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.)
