Sites That Pay

Apr

Looking for a paid writing job? Photo by Jakub Krechowicz

I’ve been with Blissfully Domestic just over a year now. In March of 2010 they brought me in as Editor-in-Chief and I’ve been working so hard to see the site grow and increase ever since. I’ve met some amazing writers and the site has doubled in page views because of them (the writers).

This is why I am thrilled beyond measure to be able to share that Blissfully Domestic is growing yet again! We’re now hiring Staff Writers for several current or coming topic areas. And at $25 upfront per post it’s nothing to wrinkle your nose at!

Topics include:

Travel
Pets
Marriage
Homeschooling
Celebrity News
Entrepreneur

and several more. If you have professional writing experience or knowledge in any of the topics listed on the application take a minute to fill out the form! I’d love to see some of you, my faithful readers, apply to work with me at Blissfully Domestic. If you’re interested fill out the Staff Writer Application here.

Apr

Can You Make Money Writing at Blissfully Domestic? The Pros and Cons

By AngEngland | Sites That Pay

How does Blissfully Domestic Pay Writers?

Writers at Blissfully Domestic, called Column Contributors, are given 99% of the Google Adsense impressions on the content they author. Given the site’s large traffic volume, and page rank of 5, a writer has good potential to earn money there. The percentage of adsense share is relatively high compared to other revenue-share model websites.

What Rights Does Blissfully Domestic Take?

Blissfully Domestic now requires that all content submitted is new, original content and they take electronic rights of that content. Authors retain print, ebook, and other rights, however, which is a benefit compared to Demand Studios or About.com. So you could republish a Blissfully Domestic article in a magazine, but not on your personal blog.

What Other Benefits are There to Writing at Blissfully Domestic?

Blissfully Domestic does have a page rank of 5 currently, so incoming links from the site would be valuable to newer blogs and websites. Blissfully Domestic allows you to link from your articles there to specific posts or articles on other sites, provided they are relevant and on-topic. Blissfully Domestic also allows reviews, and the author bio information appears at the bottom of each post (not in the sidebar beside the content as on Untrained Housewife).

What are the Cons to Writing at Blissfully Domestic?

Blissfully Domestic does not allow affiliate links by Contributors, unlike Untrained Housewife or Hubpages. The site does have an editorial process, so all submissions are looked over by an editor before being scheduled for publication. Some sites, like Hubpages and Suite101 publish immediately, so authors who are accustomed to the immediate gratification of being published may find the process cumbersome.

Applicants to write for Blissfully Domestic will be assigned a specific topic area and are required to publish at least one article to that column per month. Contributors are free to publish as many articles as they want, in any topic area they want, once that minimum requirement has been met. Inactive Contributors who fail to meet the minimum requirements, or quit for whatever reason, will only receive 50% of the Google Adsense impressions after leaving.

Blissfully Domestic is a rapidly growing website with contributors being sought in many topic areas including Music, Education, Humor, Entertainment, Technology, Beauty, Fashion and Style, Kids Crafts and more! If you want to apply to be a writer with Blissfully Domestic, I know their Editor-in-Chief personally. Tell her Angela sent you! Lol!

Jan

Re-examining Examiner – Is Examiner Still Paying With the Recent Changes

By AngEngland | Sites That Pay

22 Comments

I’ve recently received a ton of traffic and emails about the post I wrote almost a year ago “Can You Make Money Writing For Examiner.com?” now that Examiner has undergone some changes. Everyone wants to know – What does the local Examiner writing bonus mean? What happened with Google news and Examiner? Is writing for Examiner still “worth it”? So then, let’s talk about the latest and greatest with Examiner.

What is Examiner.com Paying Per Page View Now?

