Suite101.com Review
78Hub Pages a better source of income
Suite 101 is another revenue sharing, paid-to-write site (PTW), similar to Gather and Helium. However, the terms of agreement at Suite101 so favor the company and deprive writers of revenue, I’m giving it a big thumbs down.
These PTW sites work by placing ads on the pages and sharing whatever revenue is generated with the authors. The exact percentage is often hard to determine, but it definitely favors website owners. The real advantage to a blogger is that by posting material on multiple sites you can drive traffic to your own site.
Suite101 demands exclusive rights to all your content and does not accept previously published material, yet pays only a pittance. You are much better off building your resume by freelancing for small newspapers, which pay between $25-$50 for the same length article.
For exclusive rights to original material, they pay $1.50 per thousand page views. One writer posting on the sites forum said he had 100 articles that received 34,000 page views in a month. Fifty-dollars a month for all that work. Ridiculous! Had he sold those articles to Associated Content, he would have received anywhere from $4 to $50 a piece. AC also pays a performance bonus of $1.50 per thousand page views in addition to the upfront pay.
I recommended selling non-exclusive rights to AC, then posting the same article to to Hub Pages and Xomba. Both those sites alternate showing Google Adsense ads with their account code and yours. The fairest revenue sharing model for making money writing online. I wrote this article on Associated Content for Hub Pages. It has received 193 page views with my Adsense account code, making $2.50. That's about $10 a thousand views for comparison.
An Insider's Guide to Breaking into Freelance Newspaper Writing
Learn the secrets of making $$$$ with online writing.
Earn a Living As a Freelance Writer
 | Amazon Price: $2.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $11.95 List Price: $19.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $4.95 List Price: $14.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $11.96 List Price: $24.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $4.79 |
 | Amazon Price: $0.43 List Price: $14.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $15.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $12.51 List Price: $19.95 |
CommentsLoading...
I'm guessing you don't actually write for Suite101. They don't pay any set amount per 1000 page views, and certainly not $1.50. You earn a portion of ad revenue, which can work out to be quite a bit more per 1000. I understand your points about exclusivity and other networks, but your facts are not accurate.
If anyone is getting more than $1.50/1000 views I'd love to see a screenshot of their payout. I asked other writers on the 101 forum page what they were making.
After of the comments I received talked about the "good ol' days" when the pay was $2.50/1000. Any website that wants to legitimately share ad revenue will do like Hub Pages and make it a rotating ad swap or like Associated Content and pay a decent upfront payment and then on going pay per view.
Read Suite101's terms of agreement. Nowhere will you find what percentage of ad revenue they share. If they were legitimate, they’d say, “We pay writers X-percent of revenue.”
I realize Gather, Thisisby and a few other sites do the same thing, but they don’t demand exclusivity and allow links to the author’s other work or websites.
If you Google Suite101, you'll have a hard time finding anything complimentary about the site. Started in 2000, at one point it quit paying authors altogether.
I'm not about to provide you with a screenshot of my personal stats, but both myself and my mom both write for suite and we are both earning well over $1.50 per 1000 pvs. I get around $2.50 and my mom who writes about genealogy gets around $4.
You shouldn't post "facts" about a site you don't have personal experience with. You can't back them up, and shouldn't expect other people to provide proof for you.
Suite101 makes its money off of Goggle Adsense. Looking at articles I have written and receive Adsense payments on, I see the lowest performing one makes about $7.31 per 1000 page views.My highest has been $31 per 1000.
I guess writing for Suite101 is a personal decision. If you want to give up reprint rights for a year to a company that doesn't disclose what percentage of ad revenue they will share, and has, according to their terms of agreement, the right to use your material indefinetly anyway they want, good luck.
Personally I don't see the point of giving Suite101 exclusive rights to a piece of work that could easily earn you double on Hub Pages alone.
Suite101 makes its money off of Goggle Adsense. Looking at articles I have written and receive Adsense payments on, I see the lowest performing one makes about $7.31 per 1000 page views.My highest has been $31 per 1000.
I guess writing for Suite101 is a personal decision. If you want to give up reprint rights for a year to a company that doesn't disclose what percentage of ad revenue they will share, and has, according to their terms of agreement, the right to use your material indefinetly anyway they want, good luck.
Personally I don't see the point of giving Suite101 exclusive rights to a piece of work that could easily earn you double on Hub Pages alone.
I just quit after having articles flagged each and every time I wrote one. I work blogging professionally for a very large firm online and make a great deal more money without being flagged at all.
Suite101 is not for serious writers. I received emails from the editorial staff with misspellings and bad grammar. I should have known then that it was "off".
The flags I got were all about SEO and nothing else. I could write a page with nothing but "blah, blah, blah, blah, blah" all across it and get away with it if the keywords were right. Very sad.
Interesting discussion. I've thought about Suite101 after seeing other positive comments.
I have reservations about Helium because although they don't demand
exclusive rights, they also don't let you delete your articles. Ever.
And the pay is around 10c per article per month.
Suite definitely isn't for everyone. I think their commitment to SEO is a fantastic way to learn about writing for the web. My $/1000 is currently around $5 and I have 22 articles up. I like that Suite has such a high commitment to quality articles.
I don't enjoy seeing my work at Helium alongside garbage articles that are poorly written and not referenced. Suite has a goal that facts are attributed to sources, and yes, the editors are quite strict. It's a good thin, I like the discipline and I like the education.
If you jsut want to write and get paid and don't care about the quality of the work you produce, or whether or not the site will allow "just anyone" to publish then by all means, write somewhere else.
I do value Helium and other sites for allowing me to publish lesser quality articles in order to drive people to my other site.
I haven't delved into AC or Hubpages much, there are just so many options. I guess there's a time and place for everything.
I have heard mainly positive things about suite101 and your review is a bit surprising for me but maybe you have a point. CPM varies widely depending on the methodology to calculate it and if they count only traffic from US/Canada, then it is clear why the low rate. But as the other people say, Suite uses Adsense, which is not CPM based.
