Are you good at writing, and looking to monetise your skills? And are you looking for a Paid Online Writing Jobs review to see if it’s legit or a scam? Then that’s just a good start because working online is all about transparency. When you are offering a service, you should be at least delivering exactly what you promised to deliver. But right now, you are paying for this service to earn yourself a high-paid writing job. It’d better do exactly what it says on the tin for you, at least.
Unfortunately, it’s not what you think it is. I’ve seen quite a few online job-related products over the years, I don’t think Paid Online Writing Jobs is one that I can recommend.
I get paid for writing but I know my English isn’t excellent, so I regularly look for opportunities to improve my writing skills. I’m going to evaluate the Paid Online Writing Jobs from a real user's perspective, and am pretty confident that I can offer an unbiased review. I hope you’ll find it useful. Okay, let me start by explaining the content.
Paid Online Writing Jobs Review
Product Name:
Paid Online Writing Jobs
Website URL:
paidonlinewritingjobs.com
Type:
Guide to various writing jobs
Owner:
Unknown
Price:
$1 for the first 3 days, $47 per month thereafter
Rating:
Summary:
The job “database” is just an extract from freelancing job sites which you can check for free anyway. The text-only "training" does not provide practical advice and some parts are inaccurate. It prompts you to buy an irrelevant digital product. I think this product is hugely misleading.
What Is The Paid Online Writing Jobs?
The sales page of Paid Online Writing Jobs (POWJ) requires you to fill out a simple “CV” to start with. But it’s not really a CV, it’s just a questionnaire to get you to sign up with POWJ. It doesn’t matter how you answer the questionnaire because as soon as you submit it, you’ll be told on the next page that;
- There are 4 writing jobs available for you and the highest paying rate is $35 per hour.
- There are 5 writing jobs that you qualify to start to work immediately.
4 jobs or 5 jobs, which one?
Neither. When you pay the fee, what you will get is an extract from some job advertisement agencies. None of them pays $35 per hour, and none of them allows you to start to work “immediately.”
The Paid Online Writing Jobs (POWJ) mainly provides two things;
- Job database - writing-related job vacancies listed on some recruitment sites, and
- ‘Training’ - General guide to various writing jobs.
To be brutally honest, the job database isn’t particularly useful and the training content sounds to me like it’s written by someone who has no experience in a writing job. I’ll elaborate on each point shortly, while I intend to find some positives. The first "red flag" that caught my attention was this.
Who Owns Paid Online Writing Job?
We don’t know who’s behind this program. It’s not disclosed anywhere on the site, which means they’re clearly hiding something.
The domain paidonlinewritingjobs.com is privately registered via Namecheap and the site is built on WordPress, so it’s likely to be owned by an individual rather than a company. Even the terms and conditions page is a copy of a default template from somewhere.
When I’m looking to buy any digital product, one of the first things I check is the owner’s information. They don’t have to have a decade-long experience or so many thousands of social followers, you see. The important thing is to know how genuine and trustworthy they are. How transparent they are.
So for this reason alone, I wouldn’t trust Paid Online Writing Job. Would you?
Upsell of Unrelated Product
The members' dashboard actually looks suspicious right from the beginning. When you log in, you're welcomed by a "private invitation to a training program". It reads that the program is making up to $80 an hour, over $10k per month for the current users.
We were told "up to $35", not $80. What's going on?
When you click the "Start Now" button, you'll be directed to watch a lengthy sales video of another product named "Passive Profit Pages" which costs $17.
The video is 15-minute long and the content makes no sense - basically, it keeps repeating "You'll make an incredible amount of money if you pay an extra $17 now."
And as you can see from the screenshot above - now the seller says instead of $35 per hour, he suggests $23,550 per hour...
...Scam. Isn't it?
You know, I'm not saying all upselling products are bad because, from a digital product seller's point of view, they often have premium products to recommend to buyers who can afford more. What I'm saying is bad is;
- The product is nothing to do with writing jobs that users have just signed up for.
- It's not a "training program", it's just a sales video. And,
- Users have just paid and are ready to get down to business (i.e. find a writing job). The irrelevant video content will put them on hold for 15 minutes.
Anyway, I skipped that and took a look at the "job database" first to see how users can find it useful.
Finding Work - Job Database
The ‘database’ is just the latest writing job vacancies advertised on some well-known recruitment sites such as;
- Upwork
- Freelancer
- Indeed
- SimplyHired
- Guru
- Glassdoor, etc.
There’s no magic here. If you’ve ever searched for a job online, you would have known any of these sites by googling.
This database is generated simply by searching query terms like 'writing', 'composing', 'documents', etc., bringing up some irrelevant job listings. An office manager’s job includes organizing documents as part of their duties, for example.
