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These days, more than ever, many people are looking into alternative ways to make money, and they are all lured into believing that a computer with a high-speed Internet connection plus a website can do just that. And YES, you can make BIG MONEY through the Internet! Start a business a la Demand Studios, and you can make millions!
There is a multitude of websites available that offer opportunities for making money from home by writing articles, and Demand Studios is one of the businesses offering such a service (Sorry, I refuse to offer a hyperlink to any of the websites I mention in this post). The question is, is the Demand Studios service a scam?
My take is, no, it is not a scam, but what they promise through their advertisement is misleading to say it in the least. The truth is, the majority of their writers don’t even make enough money to pay the monthly grocery bill (I got this piece of information through my favorite most useless magazine Writer’s Digest.)
The way it works with Demand Studios is that you first need to pass their approval process. In my very personal opinion, I don’t believe they put great efforts into the process, meaning they will accept pretty much everybody who is skilled enough to apply a spell-checker to their writings. In other words, the approval process is more or less a formality. Once approved, a writer can pick up to ten articles per day, which are required to be a few hundred words long, and Demand Studios pays between $5 and $20 for each article.
Doesn’t sound bad, doesn’t it? You’ll pick ten articles per day, you make at least $50 per day, and your monthly income could exceed $1,500 easily. Well… Wrong!
Reality Check:
Demand Studios claims they have sufficient articles for your special niche, may it be politics, environmental topics, history, and all the wonderful stories that will help improve a writer’s reputation. In reality the majority of articles are in the nature of “How to…”, meaning you can write about repairing dish-washers, changing the spark-plugs on a John Deere lawnmower, and more of the same nature.
Okay, let’s assume you are willing and have the talent to write about pretty much everything. The next reality check is about time. How long will it take you to write an article? The way it works is that you receive the topic and some references (usually hyperlinks). You familiarize yourself with the subject, and then write something intelligent about it. If you are skilled (after all, if you do this for a while, you get better at it), you can write an article in less than an hour. Be aware, copying and pasting is not necessarily an accepted method. So, forget about a part-time job!
Next reality check: Consider the competition! If, after all, you are willing and able to put in the time it takes, there is no guarantee that Demand Studios can provide you ten articles per day. I don’t have an exact number of how many “authors” work for Demand Studios, but it is safe to assume there are many of them, probably thousands. I seriously doubt that Demand Studios is able to assign as much as ten articles per day to each of its authors.
I will not advice against Demand Studios when it come to creating income through writing, but I strongly recommend checking out further similar services to produce additional opportunities for income. As a fair warning, it is mandatory to apply some intense research before signing up with another service. There are too many sharks out there, who will charge you for signing up, and in the end they don’t have any work for you.
Demand Studios’ Semi-Scam Status:
It is an established fact that Demand Studios is “hiring” writers to produce articles for its clients. In the same sense, Demand Studios is hiring writers to write wonderful stories about… Demand Studios! Through my research I found numerous websites – mostly blogs – that had only wonderful things to say about Demand Studios. And they all assure the reader, “No, Demand Studios’ service is not a scam!” All this comes in a tone, like “You work only part-time while sipping drinks at your swimming pool, and your money just flows into your checking account.” It boggles the mind that people still fall for obvious crap like this.
Let me just point to a few, very obvious examples.
This screen shot was made from the LootSwoop website. They display a vast list of “legitimate stay-at-home online jobs.” My advice is to stay away from that website, unless you are in the business of giving away your money. Their website if full of links to scammers of the worst kind. I found LoopSwoop through my research regarding Demand Studios, i.e. I found an article on their web site praising the Demand Studios services. The same article also included hyperlinks to yet another dubious business, FreelanceHomeWriters. Demand Studios may not be responsible for content on the LootSwoops website, although I cannot say that with all certainty. I believe, that Demand Studios, in the least, paid for the article. Whatever the connection is, the fact remains that Demand Studios is not shy to use any questionable resource to promote their business.
As I mentioned previously, one of the links on LootSwoop pointed to FreelanceHomeWriters. I was not afraid signing up on their single-page website. After all, you can pretty much enter any e-mail address you like. A single home page with absolutely no links to other pages and no more detailed information about their services was the first red flag. It turns out, in order to finish the sign-up process they ask you for your credit card information. The charge is supposed to be only $2.95. Fool, if you think that may be the only charge. This scheme looks like the one used by the so-called Google Profit Library. Initially, they charge a small amount, but at the same time you sign up for an additional $140 service. You can cancel the service per phone within three days, but what good is it when nobody answers the phone?
