New Examiner.com thread

[Thrillride]

I checked this, Examiner does not allow page count scripts. It contributes to their problems with the software and is grounds for termination.

Got it. I've never bothered with it anyway.

[Words Are My Life]

Hi guys-

I have just been picked to write for examiner. I am excited to do it even though it is not a lot of $$ b/c I like my topic and will be glad to have a collection of articles on this topic.

The only thing that is making me nervous is putting my Social Security # into the background check thing.

Did everyone else do that?? Did any problems come from it??

Thanks!

[herdon]

Hi guys-

I have just been picked to write for examiner. I am excited to do it even though it is not a lot of $$ b/c I like my topic and will be glad to have a collection of articles on this topic.

The only thing that is making me nervous is putting my Social Security # into the background check thing.

Did everyone else do that?? Did any problems come from it??

Thanks!

Giving out your SSN is pretty standard stuff when you are wanting to get paid.

[Words Are My Life]

Giving out your SSN is pretty standard stuff when you are wanting to get paid.

Thanks.

I think I was just nervous, b/c this is the first freelance thing I have done completely on the internet.

I am lucky to have gotten other gigs through people I know personally.

But after reading all the information here and on other sites I have read enough to know this is legit and not a scam.

[inkkognito]

I was actually right in the midst of a news story for Examiner last night. I was on the Disney Wonder cruise ship when they rescued a moron who had jumped off a Carnival cruise ship. Here is my piece: http://bit.ly/s479T

I didn't even realize what was going on when I went out on the verandah. I just knew they were using the thrusters a lot and that there were lights on the water and the Carnival ship was very, very close to us. Of course I had to post it as soon as I got home.

[stldenise]

Ha! I loooooves me a controversy! I wrote about Obama's speech and hit the top 5 in my city. I've gotten more hits off this than I've seen in a long while. Why, I think I have as many page views as Ink gets in a day talking about roller coasters! :)

And comments! I have actual, real live comments! One guy even accused me of being a lefty who deletes all the comments! Geez, if he only knew -- what a moron.

[inkkognito]

And comments! I have actual, real live comments! One guy even accused me of being a lefty who deletes all the comments! Geez, if he only knew -- what a moron.
I had a live one yesterday who claimed my article was actually written by a Disney PR person because it was all about the Wonder, not Carnival's own rescue efforts. Uh, yeah, should I report on Carnival not even being able to get their rescue boat in the water without capsizing it? I left the comments there because I figured they speak for themselves.

[tpridgen]

I don't get a whole lot of comments, but when I do they're either a) marketing messages [e.g. "great post! check out such-and-such at blahblah.com"] or b) unintelligible to the extent that I can't figure out their point.

[beforehecheats]

Just wanted to brag for a second! Today I was one of the first news sources on the web to have a COMPLETE list of the Country Music Association Award nominations this morning. As of right now, the article is ranked as number 2 in Nashville. Wooo.

http://www.examiner.com/x-16513-Nashville-Pop-Culture-Examiner~y2009m9d9-Country-musics-biggest-night-nominations-for-the-CMA-Awards-announced-this-morning-are-here

[JanineWrites]

Forgive me if this has been discussed already - but I was unable to find it...

How long did it take Examiner to get back to you after applying?

[tpridgen]

Forgive me if this has been discussed already - but I was unable to find it...

How long did it take Examiner to get back to you after applying?

Less than a week. I think it depends a lot on what channel you're applying in. My edition and channel didn't have a lot of active contributors, so I think that helped.

[Satori1977]

I was wondering if anyone here has suggested a new city? The city I live it is not listed, though it is pretty big and well-known. Do you think I should suggest to them to write for that city, or just pick another city?

[WriterKM]

Did you all get the e-mail about the new compensation model? I wonder if they are going to lower our pay again. Hmmm....

[tpridgen]

Did you all get the e-mail about the new compensation model? I wonder if they are going to lower our pay again. Hmmm....

Got it. I'd love to know how it's going to alter the pennies I'm currently getting. I have to say I'm stoked that some of the dead weight in my channel might be culled, though. There are people who haven't posted anything in months who are still listed as active Examiners.

[WriterKM]

I have to say I'm stoked that some of the dead weight in my channel might be culled, though. There are people who haven't posted anything in months who are still listed as active Examiners.

That was nice to see. I am glad that at least they are giving us warning about whatever changes they are making to our pay, instead of doing it first and making us badger them into telling us what happened. This fact makes me hopeful.

[veinglory]

I am sure the culling has nothing to do with the fact innactive Examiners are not elligible for pay out even if they have over $50 due to them....

[Words Are My Life]

I was wondering if anyone here has suggested a new city? The city I live it is not listed, though it is pretty big and well-known. Do you think I should suggest to them to write for that city, or just pick another city?

I applied to the Philadelphia edition...but wrote some place that I actually wanted to do suburban NJ right outside of Philly...and they accepted that.

[Words Are My Life]

So I started about two weeks ago...and am up to about $3.00. Was that about what other people saw during their first two weeks?? Or am I behind?

[stldenise]

So I started about two weeks ago...and am up to about $3.00. Was that about what other people saw during their first two weeks?? Or am I behind?

I think my first month I made just shy of 20 bucks and didn't qualify for a payout.

You should see better results as you get the hang of it, post a lot and get picked up by Google. After 4-5 months I started getting at least a dollar a day. I haven't done much better than that yet (after 7 months) except for a couple times where I hit a hot topic and got tons of views. But I can't talk politics all the time - I'm a parenting examiner!

How many views you get also depends on subject matter. We've been told that most of our views come from people searching on Google, so make your titles interesting (but searchable)!

[Words Are My Life]

I think my first month I made just shy of 20 bucks and didn't qualify for a payout.

You should see better results as you get the hang of it, post a lot and get picked up by Google. After 4-5 months I started getting at least a dollar a day. I haven't done much better than that yet (after 7 months) except for a couple times where I hit a hot topic and got tons of views. But I can't talk politics all the time - I'm a parenting examiner!

How many views you get also depends on subject matter. We've been told that most of our views come from people searching on Google, so make your titles interesting (but searchable)!

Cool thanks!! I am mainly doing it to increase my article count and expertise on an area I am interested in writing in. The money is not really my concern, but I figure it's good to know the popular trends and try to keep up. I have heard a few people say they do better after they are established. I always make the better money writing about boring topics (mostly directly for companies), so this is barely any money but gives me a chance to promote a fun topic.

Yes, I used to do SEO work at an old job of mine, so I totally get the search engine part. I also do Twitter and Facebook. Do you use any other ways of promoting?

[mommyjo2]

My first month I made $30 and this month I'm up to $65, since I figured out how to use Google Trends. But my topic isn't "sexy", either.

My biggest hits articles were covering the Obama speech (got 27 comments!), Meteor Shower, and Sept. 11 Activities, all of which were topics I cribbed from Google trends.

[mommyjo2]

I tweet my articles with hashtags and FB it at the same time with Tweetdeck. I also have a personal blog that gets about 1200 hits/week and I post some of my articles on the sidebar, there.

I'd love some tips for promoting articles while maintaining credibility/not coming off as a spammer!

