Do you share your Constant Content articles on social media?

[LauraGinn]

I've started advertising a few of my gallery articles on Twitter in the hopes that it will build sales. No luck as yet, but it can't hurt right? I just wondered if anyone else shares their CC profile or articles via social media, and if you've had any success...

[Lysis]

I hope Twitter dies in a fire. The only Twitter account I ever made was for a friend so we could troll this chick. haha

Every time I think of Twitter, I think of Lindsay Lohan. Robin Williams dies and that waste of space hasn't killed herself yet unfortunately.

Oh, but to answer the question. No, no advertising here.

[ReneeF]

has never boosted sales for me, tried it. I have the RSS feed from here set up to autopost to my twitter and facebook. I'm never on twitter.. ever.. but i get a lot of followers, especially right after one of my articles here auto posts a link onto twitter.. its kinda.. well.. stupid and only serves to boost article page views via bot crawls, not much else..

the only time i have pulled customers into CC they never wound up actually buying from me. No, I dont take customers out side of CC because they always screw me over, try to steal content, or ask for mountains of work and then demand it for free after I've put in weeks or months of work into it, because it didnt cost me money to make the articles, they say, so they should be free.


I blog, I guest post on blogs, I'm a member of a community blog and post there nearly every week. but apart from that, my only sales are here and my only clients outside of CC are for initial website set up or troubleshooting.

Even advertising on Craigslist has never resulted in sales of article at CC or outside of CC, or webdesign projects. my blog has never resulted in CC sales, my guest posting or community blog posts have never resulted in clients at CC.. LOL...

if you want to make money, just keep a tight watch for general article pools to write for, thats about as guaranteed income as you can get here.

[LauraGinn]

Sorry to hear about your experiences with clients outside of CC Renee. I work for quite a lot outside of CC and haven't had any issues for a while - I had a lot of problems when I first started out though, with people not paying.

I prefer Twitter to Facebook for social media - that said, neither have increased my CC sales that I know of. Will let you know if that changes.

[Lysis]

The only time I've ever been screwed over for cash was when I let my guard down for someone I knew 4 years ago. Actually, it was a friend of an ex-boss who owned a business, so I let my guard down since it was a legit business with cash and someone I knew through someone I worked for for like 4 years. Sink or swim. Happened once and it will never happen again. Was only a couple of benjamins though. I can't imagine losing month(s) worth of pay. That's 5 figures for me and I would hunt that person down and destroy them Internet style.

[ReneeF]

The only time I've ever been screwed over for cash was when I let my guard down for someone I knew 4 years ago. Actually, it was a friend of an ex-boss who owned a business, so I let my guard down since it was a legit business with cash and someone I knew through someone I worked for for like 4 years. Sink or swim. Happened once and it will never happen again. Was only a couple of benjamins though. I can't imagine losing month(s) worth of pay. That's 5 figures for me and I would hunt that person down and destroy them Internet style.

I thought the person was a friend, she owned a busienss worth millions. worked 6 months on newsletters and product descriptions. she paid regularly for 2 years and the last project I did for her was worth 20 grand. it took me six month. when I was done ,she expected it for free. I found out, shortly there after, she lost her baby.. and now her business (she had built for 10 years) is nowhere to be found. I wound up homeless, forced to move to another state by family, wound up working work for free (to pay family back for shipping me 4 states away) for two years until I could move someplace where internet was accessible and I could work online gain... now, I only work through CC. at least i know they wont do that to me.

[LauraGinn]

Wow, that's awful. I'm not sure what the laws are like in the States, but in the UK we can make a claim in court for the money owed. Was there no way around getting the money she owed you? I wish there were laws that protected freelancers better. Unfortunately over here, the laws just take the majority of the money we make, and offer little protection in return.

As for working with private clients away from here, I think it's wise to provide clients with contracts which state what you agree to regarding the content, and what they agree to regarding the payment process and times. And if they are not based in the same country as you, you can ask them to use an Escrow service. For large jobs I generally ask for weekly payment too.

I got ripped off by an Indian company a few years back, and I'm now really wary about working with anyone outside of the UK. I will do it, but my payment terms are very strict until I can trust them.