This last example is a good one! They also promote the Demand Studios business, and they call themselves DemandStudioSecret. They will sell you a “121 page book that encompasses every aspect of Demand Studios from applying to writing to consistently making big money. It costs just $19.99, which is what you could make in less than an hour with Demand Studios.”
And yes, this is yet another great example on how make money through the Internet. You familiarize yourself with a very popular topic and sell your findings as a PDF file.
As always, I do invite comments, may they be in favor of my writing or not. However, with a tricky subject like Demand Studios at hand I do reserve the right to monitor responses and delete them if I suspect foul play.
Supplement – March 18, 2010
Recent Comments:
There was a comment by a writer who makes some good income through Demand Studios. Apparently I was wrong about the number of available articles – I just posted my own experience with Demand Studios. The commenter had a few things more to say that I still do not agree with. Please read the comments following this entry to get the whole picture.
Another View On Content Mills:
Content Mills is the term used for businesses such as Demand Studios. Let me quote Angela Hoy of WritersWeekly who responded to a writer complaining about the content mill he worked for: “You are working for a content mill, also known as a writer’s sweatshop. You are likely earning far less than minimum wage. You’d probably make more money working at a fast food joint. Also, working for a firm like this enables them to stay in business, and to victimize other writers as well. You, my friend, are part of the problem.”
She also points out: “At WritersWeekly.com, we post real jobs and paying markets for free every Wednesday. Remember, nobody is forcing you to work for less than minimum wage. You put yourself in that position.”
See the full article at http://www.writersweekly.com/ask_the_expert/005939_03172010.html.
Supplement – March 21, 2010
Just in case I am yet again being abused of superficial research:
“We have been profiling content mills and companies that have revenue sharing / pay-per-click programs. You know the type. They either offer insultingly low rates for articles (and often take all rights)…or you work your butt off to fill their site with content, and promote their site to get lots of clicks and/or ad revenue. They then earn money on ads placed on your content pages and you usually end up earning less than minimum wage, if anything at all.”
Reference: WritersWeekly.com
“Content aggregators like Demand Studios represent the lowest rung of freelance opportunity. It doesn’t take a lot of journalism training, writing experience or time to put together the kind of evergreen how-to articles these types of sites thrive on, which is one reason why the pay’s so low. Another has to do with supply and demand. When there’s a large supply of writers, professional or otherwise, willing and able to do the work, sites like Demand Studios don’t have to offer higher rates to attract the labor they need.”
Reference: WordCount
“Thousands of other filmmakers and writers around the country are operating with the same loose standards, racing to produce the 4,000 videos and articles that Demand Media publishes every day. The company’s ambitions are so enormous as to be almost surreal: to predict any question anyone might ask and generate an answer that will show up at the top of Google’s search results. To get there, Demand is using an army of Muñoz- Donosos to feverishly crank out articles and videos. They shoot slapdash instructional videos with titles like “How To Draw a Greek Helmet” and “Dog Whistle Training Techniques.” They write guides about lunch meat safety and nonprofit administration. They pump out an endless stream of bulleted lists and tutorials about the most esoteric of subjects.”
Reference: Wired
Supplement – April 13, 2010
Today I received the following message through my contact form (contact’s name removed) :
“I’m wondering if there is some bias in your writing about online writing sites such as Demand Studios. I noticed that you are a businessman in the industry and I understand how a new paradigm of a business model is sometimes rejected outright by the traditional industry. I am a new online writer and have been writing for a few sites and I’m not making much now but I have emailed many other authors on some of these sites and they seem to be honest about how much they make doing this. They all say that it is hard work until you’re established but over time they seem to be making a decent living. I am researching both sides and I am interested how much research you have done in the online market.”
My answer:
“I have been going back and forth about whether or not I should answer you, but, after all, I deem it polite to answer everybody who contacts me. In your message you accuse me of being biased, outright rejecting new business models, and lack of research. I don’t expect anybody to agree with me, but I do expect a certain level of professionalism. I wish you good luck with your research.”
Yet again, please feel free to contact me or leaving a response to this entry (see entry form below), whether you agree with me or not. A polite and professional tone is appreciated.
