Text Broker UK: Legit Freelancing Opportunity?
I have long heard about Textbroker – but I was under the impression it was only available in the US. You can find the US platform here:
However, I recently saw that there is a UK platform as well, found here.
Textbroker is now also available in France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. So, there is now a much broader opportunity available for people from many Countires.
You have the opportunity to either purchase content here, or to write content. Today I am going to look into Textbroker from a writers’ perspective.
I will see how easy it is to get set up as a freelance writer here, how much you will earn and if it’s really worth the effort!
Textbroker UK Review In Brief:
Company: TextBroker
Money Making Opportunity: pocket money – to part-time income for most. However, I have read some stories of some bringing in more than this. It will all depend on what level you are, how professional you are and how you deal with clients’ and the work available in your area of interest/expertise.
Cost: free to sign up as an author
Overall Rating: Legit! Textbroker provides content to some big well-known companies online – they’re a legitimate platform and could provide you with a way of breaking into the freelance writer world.
Many professional writers’ criticise content mills like Textbroker, because of how little they pay. But for brand new writers’ online, with zero experience; this could be a way to get a feeling for what writing for others is like and build their confidence.
How does Textbroker work?
My initial impression was that Textbroker seems to work similarly to iwriter.
That is, it takes on all levels of writers’ – whether you’re a beginner, or have experience freelance writing. The higher quality your writing is, the more potential you have to earn.
One difference I could see, was they also seem to include additional training, which can help you progress as a writer and as a writer on their platform.
There will be tutorials you can access and they will provide you with feedback.
Signing Up With Textbroker:
Signing up is pretty simple. You select the option to sign up as an author and they ask you some basic questions relating to your location/age/profession.
You’re then presented with a large selection of check boxes, where you can select what you may write about.
For example – some that I ticked were:
Internet, Money, Children, Diet, Food, Competitions and Sweepstakes, Freebies, Parenting…
You get the idea! While I’m not an “expert,” in all the subjects I ticked – I ticked sections that I could imagine I would feel fairly competent writing about.
That’s pretty much it. However, after I submitted this initial application, I got a message saying it could take up to FIVE days to be approved.
I imagined I’d just be able to get started right away, so that was slightly disappointing. So, prepared to wait a little while when you first sign up.
How Much Can You Earn With Textbroker?
To put this all into perspective, it’s important to understand how much you can feasibly earn.
How much you are able to earn, will depend on your level – from 2 stars, to 5 stars.
As you can see from the image above – if you are a two star writer, you can earn €7 per 1000 words. This goes up to €40.00 per 1000 words for a five star writer.
This seems to be displayed in Euros rather than pounds. 7 Euros is just over £6
A five star writer can make 40 Euro for 1000 words – but reaching 5 stars is difficult, (I will explain why a bit further down!).
At a four star level, you make a lot less. 13 Euro for 1000 words. Not far off £12.
But how much that means to you, is really how quickly you can pull together 1000 word article, including research and editing time!
At the higher levels, you may not think the pay is that bad.
However, at the lower level, you’re talking way below minimum wage.
It is worth noting that, I have heard that practically everyone gets started as a level 3 writer.
So, if you think you’re amazingly talented and only get rated as 3 stars, don’t be too alarmed.
The Textbroker Process:
1. You search through available jobs – ones that are available for your star rating.
2. Once you find a job that looks good, you have 10 minutes to accept the job or move on and look for another.
3. Every job you find will have a specific star rating. There will be some instructions – such as the minimum amount of words you will write, how much you will be paid per word and any other instructions the client may have.
4. Each job will have a deadline. If you accept the writing job, you must complete by this time.
5. You cannot apply for more than one job at a time. So, if you really like the look of several jobs – take your favourite first! The others may not be thereafter!
6. Send your completed article back to Textbroker. The client will have three days to either accept the work, or reject it. If the article is accepted, you will then be paid via Textbroker for your work.