[dog352]

Did anybody receive their payment this month yet? Wasn't it supposed to be given out yesterday?

[herdon]

Yesterday was Sunday. Many companies don't work on Saturday and Sunday. Crazy, huh?

[Thrillride]

Did anybody receive their payment this month yet? Wasn't it supposed to be given out yesterday?

I was paid yesterday.

[stldenise]

My manager sent out an interesting email today. She said basically that she's cracking down on off topic posts - and that if they're really bad, she has the ability to delete them.

Cool. Glad someone is working on quality control!

[WriterKM]

My manager sent out an interesting email today. She said basically that she's cracking down on off topic posts - and that if they're really bad, she has the ability to delete them.

Cool. Glad someone is working on quality control!

Wow. I didn't think they cared quite frankly. It's good to hear that they do.

[mommyjo2]

I'm an Amazon affiliate from on of my websites. I also want to talk about books I like/recommend. Can I link to my amazon page with an affiliate URL, or do I just need a general URL to Amazon?

What about other sites, I'm an affiliate for a couple of homeschool stores/bookstores.

[tjwriter]

I applied for the Evansville New Moms Examiner Sunday evening, but I've not heard back yet.

So, I've been outlining articles in my spare time (for more than just Examiner).

[lsk]

Heee-ay. Im new. I am writing at the examiner, obviously. Im not sure if Im putting this in the correct place or not, but I have a few questions:

- is anyone else having trouble getting into the epicenter/forum area now?
- how do you find your pictures for articles--the ap photo search seems pretty useless--for me at least--and am not comfortable grabbing pictures from other places on the net without permission--yet dont have regular press credentials. do most people have press credentials to get photos or do you just ask permission from people as you go, do you buy or take your own photos? also, when you get permission from a person to use a personal photo--ive done this on occasion from people on facebook for instance, should i keep that email as proof or just assume i am covered--do you need to keep proof from people that you are using thier photos legally is what I mean I guess. I see some people posting pictures in their articles with NO credit at all??
.. I guess that's it for now. Ill check back and see if anyone answers. Since I cant get into epicenter now I have no place to submit a ticket and email doesnt seem to be helping me much.. people are pasting the same information over and over--which isnt helping.. :(
Lori

[tjwriter]

How long did it take for you to get a response after you applied to Examiner? I still haven't heard a thing.

[Words Are My Life]

How long did it take for you to get a response after you applied to Examiner? I still haven't heard a thing.

I think it took about a week.

[stldenise]

Heee-ay. Im new. I am writing at the examiner, obviously. Im not sure if Im putting this in the correct place or not, but I have a few questions:

- is anyone else having trouble getting into the epicenter/forum area now?
- how do you find your pictures for articles--the ap photo search seems pretty useless--for me at least--and am not comfortable grabbing pictures from other places on the net without permission--yet dont have regular press credentials. do most people have press credentials to get photos or do you just ask permission from people as you go, do you buy or take your own photos? also, when you get permission from a person to use a personal photo--ive done this on occasion from people on facebook for instance, should i keep that email as proof or just assume i am covered--do you need to keep proof from people that you are using thier photos legally is what I mean I guess. I see some people posting pictures in their articles with NO credit at all??
.. I guess that's it for now. Ill check back and see if anyone answers. Since I cant get into epicenter now I have no place to submit a ticket and email doesnt seem to be helping me much.. people are pasting the same information over and over--which isnt helping.. :(
Lori


My favorite place to find legal photos is Flickr.com. You need to do an advanced search and click the "creative commons" button down at the bottom, and click the button that says something about commercial use.

Flickr is a photo sharing site for regular folks, so it's important to add that "Creative Commons" to the search - those are the photos that people don't mind being used by bloggers.

BUT if you have the time, I don't see why you can't ask people for permission to use their photos - they might let you.

I'm not sure what kind of photos you're looking for, but Flickr is remarkably helpful. I'm a parenting examiner, so I use a lot of my own photos as well.

Morgue file is another good site http://www.morguefile.com/ with creative commons photos. And I've heard people use stock exchange http://www.sxc.hu/ but you have to watch out - some photos are free, some aren't.

Another hint - if you do find a nice photo to use in Flickr, even if it is marked creative commons, drop the photographer a note that you used their photo with a link to your story. A) the photographer will be happy to see his/her stuff getting used B) the photographer will visit your site to see the photo in use and might even tell a few friends, generating a few extra clicks for you!

And about the people not crediting their photos - they're in the wrong. You need to credit photos, even if you took it yourself. My ch. manager has sent out emails getting on people's cases about not crediting. You can put the credit in the photo caption, or at the bottom of the article. When I do a slide show, I sometimes put in the front page "All photos by Denise Bertacchi unless otherwise noted."

[nancy sv]

Hmmmm.... I always use my own photos and never credit them! Maybe I need to start. I have been also been doing a series of interviews with other cyclists and roadschoolers, and they ahve sent me photos, but I didn't bother to credit them either. I guess I should probably go back and edit, eh?

[stldenise]

Hey guys, I need a little advice.

I while back I picked up a 2nd topic. It's something I enjoy doing, but apparently I don't enjoy writing about. :( It's scrapbooking. I just can't seem to find the time to write really good content, because I feel obligated to DO the project first, take pics, then post. And I don't always have time to do the scrapbooking in the first place.

The second site isn't getting any hits AT ALL. If it gets 20 hits a day, it's a good day. Many days it gets 3 hits. Poop.

So, should I give it another try and post like crazy, or drop it?

Which leads to question 2. I've noticed that there are openings in my first channel (parenting) for national examiners - several would be mirrors of what I do locally. My local examiner is doing ok, and this topic is a better fit.

Should I ask to go national? Should I ask for THIRD post that's national, or drop the scrapbooking and just have two parenting posts? Do you think they'll look at my good writing as a Motherhood Examiner and say "yes" or my crappy attempt at scrapbooking and say "no"?

Thanks for letting me muse...

[stldenise]

This is a totally separate question - anybody notice their hits going down? There was grumbling at the epicenter forum that Google isn't picking us up like it should. This month is back to ho-hum, but last month was AWESOME. I don't know if this month is normal, or if I should be doing better....

[tpridgen]

This is a totally separate question - anybody notice their hits going down? There was grumbling at the epicenter forum that Google isn't picking us up like it should. This month is back to ho-hum, but last month was AWESOME. I don't know if this month is normal, or if I should be doing better....

Yes. I was doing great last month compared to my local edition (and the F/P channel in general). This month? Eh.

(And how do you get into the forum? I didn't know there was such a thing.)

[kriswriter]

Yes! My hits have gone way down this week and especially the past few days. I was doing really well and now all of a sudden several of my articles are not showing up on Google at all. And these were breaking news articles. I don't know what's going on but it's really frustrating. I don't understand all the hit and miss and why some articles simply disappear on Google. I even searched my name and examiner.com and they didn't come up. They're not there at all. So weird.

[mommyjo2]

My hits are down, as well. Though, I've been at it since Aug.. made $30 in Aug, $70 in Sept., but I'm not on track for $70 this month.

Maybe I should figure out how to work Balloon Boy and Kate Gosselin into my topic...

