I wonder whether this company has any relation to Research Writing Center dot com?

Yes, I am a newbie, although not in age or life experience. However, in this online writing stuff, yes indeedie. The last time someone else was paying for my work computer, I did not have a mouse on my desk! I have had to teach myself all the details of mouse, Windows, and internet use by myself. My son is learning them in elementary school. He says I am, "So Twentieth Century, mom!" This contributes to my lack of confidence.

I know that I can help people, and, indeed, a proposed amendment to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Civil Rules of Judicial Procedure on which I worked with a college classmate and long-time friend was just accepted by Hon. Ronald Castille this last spring (yay!). I did all the editing of the legal language, and wrote or edited most of the myriad letters with which we lobbied for this constructive (albeit very narrow and specialized) change to the law of the land. Not a penny of pay for several years of work, of course, but it helped my friend and will help others who are being persecuted by frivolous lawsuits.

My recent searches (thank you for the urging) have not turned up anything obvious in the way of well-paying online writing jobs, but I guess I need to be persistent and as creative on my own behalf as I am on behalf of my clients.

The area wherein I have developed a new, modest expertise is in SEO copywriting. I would ideally like to be able to offer the whole spectrum of service - finding out which keywords to use, for example. My researches are slow. So much is left unsaid; do I have to pay for keywords? And if so, what am I (or my client) paying for in that transaction? My MBA is practically useless in all this since the vocabulary has changed so drastically. Once I get the jargon under my belt, I am sure that it will all resolve into familiar marketing issues, however. Any suggestions of good, clear articles that do not presuppose prior knowledge?? There are plenty of small businesses that clearly need a better, more effective web presence, and I would love to help them achieve it.

And suggestions for search terms to uncover good, reputable well-paying firms? WHen I searched on writing jobs+USA based+high pay (how crass!), Custompapers.com popped up. Is this a known entity? It does not immediately look like the company I have worked for, which definitely has multiple web-names.

Your thoughts and experience and insights are most encouraging. Thank you.

I am scared to mention the company's initials until I have something better to count on. It is one of the ones that has been skewered regularly in the past on this site.

Of course, I would like steady work with, for example, a department of a university or other research institution, but I find the quondam ans putative flexibility of the online work appealing. Of course, it is effectively NOT all that flexible, especially for someone with other duties.

What search terms would you suggest searching on? The firm I work for claims US location, but I am fairly certain, from the Hindi and Russian language clues in the work that I do, that the location could be elsewhere(do you think??.

My favorite job was editing a dissertation on counter-terrorism. FUN! My customer received a Distinguished mark on it. Boy, this intermittent reinforcement is a powerful addictant!

All advice welcomed!

thanks

Thanks! Now, the next question is where to find them. Right now, although the copywriting, editing, and writing that I do are largely fascinating, the pay just barely pays for the electricity the computer uses. I suspect that my pay would be attractive for someone living in another, less expensive country.

If anyone is willing to share names of companies that do pay well, I would be most appreciative. The firm I have been writing for advertises per page rates starting at 4$ but usually starts at 3$. I am not sure whether I am allowed to mention names...This firm has been criticized widely, but has paid more or less promptly, albeit at a pitiful level.

I am also interested in hearing how others have managed going solo. It makes me nervous because I cannot figure out how to ensure payment - I suppose I could figure out how to set up a PayPal account (although aren't those usually in conjunction with an entity such as EBay?), but how do I protect myself?

As a mom with an MBA and an undergraduate degree from an Ivy League university, I have lots to offer, but my familiarity with the internet, and doing business over the web is limited by having been immured in mommy-land for a decade-plus. It's a bit overwhelming!

I guess I am nattering, but I do see that there are some experienced folks on this website, and I would be thrilled to benefit from some of your insights.

Thanks!

I sympathize with your frustration! As someone who has been writing for such a company for several months, I wonder if I might offer some insights. First, the company may be just totally incompetent, and dishonest, and so forth. ANother possibility is what happened to me recently and which still gives me 'agita'. There was an essay called for, on a topic which was very interesting to me. However, as I looked at the VERY specific materials which were called for, I realized that the customer had not uploaded everything needed, nor provided the requisite access to their library off-campus website. It took forever to obtain even a portion of these items, and as the very short deadline approached, I found more and more stuff which had NOT been included. SInce this was an essay that was supposed to draw on ALL the materials, specifically, it would not even have been helpful to find some of these very specialized materials elsewhere on the web, publicly available. Specific pages and so forth were asked for. Time went on, the deadline came closer, and I finally said that I could not commit to it. If I had undertaken this, I would have ended up being penalized and paying the company for the privilege of staying up all night, and would not have been able to absorb and then regurgitate the material competently! I still wonder what happened to that customer, although of course the company will tell me nothing, and does not even care that I am concerned.

I should make clear that I never actually bid on this order. I did try to move the order details and accompanying files to the point where I, or other writers, could evaluate the order for its feasibility and congruence with personal expertise.

I do not know whether any of these issues are occurring in your case. Does the writer have access to all the materials you would use if you were writing this yourself? If not, and if they are not as assertive as I am, they may be floundering.

I am beginning to wonder how I could go out independently - I enjoy this sort of thing, but the pay is roughly equivalent to a third world minimum wage, and the company I am with treats me like they are behind the Iron Curtain.

You are justified to be concerned - even if you have not provided what the writer needs, the writer has an obligation to get back to you, and the company has an even greater obligation.

Good luck and God bless!