I suppose it’s good because it will save you the time of logging into each site and searching. On the other hand, the training guide (module 3) recommends you sign up with all of these agencies. Well, you really don’t need this database then, since each agency will send you late latest job listings by email.
So where’s the job that pays $35 per hour? Where’s the job that you can start immediately? Of course there isn’t! It’s a database, nothing more. If you find a job that interests you, you’ll have to click it, sign up with the agency that advertises that particular job, and follow the procedure to apply for the job.
The Training Modules
There are 15 modules (plus lists of job agencies).
Module 1: The Online Writing Jobs Opportunity
Overview. What it is to earn income by writing and what kind of jobs are available.
Module 2: Why Online Writing?
Benefits of working from home. Freedom, it's interesting, creative, etc.
Module 3: The Writing Jobs Database
How to use the database.
"The Top Jobs Sites"
Just links to some job agency sites - Upwork, Freelancer, Indeed, LinkedIn, and SimplyHired.
"More Job Opportunities"
More links to job agency sites - Guru, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and Virtual Vocations.
Module 4: Writing Articles & Blog Posts
What blog article means, how to write good articles. Research your topic, use images, and use bullet points.
Module 5: Writing Social Media Content
This section doesn't really make sense to me. It says "the social media market is worth $200 billion", I mean, stating the obvious. This doesn't mean you can be a social media content writer and start making money today or tomorrow.
Module 6: Writing Website Pages
I think the module author is misunderstanding the job. This module refers to creating websites on behalf of clients, talks about formatting, mobile-friendly, etc. But that would involve the actual website building, you couldn't achieve these solely by a writing technique.
Module 7: Writing Resumes
How to write resumes for others and charge them. But the content is a general guide to resume writing. Include volunteer work for charities (!?) Use bullet points, and avoid spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
Module 8: Editing & Proofreading
Edit and proofread someone else's documents for money. The tips include; don't make mistakes (!), try proofreading slowly, and use a red pen.
Module 9: Writing Public Relations Materials
This section only explains what public relations writing means. Press releases, PR materials including magazines, newsletters, and annual reports.
Module 10: Writing Video Scripts
A general guide to a scriptwriting job. But again, I think the content of this section may have been copied from somewhere. This section is more like "how to create a video material" because it talks about adding images and call-to-action, which are nothing to do about scriptwriting.
Module 11: Writing Reports
A general guide to writing annual reports, white papers, and "PDF giveaways". I've been involved in writing annual reports for years but there are legal and ethical issues to consider. It's not as easy as this section tells you!
Module 12: Writing to Sell
A general guide to copywriting, including USP (Unique Selling Proposition), and 4U's (Urgent, Unique, Useful, and Ultra-specific).
Module 13: Writing Marketing Emails
This is really just a general guide to email writing, not practical, not helpful, in my opinion. Unlike writing a sales letter, marketing emails are all about the content that either makes or breaks. If the email open rates and click rates are low, you'll be fired! I can tell you it's not easy getting a job without proving good previous experience.
Module 14: Writing Speeches
This section is again, copied from old articles written circa 2014. It talks about the speeches of former USA president Obama, etc.
Module 15: Writing Grants
A general guide to writing grant proposals. The kind of organisations (charity groups) require proposals, how to plan a grant budget, how to list business strategies etc.
My thoughts On The Training Material
I said earlier that the training doesn’t seem to be written by an expert in this field, and I’d like to elaborate on it.
Easy To Read
I’ll start with the positive point. There’s no jargon, and you can read all of it under an hour or so. As a reading material, I don’t think it’s too bad for those who have no idea what kind of writing jobs are available out there. Each section will let them know “what to consider”.
It’s Not “Training”
But telling you “what to consider” is not good enough as training, is it? It’s really a general guide to writing jobs throughout because of the lack of practical advice. For example;
“The first step is to gather all the information you need. “
“It’s important to conduct proper research, which is often overlooked.”
“Know your audience to boost conversions. The more you understand them, the more you can engage with them.”
They’re just telling you to “do the right thing”, you see what I mean? What you need to know is WHAT information you need, get it from WHERE, and HOW you actually engage with your audience... There is a lack of practical step-by-step to call it training.
Over-Stretched Content
I kept wondering if it was just me being too critical as I read through. I found too many obvious statements here and there, I feel the content’s over-stretched. For example;
“You might earn $300 a day doing one type of work, but you might earn $500 a day doing another. Which sounds better to you?”
“If your client has sent you a brief, check this carefully. You may need to read it several times before it makes sense.”
Sentences like these don’t have any quality - ironically!
Unrealistic Income Provisions
Each section (module) tells you how much you can earn doing that specific writing job. But I find the figures too optimistic. If you check Fiverr, you can find out the average rates, and they’re not as high as POWJ tells you.
