Etching Out Earnings With Demand Studios
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Despite the many naysayers, Demand Studios offers the most reliable, consistent way to etch out earnings by writing online. For writers, the site offers two earning models, upfront pay and revenue share, with most writers opting for the upfront pay opportunities.
How Does Demand Studios Work?
Writers are offered a list of titles from which to choose. Each title corresponds to a particular website, format and pay. As a writer, you claim title, write the article within 7 days according to preset guidelines, and then submit it to copyeditors who either “request” edits or approve the article. Once approved, payment is posted to your paypal account within a few days according to their pay schedule.
For the digital world, the pay at DS is fairly competitive with upfront-pay “titles” listed for $7.50 or $15. Their revenue share model is less attractive and writers have less access to understanding how earnings are calculated.
Most articles written for DS are posted to eHow, LIVESTONG, GolfLink, Trails and Answerbag. DS does assume all rights to the work. So, unfortunately, if you’re writing for upfront pay, the only compensation you’re going to receive is that initial $7.50 or $15 shot.
Why Do Writers Work for Demand Studios?
The work is consistent and the pay is reliable. There is always a title to write and you never have to worry about chasing down some unknown admin user to get paid.
Also, the community of writers, for the most part, is supportive and professional. DS’s editorial standards tend to weed the less serious writers out of the flock and you’ll find that the community forums are full of really useful information on writing and online opportunities.
DS also offers a number of attractive programs for writers who are consistent with the site, including a health insurance option and a grant program.
What Is the Downside?
Getting acclimated to the structure at DS can be difficult for new writers. Compared to a lot of writing platforms online, DS has very high editorial standards for the content that it accepts. Writing within the guidelines and dealing with rewrites and edits for things which may seem trivial can be very frustrating.
Sometimes the articles are time-intensive. Writing within a fixed payout of $15, it seems unrealistic to spend 2 hours researching and writing a 500 word article. Unfortunately, until you get into the grove of what DS is looking for, the time drain is not uncommon.
One of the most frustrating parts of writing for DS is the lack of control that you have as a writer once you submit an article. Once an article is submitted, DS owns it and publishes it under your name including any edits that the copyeditor made. While you can use a penname, this is still very frustrating at times.
How Do You Get Started?
Submit an application. You’ll need a resume and a writing sample.
What Do I Think of DS?
Personally, I really like writing for DS.
I stick to titles that I know and usually I can knock out a List or a Fact Sheet in 20-30 minutes. When I’m having a tight month, the extra cash is fast, and, if I invest the time, substantial.
I’ve also experienced some frustration in dealing with unrealistic copyeditors, who really have very little accountability and sometimes demand changes which are not in line with the editorial guidelines or threaten the integrity of the information in the article. This happens for about 5% of my submissions, but I’ve found that if I make an effort to meet the CE halfway, the article gets approved.
I don’t like not having control of the work after submission and having my name associated with the content makes me a bit uneasy, especially since CEs can change content once you submit it. I’m also not particularly fond of knowing that DS is making a lot more money on my work than I am.
However, despite the downsides, of the options that are out there, DS does offer a platform where quality work is rewarded and the pay is much better than many other opportunities out there. I don’t have to worry about chasing down payment.
Also, DS does try to come up with benefits that are attractive to freelancers, including the new health insurance option. I don’t currently use this benefit but it is nice knowing that if I do find myself out of work, that there will be something to fall back on.
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Samantha
Hi Mira,
This is my first time hearing about Demand Studios and I must say that you provided a very thorough review. You’ve covered all angles. Once your articles are published, do they let you know where its posted? Can you point me to an example of one of your fact sheets? That really got my attention because I’m always writing them for work and it sounds like an easy way for me to get started.
Thanks!
Ileane´s last blog ..Some Serious Blog Engagement
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Hi Ileane,
Thanks for the comment. I’m realizing that I neglected to include a link to DS in my article. It’s there now!
You have an idea of where it’s going when you select the title. Most of mine go to eHow but when I first started writing for DS I’d find my stuff all over the place. I’m not sure if that was intentional or if the content was stolen.
They have a lot of formats to write to, and I think that I’ve experimented with most of them.
Their idea of a Fact Sheet is one introductory paragraph followed by 5 sections, each section with 1 sentence. These only pay $7.50 (example: What Is a CAS Number in MSDS? – This happens to be one of the pieces that a CE butchered into grammatical mush and also a great example of a title that doesn’t make much sense.).
They also have a more in-depth version of a Fact Sheet that they call a List (example: Signs of Chemical Change) These pay $15 but the format is very easy to write to if you know the topic.
Good Luck!
I don’t believe I would be ready to do that. But seeing this blog post here makes me feel like I might be able to.
Hi! Thanks for the comment. I’m glad that you were able to get something out of the post. If you do jump into DS, come back and leave a comment to let us know how it’s going!
Not too sure how I found this blog but glad I did find it. Think I was looking for something else on yahoo. Not sure I agree 100% with what you say, but have bookmaked and will pop back to read to see if you add any more posts. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for popping by and for sharing your thoughts. By all means if you have some other insights please feel free to throw them out there – I’m not necessarily right, just trying to share my experience in as few words as possible. I’ll be adding posts regularly – thanks for the encouragement!
Hi Samantha.
Your site is very nice and very useful for freelancers. This is the first time I heard about Demand Studios. I will check it out and see if it would fit my needs. Thanks for the info.
Snowhybiscuis´s last blog ..Earning Through Blogging
Hi Snowhybiscuis,
Thanks for dropping by and giving your feedback! I hope you like DS. Don’t forget to come back and share how it’s working out for you!
Good Web site!
[...] 1. Etching Out Earnings With Demand Studios [...]
DS seams great to earn money from writing but i choose to write for my blog only this time.
Dana @ Blogging Update´s last blog ..Is Google Buzz competitor of Facebook and Twitter?
To me it’s all a numbers game. If I’m going to sell my time (which I prefer NOT to do), it’s got to be a decent hourly pay. Too many people don’t consider the real opportunity cost when they’re writing for a pittance.
Alison Moore Smith´s last blog ..Pretty Link Pro is My Favorite WordPress Plugin
I would have never of guessed someone could get paid so well for writing about a website. I have never done anything like this but i know a few of our members at blogengage are. Perhaps if I never started blogengage and I had more time I would have.
Sorry I don’t have a more useful comment I really don’t follow this stuff at all. Thanks for the information.
bbrian017´s last blog ..Why You Need To Stop Blogging! | Build That List
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the comment. Even if this isn’t a topic that interests you, I really appreciate that you took the time to stop by. I wish that I had the success that you do with website development. But it’s funny how the skill sets work out – some of us are blessed with a strong talent in web development (e.g. you) and others are more interested in writing content. I can write Google-happy SEO all day long, but for the life of me, I can’t come close to developing the kind of quality sites that you do!