Banking Textbroker in a pinch

[codexehow]

If you absolutely have a bill that you have to pay and you're an L4, you can make about $50 a day at TB if you know how.

1) Stay out of the forums. It's just a bunch of herd mentality people. They're either moaning that there aren't enough orders coming in or they're bleating about how great it is that there are articles coming in.

2) refresh and refresh often.

On some days you might find that there aren't many articles in the OO pool. Don't panic, just keep refreshing. Remember, you need the $$. If you keep refreshing you will find something.

3) Even in lean times you need to be selective. Throw an article back if it will take more than 10 min to research or more than 15 min to write and edit. If you take a bad article out of desperation you will just waste time that you could have spent looking for a better article. Of course that's for 300-500 words. If you find a 1000 or even 2000 article that you can write off the top of your head and the instructions are reasonable, always take it. You really need to always try to take the path of least resistance here.

4). Search for "rewrite" in the search box after deselecting "L3" and "L2." It's easier and faster to rewrite something than it is to compose an entirely new piece.

5) Block any client that has over 25% revision rate. It's not worth your time. He will send your work back to you eventually and meanwhile his articles are polluting your OO pool.

6) Think carefully about taking an article from anyone with more than 10% revision rate. Up to you. If the OO is really lean you may have to.

7) Get FocusBooster. It's free and it works. Turn it on when you've found an article you can do. You should be able to do at least 1 500 word article in 30 min.

8) Get a good grammar checker. Grammarly, Pro Writing Aid, CorrectEnglish. W/e floats your boat. Invest in the "pro" version of your software of choice when you can. This will really save you when you're fatigued. You can't be objective about your own work.

9) Read your work aloud. Trust me. Unless you want to get bumped to L3.

10) Watch out for passive voice and check the TB blog to learn how they want commas done.

11) When someone rates your work "Excellent" on all points send them a thank you note and tell them what your DO rate is. To make a consistent $50 you really need to pick up DO clients along the way. On that note...

12) Keep your DO rate at 1.4. Look, this is all about volume. This isn't the site to command a high price unless you are promoted to L5.

13) Don't over think it. Sure, you will be demoted if you make a bunch of comma errors in a row but at the same time if you are only producing 1 article an hour—well, that's just not worth it. Unless it is for you.

14) Expect to want to die half way in. Look, this is a grind. It's not fun. It is what it is. When you get to $25 you will want to quit. Don't. It gets easier once you get over that half-way mark. As the days go by you will begin to recognize patterns in the orders and instructions. It's like these clients speak their own language. Once you work with them a while you will be able to decipher their instructions and then you can really spit these things out. 80% of the clients know what to expect from an L4 TB article. Cut the other 20% loose at the first sign of bitchiness.

15) Have the mindset that you can leave TB at any time. If you're depending on it you're in bad shape. Make it your goal to find something—anything else—soon. It's just not feasible to do TB like this long term.



That's all I can think of for now. Anyone have any others?

 

[textlikekisses]

Just out of curiosity - how long does this process take? Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[ButcherPete]

I would disagree with the part about the forums, OP. It can be a giant waste of time, but sometimes you can get genuinely useful information in there from experienced TB writers.

I'd like to also add that aspiring writers should get on as many teams as possible. There's no penalty for not accepting the orders; it's pure opportunity. Sometimes if the orders are not getting filled, the manager will send out a message to the team saying something like "Hey everyone, we need to pick up the pace on these so that we can get the client his articles! Thank you!" I don't think they'll penalize you in any way. All I can think of is that they might kick you off the team if they're feeling really crochety about it for some reason. The newest teams are at the end of the list, meaning that page 1 is the oldest and the highest page number shows the newest teams.

Just out of curiosity - how long does this process take? Thanks for the suggestion.

That all depends on how good of a writer you are. I've made $200 a week on there, ONLY working about two or three hours a day (I have a 40-hour per week job as well as an exercise regimen that takes me an hour every day). You should always read up on ways to improve both the quality and speed of your writing. As you get to know more about certain topics, you'll be able to bust out a 500-word article about them in under 10 minutes. This brings me to my next piece of advice: do article outlines. You'll be able to write it much quicker if you have a direction. My article outline will look something like this, using "Why Pizza is Delicious" as an example:

Title: Why Pizza is Delicious

Intro
- Pizza is one of the most popular foods

Toppings
- Almost anything can be a topping
- Selecting toppings allows the cook's creativity to shine through