For example, it says you can earn $100 for researching and writing a 500-word blog article. $200 for a 1,000-word article, and $400 for a 2,000-word article.
Yes, some writers on Fiverr do charge as much as $100 for providing a 500-word researched article. But you also find many writers charge as low as $5 for 500 words. So the levels of income suggested by Paid Online Writing Jobs are the best-case scenario after you gained good experience and reputation, I must say.
Read More: Social Sale Rep Review
Fake “Sign Up Bonuses”
Another section is where you can receive some “sign-up bonuses” - that’s fake.
Well, there are a couple of links to “survey-for-cash” sites and if you sign up with them, they will give you some bonus credits. These sites are real. But why are they trying to get you to take surveys when you’re supposed to build a career in writing?
The other “bonuses” aren’t bonuses. These are notorious, fake sweepstake offers such as “Get a $500 Giftcard”, “Win a Playstation” etc., all run by spammers. Their intention is to get your personal detail and sell it to third parties.
The unknown owner of Paid Online Writing Jobs is pocketing a small commission every time someone signs up with any of them, but no affiliate disclaimer can be found anywhere on the site, so this section is hugely misleading the users as far as I’m concerned.
The Price - $1 For The First 3 Days
POWJ is offered for $1 for the first 3 days. But what you’re not clearly told is that you’ll be charged $47 after 3 days and $47 every month thereafter.
This is deceptive too, because, look.
The sales page clearly says "We simply charge a small one-time fee for lifetime membership to POWJ". Normally $99, but for you today it's just $1. You'll only discover that you'll be charged $47 every month when you get to the payment clearance page.
Is Paid Online Writing Jobs a Scam or Legit?
I don’t think it’s value for money because the information on the site isn’t exactly useful. But there’s information, I wouldn’t have called it a scam…until I saw the deceptive “sign up bonus” section. It does more harm than good to you.
And going back to the sales page - you are told as if you’ll be offered a $20-$35 per hour job. But all you get is some links to freelancing job ad sites which you can check for free in the first place.
Considering that, as well as the deceptive pricing tactics, the Paid Online Writing Jobs is a scam, in my opinion.
60-Day Money Back Guarantee
The good news is that this product is sold via ClickBank and your payment is covered under the 60-day money-back guarantee.
ClickBank’s refund policy specifically says about recurring billing products - “Returns for more than one payment may be provided if requested within the standard 60-day return period.”
So if your full monthly payment’s already gone through, you can access ClickBank’s support via your email receipt, tell your reason and claim a full refund within 60 days of purchase.
Pay To Get A Job - Is That Right?
I have seen an increasing number of premium job introduction services in recent years. They charge you to become a member first, then they’ll show you a job database. Are they doing the right thing? I really don’t think so.
Millions of people around the world look for jobs online each day. I assume that many of them are complete timewasters, sign up with job sites one after another and do nothing. From a recruiter’s point of view, what a nightmare it must be. As a result, they charge jobseekers so that they can filter out those who are not serious enough…
But that’s not our (jobseekers’) problem, is it? We never pay to get a local job. We may invest money in training courses and we should invest as much time to prove the skills we can offer. But we shouldn’t pay just to view job opportunities. I hope you agree with me.
Paid Online Writing Jobs Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Paid Online Writing Jobs Review - Conclusion:
I think this product may only be useful if you vaguely consider a writing career but really have no idea what's out there. Because the generic guides may be able to give you some ideas. Having said that, if you do consider, you would have found such guides for free just by googling by now. (E.g. "how to write good blog content", "how to write a good resume".)
You don't need the Paid Online Writing Jobs database because again, you can search for a job on those agency sites.
Considering there are so many millions of people who can write English, it takes some effort to get to the point where you can monetise your writing skills. And when I say 'effort', I mean decent training and solid experience in trying and testing.
I wouldn't recommend Paid Online Writing Jobs. If you have a question of want to share your thoughts, leave a comment below.
I thought it was too good to be true. I was excited when I saw the ad for paid online writing jobs.
I thought it would be a great way to make some extra money. However, I quickly realized that it was not as easy as I thought it would be. You cannot get a writing job easily if you are not used to writing a lot essays or at least good at writing already.
I had to write a sample essay and submit it to the website before I could even get started with the job.
The essay topic was something that I was not familiar with, so it took me a while to research and write it.
In the end, I was able to get the job and I now earn money by writing essays online.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience Pierre!
Do I have to be a freelancer to get a job?
What do you mean? Freelancer com is a freelancing job marketplace, but some others are job agencies, you can search to find employment. Google those names I listed above and try it. Any more questions don’t hesitate to get back to me. Good luck!