$50 for an AC article? Hilarious! .001% of people have made that much... The average AC article pays $5.00 - that's upfront and PPC! Just save yourself the trouble and write for someone who actually pays you for your work - at a rate higher than $1 per hour.
Associated Content started out paying decent, but its gotten pretty cheap over the last year. I wouldn't waste my time now writing for AC or Suite 101. The only upside to those type of sites is people who can not get published anywhere else can post something and then refer to themselves as a "professional freelance writer."
As someone who actually writes for S101 - I can tell you that the projections of 1.50/1000 are laughable. I range from 2.22 at the very worst to $4-5.
Further, your $ per 1000 clicks isn't where you make your money - you make it via adclicks primarily. I have 100 articles and have made $100/mth consistently. Suite101 pays residual income - your articles earn substantially more money over time, AC does not.
Also, exclusivity only applies to the first year of your contract. Further, posting duplicate articles defeats the pagerank of your article in the first place. You should learn more about SEO before posting inaccurate information such as this.
I recommend Suite101 to any freelance writer. My articles are EACH making me, on average, $18 per annum! Multiply that by 100, 200 or 500 articles and I'm sure that you can all see the potential. I think that is pretty good, especially considering that this income keeps on coming in. It is all about putting in the time and producing quality, well SEO-keyworded articles.
Editors are very strict on grammar and spelling, not just SEO. The quality of writers on S101 is vastly higher than the majority of comparable sites.
I wish I had found S101 months ago and would strongly advise any freelancer to apply. Good luck.
Isn't it better to submit the same article with some changes? I've heard that having the same material in numerous places can actually tick off Google and lower search engine rankings for those pages.
ibrutus, my dear, your posts all have such appalling grammatical, syntactical, and spelling mistakes ("does not EXCEPT previously published materials) that I very much doubt anyone is paying you very much to publish anywhere. Before people start spouting off about the professionalism of writers for sites such as Suite101, they should at least make sure their posts are clean....The fact that most of your assertions (one really can't call them facts) are wrong doesn't help, either.
The reason why these websites can get away with paying writers so little money is because so many people are willing to work for so little money. Sorry, I'm not writing a 500 word story for $5. I've been doing this for a long time and I'm a professional. People who take this little money are ruining the freelance writing market for the real professionals who work hard and take their craft seriously. All you people are doing who write for Suite101 and places like that where you get pennies on the dollar is making that website money, not yourself. You'd all be better off to make a blog, accept affiliate links and earn the money for yourselves. Sites like Suite101, Helium and the like are just there to make slaves out of writers. It's disgusting.
Someone earlier posted that "Suite101 is not for serious writers." Certainly it's a good place for the novice writer, but I've been continuously impressed with the talent and background of many writers there.
I myself have been writing part-time for thirty hears and have over 200 items in print (and I am not counting my 100+ online articles in that total). I do consider myself a "serious" and professional writer.
That said, I've been writing on suite101 mostly for fun. Writing tight 500 word articles is kind of like eating peanuts. It's hard to stop with just a handful...
And after six months of effort to hit 100 articles, the thing started to pay rather well. I've reduced my effort and the money keeps coming in. Not bad for something I did mostly for fun.
The pay rate per 1000 was NEVER $2.50. It was $2.00. Then, Suite shifted to a income share model. So, various writers make various amounts depending on content and ad clicks.
Exclusive is for one year only. And, it only applies to online pub. Writers can market to print etc.
It's great that your blog pulls in big bucks, but most blogs/personal sites do not. Many writers pull in more income going with an established site with Google juice and with regular visitors.
No. Suite is not for everyone. But, you clearly do not know much about the site and how it works. You do a disservice in posting about things where you clearly have no knowledge.
There are a lot of writing websites that work on revenue-sharing models. eHow pays nothing upfront, and compensates on the backend. Associated Content pays between $1 and $4 upfront, with $1.50 payouts per 1,000 views.
Mahalo.com offers page building for upfront payments (between $4 and $10 in "Mahalo dollars"), and continuous 50-50 adsense revenue sharing. Some pages get hundreds of dollars a month: http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-get-pregnant
All these revenue sharing model writing sites claim that you can make unlimited amounts of money. While this is true in theory, it is definitely not a case of: write the article, get it published, then move on... You have to actively DRIVE traffic to your articles, in order to get a payout. This is definitely a philosophical shift from the old school freelance writing model of writing something, getting it published, then moving onto the next thing. You have to be an active promoter of your writing.
Anyway, check Mahalo out! They seem to have a bit of a higher revenue sharing model, AND upfront payment model. (http://www.mahalo.com/tasks)
Good articles, the only snag about Associated Content is that revenue is not that good if you are not a US resident. So if you live, say in the UK, you get much less.
Good article, the only snag about Associated Content is that revenue is not that good if you are not a US resident. So if you live, say in the UK, you get much less.
I'm sorry I have to agree, Suite101 is clearly exploiting writers to the Nth degree. The professional writer would never give complete exclusive rights for any amount of time on the promise of future residuals. It's shear, utter nonsense.
With all the work (SEO Keywording and such)their articles require, they should be paying upfront IN ADDITION TO residuals.
I write for Suite 101 and think it is the most professional site by far. They DO ask for spelling and grammar changes to be made as needed, which no one else does from my experience. I'm very new but have a very good payout so far with S101. Get your facts straight please, and use a spell and grammar check or a proofreader or consider not "writing" online.
I must congratulate my fellow suite writer above for noticing the terrible grammar and spelling from ibrutus... Frankly I'm surprised anybody else decided to take his incorrect assertions seriously...
Here's something that might interest you all:
I wrote for Suite101.com from 2002 to 2005. More than 50 articles and a lot of great comments. I stopped for awhile in 2006-07 and when I wanted to return, they told me that all of their previous writers had to go through the application process again. I did, and got rejected. They told me my topic was no longer relevant to the site.
I have since used many of my Suite101 articles elsewhere online and have gotten great reviews and some interesting followers. HubPages is one of those places.