Supplement – May 5, 2010
As always, it is recommended reading Angela Hoy’s newsletter – See WritersWeekly.com – Content Mill Complaints.
Just a brief excerpt: “I just signed up to write for (a content mill). I increased my writing skills over the past year and felt confident about working for them. I wrote one article. It was accepted the same day. Then I wrote another and was asked to rewrite. The whole article took me about three hours with research the first time. I rewrote it and sent it back. It was rejected, saying that my writing was not clear. I then wrote another one about the same time and it was also sent back for a rewrite and rejected after that.”
The same scenario, i.e. multiple rejection due to overzealous editors, applies to Demand Studios (We don’t know if the above comment refers to Demand Studios or another content mill). See the description at http://www.makemoneywithdemandstudios.com/forum. This seems to be a good resource to check out the Demand Studios’ reality.
The real truth about Demand Studios can be discerned by speaking with those who actually work with Demand as a client. I am such a writer, so I know whereof I speak.
You seem to have a few misconceptions about the way DS works and don’t have very many facts to back up what you did post. Here are the facts:
Demand Studios checks every application for background and writing ability. Less than 50% of those applying are allowed to work with DS. This is much more than a formality; rather it is a vetting process like with any other firm.
Most of the titles are for a How To type of article, but there are well over 150,000 different titles from which to choose. Writers are not limited to 10 articles per day. We may write as many articles as we choose, or as few. There are indeed many thousands of writers working with DS, and there is no shortage of topics to be had. Titles are on any subject that you can think of, and the writers with more eclectic experience may have an easier time writing articles, but none of the articles are very difficult to do. You are correct in saying that copying and pasting is not allowed. This is writing, not copyright theft. The vast majority of articles pay $15. Most writers that I speak with write between one and two articles per hour. I work a 6 hour day, and finish eight to ten articles per day. That equals $120 to $150 per day, for six hours of work.
Do I sit by my pool and sip lemonade all day? Certainly not. But neither do I slave away day and night for pennies. I will make well over $35,000 this year working six hours a day. I could make more, but this is more than enough for me to live on in my inexpensive area of the country.
Demand Studios is most certainly not a scam. It is a very smart company working with thousands of writers and editors to create web content. They won’t work with everyone, but if you are accepted you can make as much or as little as you wish. No get-rich-quick scheme here. Just hard working writers, making a living.
Thanks for the clarification regarding the availability of articles. I myself had been accepted a while ago, and, honestly, my experience with Demand Studios is different than yours. I signed up for Demand Studios due to their claim that a writer can chose any topic to write about and thus improve their reputation. At the time when I signed up, all available articles were about “How to…” topics and nothing else, which was just not my forte and does nothing for my reputation as a writer. As the Demand Studios website mentions, “Articles are all informative or instructional in nature,” and that is not compliant with Demand Studios’ advertisement. Their advertisement is misleading, especially when it comes to describing the type of work and the income situation. I personally was not interested in writing on the topics as offered by Demand Studios, and I asked to be removed from their database.
One fact remains: The majority of writers does not create sufficient income to pay for their monthly grocery bill, let alone a mortgage. Yes, there are experienced writers – with low monthly expenses – like you who make a living through Demand Studios, but they are the exception to the rule. According to Demand Studios, about ten out of ten-thousand writers make more than $2,000 a month (Writer’s Digest – December 2009).
And I still stand to my view regarding the application process. If you have a sufficient knowledge of the English language and know how to use a spell-checker you will be accepted. If you could have a look at the 50% fallout rate, you might find that the vast majority of failed applicants came from non-English speaking countries. And yes, Demand Studios is a very smart company. There is no doubt about it. Demand Studios is a content mill and as such it is in their interest to accept as many writers as they can. This is how Corporate America works.
Your description of your positive experience with Demand Studios sounds very convincing, but, I have to emphasize again, you are the exception to the rule. My intention is not to discourage experienced writers from using Demand Studios, but to discourage the average person from believing they can create major income simply by owning a computer and a high-speed Internet connection.
If you take a closer look at some of my articles regarding the Google Profit Library you will find numerous comments by people who have been scammed with the promise of creating income from home simply through means of a computer and a high-speed Internet connection. The financial damage could have been prevented with a little research, and that is where I see my “mission.” I’d like to encourage people to research these opportunities thoroughly. Not everybody is skilled enough to write for Demand Studios and make a living from it, and they shouldn’t find out after they had signed up and wasted their time with something they’re not good at.
