If you are just getting started as a freelance writer, the company I have today might be a good place to start. Many writers report earning $800 to $1,000 a month on this site. It’s called Express Writers and it has a lot to interest writers new to freelancing. While this site is definitely not right for every writer, keep reading to find out it if it is right for you.

Who they are

Express Writers is a content development company that enters into contracts with clients. Writers fulfill the contracts for a portion of the proceeds. They also hire editors. They are interested in SEO copywriters, marketing writers, and technical writers.

Applying

This is a fairly intricate process, which is surprising given the level of writing and pay. You submit a basic application with personal information, a resume or CV, and samples. Then if they are interested, you take a couple of tests to determine things like SEO awareness, English fluency, spelling, and grammar.

Dashboard

It’s a basic user interface that is quick, intuitive, and well designed. There is only a short learning curve to it and most people have it figured out quickly. Like most other companies, it’s designed to facilitate you working as quickly as possible.

Working

You don’t get to choose either your topics or articles here. They are assigned to you. You do have the right to refuse but will want to take care to use the right of refusal judiciously, especially in the beginning. You write the articles for Express Writer, submit them, and are paid.

There has been talk of allowing people to specify interests so that writers would have more of a choice in choosing topics. As of this writing, however, that is still in the planning stages. There is an amazing variety of brands that have used Express Writers and likewise the variety of topics should not only help you stay interested but should also help expand your writing knowledge.

One of the positives that Express Writers stresses to their clients is that while they are SEO aware, they write for readers first and search engines second. This means the new freelance writer will not be forced into keyword stuffing, which makes their writing look stilted and awkward.

It’s interesting to note here that there is a confidentiality agreement that prohibits active writers from talking about the jobs they do beyond approved samples and a mention on their resume. Some writers have an issue with this but this is standard for all content provider services. Many clients take credit for the words written. That is the nature of this particular business.

Editing

The editing is pretty basic. You complete the work and submit it to Express Writers. They evaluate the work and either send it through. From those who worked there for a decent amount of time, the editors are friendly and the process is relatively painless.

There is feedback from the team leaders and editors to the writers. This is helpful to new freelance writers who may feel a bit adrift in the writing world. The communication is said to be good between writers and editors so that is a point in their favor. There are many places where there is no communication between editors and writers. That is never a good idea because it creates an adversarial relationship instead of a collaborative partnership.

Communication

There is a policy here that I really despise. It’s not an unusual policy and many, if not most, writing companies have it. The policy prohibits and even prevents direct communication between the writer and the client. No one is fooled by the reasons here. It’s to keep the writer and client from cutting them out of the money.

The problem is that means there is almost no way to get clarification on what it is that the client is wanting. You have to hope that the instructions are clear or that your team leader responds in a timely manner. Again, this is not an unusual policy but it’s one that most writers loathe. If a chief complaint from writers working with Express Writers exists, this would be it. Writers have unclear instructions and have to wait while the team leader clarifies the situation. It’s time consuming and often there isn’t enough time for that.

This is not a company where you are going to make long-term writing clients. You will be writing what is assigned by your team leader and being paid by the company. It’s a great place to get started in the business. You will learn the ropes of online writing and SEO with style as opposed to keyword stuffing.

Payment

The easy part of this is that you will be paid biweekly, on Friday, through PayPal. Now comes the tricky part and that is to figure out how much you will be making come payday.

Payment is around one cent per word. Unfortunately, it’s not really that simple. You are paid based on your projects and completed work. As you have seen, you will have little control over that. Generally speaking, it’s $57.69 per 5000 words, which is also considered to be a full day of work. Provided you get 5000 words to write.

There are bonuses and awards that can increase your pay based but it’s never good to plan on those. Always plan on what is guaranteed and not what might happen. Many long-term Express Writers state that they tended to average around $800 to $1,000 a month, depending on how often they worked.

One issue here is that there is no transparency. The writers have no idea how much Express Writers is being paid so there is no way to determine what percentage goes to the writer. Many companies do this but I tend to prefer those that are more upfront about what they are keeping of the proceeds.

Another issue, and this one is open to a lot of conjecture, is that many writers felt they were required to work 6 days a week. Others tell me that information isn’t true at all and they were only working maybe 3-4 days a week. I’m going to take a guess here and suggest that this might be the difference in team leaders and personality quirks.

Tips

• According to a few long term employees, do not refuse any initial writing assignments. People who do will quit being asked and eventually dropped. Write them, learn from your mistakes, and move on to the next assignment.
• Don’t look at this a permanent or even long-term. See it as a stepping-stone and keep looking for other work and other clients. They pay isn’t enough to support yourself and the work is grinding. See it for what it is and keep looking for other opportunities.

My recommendation here is basically the same as it always is for new writers: write where you are paid but always be looking to move on to writing that will pay you enough to support yourself. If you are an absolute beginner with no idea how to start, this would be a great place. You will learn a lot here. You can take those skills and apply to sites that pay better or start pitching ideas to clients that you find on your own. Everyone has to start somewhere and this is as good a place as any.