Has anyone had any experience writing for examiner.com? I found a wide array of opportunities writing for different facets of their site this morning at freelance writing gigs. This is what they have to say and what/who they are looking for:
It’s a Freelance Smorgasbord
Be a National Examiner for Examiner.com
And Become a National Celebrity
Web 2.0 goes Local!Have you ever considered what it would be like to create an entirely new web property that is truly ground breaking and exciting? How about the chance to be viewed as the Martha Stewart or Tony Kornheiser or Joe Scarborough or Jim Kramer or Chris Matthews or Emeril of the online world?
If you have a burning passion for informing others about subject you love, this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for! As a National Examiner at Examiner.com you’ll be part of the freelance team offering news and local information to communities across the country. Examiner.com will provide you with the platform you need to build the national presence and reputation your friends and family wish you had! Imagine millions of people waiting on the edge of their seat for what you have to say next! Not since childhood have you received this kind of attention!
As a National Examiner, you will be integral part of the team that is developing a new way to create and distribute news and information. By using Web 2.0 technologies and what we know about delivering compelling content, Examiner.com will become the premier destination and a launching point for the local markets across the country. Clarity Media – a unit of the Anschutz Entertainment Group – has launched the next version of Examiner.com as the local online provider that will become the envy of the industry. Examiner.com will offer news and local information in 59 major metropolitan areas. We are re-creating online news venues from the ground up in terms of both technology and content delivery – to establish a national brand that is the destination of choice for local information. Using technologies like video, internet radio, photographs, blogs and good old fashioned reporting, local writers will publish content that matters to their local communities and even national readers. This is the chance to offer news and local information the way you’d like to see it!
Think about what people will be saying one year from now:
“Examiner.com is where I go to find the most compelling news and information on the web. They showcase both the local and national news stories I care about with all of the necessary links to what I need to know.”
“I love the commentary on our local community – I really appreciate the honest, fresh, controversial and even irreverent viewpoints. It offers the kind of balance I really appreciate.
“The videos are incredible!” They obviously do their research and scour all of the relevant multimedia sites for the best local information.”
“The Local City Guide” is my trusted resource for finding local information on restaurants, events, movies, nightlight, shopping, traffic, weather, local government and yellow pages. This is where I go when I want to find out what’s happening.”
Sound exciting?
A National Examiner’s posts will appear in all 59 markets. The focus will be on broad topics that have national appeal. A National Examiner is a freelancer who is looking for a large audience and enjoys informing others about subjects they love. Ideally, you’ll become the authoritative guide to your specific topic. You’ll become a household name and eventually, someone will name an appliance after you. You’ll be a regular on the talk show circuit and if you hurry, you’ll make it to Larry King Live. Your unfinished meals will be sold on eBay. There will be rumors that you’re actually the adopted child of Brad and Angelina. You’ll have the paparazzi watching as you order dinner with Guy Fieri at T.G.I. Fridays. Does it get any better!
A National Examiner is considered a key contributor to Examiner .com. Your presence will bring national attention to subjects you care about. Your ability to capture people’s attention, to inform, to touch their hearts and make them think will shape public opinion.
Our National Examiners represent a diverse set of magazine writers, online writers, housewives, TV personalities, PhDs, college students and more. The common link is they share knowledge in useful ways. You know these people: they get others excited about what they care about and can share what they know in a fun, useful, non-pompous way.
Using the examiner library of templates to post, a National Examiner will be expected to link to, comment on and /or write recaps, event previews, news and major events specific to their topic. Ideally, Examiners will post at least three times a week. Post should take no more than 15 to 30 minutes to prepare. It’s expected that Examiners will stay on top of what’s happening regarding their topic and ensure their page reflects those events.
Unlike some bloggers who focus more on themselves and/ or cover many different topics, National Examiners look closely at topics and examine every aspect of them. Together they form a pool of credible knowledge that becomes a national guide to our culture, its people and their interests. In essence, national Examiners create connective tissue linking national perspective with the local knowledge provided by local Examiners in cities across America. Does that sound like something you’d hear on Masterpiece Theater or what!
One of the best parts about being a National Examiner is where and how you work. You can work from your home office, an internet café or just about anywhere else with an internet connection. If you work from home, dress is optional. Outside of the office, dress is required, at least pajamas.The compensation for this role will be based on page views. There is an opportunity for incremental variable compensation based on your level of readership. The goal is to make you as rich and famous as possible. No kidding, this is like having your own Hollywood agent!
The talented people we’re looking for have deep expertise and interest in one of the following subjects
1. Travel/Autos
2. Health/Relationships/Spirituality
3. Home & Living/Shopping
4. Recreation/Fitness
5. Technology/Games
6. Families/Education,
7. Community/Real Estate
8. Business/Jobs
9. News/Politics
10. Sports
11. Pets
12. Arts & Entertainment
13. Restaurants/Bars and Clubs/Food &DrinkWe’re looking for people whose knowledge and expertise align with the subjects we intend to cover. If this is you and you have a desire to share your views in useful ways, Examiner.com can give you the voice you’ve been looking for.
