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Sara T. Biggun posted:hmm. The only people I know talking about full queues are those who have cultivated clients giving them consistent direct orders, mostly on Writer Access. So, as tends to be the case in dry times for freelancers, the answer is "Private connections." Basically, make the best of this time to write stuff for Constant Content or for self-publication on Amazon Kindle Direct.
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Jan 24, 2014 06:20
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I would assume so yes. If it's only 10 hours logged onto their ystem then that would be like nothing.
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Jan 24, 2014 17:24
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Nighthand posted:The only people I know talking about full queues are those who have cultivated clients giving them consistent direct orders, mostly on Writer Access. So, as tends to be the case in dry times for freelancers, the answer is "Private connections." Yeah, I finally signed up at Constant Content this week after eyeballing it for a reeeeally long time. Wrote a 1000 word thing that I'm gonna upload there soon. Anyone have lots of success there? What sells best? Boring poo poo, I assume.
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Jan 24, 2014 19:34
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Energy topics, mobile phone stuff and, surprisingly, dog-related articles all sell pretty well. You can look at the list of recently-sold content for inspiration. You can compete for standing offers if you want, I tend to avoid it. Almost everything I've sold has been energy-related, and all to one client, who seems to buy a lot in bulk a couple of times each year. Constant Content is definitely a volume platform, since it can take a while for anything to sell. Fill it with as many articles as you can, but be careful for your first 10-20. Apparently they're really picky for your first few submissions, and if you get more than a couple of rejections they'll boot you without question. I haven't had issues with them, but people on their forums bitch about it occasionally.
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Jan 24, 2014 23:09
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Also echoing the "holy poo poo" on the lack of Textbroker work. There used to be a ton of clients spamming a poo poo ton of articles, and if you were willing to do some digging you could at least find something. Now there's about 15 articles TOTAL on the entire site. Did they really tighten their client regulations or something? Why the severe drop-off?
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Jan 25, 2014 20:37
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They probably opened a branch in the Phillipines, or their clients didn't like the price hike.
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Jan 25, 2014 21:27
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Keep in mind that it could also be seasonal. I've been doing this a while, and more often than not freelance stuff gets really spotty during the first six weeks of any given year. If things are still dead by the end of February it's probably something else though.
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Jan 25, 2014 22:51
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My guess is a combination of seasonal slumps (last January was bad, though not this bad, according to my records) and the hiring push they did throughout the second half of last year. More writers, the same number of clients, less available work. There may be less than 15 articles on the site at a given time, but it seems like every time I refresh they're a different set.
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Jan 26, 2014 01:26
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Has anyone gotten work from Skyword? I haven't heard a thing since I sent in all of my info almost a year ago.  kazmeyer posted:Keep in mind that it could also be seasonal. I've been doing this a while, and more often than not freelance stuff gets really spotty during the first six weeks of any given year. If things are still dead by the end of February it's probably something else though. For me, things don't really pick up until early April at the latest. Better to pass the time by doing odd outside work and padding my article queue over at Constant Content, a.k.a. "the Repository for Misfit Articles."
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Jan 26, 2014 19:43
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What are good rates to shoot for when doing transcription work? I've found some additional transcription outlets but I don't know what's considered a good rate. For example: Babbletype Native English transcriptionists: - Interviews $0.50 - Focus Groups $0.80 (per audio minute) $10 per 15 minutes of sound transcribed (on the job board posting) Way With Words Payment is effectively by audio hour of work. Workflow is allocated on an "as and when" basis. New independent contractors will be paid a starting rate of US$33 per audio hour and, depending on their level, earn up to US$57 per audio hour transcribed. Are these good rates? Would it be good to pursue transcriptionist opportunities as a second part-time job for gas money for to support myself full-time? I really need and want to work from home remotely, so anything would be good. [e]: Also, does anyone else use LiveOps? I've seen Derek's posts, but I was wondering if anyone else had experience working with them. I've been working in a brick-and-mortar call center since July and I figure this could also work as a nice segue into full-time work from home. Teriyaki Koinku fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Jan 27, 2014 |
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Jan 27, 2014 19:41
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I worked with LiveOps for a while in the last year, and it seems like if you're going to make a meaningful amount of money with them you need to rigorously apply to be certified with every product they have and be willing to sit through a lot of dreadfully boring and condescending training videos. You sign up for calls in batches at specific times on Thursdays and have a limit as to how many hours you can get, and if you aren't speedy enough to grab all the hours you want you can wind up with not a lot of work to do. I wound up going back to writing fairly quickly, but I'm not much of a phone person.
