Is Blogmutt A Scam, Or A Legit Freelance Writing Opportunity?
Earlier this week, I stumbled across a website called Blogmutt. The friendly name and appearance of the website appealed to me and I decided to take a look into it.
company: Blogmutt, (blogmutt.com)
Money Making Opportunity: Freelance writing.
Verdict: Legit, but… *Blogmutt has experienced some negative feedback, check the comments sections for further details. If you have had experience with this company, please leave a comment below and help other writers!
Review In Brief: This website could provide a way for you to get your freelancing career off the ground, or to simply earn some extra income writing online. Unlike other freelance sites, you don’t need to compete with others – you get to pick the topics of your choice and get started.
(pssst…. if you’d like to know how you can turn your passions and interests into an online business: this place taught me how!)
So, What Is Blogmutt About?
Blogmutt is a website that provides writing opportunities for freelance writers – as well as providing content to bloggers and business owners to purchase.
As someone who has both purchased content and written content for others, I was interested in what this platform had to offer.
Before I continue with this review, I should tell you that Blogmutt is only accepting writers located within the USA.
Blogmutt is not just your average content mill – it is specifically aimed at small business owners and blogs and their rate of pay is reasonable.
Those looking for content need to sign up with Blogmutt for a monthly membership fee. The fee will depend on how much content you require.
A list of keywords will then need to be provided and these keywords will be then given to the writers who are signed up with Blogmutt.
For the purposes of this post, I will be largely focusing on what you can get out of Blogmutt as a freelance writer.
Becoming A Writer On Blogmutt:
If you’re a keen writer and interested in freelancing, Blogmutt takes writers from all walks of life, backgrounds and experience – but you do need to be a US resident.
If you’re looking to get your foot in the door in the online freelance world, this could be a potential option for you.
First thing is first and that’s getting signed up. This is straight forward and simple to do.
However, you will need to prove that you’re a US citizen by providing either your linkedin, or Facebook profile link.
If you’re not on any social media networks, that’s also OK – you will just have to contact them for alternatives.
You will need to complete a writing test to ensure that your writing is at a good standard.
All you need to write is a single sentence, but it must fulfil the criteria laid out and, of course, it must be grammatically correct.
Blogmutt And Pay:
As a writer, you’ll be paid for the content you’ve produced, once your post is published.
However, customers do have the right to ask for posts to be edited and they are also able to reject posts for any reason.
The rates of pay are as follows, I will explain the levels in a moment.
250 words = $8, (available to all writers).
600 words = $19, (all writers must be at level 4).
900 words = $40, (all writers must be at level 5).
1200 words = $72 (all writers must be at least level 7).
There are points that you can redeem each time you write a post. The more posts you get accepted, the quicker you will climb through the levels.
Each post you write = 2 points.
When your post is approved, you earn an additional 18 points.
The levels Are As Follows:
Level 1 = 12 points
Level 2 = 50 points
Level 3 = 250 points
Level 4 = 750 points
Level 5 = 1500 points
Level 6 = 3500 points
Level 7 = 5000 points
Level 8 – 10000 points
Level 9 – 20 – you need to get an additional 10,000 points to progress to each next level.
So, actually, you can see that it could be straight forward and fairly quick to climb to the higher levels.
PROS VS CONS
PROS
– Straight forward points system.
– You can easily search through posts on topics you’re interested in.
– A reasonable level of pay in comparison to many freelance writing sites.
– There is no payout threshold, so you can cashout no matter what.
– You’re paid weekly, via Paypal.
– There are plenty of clients and it’s growing.
– You can get feedback on your work, if it’s rejected and this can help you to improve.
– You can choose from a wide variety of topics, so there is a good chance that you’ll find something that interests you.
– At the higher level, you can also get a stock option. So, if Blogmutt decides to sell, you can earn a certain percentage from the sale of the business.
– You have the ability to set goals and this can help you remain motivated.
