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Topic: Freelance Marketplace: worth it?
| Author | Message |
| Tee Poole | Posted – 6/26/2008 8:50:03 PM | show profile | email poster I've been an MB/Avant Guild member for years, but haven't yet tapped into the Freelance Marketplace. I'm considering it, but was curious about current users' opinions of it first. Is it worth the $14 monthly membership fee? Has anybody here seen good connections happen as a result, or does it amount to a basic directory listing with an occasional exchange for most? As I understand it, a user's "relevancy" and position in the marketplace is, or at least used to be, tied to how often they update their profiles. Is this still true? Would love to have your opinions. Thanks! Tee |
| inNYC | Posted – 7/9/2008 1:24:08 AM | show profile | email poster I posted a profile on Freelance Marketplace last month and was surprised to get a couple of bites right away. But that's not enough experience to give me a sense of what type of client tends to use the site to find consultants. Waiting to see... |
| write2rachel | Posted – 7/9/2008 2:22:53 PM | show profile I didn't think it was worth it at all... I had it for over 6 months. That's awesome that the previous poster got bites right away! You can do a search and find tons of people asking/responding about the FM. Good luck!! |
| MTCreations | Posted – 7/10/2008 11:36:27 AM | show profile Site oriented to writers (so it seems to me) If you're a writer / editor / content creator, this site might be worth it. Website developer/designer - not so much. (disappointing) |
| write2rachel | Posted – 7/10/2008 12:40:13 PM | show profile Just let me clarify... I think subscribing to the site is totally worth it. The extra for the FM... not so much -- for ME. I have seen many other responses. |
| Righter | Posted – 7/10/2008 2:21:19 PM | show profile I renewed this year after getting two great clients my first year, one of which is now one of my favorite clients to work with and has given me additional work after the first article. Even though in the first year I only got a couple of assignments, they more than paid the $140 fee, and I would have gotten more work had there not been scheduling conflicts (I was out of town and came home to an assignment on my voicemail that was given to someone else!). I do think it's worth it, but I also know it varies greatly with a lot of people. |
| studiokwriting | Posted – 7/10/2008 3:59:38 PM | show profile | email poster Absolutely! I just signed up a few weeks ago and I have already landed a job that pays the fee 10 times over! ------ Kristie Lorette Copywriter & Marketing Consultant www.studiokwriting.com 305.608.0408/904.213.1379 |
| JimmyG | Posted – 7/16/2008 1:19:25 PM | show profile I got several jobs soon after joining--which was very early on--including some monthly gigs that are still paying dividends. I also got a lot of strange queries, and some from underfunded/impossible startups and work-for-free publications that I dismissed. The first two years it more than paid for itself, but I haven't gotten so much as a nibble in the last year. Part of that may be that I need to update my posting or that I have too many clients listed and I may appear to be too booked up. Also, I know of too many people in my specialty who have been let go from staff jobs in the last three years and have turned to freelancing, which tends to dilute the market. Plus, some of the work has just plain dried up or gone in another direction. In any event, it helps to have a well-defined specialty or niche upon which to help distinguish yourself from the masses. The idea here is that an overburdened editor who has just been told by her/his boss that the magazine needs a story on widgets can do an easy keyword search and turn up a list of possible contributors on the topic and see examples of their work. I don't think many people search the FM under the keyword "generalist." |
| DQ102 | Posted – 7/18/2008 12:03:26 AM | show profile For the freelance writers who have gotten work from FM, can I ask what your specialties are? I am wondering if editors go on FM looking for writers who specialize in entertainment/media at all. Also, are you hearing from major magazines, trades, newspapers, Web sites? |
| JimmyG | Posted – 7/18/2008 12:22:50 PM | show profile I primarily specialize in automotive content and over the last three years my FM listing has garnered replies from a full range of media, including newspaper, online, consumer magazine, specialty publications and trade book sources. I've also gotten replies from odd sources, like a publication devoted to Southeast Asian U.S. transplants (of which I am not one) and several low-ball startups, a couple of which stiffed me for payment. I've probably passed on more assignments than I've taken, but have gotten about nine projects which worked out well, plus a monthly column and another regular gig editing and writing for a syndicated newspaper section. Still, as I said above, any queries from the listing, even the goofy ones, have dried up considerably in the past year. |
| maphop | Posted – 7/19/2008 10:30:48 AM | show profile Entertainment/Celeb Queries? Not What You Would Want To answer DC10's question, my experience after 2 or 3 years on FM is that the first year I had an airline magazine contact me for A-list celebrity profiles and offer me $.80/word for cover pieces with no travel expenses or additional compensation. Plus, they wanted reprint and resale rights. I said no. Since then I have received maybe 20 or 30 (maybe more?) queries but they've all been either seriously under market rate compensation (I typically earn $1.50 to $2.50/word plus expenses for cover profiles and while I might consider something for less where I maintain all rights, offers of $.20/word are money-losing propositions) or requests for free work for start-ups. And lots and lots of new writers asking how to break into the profile business. Oh, that and other writers asking me to either recommend them to editors (?) who are looking for profiles or asking me to give them celebrity contact information. Between that and the fact that no matter how experienced you are there doesn't seem to be a way to regulate how high your post shows in a FM search, I'm cancelling my subscription. Hope that answers your specific question about entertainment writing. |
| maphop | Posted – 7/19/2008 10:31:57 AM | show profile Crap. Make that DQ102's question. I'm obviously fixated on the airline industry this morning. |
| studiokwriting | Posted – 7/30/2008 11:52:44 AM | show profile | email poster Areas of specialty I specialize in the areas of personal finance, real estate, arts and culture and business. The job that I picked up from FM recently had to do with a combination of my location and my expertise. I have heard that frequent updates to your account help boost your listing. While I do not know for a fact this is true, it has worked for me. I update weekly and seem to stay within the top few pages of the specialties I am listed under. ------ Kristie Lorette Copywriter & Marketing Consultant www.studiokwriting.com 305.608.0408/904.213.1379 |