If the idea of being a national online celebrity is something that gets you excited, we’d love to hear from you. If you’re more interested in becoming a contestant on a Japanese game show, we might suggest career counseling. Otherwise, please send a resume in MS Word or PDF format to info@fitzdrakesearch.com. Please indicate in the subject line of the email what subject area you’d like to write about. After a quick review, we’ll get back to you if we think it makes sense. Otherwise, we’ll catch up with you another time.
My concern is that they don’t clearly specify pay. I figure I might apply, read the contract, see what the pay is like and give it a try. I’ll keep you posted. Also, if this sounds like something you want to apply for let me know your topic/subject.
UPDATE: I just applied to be a wedding examiner. I’ll let you know how it goes.
More UPDATES: I heard back from them (a personal phone call no less!) but unfortunately it wasn’t the right fit for me. Their pay is similar to other pay-per-click sites at a rate of $2.50/per 1000 page views. Add that to their 3 weekly post minimum requirements and it’s personally too much work for too little.
7 comments
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July 2, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Debbi
I’m wary of ads like this. Promises of “national celebrity”? And quotes from people who will be talking about this next year? Where did they get those, from a crystal ball?
This looks like red flag city to me. Here’s my prediction: the unmentioned pay will be very, very low. Possibly nonexistent.
But keep us posted on how it goes.
July 7, 2008 at 8:26 pm
blueeyegirl
Debbi-
I’m on the same boat…I wouldn’t write for them if the pay is nil. I found this contract online while researching pay rates:
http://www.examiner.com/assets/Examiner_TOS.html
though I haven’t had time to decipher it yet.
Digging further, I found a blog post by Kevin Allman who sums it up:
May 29, 2008
Write for free! at Examiner.com
The latest in the Write For Free! series:
Chris Landers at the Baltimore City Paper notes that Examiner.com is adding a lot of bloggers to its site. Their compensation?
“Consideration: In consideration of the Services, you will be provided exposure of your name and the Web Page. You understand that you will not initially receive any other compensation for performance of the Services. However, if the Web Page obtains traffic levels and/or other performance metrics determined by Examiner.com from time to time, you may be eligible for a performance-based incentive (“Incentive”), which would be paid according to a formula and metrics to be provided to you by Examiner.com, as modified by Examiner.com from time to time in its sole discretion.”
De-bullshitted, I think that means that Examiner.com might pay its bloggers someday, if the site achieves some amount of traffic that they will determine, though they could move the goalposts at any time, and then they’ll decide what the pay might be and let you know.
I’d say that the best way to get “exposure of your name” is to start a blog under your own name and not someone else’s umbrella, but I guess that would limit the chance ever to earn a “performance-based incentive.”
The entire blogger agreement is here. I ran a word count: 4266 words. I guess the Examiner.com bloggers are expected to read that for free, too.
July 30, 2008 at 5:57 am
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August 5, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Traci
Hahaha! Thank you sooooooo much for this article. I, too, have recently been ‘offered a postition’ with the Examiner, and after reading through all of thier site information, I also experienced some trepidation concerning the pay rate. The fact that no specific pay was mentioned was definately a red flag, but I figured that I would apply and hopefully discover the fine print that way, and then I stumbled acrross this blog, specifically blueeyegirl’s enlightening post.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, blueeyegirl and Lisa for providing all the pertinant information (like the blog post by Kevin Alman) that kept me from wasting any more of my time resposnding to ‘pay-per-click’ bs!
August 8, 2008 at 10:52 pm
blueeyegirl
Hi Traci-
I’m glad this post was helpful for you. I think by now I can safely say that working for these kinds of content sites is ill-advised. It’s not even minimum wage!! There is something so frustrating in the world of writing when clients/content sites think that they can pay their writers nothing but “name recognition”. Do they realize we have to put food on the table and pay our bills too? Argh! This is a frustrating topic for me. If these sites want good writers than they need to pay for them. This is the only profession where skills and ability is not paid its weight. \
There I go again off on a tangent. Anyway, thank you for commenting, and I am glad that I gave you the information needed to make a (wise) decision.
Happy writing!
-L.
February 1, 2009 at 3:07 am
Kitty
I was an examiner for a week till I clearly saw what examiners’ prospects are. Only when admitted into the examiner publishing tool does one get to see the average # of page views local examiners receive. Based on my earning rate of $.01 per page, the average examiner in my city earns around $17./month! At least a third, if not more, of their emphasis is on self promotion, social networking & keeping your profile high on sites they provide links to as if your time spent crafting articles & the article itself weren’t enough to earn a fair compensation.
June 23, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Kenneth Burchfiel
I found some pretty positive comments about Examiner.com on another writing blog (link: http://angengland.com/can-you-make-money-writing-for-examinercom/ ). It seems to suggest that, if you keep up with their writing guidelines, making some extra cash shouldn’t be too difficult.
One commenter by the name of Annalise said that “I have been an examiner for less than a week and my revenues far exceed my expectations considering the time period. By far one of the most lucrative gigs on the web.”
I don’t work for Examiner (though I do write articles for Suite101), but I’d say it sounds like one of the more legitimate online writing sites out there.