Saturday, February 27, 2010

Mahalo: Freelance Writers Wanted

I recently did an article about eHow Alternatives that included a Craigslist ad for Mahalo writers. Here's that ad if you missed it.

I signed up and did one of the Rush Week how tos - the one assigned to me through e-mail.

First, let me say, that article was a lot of work for the measly $12 (that's M$16, because Mahalo wants to have it's own money system) and 40% revenue share. A regular Mahalo page, after the Rush Week audition, is only M$5 - M$10 (or $3.75 - $7.50 in real world money). Here's what you'll be doing to get that money:




  • The intro must be 200 words.







  • There need to be a minimum of 3 steps with each step needing 200 words as well.(That's 600 words minimum just for the steps).







  • Find a corresponding Youtube or Hulu video and summarize it in 50 words.







  • Find five corresponding Mahalo links.







  • Minimum of three 'tips' for the article's process.







  • Put brackets - which create links - around all nouns, product names and anything that could make another Mahalo page.



  • I've now been waiting for 3 days to hear word of whether the article was accepted or not. There's no a preview button before you submit an article; which stinks, because they have weird rules about double brackets making links and # symbols making numbered lists and the 'how to make a how to page' article gave weird directions to push buttons to make things happen, except none of the buttons existed on the page I was on. Is it because it was a rush week how to? I have no idea, but sure would loved to have seen a preview of the article I submitted before turning it in.
    I have never before spent hours trying to figure out what a company wanted me to write for them. If this article is accepted I'll probably do just enough other articles to reach payout (M$150) and then quit and just collect the revenue share as it trickles in.

    Wow, for those who thought Demand Studios was paying peanuts, look at the hoops Mahalo wants you to jump through for even less than DS pays.

    In conclusion, do I recommend Mahalo? Not on your life.

    Mahalo Update

    2 comments:

    S Golis said...

    OMG I am exhausted from reading this. That is way too much work to put into an article for little earnings. Thanks for sharing....

    Candy Dorsey said...

    Way too much work for so little compensation!