Demand Studios Drought
The number of titles available to me on Demand Studios is hovering around 2300. Ouch. Most of them are un-writeable. Once in a blue moon I see a good title but it gets snapped up before I can claim it. I have applied to the Home and Garden section but my application has been under review for over a month. Many other people on the forums are having the same problems, and though “drought season” (according to the pros) seems to be coming to an end, things are not looking up.
It’s pretty obvious why DS isn’t pumping out articles; they’re not making money. Go ahead, Google search your most recent article. Chances are, it’s not near the top of the search results. Ehow used to be the top of the top, and now I’m seeing my articles on pages 2, 3 and 4 of the results, even though I’m searching the exact title. So what have I done about this?
I’ve expanded. I recently got accepted to write for a DS competitor site that is MUCH more fun to write for and pays just as well. However, their editing queues take FOREVER. We’re talking 2 weeks from writing the article to payment, more if you need to edit it. I miss the regularity and dependability of the payment structure at DS.
I also got accepted to write for Valley Direct Media. But I was away from my internet for a while and thus couldn’t respond to their email, so who knows if the offer is still open. They only pay $4 per 400 words but I have heard the work is never-ending and they pay once a week, so it seems like a good thing to do in a pinch.
I have started at Writer Access but have only written 1 article. The title drought over there seems to be the thing that is never-ending. I have applied to 2 carting calls, so we’ll see what happens.
Textbroker has introduced “Team Orders.” Similar to “casting calls” at Writer Access, these are groups of people whom a client chooses to write his articles. Update your new expanded profile at Textbroker and apply for these Team Orders if you’re interested. Some of them pay very well but want high-quality content.
Getting these new clients took me close to a month, so if you depend on DS for your freelance income, and you’re getting worried (you should be), I suggest expanding ASAP. Plenty of other people are diversifying and positions are getting filled.