[Lysis]

Wow, that really is awful. In my situation, the guy said he found someone cheaper and his words to me were "how much do I owe you but keep in mind I found someone cheaper." I really wanted to reach through the screen and kill him. We're talking like $200 though, but damn $20k? Did you have a contract? $20k would be worth some soulless lawyer who laughs when he bleeds someone dry to go after that lady.

I ask for half down with offline people, but as much as Elance is a cesspool, its escrow service is great. I had to file my first dispute though. It was an hourly job and I used WorkView and Tracker, so I'm not too worried about it. Elance guarantees and will pay you out of pocket if you follow their terms right but still it's $1400 that I'm waiting for that should have been paid 2 weeks ago. I don't work for Indian companies either, and this guy was listed in the US but I think he somehow got a US IP and I filter all other countries on Elance except the US. Weird thing is that I'm not entirely convinced that he had set out to scam me. He just didn't follow the standard signs of a scammer and the interaction didn't match, but you gotta separate your feelings from business and do what you have to do to get paid. His credit card failed and then he told me he had set up a bank payment with the system. It takes 3 days to verify but Elance only allows 5 days to claim a dispute, so I went with my gut and filed a dispute instead of waiting for this bank setup. He sent me a screenshot of the confirmation page and even asked if I wanted a bank transfer, but I declined. First guy I'm not entirely sure about, but this is why I stick to people only in the US/Canada/UK/Aus. I don't think he was a scammer, but I think he budgeted too much or just didn't have the funds. Not sure.

I have a set list of rules that send red flags, and it's worked for me. I won't even work for someone who sends me a message that starts off with "Kindly." LOL

[Lysis]

ha The Elance dispute system works. They docked me 1.5 hours that I didn't use WorkView but I got my money. Lost $50 from not using WorkView but I'll take my payment for the other work.

So, yeah, gotta give Elance some credit. Their system works if you use it right.

Talking about it and 3 mins later I got my money. Nice.

[LauraGinn]

I've had to use the dispute system on Elance too before, and I got my money, even though it took over a month. The client ordered some work and needed it urgently so I did it the same day. She was happy with it and published it, and then disappeared without paying me. I complained to Elance and they gave her 30 days to respond before they gave me the money.

I have lost lots before though from non escrow related jobs. Thankfully the majority of my clients are UK based, so I'm covered through the small claims court if anyone decides to publish without paying.

[Lysis]

I did a major push on Elance after the editing job's funding died. A lot of people are going the hourly rate now, but WorkView and Tracker are pretty intrusive. But, they are safer than escrow as long as you use the system. The problem is that you actually have to work those hours and can't just complete a gig for a certain amount of money.

I've found that it's best to bid on jobs in your same country. I think people just feel more secure when you're in the same country as they are.

[JDWhang]

Nah. I wouldn't want to destroy the romantic image people form in their heads when I tell them that I'm a freelance writer.

[Abbamay]

$20K, Renee?? That's terrible. Obviously if you had some way to claim some money back you would have tried... I don't suppose you've started writing a book about it all, have you? You must have been through a lot so you would have some interesting things to write about.

Well, I can't compare to that, but I do know what it's like to edit a book for a friend and after spending all my free time for months they thanked me by giving me... a copy of their book. Ouch. Happened twice so I don't edit for friends now!

Have a good night everyone. (Depending on your timezone.)

Abba

[LauraGinn]

I run a book review website Abba, and I had someone get in touch with me asking me to edit their book and write a review. At the end of it, they just thanked me. No hint of payment at all! I don't think they realise how long it actually takes to read through 70,000+ words and edit it. I tried to halt the correspondence after that, as the book wasn't even that good anyway.

[ReneeF]

$20K, Renee?? That's terrible. Obviously if you had some way to claim some money back you would have tried... I don't suppose you've started writing a book about it all, have you? You must have been through a lot so you would have some interesting things to write about.

Well, I can't compare to that, but I do know what it's like to edit a book for a friend and after spending all my free time for months they thanked me by giving me... a copy of their book. Ouch. Happened twice so I don't edit for friends now!

Have a good night everyone. (Depending on your timezone.)

Abba

I didnt have the $5,00 retainer fee, so yes, I tried... but when you are broke, you are broke.