Here are a few reasons as to why writing for iwriter is a complete waste of your time if you are not a proficient and fastidious writer:
- Low Pay
As a Standard Writer at iwriter,
you will earn about $ 2 for the article, which has taken you a considerable
time to write. This is, of course, for a 500-word article. I consider that to
be too low owing to the numerous freelancing opportunities available online. Therefore,
if you are capable of writing more articles, say five such articles, you will
only make $ 10. That is not bad for a newbie. However, compare that with
academic writing where you can earn $ 20 per order (CPP of $ 5 multiplied by 4
pages) and consequently make $ 100 after just five orders and reviews. The
choice is yours.
On the other hand, you will have to
master their text editor. Otherwise, it will ‘swallow’ words when you save your
precious article. Personally, I used to let it stay on the screen for around
three minutes in order for their system to save the words, all of them.
- Strict ratings and reviews
An a newbie, you have to pass their
initial multiple choice questions and then you pass with flying colors due to
your wit and intelligence. Alas, that is not the only hurdle you have to pass.
I was also surprised. The good thing at that point is that you are allowed to
pick articles from the cue and start writing immediately, which is so exciting
for a new writer!
As usual, the editors monitor each
article submitted and the corresponding rating and review. Apparently, they do
have a strict policy regarding the ratings and review from the requesters (who
are like your employers). New writers probably are not aware of this. They are
just thinking and building castles in the sky about how they are going to spend
all those dollars and take a break from the hustler life. Nevertheless, after
just five articles he/she is left with egg on his/her face and because of these
dreaded ratings and reviews. If your writing is poor, your ratings will suffer
and consequently are banned from the website.
- Lack of articles in your niche
Another headache for a newbie, who
just joined iwriter, is that there are few articles in your niche or area of
specialization. Sometimes there might be no articles at all for several hours
or even an entire day. Here, I was not being choosy because if you just stick
to your niche, it will take a few days for a favorable article to appear. It is
like waiting for a matatu in the middle of the night on Langata Road after a
night out in Carnivore; and remember the lose lions.
According to other blogs such as
this, the strategy of combating such a headache due to lack of articles is to
be nocturnal. For me I cannot be nocturnal like an owl because I like my sleep;
but I yet to test this strategy of searching for favorable articles at night. I
will try this only when I move to academic writing where it is really worth it.
- Lack of a favorable requester
Requesters, who are also known as
employers vary very widely and some of them just do not want anything less than
the best. Maybe they think some of us are robots or other automated machines.
Quite a number of the requesters on iwriter are really biased in that they
compare you with another writer who has been on the service for a few months
but were promoted to either Premium or Elite status. These new groups are paid
a higher rate and some of the requesters cannot afford them. Therefore, they go
for Standard Writers who are paid less and expect them to be perfect as those
previous writers.
Fortunately, requesters have an
approval rate that is visible to the writer. The Standard Writer can then
choose wisely and pick articles whose requesters have an approval rate of more
than 70%. Any approval rate that is less than 70% will result in low ratings
for the writer if he/she is lucky to be paid the measly $ 2. Others may not pay
you at all. A requester might also reject your article for minor reasons such
as placing a semi colon where in should not have been.
Concluding remarks
In my personal experience with iwriter,
they declined to transfer my hard-earned dollars to my chosen withdrawal method
– PayPal. Concisely you have to be excellent in your work and nothing else. No
human errors and nothing like ‘just average’. On top of that, you have to
produce original content.
On a lighter note, there are many
other freelancing websites to try your luck before giving up, but do not forget
to also pray to God. For Africans who speak and write English as a Second
Language – after Kiswahili and Mother Tongue, there are free grammar tests and
lessons online for someone who is determined to make a living online. White folks
have been ‘eating’ from the internet for too long and I think it is time we
Africans joined the frenzy through freelancing on this site, for example.