[princessvessna]

My hits are down, as well. Though, I've been at it since Aug.. made $30 in Aug, $70 in Sept., but I'm not on track for $70 this month.

Maybe I should figure out how to work Balloon Boy and Kate Gosselin into my topic...

Don't forget Twilight!

[stldenise]

The forum isn't really easy to find. Click the help button over on the right side of publishing tool main page. Once you're in Epicenter scroll ALL the way down and you'll find the Discussion Forums.

Frankly, I've found AW to be more helpful for most things, but sometimes you'll get something interesting there.

Somebody started a thread complaining about the lack of Google indexing these days. Someone else (on page 3) said they heard from Joshau (the phone conference guy) that Google used to consider us "news" but decided not to anymore. Hopefully Examiner is working out the bugs.

[WriterKM]

So, should I give it another try and post like crazy, or drop it?



I would say, maybe give it another shot for a little while and see what happens. But I do find that sometimes things are better left as hobbies. When I have tried to write about some things that I love to do, it just didn't work out because I found it tedious. It could just end up being that scrapbooking is something that you love to do, but don't love to write about.

[WriterKM]

Whether or not Google picks up my stories as news (or sometimes at all) has been hit or miss. I have found that longer stories of mine do get picked up. When I am too busy to put up a longer story, even if it is tied into a current event, it doesn't get picked up (I am talking about what many Examiners do with a paragraph and a link type thing). So my guess is that all of the lazy Examiners that just put up two paragraphs and a link are being punished by the Google gods. I'm trying to watch the situation so that I can find a solution that works for my pages, but it is a mystery at this point.

[stldenise]

Since Examiner seems to be having trouble with Google lately, I was thinking we should try to do a little "social networking" right here at our favorite forum. I'm going to challenge each of the active AW Examiners to check out our fellow writers and subscribe to at least 5 AWer's that you like. These could be writers that relate to your topic or just people who write about stuff you like. (If you already subscribe to some AW Examiners - thanks!)

I think we should spread the good karma around and do some crosslinking, Digg, Stuble or whatever you like.

Also- and someone can correct me if you know better - I read something last night that suggested that Google will find your articles more quickly if there are links to them on forums. How about if we use the Support our AW Examiner's thread to tell others what we've been writing? We could post a few links back to our Examiner sites when we write about evergreen or national topics that people here on AW might be interested in reading. I'm a St. Louis mommy Examiner, so I won't bore you with local info, but maybe you'll want to see pictures of my backyard pumpkin head ghosts (made em' myself)? I'll go post a link at the other thread!

[WriterKM]

That's a good idea. There are some Examiners that I follow on Twitter and I will retweet their stuff that I like (when I catch it), so I could certainly do more of that too. Also, now that Examiner has an RT button right on top of the articles now, it will be much easier to do that. (I like the new changes to the Pub Tool as well.)

Should we start a separate thread for our articles so it is less confusing?

[Words Are My Life]

I tweet and I think I follow a couple of people from this thread. I will def. keep my eyes open to retweet you guys. I know I love having my articles re-tweeted.

[nancy sv]

I just posted a thread in the freelance forum about forming a group to tweet and stumble each other's posts! Lately we've been traveling hard, so I haven't have hardly any time in internet, but we are only 4 days away from where we'll spend a whole month - so I should be able to do a lot of promotion. If we all make a conscious effort to stumble each other's articles, it would go a long way!

[Skyraven]

Hi all. Just have an observation to make and please let me know what you think. I received my incentive payment for september and I find that I make more money through referrals than when I post articles. Also I was just looking through craigslist and found a post against examiner's payment policies. Its in the NYC writing gigs section. The person was basically bashing examiner for the intense application process and little to no pay. What do you think about this?

[veinglory]

Without seeing the original I can only guess (that I would agree with them). But if you make more from referals than by doing the job... that is what we call pyramid scheme.

Making a content site fair for content providers is hard, but in my opinion Examiner has not succeeded and is getting further away from that theoretical success with every passing day (i.e. getting fewer hits, paying content writers less).

[herdon]

Without seeing the original I can only guess (that I would agree with them). But if you make more from referals than by doing the job... that is what we call pyramid scheme.

Making a content site fair for content providers is hard, but in my opinion Examiner has not succeeded and is getting further away from that theoretical success with every passing day (i.e. getting fewer hits, paying content writers less).

It's only a pyramid scheme if you are trying to recruit new examiners based on how they'll be paid for recruiting new examiners. ;)

As for pay -- Examiner.com actually pays well enough compared to other sites that pay based on page views. For example, they currently pay more than About.com.

Where they drop the ball is management of the site and the Examiners. They do a bad job of teaching people how to make money through web writing and they do a bad job of managing the web portal. In many ways, they are still very much 'noobies' in the web content portal department and, unfortunately, they haven't hired any real expertise.

The low entry to being an Examiner will also mean that the payout will begin dropping (we've already seen the start of that), which in turn means more of the better Examiners will leave because they get less pay, which will cause the payout to drop more. That's just what happens when you go for quantity over quality in writing.

But until then, they actually pay out relatively well.

Put simple: Those that complain that they pay so poorly should really be griping that they offer little-to-no training, tools and assistance.

[veinglory]

They pay out as much as most content sites but less than some, below the line I would recommend anyone else to join up for. I stopped writing for them when it became clear it wasn't going to be much more than 50c an article and it wasn't going to be a "quality" brand--which is IMHO a lose/lose.

[stldenise]

I'm wondering if Examiner is ever going to get back into Google's good graces... Yesterday I made my town's Top 5 with 160+ page views. It was my best day in a while. I was really bored, so I posted three times, twittered it, did a Posterous link, and even managed to find a genuine NEWS story.

I think I'll stop my scrapbook examiner (my second examiner spot) that poor thing is getting no hits at all. I'll keep the Motherhood Examiner on life support in hopes of better days ahead.

[Lyra Jean]

I recently joined Examiner. This week actually. I don't see as a place to make a lot if any money but some money while getting in some practice. This works for me because it keeps me focused on one topic and I tend to go all over the place. So I do my best.

So really it's just practicing my non-fiction writing skills. I write about Palm Beach County history which is in Florida.

[mommyjo2]

Yeah, I've stepped back from Examiner for the time being. There is no encouragement or support, really, and often I feel like I'm shouting into the wind.

[tpridgen]

I feel like I'm shouting into the wind.

Yeah, and I just switched to a new edition so my few pennies are probably going to decrease to half-pence, soon.

[Autodidact]

Just popped in to say I resigned. It was a good experience, but after a few months not worth the time. As I suspected, it too easily tempted me away from other freelance, because it was emotionally more gratifying to put up a post than send a query that may or may not be answered. Since I quit I've been having more freelance success.

Also they pissed me off when they refused to send the business cards they promised. A small thing, but it bugged me.

I did learn a lot, though.

