Making Money Writing: My Great Content Review

Making Money Writing: My Great Content Review

Making money writing
Could you really start making money writing on Great Content?

I’m going to look into another content mill today and that is Great Content. So many people ask whether making money writing for content mills is possible, and I tried to cover that with my overview on The Content Authority. However, there are different mills and different pay scales. That’s why it’s important to cover different ones.

Great Content is a British website—it pays in pounds sterling, which is great for me! It’s what attracted me to the website at first. Here is my full Great Content review.

Different Pay Levels for Capabilities

Like The Content Authority, Great Content has different tiers. Those on a higher level will earn more per word.

The difference is that not everyone starts off at the same low level. A sample is required when you sign up and your ability is judge by that sample. You can find your level is increased after clients rate your work. If you’re constantly working above the expectations of the clients, you will soon find that you move up and earn more.

I started off on the 4 star and am now on the 4+ star.

Setting Your Direct Order Rate

There is a system on Great Content to help you make more money writing. It is the Direct Order system, where clients come directly to you to place an order. You set your rate for this, but it is important to avoid setting it too high.

You’re not going to make a living writing on Great Content, but making money writing is possible. I find it useful when I need to top up my earnings, similarly to The Content Authority.

Payments and the Payment Options

Payments are made on a bi-weekly schedule, once you request the payment. You can let it build up as much as you like before requesting it, which could work out in your favour when it comes to the charges and fees. You can request as soon as you reach £25.

Unlike many other content mills, there are two different payment options: PayPall or Skrill (MoneyBookers). This allows people all over the world to make money writing at Great Content. However, there are charges that the company incurs to make the payments. Those charges are knocked against your next payment—my account is currently 27p in debt due to the charges from the last payment I requested. It’s not much and is covered by the next piece I write (whenever that will be). Consult with the Ortiz & Ortiz, LLP in NY to know how to manage your expenses for time being.

But I would like to suggest that if you are fallen behind on student loans then consult bankruptcy lawyers at earliest as they can eliminate all your loans.

Is There Plenty of Work?

It’s something anybody wants to know when they see a Great Content review—and I don’t blame them. You don’t want to get to a content mill to find out that there is no work for you. After all, no work means making money writing is impossible!

I check the board out every now and then, and there’s only been a handful of times that I’ve not seen any work at all. However, I definitely can’t write everything that comes up on the board—and I don’t always want to.

There has been all types of different pieces available, including interesting travel pieces, rewrites of Google, and boring product reviews. It all depends on what the clients are requesting and whether you check the board out at the right time.

When writing, you need to use British English by default. The client will request US English if he/she wants it. I can see a few pieces that ask for US English at the moment. There are some who will request Australian or South African English, but I’ve found they’re very similar to UK English.

The Review System for Making Money Writing at Great Content

I’ve found the review and editorial system really easy. There has been one piece that was returned to me, and I openly admitted that it was my fault. I made the changes, sent it back and never heard a bad word since (or had anything else returned).

The team answers emails quickly and there is a newsletter sent out regularly to keep people up to date with the system. I’ve also found that I receive emails now and then when there is a bulk order that may interest me. When I receive those emails, I’ve usually found that I have three days really to be able to pick up some extra work if I need it.

There have been a few changes to the revisions policy, but I’ve not had any to really test that system. Apparently, it will take two hours for the editors to review a piece of work and send it off to the client (I think). I’m not 100% sure, though.

Making money writing at Great Content is pretty easy. The pay is about a penny a word (depending on your level), but that’s fine if you want to top up your weekly earnings. However, if you want to make a living writing, you need to look elsewhere!

It is possible to cancel your account if you decide you don’t want to write there. There is no minimum though. I don’t think I’ve written anything for a few months now!

Do you use Great Content when making money writing? Would you use it after reading this review? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Image credit: Ed Yourdon

Alexandria Ingham is a professional writer. She predominately ghost-writes in various niches, including fitness, finance and technology Everything is fully researched and well-written. Under her own name, she writes in the technology, business, history and weight loss niches

32 thoughts on “Making Money Writing: My Great Content Review

    1. Hi Wendy,

      Great to hear you’ve found it useful and thanks for forwarding it on. I hope it helps your friend too.

      Enjoy your day,
      Alexandria

  1. I know this is an older post, but I wanted to share my bad experience with greatcontent.

    I joined to just top up my earnings every now and then and they asked me if I could do a translating job for them. They sent the work through email as they (greatcontent support) said they could not send it through the direct order system.

    Now, more than 2 months later I still have not received my payment from this order and they don’t reply to my emails about this.

    Extremely unproffesional to let me do work for them for such a low rate and then not pay me or even have the decency to reply to me.

    My advice is to stay as far, far away from GreatContent as you can.

    1. Wow! I’ve never had them contact me directly via email. I’ve had email alerts to say clients had placed direct orders with me but that’s it. Are you sure it was definitely Great Content that had sent the email, and not someone pretending to be Great Content? I’ve honestly never had a problem with being paid from them, or from getting a reply when I’ve emailed.