I like writing here because I'm not really interested in the money, In fact, I must be doing something wrong. Since beginning with Hub some 6-8 months ago, I have never received a penny. Oh, well...
I applied to Suite and they told me my articles were not good enough for their website. They also stated that I did not have enough work experience and education to know my topic well. I have been in management over 17 years and have a Masters in Business. My articles dealt with the business world. Lol. Well posted the articles to AC and got an upfront payment and made 10.00 each from page views alone.
I'm looking for a job and I'm a good writer just trying to earn money doing what I love. However I looked into s101 and then found this review which lead me to the comments posted about the article. As far as logic goes, iBrutus is automatically a bad writer because he misused a few words? How does that make him a bad writer, when somebody could have clearly have great mechanics but fail to be compelling? Also why are we only discussing payments in $/views? I need somebody who actively works for s101 to show me a concrete figure, i.e. a check from s101 for your work, is it per week? per month? only when you post? These are all questions that people who "know a lot about the site" have also failed to answer and are conclusively no more helpful than the article they disprove of.
If anybody will answer this comment, send it to Burckhard22@gmail.com
Thanks
I just got accepted to write for Suite101 but can't bring myself to 'sign' the contract. I got my acceptance back less than 30 minutes after I submitted. I assumed it was going to Canada (their HQ?) and noted that the time in Canada was late evening when most editorial/office staff wouldn't be at work. It did cross my mind that no-one had actually read my sample articles and I'd received an automated acceptance response (I could be wrong of course and I realise people anywhere in the world could be 'vetting' these sample articles). I have also noted that although Suite101 request that you write in third person, many of the articles are written in second person...and some are definitely poorly written. Also how can articles be relevant to a world audience? For example, an article about dog care (worms, ticks etc.) in the Australian tropics would not be relevant to someone living in the northern hemisphere. Do editorial staff really read/check these articles?
I have noted lots of comments such as "My $/1000 is currently around $5". What does this mean please? As far as I'm aware, writers just got an 'unknown' percentage of google adsense revenue. Thanks, Newbie Susie
I've made a few hundred bucks with AC but it takes a lot of work and some "automation" to start earning something considerably good. I've also heard about people creating more than one account and spreading their articles.
Do you know that AC only pay upfront fees to US citizens?
I'm looking for one or more actual Suite101 writers to give me a short review of Suite101 for my passive income blog. I'll link back to your Suite101 Profile or elsewhere in exchange. Contact me through my blog (linked)
I can understand what you are saying about Suite 101 and the low pay, but I can't understand why you would say the writers aren't professional. I think it's a pretty broad statement to make about the Suite 101 writers.
Just browse through the writer profile pages on Suite 101 and you'll see that 90% of the people have published everything from magazine articles to books.
Deborah Ng ( a writer I look up to) started out as a writer at Suite 101 and she is an extremely professional and successful freelance writer and blogger. She's just one example, if you search around you'll find plenty more.
The Suite 101 site has a quality business image they portray but I know several people who left the website as authors there because of really bad experiences with their editing staff. These former members posted about these experiences on some message boards and one was a former editor herself. I don't have the link handy to those boards but remembering the former editor's first name for the Suite 101, I did relocate her article about bad experiences that led to her resigning.
http://allfreelancewriting.com/2007/04/27/specialt
It's a bit revealing but was written three years ago. It's doubtful the site has changeg especially since former authors for them are still complaining about the same problems and new authors continue to quit the site.
Most of you people are demeaning the writing profession by working for peanuts. Back in the early 1980s, when a Golf sedan cost less than $5,000, freelance writers were paid $1 a word, $2 a word for corporate writing.
Now a golf costs $25,000 and you people work for pennies a word. Nice going, fools.
Exactly, David. I'm both an artist and a writer, and I'm absolutely sick of idiot freelancers that are so desperate to make a buck that they will take ANY payment. Now we have cheapskate clients hopping on the net expecting a three page article or a logo designed for fifty bucks. All you people have done is drive down the mean pay for legitimate and SKILLED professionals.
On that note, the moron above who thinks that receiving $18 dollars a year for writing an article is GOOD pay was truly hilarious.
I have been a freelancer in print for years and I am trying to figure out the online world. I have a website and a blog and a facebook page, all interlinked. I have signed up for adsense, but I am scared to sign anything for online freelancing because I don't want to get taken. I looked at Suite 101 and couldn't agree to the terms either. I just don't like giving my rights away for a year. But, I am not sure what the norm is either. Any help for an old school writer trying to get with the 2000s?
I concur, Mark. The sheer audacity of these hacks attempting to feed themselves during times of desperation has left a black mark on the field of professional b.s.-ing (or “web writing”, as it's commonly called). I propose, quite modestly, that aspiring web writers should consider panhandling. As I understand it, there is a severe shortage of thought-provoking and grammatically correct panhandling signs.
Of course, professional panhandlers will likely object to amateurs undercutting their sacred profession. A troubling dilemma, no doubt.
David, Mark and E.A, can you give the rest of us poor 'morons' the right way to go as a freelance writer?
Oh dear, don’t I feel like a moron now having signed the contract with Suite101 not twelve hours ago! Put me in the same bucket as chakwo. It seems I too need help as a new web writer. Although I guess I have taken the right steps by becoming a ‘Hubber’ or that is according to this ‘Hub’. Only time will tell if I’ll earn anything from my ramblings which is why I’m looking to give anything a try.
I'm a professional Technical Writer of well over a decade of experience. I have a mechanical engineering certificate, halfway through an MBA and a trade certificate (I left school and became a motor mechanic).
I became a writer because it paid better than being a mechanic. This should be some indication of how poorly mechanics are paid!
I write creative projects as a hobby and have numerous technical articles in a car constructor magazine, and numerous light-hearted humour articles. While I recieved benefit from these in the form of magazine merch and free issues (I provided them for free to help the magazine start) each 2500 word article has a market rate for magazines of about AUD$350. This is not enough to consider dumping my near on six figure industrial tech writing role.
