Cons of Writing For Merchant Circle

Books/Literature/Writing - Writing - Freelance

By: meganc 10-Sep-2011

Introduction:

There are pros and cons to everything in life. Content writing is no different. Every "content mill" has their own methods to the madness. Some of these methods offer writers great stability while others are just to much to handle. Here you will find the cons of writing for Merchant Circle.

Slow Editing

This is probably the top complaint I hear from fellow writers regarding the Merchant Circle program. This was not the case, but as Merchant Circle began hiring more and more writers and overlooked the obvious need for more editors the editing has slowed. In general, their editing times take within 24 hours, however, this time can increase to as much as 48 hours. The problem? If you are a level 2, 3, or 4 that type of editing speed means that instead of making $50 per week or more you are no making $20 if you are lucky. Though this is not the rule of thumb it is becoming an increasing problem for many writers and eventually for the Merchant Circle program if they do not fix it.

Vague Guidelines

A big complaint and source of confusion for many newcomers to Merchant Circle is their guideline manual. It is hard to find unless you have someone directing you to its location. It does not contain examples of the various formats that writers have the ability to claim. It covers ridiculously generalized and common sense issues such as spelling and grammar while totally overlooking the fact that writers are left in the dark regarding most issues. If you are willing to search out the guideline document, perform web searches for other similar articles in order to learn formatting and willing to take the chance that you are doing what Merchant Circle likes then this may not be a big con for you. However, at $4 per article this is a huge con for many writers.

Vague Editor Guideance

We have all done it. You claim an article that you have knowledge about and can write easily. You sit down to write the article and realize just how vague the title is. There are literally three different viewpoints you can take. You have already researched the topic and are still left a bit clueless about the direction you should take. You write your editor and the response you receive is "Google it and go with that." This type of answer makes any writer want to bang their head repeatedly on their keyboard. This con of writing for Merchant Circle tends to be a complaint of higher level writers. It still is a huge issue when you are trying to get the article out without a re-write and with the quality expected by the company.

Overnight Changes

This has only been an issue in recent weeks. Level 8 writers were mysteriously dropped to level 6 while being told that it "did not change the status with Merchant Circle." This would have been fine if the claim limit had remained the same and if article titles were available. This was not the case. Claim levels for level 8 writers were dropped and just a few short days later article titles were scarce. This has, in recent days, fixed itself, but it does remain an issue for many writers who have gone through the growing pains of other companies before. It was stated that this would not effect writers overall. This was proven wrong when a top earner, which they note on their jobs page, went from $600 a week to $400. It might not be connected, but it did set a bit of unsettling concern in the hearts of many writers.

Overall it is a con to writing for Merchant Circle. No one wants to see sudden changes that affect their income. No writer wants to see an overabundance of articles then no titles with no explanation. At the very least it is a con to keep in mind and be cautious of.

Low Pay

This is a con that most people in need of a solid income will overlook. The articles are pay per article. Most articles pay $4 and should be around 300 words in length. Higher quality articles pay $10 and should be around 400-700 words in length. The bottom line to this con is that Merchant Circle is in fact one of the lowest paying "content mills" around. Do they pay on time? Yes. Do they pay what they say they will per article? Yes. Is it still low pay? Absolutely. Overall a writer that is weighing their options knows if this pay is to low for them or if it is worth it to know they can get paid on time for the work the accomplish.

Final Thoughts

Please note that these cons and the pros listed in my article "The Top Five Pros to Writing for Merchant Circle" are statements made by actual content providers for the company. These issues both positive and negative are not hearsay, but are actual issues experience by myself and other writers. Everyone should make a judgement for themselves. My only reason for the writing these articles is to help someone make a better judgement before they get into something that may not be right for them.