CONS
– Only US writers can apply right now, which is a shame.
– Your post may not be chosen at all, which will feel like a waste of time.
– Some writers have complained that their accounts have been suspended for no obvious reason to them, even when they’ve been 5 star writers, had a long relationship with and had produced a lot of content for Blogmutt.
– Some writers claim they’ve been treated badly, with zero explanation and their emails are not responded too either (see comments for experiences).
Tips For Blogmutt Freelancers:
-Visit the blogs/websites of the jobs you take and you can get a real feel for their style and what content they’re more likely to accept.
– Search for topics that you have SOME interest/expertise in, this will help you produce better content in the beginning.
– Ensure you are aware of all the rules/terms and conditions before you begin and this will reduce your risk of having your account suspended.
Blogmutt Complaints:
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Some writers have complained that $8 for 250 words is not enough:
Well, why it may not be a huge amount, 250 words can really be written pretty quickly. So, I don’t personally agree on that point.
Once you’ve been freelancing for a while, you can go on to other platforms and request more for your time. But it could be a way to get started.
Where is your favourite place to freelance? Let me know in the comments!
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Some writers complain that their work can be rejected:
Again, I don’t think this is a fair complaint.
The company or blogger is paying for a certain standard and if they don’t think that’s what they’ve got – it’s fair enough that they reject the work.
At the end of the day, this is a potential way to get your foot in the door, right?
Once you’ve started freelancing and have some experience, you’ll be able to take your business to the next level and branch out.
If you want to skip these sort of websites and freelance on your own from the get-go, I recommend you check out this course: 30 days to freelance writing success.
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Some writers claim they’ve been wrongly suspended for plagrarism:
Some writers have claimed they’ve been suspended for plagiarism, when they argue that no plagiarism has taken place.
They don’t appear to be able to argue their case.
Blogmutt chuck them off the platform, (no reason given) and then have not responded to emails.
This seems like an incredibly unfair way to treat their writers. At worst, they could at least inform them of the reason they have been suspended.
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Accounts Suspended Without Reason – Some Claim It’s With Money Withheld:
Some writers claim that their accounts have been suspended, without reason and with money still owing.
Blogmutt apparently leave a message on the suspended accounts, to say that their is no point contacting them regarding suspensions, as they won’t respond.
Is that any way to treat someone who has been working for you? This sounds pretty disrespectful, what do you think?
Blogmutt have said in response to the suspension issue: One reason that that Blogmutt suspend writers, is that they don’t respond to them when they message them with a problem.
So, if you do join, do ensure to respond to any communication.
Is Blogmutt A Scam, Or Legit? Final Thoughts:
Clearly some people have had a negative experience with Blogmutt – but for all those, there are many of others happily writing for them.
For all the complaints against Blogmutt, there are hundreds of writers who have had a positive experience.
Blogmutt have thousands of writers who work for them in the US, so I would say you should take negative comments with a pinch of salt before you’ve tried them out for yourself.
That being said, they clearly have left a lot of writers at a loss to why they have been frozen out of the platform, (see comments) and I feel there needs to be some improvement, as far as communication goes!
If you’d like to share any of your own experiences, sharing them will be helpful to other people considering writing for this website.
All the best,
Some other posts that may interest you:
- 40+ ways you can make your first dollar online.
- 14 ways to make money from a WordPress Website.
- How to make $100 a day online
Hi Nat,
Nice review! I worked with BlogMutt for about 13 months, during which I submitted hundreds of posts for clients of all shapes and sizes. And while I do think it’s possible to earn a few extra bucks there, I wouldn’t recommend it to any serious freelancer.
As you mention, BlogMutt pays $8 per 250-word post. That sounds decent on paper, but you have to remember that BlogMutt earns $17 for each of these posts. And writing a post doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get paid for it.
BlogMutt operates in a similar way as 99Designs, where multiple providers provide their service to clients. BlogMutt even refers to this format as a “weekly contest in which the Customer is the sole determiner of the content selected” on its terms and conditions page. Clients often reject blog posts, citing reasons such as “I selected a different post” or “I already have too many posts on this topic.”