While I would love to put my articles online and earn revenue, $50 for the article and $18 a year for something that takes 16 hours to research, write, verify and provide supporting photography is simply a joke and should be left to new writers or those that do it purely for fun.
If someone can show me somewhere that takes submissions from the higher end of the scale and treats them appropriately, then I'm in!
Also, who the heck can write a story or article in 500 words? Even my 2500 word fluff articles are savaged down from 10,000.
I'm a little concerned after reading these comments. I'm reconsidering using suite101.
i am with chakwo on this one. David, Mark and E.A have very rightly said that earning pennies for hours of hard work is absolutely preposturous. but then, what the heck do you think we should do? do David, Mark and E.A have a better suggestion for the morons?
I'm not a suite writer, but if one of them decides to post another blog with the word assertions I'll be pretty disappointed with their variety.
This is a blog. Use social media etiquette and stop correcting our spelling. Please avoid the use of large professional dialogue to prove your sophistication. I was about to join s101, found this page, and realized that I'm better off sending queries and such to magazines that "suite" my style. That's just my assertion.
I was just quoted $3.90 USD per 1,000 page views by suite101.
I have a few niche websites making money - I was thinking about applying for suite 101, to write complimentary articles to promote my sites. Is linking from your articles to your own sites allowed?
Comments above have covered some of the issues I wanted to bring up; including that Suite 101 does not pay per page view, but rather writers get paid when readers click advertising links.
To the author, thought you might appreciate a "heads-up" re: mistakes in your article. You wrote:
"Suite101 demands exclusive writes to all your content and does not except previously published material."
Should read: "exclusive rights" and "does not accept".
Also, Suite 101 only has the online rights for one year. After one year, all rights revert to the author.
Best to always proofread you work for errors and typos! ;-)
And to Mish: Yes, you are allowed to do that.
B.
Suite 101 pays a few dollars for what I've been doing free for the Concord (NH) print and online editions. What's wrong with that? I'd do the work anyway.
On the other hand, I heard about another site associated with the NY Times, with higher standards for admission and production, that pays much better. I'm trying to find it and learn more about it. People said in positive reviews that they work 15-20 hours week writing for that site.
I've been with Suite101 for almost 2 years, I have about 150ish articles up. My $/1000 ranges from $10-$30 and my monthly income ranges from $600-$1200 every month. Even if I don't write, I still get paid. My minimum commitment takes about 4 hours of my time each month, so my "hourly rate" ranges from $150-$300 per hour. Suite101 actually IS for serious web writers who study SEO and appreciate making money without looking like idiots. Helium, on the other hand, is a joke. The fact that a commenter pointed out your spelling and grammar errors weeks ago and it hasn't been fixed yet is a testament to this. Good luck.
And that is where the fault in Suite101 lies. Where do you ever start off a new paragraph with the word AND. I think you need to realign your article before contemplating publishing a "Hit list" on any other website. This is really poor in taste as I had to stop reading it.
hmm... just been offered a contract with Suite but something stopped me from going ahead with it. Then I found this discussion and it really confirms what the reservations I had, so I definitely won't. I might start my own blog instead!
Professional writers made 20-cents to $1 per word. Online is usually a flat fee ranging from $50 to $300, and sometimes more.
Professional writers make 20-cents to $1 per word. Online is usually a flat fee ranging from $50 to $300 per article, and sometimes more.
Interesting that his discussion has been going on for 2 years.
I have a degree in journalism and several articles in print.
I just sent off my first article for Suite101. I agree, the pay scheme is laughable. Unfortunately, it is reflective of the way writers are perceived and treated these days.
One website offered me peanuts because they said "it doesn't have to be polished." Another one I have written for pays the web designers but not the writers. The perception is that writing is just pulled out of a hat and does not require special skill or effort.
I have been trying to go freelance for a while and have been losing money, not making any. So when I came across Suite101 I thought:
1) At least it pays something
2) I can build a portfolio
But yeah. I know I am only degrading the craft further. So what's a struggling writer to do?
I've also been offered a contract with Suite101 and I see it as a way to build my portfolio. I have been writing mostly for corporations for the past few years and am very new to web writing. Does anyone know if they provide writers with income tax receipts? Do writers generally claim this income?
Just to give everyone some perspective, I am a business consultant who writes articles, white papers, and contractual agreements for customers in a wide range of industries. Reading some of the comments from writers who are offended by the "web-writers" ruining the trade, made me laugh.
It's called market based pricing, and when competition increase, pricing typically falls. Does this mean you can't make as much money? Not at all. It just means you have to adapt and become more innovative.
I used to make anywhere between $350.00 to $500.00 and more per white paper. However, I prefer the web-writing I am doing now to the hours upon hours reviewing, correcting, explaining to customers, and revisions on those white papers.
I write a 1000 word article in about half and hour, or even less sometimes, and I don't spend anywhere near the amount of time justifying the article to customers.
So, to all those complaining about web-writers ruining the trade: Shut up!
Instead of demanding answers as to why web-writers are "ruining" your trade, perhaps you should ask yourself why you can't compete, and why you can't adjust the same way I did, and make it work.
Insane.
Wow, what a great debate. I think the key is the residual income, just set and forget, you do the work once and get paid many times for that effort over the years. The rates for article writing anywhere are not great at the moment but you are only writing ten articles per quarter. Any half decent writer can do standing on their head. I do hope I have not made henny spelling mistokes.
Stay Well Stay Happy
John
The problem I find with these copywriting services is they all pay dismally. Why not pace a decent wage for a decent job
associated content is actually not that bad. I've been writing there for 2 years now. I've recently just submitted a 600 word article for up-front payment and got 9 dollars from it. Some of my 700 word have gotten 12 dollars. I get around 600 dollars a month from it.
Residual pay for articles is a waste of time and energy.It comes after a long time (years), is never guaranteed and even if it comes,it is ridiculously low.Worse than peanuts.Also,the way the company determines your pay per views/clicks is always a mystery and full of discrepancies.I do not trust this form of payment.
