Anybody written for Examiner.com? I'd like some perspective

There are several professional sportswriters on the site, including me. I am doing it to keep writing because my regular freelance income has dropped lately with the economy. One of the boxing writers is a former NY Post writer and makes very, very good money on examiner.com. He is the exception, though. Many writers don't make anything, in part because examiner.com attracts fans who aren't necessarily schooled in writing. The quality of copy is varied. I'm not making as much as the boxing writer, but I'm doing well enough to be teased by the possibility that I can build it into a significant source of income. It does help you learn what readers are interested in, and that is helpful in all of my ventures.

 

My experience with them so far has varied.

The money has meant nothing, averaging out to scraps and lunch money for a few days. I'm definitely not doing it for the Paypal payout. On the positive end, the managers and folks in charge appear genuinely committed to helping their writers achieve some kind of media credibility. They do their best impression of a legit employer, holding conference calls with Examiners to discuss changes to the site and share ideas.

But the negatives far outweigh the positives. The money's been discussed, but the editing situation is much worse. Outside of shortening headlines, there's no one available to fact-check or encourage writers to follow some kind of journalistic style. The majority of the reports are second-hand and the writers fail to credit their sources properly.

Ultimately, it feels like the site caters more to the fluff pieces about celebrities and regurgitated reports from credible news outlets.

Without echoing too much of what seravaf wrote, I really don't like the idea of promoting myself. Sadly, the folks over there encourage it. If the idea is for me to be paid (fractions of a penny) off ad revenue, I suppose I'd be better off trying my luck with my own site.

Not all gloom and doom though. I have been contacted by people who've read my examiner profile with some small freelance offers. Some of them good, some of them not so much. But that's the nature of the industry I suppose.

 

A friend I know who has written for them said if you make a point to mention every celebrity in the history of the world in every story you write the story will appear in enough google news alerts that you MIGHT be able to make $20-$30 for a story like that.

 

Just checked out several Boston-related stories. They're crap, just a few graphs of blogging by people I've never laid eyes on. They obviously have no team access. They're not going to make money with this stuff.

 

This proves what I've long said about the Internet: culturally vital, financially irrelevant to 98 percent of those who believe they can make money with it.

 

That, and find ways to make irrelevant topics somewhat relevant to the topic you examine. If it's a slow news day for your team, but a player who once played for the team you cover is somehow in the news, you can join in the overexposure and headline him as Ex-Bobcat arrested for whatever.

 

I wouldn't bother with Examiner.com and similar sites. You will make just pennies and you ultimately will have no control. If you're looking to write just to keep your name out there, the best thing to do is start a blog or Web site and try to create your own brand with it. After a while you can get some ads (your blogging service can help you set it up for free) and make a few cents here and there. You won't get rich, but at least you'll be in full control of it and prospective employers will it find more credible.

 

I'm probably the exception that, for me, the positives outweigh the negatives for writing for Examiner.com. I mainly started writing to gain credibility within sprint car and midget racing, and it's made a big difference to be able to tell a track promoter or series PR guy that I write for a major national news site with more than one million page views each day versus my own start-up blog that no one has heard of before.

The pay sucks. That's just what it is, and unless you cover MMA or boxing, it seems like getting the number of hits daily to actually earn decent money is pretty much impossible. But I make enough to cover my travel expenses to races throughout California -- which I've been able to use to piggyback with freelance coverage for several local papers.

In the past year, I've gone from having no presence in the sport to getting writing gigs with the national magazines that cover the sports -- based on the recognition I've received from writing for Examiner.com. Yes, they want you to promote your own stuff -- but welcome to the world of online writing of any kind. Look at job listings now: how many of them are "Social Media Coordinators" or something similar? Promoting your own writing online is a valuable tool to have whether for your freelance career or if you are looking for some sort of business career in the future.

I would argue with the statement that you "ultimately will have no control" - for the most part, I've been left to my own devices to sink or swim and post pretty much what I want. Which is great if you're a good writer and lousy if you aren't -- as witnessed by fact that there is a lot of really awful writing on the site that detracts from the quality of the people who work hard and take things seriously.

I won't be with Examiner.com forever -- it's a jumping point for me, whether that's to more magazine/newspaper work or to start my own sprint car news site when the time is right. But if you are a younger writer looking for a place to cover sports that gives you some level of access and instant credibility, I think it's a viable option.

<what, more yummy Kool-Aid? Thanks!>

 

I'm like rmanfredi I like Examiner and have been covering motorsports for them for two years....rich? hell no but I'm able to make some decent part time money and its alot better then working the overnight shift at 7-11 (although you can't get free doughnuts)...they have been very supportive and despite another comment I've been given a NASCAR hard card through them for the last two years...and last year I started covering Formula One and recently when I needed to get creds to a McLaren deal my channel manager sent a letter followed with a phone call and got them..anyone who has ever covered F1 knows trying to get creds for anything with them is like pulling teeth....good people and I know of a couple that can make a full time living off of it....for me, its a car payment and goof off money, but that's what I put into it....I have my fulltime F1 gig, and devote maybe 8-10 hours a week on Examiner on F1 and NASCAR stuff....$1000 a month for that, I'll take it