
The Textbroker Solution: Gig work as a freelance writer - DoreenMichele
http://writepay.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-textbroker-solution.html
======
DoreenMichele
In case it isn't obvious, I'm the author of the piece. Some of my writing
about homelessness and similar does well here, like this piece from about a
month ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22417487](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22417487)

I'm genuinely baffled that people on HN persist in asserting that Write Pay is
content marketing for Textbroker or that I'm a shill for them. This isn't the
first time someone here has said something like that.

I've been a member of HN more than a decade. My previous handle was briefly on
the leader board. I know there are people here who recognize me.

I'm trying to bring solutions to the table in the face of a pandemic. They're
solutions I've field tested, so to speak.

I don't know what I need to do to get this taken as seriously as some of my
other writing. If anyone has suggestions, shoot me an email.

~~~
blast
It might be because you use a bunch of different sites for your different
writing, which means each one gets evaluated by first impressions and people's
first impressions tend to be suspicious. If you had a single unified
site/identity like some of the other writers on HN, people might be more
likely to recognize you and realize that they know you already, but a site
like this seems like a one-off. The name "write pay" probably brings up
sketchy associations in people's minds too and there isn't necessarily any
trusted association to offset that. Now that you've posted the above, that
will probably change. If your main audience is people who need to get paid and
didn't know that they can write to do it, that's a great name. But maybe not
so much for the audience here.

------
datingscientist
First, thank you for posting.

Speaking as a publisher who has spent over $5000 on their platform over the
past couple of years, TextBroker offers a very valuable service for people who
are otherwise shut out of the job market. I took the time to get to know a few
of my favorite writers.. here are their stories...

\- Several are working in countries where they cannot get a work permit
(cannot support themselves via legal means)

\- I'm almost certain several of my writers have criminal convictions, which
blocks you from most white collar jobs.

\- Many of the rest are the victims of age discrimination, where hiring
managers "just prefer" to hire younger people or decided that anyone "out of
the workforce" a few years must surely be damaged goods.

If you can write passable text, Textbroker really doesn't care who you are.
That's huge benefit, in terms of getting access to work and being able to put
a gig on your resume.

By the way, they're not the only game in town. Another good option for US
writers is Constant Content, which allows you to publish & market pieces in a
"catalog" at higher rates. I'm a writer on that platform.

But since people are agitated about the money side, let's talk about that
topic.

Are there higher paying freelance writer opportunities? Certainly. Take a look
at Problogger or Media bistro. However, get ready to spend unpaid time
pitching... and chasing people for payment. (so a bunch of unpaid hours and
social stress from pitching, plus the risk of unpaid work)

Upwork is another option, although the competition can get pretty brutal. I've
found I can buy content for less on Upwork than Textbroker. Too many people
want the same gig. I tried applying to a few gigs as a specialist contractor
and was blown out of the water on rates (50% - 80% below what I was asking
for). I will say a few folks have found a way to make it work, usually for
high end specialty roles.

Where TextBroker excels is as a dumping ground for unused time. Go chase
higher paying gigs... and if you can't sell a full book of work, Textbroker
gives you a way to recover some of the value of that time.

Also... there are some highly productive ($$/hour) writers on Textbroker. I
worked with a few of them to assemble an article on how to level up your
earnings at a content mill.

[https://highestpayinggigs.com/freelance-
writing/](https://highestpayinggigs.com/freelance-writing/)

It walks through how to go from making minimum wage (as a entry level writer)
to about $40 - $50 per hour (between productivity hacking, direct orders, and
leveling up the quality rate). And shows you how to recycle your work to build
your own websites as a longer term investment.

Is it my life plan? Nah, I'd rather go write software and do data science. But
in case of emergency, that is most definitely something on my to-do list....

The part I really admire about TextBroker is the relative openness of their
market for people who are otherwise not able to participate in the regular
labor market. This includes:

\- Unable to work a traditional 8 hour shift in person

\- Travel / Visa restrictions

\- Criminal Record

\- Lack of "credentials"

\- Socially Awkward / Interview Challenges

\- Ageism / Lifestyle Discrimination

The latter is significant to me personally, since it became very apparent a
few years ago that I was an "increasingly undesirable candidate" to many
employers due to my age.

It may be illegal, but nobody is enforcing it....

~~~
DoreenMichele
Thank you for this.

I'm medically handicapped. For me, it allows me to work whenever I can manage
to get my act together and it means when I go through long periods of being
unable to work, I haven't been fired. I've just not earned anything recently,
but I can go right back to work.

I had an account with whatever became Upwork. I never made money on it because
you have to pitch for an assignment and compete with others. On Textbroker, I
just choose something I think I can write. Done.