Also,I have realized that most writers do not have a grasp of mathematics.When somebody gets paid $600 in one month per year,they claim they are earning $600 per month,which is wrong.You are actually earning $50 per month ($600/12 months) = $50 per month.So please try to get your maths right before you post unfounded claims.
I write for Suite101 and it is my favorite writing site. The editors that I work with are professional and quite helpful. They also allow me some freedom in my writing and style as long as it is correct.
"Aunice 5 months ago
I'm sorry I have to agree, Suite101 is clearly exploiting writers to the Nth degree. The professional writer would never give complete exclusive rights for any amount of time on the promise of future residuals."
Online writing is completely different because web sites are not paid for by advertisers the same way print publications are. If they paid us excellent upfront fees, the web sites would sink. Write a good article and take in the royalties and you'll find that you are actually making good money over the long run.
As far as Suite's exclusivity agreement goes, it is only for online exclusive rights for one year. That means that you can publish your article in any print publication during the first year, and anywhere online and in print after that; however, you are less likely to get traffic to your online content if it is published twice or more, so it is in YOUR best interest to maintain exclusivity with Suite.
With regards to Suite101 I would offer the following:
Compared to Helium, the earnings rate is much higher, there are no requirements to rate a set number of articles per quarter and Suite101 editorial staff provide significant feedback in order to guide the writer toward a better product. As far as income goes, I was able to earn more in add revenue in two months than I earned from Helium in one year. Additionally, there are reports of Suite101 writers earning in excess of $1000 per month on a regular basis and while that is not quite a living wage, it is quite a suppement. I've found Suite101 to be good enough that I'm only maintaining Helium to collect my residuals of $15-20 per month and get my alternate month payouts.
@Derrick - Most of the people posting here are referring to residual income. So when they say $600 a month they get paid that 600 or around it every month not one time.
Have any of you struggling writers tried bidding for writing projects on guru.com? That is one way to make money writing. Of course unlike suite 101 you get paid once and that's it, but if you bid for those projects where ongoing work is wanted and they pay reasonably well it's ok.
@betcaro,
It's funny you should comment and correct this poster's mistakes, yet you failed to correct your own mistakes.
Your post: "Best to always proofread you work for errors and typos! ;-)"
You gave great advice, you just forgot to TAKE IT. That should read:
"Best to always proofread YOUR work." Not, "YOU work." Got it? Good.
Anyway, I too was accepted to write for Suit101, I am doing extensive research before I sign though, this was my first stop, I'll keep researching.
Thanks for writing this hub. It brought out a tremendous amount of information no matter which side a person is on and your hub was the catalyst. I think we were all served by it.
Everyone realizes what site this is, right? We're on Hubpages. That anyone would think an article that blasts Hubpages's competition and was written by a Hub contributor could be unbiased is laughable.
The rampant spelling and grammar mistakes in this post translate into a low opinion of the writer and the opinion. S/he can't write, so why should I listen to his/her opinion of freelance writing sites?
lol well this debate is a bit of a roller coster ride.
I have been a Suite writer for about a year. I was promoted to Feature Writer about six months ago and tend to earn between $5-10 per 1000. They have certainly given me a better understanding of SEO. Further, I have learned a few things from some of the editors. Just like on any other site that actually edits anything, some of the editors are too picky and full of themselves, while others are helpful, good people. I have written in the past for AC, Triond and Ehow and would not recommend them to anyone. No site is perfect but Suite has been the most professional, helpful and consistent in their approach, as well as earnings.
It sounds like Suite101 are truly rip-off artists.
Yes, like the old Korean saying goes:
The wise man walks around the crap; not because he's scared of it but because it's crap.
Suite 101 must be hurting for writers. Now they are advertising on Craig's List but not using their name. If you are interested in freelancing you respond to the ad and they send you a link to a landing page. It was broken but after I called it to their attention, they fixed it. And although it doesn't say Suite 101, just suiteapply it turns out to be them.
My advice is if you want to land a writing job that pays is to pound the pavement like you would for any other job. Start a blog, it's free, and show your work samples. Promote YOUR blog and your brand through social media marketing, not theirs.
I used one of these content mills to get the hang of writing for the web (I'm trained for print) but it only cost me a few articles. I don't really want a lot of my stuff to show up that way for fear real publishers will not take me seriously.
There are only two online sites I write for. One is Constant Content, and the other is Suite 101. Why? Firstly, because the editorial standards are high. Secondly, the money, if you put the work in, is good. CC gives me medium term income and Suite is a long game.
With Suite you earn residuals even when you're not writing - month after month after month. In just my second month I'd earned enough to do the month's grocery and household shopping - the big shop thing.
Suite doesn't suit everyone. It is a long game, as I said, and you need patience to get the revenue kicking in - it's not instant cash. Suite is one of Google's favoured sites so it gets gallons of Googlejuice too, which is why Suite articles get so much prominence in Google searches.
I'd ask that those of you who haven't written for Suite or who haven't built up an arsenal of articles there, keep an open mind and not be swayed by half heard rumours and distorted perceptions of what the place is all about. It's actually stuffed to the gills with writers who are highly qualified technical, scientific, artistic (you name it) professionals in their fields - they wouldn't stay unless they felt comfortable there.
May I suggest that contributors here are not called morons and that their professionalism is not called into question simply because your perception is that the pay they earn is low.
Yes there are a lot of rubbish article mill sites where you can just slap up a couple hundred words on this or that and get a few $$ payment, which gives some people the idea that writing is as easy as scribbling out a shopping list. However, any professional writer - and I include myself as I earn my living from writing - knows what good writing and research means and wouldn't be seen dead within 100 yards of some of those sites. Who wants to write for a site where the quality is - shall we say - inconsistent? Who wants to have their name associated with substandard material? Not me.
I've just read all the comments above - ALL OF THEM - and look forward to working full time on Suite101.
