellers provide Champaign for toxic water prices.

One of my favorite ridiculous job offers is one for 100 blog posts of 700 words for each post and must be completed today. According to the buyer, this can be accomplished in "several" hours and for this 7000 word effort the buyer is willing to pay a maximum of $10.00. Any way you do the math, this "job" offer defies polite comments.

Another buyer offered a whole dollar for a 500 word article for which he demanded all property rights to publish, rewrite, modify, and change in any matter he desired without permission from or payment to the original writer. Excluding research, submission, bidding, and otherwise communicating with this buyer, the successful writer will work for one dollar spread over those hours.

Other distasteful practices these web sites employ includes pop ups that prevent the viewer from leaving a page or the site, and supposed links to other portions of the web site that take you offsite to a sign up page that ends up just another place to break out your credit card. This isn't just irritating, it is unprofessional. Becasue of these practices several more web sites that claim to offer freelance jobs to writers and other professionals were removed from the very short list of sites that appeared to be legitimate job offerings for fair pay and fair treatment of the providers. In fact, the list now stands at zero.

My discoveries don't mean a freelance job isn't available on any of these websites. My research only indicates that to get one of them a writer must be willing in most instances to surrender all property rights to his or her original content, must accept ridiculously low fees for long hours of research and writing, and never gain the recognition for their accomplishment. For those who have the time and patience to submit to the demeaning terms required from the content buyers sponsored by these web sites you have my wishes for success.

Honest work should be rewarded with honest compensation but it seems the mad rush to internet millions has made some individuals and businesses lose sight of this truism. If these content buyers could provide the content they want in the time frame they demand it at the compensation levels they are willing to pay they would do it themselves. I doubt any of these buyers would work for the same compensation they are willing to offer others.

Sources:

www.associatedcontent.com

www.huffingtonpost.com

www.vworker.com/RentACoder

www.ifreelance.com

www.getacoder.com

www.odesk.com