The other platform also only allowed me to do up to five assignments per month
with a free account. To access more, I would need to pay a fee.

I was homeless at the time and I worked very erratically. There is no fee to
have an author account with Textbroker. There is no minimum I must work or
anything like that.

The flexibility is critical to my ability to make my life work and having some
earned income that has gradually improved over time helped me grow healthier
and get back into housing.

I know there are other services. But I don't chase my pay and I don't have to
negotiate for work or pitch myself and these are huge advantages for me that
help make it make sense.

Edit: And that's why I say Textbroker is _nominally_ low paid work. Because it
cuts out so much of the unpaid hours freelancers typically spend pitching
their work, chasing their pay and even working for free when they can't
successfully get the pay they were promised.

If you count those unpaid hours, actual hourly wage is lower for many other
avenues than their nominally higher pay rates suggest. Textbroker pays better
than it seems to most people.

That's a critical detail and I never know how to really get that point through
to people.

~~~
solstice
> That's a critical detail and I never know how to really get that point
> through to people.

I haven't had a look at either of these platforms (and have in fact only
learned about them just now) but I think you just did.

~~~
DoreenMichele
Thanks. That's good feedback and I hope to build on that at some future point.

I very much appreciate the feedback I've gotten from people in this
discussion.

------
wgx
Textbroker appears to only allow signups from authors in the US.

~~~
DoreenMichele
There should be a drop down menu for the US plus nine other countries. On my
phone, I found it at the bottom of the page under the word "International."

Direct links:

BR (Portugues):
[https://www.textbroker.com.br/](https://www.textbroker.com.br/)

Deutsch: [https://www.textbroker.de/](https://www.textbroker.de/)

Espanol: [https://www.textbroker.es/](https://www.textbroker.es/)

Francais: [https://www.textbroker.fr/](https://www.textbroker.fr/)

Italiano: [https://www.textbroker.it/](https://www.textbroker.it/)

Nederlands: [https://www.textbroker.nl/](https://www.textbroker.nl/)

Polski: [https://www.textbroker.pl/](https://www.textbroker.pl/)

PT (Portugues): [https://www.textbroker.pt/](https://www.textbroker.pt/)

UK: [https://www.textbroker.co.uk/](https://www.textbroker.co.uk/)

------
z3t4
The only ones earning money on gig works are the platforms.

------
pryelluw
I appreciate this piece as it's another option that some acquaintances can
look into to help weather the current economic storm.

~~~
DoreenMichele
Thank you.

Please let them know I welcome questions via email. I'm pretty socially
isolated and it actively interferes with figuring out what to write about to
inform people on various topics. There would be more content on the site if I
had better audience engagement. I don't think well in a vacuum.

~~~
pryelluw
Will do.

To your point on social isolation and writing: Have you looked into one of
those services that track SEO trends? I've found them useful to get a sense of
what a specific niche of people are looking for. Think google trends but more
targeted.

~~~
DoreenMichele
People are usually not looking for the things I talk about. Gig work is
vilified. People mostly aren't talking about how to design gig platforms well
to benefit the workers. They think that's an oxymoron and insist that gig work
is intentionally exploitative.

People mostly aren't talking about how to help the lower classes access remote
work. People generally assume that it's out of reach for the underprivileged.

People aren't looking at homelessness the way I look at it. They routinely
claim housing issues aren't relevant and it's just a bunch of junkies.

Etc.

~~~
clairity
> "People mostly aren't talking about how to design gig platforms well to
> benefit the workers."

that's not entirely true, although certainly under-considered. for instance,
the freelancer's union [0] is concerned with worker rights and pay. my last
startup (now defunct) also focused on this problem. so there are people who
care, but it's difficult to get capitalholders to care.

[0] [https://www.freelancersunion.org/](https://www.freelancersunion.org/)

~~~
pryelluw
Would you be open to sharing more about your startup?

~~~
clairity
it began as a screening tool for the candidate pipelines of on-demand
platforms looking for qualified workers, with the goal of better matching and
placing workers with platforms (increasing conversion rates, in the parlance).
wonolo[0] is an example of such a business that's still operating.

the wider ambition wes to create a liquid hourly labor marketplace that would
bring near real-time bidding for chunks of hourly work (like "we'll pay you
$100 for the next 3 hours of your time"). hourly work (not just gig-work, but
whole swaths of the service economy) is notoriously opaque, which gives all
the leverage to employers, and workers don't have the time or wherewithal to
effectively comparison shop to maximize their earnings.

over time, complementary services (training/certification, social networking,
insurance, financing, etc.) could also have been added to increase the
usefulness of the platform.

[0] [https://www.wonolo.com/](https://www.wonolo.com/)

~~~
pryelluw
Thank you.