When I did the math on my last month’s revenue the pay-per-thousand pay rate was $9.11. It’s still just over double what I make at Suite101.com per thousand page views, although my base revenue there is more than my base payments at Examiner. Of course, I’ve been writing with Suite101 for over three years so there’s the time and volume issue to consider. I still maintain that the key to making a good revenue at Examiner will be to choose a higher search volume topic – traditionally topics like finance which have higher pay-per-click with Google adsense also have lower page views and more competition and will probably not perform as well on Examiner. On the other hand, topics like recipes and sports which draw lots of page views, are topics which do poorly in traditional revenue share models so may be topics to consider for Examiner.

What did the Recent Local-Writing Pay Structure Change?

Honestly? Not much. Local Examiners now receive a $1 bonus for writing local-focused pieces. This is in addition to the regular pay! After a conversation with Examiner personnel via telephone I can assure you that Examiner is not going to delete posts that are NOT locally-slanted; those pieces just won’t be eligible for the extra $1 bonus. The reason Examiner specifically mentioned they have the ability to delete inappropriate content is because too many Examiners were posting articles completely off-topic, such as a Beauty Examiner posting about a sports team or some such thing.

Is Writing for Examiner.com Worth it?

I cannot answer that for you. I do know that with the new minimum requirements of one post per month it is EASY to contribute there. My articles are picked up by Google fairly quickly. I am able to drive traffic to other sites I write for or resources my readers would enjoy. And it’s definitely platform building. When I call someone and introduce myself as the Oklahoma City Alternative Medicine Examiner, they tend to take that pretty seriously. Which is nice. Am I getting rich? Nope. But it did pay for my plane ticket to #Blissdom (the blogging conference I’m speaking at next week).

Will it be worth it FOR YOU? I have no way to know that. There are pros and cons, to be sure. There are benefits that can come and I know many who are doing well there with their writing. I can’t guarantee you will be one of them but it might be worth a shot for the minimal investment it takes to contribute. If you do decide to give Examiner a try, let them know [2287] Oklahoma Alternative Medicine Examiner sent you. (affiliate link)

Oct

Untrained Housewife Upgrade

By AngEngland | Sites That Pay

How to Make Money Writing at Untrained Housewife

By AngEngland | Sites That Pay

4 Comments

I cannot believe how excited I am to give you all this opportunity. I usually cover the ins and outs of writing at other websites, but today I am going to be talking about a contributing to a website that I own. How scary is that? Untrained Housewife has several categories available and writers are free to choose from any of them.

How to Start Writing at Untrained Housewife

Those who are interested in contributing will need to log in with a user name ID and create their own password, etc. Once you’ve completed the registration process, please fill out the author application. Your application will be reviewed, usually within the week.

How does Untrained Housewife Rights and Pay Work?

The Untrained Housewife splits page impressions with the authors 50/50 right now. Any money earned via ad clicks will go directly into your Google Adsense account. Authors are also allowed to include one affiliate link in their stories to relevant resources.

While we emphasize unique content, there is no waiving of rights by our authors. Writers retain all rights at all times and are free to repurpose content for ebooks, articles, etc. at any time.

What are the Benefits of Writing at Untrained Housewife?

Right now we are a fairly small website, just starting out, and not officially launched yet. This means that you will have lots of individualized attention from our editors to help make each piece as polished and effective as possible. The forums are also a bonus as we have the opportunity to speak and interact directly with our readers. They can ask questions which will lead us to additional story ideas, as well as building a sense of community.

What are the Potential Drawbacks of Writing at Untrained Housewife?

Again, we are a fairly small website and just starting out. Google Adsense is split 50/50 right now, with a hope to increase author percentage later, but traffic is still fairly slow. Obviously as more content is posted, and more authority built up, this will increase. In fact, I didn’t begin actively promoting the site in any way until just recently so we should see a pick up in search engine traffic soon.

Stories do not publish immediately, but are held in que for editorial review before going public. Sometimes if edits or discussion are needed this can delay how quickly your articles get published, however it is usually within the week. If a piece were particularly timely there might be an unwanted delay in getting it visible, although editors are available via email if special circumstances were to arrive.

