An End to the Feast or Famine Cycle? (Demand Studios review)
When a representative of Demand Studios asked me to review their site last month, I was hesitant. Quite frankly, I’ve been very busy lately and I didn’t have a lot of extra time. Also, I try not to get too involved with sites that are considered “content sites” because, in my experience, they tend to pay less than average.
However, I also know that many WritingThoughts readers are curious about Demand Studios (even more so now that Deb Ng of Freelance Writing Jobs has partnered with Demand Studios), so I reluctantly agreed to review the site. However, I did insist that I give my honest opinion. So, that’s what this is - my honest opinion of the Demand Studios experience.
Getting Started
The process of signing up for Demand Studios went quickly. I was approved to write about a half hour after I signed up. Writers who are interested in applying will need the following:
- Resume
- Multiple writing samples
Writers who are interested in Demand Studios should also have a photo of themselves handy since one of the first things they will need to do after they are accepted is post a photo and write a brief biography about themselves.
After I was accepted as a writer, I took some time to look over the resources available to writers on the Demand Studios site. The resources are extensive. The first resource was not actually on the site, but attached to my approval e-mail: a 20-page guide for new writers. In addition to the guide for new writers, I found the following writer resources online:
- Templates and samples
- Writer forum
- Training camp materials
- Help desk
Of course, there are likely resources on the Demand Studios site that I didn’t have a chance to review.
Writing a Demand Studios Article
Writing a Demand Studios article is nothing like the writing that I do for my private clients. My private clients pay for accurate material that is presented from a very unique perspective. I provide a wide variety of writing products to my clients ranging from extensive tutorials, press releases, landing pages, ghost blogging, and yes, even a few web content articles. All Demand Studios articles, however, closely follow one of several pre-determined formats or templates.
For my review, I chose to write on some financial topics. I often cover this type of topic for private clients and I knew where to find accurate information. (Admittedly, this topic is a little more technical than some.) On the date that I looked, all available articles paid $15.00 or were revenue share articles.
My first article took me two hours to research, write, and download into the Demand Studios form. The second article took me only 45 minutes, and the third took me about an hour. My articles were accepted a few days later and I received payment via PayPal about a week after I initially submitted them. The articles were published on a client site, in this case eHow. You can see them here.
Things I Liked About Demand Studios
- There were plenty of instructional resources available for the new writer
- Templates and samples made it clear what they wanted
- The ability to take work at your discretion
- Adequate time to write an article from the time that you select a topic (seven days)
- Prompt payment via PayPal as promised
- Author bylines for work done
- There seemed to be plenty of work available
Things I Didn’t Like About Demand Studios
- Limited types of writing. There are less than a dozen templates by my count - but you won’t do really creative projects here.
- Pay is on the low side of acceptable (at Salary.com the 2009 range for a content specialist is $40,878 to $74,818).
- Jobs are listed (and selected) by title. Some titles are unclear or have obscure meanings.
What I Don’t Know Much About
- Filmmaker and Copy Editor positions - I joined the team as a writer, so I don’t know anything about these other positions.
- Higher paid articles. I didn’t see anything with a higher upfront payment than $15.00, so I don’t know whether or not more experienced writers are given the opportunity to accept higher paying gigs.
- Non-article writing such as title reviewing and title proofing.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that I would write for this site again, but mainly if I had no projects from my private clients. In fact, that’s one of the benefits of this site - you can write for them when and if you have time to do so. There’s no commitment to write x articles in a week, or even in a month.
In fact, this site could easily be used to end the familiar freelance writer’s “feast or famine” cycle.
Others who might wish to write for Demand Studios include:
- Writers who are just getting started
- Writers who do not wish to market their writing services to private clients
- Writers who are transitioning from a full-time job
- Non-writers who wish to supplement their other income or share their expertise
(Disclosures: While I was asked to write this review, I was not paid for the review itself. This review represents my honest opinion of the site based on the experience that I had at the time that I wrote the review. I did, however, receive compensation for the articles that I wrote during my research for this review. You can find those articles on eHow, here.)
