First let me apologize for the delay in starting this series. My schedule is a bit wonky these days as we’ve been moving into a new place. Thank you to the writers involved for their patience. Let’s get to it.

The first freelance writer with a story to share this week is Steve Sloane.

Steve’s Story

Steve is a relatively new freelance writer with experience writing for only two companies — one being Demand Media and the other being a website where he contributes film reviews. He has approximately 1800 articles published on Demand’s eHow, mostly in the home repair / DIY niche. The vast majority of those articles paid just $15.

Steve would prefer to write about film, his main passion. But work has dried up with his client in that niche. He has his BA in both Film Theory and Creative Writing. Despite his passion for film, he does understand that it’s an in-demand niche and he’s open to other opportunities. His experience in the home repair and DIY area is based on his own experience building a house and spending years being just generally handy.

He would like to move from $15 articles to a minimum of $50 for a 400-500 word article.

My Advice for Steve

I think $50 per article is a very achievable goal and a good target for newer writers looking to write Web content.

While I’d love to see Steve move immediately into full-time film reviews, I’m intimately familiar with the difficulties in creative markets like this. First, they don’t tend to monetize well through advertising (meaning site owners often won’t spend as much as other types of clients as they see less of a financial return). Another issue, as Steve also pointed out, is that everyone and his brother thinks they can write reviews in these niches (my experience more on the music side, although I’ve seen similar things in film reviews).

With that in mind, I think Steve is a prime candidate for dual specialization. As we’ve talked about numerous times here, being a specialist as a freelance writer does not mean you’re limited to a single kind of writing or a single niche. It means you focus on one or just a few areas, but more importantly you focus on areas where you can offer the most value. I think Steve has an adequate background in both the film and DIY niches to make a go of them.

Normally when I suggest multi-niche specialization, I encourage writers to stick to areas similar enough that they don’t have to target two completely different markets. In this case, I think he can make it work — essentially using one specialty to buy him time to build a reputation in the other.

Basically, I suggest this: Focus on home repair / DIY, but carve out a portion of each work week for film reviews. As Steve grows his client base on the film side, he can transition away from home repair content if he wants to. In the meantime, home repair and DIY material seems like the broader market with more pay potential.

To take it a step further, I’d suggest branching beyond the most basic of Web content (like the shallow content found at eHow). I’d encourage Steve to start his own website in the niche. It could be an ongoing blog, or it could be a specialized niche content site with some static articles that he doesn’t have to update frequently. He could also consider narrowing down the DIY niche a bit. For example, he could focus on apartment dwellers with special needs (such as not being able to put holes in the wall). Or he might combine his love of film with the niche and focus on DIY projects for those interested in setting up their own home theaters.

Once he has a niche site (even a small one), he can use it to build an audience of readers in the niche — not just potential buyers. When readers respect what you have to say in your specialty area, it can make you more attractive to clients who want you to bring your audience with you when you write for them. Better yet, niche sites can be income sources on their own.

Speaking of income sources, I also think e-books are a great thing for Steve to consider. Moving into a new home myself right now, I have tons of questions and ideas around home improvement, decorating, finishing rooms, etc. I own a few huge home repair / DIY books, but they can feel overwhelming. They cover a lot of basics, but sometimes not enough about specific things I’m interested in. Smaller books about these areas could be good, even in e-book form (from flooring to finishing basements). Plus, it can be more profitable to sell let’s say six short e-books at $5-10 each than a longer, more expensive one covering everything.

Those are two options Steve has for not only additional income streams but also portfolio pieces. They can help him build his audience and potentially attract more clients as he becomes more of an authority source.

As for directly targeting clients, I say think outside the box. The obvious thing to do is look for home improvement or DIY sites to pitch. But what about these possibilities:

• Interior design sites and publications
• Women’s sites and publications (saving time and money with DIY projects around the house)
• Blogs for businesses involved in home improvement (from contractors to tool manufacturers)
• Men’s sites and publications (they might have regular columns or sections devoted to the niche)
• Sites or blogs related to home improvement TV series (not quite film, but another way to tie his two interests more closely together)

When it comes to the film side of things, again I suggest starting his own site first. In this case I think a blog or other regularly-updated site makes the most sense as the film scene constantly changes. Because anyone can share their opinions on films on the Web these days, I think it’s extremely important for Steve to come up with a brandable identity for this specialty area. He also might be able to stand out a bit more with a genre or other kind of specialization (such as reviewing horror films or indie films).

Steve really seems to understand that great reviewers don’t just spew their opinions. They really have to know the film world, context, and as he put it “research and work.” Having his own film review site shows prospects exactly what kind of reviews they can expect from Steve, and how his reviews differ from fly-by-night film reviewers just in it for a bit of fun. It gives him a chance to set a professional tone in the way many others have not.

While Steve can start pitching film review sites, local newspapers, online local sites, entertainment sites, or any other kind of prospect that might be looking for reviewers, I think his best chance for immediate income in his target price range is to pitch the DIY articles up front while he builds an audience for his film review site. If he can tie the two areas together (like the DIY home theater specialty I mentioned), all the better. It can save him a lot of time later when he’s ready to focus even more on promoting his film industry writing.

Over the long term as he builds a fan base with his film reviews, Steve can take on fewer home repair and DIY projects in favor of pursuing his passion. In an ideal world, we would do nothing but that. But the reality is that we have to pay the bills. Fortunately Steve doesn’t seem to dislike writing in this potentially more profitable niche.

In Summary

1. Stick to dual-specialization.
2. Focus primarily on your more profitable niche (home repair / DIY in this case).
3. Go with direct pitching for quick results when you’re fairly new.
4. Think outside the box when choosing who to pitch; look beyond the most obvious prospects if you want to decrease competition for gigs.
5. Set up your own niche site and use that content for portfolio pieces rather than relying too heavily on your content mill work to sell you to another level of client.
6. Build your platform and audience in your favored niche while the other brings in income.
7. When building your platform, try to focus on income-generating tactics (like blogs and e-books). The earlier you start these things, the sooner you’ll have extra income coming in to cover you during slow periods.
8. Ideally find ways to tie your two specialties together, even loosely. It can help you decrease the amount of time you need to market your sites and services when you’re reaching similar audiences.