Well folks, there you have it! So far Untrained Housewife has been doing marvelously and things are smoothing out as we move through the last weeks of our Beta testing in preparation for a full launch. Will you join us now before we launch? We’d love to have you!

Aug

Creating a Site of My Own

By AngEngland | Sites That Pay

3 Comments

As I hinted in a recent post about learning to balance time for others and time for myself, I have been cutting back on my outside jobs a bit so that I can focus on my own site. Not any just plain ole blog, this is a social community site for homemakers – The Untrained Housewife.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to have this site up and running – When I called for a few testers I had an amazing response! We have over three dozen authors now contributing to the site, sharing the tidbits of knowledge from generations past. The things that used to be handed down matter-of-fact but rather got lost in the midst of the sexual revolution.

The heart of the site is two-fold. One – I want to help enable women (and a surprising number of engaged stay-at-home dads or involved fathers) to manage their households well. It amazed me how I could be so succesful at web writing, teaching a class or speaking aloud in front of a large audience – yet be completely defeated by the mountain of laundry. You can read more about this desire, and my true confessional, in the Heart of the Untrained Housewife essay.

Two – I wanted to help women be successful in telling their stories. Following in the footsteps of Kelby, founder of the Type-A-Mom Network of websites, I hope that I’ve created a community environment that will give women a chance to express themselves, and earn some money at the same time. Writers who contribute to the site get 50% of the adsense impressions on their Google Adsense account.

I’ve been blessed to have three wonderful editors jump on board early in the game so we are nailing down our house style already. I need to make sure, too, that everyone knows I did not do the header design – that credit goes all to April, of Creations by Kethaera. Her graphic design ability is amazing.

So – There it is, all official and in black and white. Because that makes it real. Hard to believe! It’s been awhile in the making but sometimes dreams take a lot of time and hard work to bring to fruition.

Angela <><

Jun

Writing for Demand Studios Pros and Cons

By AngEngland | Sites That Pay

2 Comments

So here’s the scoop on Demand Studios in a nutshell. (I don’t have a full website post about it yet)

They do NOT allow you to keep any rights to your work. At all. When you write the article, and submit it to them, it is theirs. You need to know that upfront.

Having said that – Demand Studios can be a really good way to make a set amount of immediate money. When our renters flaked out on us and we NEEDED to make X amount of money to cover the mortgage (granted – it was our fault for relying on that rent money and we’ve definitely learned our lesson) Demand Studios saved us.

Here’s How Demand Studios Pays

If you take one of the articles they have listed you will get paid $15. Search for titles you can do quickly and easily. Some of them are totally off the wall – like “How to Build a Solar Powered Robot Dog” or some crazy weird thing like that. The best way I’ve found it so find a cluster of article titles around a similar theme. “How Dolphins Use Echolocation”, “About Dolphins” “Why are Dolphins Mammals” “How do Dolphins Behave” – I can use one bundle of research to crank out five or six articles on a similar topic and get them written rather quickly.

If you SUGGEST a title you will only get paid $5. I do not recommend doing it often. $5 is hardly worth the trouble – better to search for a topic title you think you can do relatively easy. Especially when you consider that last year on Suite101 I averaged $15-$16 per article for the entire year. And I’m still getting paid for those articles this year as well.

They apparently have added some kind of revenue share program but my understanding is that it is rather a small amount of payment per 1000 pv’s. Anything under $2/1000 page views is rather too low in my opinion. I average about $3 per 1000 page views at Suite101 and prefer to write any “extra” articles there.

But, like I said. When I HAD TO HAVE $300 that month to make up the difference it was very easy to say “$300 divided by $15 = 20 articles”.

Demand Studios pays once a week directly into your Paypal account. You will recieve a W2 at the end of the year for payments. My profile with a list of articles I’ve written there – http://www.ehow.com/members/ds_angela10540.html

May

Can You Make Money Writing for Hubpages?

