A.C.O.D. Advice #3 - Businesses that Hire Freelance Writers Online

There are millions of people all around the world that wouldn't mind making money through their computer. Some people devote their entire financial pursuit to work done entirely through their computer from home - many of these people become extremely financially successful after they get the hang of things.

At a glance, one might think that any financial opportunity derived solely through the internet would likely take much more time and effort with far less pay than any average job unless you were to possess some sort of special computer knowledge or skills. Although it is true that many online money making opportunities are hardly worth it or completely falsified, there are also plenty of legitimate opportunities for serious career paths or part-time work from home, especially if you consider yourself to be an even somewhat talented writer.

Good Starting Points for Online Journalists

A career as a journalist is one of the most exciting forms of writing - the idea of performing in-depth research and providing your readers with the facts on virtually any topic or event has a certain allure to it, while the thought of gaining direct public recognition for your work only entices more hopefuls. Keep in mind that choosing to pursue a career as a journalist might not place you directly in the center of a busy news room - there are plenty of opportunities entirely over the internet that can be used to your advantage financially while getting your name and work into public circulation.

Mechanical Turk (Mturk)

Mechanical Turk is a domain owned by Amazon.com designed solely for individual assignments to be able to be placed on a database for workers to then complete for a given price. Mechanical Turk cannot exactly be labeled as a place for journalists or other authors to find work considering the huge range of assignments available, but there is often opportunities for informative article assignments. Many people use Mturk as a way to search for more permanent employees or writers - quality work is often rewarded with bonus pay or a more permanent position under that particular employer.

This Amazon.com sponsored domain requires little more than an email and other personal information for registration. Since you won't be needing any sort of writing samples or resume, Mechanical Turk is a great place for beginners or someone who might want to simply experiment while making a little extra cash.

Overall, Mturk receives 3 stars for their range of assignments and the possibility of name recognition in various writing fields.

The Content Authority
The Content Authority or "TCA" is a website with similar programming and functionality to that of Mechanical Turk, the main difference here is that all of the assignments revolve around writing ability. One of the main innovative features about TCA is the section of their website entirely devoted to re-writes. Using this portion of the domain, writers will not only get a chance to look at the work of other author's at a comparable level as themselves, members can avoid researching topics entirely while still making decent wages. Apart from the available rewrite assignments, TCA houses a large range of keyword-based articles on virtually any topic that can be done entirely at the author's discretion.

Both resume and writing samples are required for acceptance in to The Content Authority, while a tier system is also set in place that allows skilled writers to move through the ranks and access the most difficult and highest paying assignments. Although they do pride themselves on the quality of their writers, being accepted into this business as a writer is entirely within reach as long as you take care in preparing your writing sample and resume. Knowledge in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is extremely valuable in this situation because nearly all of your assignments will involve non-specific keyword instructions. Put simply, a large portion of the assignments will provide little more than a keyword or phrase for the author to begin with - understanding how and why specific phrases are utilized through internet marketing will better your understanding of what employers will likely expect from you in the future.

TCA offers payment through PayPal only and distributes payments every Monday by 8PM Eastern Standard Time. Completed assignments take, at most, 3 days to be accepted or sent back to you for revisions, while payments require minimum earnings of 25 Dollars each week.

The Content Authority receives 3 stars for writing assignment availability, helpful staff, and timely payments.

Advanced Positions to Apply for Over the Internet

After some time spent working for some of the sites listed above, you might want to expand your opportunities by sending out resumes with your best writing samples and updated resume. If you've been spending time on the more basic assignment platforms, you'll likely have a good amount of published work to use as reference towards your abilities and past experiences.

Demand Media Studios

Demand Studios, Demand Media, Media Studios - all of these domains belong to a singular source. Perhaps one of the most accomplished content providers on the net, Demand Media Studios provides articles for Ehow, Answer Bag, and many other established domains covering nearly every topic you can think of. The types of assignments available span from basic articles to detailed video submissions - writers can even submit topic suggestions of their own. Demand Media Studios provides top dollar articles to their customers, so it goes without saying that they expect the same from all of their writers, filmmakers, and copy/editors.

All hired copy/editors require at least 2 years prior experience or schooling, while most of their staffed filmmakers and writers also possess college experience. Unless you have extensive past experience, or a writing sample that would impress even the most seasoned of authors or journalists, this writing position might remain unavailable to you until a little farther down the road. Payments are issued twice weekly with multiple payment options available.

Demand Media Studios receives 5 Stars for the quality of employees/employers and high-paying salary.

Additional Writing Opportunities

As a side project or a way to simply get your feet wet in the world of literature, alternative writing websites offer authors or journalists with a way to write about the things that you are interested in. Creating your own personalized domain that covers topics of your choice can often times lead to great success financially, but these rewards appear much farther down the line, if at all. The progress of your own website will require knowledge in various internet marketing fields and advertisement methods - choosing this route without any prior knowledge in these particular fields will often times generate little to no profit while taking up a large amount of your energy or drive. By submitting your personal pieces of literature to domains that already attract a large audience, you can quench any thirsts you might have for additional writing.

Helium
Helium.com is an informational-based website that posts written entries from accepted authors. Their system works mainly by pitting articles on the same topics against eachother in terms of rankings - the best article receives the top spot on any given topic, thus receiving the most views. Writers do receive compensation for their work financially, but payments will only take place after a large amount of views. If you don't yet feel comfortable sending out resumes, but would still like to see some of your work published, the Helium community features an active rating system in which other users can compare your work to another article written on the same topic. Being able to easily access other articles that might currently outrank you is a great way to improve your overall writing ability while focusing in on certain areas that you might be having the most trouble with.

One of the most exciting aspects of Helium is the contests section. In this portion of the site, writing contests are regularly updated with cash prizes ranging anywhere from 10-500$. Although this sounds like a perfect way to get yourself recognized while winning some cash, certain status ranks or "writing stars" are required before you are eligible to participate in the writing contests.

 Overall, Helium receives only 2 stars due to the lack of payment opportunities and lackluster staff.

Additional reviews currently in process.
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