[lsk]

I was looking for something this morning and ended up on an article about celeb sex tapes, whatever, but the thing that got me was all of the direct links to the porn video itself. To each his own, I try to say... this really is getting to me... all of the disclaimers about the fact that you will be taken directly to porn this is NSFW, get your kids out of the room, feels odd on Examiner. Is this normal?? http://www.examiner.com/x-832-Celebrity-Examiner~y2008m10d12-Celebrity-sex-tape-guide Perhaps this is.... normal. :(

[lsk]

Just popped in to say I resigned. It was a good experience, but after a few months not worth the time. As I suspected, it too easily tempted me away from other freelance, because it was emotionally more gratifying to put up a post than send a query that may or may not be answered. Since I quit I've been having more freelance success.

Also they pissed me off when they refused to send the business cards they promised. A small thing, but it bugged me.

I did learn a lot, though.

I had to buy my own business cards. !^#!

Hey, if you don't mind my asking, what did you learn from this experience with examiner.com. I am pretty new there. Not sure if I will continue, probably not, too time consuming.

[stldenise]

Isk:
I think I'd hit the report button on an Examiner article with porn links. That's just too weird.

When Examiner was very new, they offered some free business cards. I got some, then ended up never using them. I'm not doing the face to face interviews I thought I might for this gig.

A lot of writers at AW were first on the Examiner bandwagon. When it was new, it really looked exciting and had a lot of promise. However, it's not genenerating the income that pro freelancers need to keep them interested. And Examiner isn't picky about who they let write for them (and there's no editor control) so there's a lot of bad writing on the site. This doesn't help Examiner's rep.

Personally, I feel that Examiner is still fun for hobby level writing. If you write about things that you deal with normally - stuff you don't need to go out of your way for - it's fine. But if you choose a topic that requires research and interviewing, it's not going to be worth your effort.

I have to point out that some people are getting the traffic they need to make this work. They have good topics that draw in the eyeballs. But very localized topics may not do so hot. Like mine, St. Louis Motherhood. I've been at it since Feb. and I've only broken the $30 mark once - and that was a fluke because I was able to tie a hot national topic into my posts one month.

Plus, Examiner seems to be having trouble with Google lately and our stuff isn't getting into search engines like it should. This hopefully is a temporary problem, but it's hard to write when you know that no one is going to find you.

I'm sticking it out because my topic is easy for me and doesn't require a lot of time. You have to find that balance - time vs payout vs sheer annoyance.

Good luck!

[nancy sv]

I now have 3 Examiner topics and find I make enough on my International Travel one to make it worthwhile. My Bike Touring site doesn't pay off much, but I love doing it, so will continue. My Roadschooling one, however, I might consider ditching. I've only gotten a few articles up, but I just find any traffic whatsoever there.

[inkkognito]

My Orlando Theme Parks topic is still worthwhile, although I don't make nearly what I do for my magazine articles. I basically like writing about something I enjoy, so it's still worth my while. I wasn't thrilled when the pay rate dropped though...it's close to the bottom of my comfort level now.

[razibahmed]

What is the current pay rate?

[Thrillride]

Isk:
I think I'd hit the report button on an Examiner article with porn links. That's just too weird.

When Examiner was very new, they offered some free business cards. I got some, then ended up never using them. I'm not doing the face to face interviews I thought I might for this gig.

A lot of writers at AW were first on the Examiner bandwagon. When it was new, it really looked exciting and had a lot of promise. However, it's not genenerating the income that pro freelancers need to keep them interested. And Examiner isn't picky about who they let write for them (and there's no editor control) so there's a lot of bad writing on the site. This doesn't help Examiner's rep.

Personally, I feel that Examiner is still fun for hobby level writing. If you write about things that you deal with normally - stuff you don't need to go out of your way for - it's fine. But if you choose a topic that requires research and interviewing, it's not going to be worth your effort.

I have to point out that some people are getting the traffic they need to make this work. They have good topics that draw in the eyeballs. But very localized topics may not do so hot. Like mine, St. Louis Motherhood. I've been at it since Feb. and I've only broken the $30 mark once - and that was a fluke because I was able to tie a hot national topic into my posts one month.

Plus, Examiner seems to be having trouble with Google lately and our stuff isn't getting into search engines like it should. This hopefully is a temporary problem, but it's hard to write when you know that no one is going to find you.

I'm sticking it out because my topic is easy for me and doesn't require a lot of time. You have to find that balance - time vs payout vs sheer annoyance.

Good luck!

I'm coming really, really close to letting Examiner go. The payout is nil at this point (it was really nice before) - I'm guessing because of the lousy Google juice. So, I'm on the fence here.

[stldenise]

What is the current pay rate?

It's something like .9 cents a page view, and you need $20 in your account to get a payout. They only pay on the 20th, so if you don't have enough in on that date, it rolls over.

Pay all depends on how many readers you draw in. Some topics are hotter than others, some writers better than others...

[veinglory]

And site-wide, traffic is down. Way down. I stopped writing there when I made more per post on my own blogs.

[razibahmed]

http://traffic.alexa.com/graph?&w=400&h=220&o=f&c=1&y=p&b=ffffff&r=6m&u=examiner.com&

[razibahmed]

This is from Alexa.com. It shows that in the last 6 months, Examiner traffic did not increase significantly although they hired many new examiners.
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/examiner.com

[veinglory]

Exactly. 1000s more Examiners each adding new posts constantly. A few people might somehow be gaining traffic but the Epicenter shows that the usual experience is a drop that is very significant, added to the drop in pay rate. Also Google trends suggests Epicenter site wide hits are actually well down over a year ago. I make more off CMF and project wonderful--neither of which are goldmines.

[razibahmed]

Well, I think that the main mistake of Examiner.com is to cover only USA (and now Canada). Instead of hiring 10,000 examiners to cover just USA they should have hired 10,000 examiners to cover the whole world. What happened was that in the end, each city has too many bloggers/citizen journalists and majority of the topics are not fit for getting good traffic on a regular basis.

[veinglory]

I think they are a content site; they will keep hiring Examiners as long as people keep applying. They make no effort to avoid having duplicates in the same topic and town.

[razibahmed]

I wonder why the content sites like Examiner.com cannot understand the simple rule that if you try to play with search engines (like Google) then it will backfire sooner or later. The best way to ensure good ranking in Google search results is getting links from other blogs and websites not hiring another 1,000 extra content writers.

[herdon]

My traffic is up.

When writing for sites like Examiner, I concentrate on building up evergreen content. That's where you actually make money from revenue sharing sites like Examiner, About, etc. The hits you get from Google News are temporary bursts, not sustained growth.

[veinglory]

If the sites status had been retained, Google would be a reliable source of traffic as it is with my other sites. As it is Examiner is less likely to hit Google than my blogspot.

When it comes down to it, I do the the same thing on two blgs and Examiner. The two blogs pay a regular monthly check, Examiner has yet to pay me. I put my effort where it pays off--preferably at above minimum wage levels.

And frankly, I get more help and support from pay per click ad services than Examiner where I am meant to be a quasi-journalist.

No, I am not impressed. I have seen this before at Today.com and it doesn't end well.

[blueobsidian]

My traffic is up.

When writing for sites like Examiner, I concentrate on building up evergreen content. That's where you actually make money from revenue sharing sites like Examiner, About, etc. The hits you get from Google News are temporary bursts, not sustained growth.