Discuss this review and share your experiences in the comments.
Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.
Image Source: www.sxc.hu
About the Author: I am a successful freelance writer with 19 years of copy writing experience. I am available for web content writing, business writing, copy writing, editing, and technical writing. In addition, I have written an ebook, 
Nikki | Sep 12, 2009 | Reply
Excellent review. This is probably the most accurate review of Demand Studios I’ve ever seen. I know a few beginner writers and I’ll forward it on to them so they know what to expect if/when they sign up.
Laura Spencer | Sep 12, 2009 | Reply
Thanks Nikki!
I was really trying to be unbiased.
ChaCha Fance | Sep 12, 2009 | Reply
This is such a great review! Nice job. I got accepted to DS a few weeks ago though I’ve only submitted 2 articles so far. I am a little overwhelmed by all of the guidelines. Other than that I really like it.
Laura Spencer | Sep 12, 2009 | Reply
Glad to be of help ChaCha! I wish you luck.
Matt Keegan | Sep 13, 2009 | Reply
Thank you for your honest assessment, Laura. I realize that you weren’t trying to pitch Demand Studios and for that I am certainly grateful.
As “filler” work it might work for some writers.
Laura Spencer | Sep 13, 2009 | Reply
Thanks Matt!
I did work very hard to be unbiased, but of course the review is based on my experience. Others might have different experiences.
As filler work, I thought it was a good alternative.
Jeanne Dininni | Sep 23, 2009 | Reply
Laura,
Very comprehensive — and balanced — review! I’ve actually been signed up with Demand Studios for quite some time now but have yet to submit an article. To be honest, I have great difficulty motivating myself to write for a site that pays so little per article. My feeling, every time I reconsider writing for them is, “Been there; done that.”
In the past, I’ve done extensive writing for companies similar to Demand Studios, which paid $10-15 per article, despite the considerable and time-consuming research required to complete the articles (often written under impossibly high quotas), and have found that doing too much of this sort of writing is the fast track to burnout.
As you say, this kind of writing can be a good way to fill in the gaps in your writing income or for new writers to break in. But for anyone other than the writer who thrives in this sort of fast-paced, assembly-line writing environment, I wouldn’t generally recommend a steady diet of such projects. As you’ve said, the good thing is the lack of quotas, which makes it easier to use this market simply to supplement existing projects.
Who knows? One day soon, I may decide to submit something to Demand Studios, myself after all. I might even reconsider applying there as a copy editor. But, I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t admit that my hope has always been to find better-paying markets for my hard work.
Thanks for providing a very balanced look at one market option that is, if low-paying, at least relatively easy to break into.
Laura Spencer | Sep 24, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for sharing your perspective Jeanne!
I did write a few articles for them and may again if things get slow. My experience is on par with yours, though. There are better markets out there.
Fortunately, Demand Studios has no quotas (or didn’t when I wrote this post). So, they could be filler work for writers between projects.
Desk Jockey | Sep 24, 2009 | Reply
Nice review of Demand Studios. I’m a fan of writing for eHow, in large part because if you choose the right topics you can get some good passive income over time - and to me that’s more important than the upfront payments. I haven’t looked at Demand Stuidos in general, so it’s good to see a review like this. Thanks for sharing.
Luvzbooks | Sep 29, 2009 | Reply
So far I’ve only written for eHow, but I have been researching other writing opportunities such as DS. I haven’t taken the plunge with them yet, but I may soon, since they could provide a little extra cash now and then. Thanks for such an unbiased review.
Tamara | Oct 12, 2009 | Reply
Just wanted to point out that Demand Studios and Ehow are both owned by Demand Media.
T.W. Anderson | Nov 2, 2009 | Reply
As someone who has done work for Demand Studios in the past, I have a different view of their system. I’ve preached about it for months on my old blog, and at the FWJ website.