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Jan 27, 2014 20:01
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Impermanent posted:I worked with LiveOps for a while in the last year, and it seems like if you're going to make a meaningful amount of money with them you need to rigorously apply to be certified with every product they have and be willing to sit through a lot of dreadfully boring and condescending training videos. Thanks for the input! I just submitted my voice test with LiveOps and they're processing my application now. It sounds like LiveOps is right up my alley as for as seguing to full-time work at home pay goes. I can at least use it for supplemental income now since my hours at my day-job have been really anemic and inconsistent and I really need the extra income (especially for my car that's been in the shop for like a month now). [e]: What would be a really cheap way of satisfying their landline phone requirement? Teriyaki Koinku fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Jan 27, 2014 |
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Jan 27, 2014 20:58
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When I started out in transcription, the industry standard was $1 a minute, but it's dropped some since then with more people getting into it. Nowadays, most places that I've seen tend to start somewhere in the .60-.70 a minute range; .50 is definitely below average. (Of course, this is ignoring all those people advertising on Craigslist for $10/audio hour and garbage like that.) .50/minute is $30 per audio hour, and if you take four hours (average rate), that works out to $7.50 per hour of work. And that's assuming decent quality audio, which clients who pay poorly rarely have.
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Jan 27, 2014 21:38
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I did LiveOps for a while and it's legit work but honestly if you're cut out for phone work at the volume they throw at you, you could work at a call center and probably make more money with a fair shot at benefits and such so long as you could do things like show up for work on time for 3 months. In terms of the phone requirement, your local phone company probably has a local-calls only line that's just a dialtone and a phone number for like $20 a month.
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Jan 27, 2014 22:14
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Dr. Kyle Farnsworth posted:I did LiveOps for a while and it's legit work but honestly if you're cut out for phone work at the volume they throw at you, you could work at a call center and probably make more money with a fair shot at benefits and such so long as you could do things like show up for work on time for 3 months. I need the extra hours due to my inconsistent and anemic hours at my current call center job. It'd be something to moonlight for to make extra money and flexibility; plus, I really want to work remotely from home.
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Jan 27, 2014 22:47
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I got this email from Writers Domain saying that "exciting changes are a coming"quote:Happy New Year! 2013 was an amazing year and 2014 looks to be even more promising. Article orders grew 30% in 2013 and, as many of you may have noticed, we recently expanded into Australia. We owe our growth to each of you and the work that you do. Thanks for your dedication to producing quality content for WritersDomain. First of all, they are talking about less work in February. I am wondering if other websites are going to see the same thing. I'm really curious if this has anything to do with the new google search algorithm Hummingbird? It seems like google is changing up how it ranks websites a bit. The focus is still on content, but more about content that gives answers to questions rather than blog style content that simply links back to a website without using a branded keyword. And then other things like having more entry pages to a website with helpful articles. I wonder how much of an impact it is going to have on SEO writing.
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Jan 28, 2014 05:28
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Hummingbird has been in effect for six+ months, and doesn't affect rankings very much at all. Google might be pushing a new update they haven't publicly announced yet, though. Semantic search (the question and answer thing) is great though, and I really would love for keyword focus as a whole to die out. The bigger change there is that Google started hiding keyword data in analytics. Unfortunately they're also pushing local search, so lovely local keywords will probably stay relevant for a while. Keep us updated though, I know a few people on the wait list for Writer's Domain, myself included, and if it stop being worthwhile it'd be good to know.
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Jan 28, 2014 15:02
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Google is definitely taking aim at the content mill style of article creation for websites. Even before Hummingbird, Panda and Penguin put that in motion as well. Now preference is given to unique, well-written, often much lengthier and in-depth content. Bonus points if it's written by an established authority. Keyword stuffing has long been frowned on and as Nighthand said the move away from keyword data within analytics just means an even greater emphasis on overall content and quality of writing versus only focusing on the specific keywords within an article. Now if these sites want to start looking for content like that and people are still willing to write something much more fleshed out, well researched and unique for the prices they pay them by all means there is still plenty of future there. But the days when I could fire off a dozen TextBroker articles that just rambled about snowboard accessories as long as snowboard was mentioned 8 times in the article are fading fast.
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Jan 28, 2014 16:25
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Textbroker revamped their teams system... sort of. You can now see the date the team was created, the number of authors in the team, the number of available assignments and of course the pay rate. You can also sort by those categories now. Of course, just like the open order pool, there are 0 available articles in any public team right now.