In our last post we talked about marketing your freelance writing services and how you should focus on basic market research, specialty target markets, and creating a marketing plan instead of aimlessly trying new ways to market your services. In other words, don’t just send pitches to anyone who might want to hire a writer. Narrow it down a bit. Figure out exactly who you want to target and find out what works and what doesn’t when selling to that audience by seeing what the competition is up to.

Now let’s talk about tactics — all of the things you actually do to land new gigs, from query letters and cold calls to increasing referrals from members of your network.

Freelance Job Boards Aren’t Enough

One of the most common questions I get from freelance writers is this:

Where do I find the high paying freelance writing jobs?

These individuals get frustrated because they spend countless hours on freelance job boards, classified sites or bidding sites (like Elance). Most of the writing jobs they find offer very low pay. They see other writers talking about better opportunities, but they aren’t sure where to find them for themselves.

That’s the inherent problem: they’re thinking about where the better jobs are. They’re asking the wrong question.

If this sounds like you, it’s time to rephrase. Instead ask how you can land these high paying freelance writing jobs.

Most of them are not found on job boards. I mentioned it in a recent post, but it’s worth repeating. The best freelance writing jobs are usually obtained in the following ways:

1. Repeat work from past or regular clients
2. Referrals from clients or colleagues
3. Clients finding you as they search for a writer for a specific project
4. Directly pitching clients you want to work with

Let’s explore these four things in more depth to explain why (and how) it might be time to leave freelance job boards behind.

Land More Work With Repeat Clients

Some of you may have only worked for content mills. If you don’t have any past clients, this section doesn’t yet apply to you. You’ll want to focus on the other tactics discussed below.

If you do have a stable of past clients (or existing clients) that pay better than content mills, it’s important to keep those connections alive. If they needed to hire a writer like you in the past, chances are good they’ll need you again. But if you don’t pop into their minds when that situation arises, they might give the gig to someone else.

What can you do?

1. Blatantly ask past clients if they have any upcoming projects you might be able to help with.
2. Pitch specific projects to them. For example, if you helped them with a holiday newsletter last year, send them an email and ask if they could use your help again this time around (maybe they forgot to plan one and your email will encourage them to get on it).
3. Offer a limited time, one-order sale for past clients who come back. This can be a great idea if you added a new service to your offerings and you think previous clients would have an interest in it.
4. Just be friendly. Get in touch. Maybe wish them well as we approach the New Year. Ask how things are going (and actually have an interest in what they have to say). Socialize with them using social media tools.

All of these things can help you stay on past clients’ radar so your name comes to mind the next time they need a writer with your specialty.

Be a Referral Magnet

Keeping in touch with past clients as mentioned above can do more than land you new gigs with them. When you become their go-to writer, they’re also more likely to refer you to others.

Just as you probably network with other writers (despite many of them being the competition), your clients do the same. They have their own industry contacts. And when people need referrals for writers or any service providers, they’ll turn to their trusted network.

It isn’t enough to stay in touch with past clients though. You can come right out and ask them for referrals; ask if they know someone else in the industry who could use your talents. Some won’t want to share you. Many are quite happy to refer you to their colleagues. You could even offer referral incentives (such as 10% off their next order for each referral they send your way that results in an actual contract).

Speaking of colleagues, don’t neglect your own. Whether you keep in touch via email, have local get-togethers, comment on each other’s blogs, or use social networking platforms, stay active in your community of writing colleagues.

Freelancers often get inquiries from prospects they can’t take on. Maybe the gig is out of their specialty area. Their time could be fully booked. Or maybe the gig just doesn’t feel like a good fit to them. If they think you might be a better fit, they’ll refer you for the job.

Giving referrals makes a lot of sense. I refer gigs to about a half dozen writers every week, and sometimes much more. Why? Because it makes you look good to the prospect when you put their needs first, even though you can’t directly work with them. On many occasions, prospects I’ve referred elsewhere have remembered that and come back to me for other gigs down the line when I could work on their project.

So get to know other freelance writers, especially those in your specialty area who are landing the kinds of gigs you really want. Let them know if you accept referrals. And send referrals their way when appropriate.

The referrals I give usually go to the writers I know best. That’s because if someone asks for a certain kind of service, I refer the first competent person I think of in that specialty. Those who stay in touch and build a professional relationship as a colleague come to mind quickly. If I only know someone in passing, chances are good I won’t even consider them.

In the end, referrals are about two things:

1. Trust
2. Presence

If you stay visible by maintaining an active presence in your community and your colleagues (or past clients) trust you to do right by their prospects, you’ll get more referrals. And remember, the more you give the more you’ll get over time. People remember when you do something nice like that for them, and it can make them much more likely to return the favor.

If all else fails? Ask. There is nothing wrong with mentioning that you have some openings in your schedule if anyone has a referral to send your way.

Helping Clients Find You

If a prospect needs a writer fast, they might not have time to ask for referrals. They certainly don’t have time to post job ads, wait on applications, compare those applications, and eventually hire someone who happened to see the ad.

Instead they visit Google or their trusted search engine of choice. Or they visit a community they’re a part of and search there for service providers (such as forums or social networks like LinkedIn). If they find you and you feel like a good match, they’ll contact you. If they don’t find you, well, you’re out of luck.

We live in an instant gratification world. If a client wants someone now, they’ll find someone now. But if you aren’t easy to find, you’ll miss out on these potentially great freelance writing gigs. This is why I push the concept of building your writer platform so much. Your platform influences your level of visibility.

Here are some things your writer platform might include:

1. Your professional website (well-optimized for search engines)
2. A niche or industry blog
3. Free e-books or reports
4. Your articles strategically placed on other sites (such as through guest blogging)
5. Your social media profiles

In other words, these are places clients might find you on their own, and tools that would encourage others to tell prospects about you (like free e-books naturally attracting links and therefore helping your site rank higher in search engines).

There is a lot to writer platforms, which is why I’m finishing an entire book on the subject. What you need to know early on is that they’re designed to help clients find you instead of you having to actively seek out every freelance writing opportunity.

