After constantly reading on this site about how I am wasting my life in Taiwan teaching English and reading about Steelerman’s adventures as a freelance writer, I decided to give it a go myself.
I got onto one of the freelance sites set up a profile and started applying for jobs. After a week or so, I got hired for one that looks interesting. I wrote my first article a few days ago and it gets put up on the website in a week or so.
The pay’s not great. I work about 10 to 15 hours a week and only get paid around NT$300 an hour but it’s a beginning. Actually, this is a lot better than some of the silly job offers on the freelance site (Odesk). Hopefully, after getting more experience I can start getting higher paid jobs.
Anyway, I’m happy. I’ve thought about writing for years and I’m finally starting to do it.
I just wanted to share a bit and give some encouragement to people who are also thinking about doing this. I also wanted to give a public thanks to Steelersman for the help getting started on my writing career.
[quote=“PigBloodCake”][quote=“Gilgamesh”]
Actually, this is a lot better than some of the silly job offers on the freelance site (Odesk). Hopefully, after getting more experience I can start getting higher paid jobs.
[/quote]
Congrats.
On the subject of Odesk, it’s quite pathetic how some employers are paying in there.
They make Taiwan employers look like saints.[/quote]
That is what happens when you are competing against Filipinos.
[quote=“Gilgamesh”]After constantly reading on this site about how I am wasting my life in Taiwan teaching English and reading about Steelerman’s adventures as a freelance writer, I decided to give it a go myself.
I got onto one of the freelance sites set up a profile and started applying for jobs. After a week or so, I got hired for one that looks interesting. I wrote my first article a few days ago and it gets put up on the website in a week or so.
The pay’s not great. I work about 10 to 15 hours a week and only get paid around NT$300 an hour but it’s a beginning. Actually, this is a lot better than some of the silly job offers on the freelance site (Odesk). Hopefully, after getting more experience I can start getting higher paid jobs.
Anyway, I’m happy. I’ve thought about writing for years and I’m finally starting to do it.
I just wanted to share a bit and give some encouragement to people who are also thinking about doing this. I also wanted to give a public thanks to Steelersman for the help getting started on my writing career.
Thanks. [/quote]
Well actually foreign office workers in Taiwan also get around $300 NT an hour. Taiwanese workers get even less!
Thanks everyone. I’m actually enjoying it quite a bit so far. I’m still working on organizing my work at home schedule which can be tough given that I have two little kids at home who like to bang on the door of my “office” whenever I close the door. The work is interesting, at least a lot more interesting than I’ve been finding teaching English lately. I’m writing for a medical website about various subject. I just wrote one article about obsessive compulsive disorder and another one about how having a desk job can kill you.
Goose Egg: I haven’t actually made enough money yet to take any out but I set up a Paypal account. The debit card seemed to carry to many fees for me. I’ll see how the paypal account works and see if I need to change anything.
Congratulations! I know the feeling. Like you, I thought about writing for years before I actually got down to penning something and having it published. The rate of pay seems OK. You’ll find your productivity and speed increases rapidly once you’ve been doing it for a while, and then what you’re making per hour starts to look a whole lot better, better than teaching English.
I’m married so no work permit needed. I started using Odesk (Steelersman told me about it). You need to really take your time trying to find a job on this site since a lot of jobs are for really low pay. On the other hand, there are some decent paying ones. I’m presently being considered for another job at around $NT360 an hour. (10 - 15 hours a week) I’ m actually paid in $U.S. and I’m just doing a quick conversion.
Indeed, especially when you deduct the transport time for teaching, or any job really. And the joy of working in your houserobe on a chilly morning just can’t be said enough times.
I’m not really an oldtimer since I only started working a couple of weeks ago but I’ll tell you how I did it.
Odesk is basically a company that helps connect people. It’s not just for writers but also for a number of different freelance jobs such as web developers, virtual assistants, etc.
There are two types of paying jobs: fixed price and hourly jobs. For hourly jobs, you set the amount you want to be paid. Odesk then adds 10% on top of this hourly rate. For example, if you set your hourly rate at $10.00, the employer actually gets charged $11.11. You get your ten dollars and Odesk takes the $1.11.
On fixed price jobs, the employer sets the budget and you bid how much you want to get paid (within the budget) for the job. For example, if the employer sets the budget at $50.00 then you can bid anywhere from $0 to $50 to do the job. Odesk takes 10% off of this as well but it is added to the top of your bid. So, if you bid $45 the employer gets charged $50. You get the $45 and Odesk takes $5.00.
If you use the Odesk time tracker, then hourly jobs are guaranteed as long as the employer has verified his payment method. You have to install the tracker on your computer, then when you start the job you just turn it on. It keeps track of the number of keystrokes and mouse clicks that you did in 10 minute segments. It also takes a snapshot of your computer screen once during these 10 minute periods. The snapshot is random which means that you won’t know when it is coming but it will within each 10 minute segment.
Payment is not guaranteed for fixed price jobs so you need to work out a payment schedule if it’s a big job. For example, you can ask to be paid in stages as the work is completed. You can also ask for money up front. It’s a good idea to check the employer’s feedback to see if anyone reported any problems or if he has hired anyone else before.
In regards to finding work, I did a couple of tests they have on Odesk to show that I am fluent in English. The tests are pretty easy (except for the grammar one ). Then I completed my profile. I also wrote a couple of articles on my own that I could use as examples of my work. Then, I started looking for work. I looked for an easy, quick job even if it meant only getting paid a little bit. I wanted to get that first job under my belt so that people would be more inclined to hire me. It’s also good to get a quick job because then you can get some decent feedback. After completing each job, both the employer and contractor has a chance to give feedback.
After this, I just started applying for jobs. I looked for jobs that needed a native English speaker because I can’t compete with the prices for hiring someone from India or Pakistan. I looked for jobs that were not just rewriting other articles but needed research as well as writing. I kept applying for jobs and as I completed articles, I would put them on my portfolio so people could see samples of my writing.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve done so far. Hope this helps and if anyone has any questions let me know and I’ll see if I can answer them but remember I am pretty new there myself
Indeed, especially when you deduct the transport time for teaching, or any job really. And the joy of working in your houserobe on a chilly morning just can’t be said enough times.[/quote]
You travel around Taiwan in your houserobe? Is that the LP uniform?
). Then I completed my profile. I also wrote a couple of articles on my own that I could use as examples of my work. Then, I started looking for work. I looked for an easy, quick job even if it meant only getting paid a little bit. I wanted to get that first job under my belt so that people would be more inclined to hire me. It’s also good to get a quick job because then you can get some decent feedback. After completing each job, both the employer and contractor has a chance to give feedback.