PeoplePerHour is the last site I’m going to cover this week. I’ve only recently had experience with it as a freelance writer, so I decided to do a little bit of research to see what others thought, as there are other writing services like the best essay writing service reddit that can adjust to different needs as well.
To me, it comes across as something similar to Fiverr. You post up an “hourlie” (as they’re called on PeoplePerHour) and wait for people to hire you. However, there is a bidding side to it. I regularly get emails to say that I’m eligible to bid on a job or two posted. So I guess there’s a Freelancer.com and Guru side to it too.
Can You Make Money from PeoplePerHour?
So far I’ve made a whole £20 from the site. Yes, the site works in pounds rather than dollars, which is great for those in the UK. You also have a little more control over your pricing. There’s no minimum that you have to set like Fiverr, but you do need to think about the people who are going to purchase your work.
It could be worth setting a lower rate to start off while you get some feedback. Then increase your hourlies as you go.
The money seems to be in the bidding, as long as you’re smart about it. It’s important to stand out because hundreds of people can place their bids for the work.
Setting Your Bids on PeoplePerHour
This isn’t a race to the bottom, which makes PeoplePerHour certainly seem worth the time of a freelance writer. Setting bids too low works to someone’s disadvantage. It makes the writer look like a novice or incapable of offering quality content.
That isn’t what people are on the site for.
The same could apply to setting your hourlies. You want to find a balance between the high and low rates.
Working With an Escrow
Escrow payments are set up on the site, offering some security for freelance writers. Once you do the work, you can ask to release the funds. The seller accepts that the work is done, and you are paid.
I’ve only had the experience from one client, and it all went quite smoothly. However, the site wasn’t exactly user-friendly. It took me a while to figure out how payments were release and how to raise the amount on the invoice due to be paid.
If I used it on a daily basis, something like that wouldn’t bother me. But I reckon if I get work on the site again, I’ll struggle to do it too.
No Communication Outside of the Site
This isn’t somewhere that you can get some work and then discuss working with the client off the site. Some people don’t want to because there is more security on the site—with the escrow payments. However, there are freelance writers who simply want more freedom to discuss projects over Skype or something similar.
I personally like to discuss projects over Skype. I can ask all the questions I need, and tailor them depending on the answers. It also gives me a chance to really get to know the person on the other end.
This is a personal choice, though.
What Do Others Say?
During my research, I found Claire Broadley offering tips to make PeoplePerHour work. However, she states that her company no longer uses the site.
But for those who want to use PeoplePerHour for their freelance writing work could still benefit from the top 10 tips. If you’re interested, you can read it here.
One thing I noticed is that she states that you need to work with the client on the site only for a year. Eventually you could take it off the site. I’ve not seen that written anywhere in the Terms and Conditions, though. I will point out that the original article is from 2011. Things may have changed in the Terms and Conditions since then. Here’s an article comparing employees versus independent contractors.
She also recommends keeping an eye on Twitter for the new job postings, especially if you want to really make this site work for you. That’s an interesting one, but would take up too much time for me. I don’t stay on Twitter all day, as I find social media extremely time consuming. It wouldn’t make PeoplePerHour worth it for me personally.
What do you think? Is PeoplePerHour worth your time as a freelance writer? Would you be willing to give it a try?
I have hear of this website, but I haven’t tried it yet.
I’d definitely recommend taking a look. It could be one for you.
Alexandria,
How do you find all these sites? LOL This one sounds a little confusing or should I say – unuser friendly. Out of the ones I’ve read about this week, I still like Guru the best. 🙂
Great resources!
It takes time to find them, Cynthia, but some of them I found when I first started researching freelance writing. I really wish I’d found a site like this that went through each site, so I do the research for others 🙂
Guru does seem like the best of the lot, especially with the SafePay options. Glad you’ve found this week useful.
