My Review Of MediaPiston
As some of you know, I am a freelance writer. At this time, I feel that I am quite the novice and so I am mostly working for content "mills" for income and experience. After going through countless forums at www.wahm.com, which is, by the way, the best site out there for great information about opportunities available for work-at-home moms, I have found a few eggs that allow me to make some extra money without leaving the home. One of these is MediaPiston.
MediaPiston is a company that connects writers with clients. Most assignments found there are focused on SEO (Search Engine Optimization). If you are familiar with this type of writing, read on. If not, I will be posting links or definitions of what these basic terms are.at a later date. The topics range from technical writing to cosmetics and having brows lifted with a plastic surgeon. Obviously, there are things that I write about that I have to research, but with Google, this is an easy task and takes very little of my time.
Generally, once you accept an assignment, there is an 8-24 hour period of time that is allowed for you to complete the project. Once completed, the work is passed on to graders for the proofreading and editing to begin on your work. YOU can be a grader for MediaPiston. The site allows their writers to grade each other's work before passing the draft on to an editor. The graders get paid very little, between about $.17 and $.50 an assignment. Why would anyone want to do that? Because this gives us writers a preview of the work being submitted by others trying to scratch up money writing. (See? Sneaky, sneaky business...) I'd do it for free really, just to see how I compare to the other writers.
*Update!: MediaPiston no longer uses writers to grade the work of others. However, based on performance editing jobs may become available. This is from my understanding, Joe would have to clarify, but from the forums, this is my understanding. I am kind of disappointed in this, but the work here has literally doubled in the past week or so, and the rates paid to writers has INCREASED. Im stoked.*
Also, I am pretty sure that they are hiring writers right now, so go apply!
Once graded, the article goes to an editor. The editors that work here are terrific, and have helped me learn to write better for a broader audience. They are friendly, professional and are quick to get back with you about revision requests. If you do get a revision request, there is a window of a few days to rewrite the article or make simple changes to the content. Once this is done, your article is released by the editor to the client.
The client has four days (from my understanding) to accept and pay for the assignment or ask the writer for a revision. I have had to revise two of my articles so far (out of over 25.) The problem with clients is that sometimes they don't provide the clearest of instructions. But so far, I have pleased both clients (at least enough to pay me) with my revisions. I DON'T LIKE REVISIONS. It bruises my ego and it is hard to get my momentum back regarding the acceptance of more articles. But this is just a normal thing that comes along with freelance writing.
Remember that old saying "You cant please everyone all the time?" ITS TRUE. Pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start again. There will always be clients that cannot be pleased. Fortunately, MediaPiston will try their best to help writers work out any issues that they have with the client. This feels good to know that the company is behind you as long as you are performing well. Once all revisions are complete, the client will accept the article and then have the opportunity to rate you as a writer. They can also choose to make you one of their favorite writers. When you are chosen as a favorite, you are notified of when the client has new assignments, and have a window of opportunity to accept them before other writers see the work available.
Once established, your earnings go up because you can take advantage of being a favorite, and have access to more work than the general population of writers. A $.75 bonus is given to you every time a client makes you a favorite. The pay for me has never been less than $.01 per word. I worked about eight hours this week for MediaPiston and have averaged $10.00 an hour. They pay weekly on Fridays through PayPal.
Overall my experience with MediaPiston has been a good one. I have made some extra cash with few headaches involved. And I work in my pajamas (that's the best part.)
Leslie, thanks for posting about us on your blog - we're flattered!
ReplyDeleteMediaPiston is dedicated to creating the best possible writing community online. Ultimately, getting there is a collaboration between our writers and clients.
I appreciate that you mentioned how we go out of our way to help writers. In the rare cases where there are disputes or misunderstandings, we'll nearly always do the right thing and pay out the writers; this isn't obvious in our marketing, but it's clear once you've written a few articles, so I'm glad you called this out.