Hi. I am a newbie writer (about a year +) and I like writing for Suite. I make a bit of money (not enough to live on) and I look forward to writing every day that I can. The thing that I like about Suite (compared to Examiner, the only other place I've tried) is that I get to pick any subject for my writing. Some articles make money. Some don't. But, I've learned one heck of a lot about writing. So.... See how varied my subjects are. I do a lot of research, but I find it fun and fascinating. Click my link: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/tinagregoire
I got accepted today but after reading their contract I don't think ill be going ahead with them.
What a great debate here, amazing how much activity this topic has received. I offer no opinion to the right or wrong decision to submit content to any online source. I tried writing for Demand Studios but found their strict guidelines and 2 strikes you're out rule a bit hard to deal with. I went to Suite101 and enjoy writing for them.
I am not writing for Suite101 - but rather, am writing for myself. The topics I write about are for my audience, my online store and my own knowledge. I just happen to get paid for it too. These articles will generate income over time but they also give my customers a place to go if they want to learn more about natural health & wellness.
AC, as a side note, doesn't work well if you are not in the U.S. Blogging is good but you need to drive traffic and increase page rank. Just because you write something does not mean anyone will actually find it! For "in demand" topics it is hard to get your article to appear in the searches and we all know that if it's not on the 1st page, most people won't find you.
To each their own, write for your own reasons and if someone says there is a way to get rich quick & easy - it's most likely illegal! Hard work, perseverance and ingenuity will take you to your goals!
Having written for newspapers and magazines around the world I decided I'd have a go with Suite101. To be honest I've never been so badly paid in my career. Given the effort and the few dollars I earned for it, I have to say that the return on investment really is appalling.
Even their own blog gives examples of people who have made $10 after three months work. Suite101 is very demanding in terms of content, style and layout - more so than any newspaper or magazine I've ever written for including The Sunday Times and The Financial Times.
If you are desperate to see your article published and really just keen to regard yourself as a writer then it might be fun but otherwise I would not advise having anything to do with Suite101. Concentrate on a proper newspaper or magazine, read it carefully to work out exactly what they want, identify and cultivate the commissioning editor and then send him or her some feature ideas - you'll see a far better return than Suite101 - and be far better treated.
I write for Suite101 - didn't see this blog before applying...but I did read ALL the comments from the last 2 years.
All I have to add is that I have been writing for Suite101 for almost 2 months. I don't write full time as I have a full-time job already, however I am currently earning an average of $10.00 per 1,000 page views.
Suite101 is a revenue-share business model - I receive a portion of the revenue my articles make and do not get paid up-front for them. But, what I like about this model, is that I will continue to earn money for articles I've written years from now rather than receiving a one-time fee.
One question for people who do write for Suite 101. Besides the research and writing time, do you also spend time promoting your articles on 101 around the web ? i think the answer is no .. that is left to suite 101, leaving you free to do more writing, correct ?
In the Hub Page model, writing the article appears to be the easy part. Then a whole lot more time has to be spent actually getting traffic to your hub page articles ? correct?
I love Suite101, I don't have to actively promote my articles, but I do have my RSS feed set up through my twitter & facebooks to give the new ones a jump start. The only other promotion I do is periodic roundups on Examiner and my own websites.
I wanted to point out another misconception in the original article. Suite doesn't demand exclusive rights forever, just for one year. After that time, you're free to repost the article on other sites. This is actually to increase the ranking of the suite articles, under the suspicion that Google discredits duplicate content. A year's worth of exclusivity isn't that big of a deal when the articles are evergreen.
And- I have 175 articles at Suite101 and so far my total earnings have been over $10,000. That's about 11 cents a word. I'm cool with that. So far. Each month I add about 2000 words and get paid anywhere from $500-$900 because I'm paid on the older articles, too.
it's not a scam. And if you think some future book editor is going to not publish you because you've built up an online presense, you've got to be kidding. Publishers WANT writers who can promote their book.
Lots of interesting posts here. I used to write for suite101 but stopped just over a year ago. I was wondering if anyone knew whether it was possible to delete your suite101 account? I've searched the site but can't seem to find any relevant info.
YOU MUST BE THIS TALL TO RIDE THE ROLLERCOASTER!
I think the question will be, what quality level will the mass production be able to achieve. There will be a limit, and sites that take a more authoritative view and give trust a boost within their content (like http://www.thefreeresource.com does) and pay their writers more for better content will win in the long run. I guess it's the different between a mass produced car and a hand crafted car. Which will last longer and have less issues? I put my money on the hand crafted vehicle. I think the same is true with the large sites that rely on mass but have little quality behind each article. We recently saw this with QA sites and will soon see it with content farms that don't live up to Google's and the users standards.
For those who are writing for Suite 101, (or have previously been a writer there), what were your two articles about when applying? What are the Suite 101 staff looking for in the two articles that you're supposed to submit? I'm stuck on this step of the application process and any help would be greatly appreciated!
This article got a "yellow" warning from my Internet Explorer 8. The Suite101 website does not, and neither does Examiner.com. That says something about the credibility of the original article.
Right now I work for a ghostwriting site that pays 2/3rds of a cent per page. If someone offered me $1.50 for every 1,000 webclicks and permitted me retain my copyright and byline as well, I'd jump at the chance. So I'm soon going to be applying at Suite.
The sample articles should be in third person and free from grammar and spelling errors. As far as I know, that's all they ask.
Start up a site. Put adsense on it. You will find out just how much suite101 is ripping you off.
For instance, a mortgage click will easily yield $2 or more. At a 5% click through rate that is $100 per 1000 clicks. Keep enjoying whatever little revenue suite101 shares with you. They are the ones laughing all the way to the bank.
I meant $100 per thousand page views. $2 x 1000 clicks would be $2000.
I am so glad that most people think of sites like Suite101 & eHow as a joke. I make more than $900 per month on EACH (this month $818 so far from Suite & $967 from eHow - and the month isn't even up yet, so I've still got more earnings to come). Your petty arguing, understandable disbelief, and ignorant ranting will assure that I will have less competition ... Thank you.
I've been writing for the Suite101 website since May 2010. Apart from a couple of patronising sub-editors I don't really have any complaints.