When you’re visible in your specialty area, rank highly in search engines for terms your prospects will likely search for, and you’re recognized as an authority source, you can have more inquiries than you could possibly handle.

If you want more examples of things you can do to build your writer platform and help clients find you more easily, check out this post from our archives:

30 Ways to Build Your Writer Platform

Teaching you about all of the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) is beyond the scope of this article. There are entire sites dedicated to it. For example, you might want to check out Michael Gray’s SEO Blog.

Hand-picking (and Pitching) Clients

While I’m a big fan of query-free freelancing (letting your writer platform and network handle the heavy lifting), you can’t always wait for gigs. Don’t get me wrong. Query-free freelancing doesn’t exactly take forever to benefit you. But setting up a website now won’t likely bring you a new gig tomorrow. And that’s exactly what some of you moving away from content mills need.

How can you attract great prospects with barely any wait at all? You can pitch them directly.

1. Decide what kinds of clients you want to work for.
2. Better yet, choose specific companies or publications you’d like to write for.
3. Evaluate their website or publication and come up with story or project ideas to pitch.
4. Contact the company and offer your services (in as non-spammy a way as possible).

This is the traditional way of landing new freelance clients, and it’s still popular (and effective). Here are three types of direct pitches you can use:

1. Traditional query letters
2. Email queries
3. Cold calling

Why do direct pitches work? Sometimes it’s just about following standards (like queries for magazine writing gigs). Frequently though clients don’t realize they even need your services until you pitch them. They’ll never advertise because they aren’t officially hiring. They don’t know they’re missing out on awesome opportunities (like launching a company blog or getting help crafting social media profile content).

Just like I said about referrals above, if you want something sometimes it’s best to come right out and ask for it.

Want to learn more about writing queries or making cold calls? I highly recommend Peter Bowerman’s The Well-Fed Writer which offers a lot of information on cold calling, as well as Linda Formichelli’s and Diana Burrell’s The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters that Rock. These books go into far more detail than I can here in a blog post, and both are worth having in your professional library.

As you hopefully now understand, freelance job boards are not the best way to find new gigs. You certainly won’t find most of the high paying opportunities there. Does that mean you have to completely ignore them? Of course not. You get to choose the ways you’ll seek new gigs. Hopefully you’ve found at least one new method here that you’re interested in trying though.

Do you have other ways of attracting clients? Share your tips and ideas in the comments below.

Once you have a freelance writing specialty in mind,  it’s time to move on to the next steps — market research and creating your marketing plan.

Market Research for Freelance Writers

Freelancers are notorious for jumping into work without realizing that freelancing is really running a business. Many freelancers fail because they don’t have a realistic plan in place or because they don’t understand the competition (like assuming extremely low rate writers are your competition when they have nothing to do with markets you should be targeting). But you can’t come up with that plan if you don’t conduct basic market research first.

What is Market Research?

As a writer you’re likely intimately familiar with research in general. Market research is much like researching a story. You’re digging for background information to help you determine the most important things to consider (in planning a business in this case rather than what to cover in an article).

Market research involves figuring out who your target market includes. Hint: it’s not everybody. It’s not everybody hiring writers. It’s not even everybody within a vague group (like newspapers).

Example: You want to be a professional blogger.

Bad target market: People who own blogs. Even “businesses that own blogs” is a bad target market.

Better target market: Owners of blogs covering a specific niche or reaching a specific audience, with a particular audience size, in a particular region of the world, with an adequate budget to cover a professional blogger’s rates for at least X posts per month

Market research goes beyond identifying your target market. It also helps you research your competition and set appropriate freelance writing rates. We’ve talked about setting your rates extensively here before, so rather than repeat myself I’m going to link you to an article that will walk you through the process.

How to Set Your Freelance Writing Rates the Right Way

Below you’ll also find a link to our free online freelance writing rate calculator. It features a basic mode and advanced mode to give you some flexibility in how you can use it. These two resources will help you set realistic target rates. Don’t be surprised when considering all important factors leads to higher target rates than you might have expected. This is exactly why undercharging is such a problem for so many freelance writers.

Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

You can find other free tools and calculators by exploring our additional exclusive free stuff for writers.

How to Conduct Market Research

How can you actually conduct this kind of research, learning more about opportunities available in different markets and how your competition behaves in each? This can vary greatly depending on your specialty area. For example, you would learn a lot about magazine markets and what they’re looking for by reading the magazines themselves.

With business writing, you would research things a bit differently. For example, if you wanted to write white papers for small B2B software companies you could search online to create a master list of those companies and then sort them by which ones already use white papers and which don’t. Each group has different opportunities where a white paper writer might come in handy.

Competition can be easier to research, especially if you already have a strong network. You already know your colleagues. If you know writers who share your specialty, review their websites. What specific services do they offer? What do they charge? What kinds of clients are represented in their portfolios? Do they work with small businesses or larger corporate clients for example? How much experience do they have compared to yours?

Even if you don’t have a large writer network yet, you can find other specialists with a simple online search. Get a better feel for other options your prospects have. If you don’t know what competition exists, you can’t come up with a value proposition that convinces clients to choose you over them.

Here is another article from our archives that gives further information on conducting market research:

4 Tips for Better Understanding Your Target Market

When you find information about the competition, it’s a good idea to complete a SWOT analysis to look at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the current market. Here is a free downloadable template you can use to do that:

Free SWOT Analysis Worksheet for Freelance Writers

After you’ve conducted some basic market research, it’s time to put together a freelance marketing plan.

Freelance Writing Marketing Plans

Your marketing plan will serve as a road map for growing your freelance writing business. This is another step many freelancers skip. If you feel like you’re wandering around aimlessly trying to figure out what’s next, you need to step back and come up with a plan.

While you would ideally create a comprehensive business and marketing plan, I know many freelancers won’t. With that in mind, I created some simplified planning templates to help you out. Below is a link to my one page marketing plan template.

One Page Marketing Plan Template

You can also find a one page business plan template on our Freebies page if you’d like one.

As you can see, this abbreviated marketing plan serves as a snapshot. You’ll list some of your biggest competitors, industry trends that will affect your business, your goals and strategies for achieving them, and larger marketing tactics you’ll use throughout the year.

If you want a guide to help you fill out that marketing plan template, you can find one at my small business blog.