I completely agree with that. Examiner has been great to me lately, because of the holiday spike associated with food articles. Personally, about 95% of my content is evergreen (I know that is made easier by my topic). I only wish that I had more time to write, but the last few months have been consumed by law school.

I'm on pace to hit 2000 PVs today, and I'm thrilled with that. No other content site is giving me nearly that kind of payout for the small amount of articles I have posted. I'm just going to have to work my butt off and find a way to ride this momentum through Christmas.

[stldenise]

I got a nice burst of pageviews this weekend. I reported on some fake polar bears in my zoo (ours died a while back and they put in Christmas light bears, it's hysterical) plus I've loaded some slide shows on my last couple posts. AND I found a couple things in my topic that I could call news, so maybe that's helping. I need to find newsy stuff more often!

[herdon]

If the sites status had been retained, Google would be a reliable source of traffic as it is with my other sites. As it is Examiner is less likely to hit Google than my blogspot.

They were never dumped from Google. They were dumped from Google News, which is not and never will be a consistent source of page views. The only reliable way to make sustainable income from sites like Examiner is to make sure you are getting a good flow of traffic through Google, not spikes from Google News or social media sites.

I do agree that they do a horrible job with training and customer service. But its not About.com. It's a content mill site. Their goal is quantity, not quality.

But as a content mill, they pay off the chart. (What does AC pay? Like $1 for 1000 pageviews? And Today.com paid at a rate of $2 and only counted unique page views because they were basically idiots, so the end result was similar to AC.)

[stldenise]

Anybody notice the new feature on the basic editor? It lets you search your old articles to quickly post links. Too bad it's only on the basic editor...that editor is as slow as snail poop on my computer. Anyone else have a problem with the basic editor?

[AmyHill]

I just started with Examiner (applied and heard back within a day) because I'd heard good things about their ad revenue from people at Suite101, where I've made a grand total of $5.50 with 78 articles since July. This thread made me kind of bummed out. =/

[inkkognito]

Anybody notice the new feature on the basic editor? It lets you search your old articles to quickly post links. Too bad it's only on the basic editor...that editor is as slow as snail poop on my computer. Anyone else have a problem with the basic editor?
I refuse to use the basic editor. Way too slow!

[veinglory]

Um, their positioning on Google news is why I went with them, and was a consistent source of page views for me until they were dropped. YMMV. But pickup by Google proper has also become patchy.

[stldenise]

I just started with Examiner (applied and heard back within a day) because I'd heard good things about their ad revenue from people at Suite101, where I've made a grand total of $5.50 with 78 articles since July. This thread made me kind of bummed out. =/

I'd still give Examiner a shot. You can use your research from Suite to write posts for Examiner. Examiner doesn't care if your stuff is original, just that it's yours. You can link to Suite (but not the other way) so you might be able to increase your traffic.

I've generally made the $20 payout each month once I got rolling and with minimal work. Just remember that Examiner is for short and sweet writing. Don't waste time writing research papers!

I haven't made big bucks there, but I find the site to be a fun outlet. Everyone's results vary because some topics are hotter than others.

[inkkognito]

Time Magazine article about Examiner and Google:

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1946348,00.html

[stldenise]

Ug. It doesn't make me very inspired...I'm just one little fishy in a great big swarm. No wonder I'm so low - I don't cover celebrities.

Anyone else notice a drop in hits lately? Or am I just really really boring this month?

[inkkognito]

I'm down, although still doing better than most. Disney World and other theme parks doesn't draw anywhere near what celebrities do, but it's still a pretty popular niche.

[stldenise]

I wonder what's up? Is everyone too busy Christmas shopping to wander the internet?

On a happy side note, I was checking out my name in Google Blogs to see if my Examiner stuff comes up there (it doesn't) but instead my name popped up on the blog of a person at Christian Science Monitor! (http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Bright-Green/2009/1209/three-good-green-reads-from-rot-proof-apples-to-a-revelation-about-everyones-favorite-reindeer) Whoo-hoo! The author sited my post about fake polar bears at the zoo and my reporting on all the other fake animals in the zoo. Got a quote and a link! I'm pretty happy.

As for the Google Blogs thing, my Suite101 work comes up there, but not Examiner. Weird. I would like Examiner is way more bloggy than Suite. In case your wondering, I'm not being all narcissistic, I was doing a test to see if this widget would work. It won't. I joined a twitter mom blogger group a while back, and they offer a widget to share traffic between members. You have to put the widget in your blog for it to work, but I would have to put it on each and ever post, and I don't know if it would even work if I did. Blah!

[nancy sv]

I'm a bit comfused about the pay at Examiner. I typically end up with about a penny a view - just slightly under, but close enough. But every once in a while, they don't match up AT ALL! For example, yesterday on one of my sites, I got about a penny per view, but the other one had 396 views, but I only got $1.10. I realize that I am VERY heavy on slide shows and that they don't pay as much for slide shows, but THAT much difference??

[stldenise]

Nancy:
Somebody else I know said their clicks didn't match up either. They complained and it turned out to be a glitch. Maybe send your channel manager a note.

[nancy sv]

Thanks Denise. I'll do that.

[nancy sv]

Holy smokes!! I'm now #2 in travel!! WOW!! I just put up a series of articles about our trip to the Galapagos Islands (http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-6098-Boise-International-Travel-Examiner~y2009m12d19-A-visit-to-the-Galapagos-Islands-Santa-Cruz) and it seems to be taking off! WOO HOO!!

[tpridgen]

I feel kinda bad. I switched editions a month ago and haven't written a thing since. After four months I haven't been paid a penny, so I'm kind of "meh" about the whole thing. I don't have time to promote the hell out of my column, and I can tell that neither local edition is getting that much traffic. Haven't decided whether I want to officially throw in the towel or just let my active status slide into the ether.

[nancy sv]

That's a tough decision. It took mine a while to do anything - I was lucky to get 20 cents per day. Now that I have a fair number of articles up, I find I end up with at least $1.50 per day - even if I don't do anything. If I am active posting stuff on Twitter and Facebook, I can get more. For me, it's worth it for now - I might change my mind in the future!

[stldenise]

Nancy, how many do you have up? This summer mine was doing ok without daily posts, but now I only get 30 cents without posting that day! I'm up to 153 posts.

I was checking the numbers, and I placed THIRD in my CITY for the year. I don't know if I should be happy, or sad that I could rank there with only 37,277 page views!

[lsk]

So, anyone have any clue as to why Examiner.Com articles are not being indexed on Google News? Is this the death of Examiner?? They've been looking into it for days..

[WriterKM]

Did you folks all get the e-mail today? What do you think about it? I'm torn...trying to figure out how this will affect my topic.

[lsk]

Yeah I just read it. It sounds like quality control. I don't think it should matter to anyone, stay on topic at a local level. Follow the rules etc :-P

[WriterKM]

Yeah I just read it. It sounds like quality control. I don't think it should matter to anyone, stay on topic at a local level. Follow the rules etc :-P

Right, except for the people who have topics that weren't local in the first place, like "whatever city video games examiner" and such. I think I am going to switch to national because this rule hurts me more than it helps. But for others, I think it's great.

[veinglory]

Video gaming still has local elements, like 'it was just released here', 'local tournament', 'best local deals' etc.