By AngEngland | Sites That Pay

21 Comments

Hubpages is a Squidoo type website where members can create individual webpages, called Hubs, and earn money directly into Adsense and other affiliate or ad accounts. There is definitely a potential to earn money through Hubpages so let me go through some of the how-to’s, whys, benefits and potential downfalls of hubpages for you. You can see some of the hubpages I’ve put together by checking out my Hubpages Profile. (Note – if you sign up after clicking that link I do get a small credit for the referral.)

How to Start Writing for Hubpages

Sign up and create an account. Everything is explained very step-by-step and I have found the hubpages VERY easy to put together. I like to put my little off-topic ideas up there that don’t really fit in anywhere else I write at. I’ve also reworked and expanded some of my articles previously published elsewhere. Easy, easy, easy.

Each component of the hubpage is easily added or deleted using the Module editor feature. Easy. SO easy. And, it’s like having a miniature website all your very own with none of the management/server/etc issues because Hubpages owns the website.

How Does Hubpages Pay?

The revenue modules (Amazon, Adsense, etc) are split 60/40 between you and Hubpages website. So if you have 100 people visit your hubpage one week, 60 of those page impressions will show an Adsense block with YOUR adsense information (ie YOU get the money if someone clicks the ad) and 40 of them will see an Adsense block with the company information (ie Hubpages gets the money). 60/40 is a decent split from other sites I’ve seen.

Benefits of Writing for Hubpages

It is easy to put a hubpage together. They go together rather quickly, and it’s easy to tackle the writing in a module- by-module way. Also, if the idea of putting together an entire website feels overwhelming to you, then consider making one hubpage. Then later, when you have time, make one more. And then one more. Because each hubpage is individual, you are finished with THAT hubpage as soon as you finish it. As opposed to this website which is never finished. Sort of like my laundry. Ugh.

Probably one of the best parts about Hubpages is that your content is completely yours at all times. Which is significant if you ever want to reuse the material elsewhere at a later time.

Are There Downsides of Writing for Hubpages?

As with all web content sites, you end up sharing some of the revenue with the website owners. But, as I said, 60/40 is a rather generous split, and the revenue comes to you daily. I can check and see which hubpages are getting adclicks, see immediately when someone purchases a theatre makeup kit from Amazon.com using my affiliate link, etc. I have found that for me personally, Amazon affiliate links were more successful than adsense, but one of my colleagues average $300 in revenue from a single hubpage so that is very significant. I’m not there yet with hubpages, but I’m working on it! *laughing*

My colleague supports her and her daughter as a single mother from her hubpages and writing at BellaOnline. Amazing. She said she has over 300 hubpages, which is similar to the number of articles I have at Suite101. Her income from Hubpages is currently higher than my income at Suite101 but my traffic and exposure at Suite101 is higher, so it might be a trade off.

I found Hubpages easy to write, a joy to put together, and I love the fact that you keep all rights at all times. Unlike many of the other content sites currently available.

Apr

Can You Make Money Writing for Type-A-Mom Websites?

By AngEngland | Sites That Pay

8 Comments

Kelby Carr, known as TypeAMom on Twitter, is the owner and founder of a series of websites where mothers (ok, men too) can become web writers with relative ease – learning the ropes of freelance writing for websites, while earning money at the same time. Some of the writers contribute because they enjoy the topic they are contributing to, while others do it more for the money or platform, but most writers tend to contribute there for a mixture of both.

What Sites Are in the TypeAMom Collection?