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Jan 31, 2014 23:01
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Anyone have experience with flexjobs.com? Someone mentioned it on IRC, and I encouraged them to share in the thread, but I think they're pretty busy at the moment. Looks like there are telecommuting jobs with regular hours and stuff.
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Feb 3, 2014 21:53
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Flexjobs is basically a service that goes through telecommuting job listings and weeds out the scams. It's nice if you have no idea where to start, but I didn't really learn anything from it that I didn't already know from this thread.
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Feb 4, 2014 22:04
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So I've sent a couple of apps to Daily Transcription and have never received an email with testing instructions. Today, I accidentally came across a page that appears to be a testing page. It has a link to a video and instructions. Is it worth it to take the test and email it to them anyway or is it better to wait for the email telling you to do it?
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Feb 5, 2014 01:53
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Derek79 posted:So I've sent a couple of apps to Daily Transcription and have never received an email with testing instructions. Today, I accidentally came across a page that appears to be a testing page. It has a link to a video and instructions. Is it worth it to take the test and email it to them anyway or is it better to wait for the email telling you to do it? You are supposed to send in the test with your app. There is no email with instructions you are supposed to be waiting for.
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Feb 5, 2014 02:45
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jabro posted:You are supposed to send in the test with your app. There is no email with instructions you are supposed to be waiting for. Really? The app I filled out says thanks for the application and I will receive further instructions. No mention of the test at all. I'll go ahead and take the test. Thanks foor letting me know!
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Feb 5, 2014 03:10
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When you sign up for Textbroker, is the content searchable by your name, or is everything anonymous? I'd like to give it a shot, but I also don't want a bunch of freelance stuff coming up with a google search for me, or even by people looking for content on Textbroker. My career is very writing-dependent and I don't really want to represent myself with a bunch of stuff written by order for other people.
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Feb 5, 2014 19:13
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Textbroker is ghostwriting, and you can use a pen name (my display name to clients there is Nighthand). I've only ever had one or two clients ask for an author bio, and since it was content I didn't want my name on, I just made one up. A lot of assignments actually include the copy-pasted-from-Textbrokers-guidelines "Content will be posted under my name or pseudonym" on the client's part. Also, as far as I know, there's no archive of Textbroker content for people to search. I have no idea if clients can search by username or not, but again, you can make your display name a pen name and you'll be fine. So yeah, nothing you write there will be attached to your name unless you go out of your way to make it so.
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Feb 5, 2014 19:41
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Textbroker-level work generally gets posted either uncredited or under somebody else's byline. Any place where you get your own byline, such as Demand Studios, is really clear about it. DMS allows you to write under a pen name, and a lot of writers take them up on that just because an article about how to get rid of a computer virus or the pros and cons of solar heating edited by somebody else may not be the kind of thing you want to put into a portfolio.
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Feb 5, 2014 19:42
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Yeah, I didn't think I was going to get a byline or anything, but wanted to make sure you don't have to use a real name or build up an archive of past projects that potential clients could see attached to a real name. So that's perfect.
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Feb 5, 2014 19:44
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Wouldn't it be awesome on these 100% verbatim files if they would just shut up when the other person is talking instead of having to pipe in with "yeah" every 5 seconds? I have two hours of this.
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Feb 6, 2014 22:39
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Spartan421 posted:Wouldn't it be awesome [Yeah]on these 100% verbatim files if they would just shut up when the other person [mhmm]is talking instead of having to pipe in with "yeah" every 5 seconds? I have two hours of this.[Definitely.]
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Feb 6, 2014 22:43
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You might want to clarify with the client; most of the ones I've worked for don't need every "mmm-hmm" and "yeah" unless it's a direct answer to a question, even though they might say "100% verbatim". Are they asking for timecodes too? (I love my clients that ask for light editing/make it readable. That poo poo's a breeze.)
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Feb 6, 2014 23:53
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Derek79 posted:Really? The app I filled out says thanks for the application and I will receive further instructions. No mention of the test at all. I'll go ahead and take the test. Thanks foor letting me know! I noticed that exact same thing, I was just waiting around till someone in this thread linked me to the DT test page. I was especially confused since even right there on the test page, it says there's a "strict 24-hour turnaround", like you were supposed to complete it within a day once they gave you the test. Instead I've just been sitting on it, not wanting to bother with it while I had work coming from Focus Forward instead. It's pretty slow for me now though, maybe I should finally finish the drat thing. I keep putting it off cause I feel like some other ambigious thing will lead to me making some error in the format, and thus being "rejected and deleted before we grade it for accuracy."