[herdon]

I'm wondering if and when they are going to cut the page view rate to pay for the local articles.

[AmyHill]

I just quit because of that email. I've only been posting a bit over a month and, while I was making more per page view than any other site, I wasn't making many page views. Trying to create sustainable content from a local perspective would just decrease my page views more and waste my time.

[veinglory]

Because I am inactive I never got the email, could someone please PM it to me or post it?

[herdon]

I sent you a copy of it.

[princessvessna]

Because I am inactive I never got the email, could someone please PM it to me or post it?

Strange - I am inactive but I got 2 copies of it. I PMd it to you.

[sugarloaf10]

I thought this was a good thing. It said that articles which meet the guidelines will be paid a flat fee PLUS the regular PPV it already receives, starting Jan. 23rd. For those of us with relatively low page views, this seems like it would increase our earnings tremendously, even if the flat fee isn't that much.

[veinglory]

It really wasn't very specific. I suspect it will, in practice, involve paying most people less--for example a flat fee only and no royalties. That's just the way it seems to go with content sites.

[princessvessna]

Oh, haha, I didn't even notice that the local email was attached after the one I got, or I would have sent that one (did someone else PM you the local one?)

[stldenise]

To bad they couldn't wait to send out the email until after they had all their details. I belong to an Examiner readers group (we promote each other) and the ones with vague titles (celebrity/TV) are freaked. I think they didn't proof read the email very well because they made it sound like they're going to start kicking people off if they can't write local. I don't think that makes any sense - if they wanted to eliminated Examiners I think they would have done it more quietly. I really think this is meant to be an incentive program to steer Examiners back into their topic. We'll see. Since I only want to write local, I have my fingers crossed that this works out for me.

[veinglory]

I did get a full copy. But I agree, it could have been clearer and less... alarmingly worded.

[petrified85]

Please read my post about Examiner.com being a scam. I used to work there so I know. They are doing this because many advertisers have backed out.

[stldenise]

Please read my post about Examiner.com being a scam. I used to work there so I know. They are doing this because many advertisers have backed out.

That's harsh. And why don't you work there now?

I read your other post. We know about the quality issues - that's a problem with any site that allows contributors to post live.

I think Examiner is doing some house cleaning to get back into Google's good graces. Examiner is a young company and suffering growing pains. I'm going to wait to see what they're offering with the flat rate before I judge this new push for getting local. AND local is what they were supposed to be in the first place, so I'm happy to see that they're finally doing something about their rogue writers.

[veinglory]

If the traffic reporting thing turned out to be true, that would be something of a deal killer.

[herdon]

I wouldn't quite trust an anonymous person on the Internet for any type of insider information. Besides, what he said really doesn't ring true from a common sense standpoint (both pausing and reducing page views? Why do both?) nor does it jive with what we know about Examiner.com (i.e. they don't track their own page views, thus 'pausing' them is unrealistic and 'reducing' them would run into consistency issues.)

On top of all that, I can say that all web companies tracking page views (including the one that Examiner.com uses and including Google Analytics) reduce page views to account for spiders, bots, etc.

[stldenise]

Herdon,
I was holding my tongue and trying to be polite. I didn't want to be accused of stomping a newbie! (Which was my knee jerk reaction - its the headshot, I just can't be mean while showing my scout side.) Yes, that Petrified guy sounds like either a disgruntled Examiner or just a trouble maker. I know that not all corporate giants are made of gold, but you just have to do a search on Clarity Media to know that they are a legit company.

Speaking of which, I was just searching Clarity Media...does anyone have thoughts on them buying NowPublic? And what that means for us?

[HeidiW]

New email just came out. I haven't read all the other info yet, but the up-front payment is a whopping $1 per article, up to 5 per week. I'm not surprised, that's pretty much what I expected. Not sure if it's enough to motivate me to keep my local topic going. Probably not.

Heidi

[HeidiW]

I will add, though, that I'm impressed with the FAQ they provided. Much better information that I'm used to seeing from most writing sites when changes are announced.

Heidi

[herdon]

Speaking of which, I was just searching Clarity Media...does anyone have thoughts on them buying NowPublic? And what that means for us?

The only real way I see NowPublic effecting Examiner.com writers is that some of the technology behind NowPublic might float over to Examiner, which is a good thing.

[herdon]

New email just came out. I haven't read all the other info yet, but the up-front payment is a whopping $1 per article, up to 5 per week. I'm not surprised, that's pretty much what I expected. Not sure if it's enough to motivate me to keep my local topic going. Probably not.


Honestly, I was hoping the amount would be very low. Otherwise, it might cause the overall payout rate to drop, which would mean a pay cut for national examiners.

I don't agree with the strategy tho. I think it is done in part because some examiners don't like that they make pennies per article, but a better strategy would be to spend the money to teach them how to write for the web.

[stldenise]

Herdon:
So where did you learn it? I'm thinking I could use some tips! Though I'm trying to make an effort to improve my networking skills this month, and I happened upon a website that will let me post some Examiner article teasers as a way to share links...

I'm hoping that Examiner will do enough house cleaning that people will be attracted to the site and it gets a better rep!

[herdon]

About.com does a great job of teaching the basics and giving the resources to learn more about SEO and web writing. The first three months working for them are spent in a special group where you are given some training to help you out. (And prep has a lot of training in it too, of course.)

The most important rule is to use a keyword phrase and use it in your title, metatitle (which are the same thing at Examiner.com) and the first paragraph of your article. If you research a good keyword phrase, this rule will help make sure people can find your evergreen material.

[princessvessna]

About.com does a great job of teaching the basics and giving the resources to learn more about SEO and web writing. The first three months working for them are spent in a special group where you are given some training to help you out. (And prep has a lot of training in it too, of course.)

The most important rule is to use a keyword phrase and use it in your title, metatitle (which are the same thing at Examiner.com) and the first paragraph of your article. If you research a good keyword phrase, this rule will help make sure people can find your evergreen material.

Yeah, loved About's program. They have lots of documents you can look at, that special group, webinars, etc. I've now got a lot of pieces at #1 google.

I use Google Adwords' Keyword tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) if I want to find a nice keyword phrase. You can enter a keyword you are thinking of and see an estimate of how many people are searching for it. It will also suggest synonyms. I've tweaked some keyword phrases that way - still the topic I want, but picking the best (and coherent! Need to consider that so it flows in your piece) keyword bang for the buck.

[WriterKM]

Does About.com have that same strong emphasis on Guides social networking and such? I have to say, I'm so done with trying to promote my Examiner pages. I like Twitter a lot, but the rest of it is too cumbersome for me to care and I wasn't convinced it made a difference in my hits anyway. I just want to focus on the writing since that's what I love to do and it's what I do best.

[herdon]

I don't feel any pressure from About.com to spend a lot of time on social networking, social bookmarking or social news sites, though many guides do spend a lot of time on this form of self-promotion.

But then again, I never felt any pressure from Examiner.com to do that either.

It's a good idea when you are writing content to do some promotion in hopes of gaining some incoming links. That plays a part in SEO. But other than feeding links to Twitter through TwitterFeed and links to Facebook through FriendFeed (which is all automated), I don't spend a huge amount of time on it.