However...
I have written eleven articles and have received $6.39 in revenue, although according to Suite rules you can not cash in your money until it reaches $10.
Two days ago I signed up to Demand Studios, who publish articles with ehow.com, livestrong.com and many more. I will have $30 in my bank account on Tuesday.
Suite101 allow you to write about what you want, when you want, providing you write 10 articles every 3 months.
DemandStudios work by giving you assignment titles to claim and there isn't always a wide variety.
Hope this helps :-)
Don't be a dope- every single page view isn't going to result in an ad click. I do have several niche sites, but none of them have the page rank Suite101 has. You obviously know nothing about making money on your own site if you think it's possible to make $200 for every 1000 visitors. That's funny. My niche websites (like 12 of them) do make more than my Suite101 income, but they were a lot more work to set up and they started one article at a time. Not everyone wants to learn how to build their own websites. Suite 101 is established, that's why it's so great for articles that are out of my niches and for new writers. Don't be such a sourpuss, especially with such silly numbers like $100/1000. No one is making that.
>>>For instance, a mortgage click will easily yield $2 or >>>more. At a 5% click through rate that is $100 per 1000 >>>clicks. Keep enjoying whatever little revenue suite101 >>>shares with you. They are the ones laughing all the >>>way to the bank.
>>>I meant $100 per thousand page views. $2 x 1000 clicks >>>would be $2000.
you cant earn here if you are outside the US
http:www.businessprofiles.com is a company registered to Andrew Nicol and or Brendhan Hight. The company Marchex Sale, Inc is located in 4425 W Spring Mountain Rd Suite 210, Las Vegas NV. 89102 US. Businessprofiles publishes company profiles worldwide. Businessprofiles has come under scrutiny and risk several lawsuits as they continue to unethically publish business information with no knowledge or consent of the business owners. Most information that Business profiles publishes on their website is usually inaccurate and unreliable
I'd love to be able to write for demand. I started writing for suite 101 a week ago and I'm already beginning to have my doubts. I submitted a feature article - one I worked hard on only to have it flagged because I did not quote my sources or my interview times and dates at the end of the article. I've never had to do that for any magazine I have written for nor any other online publication. I found it very weird. I was also told to add subheadings to my feature. The article does not suit having subheadings in it.
There were a slew of different reasons for why the article was flagged, none of which really seemed warranted. It's turned me off writing for suite 101 that I am actually pulling all my articles and writing elsewhere. I actually wasn't in it for the money but for getting my work out there but if they have editors such as these, I'll pass.
Hello everyone! I'm graduated journalist, currently unemployed and I'm considering applying for suite 101 while searching for permanent job. However, I'm not US resident, I live in Europe and someone has mentioned that non-US or Canada residents get paid less! I would appreciate if someone could answer me that from his/her own experience! Thanks in advance!
After writing for Helium, AC and other sites for years, I have found that Demand Studios is the best paying site as of yet. $15 per 500 word article is not bad at all, and you are paid every Wednesday and Friday.
When people complain about the low rates that freelancers are paid, they must not be aware that some dude in the Ukraine, Philippines or India is writing university level essays for less than $2 per page. Essayscams.com has loads of info about the so-called writers who drove the pay-rates into the ground. It doesn;t matter if you have a degree in journalism, and it doesn't matter how many letters you earned at college that follow your last name. If you don't know SEO, and if you don't write for .01 per word, then you are considered a greedy, overpaid American/European writer.
So as it stands, I left AC, stopped essay writing, stopped at that hack site Helium, and started focusing on e-books and Demand Studios. With the advent of portable readers like Kindle, a writer can make a pretty penny creating e-books on subjectts that they know well and selling them on Amazon. peace.
I enjoy reading the ranting that goes on in forums and generally reply only once to an overall observation. I write in my own PRINT publication that serves a certain community (believe it or not...and its growing) and I write the odd piece here and there. What I have come to find is that while the craft of writing is now open for all...not all should be doing it and that includes me at times I suppose. There is nothing wrong with different viewpoints for a topic but unfortunately it has gone the way of pure commercialism in order to get your pay. I often find articles that are way of in left field in several sites including ehow. Everybody is an expert all of a sudden. No problem with utilizing the web and shame to us if we click on those pesky ads but it sure would be nice to find sites that don't waste my time with so much riff raff and fluff (polite way of saying crap). To those of you who write with humor and a life in your articles...thank you. You make reading a joyous journey on the road of otherwise oversaturated jibjab.
I tried to delete an article after deciding to place it on Triond. They change the ad schemes and now I do not make nearly enough.
I would like to weigh in on SEO writing. The internet has broken just about everything, however, everything changes and change is good, at least in theory it is good.
Consider a picture; take Hemingway and rewrite one of your favorites in SEO speak. My! Literature becomes an abomination, not gay just an abomination--all right!
I have a blog and the purpose is to sell a book I wrote. The blog is on the wordpress platform, I have a plugin, which rates my SEO content. You can instantly improve any article's SEO acceptability by rewriting according to the plugin's instructions.
No Thanks!
I don't see the problem with Suite 101. I'm using it to hone my journalistic style after four years in academia. I'm not particularly bothered if a short piece that takes me no more than an hour to write earns me nothing because it's excellent practice at writing in a particular way, and is a portfolio of sorts.
IBrutus, thanks for this article which has got such a great debate going and provided so much useful information for writers.
Didn't David say that many were demeaning the writing profession by working for peanuts and now he works for suite101? People will pay what others are willing to accept.
I guess 2 peanuts is better than none right? How much does a semester at a university cost? I can guarantee you it's not 2 peanuts, not even a bag of peanuts.
As a former writer for two internet sites I must say that I do not believe that Suite101 is entirely accurate in their page view statistics.
I say this because one of the sites I wrote for (where I was not paid at all for my work so there was really no reason for the site to fudge its figures) my highest performing article CONSISTENTLY garnered around 20,000 hits per month--no exaggeration, and that is indeed a per monthly count.