I’ve not heard People Per Hour so was interesting to find out more about it. I have a friend who is a copywriter so think this might be something she’d be interesting in. Thanks for the info.
Thanks, Nicky. I hope your friend finds it useful. You’re welcome.
I tried PeoplePerHour a few years ago, and it’s interesting to see the distinction between what you do and the more technical offering that I was marketing (basically Microsoft Office development and coding spreadsheets and databases)
I never made anything out of it, and found that there were two main types of enquiry – the first were businesses who were looking for price comparisons with which to beat existing suppliers over the head, and the second were students with more money than ambition, looking to get their IT projects done for them!
I bid on a number of jobs, and most of the bids attracted no response, and from what I could see the job was never undertaken, at least not through PPH.
Interesting to read a different experience!
I’ve found with other sites that students like to look for people to do their homework. It’s never something I’m interested in and refuse to do on moral grounds, but unfortunately, there are a lot of writers who will do the work. I’ve known a few writers who have gotten clients through the site, but I’m not sure whether they stayed on the site or took it elsewhere even though it’s against the terms and conditions. It’s been interesting to hear your experience. Thanks.
Thanks Alexandria. I missed your other posts this week and will catch up now!
I hope they’re useful. I’m just putting up my weekly roundup if you need easier access to them 🙂
I agree with you. I spend far too much time on social sites already. I’m seriously considering cutting back–a lot. As for the PeoplePerHour site, thank you for the thumbs down. Way too much effort for me. Of course, this is because what I really want to do is concentrate on writing novels. Maybe they’ll sell in the future.
If you enjoy writing your novels, definitely stick with that. We all need to be happy in what we do, as well as making money from it. I’ve not had a lot of success with eBooks, but I see a few dollars each month now as a few keep selling.
I know that Crystal Touchton does work for that site. She seems to be doing well. Would be interesting to get her feedback on it. Have to see if you she has done a review.
Good job Alexandria 🙂
Thanks, Victoria. I hope see comes on and gives her feedback on it. If she’s done a review, that will be great! I wouldn’t mind linking to it to give a more well-rounded overview of the site.
I’m not a fan of bidding as I find that a waste of time. With a baby at home, I’m only interested in actual paying gigs. You can waste a lot of time bidding for writing gigs and never actually get one. That could frustrate a young and determined writer as it has frustrated me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this important topic.
Dorit Sasson
Giving a Voice to Your Story
http://www.GivingaVoicetotheVoicelessBook.com
That makes sense. I’m similar; I have a baby at home, so am really only interested in the gigs that will pay. But marketing takes time and leads to unbillable hours. I guess that’s very similar to the use of bidding sites.
You should really start a membership site and charge people to access it for this information. Isn’t that what Rosalind Gardner did with the dating sites and she made massive monies reviewing the sites.
Still… I can’t help but think that social media is way better for freelance work than a third party website.
If you communicate often enough on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter – there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to gather some clients as a byproduct of engagement.
Just my 2 cents. 🙂
You know, Bonnie, a membership site just isn’t something that I’ve ever considered; mainly due to having so much other stuff that I need to set up first. A membership site will be my end goal though.
I’ve only used Twitter for marketing a handful of times, and it’s only been when someone else refers me because they see someone else looking for content. LinkedIn has been useful, but it’s important to know the right groups to be with and the discussions to look out for. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
The pay escrow is one positive if you’re interested in sites like this.
Thanks for linking to my article Alexandria.
The requirement to pay through People Per Hour is still there. In fact, it’s more strict. You will find it in the Terms and Conditions: “All payments between Buyer and Seller must be processed through PPH as described in Section 3, both for work sourced on PPH and for any follow on work between the Buyer and Seller, either for the same Job or another Job.”
Tread carefully and read the terms in detail.
You’re welcome and thanks for the confirmation, Claire. I thought that’s what I’d read, but it’s been a while since I went through them. I haven’t done work on the site for a while, and don’t really intend to bid for projects on there.