P.S. I did revise my comment, because I wrote my initial response after 10 p.m. last night, and some of my comments didn’t come out the right way.
Howdy,
Great article. Linking it to our site.
We’ve setup a forum for writers from Demand who want to discuss Demand Studios outsides the confines of the Demand Studios system.
http://www.makemoneywithdemandstudios.com/forum
I too have written for Demand Studios, as well as several other similar services. They are far more demanding than some others, who couldn’t care less about research or the quality of work they receive. While I can easily complete 3 500 word articles per hour for those companies, I am yet to complete a 500 word article for Demand Studios in less than 45 minutes because of the research involved and the step-by-step way they have to be submitted. A few of my earlier articles took over 2 hours each to complete, but I quickly learned to stick with subjects I was familiar with and travel articles, where using commercial references is acceptable. Sometimes finding objective references can be very time consuming. I’ve had articles sent back to me for revision simply because of the poor references.
I haven’t submitted anything to Demand Studios for a couple of months now because I haven’t been able to find any titles on subjects I’m familiar with or that require little research. I check back with them occasionally, though. They add new ones all the time.
While my experience with Demand has been less than fully satisfying, I don’t know how anybody could honestly call them a “rip-off” or a “scam.” They tell you what they’re going to pay you and if you write acceptable content, you get paid. Unlike some of the services I’ve worked for, they actually do care about the quality of content and review every submission.
It’s worth mentioning that Demand Studios gives you credit for your submissions. When people ask me for examples of my published work, I can direct them to some of the articles I’ve written for Demand. My name, photo and a brief bio are prominently displayed along with my articles. This is great for any new writer’s portfolio.
@Rob Schneider:
Thank you very much for your contribution!
I do agree with the view that you cannot call Demand Studios a scam. Nevertheless, working for Demand Studios represents the lowest level of journalism – if you can call it that. Writing for Demand Studios does nothing for your reputation! There are other, real writing jobs out there; they do require real journalistic skills, and you get paid accordingly.
Regards,
Wilfried
I was reading through your article and although I found it interesting, I must admit, it wasn’t completely accurate. I have worked for Demand Studios for nearly a year now. I would honestly not have kept this job for as long as I have if I had to slave away to make money or was unable to make enough money to pay my bills.
However, with that said, I will admit that I type extremely fast (127/wpm) and therefore it is easier for me to produce content quite quickly. I usually produce 2 to 3 articles an hour which then averages out to $30 – $45 an hour. I am not saying that everyone would have it easy or that everyone would be able to make that much. It is possible to make $15 an hour though by completing at least one article an hour. $15 an hour is a pretty good rate considering how hard it is to find a good paying job in today’s economy.
I usually work 5 – 6 days a week depending on how much I want to work or need to work. I generally bring in around $560 – $750 a week working for Demand Studios which is a fairly good rate and definitely enough to cover my groceries, my house payment, my utilities, misc. expenses, and much more. I am a mother of three and let’s just say that thanks to Demand Studios I have been able to take good care of my children.
I’m not singing praises or tempting anyone to work for the company since I already clarified that it is because of my fast typing that I am able to complete 2 – 3 articles an hour. However, I will say that I appreciate a great deal of the incentives that the company offers. There have been contests for the top contributor which has offered up to $500 for the top writer. An extra $500 is quite nice although the competition is high since there are a lot of great writers.
I would also like to add that I tried to apply for Demand Studios a few times and for a year and a half I was turned down because I my application did not meet approval requirements. After that year and a half I applied again but this time I had completed my education and also had more background experience to add in terms of freelance writing and so I was finally approved. I know several other people that have applied and not been approved. Therefore, the application process is actually hard to get through and they do not just approve anyone.
With that said, I will still say that your article was well written but would it be at least safe to say it was more based on your personal experience? Every person’s personal experience will differ with this company, along with any online work at home website. Some will have better experiences than others.
Two more facts that I would like to add. There are usually several thousand articles available to choose from and finding the information to write each one is actually pretty easy to do. Writing is not always so easy though. Second, writers are allowed to write more than 10 articles a day. They are only allowed to sign up for 10 at a time. I generally go through, sign up for 10 and after I get done with 5 of them, I sign up for 5 more. The most I have ever done was 15 articles in one day. I limit myself to 6 hours a day which gives me to opportunity to produce 12 – 15 articles a day. That is in no way slaving away. That is less than a typical 40 hour work week. At most, it’s 36 hours. And although I do not sit around sipping lemonade and waiting for money to pour in, I have been able to make quite a bit of time to spend with my family, taking my children out to eat, to the park, etc. The flexible schedule has been an absolute life saver. I do wish they paid via check or bank account instead of just paypal though. I will say that much.
