TemlynWriting
Has anyone worked with EditFast.com? Good, bad, indifferent? Thanks so much!
www.editfast.com/
~Julia
www.editfast.com/
~Julia
TemlynWriting said:Has anyone worked with EditFast.com? Good, bad, indifferent? Thanks so much!
www.editfast.com/
~Julia
Kasey Mackenzie said:I like how he or she managed to work in a link to the website three times in the same post. =)
Aconite said:I can't say I'm terribly impressed with the writing sample WriterPlus provides here. It makes me question the quality of the editing provided, to say the least.
Note, too, the classification of all those who've made complaints about the company as bitter, failed applicants. Where have we seen behavior like that before, boys and girls, and why does it smell bad?
I must be in limbo, as I cannot get any editing projects because I'm not activated at EditFast. But, if I get taken off his mailing list, I won't be eligible for any projects either. Either way, I win!Dear Gary
Your profile has not yet been activated and is not yet visible to the public. This means that you cannot receive editing projects from clients. Please log in and complete your profile today.
LOCATION PAGES
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Stretch your writer's muscles and win an EditFast membership!
Can you write 250 words about editing/editors/writing/proofreading in the city, state/province, and/or country you live in? If you can, you have a chance to win an EditFast membership for one month free. That's one month for each page accepted for a possible total of three months of free membership!
And that's not all!
In addition to the one month free membership for each page accepted, the winners will also receive a permanent link to their EditFast profile at the top of every winning page submitted by that editor.
And there's more!
If you are the only editor registered in the city, state/province, or country, your submission will automatically win as long as the writing is readable and grammatically correct!
To get started and see how it works go here: http://editfast.com/location_writing_contest.htm
JOB SEARCH RESOURCES
======================
Looking for a job? Look no further! EditFast has compiled a massive list of jobs available right now! Click the link below and you will find job offerings in every state, from all of the major companies, hundreds of small and mid-size companies, and government departments at every level. No matter what state you are in, there are companies near you looking for someone with your skills. Check it out now!
http://www.editfast.com/job_search/united_states/job_search_resources.htm
UPGRADE YOUR MEMBERSHIP
========================
Increase your exposure to thousands of potential clients searching on EditFast. To upgrade your membership click here:
http://www.editfast.com/members/ed_details/membership_registration.php
You can also login to your editor area and click "Upgrade Membership" at the top of the left menu.
Take a look at the benefits of a paid membership at EditFast:
http://www.editfast.com/english/editpops/options.htm#membership1
ADMIN CONTACT & FEEDBACK
========================
As always, I am available for any questions you might have. My goal is to bring more work to you through my advertising and promotional efforts. I am open to any ideas you might have in this regard. I welcome your thoughts and advice at all times. Contact me at the link below with your ideas, concerns, criticisms, or kudos.
http://www.editfast.com/english/feedback.htm
REMOVE ME
==========
I certainly do not wish to send mail to anyone who does not wish to receive it. To remove your profile entirely and stop receiving mail from EditFast simply log in and Click the "Remove Me" link at the bottom of the left menu. Complete the removal process by clicking the confirmation link in the email message when it arrives. Once you confirm, your profile will be entirely removed, you will no longer receive email from EditFast, and you will no longer be eligible for editing projects.
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EditFast Admin
http://editfast.com
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Thank you WriterPlus. Sorry for being so late in responding (two years!) but I have just discovered this thread.http://www.editfast.com has been a very beneficial site for me. I signed up there two years ago and although it took some time to receive my first editing project (I assume they were checking me out and waiting for the right project to match to my skills) I now get work from them regularly and I am paid well and on time. I took a look at the problems mentioned at the site quoted below and it seems that Robert has addressed them all and the few people complaining are simply just complainers who did not pass the strict editing tests that Robert uses to screen all editors who register at http://www.editfast.com I would not pay any attention to those who have failed the tests. The tests are easy for good editors but they do weed out those who think they are editors from those who are truly editors.
Sassenach, I am sorry you have not received any projects. My goal is to get work out to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, I have no control over who the clients select as their editor. If you wish to get your profile in front of more clients you are free to create as many specialization pages as you wish. These pages are linked to your profile and will help attract the type of clients you wish to work for.I signed up with them about two years ago and have gotten zero projects. Every now and then I receive an email from Robert talking about how great the site is, blah blah blah.