I’ve never made below 45 dollars an hour with Demand Studios. In fact, most times that I manage to wander over and do work for them it’s in one of my niches, and I can generally make at the very least 75 dollars an hour.
In other words, I’m doing at the very least 3 articles an hour, but in my niche topics I’ve been able to generally do 5-6 articles in an hour.
Now, granted, it’s a niche topic. Something I have 15+ years of personal experience on and three generations of family with over 750 million dollars of work done nationwide to back me up. Home improvement, specifically in ceramic and natural stone installations/topics. The How To, About, and Strategy articles in this area are extremely easy for me to write because I know the topic better than anyone else, and I don’t have to research said topic. I can literally hop on, plug in my keywords, pull 5 articles at random, and write them. Bam. Done. 75 dollars. Time for a nice dinner out with my wife.
I don’t use Demand Studios regularly. I prefer to focus on my travel writing and content work for European clients. But it’s nice to know that if I need a quick picker-upper then I can hop over, pull a few articles, and make a quick hundred bucks if I need to.
Remember, just because you (any writer in question) can only do 1-2 articles an hour doesn’t mean that everyone out there is trapped into the same system of research and time required to write said articles. It’s an extremely lucrative content site for people whose niches are represented, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the norm. Most people I know who use DS regularly make between 30-45 dollars an hour. Considering that the national average for American citizens is 21 dollars an hour (in 2008), I’d say 30-45 dollars is a more than fair wage for doing a job that doesn’t even require you to leave the house.
Laura Spencer | Nov 2, 2009 | Reply
Thanks again for sharing your experience T.W.!
You might be interested in knowing that there have actually been several writers who signed up for Demand Studios because of this review. Each contacted me privately to thank me for this unbiased look at it, which they found to be helpful.
Again, my approach was to cover the norm and not the exception.
Thanks again for your input.
Dahloan | Dec 21, 2009 | Reply
I have been writing for Demand for about a year now, on and off when I have the time. I have very high ranks there, as they ran you according to how well you write articles. I have never spent over 45 mintues writing an article. most take about 30 minutes. My goal is to write 2 an hour, take a break, and do it again. 6 articles a day takes merely 3 hours, and I make 15 per article. So that amounts to 90 a day. That amounts to $30 per hour. That is pretty good pay. You can get burned out, so consider doing it in spurts, two or three articles at a time. I am merely looking for a supplemental income until I return to teaching. Demand is great for that.
Greg Bates | Dec 22, 2009 | Reply
Fantastic review, would change the order of the content.
The most important thing about this review was that it was on a topic crucial to a well-defined audience: it’s a must read for any freelance wordsmith looking for work.
The next most important aspect was the clear conclusion: “The bottom line is that I would write for this site again, but mainly if I had no projects from my private clients.” That simple statement broadcasts where this activity fits on the freelancer’s to do list: pretty far down, below private clients, but clearly still on the list.
The third aspect I liked was All the evidence that backed up the conclusion.
Lastly, I thought the disclosure was nice. You never know what you can trust without it.
What I might have done differently would be to broadcast the conclusion in the headline or first paragraph, so readers can read faster. if they know where you are going, they have a context for the evidence. Perhaps something like: Why I Would Write for Demand Studios Again–if I Didn’t have Something Better to do.
That’s too clunky, but you get the idea–spill the beans first.
Thanks again for all the details; I had been wondering.
Greg
Laura Spencer | Dec 22, 2009 | Reply
Hi Greg and Dahloan!
Thanks so much for your comments.
Greg, I especially appreciate your constructive criticism. To tell you the truth, reviews are not my favorite thing to write. They are basically subjective and there will always be someone who has a different opinion.
Clarissa | Jan 24, 2010 | Reply
Well, I was just denied as a Writer… so my experience was abysmal. I guess you could say I’m a “starting out” writer but it looks like they want writers with 20+ experience instead of 5-10.
Laura Spencer | Jan 26, 2010 | Reply
Thanks Clarissa!
I am sorry that you were denied, but there are other opportunities for writers online. So, best wishes to you.