If you prefer to use a traditional long-form marketing plan to figure out your strategies and next steps in growing your freelance writing business, I suggest reviewing the marketing plan outlines and marketing plan templates available at Mplans.com.

Hopefully these resources will point you in the right direction as you begin to research newer (and better) freelance writing markets and develop your plan to grow and thrive as a freelance writer.

As always, you’re invited to share your thoughts, questions, or other recommended resources in the comments below.

Today I want to take a look at some criticisms of Demand Studios / Demand Media other than the low rate argument. And I’m going to give you facts — lots of them — so you can make your own decisions about some of these issues. After all, if your opinions aren’t based on facts they’re not opinions at all — they’re delusions.

So today I want to follow up on Carson Brackney’s recent post on Demand Studios where he mentioned that he’s giving them a go for himself so he can form firsthand opinions (which is something I respect by the way). I did have a wee issue with one thing though — his mention of the DS debate, and the focus on criticism revolving around rates they pay writers.

Rates are Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Yes, it’s true that many people have criticized the $15 rates for much of their content and even some of their higher rates. On one level I agree with those people. On another level I really don’t give a damn. Why? Because I know the writers who want more, who are worth more, and who are willing to work for more will get much more in their freelance writing careers.

As for those who are happy with Demand? Good for them — I’m genuinely glad they’re happy, and as I (and other writers) have said repeatedly there’s a place for content mills for some writers. And those who want more but who don’t want to work for it or who are too busy making excuses to try? Well, then they’re probably right where they deserve to be right now in their careers, and hopefully they’ll take steps to improve their situation in the future.

But here’s the thing. You can’t really have an honest conversation about the Demand Studios / Demand Media supporters and opposition unless you go beyond the rates. That’s far from the only criticism out there, and I think many are valid. Personally, my biggest issues with DS include the occasional misleading marketing they engage in to try to solicit writers, the frequency at which they contradict themselves, and what appears to be special treatment from Google (although that’s an issue we’ll discuss far more thoroughly at a later time, and it’s more an issue with Google than Demand itself). For now let’s get back to the issue of “bias.”

More About Bias (Mine and Theirs)

(Note: I really can’t stand the whole “martyr” card some bloggers like to play with their readers. So let me apologize up front, because I know this next segment might sound that way.)

As much as (coming from a PR background) I hate the buzzword, I still am a big supporter of transparency. So I think it’s only fair that I explain my background in this topic area so you know where I’m coming from, where my insight is based, and why this issue is something I’m so passionate about. And even though my past with these sites is already publicly well-documented, I’d rather refresh you on that than have someone come crying later saying “how can you speak out against mills when you write / wrote for them?” I don’t write for them. So let’s be clear on that up front (since someone asked me that on Twitter the other day). But I used to.

I have a lot of experience with content mills, content farms, content networks, or whatever you’d like to call them. There were positive elements. There were plenty of negative ones.

I’ve worked for these sites as a writer. I’ve worked as an editor. I used to be one of the most outspoken supporters of one in particular — Suite101. I’ve tested others for the benefit of my readers here, including Associated Content and the article marketing site EzineArticles.com. I’ve been around. And since then, Yo has picked up on that testing with other mills and networks here on the blog. But back to our flashback….

Not long after leaving About.com, I was hired by Suite101′s new management team / owners as their Technology Editor. Around the same time I was also writing for a network (now gone I believe) called All Info About — their model was a bit different (they put an ad on your site in their network, but you could also place your own to directly earn income, so there really wasn’t any guesswork involved).

I try not to judge single sites based on the whole lot. That would be silly. My opinions were, and are, formed individually. Had I judged them based on issues with others, I never would have given Suite101 a try after the editor overturn drama with About.com at the time. But Suite101′s editor-in-chief (no longer there from the last info I heard) convinced me that they were different; that they really cared about the writers. And even though there had been a bad history under the old owners before them, I think they really did have decent intentions in the beginning. They did actually listen to the editors and writers. Unfortunately things got to a point where I felt that changed.

So not only am I well aware of all of the arguments for content mill writing, but I used to wholeheartedly believe them. I know what it’s like to feel passionate about them, and to get really angry when people bash them. So as much as that can drive me crazy today when people take general comments personally, I do understand what they’re feeling. The difference is that I was there on the backend long enough that I finally woke up. In the end, it’s about money — the big content sites want to make it, and they make it by paying you far less than you could be earning by pursuing gigs elsewhere. They appeal to the lowest common denominator (which is reflected in every single one of us sometimes) — what’s “easy” starts to look like what’s best for us.

What really bothers me isn’t that I used to very aggressively support content mills and speak out in their defense. It’s that I convinced other writers like you to believe that. It was my job to tell you the regular gig made it worth it. It was my job to tell you residuals were better than a much higher up front payment (that could have paid down your high interest bills or gone into savings and investments to earn interest for you rather than for the content site). It was my job to tell you that working for a content site was an amazing thing you could do for exposure (with no regard for the fact that there were better things you could do for exposure while earning far better money, even as a beginner). And I did my job. And as I’ve said in posts here before, I’m still ashamed of that fact.

I’m ashamed because I’ve always cared about the writing community in general. And I should have known better. I should have crunched the numbers sooner. I should have stopped thinking of it in terms of what it could be, and instead seen it for what it really was. Even while recruiting writers (many of whom I’m happy to say left with me or shortly after me, and several of whom I’m still quite friendly with), I did what I could to help them earn more. I volunteered a lot of my own time to teach a select group of Suite101 writers about Internet marketing and SEO — things to help them promote their sites and increase their earnings. But it wasn’t enough.

And that’s why I’ll always try to do more here at All Freelance Writing to help writers realize their options before they end up in the mill rut. It’s why they’ll never be promoted here as a great option for writers, even though I (and other contributers) have tried to treat them fairly in that we’ve generally acknowledged their place for some. But we don’t write for hobbyists here. We write for freelancers who are looking to build professional careers.

That is the context in which you should take the rest of this post.

And keep something else in mind. There’s very little in it for me to write this post. We’ve seen tremendous traffic growth without it, and no amount of traffic or links will make giving up nearly all of my free time for two days, plus extra hours up late each of those days worth it — I value my time too much, and if you’ve been a regular reader here for a while, you already know that.