    1. I’ve been on the last couple of days and seen articles available for writers of 4+ and higher. This is the first time since joining that the board has been completely empty. But the summer months tend to be quieter for writers, which is why I always say not to put all your eggs into one basket 🙂

  2. Hi I’ve been writing with them for a year now and if you want a little bit of pocket money, then it’s worth doing.

  3. Hi,

    I find it very hard to believe that someone has not been paid for a direct e mail piece. And yes, Alexandria GC does contact writers of a certain cailbre or with particular capabilities from time to time with direct orders by e mail – they also phone some of us and ask whether we’d like to do specific pieces for clients.

    I have been writing for them for almost 3 years now and I make a fair amount of money. That said, I am level 6+ and have several regular direct order clients. I was also their top writer last year. It isn’t for everyone, but if you put in the initial spadework your abilities are recognised quickly. I started at level 4 and was already level 5 within a month.

    The only issue I ever have is with payment – but that said, I have ALWAYS been paid. With me, it’s a time thing and sometimes it can take over a week which I feel is unfair since some clients take their time accepting work, so in reality we’re waiting twice.

    I would suggest that Daisy simply pick up the phone and talk to Matthew or one of the support staff. Your payment was probably overlooked, or had been placed by a member of staff who has since left. I presume that you have the original e mail, in which case you can also forward it to the support team. This is likely to be a simple error and not an intentional decision not to pay you for your work.

    I’d certainly recommend working for them if you’re a good writer who is able to tackle a wide range of subjects. There are times when work is scarce, but they are few and far between. The only reason I can think of for work not being available to new writers is that they have over estimated their capabilities and have been graded Level 3 or less – and there isn’t much call for text of this level from clients. I would suggest taking a quick refresher course in basic form and grammar, writing a couple of sample pieces and asking GC to re-assess you on the strength of these texts. For Level 4 and above there is almost always a regular flow of work.

    good luck to you all

    Diane

  4. Hi Alexandria,
    My discussion is the completely the opposite. Everyone here has been accepted and did actually write for GC.
    I, on the other hand was flatly refused entry!
    From the above, apparently there are even levels 3 and less, and I quote:
    “have been graded Level 3 or less – and there isn’t much call for text of this level from clients.” Which means I did not even qualify for level ONE.

    I have written for possibly 30 different clients in UK, Europe, America, Australia, Philippines and South Africa, from whom I received thanks, praise and payment; and for the 1st time in my life I was summarily dismissed.

    The trial sample choice included a book review, which I paste here.
    I would love your, and any other reader’s comment on the sample:

    “Kill Victoria is the fictional account of a well-planned assassination of Queen Victoria.

    BOOKWORMS UNITE!
    Especially those Historical aficionados; this review will share some lip-smacking information of the gripping novel from an author, fresh from Victorian England.
    To top it, the title of the novel is: Kill Victoria, and the author is the Scottish-South African novelist, Glenn Macaskill.

    It is not an exaggeration to laud him as: “just returned from Victorian England”.
    Glenn captures the detail of the era so perfectly, that when you stand with Iain on the corner of Baker Street and Oxford road, in period London, you can smell the horse dung and hear the wheels of a carriage clatter by.

    In Kill Victoria, the title figure, Queen Victoria, which her public image makes us believe she was a staid old battle axe, actually had an endearing nick name as a child, known as ‘Drina’. You learn she had striking cobalt eyes and, was a talented artist, with a teenage crush on an Irish layman.

    As you progress through this spell binder, you will be introduced to Iain MacKinnon, born in Edinburgh and raised in an orphanage there. After graduating school, he “took the Queen’s shilling” and became a British solder at the end of 1853.

    Kill Victoria then follows the adventures of Iain MacKinnon from England, to Ireland, the Crimea, via North Africa to India, where he became a wealthy trader.

    You learn how Iain became an aspirant assassin; through the influence of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, (the latter day IRA), plus political machinations and financial considerations, while the tension mounts towards the title deed: Kill Victoria.

    As if that is not enough, it is revealed that the teenage Victoria had an illegitimate son, and then the disclosure that Iain MacKinnon was that misbegotten child.

    You have to read this fascinating tale of the out of wedlock child who grows to be the assassin who was to kill his own mother, in Kill Victoria.”

    1. I’m going to reply to you personally about this–as I know you emailed me. I can already see some issues 🙂

  5. Hi Alexandria,

    I like your post, and it seems like Great Content is a nice place to be as a writer who needs consitent work. I notice here that you are still replying to comments on this thread, so allow me to go right ahead.

    I’ve written for various clients on bidding sites such as PPH and Elance. I’ve found the bidding process to be pretty offputting. I need a platform where I can just log in and get to work instead of wasting a copious amount of time penning pitchy cover letters and waiting for days on edge before the client can approve one of the over 50 bidders to take on their project.

