Effective Ways to Avoid Freelance Writing Scams

Nobody wants to be scammed. I know how it feels to be conned online. I am a freelance writer and it’s hard to describe the feeling of being cheated by others who take advantage of people’s passion for writing. It is traumatizing, demoralizing, painful, and sometimes unbearable. There are many kinds of online writing scams that target freelance writers. There are those who employ freelancers but have no intention to remit the latter’s earnings. There are some freelance writing companies that unfeelingly delay freelance writers’ pay out for several months without considering the financial state of their writers.

Newbies need to be aware of the grim reality in freelance writing business if they want to avoid any untoward circumstances. There are many ways to determine whether a freelance writing company is a scam. All you have to do is be aware of the gimmicks of some companies that are out to cheat on freelance writers.

Beware of mega promises. If you stumbled on a freelance writing site that promises hundreds or thousands of dollars per day, per week, or even per month, think twice. Of course there are legitimate freelance writing companies and workplaces that really offer high earning capacity for qualified and good writers, but you have to tread lightly on anonymous sites and posting.

No qualifications needed at all. It may be possible that even legitimate freelance writing companies require little experience, but always be careful when you stumble upon an anonymous posting which requires little or no experience necessary. Always remember to tip # 1 when in doubt.

Flooding and spamming. Real or legitimate freelance writing companies don’t really resort to spamming just to recruit good freelance writers.

Fluffy website. If you can hardly determine who is the owner and where the company is located, then be very careful. A legitimate employer does not have to hide his/her identity from his/her potential writers. It is important that you be able to gather enough information about the company— what they do, who they serve, how they pay, and how much do they pay.

Vague terms and conditions. Once you found out that your target company has ambiguous terms and conditions and unclear payout scheme, back out. Always look at how the company pays its writers. This is one way to determine whether that company really pays its writers.

Reality check. Go to your favorite public forums or blog communities to check whether your prospect company has bad reputation. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Check other writers’ blogs who previously worked with the company whether they have good or bad things to say.

That’s it! You have to protect your interest against possible scams.

Freelance Academic Writing Opportunities Rife in the Net

There are countless of business and extra-income opportunities in the World Wide Web. All you have to do is know your potentials and learn how this technology generates money. By simply typing ‘magic words’ in the search engine you will be able to know myriad of money-making ventures and writing activities online. From China to Lithuania people can make money out of their own wits and desire to succeed in the cyber world.
It is important to learn from successful people online who have already made a fortune out of their patience and skills. For example, there are a number of dollar-chasing bloggers who have been advertising how much money they made online. Some of the sites that contain useful articles about the money-making potentials of blogging are www.blogging4money.net, www.bloggingformoney.org, www.problogger.net, www.bloggingmakemoney.com, www.beginnersblogprofits.com, among many others. Just type in the phrase ‘blogging money’ or ‘blog for money’ in the search engine to track those sites that promote the money-making opportunities in blogging.
When it comes to freelance writing there are also countless of opportunities available for freelance writers. However, newbies who have no idea or limited idea about the nature of this income opportunity need to know that there are pitfalls in freelance writing that they should avoid If the Madoff case triggered media barrage against investment scam in Wall Street, newbies in freelance writing need to know that there are freelance writing companies and workplaces that scammed their writers.
There are a number of ways to avoid being scammed. First, check the source of blog ads. Second, check company details. Third, check the payment system of the company. If the company offers a lot of promises like the opportunity to earn $200 to $500 a day, this means that you have to think twice. Fourth, check whether they require qualifications. If they don’t, that means that they are scam. Sixth, send queries to the company itself. And finally, if they ask for money, then that means that they are not legitimate. If you’re a good writer you don’t have to shell out money to gain money. There are a lot of genuine writing opportunities online.
Here are some of the legitimate freelance writing workplaces and companies online:

• Elance.com— You have to sign up and pass their online exam. Don’t worry about passing the test because it is open notes. Once you received the greenlight you can now bid for available orders online. Elance.com receive more or less 20,000 writing orders per day.


• Odesk.com— It has nearly the same system as Elance.com. You have to pass the qualifying test before you would be allowed to bid.


• Allwriting.net – One negative aspect about this company is that they still have to check your qualifications before they award you a particular order which you are interested to work on.


• Academia-Research.com— check their ads on this site for more information.