TypeAMom runs the main Type-A-Mom website, as well as a handful of sister sites that cover several different topic areas. Here is a break-down of the various websites and their focus:

Type-A-Mom is dedicated mothers in many different stages of life, and with many different interests. Editors post weekly on topics ranging from “Suburban Moms” to “Preschoolers”.
PictureMyCamera is a newer site dedicated to photography with regular photo contests, learning articles and a gallery where users can display their favorite pictures.
FoodieMama is, as the name implies, all about food, cooking, recipes and keeping food budgets under control.
Investigative Mommy Bloggers is brand new and gives moms the opportunity to participate in real, investigative journalism in collaborative efforts with other moms around the country. While revenue sharing is still being worked out, anyone interested in possibly contributing in the future should sign in the ning site.
Dadosphere is the site dedicated to fathers at every stage of life. Dad Editors are being hired on right now so feel free to apply.

How Does TypeAMom Pay Writers?

Writers who contribute to the Type-A-Mom websites share page impressions, and thus ad clicks, with the website itself on a 50/50 basis. Each writer enters their Google Adsense information and the ad click revenues come directly to their account. Writers are also allowed to use approved affiliate linking within their articles and product reviews so articles earn money through affiliate purchases as well.

How Do TypeAMom Websites Work Rights for Articles?

All rights to the material submitted to TypeAMom and sister sites belong to the author at all times. This means writers never loose the rights to their work and can create ebooks, personal blog posts or submit articles to print magazines, while still keeping the articles up on TypeAMom.

With a new ebook program in formation for TypeAMom.net and FoodieMama.com websites, editors and regular writers at these sites will have the ability to earn an additional stream of income through the marketing of ebooks right on these websites. You all already know I feel that ebooks can be a great source of passive income – now TypeAMom is getting on board, making it more profitable than ever for their writers.

Mar

Can You Make Money Writing for Suite101?

By AngEngland | Sites That Pay

31 Comments

In my recent blog post about writing for Examiner.com, a reader left a comment about Suite101. I’d like to discuss what a writer can expect working with Suite101.com and the potential for pay there.

Suite101 is an e-media magazine that has been around for several years, though only in the present form for a couple years. As a beginning writer I appreciated the editorial oversight, and now, as a more experienced web writer, I appreciate the strong standing in the search engines.

There are two levels of writers at Suite101 – Feature Writers are over a particular topic and must publish one article per week in that topic area. I am the Plants and Bulbs Feature Writer. Contributing Writers have to publish only ten articles every three months in any topic of their choosing (the ten articles do not need to be in the same topic area – contribute to as many topics as you desire!).

What Does Suite101.com Pay?

Suite101.com pays purely off ad-click revenue share. In an older revenue model Suite101 paid a certain amount of money per page view, however they no longer pay according to a page view system. Obviously page views are good since the more people visit your articles, the greater your chances for garnering ad clicks. You could theoretically have ten thousand visitors and not a single ad click, however this has not been my personal experience. I make a tidy little sum each month off those seemingly innocuous ads.

It will take awhile to build up a decent paycheck, but the long-term revenue potential is very high. It might take me a couple hours a week to write my Suite101 articles (I try to post 5-8 articles per month). The first month I probably made $.26 or something ridiculously horrible like that. However, those first few articles continue to earn me money. They have continued to earn me a few dollars every month for the past two years! I now earn enough every month to cover my mortgage payment and even when I took the month off to have a baby I still made enough to pay my mortgage. Brilliant!

What Rights Does Suite101.com Keep?

Suite101.com requires that articles published on the site are fresh, new pieces not currently available elsewhere on the web. And they require exclusive web rights to that content for one year. So you never actually loose your content at all – you just sort of loan it out to Suite101 for a year. *grin*

To me, the only way I would participate in a site that takes all my rights completely is if they pay quite a bit upfront. Otherwise, I’m loosing the ability to make money off that content in other ways, for no guaranteed return! With Suite101 I can put my articles into ebooks, sell one to a print magazine (as I did with this Intake Procedures for Massage Therapists article) or use them as a hubpage about lavender essential oil when my year is up.

How Do I Join Suite101?

All writers must apply to Suite101.com and submit some sample articles. Suite101 is known to be rather picky, as only 20-25% of all writers who apply are accepted! Find me on the forums when you join and say hello.