Zerys: Freelancing’s Sinking Ship

Longtime readers (hey guys!) will know there is zero love lost between myself and the Zerys / Interact writing platform. I’ve criticized their slapdash, poorly-designed UI, I’ve removed them from my list of trusted freelance sites, and only a few months ago, I was banned and blocked without warning or notice for speaking up on my own blog – while I was owed money that was never paid to me, no less.

I do not weep for missing out on a few pages of crap orders that pay 7/10ths of a cent per word, but I do consider myself a fairly vocal proponent of the Freelance Isn’t Free movement. Zerys recent “improvements” for my fellow writers have required that writers start providing free 250 word articles for potential clients to read and consider before maybe hiring them.

The only balm offered to writers was that clients did have the ability to pay for that sample, should they so choose, and that “nice hints” (direct quote from the website operator, by the way) were left to encourage them along that path. Additionally, it was also framed as being better than the “old way” in which clients could – and still could, by the way – outright refuse an article written because they simply didn’t want it anymore, or selected another writer’s take on it. I don’t really understand how pointing out how terrible your system not only was, but still is, benefits writers.

Recently, a fella I used to date sent me an incredulous email with a post from Zerys forums. I don’t know if they think willful arrogance and transparent spin is de rigeur due to certain political campaigns lately, but let me be the first to say in a non-censored forum: it ain’t, guys. This is appalling, and it should be a source for shame, not pride. If you read between the poorly-presented mathematical lines here, it’s a statement that 60% of clients are NOT paying for their samples. That means the literal majority of Zerys clients are not paying for the mandatory 250 word samples and Zerys is actually bragging about that.

Read for yourself below. When I talk about freelancers getting taken advantage of, when I speak about the reasons I started the FreelanceWriterGuide in the first place, this is what I’m talking about. Zerys is making a mockery of everything freelancing represents, and I’m not going to let them lead newbies into thinking this is the norm. #FreelancingIsntFree guys. Ever.

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Hi everyone

As you all know, we made some significant changes to how Zerys clients go about searching for and identifying new writers to add to their writing team. Now that the new system has been in place several months, we wanted to share some interesting data:

Out of the thousands of documents that have been posted to the New Clients Job Board since the new changes were implemented, here’s a breakdown of the review actions taken by Zerys clients:

– About 40% of the time, the client chose to add the writer to their Favorite Writer’s List AND pay the writer for the sample

– About 30% of the time, the client chose to add the writer to their Favorite Writer’s List but not pay the writer for the sample

      (So, this means that about 70% of the time the client chose to add the writer to their Favorite Writer’s List)

– About 30% of the time, the client chose to not add writer to team (and not pay for sample)

(Remember, these are only figures for NEW CLIENTS JOBS). The approval rate and payment rate for Direct Assign jobs are around 95%).

We know there was a big concern that this new system would result in writers never being paid for their time spent doing these initial samples for new clients. While clearly this is happening some of the time, its not the most common result. Since clients are “trying out” new writers, one would expect that some of the time, the client will not like the sample piece, or will decide that a certain writer is just not the right fit. We believe 30% is a reasonable percentage to expect this to happen.

Keep in mind that since these initial jobs are only 250 words, they generally will take less time to write than the much longer jobs that were being posted before (and still had the same chance of not getting paid). Subsequently, the earning potential is fairly low as well. So, while its nice getting paid a few dollars to write a few paragraphs, it is much more important that you get added to the writers Favorite Writer so you have the potential to get a steady supply of work and earn much more for months or years to come from that buyer.

So, while we’re happy to see that 40% of the time writers are being paid for the sample, we’re even happier to see that 70% of the time, writers are getting added to the client’s favorites list. (You may not see orders right away from new clients that add you to their list. We often see clients pick one primary writer, but many months later, they now need a new or additional writer, so they start using their “backup” favorite writers. So hang in there!)

Anyways, just wanted to share the data. Obviously, the percentages above reflect an average across all clients and writers. We know of many writers who have MUCH higher precentages when it comes to getting added and paid for samples – and vice versa. In the end, just keep taking as many new client jobs as you can. Keep submitting your best quality work… and have faith that in the long run, you will start seeing your amount of work increase and overall income increase over time.

Thanks for all your support and hard work during these important changes

Hi everyone

As you all know, we made some significant changes to how Zerys clients go about searching for and identifying new writers to add to their writing team. Now that the new system has been in place several months, we wanted to share some interesting data:

Out of the thousands of documents that have been posted to the New Clients Job Board since the new changes were implemented, here’s a breakdown of the review actions taken by Zerys clients:

– About 40% of the time, the client chose to add the writer to their Favorite Writer’s List AND pay the writer for the sample

– About 30% of the time, the client chose to add the writer to their Favorite Writer’s List but not pay the writer for the sample

      (So, this means that about 70% of the time the client chose to add the writer to their Favorite Writer’s List)

– About 30% of the time, the client chose to not add writer to team (and not pay for sample)

(Remember, these are only figures for NEW CLIENTS JOBS). The approval rate and payment rate for Direct Assign jobs are around 95%).

We know there was a big concern that this new system would result in writers never being paid for their time spent doing these initial samples for new clients. While clearly this is happening some of the time, its not the most common result. Since clients are “trying out” new writers, one would expect that some of the time, the client will not like the sample piece, or will decide that a certain writer is just not the right fit. We believe 30% is a reasonable percentage to expect this to happen.

Keep in mind that since these initial jobs are only 250 words, they generally will take less time to write than the much longer jobs that were being posted before (and still had the same chance of not getting paid). Subsequently, the earning potential is fairly low as well. So, while its nice getting paid a few dollars to write a few paragraphs, it is much more important that you get added to the writers Favorite Writer so you have the potential to get a steady supply of work and earn much more for months or years to come from that buyer.

So, while we’re happy to see that 40% of the time writers are being paid for the sample, we’re even happier to see that 70% of the time, writers are getting added to the client’s favorites list. (You may not see orders right away from new clients that add you to their list. We often see clients pick one primary writer, but many months later, they now need a new or additional writer, so they start using their “backup” favorite writers. So hang in there!)

Anyways, just wanted to share the data. Obviously, the percentages above reflect an average across all clients and writers. We know of many writers who have MUCH higher precentages when it comes to getting added and paid for samples – and vice versa. In the end, just keep taking as many new client jobs as you can. Keep submitting your best quality work… and have faith that in the long run, you will start seeing your amount of work increase and overall income increase over time.

Thanks for all your support and hard work during these important changes

***

#Nope.