I get nothing out of telling other writers they can do better. If anything, I increase the competition within my own target market. In fact, I’ve recently been coaching a Demand writer, bringing her not only into my target market but right into my own personal client base. It’s not about me. It’s not about this site. I only get this worked up over an issue if I truly believe in it. And I believe Demand Studios is a bad thing for most freelance writers trying to build serious careers.

Now ask yourself — what’s in for them when they spin things, give multiple versions of a story, and post misleading marketing copy to add more writers to their ranks? How about those $200 million in sales (and more expected this year)? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to earn money. That’s just business. But I don’t care about Demand’s business. I care about the writers who build the backbone of that business. You can believe what you want. You certainly don’t have to agree with me on every point. You don’t have to agree with me at all. At the end of the day, your decision to work for Demand doesn’t affect me.

When it comes to Demand, I’ve talked to a lot of their writers (I’ve even hired some). I’ve read and listened to the executive interviews. I’ve heard both sides of the debate. I’ve read as much of their guidelines and other documentation as I could before forming opinions (some of which is linked and cited here). I’ve done my research. And now I’ve gathered a large collection of sources for you, not necessarily to convince you to think just like I do, but to cut through some of the PR speak and show you not what the critics are saying, but what Demand representatives actually have to say when you take the time to really look.

Remember, bias isn’t just having an opinion and sharing it. Every time one of their reps gives an interview, it’s biased in their favor. Every time someone they sponsor endorses them or features them, it’s biased in their favor. Yet they criticize the critics, call us biased as though they’re not when they’re being employed by or otherwise paid by Demand, and treat us as though having an opinion means we’re not worth considering. Demand’s CEO has even said that people who criticize Demand just don’t understand them.

And to that I say, “Oh really?” Their model isn’t exactly rocket science. SEOs have been doing the same thing for years. The primary difference? They implemented algorithms to automate the keyword and ad spend research to make their process more efficient. They pay little per piece, so they can earn significant profits.

Look, it’s one thing to change your mind about an issue. I’ve certainly done it (as detailed above). I’m not one who tries to hide their past views by deleting blog posts or comments. That wouldn’t be fair to my readers, and it wouldn’t be fair to me. Everyone is allowed to learn and grow — two things I hope I never stop doing. But what you’ll see below doesn’t look to me like a case of someone changing their mind when you look at the dates and the actual information coming from these Demand reps.

Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we all are just ignorant when it comes to Demand Media. After all, their own people can’t seem to get their story straight, so who could blame the laymen like us for not understanding the full picture.

Let me give you a few examples — here are some of Demand Media’s / Demand Studio’s claims, with a few follow-up facts for good measure.

Claim: Demand Studios Isn’t Journalism (or Trying to be)

A big criticism of Demand Studios comes from those who worry the site and company will have a negative impact on journalism, on top of that industry’s existing problems. There have been multiple instances where Demand’s CEO Richard Rosenblatt has tried to say they’re not targeting journalism, aren’t participating in journalism, or are not creating news. At the same time, they’ve been seen advertising specifically targeting journalists. I think Rosenblatt sums it up nicely:

“Only the journalists call us journalists.”
- Richard Rosenblatt – CEO, Demand Media [WebProNews, March 18, 2010]

I beg to differ:

“We’re basically service journalism.”
- Steven Kydd, Executive Vice President [Keynote for International Symposium on Online Journalism - University of Texas at Austin, 2010]

“We knew the life of a piece of online content was indefinite, so we focused on creating evergreen, “news that you can use,” quality content”
- Jeremy Reed – Senior VP of Content and Editorial for Demand Media [TheWMFreelanceConnection.com Interview - February 2010]

“We are primarily looking for people with solid researching and reporting skills, and ideal candidates have had their work published in print or online.”
- Robyn Galbos – Director, Demand Studios [Interview with WOW! Women on Writing - April 8, 2010]

“What is wrong with coming up with a way for thousands of writers–who have been laid off, by the way, from news organizations–knowing exactly how much they make, selecting their own topics and publishing when they want?”
- Richard Rosenblatt, CEO of Demand Media [BusinessInsider.com - January 11, 2010]

“Service Journalism Openings”
- Job posting soliciting writers [ProBlogger.com]

“Minimum of 3 years as a Managing, Line, Features, Section or Associate Editor at a newspaper, magazine, book publisher or publication (Please do not apply if you have fewer than 3 years experience)”
- Required qualifications listed for DS Copy Editors in a job ad from the company [JournalismJobs.com - open job ad that expires June 28, 2010]

“Educational and/or professional background in writing, journalism, blogging, etc.” and “Familiarity of writing in AP style preferred.”
- Job ad from the company [JournalismJobs.com - open job ad that expires June 24, 2010]

“Experience writing about health-related topics in a medical or health magazine, newspaper, journal, blog or other health website”
- Job ad from the company, hiring medical / health writers [JournalismJobs.com - open job ad that expires June 21, 2010]

As you can see, not only have Demand Media / Demand Studios executives referred to DS as a form of journalism, contrary to Rosenblatt’s comments, but they’ve also quite actively recruited those with a journalism background. I consider that misleading at best, and a downright lie at worst. But it makes for great spin when you’re being interviewed and you want to discredit some of your naysayers.

Claim: Demand Studios Isn’t Meant to be a Full-time Job

Another criticism of the company has to do with the idea of the sustainability of using DS as a full-time job as opposed to a more limited and / or temporary freelance writing gig. That’s because of the potential to push writers and other producers to burn-out levels.

The point is this: when you pay people very little and you know they desperately need that money, you put them in a position where they have to work for you so often just to get by that there’s no time left for them to target better markets and grow their careers.