BlogMutt says the average rejection rate is about 10%, meaning for every 100 posts a writer submits, about 10 will be rejected by clients. What they don’t say, however, is that many clients cancel their subscription before posts are sold. If you submit a post to a client with a long queue, you may have to wait several months for it to sell. And if the client cancels his or her subscription during this period, your post won’t sell at all.
Long queues are common at BlogMutt; I’ve seen some clients with queues spanning over a year. Investing your time and energy into writing a post that may sell for a measly $8 a year from now is downright ridiculous.
Secondly — and most importantly — BlogMutt will ban writers for no apparent reason (or at least no reason given). After my year-long professional relationship with them, I was shocked to discover that I could no longer log in to my writer account. They didn’t tell me why they had banned me, nor did they respond to my emails inquiring about the suspension. Considering that I had roughly over $1,100 of unsold posts in my account, this was troublesome to say the least.
BlogMutt doesn’t have to be a failure, though. If they start listening to their writers and treating them with respect instead of just putting on this facade, perhaps they can succeed.
Hopefully this helps other freelancers who are looking for writing opportunities.
Thank you so much for this – this can really help readers who find this review gain more of an insight. I will also update my review slightly to include some of this information. So, if you had so much of your writing still on Blogmutt at the time they let you go, presumably they will not use your work!? I do think it’s terribly unfair to not even communicate with the writers they’re throwing out, after such a long time and clearly so much work put into it. The way the system works doesn’t sound very practical either.
They suspended my account after my first post. Is that all?
There have been frequent reports of this happening and unfortunately, they do not want to give people a reason for their suspension. Although, it generally seems to come down to them believing the content submitted is duplicate content – not original basically, or spun.
You could try contacting them, but I believe they won’t normally respond, which is why a lot of people have complained about the how writers are treated.
I think I know why this is happening to people at blogmutt. The way that they determine writing quality and plagiarism could lead to the process being unfair. Blogmutt relies on it’s writers to tag content that they personally believe to be poorly written. Furthermore, higher level writers or level 8 writers are given the power to report plagiarism. For each, submission they mark as being plagiarism where Blogmutt thinks they are correct they will receive $10. This is an incentive to report writers for plagiarism even when they don’t really think it is plagiarism.
Hey Elizabeth, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing this information. This is very interesting indeed and certainly explains a few things. I can imagine that getting this payment could definitely be a motivation for some to report people, even when they are innocent. This is surely something Blogmutt needs to look into! Thanks for stopping by! Nat
I have not had experience with this one but only with Iwriter, which I will never do again as far as it goes with Iwriter, however, this site seems as though it may be fair as it pays more. 250 words is not a lot, even for a high quality article. And I see and understand the need for US based writers. Makes sense to me completely.
Hi there – what was your experience with iwriter? I have got the odd thing from there, more from an outsourcing perspective. 250 words takes no time at all in my opinion! Thanks for your comment.
I wrote two articles for this site and I got banned, just like that. Not sure what for, because my two articles were totally legit and I spent a good amount of time going over them, editing them to perfection. Did I mention I’m in a literary magazine?
Hi, thanks for your comment Payton – that’s very interesting, this does seem pretty common.
Hi, so sorry to hear about these difficulties with BlogMutt. I’ve written for them for awhile, just reached Level 5. I’ve had no problems at all.
I would encourage all freelancers to stay active on more than one site as I’ve worked for a few that sold out or just went down the tubes.
Remember the old saying about not keeping all your eggs in one basket? That is appropriate for this business. For me, BlogMutt has been a worthwhile, part time project!
Hey Becca, thanks for your comment!
Good advice there – not to keep all your eggs in one basket and I do agree with that.