@Catherine:
I had mentioned in another comment that my initial experience with Demand Studios was a personal one. At the time you could only choose a limited number of articles. I still stand to my view that writing about indoor gun ranges and other rather ridiculous topics can neither be considered journalism, nor do they help you building a reputation. In your personal situation, and with your skills, working for Demand Studios may be a viable solution, but it doesn’t work for the majority of writers. Regardless, Demand Studios is still a sweat shop.
OK I just want to throw in my 2 cents. I have no idea why anyone would refer to Demand Studios as “journalism.” It is nothing even remotely related to journalism. So, wherever that idea came from, dismiss it from your mind. They don’t claim to be a journalism company. They make it very clear that they are a content mill. It’s not about journalism, it’s about dominating the search engines and making money from ad clicks.
Anyhow, making money with DS is not easy. I am one of those who can do 2-3 articles an hour SOMETIMES. It really depends on what kind of topics you can find. It can be a real challenge to find enough “easy” topics to make a decent income. Right now there are over 200,000 topics available, and the vast majority of them are pure crap. Things that no one in their right mind would attempt to write an article about for a mere $15.00.
I usually do between 10 and 13 articles a day. Some days I do less, because I either wasn’t able to find enough good topics, or some of the topics I chose turned out to be harder than I anticipated.
I will say that as a single parent of small kids, being able to work at home on my own terms has been a real blessing.
Just don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s “journalism” or anything important. It is a content mill, but who cares? I quit my day job to do DS and I make more money now. But DS is not for everyone. Like others have mentioned, you have to be able to not only type fast, but research efficiently. In my opinion, the single most important thing is to be able to find good article topics quickly. It’s not uncommon to spend an entire hour or more scouring the topic list for good titles to write about.
So any of you all giving DS a try, you can do it, just be realistic about your ability to make money and how much time and effort it will take. There are other content mills out there, but most of them average a lot less than $15 an article. I wish DS had some real competition with comparable pay rates, but as of now, they are the only real game in town.
@2frog:
Thank you very much for this comment! I do appreciate the honesty.
Winfried – If you think that “writing about indoor gun ranges and other rather ridiculous topics can neither be considered journalism. . . ” then you have never been a reporter for a daily newspaper. That is exactly what they do. Write the story that the editor wants!
@Ron:
Utter nonsense! Demand Studios’ posts are not demanded by editors. The topics are created by computer programs, which explains the ridiculous nature of the posts. Take your time to read the responses from current Demand Studio “employees.”
And yes, I have never been a reporter for a daily newspaper; I never claimed such a thing, and I don’t understand what the point is.
And by the way, my name is Wilfried.
I’m a current CE with DS. And I must say, it sucks! They advertise that copy editors typically make $20-$25/hour, spending about 10 minutes to edit each article. And CEs have a mandated quota of 75 edited articles each week. The “freelance” gig requires an ongoing commitment of working 12-14 hours a week. If you want some time off, you have to plan in advance and let the copy chief know you will not make your quota. What a bunch of bunk. At most, I’ve made $7/hour. Articles are $3.50 each. For all that they require of copy editors, thoroughly and correctly editing takes way more time than 10 minutes. In my opinion, the copy editing positions come dangerously close to an employer-employee relationship. I have filed Federal form S-88 so the IRS can make a determination about whether copy editors are, indeed, employees and not 1099 contractors. In the meantime, I edit the way I want to, regardless of my harsh 30-day reviews and the 75/week quota.
And the DS forums …. what a dysfunctional system. The forums are filled with cyberbullies who enjoy personally attacking people. When I protested and stood up for myself, I received a lifetime ban on the forums. And the cyberbullies continue to attack all newcomers and those not in “the clique.” Demand Media condones and encourages this behavior. It’s truly appalling.
Just wanted to share my experience so far on the DS CE side of things.
Demand Studios is like all the other content mills. Stay away from them. Whatever you do.