• Academicexperts.us— is has the same guidelines as Academia-Research,.com


• Academicknowledge.com— this company requires a lot of papers of applicants before they get accepted.


• ifreelance.com


• Customwritings.com


• Writingbids.com


• Academic-writing.com

Again don’t get scammed.

10 Important Rules in Academic Writing

One of the most lucrative areas in freelance writing gig is academic writing. Just imagine the number of students who do not have the time to finish their essay assignments, case studies, movie reviews, term papers, thesis, dissertations, and all kinds of academic works. In the United States alone there are hundreds of thousands of high school, college, and even post-graduate students who are willing to pay good freelance writers to finish their writing assignments.

Just imagine the number of ESL students from Arab countries studying in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and Canada who regularly visit the net to look for good academic writers to do their academic works. In Elance.com alone there are thousands of writing works available for freelancers across the globe. However unlike any other writing works, academic writing is very demanding.
Writing academic works is not the same as writing web contents. The language and style required in academic writing works are formal. That is why any writer who would like to try academic writing needs to know the nature of the job, the standards in academic writing, writing styles, referencing, and the clients’ requirements. The following are ten important rules for novice academic writers.



1. Assess yourself. It is important to understand that academic writing covers a very broad topical area. Among the most popular topics in academic writing are business, politics, marketing, personal essay, case study, social study, economy, education, among many others. Just imagine that there are a number of subjects, specializations, courses, and disciplines being offered in colleges and universities. So before you click the start button, try to assess your line of interest and focus only on it.
2. Know the nature of academic writing job. Most academic writing works are formal. New academic writers need to understand that there are a number of dos and donts in academic writing. Contractions like ‘won’t, shan’t, I’ll, I’d and the like are not allowed in academic writing. Thesis works and dissertations require more formal writing treatment and style.
3. Be familiar with referencing standards. If you’re a newbie in this business, expect that your clients would ask you to use different kinds of referencing and citation styles. Some of the most required referencing styles are
APA, Harvard, MLA, and Chicago. It takes time before you get yourself familiar with these referencing and citation styles. It is advisable to look for sample works online.

4. Take writing orders that you are familiar with. Do not take orders that you cannot finish on time or you are not interested in. Always look for orders that you can deliver on time and with high quality.
5. Avoid plagiarism. Never commit plagiarism. Learn how to paraphrase and always use attribution whenever you try to borrow the ideas of others.
6. Maintain access to online libraries. Since research is an indispensable part of academic writing, it is important to have access to different online libraries and databases like
EBSCO, google books, google scholar, Questia, libraryspot.com, elearners.com, among others.
7. Follow the client’s instructions. Your failure to comply with the client’s instructions means that you are an ineffective academic writer. It is important to pay attention to details. Ask the client if you have a question and try to encourage him/her to make suggestions.
8. Review your finished work. In assessing your work, try to use the following tests: grammar test, referencing test, and compliance test. Try to spot misspelled words or grammatical errors, assess whether you followed the proper referencing style, or whether you complied with the instructions.
9. Beat the deadline. This is very important. All is futile if you failed to deliver the work on time. Don’t forget rule number 4, always take writing orders that you are familiar with to finish the job on time.
10. Don’t forget rules 1 to 9.