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Feb 7, 2014 00:33
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Bifauxnen posted:I noticed that exact same thing, I was just waiting around till someone in this thread linked me to the DT test page. I was especially confused since even right there on the test page, it says there's a "strict 24-hour turnaround", like you were supposed to complete it within a day once they gave you the test. Instead I've just been sitting on it, not wanting to bother with it while I had work coming from Focus Forward instead. Trust me, your test will not be 100 percent perfect. Just let them know you're taking the test, take it, submit it, and with luck you'll be in the pool for their next round of hirings.
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Feb 7, 2014 02:06
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kazmeyer posted:You might want to clarify with the client; most of the ones I've worked for don't need every "mmm-hmm" and "yeah" unless it's a direct answer to a question, even though they might say "100% verbatim". Are they asking for timecodes too? Well it says TOTAL VERBATIM in the guide. It's pretty easy. No time codes and pays a better rate than normal for some reason. I'm knocking out like 20-30 minutes an hour so it's really all good. Just some people's verbal habits drive you crazy.
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Feb 7, 2014 02:33
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Bifauxnen posted:I noticed that exact same thing, I was just waiting around till someone in this thread linked me to the DT test page. I was especially confused since even right there on the test page, it says there's a "strict 24-hour turnaround", like you were supposed to complete it within a day once they gave you the test. Instead I've just been sitting on it, not wanting to bother with it while I had work coming from Focus Forward instead. Focus Forward just declined my test. I have no clue why. I went over that thing multiple times before submitting it. It wasn't even a difficult audio. I'm going to do the DT test this weekend and hope for the best.
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Feb 7, 2014 09:38
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Just submitted the last few forms and background screening fee for LiveOps.  Does anyone know of some cheap headsets, phone modems, and basic landline phones to recommend which fit their requirements?
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Feb 7, 2014 15:23
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Just got accepted on textbroker at 4 stars. Hows the work been there lately?
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Feb 8, 2014 01:59
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Better than it has been. More there than I've seen on Zerys or Writer Access by a long shot, but a lot of it is the usual TB drivel. Definitely better than January, I haven't seen it drop back to 0 available assignments in a while.
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Feb 8, 2014 02:54
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Kazmeyer how often is your transcription Q/A completely bullshit? When they are bullshit, do you call them out on it? I got my first transcription bite, and they put me through some trial runs. The guy that did the Q/A on my first run was basically an idiot. Just a few examples to highlight his idiocy...He marked me down for not capitalizing a proper noun (I did not realize it was a television show in the context I heard it in.) Then later in the page he marked me down for capitalizing the name of a softball team. He marked me down because I transcribed a noise that I heard, saying that I might have my volume up too high, then later he marked me down for not transcribing a noise he heard that *was not there*. I have 5.1 surround sound headphones that I cranked up to 300% and I replayed where he was saying like ten times. I heard silence. The Q/A was so contradictory and bad that I actually thought he might be testing my observational skills, because at the end he asked me if I had any comments to let him know so I could properly learn their expectations and everything. Now English is not his first language, they were based out of country, so I worded it as politely as possible. I said that I want to make sure that I get everything right, and I noticed some confusing discrepancies that I'd like some explanation on, so that I could properly learn everything. I outlined the big honking WRONG ones, and I let the little ones go, because I really need a job and I didn't want to piss him off. I never heard from them again. It's been weeks. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to operate in a transcription environment where they break their own rules sometimes and not other times. So I asked for clarification, and lost the opportunity I guess. Not sure what went wrong here, I spent a lot of time making sure I got the transcription right, and I was very polite to the guy.
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Feb 8, 2014 08:42
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I've really never had a major issue, but I'd definitely say something if I had. My first client wasn't really a professional house, so if there was something I was doing wrong she just told me and I did it differently in my next transcript. Since then, it's all been adjusting to each individual client's rules. "Tab after the speaker ID and not two spaces," etc. The only time I can think of where I got bullshit QA was when a client went off on me for misspellings and missing stuff only to find out she got her wires crossed and meant to be yelling at somebody else. She apologized profusely once I pointed out that I hadn't worked on that particular transcript and everything was good. It's not a bad idea to nip that kind of thing in the bud, because if they use uneven standards as an excuse to drop people, you want to get dropped before you come to rely on that source of income. There have been one or two clients I passed on after passing the test once I realized that they'd probably be too much of a pain in the nuts to work with.
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Feb 8, 2014 17:07
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