A fresh content article on the same subject written for Suite101, which has a much higher page rank, combined with around 20 other articles, has, according to Suite 101's tracking over the past 6 months, received a total of around 40,000 page views.
While I am certainly no expert in the field of internet article tracking and therefore cannot conclusively say that Suite101 is deliberately low-balling page view stats, I find it difficult to believe that an article at one site performs at a rate of 120,000 page views in a 6 month time period whereas 21 articles, one of which has a proven track record, gain only 1/3 the number of page views.
At the one site I wrote for, each article had its own count--I could see precisely which articles performed well and which did not. I don't see why a site like Suite101, which is so meticulous in all aspects of web publishing, can't be similarly meticulous when it comes to revenue reporting.
I am very new at Suite 101. Yet, having read all comments above, I am meant to believe that Suite might be the right place for both beginners and veterans.
I both disagree and agree with many comments raised to Suite 101. Admittedly the pay at first is not amazing, yet if you work hard and have approximately 30 - 40 articles published, it does provide a stable 'pocket-money' income you may say. It is not suppose to be used to make a yearly income, yet instead for fun. The whole point in freelance writing is so people read your work and to get some exposure of your writing, which i believe suite101 provides.
As a non-professional writer, I dislike Suite 101 not for the pay rate (I write for recreational purposes) but for the strict exclusive right policy. As Daniel says above, the purpose is for exposure and fun, so I would rather not be restricted to only one site which can't even guarantee feedback.
Good info. I applied to write for them and was rejected. I meet all of their requirements, including their educational requirements. The article sample I submitted was top notch and had professional editing. I have a feeling you can be rejected for being over-qualified. I wonder why they even bother having an application process. I like Triond, Bukisa and HubPages. I haven't written a lot on HubPages, yet, but I can see where it could go. I make decent money through revenue sharing mainly through those other two sites and I own the content.
Suite101 offers a really good outlet for students to work on their portfolio.
I have only ever received volunteer work during my budding journalism career so to get paid, no matter how little, is still a nice feeling.
I am lucky I get too write for the love of it, for now at least. And it helps me CV. I write articles specifically for suite101 so not owning it isn't an issue. I know I am a good writer, but no body wants to give you a shot unless you have your degree done and dusted.
I love it. I think its fantastic. I just think writers should research before they don't get taken advantage of.
Just like to add my 2c here, which is really nothing new. However, a couple of comments by some people here posed questions that were not answered and I'd like to add my voice in the hope of getting some answers. If working for HubPages, AC and Suite101 means we're getting pennies when we could be getting dollars, what is the right way to doing it? Where CAN we get better pay? Where CAN we get into the business when we write well-researched and professional articles but no one will touch us because we don't have a degree in journalism? I'd really like to know. I'm a 3 year+ freelance writer. I've produced articles, stories, proofread, translated, written reports for a few $$ an article. I write for online publishers (HubPages and AC) because they will publish what I write and others will read it. However, I'm willing to do the work and I WANT to earn more money than what I am earning. If anyone out there knows a better way, I'm all ears. Show me where to go and I'll go.
The latests ToS also demand a live (dofollow) link back to Suite101 if you publish your articles elsewhere, even after the 1st year. They have also removed the possibility of using your own articles for an ebook, since they now want exclusivity on all things digital. I think it's a bit too much of a bad deal for writers. Specially since Panda hit them hard so they aren't so good as an authority site anymore.
I wrote for Suite101 for a couple of months before giving up. Especially after the new Google 'Panda'-update ad revenues have been at an all time low. I was lucky and got my article pretty popular on StumbleUpon, but even then I've only earned 11 cents for the 500 views I've got.
I'd really recommend writing for some other site, like HubPages or the newly started Wikio-experts.com.
I am a writer, who had worked for Exclusive Writer.com, but I was never paid for the articles I wrote. Please beware and do not work for http://www.exclusivewriter.com/
The Exclusive Writer is a scam company that will make you write papers, but will not pay you for them. Please do not apply there at all. Warn others too kindly.
I currently have an “account” at Suite 101 (some now call it “Whyting 101”) but stopped writing for them recently when I realized they are nothing more than a Ponzi scheme for a few at the “head office.” They have zero creditability because of their lack of transparency about what percentage writers make, what their future plans are to correct for their low ranking on Goggle, and how many writers they actually have (a few months ago it was 20,000, now it’s 10,000 – both BS numbers). They recently took a page from the Demand Studios business model and actually promoted hopelessly unqualified, amateur writers to something they call “Topic Editors” to edit articles submitted. That alone has been a nightmare for some longtime writers, many of whom have been pulling out in droves.
Their contract is a joke since they publish your material with the international copyright symbol - © - next to your name and then tell you they have the right to use the material forever. But the contract does not matter to the handful of regular writers you see give their uniformed opinions all day long on the Suite 101 forum (affectionately known as the “Delusional Dozen”) since they are mostly grumpy old retirees or simply still want to believe the hype that they will actually make a steady income after 200 to 300 freebee articles. And like Demand Studios’ writer forums, the “Delusional Dozen” will hammer you if you are new and ask the wrong questions, or if you express any decent towards the Suite 101 operation in general.
Unless you are independently wealthy or just want to see your name in print, I would steer clear of Suite 101 if you are new to online writing since the experience might discourage you from pursuing writing for a living.
What Suite 101 is good for is this:
If you have never written anything that has been published and need clips for a portfolio, or if you are a working freelancer and just need a quick sample clip on a particular topic to use to pitch a better, longer version of the same story to a larger, paying market.
Well In my opinion suite101 is quite difficult to understand they have mess rules. if you submit articles for contact they will reply within 10 minutes. If they have thousands of articles in que how they disapproved within a minutes....too much confusion what they exactly want. I am not getting anything here but i recommend hubpages.
Lissie Level 1 Commenter 4 years ago
Thanks for the insight - regardless of the rights I thought posting duplicate articles was a no no because of google flagging duplicate content and downgrading your page rank because of it