The Textbroker Solution: Gig work as a freelance writer
First, thank you for posting.<p>Speaking as a publisher who has spent over $5000 on their platform over the past couple of years, TextBroker offers a very valuable service for people who are otherwise shut out of the job market. I took the time to get to know a few of my favorite writers.. here are their stories...<p>- Several are working in countries where they cannot get a work permit (cannot support themselves via legal means)<p>- I&#x27;m almost certain several of my writers have criminal convictions, which blocks you from most white collar jobs.<p>- Many of the rest are the victims of age discrimination, where hiring managers &quot;just prefer&quot; to hire younger people or decided that anyone &quot;out of the workforce&quot; a few years must surely be damaged goods.<p>If you can write passable text, Textbroker really doesn&#x27;t care who you are. That&#x27;s huge benefit, in terms of getting access to work and being able to put a gig on your resume.<p>By the way, they&#x27;re not the only game in town. Another good option for US writers is Constant Content, which allows you to publish &amp; market pieces in a &quot;catalog&quot; at higher rates. I&#x27;m a writer on that platform.<p>But since people are agitated about the money side, let&#x27;s talk about that topic.<p>Are there higher paying freelance writer opportunities? Certainly. Take a look at Problogger or Media bistro. However, get ready to spend unpaid time pitching... and chasing people for payment. (so a bunch of unpaid hours and social stress from pitching, plus the risk of unpaid work)<p>Upwork is another option, although the competition can get pretty brutal. I&#x27;ve found I can buy content for less on Upwork than Textbroker. Too many people want the same gig. I tried applying to a few gigs as a specialist contractor and was blown out of the water on rates (50% - 80% below what I was asking for). I will say a few folks have found a way to make it work, usually for high end specialty roles.<p>Where TextBroker excels is as a dumping ground for unused time. Go chase higher paying gigs... and if you can&#x27;t sell a full book of work, Textbroker gives you a way to recover some of the value of that time.<p>Also... there are some highly productive ($$&#x2F;hour) writers on Textbroker. I worked with a few of them to assemble an article on how to level up your earnings at a content mill.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;highestpayinggigs.com&#x2F;freelance-writing&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;highestpayinggigs.com&#x2F;freelance-writing&#x2F;</a><p>It walks through how to go from making minimum wage (as a entry level writer) to about $40 - $50 per hour (between productivity hacking, direct orders, and leveling up the quality rate). And shows you how to recycle your work to build your own websites as a longer term investment.<p>Is it my life plan? Nah, I&#x27;d rather go write software and do data science. But in case of emergency, that is most definitely something on my to-do list....<p>The part I really admire about TextBroker is the relative openness of their market for people who are otherwise not able to participate in the regular labor market. This includes:<p>- Unable to work a traditional 8 hour shift in person<p>- Travel &#x2F; Visa restrictions<p>- Criminal Record<p>- Lack of &quot;credentials&quot;<p>- Socially Awkward &#x2F; Interview Challenges<p>- Ageism &#x2F; Lifestyle Discrimination<p>The latter is significant to me personally, since it became very apparent a few years ago that I was an &quot;increasingly undesirable candidate&quot; to many employers due to my age.<p>It may be illegal, but nobody is enforcing it....