Executive VP, Steven Kydd doesn’t seem to agree with that concern, because he says Demand Studios isn’t about creating full-time jobs:

“We’re not trying to create full-time jobs.”
- Steven Kydd, Executive VP [Keynote for International Symposium on Online Journalism - University of Texas at Austin - 2010]

I guess their motives differ from their marketing…

“Work as much as you want, from wherever you want. Fill gaps between full-time jobs or work with us full-time – our freelance jobs are as flexible as you need them to be.”
- On DemandStudios.com [Homepage copy]

“Some filmmakers use Demand Studios to fill time between other gigs, while others focus on Demand Studios assignments as their full-time job. We welcome both types of filmmakers and everything in between.”
- On DemandStudios.com [Page recruiting filmmakers]

… and their executive pitches:

“First, take the application process as seriously as you would for a full-time position.”
- Robyn Galbos – Director, Demand Studios [Interview with WOW! Women on Writing - April 8, 2010]

“Many of our freelancers are happy making a full-time living off of Demand Media assignments – as we’ve removed the “hustle” from freelancing that allows them to focus on what they love to do and cut out all the hassle associated with pitching ideas, finding assignments, chasing down payments, lather, rinse and repeat.”
- Jeremy Reed – Senior Vice President of Content and Editorial for Demand Media [ TheWMFreelanceConnection.com - February 15, 2010]

Maybe they didn’t all get the memo.

Claim: “Group Health Insurance” (Various)

This was a prime example of Demand Media releasing misleading information to market their site to new writers. The basic claim? Eligible writers can get inexpensive group health insurance, just like a “real job.”

On the surface, I know that sounds great, especially to writers who are out of work and in serious need of new insurance coverage. But not all of the information they provided was 100% true. I mean, all you have to do to see that is read the actual insurance documents they eventually provided. If we were talking about a traditional comprehensive insurance plan here (you know… the things employers usually pay into partially), I’d think it was a great option for those who truly had no other option. But that’s not the case.

I’m not going to get into all of the specifics of why this is misleading, the issue of promoting it to sound like an actual insurance benefit versus what’s more of a discount plan (if they technically offer “benefits” they risk contractors being re-classified as employees by the IRS), and what freelancers need to know and discuss with an insurance professional before even considering moving to Demand’s health plan — our resident licensed insurance professional already did that. I want to focus on three of the most alluring aspects they promote to make it sound great to writers, and then I’ll share what the health plan documents actually say.

The health plans have been promoted at times in a way that could make them sound to an average reader like they’re a substitute for traditional health insurance or self-purchased individual plans. Considering how these plans sound could influence whether or not writers sign up and churn out 90 articles to become eligible, I think that’s a problem. Here are two examples:

“By offering guaranteed access to health care benefits as well as twice weekly payment, we are lightening the burden and removing more of the risk for those who want to follow their passion.”
- Steven Kydd, Executive Vice President of Demand Studios [Company-issued press release announcing health care benefits - October 21, 2009]

“You may be able to enroll in the plan after 90 days if a ‘qualifying event’ occurs (such as you or your spouse losing a job which provided health insurance).”
- Demand Studios Health Plan FAQs

And here’s what the actual insurance document says:

“Flex Shield pays indemnity-based benefits for a covered injury or sickness. Flex Shield is not traditional comprehensive health insurance and should not be considered a substitute for comprehensive health insurance or major medical coverage.”
- Demand Media’s Flex Shield Benefit Program Documentation [Page 2]

Here’s what the on-site marketing pitch says about both deductibles and co-pays:

“No deductibles or co-pays”
- DemandStudios.com [Plan Highlights]

Sounds simple enough to me! Until you read the fine print. From a promotional perspective, this works, because to an average reader when you say something like “you don’t have to pay any co-pays during your doctor visit, and you don’t have to pay a deductible,” it sounds like you’re saying their monthly premium is all they have to pay. However, the plan is actually so limited in the amount of benefits paid, as well as the frequency at which benefits can be paid for certain things, that the person with the health plan actually can pay a lot out of pocket. Go ahead. Take a look at the fine print and coverage limits to see for yourself:

- Demand Media’s Flex Shield Benefit Program Documentation [Page 7]

There’s one more big “selling point” for the health care plan from Demand Studios that I take some serious issue with. It has to do with coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. Here’s what they say in the marketing material on their website:

“Pre-existing conditions are covered. The only exception is if you know you are pregnant, you cannot join the plan for that purpose. (Other than in California where there is no such requirement).”
- DemandStudios.com [Plan Highlights]

Now if you read the documentation, you’ll find that’s just downright false. It’s not the “only exception.” There’s another limitation involved with significant wait time before you’ll get any kind of coverage for your condition. And if you have a serious health condition that’s driving your decision to join Demand Studios in order to get this health plan, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise if you believe what they say on their site. Here’s the actual exclusion language from the documentation itself:

Other Demand Studios Criticisms

I have page after page of additional research material here pointing to even more hypocrisy from Demand Media / Demand Studios. And they’re behind other valid criticism of the sites. But given the length of this post already, I’m just going to summarize, as I think we tackled some of the biggest.