The main strategy is to build up evergreen content with good SEO to give yourself a 'base' of consistent page views and then add to that base.

For example, I can write one 'fluff' article a week on one of my Examiner.com topics -- an article that isn't even meant to get more than a handful of page views -- and I'll still rank in the top 5 for my topic because of my evergreen material that get a consistent amount of page views each day.

That's where the real revenue resides. The Google News and Social Marketing stuff can be helpful in that they can generate incoming links that help the SEO process, but if you are relying on it, your revenue is inherently limited.

[WriterKM]

Herdon--Do you find that the whole Google News problem has affected your Examiner hits?

[herdon]

Sure. One of my topics generates a lot of news and buzz, so there is a significant drop off without Google News. But its my newer topic, and as I work to build up evergreen content, Google News will be less and less significant.

(This is actually a good time to build evergreen content with Google News temporarily out of the picture.)

As for the topic I started with a year and a half ago (and the one that generates the most traffic), I don't see any difference in page views with or without Google News.

[stldenise]

I replied to a conversation at the Examiner's forum about all the confusion with the new bonus system a while back. I'm going to have to go find the "turn off alert button" because these people are driving me CRAZY! I get the feeling that half the Examiners out there wear tinfoil hats to keep the aliens from reading their minds. These are the most paranoid, conspiracy theorist idiots I've run into. Today, there's some kind of bug in the reporting page that isn't showing "today" hits. Someone wrote that this means Examiner won't show you today's hits so they CAN STEAL YOUR MONEY. Ack!

[lsk]

Yikes, Denise, that's a little harsh LOL People are upset and Examiner is absolutely not talking to anyone at all or theyre doing it in private amongst themselves. It would probably be a good idea to talk to "their people" so that they dont end up spread all over the internet trying to find answers to things that could have been answered in house.

But, yeah, I don't think they are out to totally screw us, completely, totally... BTW I just wrote to you there, hope you were not referring to me with a tin hat. :(

[veinglory]

I think chaos on the forums is part of the typical 'Rise and Fall of an Online Empire'. ;)

[lsk]

I have a new question.

Who are your best referral sources re search engines besides Google or Google News, Bing, Yahoo, etc., only talking search.

Thanks for any replies.

[lsk]

I think chaos on the forums is part of the typical 'Rise and Fall of an Online Empire'. ;)

you've made me laugh from the beginning. too funny. :*( kinda not.

[herdon]

People are funny. Most of the Examiners really don't have much of a clue about how to write for the web. They freak out about the smallest things.

The whole deal of showing current page views is more of a carrot to get people to post more than anything else. It is certainly no very useful. Examiner's stats gets an F- in terms of usefulness. But you don't see people all in arms to get what we really need: daily/weekly/monthly page views broken down by article. *THAT* would actually be useful.

I have a new question.

Who are your best referral sources re search engines besides Google or Google News, Bing, Yahoo, etc., only talking search.

Thanks for any replies.

I can't say about Examiner.com, but I can tell you where my page views come from on About.com in regards to search, and Examiner will probably be very similar. Google is obviously the lion's share. Ruling out Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (Bing/Live), you get aol.com, ask.com, fastbrowsersearch.com, webcrawler.com, altavisa.com.

My advice: Don't even worry about them. Of that list, aol.com generates the most page views for me, coming in right behind google.it (google italy) and makes up roughly one-half of one percent of my traffic.

[lsk]

we're back on google news.. check it out

[lsk]

People are funny. Most of the Examiners really don't have much of a clue about how to write for the web. They freak out about the smallest things.

The whole deal of showing current page views is more of a carrot to get people to post more than anything else. It is certainly no very useful. Examiner's stats gets an F- in terms of usefulness. But you don't see people all in arms to get what we really need: daily/weekly/monthly page views broken down by article. *THAT* would actually be useful.



I can't say about Examiner.com, but I can tell you where my page views come from on About.com in regards to search, and Examiner will probably be very similar. Google is obviously the lion's share. Ruling out Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (Bing/Live), you get aol.com, ask.com, fastbrowsersearch.com, webcrawler.com, altavisa.com.

My advice: Don't even worry about them. Of that list, aol.com generates the most page views for me, coming in right behind google.it (google italy) and makes up roughly one-half of one percent of my traffic.

Thank you. I really appreciate it, sincerely, when anyone responds to a question I have here.

[lsk]

Examiner seems to have been reindexed

Example: http://news.google.com/news/search?um=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=celebrity+rehab

I wrote a blurb about jeff conaway falling..... Im so proud of that LMAO but it showed up!

[nancy sv]

I'm not really sure where I stand with my local International Travel site. When I first appllied and they came back with the Boise International Travel title, I was very up front that there was no way I could write about Boise stuff - I haven't been there for 20 months and won-t be there for a while.

Their response was that I was encouraged to write about other places and not relate it to Boise - so that's exactly what I've been doing. Our of my 130 articles, I don't have a single article about Boise. So what does this mean for hte local idea?

I write to my channel manager and he was very supportive. Told me to contact him if anybody gives me grief about it.

But still - it seems logical that I would be writing about travell destinations around the world, so how is that local?

[herdon]

You could write an article that lists the travel agencies in Boise and then tack on a sentence at the end of your travel articles saying something like: Need help making travel arrangements? Here is a list of travel agencies in Boise.

That's a stretch, but it'd give you something about Boise in your articles and it might also get you extra page views if people click the link.

I think what Examiner will struggle with now is that they hand out so many local sites that don't have a local slant.

[BerryWriter]

I replied to a conversation at the Examiner's forum about all the confusion with the new bonus system a while back. I'm going to have to go find the "turn off alert button" because these people are driving me CRAZY! I get the feeling that half the Examiners out there wear tinfoil hats to keep the aliens from reading their minds. These are the most paranoid, conspiracy theorist idiots I've run into. Today, there's some kind of bug in the reporting page that isn't showing "today" hits. Someone wrote that this means Examiner won't show you today's hits so they CAN STEAL YOUR MONEY. Ack!

I so agree with you! There is so much hate and drama over there that I've started simply avoiding it. They are a bunch of unprofessional, demanding jerks. If they had bothered to read all the info about the new system they would know that they changed things so that there is a 1 day delay because it is more efficient and more accurate that way. Suite101 does it the same way and no one complains. Why they are pitching fits I have no idea. Probably the same reason they pitched fits over the new "local examiners need to write local" decree and the $1 per post incentive-because they thrive on drama. I really wish they would just quit and leave Examiner to us sane people!

[BerryWriter]

Yikes, Denise, that's a little harsh LOL People are upset and Examiner is absolutely not talking to anyone at all or theyre doing it in private amongst themselves. It would probably be a good idea to talk to "their people" so that they dont end up spread all over the internet trying to find answers to things that could have been answered in house.