Internet Technology: The 'Tesla' Invasion

What’s funny is that not everybody knows who made the Internet possible. This makes me look back to my elementary and high school years and curse my former teachers who failed to do their assignment. Yes, assignment. They weren’t able to do their homework, which is to impart the true form and concepts of knowledge to their pupils.
It’s only recently when I discovered the man who gave us the future. During our elementary years, we learned about a number of scientists and inventors who made wonders like Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Galileo Galilee, Isaac Newton, among many others. Then in high school we learned more things about the periodic table of elements, scientific theories, the Big Bang theory, and so on.
However, these educators missed one person who created great, indispensable inventions. This Man I’m talking about is Nikola Tesla— the great inventor who discovered wireless technology more than a century ago. His discovery soon sparked numerous inventions after his death. This man, who tried to prevent World War II, spent his remaining years in his laboratory developing a unique type of weaponry that could make war impossible. The Washington Post called it “The Death Beam”, an electromagnetic prototype that could bring down war planes at a sheer distance of over 200 miles.
Because of Tesla, we now have state-of-the-art technologies. Apart from wireless technology, he also discovered the first remote control, the alternating current that is now universally used today, among many others. More than half a century after his death in 1943, the world became a very different place due to the many inventions and creations of great men.
Today, the world has become a wireless hub wherein people may be able communicate virtually and seamlessly and exchange files and video applications without any delay. This was predicted by Tesla decades before the discovery of the Internet. This is also the great invasion known to man. The Internet has virtually invaded every country in the world, including the Philippines. Even closed and communist countries like Cuba. Myanmar and North Korea cannot ignore and disregard the beauty and splendor of the Internet. Wireless technology is no longer an alien terminology. Thanks to Starbucks that first introduced wireless connectivity in its stores eight years ago.
I felt I was cheated the moment I got to know the story of Tesla. To me, Tesla is the future. You may not find his name in science books, but you may still get to know him through the Internet.
Indeed, the Internet is one of the greatest gifts to man. This is the gift of knowledge. You can just imagine life without Internet. As already stated, it has already invaded every institution, structure, and modern home in the world. Because of this technology, we now live in another dimension, another world they call virtual community, wherein almost all things are possible. We can chat, shop, read, write, travel, work, play, etc. To others, the World Wide Web is a cool place of evil and illicit opportunities. You can also get to see the latest movie of Jim Carrey on watch-movies.com and get to know the most luscious recipe for Chinese mushroom soup. People who love to write may now create their own digital paper and virtual diary. For voracious readers, they may find solace in friendly sites like socialcow.com.
The Internet really has opened great opportunities to the new breed of businessmen, insatiable gamers, social cows, and budding writers like me.
Ah, thank God there’s Tesla.

Why Choose Independent Freelance Writers?

Who are independent freelance writers? They are the ones who transact and deal directly with online clients without any middleman or freelance writing company.
There are thousands of freelance writing companies offering academic and web content writing services to clients across the globe. Some of the well-known freelance writing workplaces are elance.com, odesk.com, academia-research.com, allwriting.net, among many others. Most of these online writing companies offer services at exorbitant prices to online clients. However, the problem is there is no assurance whether the clients get what they have paid for.
There are also thousands of independent freelance writers who directly transact and deal with online clients. In this case, both parties— the provider and the client— are free to name their prices, give suggestions and additional information, discuss the manner by which they transact or communicate with each other, and set the terms of payment. Freelance writer who would like to work under this system must have computer and internet facilities, including ecommerce or online payment methods.
Most, if not all, independent online writers or those who individually transact with potential clients online have previously worked with freelance writing workplaces. Most independent freelance writers chose to leave their former companies because of untoward cases, such as scam, delayed payments, unfair terms and conditions set by the company, manipulation of plagiarism reports, manipulation of clients’ feedback, unfriendly and unfeeling technical support, and exploitation of online writers, among many others.
For clients, it is advisable that they first conduct company background check before placing an order with a particular freelance writing company. There are online writing companies that treat clients well, but are oppressive to their own writers. There are many advantages of online writing companies.

Disadvantages of online writing companies
They offer steep prices. Most freelance writing companies like academia-research.com, writers.ph, elance.com, odesk.com, allwriting.net, etc. offer high or even unreasonable prices to online clients. The thing is, only about 15 percent to 30 percent goes to freelance writers who do all the work, while a huge chunk of the client’s money goes to the company. Online writing companies need to keep their price list because they have employees to pay and a system to maintain.
Freelance writers are not really assessed. Most freelance writing companies do not really check on the writing facilities of their writers. There are some that easily admit freelance writers without conducting qualifying examinations or essay tests. As a result, online clients suffer and are usually barred by hidden terms and conditions of the freelance writing company.
Hidden terms and conditions. Most freelance writing companies have hidden terms and conditions that are unfair to both freelance writers and clients. Both online writers and clients need to be aware of the rules and terms and conditions of a particular company before clicking the start button.
Complaints and unfair treatment. Just use the search engine and try to google freelance writers’ and clients’ complaints about unscrupulous freelance writing companies. There are now sites and forums whose goal is to expose the modus operandi of a lot of online writing companies. Some of these sites are essayscam.org, scamessays.com, ghostwritinguncovered.com, etc.
These are some of the many reasons why it is safer to outsource the services of independent freelance writers, plus the fact that most of them deliver high quality results at affordable prices.