The ONLY way you would receive a message from me is if you registered on the EditFast site. I DO NOT send out spam.What's the skinny on EditFast? I received a couple of emails from it the past two or three weeks.
I then asked a similar question on the techwr-l e-mail list and received a few private responses about it. Then, a Robert Kidd, the director of EditFast, sends me an e-mail (describing his editing service and stating that signing up is free, BUT a better display is available at extra expense) shortly after he read the techwr-l list.
I have never added my profile to LinkedIn. Some of these networking sites, like the hundreds of "work in your pajamas from home" sites, scour the net for information and place it on their sites without asking permission. The information you see on LinkedIn about EditFast is not correct and I did not create it. If you wish to see my education or my qualifications, my resume is in the public domain here: http://www.editfast.com/english/resume/resume.htmI doubt that he really follows that list because he made eight responses to it (but nothing within the past 3 1/2 years).
A Robert Kidd, purporting to be the director of EditFast, also has a LinkedIn profile with zero connections. In that profile, he only lists something about his education--two years at some college in BC, Canada. Nothing else...
A little late but yes, I do look for what people say about my company on the net as every businessperson should. I use "Google Alerts", a free service that sends you notifications when it discovers keywords/phrases of your choice. I hesitated in responding to this thread as it often leads to personal attacks (why, I don't know), but I cannot let false statements go uncorrected. I guess it's the editor in me.I suppose that a Robert Kidd will eventually stumble across this entry too, as he allegedly searches for EditFast hits with Web searching.
RebeccaW:
I applied to EditFast this past December and passed their tests with a 93%. My account was "activated" after a week or so. I was immediately issued an invitation to join their paid membership with the added benefit that my listing would be bumped to some sort of recommended editor.
Anyone who operates a "freelancer" Web site will tell you that getting freelancers to respond to client requests is the biggest challenge. Try creating a project at any freelancer site and requesting estimates from as many freelancers as you can, and see what happens. I would guess about a 10-20% response rate. Naturally, freelancers who pay for a membership are far more eager to respond to client requests than those who do not. That is not an opinion, it is a fact discovered from experience at EditFast and at other freelancer sites. With that in mind, it is certainly not misleading to the clients to place the editors who will respond at the top of the list, as the paid members are. Remember, these are editors who have been screened and have the same scores (within 5%-10%) on the tests as non-paid members, so there is no difference in quality of editing service being provided to the clients, but a world of difference in promptness of service. I implemented the membership system to provide better service to my clients, not to make the $50 - $70 a month that I get from four or five memberships.I applied to EditFast this past December and passed their tests with a 93%. My account was "activated" after a week or so. I was immediately issued an invitation to join their paid membership with the added benefit that my listing would be bumped to some sort of recommended editor. I found that to be quite misleading for the clients.
The job links resource you saw at http://www.editfast.com/job_search/united_states/job_search_resources.htm was not created specifically for you or for any editor to find work directly from those links, although that is a secondary benefit. The main purpose is to attract people looking for jobs who might need a resume written or edited. It took me two months to compile the information into a database and so far the effort has been worth it. It has been very successful at bringing in resume editing/writing work for my editors and writers. I get hundreds of people everyday coming to that resource and some of these submit their resume for editing/rewriting. This was entirely my intention in the first place. Notice the link at the top of each page for the resume service.I've received a few emails about upgrading my membership. I also received a jobs listing email that was simply a list of job site links. Impressive!
I'll drop a note here if I hear anything interesting from them.
The paid membership is still available. You can only upgrade to the paid membership option once you register. For obvious reasons I cannot allow someone to buy a membership before they have passed the screening process. That would not be good business as it would allow anyone to bypass the testing process and become an editor. I am very strict about who is allowed to do work for my clients. Only 8% of the "editors" who register are able to complete the process and become working editors for EditFast.Hi, EditFast and welcome to AW.
One of the earlier posters mentioned the following experience:
I've had a quick look through your FAQs for editors but can't find any no reference to a paid membership option. Is this something that you still offer to editors? If so, how much do you charge for this membership and what are the benefits for editors taking it up (e.g. does it result in a guaranteed minimum amount of work)?
MM
I never said that. I compared it to the work-from-home sites because in this case they may have done the same thing. This profile of "me" has been there for years. Or perhaps someone has created this profile for me, in which case, I wish they would remove it. I would if I could, but I cannot access it because I did not create it.LinkedIn is a work-from-home website-scraping networking site? You'd think being one of the most popular websites in the world would be enough for them.