1. Claims of an interest in quality content for readers and not just search engines – While on one hand Demand wants writers to put together authoritative pieces, did you know they also have a resource blacklist that lists sites writers aren’t allowed to use as sources? I’ll give them some credit for blacklisting user-submitted and user-edited content like that from Wikipedia. I’ll even give them credit for having a suggested reference list. But they also blacklist much more authoritative sites if they’re competition in the search engines — for example writers can’t cite WebMD as a source if they write for Demand’s Livestrong.com property. I don’t know about you, but I’d call that a pretty clear-cut case of writing for search engines before readers.
2. Claims that Demand content saves readers time — This was one of the more laughable things I saw from Rosenblatt. He claimed that Demand Studios helps readers save time (among other things). Really? How is putting more content with the same information into search results helping people save time? If the information isn’t there yet, then maybe. But that’s not the case for the vast majority of their content I’ve come across. In those cases, at best they’re taking the same amount of time to find the material. At worst they now have to sort through even more content to find the most reputable sources available. If you want to save me time with quality information (as opposed to just trying to rank in search engines for a variety of longtail search phrases for the same thing), then I shouldn’t need more than one article from you on how to train a dog to sit. Instead, buy one high quality article covering a few different methods — if quality and saving time are really your goals at least.
3. Claims that Demand is concerned with conflicts of interest — Apparently that’s only when it might be involved in their search engine rankings. On the other hand, they have no problem “sponsoring” others to write about them, as though that’s not a similar conflict of interest affecting Web readers. I guess it just depends which side of the table you’re on.
4. Claims that Demand improves people’s lives — Sure, I could see the occasional article “improving people’s lives in big and small ways” if they’re accurate, if there wasn’t already more reputable information out there on the topic, etc. But before making claims quite that lofty, I do have to point out some gems of examples from their “contributing writers” (which, if I understand correctly are the ones producing through Demand, and going through their editorial process — correct me if I’m wrong and I’ll sincerely apologize). Do you know what their writers can teach you to improve your life? Here are a few examples: How to make yourself fart (because, really, who doesn’t want to know how to do that?), How to have sex in order to get pregnant (apparently sexy lingerie will cure your baby-making woes — although I didn’t see their famous credible sources cited on that claim), and best of all How to pass a drug test for opiates. As for that last one, not only might they be helping people get away with breaking the law, but fact-check-fail: marijuana is not an opiate. I could have written a much better, much shorter article on that topic for them. Here it is: If you want to protect your “legal freedom and job eligibility,” don’t do illegal drugs, you f*ing dipsh*ts! See? Now that’s information designed to “improve people’s lives.”
5. Claims that Demand pays writers on par with an average journalist’s salary — This one turned out to be much more than a “summary,” but I think the numbers are important. While we won’t get into the “is $15 per article fair?” here, there is one other issue regarding rates that I think is worth mentioning. It has to go to Demand’s defenseof those rates.Not only did Rosenblatt claim people who criticized Demand just didn’t understand them, but he also demonstrated that he doesn’t understand the difference between independent contractors and salaried employees — at least as far as pay being comparable goes. How? Well, in his manifesto he claimed “… we generally target an hourly rate for writers that is comparable to the average salary of a journalist.”

   I wonder what journalists he’s talking about. I mean, if you look at their various interviews and job ads you’ll see quite a few average hourly pay estimates from folks at Demand — $15-25 per hour, $22-25 per hour, $15-30+ per hour. Okay, so let’s take that middle range and give them the benefit of the doubt and say the average pay is $25 per hour (remember — we’re talking about their typical writers, not an exception to the rule, no matter how happy you might be to be one).

   Now let’s take a look at what journalists typically make. I can’t even begin to guess where Rosenblatt got his average (even the government notes that salaries for these folks vary widely). Given that they produce such super-duper, source-cited, fact-checked content, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt again and go with the information provided by one of their writers — $22,000-50,000 per year (and here’s the updated info from their source).

   Yikes. That’s another big range, and that’s only supposed to account for starting salaries (and not including journalists with advanced degrees, which their author notes should add another $10-20,000 to that starting salary). So let’s pretend that Demand never looks for people with advanced degrees and doesn’t want any actual “journalism” experience since that would mean a higher comparable salary they’d have to meet — again, giving them the benefit of the doubt.

   Let’s assume not all DS writers are living in the lowest cost of living areas and go somewhere in the middle — $30,000. So, for your basic $15 DS article, how many do you have to write in a year to earn a comparable “salary?” That’s 2000 articles over the course of 52 weeks in a year; that comes to a requirement of writing 38.46 articles per week, or 7-8 articles every week day.

   Could you write that many articles every single work day with no vacation time, sick time, holidays, personal days, etc.? (Keep in mind the DS job ads estimate an average of 30-60 minutes per article). But let’s assume you can. Now let’s also assume you’re so good at what you do that you never get asked for an edit or a rewrite and you certainly never have an article rejected. You’re also lightning fast at finding and claiming articles, dealing with editor communication, etc.  to the point where we can pretend that time doesn’t even exist. Cool.

   You just might make Rosenblatt’s point look legitimate. After all, if you plug in those same numbers for working days, number of weeks, etc. you’ll find that poor little journalist only comes to around $14.42 per hour. Damn! Makes it look like DS writers live like kings, right? Well, yeah, when you twist stats to make it look that way, sure you can make it work. But here’s the problem.

   Freelance payments and the earnings of salaried employees are not directly comparable. For example, as a freelancer, you’ll pay twice the Social Security and Medicare taxes as an employee (where the employer pays half). That puts you at 15.3% just for those taxes. Big difference.

   You also technically do have business expenses, even if DS is your only paying client and you don’t do any marketing — at least a portion of your internet connection is a business expense, possibly a portion of rent and other utilities if you have a home office, etc. Now that might not sound like much to some, but there’s even more to expenses.

   To make freelance rates directly comparable to the earnings of an employee, you must compare those freelance earnings not to the employee’s salary, but closer to the employee’s total cost to their employer. In other words, all other things have to be equal. Unless Demand Studios is paying not just what that $30,000 per year journalist is earning as a salary, but also the value of any benefits (like health insurance, 401k contributions, sick time, vacation time, etc.) that the average employer is paying, the comparison is irrelevant because the salaried journalist is actually getting much more.

   Remember, as a freelance writer, you’re a business owner, and what you charge clients has to cover all of those things if you want to treat them as comparable.  Salary.com does some nice breakdowns of this for you. So let’s take a look at the difference in their base salary and actual cost when factoring in those benefits. Here’s what we find:

   Their U.S. national base pay is just over $31,000 (pretty close to what we estimated earlier). However, once you factor in average benefits, the journalist is actually getting the equivalent of a little over $47,000. Now what’s the percentage increase? 51.6% That’s pretty significant. That means you’d have to earn more than $45,000 per year working for Demand to really be paid on par with those salaried journalists with a $30,000 base salary (whose hourly “rate” now actually comes to around $21.63 per hour – again, big difference, but it falls within the general range Demand mentions). Okay. Let’s crunch the numbers and see how it adds up.

   To earn that $45,000 with Demand Studios, you have to write 3000 articles over the course of a year. That’s 57.69 articles per week, or 11.54 articles per day on average. Then again, we focused on the journalist’s real earnings specifically so you could account for things like time off (which you still pay for as a freelancer, just out of the rates you charge clients).