We're working hard right now on a lot of exciting improvements, such as daily payments for active writers (instead of just weekly), premium pay for fast turnaround times, premium pay for writing in particular areas of expertise, paid revision requests and more. The most exciting part? All of these are ideas that were born out of close collaboration with our community.
We hope you and your readers will join us and become a part of making MediaPiston into the best writing community around.
thanks,
-Joe
Founder and "Chief Piston"
MediaPiston
Thanks for leaving a comment, Joe! I have 23 writing jobs under my belt so far at Mediapiston. I have pretty much stopped writing for other sites (except my own sites, squidoo lenses, etc..)
ReplyDeleteYou may have had a good experience, but I did not. Although I have been favorited by a client and had several assignments accepted without need for revision a recent experience has left me discouraged.
ReplyDeleteI accepted an assignment that required the writer to create an article that was at least 3500 words. I followed the instructions and made the revisions necessary that were outlined by the first editor. The client sent it back with minimal instructions for further revision. She said I needed to take care of some awkward phrasing and gave me one example. Fixed that and double checked the rest of the article. The next day I received a response that my article was rejected. After hours of research and writing I have nothing to show for it.
Now I have another article for the same client and similar instructions for a final revision. No examples of what the client wants to have revised. It is also a 3500 word article and I have spent hours of research and writing on this one as well. I have left a comment asking for more clarification from the client as well as commenting on the last assignment that was rejected and have heard from no one. Supposedly one is able to dispute a rejected assignment, but I cannot find information on the website about how to do this. I'm glad that you have had success with this site, but I think people should be aware of the possibility of not being compensated for their work. It is very disheartening to have hours spent working on something and be paid nothing for it.
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteI was just going to read and go, but since your response struck a common cord in me, I decided add my two bits. MediaPiston is indeed a great place to work. Admin is attentive and do their best to attend to both writers and clients in a timely manner.Now with that said, about that client you mentioned...
She was or is becoming one of MediaPiston's best client due the the volume of work she sends there and the bonus she gives each writer on those 3500 word assignments as well.
I had one article (2000+ words) accepted plus a bonus, and like you had a 3500 worder rejected. I am still peeved though Im getting over it. Similar to your case she sent it back for a second editorial check. That all she asked for. I did the checks and sent it back to her. It was rejected with some crap comment I cant totally remember right now.
As the forum boards on MediaPiston revealed just about everyone who worked on that batch of articles were in limbo. Everyone was confused and just not sure what she wanted. Admin was also actively working with the client to get clarifications and the I remember Margaret in particular advising writers wit rejects from the client to send them a message as they were working with the client to sort things out. They were on that bit and would make replies and give updates on the forum boards. No doubt it would be hard for them to respond to all complaints individually at that time as many writers were confused and disgruntled.
It was also mentioned in the forum that admin would be working to compensate writers with articles that were rejected by the client with those vague to non-existent reasons. Writers with rejects were to send in their complaint. I did, and though it took a bit of time I was compensated for not only that article, but another wedding one I was working on, but had to stop as the site was acting up nd I was unable to see the article to continue working on it. I had alerted admin to that as well and I was asked to send in the work I had already done on it and I would be compensated. That was done.
I'm not sure why you were not compensated,but I so far have not come across another writer on the forum boards that were not compensated. The forum board is a good place to visit and just see what the other writers are saying. It really helps me and I hardly comment there.
I do hate the fact that I was blocked from selecting any more articles for that client as well. Those with rejects were not allowed to continue writing for her as she chose to work with those whose articles she had accepted. That was silly as far as I'm concerned has her instructions were not clear to begin with. Due to the vast number of articles she had to reject, everyone should have been given a fair shot at her articles after she had sorted out herself and issued clear and concise instructions.
That, plus the reject (even though I was compensated) really peeves me to this day. That said, MediaPiston is by far my choice site to earn while I continue to hone my writing skills.