It is zero because I have never pursued it and never created that profile.Becky, see if you can become a LinkedIn connection with "Robert" in Japan or wherever Mr. Kidd, director of EditFast, happens to live. I hear he's **VERY** exclusive and doesn't link with just anybody. That's probably why his LinkedIn connections still total ZERO!
I can assure you that the tests are real and the scores are real too. I am not sure why you would say they are "bogus". Why so bitter sounding?I got a higher test score than 93%, BTW. But be advised that the editing tests may be bogus, and those scores might be randomly assigned anyway.
I don't understand what your "case in point" is about. I see nothing wrong with what you say I have done, but the way you say it makes it seem like criminal activity. I have no need, desire, or obligation to post on TECHWR-L. I may have asked some simple questions four years ago, but I am sure we all have had days like that and I am also sure we have all begun projects that required some input or feedback from the editing community. The worry here is that people who do have legitimate questions may hesitate to post them on TECHWR-L if they know they might be criticized for their posts.A case in point, Robert posted eight times on the TECHWR-L e-mail list and asked some relatively simple questions four years ago. Google them yourself. Also Google "Robert Kidd" and EditFast together and check out some more of his posts. Like the review he wrote last November. Or the time he was giving advice on how to report scammers or frauds on another forum.
I post when I need to and I do use my signature to promote my service as everyone does. I use links in my posts to show people asking questions about where things are. You have me "pegged"? I doubt that very much, but I can guess where you are coming from. If you are upset because you did not receive any work from EditFast, then please remember that EditFast has no obligation to provide work to any editor at any time and makes no guarantee of work. Clients choose the editor they wish to work with. I have no control over who they choose, except in a very general way."Robert" is good at making one or two posts on a number of boards and liberally plastering his EditFast logo and links. I got him and his MO pegged...
Once again you are misinformed. Freelancers are free to charge what they wish to charge. When creating an estimate for a client the freelancer sets his/her rate according to what they would feel comfortable earning for the project. EditFast takes no money from the editors. The client pays EditFast whatever EditFast charges its clients. That negotiation is between the client and EditFast. EditFast pays the freelancer whatever the freelancer charges EditFast. Yes, EditFast makes money from each project... of course.Anybody who has any dealings with or knowledge of EditFast: let me know. Not that I ever plan to edit for him. But for the laughs... If he ever does have work for his 1200 (or whatever number of) satisfied editors working with him, he wants a 40 to 50% cut for himself.
Your profile has not yet been activated because it is not complete and contains spelling errors. (I don't usually say things like this in public but I think you have set yourself up as a target so I am going to take a shot.) I sent you a notification of this and gave you a chance to fix it up, but I have not received any reply. You should be aware that, generally speaking, I do not give even one "chance" to editors who submit profiles with errors on them or send me email with grammar or spelling errors. In this case however, I am worried that if I remove your profile there will be repercussions. You are free to log in and make the necessary changes at any time, but I would prefer that you removed yourself.I must be in limbo, as I cannot get any editing projects because I'm not activated at EditFast. But, if I get taken off his mailing list, I won't be eligible for any projects either. Either way, I win!
EditFast:
For obvious reasons I cannot allow someone to buy a membership before they have passed the screening process. That would not be good business as it would allow anyone to bypass the testing process and become an editor. I am very strict about who is allowed to do work for my clients.
There is no intent to mislead and no nefarious operation behind any of this. I am open to suggestions and questions at any time. I originally created EditFast to give the overflow of work I was receiving from my clients to qualified editors. EditFast has grown since then, but the goal is still to provide as much work to my editors as possible. Yes, I make money from EditFast, but aside from maybe $40 per month from a few memberships, editors do not pay anything and are free to set their rates at whatever they feel comfortable with. It is free.I can understand why you would want to maintain standards about membership, but I'm not sure I understand why you can't disclose up front the fact that paid membership is available for those who pass your editing tests.
Surely it's possible to structure your membership to ensure that only those who have passed the requisite tests are given the relevant PayPal details (or at least make clear that it is only open to those people offered membership)?
As it is, I can understand why some people may feel (rightly or wrongly) a little mislead to pass your test and then find that there's a paid listing option that they didn't previously know about.
Are you able to tell us how much your paid option costs and exactly what sort of additional promotion editors taking this option could expect?
MM