If you are looking to make money online as a freelance writer then Textbroker is one of the many options you have. But the question is whether or not it is a good option.
What this comes down to for most people is the money–how much money can you make with Textbroker?
Is it going to be worth your time?
Is the opportunity really as good as the company makes it seem? Or are they just desperate for writers so they portray it as better than it really is?
In this article I will be breaking down how it all works and will be helping give you a realistic look at how much you can expect to make.
What Is Textbroker?
In a nutshell, Textbroker is a middleman service that connects clients looking for content to people who are willing to write that content. In other words–they bring clients and writers together.
According to a claim made on their website, they are “the planet’s leading content creation marketplace”. Now I have no idea how true this statement actually is, but I do know that they have a very solid reputation in the online content writing world.
To date they have over 100,000 writers working for them, over 53,000 “satisfied” clients and have processed over 10 million content orders–a heck of a lot…
How do they do it?
Well–as mentioned–they do a good job at what they do. They provide clients with quick unique content at affordable prices and they pay their writers decent amounts. It’s a balancing act really–they need to keep the costs affordable while still paying writers enough (debatable).
How much do they pay their writers exactly? And how much can you make? Hold your horses… We are getting to that!
How It Works
Sign Up:
If you want to write for Textbroker and make money then the first thing you have to do is sign up, which is free to do.
The requirements to sign up include:
- Must be a US citizen
- Must be 18 or older
- Will need a PayPal account
- Need a government issued ID
You will fill out all the normal information you would expect–name, email, etc.–and you will be given a chance to prove your worth. What I mean is that you will have to complete sample writing on some topic.
Make this writing count because it does. Your starting pay rate will depend on how well you perform here. Don’t worry–it only has to be 200 words long.
You will also have to fill out your writing profile after signing up. I will go over the importance of this in a bit–as for know, just know that this is very important and should take some thought.
Write:
After you got all the initial stuff out of the way, it’s time to do what you came here to do–write. You will be able to browse through tons of content orders and filter through them to find topics that you want to write about, clients that you like, etc.
There are all sorts of writing assignments here. The most common examples include articles/blog posts for websites.
Assignments will include instructions on what exactly the client wants.
Get Paid:
After submitting your work to the client you will have to wait for it to be approved, which usually doesn’t take long but this all depends on the client.
Payments or made on a weekly basis via PayPal which is really nice, but you must have at least $10 in your account in order to get paid.
Pay Rates
You are able to check out the pay rates for Textbroker writers at this link: https://www.textbroker.com/authors-payments-conditions –but to save you time I took a screenshot of the great table as you can see here…
Open Orders – This is where everyone starts out, so this is where you probably want to focus to get a good idea of what kind of money you will be making. These orders are the ones that I talked about above, which you will be able to filter through and find something that you like.
The pay ranges anywhere from $0.007 per word up to $0.05 per word.
When you start out your pay rate will be based on your writing sample, which is why I said it is very important that you put a lot of effort into making that as good as possible. And if you don’t do as good as you were hoping it’s not the end of the world. You can increase your rating by performing well.
Direct Orders – You can make some good money with direct orders. As you can see the minimum rate is 1.78 cents per word, or $0.0178 per word. You actually get to set your own rate here, which is awesome, but you have to be mindful that there are many other writers out there as well–so you can’t say rates to high or else no one will come to you.
Don’t count on getting direct orders when you just start out. These are orders that clients will send directly to you and no one else, but of course no one is going to even know who you are when you are just getting started. Once you get some notches under your belt and build up a reputation, then you can start to think more about these orders.
Team Orders – Team orders are something that is unique to Textbroker as far as I know, and it’s pretty cool. Basically here you join a team of writers and the benefits of this are that you can get equal access (you and the rest of your team) to higher-paying articles then you can in the Open Orders area.
So How Much Can You Make? Realistically..
If you were to write a 1000 word article and had a ranking of 2 stars you would get paid $7.
If you were to write a 1000 word article and had a ranking of 4 stars you would get paid $14.
