The Devil is in the Commas: How to Make Money on Textbroker

I will be writing this blog in an informal style, and as such, I will be placing my commas where I think they need to go to make it easier for my readers to follow the flow and make sense of what I say.

However, when you're writing in formal style - as you have to do for anything at Textbroker.com, you've got to make darn sure you use your commas "correctly," or you'll never get to level 4 or 5 - which is the level you need to be at to make a lot of money.

Nevertheless, Textbroker.com is an excellent site for someone just starting out who needs to build up their portfolio, and start earning money immediately.

With Elance and other freelance sites, prospective clients post a "request for quote" in which they say what they want and what they expect, and freelancers put in their bids. If we're lucky, the prospective client is serious, and will choose one of our bids. More often than not, these RFQs were just info-gathering forays, and no one is chosen at all - so the connects we use are just lost. (Still, that's part of the process, and I'm not complaining. Much.)

With Textbroker.com it is different. (One main difference is while Elance charges a monthly fee - albeit not an onerous one - for each category to which you want to belong, Textbroker doesn't. There is no cost to join Textbroker at all.)

You sign on to Textbroker, give them your payment details - social security and Paypal account, etc, and write a sample. Make this sample as good as you can - make sure all your commas are in the right place because Textbroker editors are death on commas - and once you're accepted, you'll be able to write 5 articles before they put you "on hold" to evaluate what you've written.

If they like the way you've used your commas, as well as your other writing skills, they'll put you at Level 4, which is where you need to be to access the better quality writing assignments.

YOU DON'T NEED TO BID! YOU JUST WRITE!

The nice thing about Textbroker, regardless of in what level you are placed - and most folks go into Level 3 - is that you don't have to fiddle about with bidding on jobs.

The jobs are there, for you - you just select the one you want to do, and you do it.

Once you're done with it, you select another one you want to do, and you do it.

Yes, the jobs can disappear quickly if you're only at Level 3, because that's where most folks are put, but your writing is evaluated every month or so and you can be moved up to Level 4 at any time, so that's good. (What most people do is leave the Textbroker assignments page open and "refresh" it every few minutes, and when a new job appears, snap it up.)

And, as with Elance, if you please your client they can come back to you directly to give you more work.

You don't make as much money on Textbroker as you do on Elance until you get to Level 4 and eventually to 5, but it is very easy money - you can work while you're watching TV, which is what I do (well, I do that regardless of which freelance site I'm working for), so it's hardly like work at all.

So if you need to start earning money quickly, give Textbroker a try.