Pleased to hear that Blogmutt has been working for you 🙂
Hello,
Great review of Blogmutt. I have heard of this program in the past and could never find a good review. Good thing I found your review post. It was packed with a lot of valuable information and I have passed it along to my friends to read as well.
Keep up the good work and I will be a returning reader.
Thanks,
Shawn
Cheers Shawn, I’m pleased to hear it was helpful to you!
Thanks for taking the time out to write a comment. All the best, Nat
Great review! I’ve never heard of Blogmutt before. There are a lot of freelancing websites out there. I appreciate knowing that you have paid for written content and written content for others. This let me know that you know what you’re talking about when it comes to freelance writing.
I haven’t looked into freelance writing much, but do other freelance websites require a signup process like Blogmutt? I understand that they want to know you are a U.S. citizen and a good writer, but it still seems like a big process.
Sounds like a great opportunity. Thank you for this information!
Weston
hi Weston,
Thanks for taking the time to comment,
Some freelance sites are very simple to register – it’s just a case of uploading your details. In this case it’s a bit more in depth, as you must be a US citizen.
Hi, I just started on blogmutt a week ago and I got a message yesterday, saying that one of my articles was plagiarized. I trashed it and started working on two more articles and I got a very sudden message this morning that my account has been suspended. Definitely not worth the work.
Thank you for taking the time to comment Rebecca!
Hello everyone……. my account got suspended on my first try which I feel was unfair. For starters, I strictly followed all the guidelines with my links and ensure absolutely no plagiarism. It took me awhile to work on my piece which even a professional writer friend of mine thought was a good piece.
After reading comments here and from another blog on the same thing concerning suspensions…… I think its safe to say this company isn’t that good. I think the way they treat their writers with no explanation and rudely saying “don’t try to contact us” is just rude. I was seriously crushed and was beginning to doubt myself until I found out from other writers.
Seems many people are having a similar experience here! Many thanks for sharing your story, I’m sure it will help others. Nat
BlogMutts is horrible! Their “team” is kind of weird. They lecture writers about how “communication”is so important but they will just brutally kick you off the platform with NO communication as to WHY? It’s true. You can be a great content creator and the small businesses on the site WANT your work, rate you high and request you as a preferred writer, but the “team” just says F-you, your done, no reason AT ALL. Could be something as minor as two spaces after a period, etc. but you will NEVER know b/c the “team” is one some weird power trip. It’s crazy. Small businesses are being screwed by not having access to content creators they want and liked. I think this company has a literary Nazi mentality or maybe they just don’t know the difference between a good BLOG versus a boring “perfect” article. Whatever. They suck IMHO. If you want to be brutally blocked without ANY communication, go ahead and “work” for them. I’ve talked to too many bloggers who have ZERO respect for this site, and also some small businesses that are baffled as to the methodology the “team” uses. I think they are afraid that truly engaging content writers are going to try to steal their customers or something. I don’t know of any other site so strange or tries to tear down bloggers the way this site does. There’s no logic to their methods and some of the bloggers they DO keep on the site truly are horrible and boring content creators, but they seem to”like” them. Is it just some weird clique or something? Crazy place.
Thank you for your input and feedback TAD – it seems there are plenty of people who feel there are a lot of problems over there. Thanks for stopping by, it helps other writers that are researching this company. Nat
So I just wrote my first post for Blogmutt. 100% my content on Kids Fitness. I tried to log in today to check my status for review and received a message saying that I was suspended and could no longer write for BlogMutt and that no emails with questions regarding suspensions would be answered. This is a little bit ridiculous. They give a list of reason that you “may have been” suspended, but no details, and no way to find out.
Gross, BlogMutt.
Sounds like this is very common — thank you very much for sharing!! Are there any other companies online you’ve had a better experience with?
These idiots at blog mutt retain your information even when you ask them to delete your account. I would not reccomend it. I made email took test and failed. Then made another email and took test, these idiots failed me once I pass the test. They’re not worth it
Thanks for taking the time to comment Rosselin!