7. After this, Textbroker will also read and rate your work. They may also provide you with some feedback, suggesting how you could improve.
How Do You Reach A 5 Star Rating?
Unfortunately, being a superb writer will not automatically elevate you to a 5-star rating.
In order to reach the elusive 5-stars, you must complete a difficult proof-reading test.
I will give this a go myself and let you know how this goes when I get the chance, (I will update this post when I have).
However, I have seen plenty of highly capable writers’ and bloggers fail this test… even after several attempts!
Have you completed the poof reading test? Let me know in the comments!
What Do Others Say About Textbroker?
As with all content mills, you will get some mixed reviews.
That being said, I feel that Textbroker has a pretty good reputation.
They work with some big names online (such as EBAY & YEOST!!) and even the writers’ do have some positive stories to share, (despite the low pay initially).
A big downside, (and another one that I also found at iwriter) was there are a very limited amount of jobs for level 2 and 3 writers.
Considering that a majority of writers’ seem to be stuck on level 3 when they first start, it seems the most challenging thing is to get your first jobs AT ALL.
Some writers’ have also complained of being sent down a level for seemingly small mistakes – many Textbroker writers’ complain that there is too much criticism based on incorrect comma placing!
Writers complain that the actual topics available to write about can be incredibly tedious. I have to say, this is something I noticed when looking for freelance work!
You can aldo get frustratingly vague instructions. On the other hand, they may be too elaborate or demanding.
For example; a client may order you to NOT write over 500 words, but the topics you’re writing about could be complex and not easily explained in brief.
There are also clients asking for a ridiculous amount of keywords, stuffed into a tight 500 word article.
I’m not sure what their hopes are there… Google isn’t going to rank spam-ridden keyword stuffed articles. Even more so at that length!
However, some clients don’t seem to realise that Google has moved on from ranking that type of content!
You should also probably just go ahead and do what your client asks, (rather than giving them a crash course in SEO!).
Textbroker Tips
– Start out, (at least) writing by what you know. With pay this low, you don’t want to spend two hours researching and one hour writing… Just to make 7 Euros.
– Don’t accept a client who orders revision after revision. If it looks as though your client is too fussy; some writers’ have claimed it’s better to cancel and move to the next job, rather than continue and risk having the work rejected anyway.
– Before you take on a job, check the clients’ revision rates. You will be able to check out what percentage of orders they ask for revisions for! Obviously, the higher the percentage, the worse it is.
– One way to get long term, is to build up a client base of customers who want to buy directly from you in the future!
– Look at the job descriptions carefully – I’ve seen some clients’ appear so rude and demanding, simply do not order from them.
– Look for jobs that seem to be well described and make the project easy to understand. Go for clients’ who are polite and sound reasonable.
– You may have the opportunity to become part of a writing team. This can open the doors to more projects for you, so be open to this possibility.
Concluding Thoughts – Is Textbroker Legit?
I completely get why some writers’ can’t stand content mills. The rate of pay, especially in the beginning, can be far lower than minimum wage.
However, not all writers’ can just walk into high paying freelance jobs and get flooded with long term work.
I have heard of many writers’ supplementing their income with content mills, just to boost their earnings a bit when work is on the quiet side!
Being self-employed can be unstable income wise. You might have an amazing month, followed by a month of very little work!
So, it’s no wonder writers’ can turn to businesses like Textbroker…. Although, these can lead to long term Freelance relationships as well!
I’m just getting started with Textbroker, I want to check out the whole process. So, I will update as I go.
Want to learn from someone who has been successful?
A well-known success story in the online Freelancing world; is the lovely Gina Horkey.
Gina went from zero freelancing income, to $4000 per month in just six months.
If you’re interested in learning from someone who has been there and done it, she has produced an affordable course that I highly recommend. You can check it out here.
Do you have much experience writing for content mills? Let me know in the comments below!
All the best,
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