TextMaster.com is an interesting little site that is fairly new but already has a reputation for being a good way to get started as a freelance writer. They make the claim that they are writer centered and by all accounts are fair and honest.

Joining TextMaster

This site has a bit of spin to joining in that there are several parts to the site itself. To become a member of the site, you simply sign up and verify your email address. Then you can go and explore the site.

The first thing you will notice is that you aren’t actually a writer for TextMaster until you apply and are accepted. There will be more on that in just a second, after I explain what you are looking at on your screen.

There are 3 categories on TextMaster that will be of immediate interest to you: Copywriter, Translator, and Proofreader. These are the 3 areas that you can apply to for work.

You are probably most focused on the copywriter position and for good reason but we should take a brief look at the other two as well.

Whatever your native language is the site will make that your copywriter language. However if you speak more than one language you can also apply as a translator. This will open you up for additional jobs.

The proofreader job is essentially light editing and mostly focuses on grammar and spelling errors along with typos.

All three positions require a sample or test of some sort but none are difficult.

Your Dashboard

As soon as you have joined the site you will have access to your Dashboard. This is a simple layout without a lot of bells and whistles to distract you. The first thing you will notice is that a running tally of you earnings as well as projects is readily available so you don’t have to go looking for it. There is also an in site mail system; if you have mail the site will tell you. Beyond that it’s a basic page that gets the job done.

Your Profile

This is interesting because it’s both detailed and very private. Your name, address and phone number is all there but that is kept completely private; only you and Textmaster.com have access to that. What clients see is the About Me section. You can change all of your information as often as you like.

You can choose up to 7 interest categories and then select a star rating based on your expertise in the area. Because your list of available jobs is based on this list, you might want to tweak it to get the best search results. It’s not a long list and the categories are fairly standard with one exception: There is a separate are for the sensitive topics of religion and pornography.

A really unusual aspect of this site is that it asks what file extensions you can open. In all of the sites I have reviewed this is the only one that asks that question.

The About Me section is nothing but a textbox that you fill in with whatever you want. This isn’t overly impressive as far as profiles go but it seems to do the job. Do not put any contact information into the box. They don’t like it when you try to circumvent their no contact with clients rule.

Applying for positions

Applying for these positions is as easy as clicking on the link from your Dashboard. You will be taken to a very simple page that has a drop-down selection for language and then a writing block. Here is the testing breakdown:

• Copywriter- You will write between 150 and 250 words based on a photograph. It’s free topic writing as long as it pertains to the photo provided. If you don’t like that photo then simply select a different one.
• Proofreader-You will be given a sample of text to correct and submit.
• Translator-You are given a paragraph of text to translate.

The writing box has nothing in it and it is as basic as it gets. You will have two chances to apply for each position.

The notification time was really quite impressive; a few hours to a few days. For most sites of this size the typical turnaround time would be at least a week. So they are doing that particular job very well.

Finding a job on TextMaster.com

There are two methods of finding a job on this site: Look for one and wait for one to come to you. You can click on the “Find a Task” button on your Dashboard and search for a job. The jobs that will be available are based on your interest criteria.

Waiting for a job to come to you simply means that when a job that meets your criteria becomes available the system will send you an email letting you know provided you have selected this option on your profile. There will also be an in house email generated that will appear on your Dashboard.

Editing

The editing here is rather interesting. I’ve not heard of any significant issues here and I haven’t personally experienced any. However there are a couple of things that are a little troubling.

First of all there is no direct client to writer communication which almost always increases the issues with editing. I never like that. Then there is the warning that if a writer has a lot of requests for rewrites or changes their status may be downgraded and eventually suspended. I have a big problem with that.

When writers cannot directly communicate with the clients then there are going to be a lot more rewrites and revisions than if the writer could just ask for clarification.

More importantly, revisions are a part of writing and the potential for a penalty strikes me the wrong way and this is especially true when the penalty is not only draconian but grossly subjective. In this case the writers have no idea what constitutes “too many” revision requests. There is also the problem with the fact that often it’s the editor making the decision to request a revision, even before the client sees the work. Then if the client sees the work there might be another revision requested.

Like I said, I haven’t actually heard of this being a problem but the fact that it’s part of their policy makes it a problem for me.

Earnings Potential

If you are new this can be a bit confusing so I’ll try and break it down for you. There are several different levels of writers on this site and they are ranked in two different manners. Your initial level after submitting your sample is going to be Bronze. This means that you have written less than 10,000 words. The more words you write, the higher your level is going to be. The levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Platinum. Ok, so right now you are Bronze.

The rank you receive on your sample is one of 3: Basic, Standard or Expert. So if you do well on your sample then you might enter the site as a Bronze Standard. That would mean that your initial pay rate is 3.9 cents per word. It sounds low but you can move up quickly. If you do well you will be rated again and if you are granted the expert level then you get a bump to $0.10 a word. You can eventually make more than $0.15 per word.

Getting Paid

No set pay period here. TextMaster.com has a payment threshold of $70. Once you reach that you can click to have the money transferred to your PayPal account. You knew it was going to be PayPal, admit it!

This is not a bad site but it’s a young site and it’s still getting some of the kinks worked out. I see a lot of potential here if they eased the restrictions on client-writer communication as well as their revision policy. Doing both would attract more quality clients as well as writers to the site and could make it a force to be reckoned with very soon. Now is a great time to sign up for an account even if you do nothing with it because I expect the site to grow.

Happy Writing!