    I’m currently based in South Africa, and most “bid-free” websites such as Textbroker, Writer’s Domain, Writer Access and even Constant Content won’t show any love for writers outside the US or UK.

    The last time I checked with Content Authority, the only reply I got was a flat “Unfortunately, we are not accepting any writer applications at the moment”. I’ve got an account with iWriter where I’m set to be an Elite Writer in a bit. Just don’t like having all my eggs in one basket.

    Any iWriter alternatives you may recommend that I check out? I’d be eternally grateful.

    Thanks

    1. I share all my reviews on the sites that I’ve personally tried right here on the blog. Unfortunately, I can’t ever tell whether a site is suitable for people outside of the UK as that’s where I’m based, so wouldn’t be able to help specifically for South Africa friendly websites.

  6. What’s going on with greatcontent? I’ve been writing for them for about 8 months making decent $$$. Since the new year, orders are sparse or non-existent. Is this slump typical? Thanks for your post. So many people are negative about content mills, but gc has been good for me, a newbie to online writing. Now this order or lack thereof situation has me worried. Do write for other sites but this is my go-to.

    1. I haven’t used GC for a while now, so I can’t really comment. I don’t work for them, just use the platform to pick up work now and then. You’re best off getting in touch with them directly. The problem with content mills is that clients find other places to get their work done. Some may go direct to freelancers while others find content mills that charge them less for the same quality of work. It’s why I always recommend finding your own clients rather than relying on content mills.

  7. Hello
    I have just spent all morning applying to great content, within a few minutes of submitting my application I had an e mail back stating that I had been unsuccessful! I find this very strange as I am not sure they would even have had time to even my application.

    My advice would be do not waste your time.

    1. Since I don’t work for GC and don’t know the processes behind it, I can’t help with that. It could be that they’re not taking on writers at this time. The best people to ask would be the GC staff.

  8. Just realised that my grammar and punctuation have not been checked before I submitted my previous post !

    Rest assured my application to greatcontent was absolutely without errors before anyone comments on this.

  9. Hi – I have just been accepted by Great Content at level 5 (it did take them 3 weeks to evaluate my sample text). This morning there were 134 jobs available! Well worth considering, I have not yet found any work through PPH or iWriter.

    1. There have been a lot of new jobs going up recently. There was one for StubHub a few weeks ago, but the turnaround time was really short. There were bonuses on offer, but for the time that it took me to write five pieces, it just wasn’t worth the pay in the end. I just did enough to get the minimum payout and then left it, especially now that I have a constant stream of client work.

      Glad that it’s worked out so great for you. Well done on getting in at level 5.

      1. hello there, i have been on GC ffor more than a month now but i bet am getting pissed off with the peanuts pay. I need a hint on how to pitch the direct clients, any leads will be appreciated.

        1. It is annoying. I help all my students in pitching clients directly, even offering my own pitches to help get started.

  10. I started out with GC maybe in late 2014. At first it was okay, then the jobs got less and less. So… I closed my account. Big Mistake.
    Since then have done iWriters -big rip-off. Next was HireWriters, which like GC, started great then fell off. A lot of clients left. Today they have less than 10 jobs available. I am on 1 clients email blast for projects. He doesn’t pay well (500-525 words for $5.31), but he’s always got work.
    I’m also on Textbroker, was doing well until I got sloppy. I’m working to regain my 4 rating. It was such a pleasure to write and feel good about the $$$.
    What I do is register only (email address and no writing sample). My last 3 sites reached out to me when they had large amount of orders to crank out quickly.
    What is PPH?

    1. hello there, could you help me on cracking the text-broker thing. I got sloppy and lost my account with them. A lead on direct clients will be appreciated. (sirjohnson93@gmail.com)

      1. Sorry. I know nothing about TextBroker. I did once sign up, found there was nothing and haven’t been back since.

        1. Textbroker has changed it’s application process. I got through (I think) with just a writing sample. A few years ago they had the comma and editing tests from Hell. This time was much easier.

  11. Hi Alexandria,
    I have been writing for GC for the past two months.However, last week I realized there are no orders at all. Is that in order? Kindly let me know. I requested for payment today and they have been so helpful (Anna & Matt). Kindly let me know whether there are orders in your account. I am rated 5.
    Thanks in advance.And thank you for this website!

    1. I wouldn’t know about GC anymore. I haven’t used the site in a very long time so don’t know what’s normal and what’s not. Sorry.

    2. I’m not Alexandria but the same thing happened to me with GC 2 years ago. I closed my account then. In hindsight, that was a stupid move. Every sites gets and loses clients. Keep your a/c open and keep checking.
      Hirewriters has little to no orders now. I am leaving the a/c open because they might land some new clients.
      Writing for Textbroker now, lots of work. However, I know that I will always need 2 sources.
      I just have to complete the 2nd application with CopyPress and maybe I’ll get work there. I am registered under Product Descriptions, but CopyPress doesn’t really have a lot of that. They want me to submit application for Copy Writer.

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