Get Paid to Comment: Earn Money Giving Your Opinion

This must be one of the sites where it is pretty easy to earn some money. To be precise, a few cents for 2-3 sentences that you make.

How it Works

Bulk Comments is a site that pays its users to comment on posts. Sometimes, you will be asked to watch a video or comment on posts on social media sites. The tasks are very simple, but it requires you to add an email when you comment plus the link where you posted your work and your username.

The reason behind this is that the moderators want proof that you actually visited the site and performed the task. There is also a dashboard where you can track your earnings and see if the posts you made have been approved.

Signing up

It is very easy to sign up for the site. All you need is to provide your email address to get alerts whenever there are new tasks.

Earning Money

First, you get paid for each task you complete ranging from $.04 to $.10 per completed and approved task. Sometimes, tasks can be repeated daily using different email addresses. There are also other ways to boost earnings such as monthly performance bonuses, general and post author replies.

Payment

You can request payment once you reach $1. Payment is through PayPal. No other fees deducted.

My Opinion:

It's not a bad place to earn a few cents for comments. But it takes quite awhile to reach that dollar. If you are just watching TV, it's an OK past time.

Great Content UK review

Today, I was going to through my email folders and stumbled upon my Great Content UK files. I realised I have been writing for Great Content since 2012. Four years is a long time to be with the site and although I do not pick up all the titles I see, I have written nearly 500 texts for them.

Application

When I applied in 2012, I sent in a sample text based on a topic of their choosing. It did not take them long to review my work and I was classified as a 4-star writer. Not bad, I suppose.

Topics

Like most content providers, you get to pick the articles you want to write. However, you can only write for the current level you are on, Hence, you will see 4 star articles that you can write and also lower than 4 stars articles. Pay rates go up as you have more stars. I think it starts at 2 then up to 6 or  6+? Not sure. At the moment, I am a 4+ writer so I was bumped one step higher. 

The topics vary from product descriptions to travel pieces. I believed in the beginning, there were mostly travel pieces and then later on, product descriptions for clothes, shoes and bags. There are also transliteration jobs which are interesting. Hence, if you have knowledge of other languages, there are casting calls for transliteration jobs. I often worked on translating product description from French, Dutch and German to English.
Each piece of work that you submit is rated by the client from 'My expectations have nearly been reached', 'My expectations were met', 'The results exceeded my expectations.' Clients can send back your work for revisions and you can also send messages to them to clarify instructions.

Pros

I like the following of Great Content:

1. Flexibility to choose the articles that you write with no obligation to write in a given period to keep your author credentials active.
2. Payment is prompt. Once you reach a minimum of 25 pounds, you can request for payment which they issue via PayPal or Skrill.

Cons

1. PayPal takes a percentage of my earnings and I don't like it when I see my homepage on GC as having a negative balance. It will automatically be deducted once I have money in my account from articles which are approved.

2.. You can only take three articles from the pool at one time and sometimes, you can't write more for the client until one article has been approved. There are times when the client takes time to go through your articles so you are sitting there waiting for approval. For mainly this reason, I don't go often on the Great Content site if I know that I have to wait for articles to be approved before I can cash out. I always plan it that I can write the max no of articles so that I can be paid. Other than these issues, Great Content is always a nice site to fall back on when work in other places is slow.

Updates: CloudCrowd is now CrowdSource

If you have been wondering what happened to CloudCrowd, here are some updates. I recently received an email invite from Crowdsource. CloudCrowd is now with Crowdsource. Crowdsource puts out work on the platform of Mechanical Turk (Amazon) while Cloudcrowd was accessed through a Facebook app. Now, Cloudcrowd is using Paypal details such as username and password to gain access to the job pool. Frankly, I have a lot of hesitation giving out my PP password, but it seems this is the only way former Crowdcloud workers can have access to titles and work. And so, I tried if this would work. When you first get to the site you will see a lot of paying jobs. I have not snagged any writing assignment just to see how it goes first. While the reviews are mixed saying that editorial feedback is much faster, there are also others who complain of the lack of coherence amongst editors. So rather than getting a rejected piece of work, I prefer to wait and see. At the moment though, there are loads of assignments on CrowdSource and the bonuses they are giving out are indeed, very tempting.