Cheese
- Cheese is bubbly
- Sometimes other kinds of cheese can be added like provolone or asiago

Sauce
- The sauce is zesty
- It is filled with the flavors of Italian herbs

Crust
- Crust can be thin and crispy or thick and fluffy; both kinds are delicious
- The crust provides a convenient way to deliver cheese, sauce, and toppings to your mouth

Conclusion
- Pizza is delicious due to the harmony of all these things
- Pizza can be customized to fit anyone's individual tastes

That took me about two minutes to write. Now granted, it's a goofy topic, but you get the idea. Having directions clearly laid out for you makes it much easier to write. Trying to "wing it" will not only result in a sloppy article with an awkward flow of information, but it will take longer. You'll find yourself sitting there with your fingers on the keyboard, wondering what to write next.

 

[craftyzen8]

Thank you for the outline. It certainly helps if you're new to article writing. What other markets are available for native English writers who can produce unique content and high quality work. I've made accounts for Helium, Freelancer, Fiverr, Bubblews, Article Teller, Elance, Constant Content, and Textbroker to no avail. Either the market is too competitive, or the money is too low for the quality you provide.

I have a background in Creative Writing and Philosophy. Currently, I write for university students for about $250 for 2000 words. The money is great but marketing is difficult, especially now that I live in Indonesia. Does anyone know a good place to make a fair amount of money writing articles and web content, where buyers actually appreciate the work and are willing to spend a reasonable amount of cash on it?

 

[archon10]

lol @ bragging about $200/week.

 

[Dallas9]

Thanks for the informative post. Quick question: Do you know how long, on average, it takes TB to rate articles? I have about a dozen yet-unrated articles (the oldest one was accepted exactly one month ago) that will probably boost my current status because I have become a better writer over time.

Is this the norm? I don't write for TB on a regular basis, so I don't know how long it takes the editors to review our work.

 

[Trepanated]

Firstly, he wasn't bragging. He stated quite clearly that this was a way for people in a bind to make some quick cash and then gave detailed information about how to do so.

Secondly, even if this was his sole income stream, why would you insult him about it?

And thirdly, you might want to brush up on your maths - $50 per day is $250 per week, not $200.

lol @ bragging about $200/week.

 

[elschlongo]

I used a a technique a few years back that worked pretty well for me. I stopped doing it because it became too big of a headache. i haven't been on text broker in years so things might have changed, but it was basic arbitrage.

I would bid on a job that was paying something like $4 for however many words(it's been a while)
i would copy down the exact specs from the client, and immediately post the job on amazons mturk site for like $1.50
it was quick money, and easy enough to do, but was a pain in the ass if someone rejected your work. This meant that you had to get the micro worker from mturk to try and rewrite it in time for the new deadline on text broker.

No idea if this would still work, but I made a few bucks before I moved on to other ventures

 

[archon10]

Firstly, he wasn't bragging. He stated quite clearly that this was a way for people in a bind to make some quick cash and then gave detailed information about how to do so.

Secondly, even if this was his sole income stream, why would you insult him about it?

And thirdly, you might want to brush up on your maths - $50 per day is $250 per week, not $200.

Read the post by ButcherPete. He's the one who said $200/week, dipshit.

If you need $200 in a week and have to spend all week to get it, you're working for pennies and doinitrong. But please, continue to use text broker so I can keep my real paying customers.

 

[archon10]

I used a a technique a few years back that worked pretty well for me. I stopped doing it because it became too big of a headache. i haven't been on text broker in years so things might have changed, but it was basic arbitrage.

I would bid on a job that was paying something like $4 for however many words(it's been a while)
i would copy down the exact specs from the client, and immediately post the job on amazons mturk site for like $1.50
it was quick money, and easy enough to do, but was a pain in the ass if someone rejected your work. This meant that you had to get the micro worker from mturk to try and rewrite it in time for the new deadline on text broker.

No idea if this would still work, but I made a few bucks before I moved on to other ventures

lol you're a farmer making 50 cents for an article. Another winner here at BHW

 

[Trepanated]

My mistake and I stand corrected.

However, Butcher Pete wasn't bragging either. He was being helpful.

And again, why would you insult someone, even if they were only earning $200 per week?

You have my apologies about your maths ability though, I retract that third point.

Read the post by ButcherPete. He's the one who said $200/week, dipshit.

If you need $200 in a week and have to spend all week to get it, you're working for pennies and doinitrong. But please, continue to use text broker so I can keep my real paying customers.