Writing 4 star quality content is definitely achievable by a lot of people out there, but don’t expect to be writing 5 star articles. Not only are they rare to come by but you would also have to be an exceptionally skilled writer to maintain 5 star status.
Hourly Pay Expectations
Let’s say that you type at a rate of around 60 words per minute and let’s say that you are going to be typing a few 1000 word articles at a 4 star rating. If you were to type at a steady pace you would be able to type 1000 words in just under 17 minutes, but of course writing an article this length is without a doubt going to take longer than that.
When you factor in the time spent on research, structuring your writing, review, etc.–it is easily going to take you double to triple that amount of time.
The amount of knowledge you have on the particular subject at hand and the research needed are what is really going to influence the time required.
You also have to consider the fact that the client has the ability to reject your writing and ask for revisions–which does happen and is a pain.
As a very very rough estimate, I wouldn’t expect to earn more than $20 per hour even if you are writing at a 4 star level. I’d say anywhere from $15 – $20 per hour is on the higher side of things and when you are just starting out you may be looking more at $8 – $12/hr.
Take these estimates with a grain of salt.
Pro Tips for Increasing Your Earnings
#1 – Make a Killer Profile
Textbroker gives you the ability to really make a detailed and informative profile so that clients know exactly who they are dealing with–make the most of this.
Much of the profile is filled out in a survey-like style where you just answer a bunch of questions about yourself.
I would also highly suggest uploading writing samples, which you have the ability to do, so that clients can get a taste of what your work is like.
#2 – Get Your Ratings Up
When you are starting out it would definitely be advisable to write content that you have some knowledge about–this way will be the easiest for you to get your ratings up as fast as possible.
Making less than 1 cent per word at a 2 star level–ya, that’s not fun.
#3 – Look At The Client Before Writing For Them
Always, always, always look into the client before you write for them. Check on their revision and rejection rates so you know what you’re getting involved with. If there rates are too high, it might be best to avoid them altogether.
The last thing you want is to spend triple the amount of time needed revisioning an article over and over again.
#4 – Write What You Know
As mentioned, write what you know about. Not only will this cut down on research time, but you also will be able to write much more naturally and be more compelling, which will help your rating.
Pros v Cons of Writing for Textbroker
Pros of Writing for Textbroker
- No Experience Needed – Sites like this are an excellent way for people to get started with a freelance writing career. There is no experience needed.
- Weekly Payments – No one wants to have to wait a month to get paid–Textbroker knows that and they pay every week. You can count on this.
- Trusted Service – Textbroker as a good reputation and you don’t have to worry about them trying to get one over on you. You do the work as you are supposed to–you get paid–simple as that.
- Good Support – Everything I’ve heard about their support team has been good. They actually care about their writers and if you ever have trouble they are there to help you.
Cons of Writing for Textbroker
- Pay Isn’t Anything Special – The pay is right around what the industry standard is for these types of writing sites–nothing special. If you are a freelance writing veteran then this is probably not the place for you (but of course direct orders can be a game changer because you set the rates).
- Revisions Can Suck – You will have to do revisions. Plan on it.
- Rejection Really Sucks – Some people say that clients have too much power on the platform. Every now and again you might write something that you feel is perfect–your grammar is good, your flow is an A+, you followed the instructions to a T–but got rejected. Some clients are too picky.
- Can Be a Lack of Work – Let’s say you are a 4 star writer looking for 4 star work–you will likely encounter lack of writing opportunities every so often. The amount of work available can be somewhat unreliable at times. However, direct orders and team orders can be a game changer.
Conclusion – Worth Joining or Not?
Textbroker can absolutely be worth, but of course it all depends on your situation and what you are looking for. For people starting out, I would definitely say that this is a good choice. It’s a great way to get started without any experience and gain experience.
For veteran writers the pay may be a bit disappointing.
Focusing on direct orders and team orders is definitely the way to go. From what I’ve found it seems that most veteran writers out there bring in a large portion of their income from these types of orders.
Comments or questions? Leave them below and I’ll get back to you soon 🙂
Want to see some other awesome ways to make money online? Check this out!