Blogging Assignments

I stumbled upon this site, Bloggers Required, while looking for information over the net. Apparently, you have to apply to write or guest blog for the site. There are also assignments available based on your geographical region such as the US, UK, Europe, Australia and World Wide. For example, a brand will be looking for a blogger who can review the product it is offering. You can get compensated by payment or keep the product. However, there are several requirements for you to snag the blogging assignment - you must have a quality blog that has a high traffic, followers and excellent visibility. Maybe, I will try this one out if there is nothing else to do. It does look like it has a good potential especially if you get lots of blogging assignments.

Independent Publishing Closing Its Doors

I received this email a few days ago. Sad news, really, but I knew it was coming. The sudden drop in titles was the beginning of the demise of Independent Publishing. I want to thank IP, too for the site was a good source of alternative income.

"After the execution of current orders, we will shut down the author platform and thus the business of Independent Publishing by the end of this month. This decision has been made on short notice and is now definite. The reason for the close-down is that the business model – despite rising sales figures since the beginning of the year – does not pay off for us any longer. Also the decreasing market prices conduce to the lack of success.

We would like to take this opportunity and thank you for your loyalty, your commitment, and your great texts in the last months and years. Furthermore, we would like to ask you to complete all texts still in process as usual. Naturally, your work will be paid as always. The last payment will be made on April 30th 2014, provided that credit is still open.

Nevertheless: All the best for you and your families – have relaxing holidays!

Your team of Independent Publishing"

I hope there will be another Independent Publishing, soon.

Review: Independent Publishing.com

I started writing for Independent Publishing in 2012. The sign-up process is fairly easy. You fill in your personal details and write a sample text. You can choose from any of their 3 topics such as writing about your hometown city, how to open a bank account or child- friendly activities for the weekend. The text should be from 100 to 150 words which was really easy. It did not take me long to write a short sample. If I remember well, I wrote something about Brussels. I did not really think about it for a few weeks and then one day, I received an email stating that I was accepted to write for them along with my login details. During the first month after being accepted, I could not really find anything to write. The queue was empty. And then, there were several clients that placed large orders. Sometimes, there were at least 800 articles in the pool. I could claim 10 articles in one go. Deadlines for these varied anywhere from a day to three days. At one point, Independent was paying €3,50 for an easy, 250-word article which was not bad. To date, I have written nearly 400 articles for the site. IP has different levels of writing such as Silver, Bronze and Gold. You get rated for every piece you submit on quality of content & performance, spelling & grammar, clarity & style, and availability & timeliness. I have moved up since then to the highest tier which is Gold, but frankly I don't see any improvements in the amount of pay per article. If anything, IP lowered their rate on a bulk order to be competitive with other sites. I know this because I was also checking other sites. However, since they paid the most, I stuck with them because of the pay rate.

Does Independent Publishing pay?

IP pays twice a month, on the 15th and 30th or 31st of each month for as long as payday is a working day. Otherwise, you get your pay the following day. I have a European bank account so my money goes straight to my savings account. A credit note is generated so you can use this when it's time to submit your income tax declaration.

How are non-Europeans paid?

The good news is, if you are outside of the UK or the EU, Independent can still pay you through PayPal.

Verdict

At the moment, there is not much going on at IP. The pool is nearly empty although I get the occasional email stating there are articles ready to be written. I check from time to time, but the number of articles is not as large as it used to be in the past. I believe there are many authors working for the site as well since articles disappear really fast. For me, Independent Publishing can be a useful backup when things are slow in other sites. In addition, you can also apply to become a copy editor. I have not done this yet, but will probably try my luck in that area one of these days.