   So in reality, you’re probably not going to work 5 days a week, 52 weeks per year. Let’s assume pretty modest vacation time, plus sick time, plus personal days, plus vacation days at four weeks off per year (off 20 working days). Now that comes to 12.5 articles per day, every week day left during the year. Based on Demand’s estimates of 30-60 minutes per article for most of their writers (again, remember we’re not talking about the exceptions, but the typical case study), that means you would have to write 6.25 – 12.5 hours every week day to actually make money comparable to the earnings of a starting journalist.

   That still doesn’t even account for your added taxes, and any business expenses you have that the employee-journalist does not. Nor does it account for any other time involved in working for Demand — and let’s be honest here, you’re not perfect, and you’re not robots.  So sure, you could fudge the numbers to make them work by ignoring the business element of freelancing. And if you’re willing to ignore that and are willing to work an average of over 9 hours per day, you might be able to say Demand pays on par with an entry level journalism job.

   But then again, when Demand likes to tout their writers’ experience, why should those more experienced writers consider that a point for Demand Studios? There’s no logic to it. And keep in mind, that’s not even on the upper end of the starting salary range. Not only that, but since Demand’s CEO claims they’re not journalists to begin with, why choose a starting journalist’s salary as a base model, especially when journalists are commonly thought to be underpaid anyway? Again, there’s no logic to it — at least not if he’s trying to make a case FOR writing for Demand. And really, the math is moot anyway. Remember, Rosenblatt didn’t say they pay on par with the typical salary for a brand-spanking new journalist. Just the average salary of journalists in general.

And that’s all to say nothing of the general Google partner issues, the sleazy SEO keyword-stuffed links at the bottom of the DS site, the issues of “writers relying on a 3rd party that relies on another 3rd party” business concern, etc.

I think that’s enough for now. Clearly, the issues with Demand Media / Demand Studios aren’t all about the rate debate. Sometimes it’s just about the stupid sh*t those associated with them say and do.

Demand Studios Health Insurance Plan Highlights (From their Website):

• No deductible or co-pays
  
• Guaranteed acceptance: There are no medical tests or requirements to disclose ailments or family history, etc.
• Pre-existing conditions are covered. The only exception is if you know you are pregnant, you cannot join the plan for that purpose. (Other than in California where there is no such requirement).

Re: Deductibles and co-pays- While the Demand Studios health insurance plan has no deductibles or co-pays, it does have out-of-pocket costs and it also does not offer the same limits as a traditional health insurance plan. In addition, any cost over the provided benefit will need to be paid by the patient:

Excerpt from page 4 – Note limits and amounts covered per plan option

Re: Pre-existing conditions- Per Demand Studios health insurance plan documents linked above, pre-existing conditions requiring critical illness care are not covered for 12 months:

From page 3

Demand Studios Health Insurance – Pros

• With this program, participants will visit a network of physicians who have agreed to provide discounted services to members. While the cost of your care may still exceed the benefit paid by the program, your total cost could amount to less than it would without the negotiated discount. Tip: Comprehensive health insurance plans generally offer negotiated rates (or usual and customary rate) when you visit in-network providers so that your expenses are limited even if you have to pay a coinsurance rate. If possible, speak with a local agent and find out if you can compare the negotiated rates of a comprehensive health insurance plan and the Flex Benefit Program. Be sure to factor in the co-pays or deductibles in the health insurance plan as well as the visit maximums in the Flex Benefit Program.
  
• The program includes vision benefits.
• The program includes dental discounts.
• The program includes prescription discounts. Tip: Check your local Publix, Wal-Mart or other pharmacy and find out what their prescriptions costs are for those you take regularly.
  
• You have access to a 24/7 nurse hotline.

Demand Studios Health Insurance – Cons

• The Beech Street PPO network may not have your healthcare providers or local hospitals in-network. Tip: Visit the Beech Street website to find out.
• The Demand Studios health insurance plan maximums may not cover the total cost of any doctor visit or procedure.Tip: Call your local Beechtree network doctor and find out if the doctor visit costs as much or less than the maximum benefit ($50-$75 depending on the plan you choose, see page 4). You may be able to do this for other services as well to help determine the value of the plan to you.
  
• There are no plan maximums, which means there is no cap to the amount you could spend out-of-pocket. Tip: Traditional health insurance plans generally offer out-of-pocket maximums. A plan with a deductible of $5,000 may seem high but if you check with your local agent, you can compare the out-of-pocket expenses and determine whether you actually have less at risk with a traditional health insurance plan and a deductible than you do with the FlexShield Benefit Program.
  
• The insurance benefit per prescription ($5, $10 or $15 depending on your plan) along with the prescription discount may not provide a substantial prescription savings. Also, participants with pre-existing conditions and a large number of prescriptions may find the coverage too limited. Tip: Check your local Publix, Wal-Mart or other pharmacy and find out what their prescriptions costs are for those you take regularly.
  
• The Critical illness coverage is once per lifetime.
• The Demand Studios health insurance option is not available to all writers working for the company. A content threshold must be met during a consecutive three-month period in order to determine eligibility.

The Concerns

Concerns you may want to address with an independent agent and IPS before you terminate any existing coverage for this Demand Studios health insurance plan:

• This program may not meet minimum creditable coverage standards in states like Massachusetts that require health coverage.
• In order to avoid pre-existing conditions waiting periods in group plans, you must have continued creditable coverage with no gaps of more than 63 days. If you give up your existing individual or group health insurance for this program and you or your spouse get a new job and request coverage under the group plan, your pre-existing conditions could be exempt for 12-18 months because you did not keep creditable coverage.
• If you give up COBRA coverage for this program, you will not be able to reinstate COBRA.
• If you leave a health insurance plan in favor of this program, you may not be protected under HIPAA.
• This program may not be as portable as an individual health insurance policy and offers no COBRA if you stop writing for Demand Studios (although there is no indication that this would be grounds for termination).

The Fine Print

End Notes

Before you make any decisions to purchase this Demand Studios health insurance program or those offered by your local union, it is a good idea to explore alternatives with your local insurance agent. He or she can help you understand the real costs and risks associated with every limited benefit program and comprehensive health insurance plan. This post is not meant to encourage or discourage enrollment into the program.

* Yolander Prinzel is a licensed life, health and variable annuity agent (2-15). She does not actively solicit clients for insurance purchases or sell any insurance products. She is also not appointed to sell health insurance with any insurers.