Here’s a rather humorous content mill satire site I came across recently. I thought your readers might enjoy it: http://www.contentmillstudios.com
Frankly, if you suck at writing and formatting or you don’t know what you’re talking about, your articles won’t get approved, and you’ll spend countless hours researching and writing only to get rejected. That means the copy editors are doing their jobs correctly. If you’re good, quick and knowlegeable, well… I pay my grocery bill just fine at demand studios, and we get paid twice weekly depending on the amount of quality work we finish. That’s how freelance writing works, dipshit.
@David James:
Nice language! Insult is the weak man’s imitation of strength.
All comments on this blog must be approved by me, and I usually do not allow profanity, but I will let this one go. It reflects on those who defend DemandStudios. And by the way, my friend, writing for DemandStudios is NOT freelance writing. That is yet another insult for any serious freelance writer.
I was just approved for the copy editor position with Demand Studios and the first article I edited took me almost two hours. lol.
I really think the editors must be doing a lot of light editing to work through 5 or more and hour, so now my plan is to do exactly that: LIGHT EDIT.
However, I need to add that what I have discovered by reading a lot of posts by CEs is that they ask for a revision about 50% of the time, so I am thinking when a lot of them see an article that is wordy and poorly structured like the first one I had, instead of trying to part the Red Sea like I did, they simply send it back to the writer quickly, then they do their edits after it comes back a little more polished. This way the writer is doing more of the editing based on editorial comments, and the CE can move on much more quickly.
I will never spend another 2 hours editing a writer’s article. At $3.50 a pop, it is hardly worth it.
I wanted to add also that the average request for revision is 50% of the time, but the more strict, or perhaps more smart, editors request revision about 80% of the time based on what information I have gathered. I really think the burden of editing should be on the writer’s shoulders. They have access to the same style guides that we do, they can read, and it’s their article. For $3.50 the editor’s job should really be about minor touch-ups and fact verification, plus overall logic assessment. Then making that $20-23 an hour would be possible for a CE, and I have no doubt some do indeed make that amount, but from what I have read, most CEs only manage to edit 4 articles an hour, which is $14. Not great.
Anyone mass advertising writing positions might as well be waving a big red flag. It is funny how people are bragging about how many articles they can write in an hour. This is laughable. I took a look at the facebook advert and it is incredibly misleading. What legitimate journalist, author, or dean would sing praises about writing content like this.
I do not have an issue with the business model, but do have an issue with the way they misrepresent themselves to dupe writers. This is no different than a multi-level marketing type gig.
The assertion that DS pays less than minimum wage is trash, hyberole meant to drum up eyeballs and ratings through fake controversy. Even if you complete only one article per hour, you are making $15 an hour. It’s not great, but it’s not illegal alien pay either. My own sustained rate based on a weekly average is about 1 1/3 $20 articles per hour, or 9 articles every 7 hours. That is $180 per day, or $45,000 per year, for a 35-hour a week, 50-week job.
DS has a lot of problems, but pay isn’t really one of them. If you can master the ropes and adopt a proper time management strategy, you can squeeze quite a bit out of the system. Mind you, doing so means recognizing company BS for what it is, like their admonishment to try and complete every rewrite and so on. You need to know when to cut your losses.
Hi. My name isn’t Flora, but that is one of my fave names. I’m afraid to use my real name b/c I’m a DS copy editor and I don’t want them to know I’m posting here.
This is a reply to Copy 2 Edit, who wrote (on June 20) the following about being a Demand Studios copy editor: “…I edit the way I want to, regardless of my harsh 30-day reviews and the 75/week quota.” (well, that’s an excerpt anyway) However, I’d be grateful for anyone’s reply, not just his/hers.
I’d like to know how strictly DS enforces the 75 article/week quota. Just yesterday I posted on this topic in the DemandStudiosSucks blog, but the blog reply I posted on was old, so I’ve only gotten one reply so far. (I doubt most folks will ever even see my question, but at least the one person so far who did reply helped ease my troubled mind a LOT).
I’m a part-time caregiver for a chronically ill family member, which is one of the reasons why I never know, from day to day, how much time I’ll have to dedicate to copy editing. My other problem is adult ADHD, which makes it extremely challenging for me to meet my quota (not to mention keep my life together overall). I’m seeing a counselor & just got a promising medication to try, so I’m sure things will get better for me. But in the meantime, I’m very scared of DS giving me the boot because I rarely, if ever, meet the quota. So far I’ve only had one review, and it was very complimentary and encouraging, so that makes me feel somewhat relieved. :”> But I’ve only been a DS copy editor for about 1 1/2 months, so I’m far from being lulled into complacency. Quite the contrary!