But, yeah, I don't think they are out to totally screw us, completely, totally... BTW I just wrote to you there, hope you were not referring to me with a tin hat. :(

I agree that they need to improve their communication with us but that doesn't excuse the behavior over there. They are screaming about every little thing and IMO being demanding and unreasonable. No matter what Examiner does-and it's obvious they are trying-they get bashed and ripped apart. It's just unprofessional. I mean one Examiner was enraged because she got replaced and thought it was totally wrong even though she wrote her channel manager and told him she was flat out REFUSING to write until the Google mess was resolved. Maybe it's me, but I think contacting your boss and telling him you refuse to work is a real good way to get fired-and since all of her posts reek with attitude I'm sure her email to him did as well.

[BerryWriter]

I'm not really sure where I stand with my local International Travel site. When I first appllied and they came back with the Boise International Travel title, I was very up front that there was no way I could write about Boise stuff - I haven't been there for 20 months and won-t be there for a while.

Their response was that I was encouraged to write about other places and not relate it to Boise - so that's exactly what I've been doing. Our of my 130 articles, I don't have a single article about Boise. So what does this mean for hte local idea?

I write to my channel manager and he was very supportive. Told me to contact him if anybody gives me grief about it.

But still - it seems logical that I would be writing about travell destinations around the world, so how is that local?

You should be fine. You just won't get the $1 per post incentive unless you post stories with a local slant.

[Shadow_Ferret]

When did they stop reporting "Today?" I used to like watching that number increase as the day went on. Now I have to wait until tomorrow to see how many hits I had yesterday.

[inkkognito]

Here's an example of the cool stuff Examiner can lead to:

http://www.examiner.com/x-2200-Orlando-Theme-Parks-Examiner~y2010m2d11-Joe-Jonas-and-Demi-Lovato-perform-for-volunteers-at-private-Epcot-concert-at-Walt-Disney-World

(Private concert at Epcot at Disney World by Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato.)

It's been a while since they quit reporting "today" which is rather annoying but I'm getting used to it.

[Uncarved]

I got a new page there, don't know why but its something to do along with the LiveSTRONG stuff. Anyone that wants to check it out, I've one massive article done;)

http://www.examiner.com/x-46965-Rome-Gardening-Examiner

[razibahmed]

This thread has not been updated for the last few weeks. Is there any change in Examiner.com about pay rate or anything?

[Shadow_Ferret]

It's still about a penny a view last I checked.

When did Examiner.com start advertising their positions as REAL jobs? I do a search for writer or journalist and I have to wade through a ton of these crap Examiner jobs.

[Medievalist]

Once you reach some threshold it does seem to be between 1 and two cents/view, but danged if I can figure out what number it is.

[midgedear]

When did they stop reporting "Today?" I used to like watching that number increase as the day went on. Now I have to wait until tomorrow to see how many hits I had yesterday.


I'm very new to the Examiner. In fact my first article was published today. Where do I look to find out how many "hits" I have? Thanks.

[razibahmed]

Has there been any change in the pay rate in Examiner.com? I wonder why this thread died!

[bkwriter]

I've been writing for examiner for a few months and already have 450 hits. It's exciting because it's my first time I'm getting "paid" to write.

[triceretops]

Well it looks like Demand Studios is tanking at the momment. Don't care how they frost it, there's almost nothing left with a bunch of empty promises. I signed up with Examiner last year for auto in my area, but never haven't written anything yet.

Question: Did Google Panda have such an impact on Examiner? I see a huge reduction in stock price shares across the board for all content sites-they're plummeting, and in record numbers. I haven't heard a thing about two apps for Brighthub and LoveToKnow--I assume they're not hiring or cutting back.

This is so serious to so many writers who used these sites as part-time an full-time income. What a blow. Sure, a lot of them deserved to go, but our quality shot way up there in the past year.

Tri

[inkkognito]

I'm not really sure if Panda had an effect at Examiner because my numbers have been fine, but I have a very loyal reader base. They hurt their writers more with frequent site design changes than Google hurts them, at least in my experience.

[inkkognito]

Examiner added some good discounts in its Perks program for active Examiners. If any of you have T-mobile, there's a 12 percent discount. We have something similar through AAA and it's a good savings. They also have excellent prices on Central Florida attractions tickets (and I say that as the Orlando Theme Parks Examiner...I know my prices!).

[fivepennies]

I'm curious to know how much time you all spend writing for Examiner.com and how many articles per week you are able to crank out to receive a decent pay. I've been writing for Examiner.com since January 2008 and did very well during my first few months when I was unemployed and the competition wasn't so hefty since they were only just a year old at the time. But then the market became flooded and I got a real job. I've pretty much stopped writing for them since the summer, but I'd like to continue. The exposure I got from Examiner.com led to several job opportunities because I was able to market myself so well using email and social media.

My goal is to be able to write one article a week, but it's hard to stay motivated. Do any successful Examiners have any tips to offer for fast writing and high content production?

Thanks!

[stamperdad]

Been writing for them for couple of years now. Pay is a non-starter, but the exposure is the reason I'm there, that plus it keeps my writing skills honed. Tips I would give you,
- brainstorm using Mindmapping to get ideas first.
- pre-write articles as you get ideas, save in Word. When my juices are flowing I keep writing numerous draft articles for future use, stockpile them so to speak
- make directory on computer and/or stick for articles, images, research, links so they are readily accessable
- sometimes instead of one long article it's better to split into two or more articles. Remember they are supposed to be short
- yes it is hard, but at least once a week is optimum, more often if special events or news items arise in your area. Get them out there even if it is a short blurb.
- make sure you read through the Help and visit their University for all kinds of neat tips. These can help other areas of your writing as well.

My Examiner areas are,
Calgary Genealogy Examiner
http://examiner.com/genealogy-in-calgary/steve-davis
Calgary Fatherhood Examiner
http://examiner.com/fatherhood-in-calgary/steve-davis

Best of luck.

[triceretops]

I'm an examiner writer but haven't done any work for them yet. It's hard to turn my back on DMS when they're paying me three to four bills a week clear, writing automotive articles. If Examiner paid 18.00 per article, I'd be more inclined to jump into the pool.

Tri

[herdon]

I think I made around $20-$30 an article for Examiner if you take my earnings and divide it by the number of articles. Hard to say because they have horrible reports. I wouldn't start writing for them now, I only write to stay active and get paid. Panda killed them and their staff doesn't have a clue so they'll just continue to go downhill. They don't pay as well as they used to either.

[inkkognito]

I've been an Examiner pretty much from the start, and while I've never broken my pay down into a per-article average, it's decent enough on a monthly basis. Problem is, it's very, very hard for a new writer to get established there well enough to make "real" money. I was lucky to get in early and to have a popular topic. Here's a link to my column: http://www.examiner.com/theme-parks-in-orlando/barbara-nefer

I don't do it solely for the money. I also love my topic, and it's a platform for other things I do.

[triceretops]

I totally agree with both of you. Right now, because of Panda, the entire non-fic content business is suffering and trying to recover. I heard WiseGeek went completely under, as well as some others, while LoveToKnow, Suite 101, BrightHub and many others are not hiring until they figure out a way around page placement and less "spam"--tagged articles. The industry as a whole has suffered a major blow--I have friends who have lost their homes and vehicles because of this.

I IS better to stay where we're at right now, remain topically active and loyal to our present positions, since we'd had to rank and prove expertise there. Watch your stock prices on your company to get any idea of drops or up-swings.

Good luck to all.

Tri