CloudCrowd Bonus Payments

CloudCrowd is giving bonuses and I just want to share an email I received this week. I checked the site and there are plenty of writing tasks at the moment. I might try a few to see how things have improved over there. "Who says CloudCrowd never gives you anything? This holiday season, we have gifts for you—about 130,000 of them! That’s how many product descriptions are coming down the pipeline to keep you busy and make you a lot of cash … right when you need it. And to show our appreciation for your work, we’re offering premium pay for them too! For a limited time on Overstock.com product description tasks, writers will make $0.034 per word (a 13 percent increase) and Editors will make $0.008 per word (a 33 percent increase). Additionally, all Marketing Writers and Editors will receive a similar pay increase. Marketing Writers will make $0.04 per word (a 33 percent increase) and Editors will make $0.01 per word (a 66 percent increase). These increased rates will last until Nov. 17 at the latest, so start writing or editing early to maximize your earnings. If you’d like to participate in this special offer but don’t have your Marketing Credential, it’s not too late. Please submit an application. While you are at it, apply for your Editor Credential too. Spread the word! Do you know great writers and editors who want some extra cash this holiday season? Add them to your Personal Crowd and encourage them to apply for credentials. Every time they complete a task, you get a percentage of what they get paid. As always, thank you for all of the great work you do. CloudCrowd continues to get bigger and better thanks to people like you. Warm regards, The CloudCrowd Team"

iWriter Review

I started writing for iWriter late December 2011 just to form my own opinion of the site without being influenced by reviews I've been reading. I actually signed up on the site a few months back but couldn't bring myself to write for that little money.

Here is what I found so far:

Advantages

1. Free sign up

Anyone can sign up to write for iWriter. It is free and all you need is an email address and a Paypal account.

2. Site is easy to use

No fumbling around the site. You write articles by hitting the write article button. Select from the available topics to you and start writing. Requesters do the same by requesting  (get) an article to be written.

3.  Pays on time

iWriter pays on the dot. You choose when you get paid, every week (Tuesdays), every 2 weeks or once a month. I chose weekly payments and the first thing I see Tuesday morning is a payment from iWriter. I can't complain on this front. Payment comes from Bryxen Software.

4.  Lots of available titles

I see enough titles to claim unlike Clickworker, Textbroker UK or even Populis. I am not particularly fast, so perhaps this is an advantage. Others who can churn 2 articles in an hour will find it a lucrative site. I make enough and I am satisfied with my earnings without putting too much stress on myself and the quality of articles I write.

Disadvantages

Now, these are the things I don't like about the site.

1.  Starting pay is ridiculously low

You do have to work your way to earn better rates on the site. When I first started, I just wanted to hit 30 articles to get the required number of ratings. Newbies get the following rates:

300 words - $1.82
500 words - $2.83
700 words - $4.05

iWriter takes 19% as commission and Copyscape fees. The trick is to find as many short articles as you can, do them well, and get your rating to at least 4.6 stars to qualify as an elite writer. I chose 150-word articles that paid a measly $1.05 each and after 2 days, I joined the 'elite writers'. So, it doesn't take that long to write for better rates. I also only wrote for requesters who have high acceptance rates and reasonable reviews. Selecting a topic which you are familiar with also helps.

Once you are an elite writer, you can see both elite and premium articles. The rates are the following and the rates vary with each requester:

Premium articles

300 words - $3.24
500 words - $4.05
700 words - $5.26
1000 words - $7.69

Elite articles

100 words - $3.44
300 words - $5.67
500 words - $8.10
700 words - $10.12
1000 words - $14.98

So you see, it gets interesting when you get bumped as an elite writer. I picked up articles that paid as much as $18 for 1000 words and $9 for 300 words. If you get tips, these also increase your earnings. The tips I received ranged from $1 to $10. Sometimes, the tips are bigger than the price of the article. True, high paying ones are not there all the time, but they exist.

2.  Unreasonable requesters

Funnily, requesters paying basic rates for articles were pickier than those paying for premium or elite articles. There are also those who expect stellar and flawless articles for $2. I've had my share of rejections, too and it's not common to see comments such as I expect more from an elite writer, poor grammar, doesn't read well, duplicate content, spun content, I don't like it, and so on. In effect, authors are at the mercy of requesters since they can reject articles without reason.  If that happens, I publish the article immediately on my blog or a revenue-earning site. When I say immediately, right after it is rejected to give no chance to the requester to use my content.