The sad truth is, between my family caregiving duties and my ADHD, I can’t accept a full-time job anywhere. My last job was a dream, because I got to copy edit for a magazine publishing company whose subject matter interested me and whose scheduling was extremely flexible. I only worked 3 days per week, and I didn’t have to be at the office until 9:30 a.m. (I’m absolutely NOT a morning person). The pay was great too! Unfortunately I was laid off in 2009, along with a surprisingly large number of other employees, due to the company needing to restructure in light of the crappy economy. In 13 months of unemployment, Demand Studios is my first actual job, because almost any job I see on job websites would require too long of a commute, or too many work hours per week, so I don’t even try applying.
I’ve also applied for many telecommuting/freelancing jobs, but none of those worked out because they were fantastic positions and way too many folks applied than there were jobs for. In short: I never heard back. I’ve worked retail in the past to make ends meet, but the bizarre hours didn’t work out well for me, and also I started developing foot and back pain problems & varicose vein issues due to standing on my feet all day. (No, I’m not a senior! *chuckle* I’m only in my late 30s).
So basically I’m in a very sticky and limited situation, which is all the more reason why I NEED to keep my Demand Studios copy editing job, despite the fact it doesn’t pay what a copy editor is worth. Hence, I’m very concerned about the 75 article per week quota. The person who replied to me at DemandStudiosSucks.com said that in his/her CE experience, as well as in that of his/her CE friends, DS does not seem to strictly enforce the quota and certainly did not fire my replier or his/her friends. He/she also said DS has enough other problems/issues to deal with than to keep a tally of the number of articles every single editor edits, and that I shouldn’t sweat it. I’d just like to hear that assurance from one other person, tho, before I stop worrying so much. *blush* Thanks!!
“Flora”
To me Demand Studio’s is more about facts then a person’s opinion. Writing How-To’s is based on facts, so to call it journalism, I think is a little over the top. I would call working for them not writing, but a good researcher.
However, if you can make up to $1000 plus a month, then that is better than most, if not all work at home sites. For Demand Studio’s to have a reputation of paying on time, consider yourself lucky. It’s sad but true.
Also, I think that people who think this place is a scam is looking at it as a full time regular job. It should be looked at as a way to make extra income in your spare time or as they post, for inbetween jobs. They do not claim to be an employer and people need to realize that.
Nonetheless, hearing everyone’s experience is a valuable tool in deciding if you want to write for them or not because if it happen to one it can happen to you. And always if it doesn’t produce results like you were expecting in week one or two, move on, simple as that!
Dear Wilfried Voss
Thank you for your article about Demand studios. I practically cried from relief when i read it. I have just joined them and, after reading a blog on Xomba by a writer who claims to write one article and hour and rake in thousands per month, i have felt like such a failure, because it took me an entire day to research and write only one article. I then repeated the process today and am absolutely crying from exhaustion. All this for a total of $30.
The assignments are really really hard, and unless i’m a plumber, electrician, computer hacker, house builder or work for the FBI, very very few of them fall into my area of knowledge or even interest.
Demand Studios may claim to offer assignments that suit everyone, but those are few and far between and have been snapped up very quickly.
On a final note, after finally completing my second $15 assignment, twelve hours after starting it, i found that i was unable to load it to the website, as the website is currently experiencing some technical problems.
I am a struggling writer and was hoping that writing for Demand studios would be an excellent credential for my writer’s CV, but now i’m wondering whether it’s worth it.
Any advice from you would be greatly appreciated.
Again thank you for writing this article
Maxine
I have been writing for Demand Studios for a few months. From my experience, writers are not valued. Some of the editors are constant nit-pickers. Why, I don’t understand. Jealousy does pop up in my mind from time to time. But I don’t understand that either. I took the time to prepare to write in their style. I take the time to research for accurate information, then I take the time to write. Some of the rewrites are legit if explained in a non-confusing way with some direction. But some of the rewrites are confusing. I am so glad that I write elsewhere. They are liars and their editors do not edit but rather do everything they can to get writers articles rejected. It can be a waste of time, energy, and talent that can be used someplace else where writers efforts and hard work are more valued.