Beware, freelance jobs advertised on the internet...



 

This post is going to be dedicated to those just starting out as a freelance writer and came about after a discussion on a LinkedIn post after someone had posted a request for freelance writers. The post was obviously a scam - clues being that the poster had used an online stock image for their photo and left no details other than a gmail address.

One LinkedIn member, who claims to be a freelance writer earning over $70,000 dollars per year from online writing, decided to tackle me on my view of scam adverts, telling me in no uncertain terms that I was wrong, including some disparaging remarks - shame she didn't read my earlier post about being careful what you write on a forum really before she hit the send button. I did question why she had needed to respond to this particular advert if she was already earning a fortune from online writing.

But how do you know if an online job is genuine or not?

Firstly there are some obvious giveaways such as the poster using a stock photo image, using a free email address, such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc. Other signs are the promises of earning 'as much as you want' and other such claims. Another sign that you're dealing with someone who, even if they are offering a paying gig, will pay a pittance, something in the range of $1 per five hundred words, is that they leave no company details to be researched.

I know it's tempting when you do a Google for freelance writing jobs and pages upon pages come up, offering you work. You think, great, this is my chance to be a proper freelance writer! In reality, even if you get offered work, it will be generic articles and you will often be tied into writing a minimum of 10 per week, at 500 words a piece and for very little pay, if you're paid anything. Many content mill companies work on a pay-per-click policy, so if no one reads your article, you won't get paid.

Now before I get inundated with more comments telling me how wrong I am and that you work online and earn a fortune, I am not saying that ALL freelancing jobs online are scams. Big companies such as AOL, Google and other major online companies pay very well, as do other genuine companies that rely on online only content. What these companies don't do is post on public forums, requesting freelance writers. They advertise in the right channels such as Gorkana, which is a source for journalists and PR companies. They don't hit public forums with, 'Freelance writers wanted! Earn a fortune!' promises.

Of course, if you want to get experience of writing to a deadline and are just writing to get your name out there, by all means write for a content mill company. However, if you wrote 10 pieces at 500 words a week for a total of $5, you could have written three magazine articles in the same amount of time and earned yourself $1100.

Added to this, even if you start writing online content so that you can build up your portfolio, editors of paying mainstream publications will hardly be impressed with your boasts that you've written 50,000 articles for a content mill.

So, when you see those adverts telling you that you can earn a fortune from the comfort of your own home by writing for them, do your research and ask yourself why they haven't gone through the right channels and are resorting to click-to-pay ads and public forums to recruit staff?