However, there are also conscientious ones who are aware that rejecting an article brings the writer's rating down. I believe that there are also very bad writers on the site, so why pay for content which you can't use anyway?

What I find disgusting as well are writers who even apologize to the requesters for not meeting up to their standards. I accept rejections, but not when someone insults me. Keep your precious $8, I often say to myself. I use the 'rate the requester feature' very well, thanking good raters profusely, and asking where I went wrong to those who rejected my articles. There are simply requesters who do not give constructive feedback and instead, write insults. I am never writing for any of those. I keep a blacklist, too of requesters in the same way that they can 'favorite' authors.

3.  Copyscape warnings

Once you submit an article, it is supposed to be run through Copyscape to make sure that it is not copied and is unique. I got cited for the most ridiculous words such as 'will be going to', 'are going to', and NY Times. Reference links also get flagged making me wonder if the article is really Copyscaped. In addition, I have to pay additional $0.05 for each Copyscape run. Huh? I thought this was included in their commission. I just release the article and pick it up again. When I do this, it passes through Copyscape without a problem.

My thoughts

iWriter is a decent outlet for writing articles. You get paid quickly and if you are lucky, you get special requests that pay more. I wrote for several requesters and they are quite reasonable, not to mention generous. Compared to writing for Constant-Content which is sooo stressful (3-strike rule hanging on my neck every time I submit an article), iWriter is a relaxed place. I write whenever I like a topic and I am willing to do researches on subjects I am not familiar with. At the end of the day, I learn something new and I get paid. If you think this is a good fit for you, sign up here.

Scribie Updates

Got this email today from Scribie and thought I might pass it on.

This is the full copy of the email which some of you might find useful.

We recently released a number of new features and updates on Scribie.com. Here's a short summary.

Profiles:
All transcribers on Scribie.com have a profile page on Scribie.com now. Please login to your account and visit the following link to check yours.

https://scribie.com/profile/

The profile page is public by default and can be shared with others. You can use it as a reference for the transcription work done, if required. Our customers can also now check who worked on their files and how much effort was spent on them. They can also pay a bonus if they want to. If that happens, your share will be credited immediately to your account. You can also hide your profile from the settings page.

Certificate Widget:
The profile pages also contain a certificate which can be embedded in your blog/website. The certificate accredits you as a transcriber on Scribie.com and links to the profile page. The profile page also has your referral/affiliate code embedded in them. If we acquire a customer or a new transcriber through your profile page then you will automatically receive affiliate/referral commissions.

Affiliate/Referral Widget:
We have also updated the referral/affiliate widgets and published new codes for them. Please get the new code from your account, if you are using them.

Extensions:
We have now added the ability to extend the timeout for assignments. Once the initial 2 hour time period elapses, you can extend it by 1 hour more from your account. The extension is permitted only once. Additionally you can also reassign the file to yourself if the file times out and is still available. The link for that is in the history tab.

Notes:
You can also now add notes along with your submission, if you want to point out something relevant to the assignment. Please keep in mind that the transcript is supposed to contain only the transcribed audio and nothing else.

Guideline Changes:
We have also updated the transcription guidelines. Please check the resources section of the transcription page for the updated version. The notable change is that we have removed the guideline about slang terms. They should now be transcribed as spoken.

We have many more updates planned and are working relentlessly to make Scribie.com the best place to find transcription work. Please let us know if you have any suggestions in mind.

Wishing you and your family a happy new year and very prosperous 2012.

With Warm Regards,
Scribie.com Team.


My take: I haven't done any transcription since months but I like to know what's happening over there.

Level 3 Titles on Textbroker UK

There are more than 30 titles for level 3 writers on TB UK. I have not picked any but I might do a few to see how the approval/rejection process goes.

If you have are looking for writing assignments, pop over there now. All levels (except 2) have titles to claim.