Is Textbroker/TB drying up?

[snapdragons]

I'm a 4 over there and seems like when I glance in there it's pretty dead. Monday morning and only 110 articles seems not so hot.

Is anyone making money over there on open orders anymore?

Is there money in teams/direct orders?

Or is it time to seek other eggs?

[anng]

I'm still seeing tons of work in team orders and direct orders. I did just triple rates for one of my direct order regulars though. They rated my last three articles low when I refused to tack on an additional 100 words without them paying anything extra. So given that, I doubt they'll send me work again.

There are other things to watch. One DO I had last week said they loved my article but that it was supposed to be written in UK English and then asked for a rewrite. The instructions never said that, so I filed a complaint and am waiting to hear back, though at this point the deadline for the rewrite is past.

[snapdragons]

Thanks anng....I think I have to apply to teams, but direct orders are kind of luck of the draw yes? I'd write an article they liked and they'd ask for more sort of thing?

[Karalee]

Originally Posted by snapdragons

Thanks anng....I think I have to apply to teams, but direct orders are kind of luck of the draw yes? I'd write an article they liked and they'd ask for more sort of thing?

It also helps to fill out a profile especially if you have experience in a certain niche. I rarely do anything but DOs and TOs on TB, and only two DO clients came from writing open orders. Another came from doing team orders, and the rest contacted me based on my background. I've also had team invites based on my profile. Many exclusive team invitations, however, do come from clients liking your work in open orders.

As for open orders, last July was really slow too. I had to pay a bill, and I remember a sense of panic because TB was one of the few places I could get paid quickly and reliably if not well. There does, however, seem to have been a recent shift toward team orders and away from open orders, so that may be playing a role in the apparent slowdown as well.

[Ella R.]

I'm trying to focus on DOs and teams at TB to earn a decent wage, but I'm getting increasingly frustrated with their team system. Aside from a few exclusive teams that sent over private invitations, I haven't had any luck with team orders at all. The majority of teams I've applied to never got back to me, so most of my applications are still pending without any answers, and I feel like it was a big waste of my time. The teams that did accept have no work anyway.

As far as DOs are concerned, I feel like they are hard to get unless you set your rate only slightly above the open order rate, which is still not enough to really get by.

[Success19]

Over the weekend level 4 sunk into the 80 number mark on available oo orders.

Mondays are slow IMO.

Two things have happened - TB raised some of the client rates and the big glitch last week (and there were some glitches of a different sort this weekend). The forums there discussed how some clients did not have a good reaction to big blocks of text due to the submission box having problems. However, most clients were understanding.

I belong on about 200 teams and most never have an order at all. And yes I am there often for up to 20 hours a day and night, hitting that refresh button.

I have applied to about 30 more and the applications are just sitting there.

Summertime - many clients might be taking vacations before school starts up for their children.

The profile thing irritates me - I am good at writing in several niches but there is a limit on how much you can say.

In other news I had to toss back an article that had a revision request. I put in the keywords as stated and then the client wanted changes that were impossible to do. This is despite saying - do not change my keywords or I will ask for revisions.

Asking for free words should not be permitted - that is hurting TBs profits in addition to the writers.

Despite everything I still love it there!

When times are slow one place, work on setting up your own blog or working at residual sites such as Bubblews.

Alternatively, it is a good time to catch up on household chores or errands.

[Karalee]

Originally Posted by Success19

The profile thing irritates me - I am good at writing in several niches but there is a limit on how much you can say.

For me, the profile thing was about focus. I have a ton of varied interests listed, but I used the resume section to talk about my professional experience focusing on one area. I also have samples focused on that niche. This cut down on the variety of DOs I got, but if a client searches for someone in my niche, he or she finds my focused profile. I'm not saying this would work for everyone, but I have been regularly getting new DO clients despite having a DO rate that is significantly more than twice L4 OO rates.

[anng]

Originally Posted by snapdragons

Thanks anng....I think I have to apply to teams, but direct orders are kind of luck of the draw yes? I'd write an article they liked and they'd ask for more sort of thing?

DOs are luck of the draw. I'm lucky in that three website owners stumbled onto my profile and loved my first articles, so they've provided me with weekly articles. I do have private clients though too, and they are always my top priority.

[Miss Aurora]

I don't know if this is TB's new normal or not; I do know that a couple of their main L4 clients who used to post in bulk have gone elsewhere.

My DO rate is high and I do all right. Filling out applications for teams isn't worth the bother. I'm on about 30 teams and there is always work available, but they're all exclusive teams. Too many people have said that they never hear anything back after they apply for teams, and I suspect that some of the teams that ask for long, free samples are probably scams.

Does anyone else have the sense that something is not quite right with TB lately, such as they're running with a skeleton crew these days?

As far as seeking other eggs goes, even if TB seemed healthy right now, it would be a good idea. No one who needs to earn a living this way should depend on just one site.

[anng]

I really think the bulk are moving to team orders. I went in and looked. I'm on 57 teams. 10 of them currently have work, one has more than 1,000 articles available. So there is work there, but they're no longer putting them in the general pool.