Written By Christopher VanHise
Want writing jobs on your own terms? People Per Hour is a fast growing site that lets you define your writing services, and sell them by the hour. This is similar to Fiverr, but the pay is much better.
The site also has a Job market where clients post projects that you can apply for, but posting your own Hourlies and waiting for the clients to come to you can be a much more rewarding and profitable experience.
PPH was founded back in 2007 as an internet service marketplace. In November of 2011, the site was reported to have approximately 250,000 active users, about 70,000 of whom were clients looking for freelancers. That was about two and a half years ago, before the company managed to raise $3.2 million from Index Ventures in 2012, so chances are there are now more than 100,000 potential clients that browse the site purchasing Hourlies and posting their own projects on a regular basis.
Abundant Writing Opportunities and No Upfront Fees
With so many prospects in their network, and no upfront fees, PPH represents an excellent opportunity for any motivated writer, regardless of experience or skill level. The potential earnings can be substantial and it’s relatively easy to find a steady flow of work once you start building feedback, promoting your Hourlies, and applying for Jobs.
About 40% of the work on the site turns into repeat business for the seller, so its certainly possible to find long-term clients, and there are many writers who earn a full-time living on PPH. Clients pay upfront into an escrow account. Once you’ve completed the job successfully the funds are released into your account wallet, which can be withdrawn from via several methods including PayPal and bank transfer. When PPH pays you they take a 3.5% service fee.
Easy Sign Up and Social Networking Integration
Signing up and posting your first Hourly is unbelievably easy and doesn’t require any special experience or credentials – everyone is welcome. If you don’t feel like creating an account, you can login using your Facebook or LinkedIn account instead. It’s always a good idea to go ahead and link your Facebook account to improve your CERT rating – this will help increase the visibility of your Hourlies within search results. Inviting friends and existing clients to join you on PPH will also improve your CERT rating. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t want to link your Facebook account though, it’s not required and lots of writers have done well without it.
How to Get Writing Jobs on PPH
There are two main ways to get writing jobs on the site – you can post Hourlies or apply for Jobs. Of course, the more Jobs you apply for, and/or the more Hourlies you post, the faster you’ll be able to earn your first feedback and start soliciting a decent amount of work. Have writing samples ready and be sure to spice up your Hourlies with appealing titles, bonus services, and reasonable prices. Be clear and concise when describing what you will be providing – bullet lists work well here. Once your Hourly is live, the headline will read something like: “I can (insert specific writing job) for $___.” Don’t be tricked by the name though, an Hourly does not have to be completed within an hour – you can specify a delivery time ranging from 1 to 5 days.
The key to getting noticed is to make the titles as catchy and specific as possible. You also have the option of paying $14.95 to have your Hourly featured on the homepage and within the PPH newsletter, both of which can generate a lot of exposure and leads. Be forewarned though, if you don’t have any feedback and you don’t promote your Hourlies, list multiple Hourlies simultaneously, or aggressively apply for Jobs, then work can come slow at first.
Fair and Professional Marketplace, Responsive Customer Service, and Fast Feedback
PPH has a superb reputation, and in most writers’ opinions it is a much more desirable marketplace than commonly named alternatives like Odesk and Elance. The freelancers on this site are generally compensated better because there aren’t that many low-balling writers bidding ridiculously low prices.
Another perk PPH offers is the ability to invite your previous clients to use the site’s escrow and feedback service free of charge. This gives you the opportunity to quickly build your PPH feedback using ratings from clients you already have. The company’s support staff almost always answers emails within 24 hours and they have a team of 50+ developers who continually maintain and make adjustments to the site’s design and interface.
The Comfort of Writing Under Your Own Terms
My experience with PPH has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s nice to have the freedom of being able to say “this is what I can do for you, this is how much it will cost you, and this is how long it will take for me to deliver it,” versus the alternative of having to adhere and adapt to new specifications within each job you apply to.
The repetition involved in fulfilling the same Hourlies for different clients can also help you build speed and fluidity in your writing and any associated submission or editing processes. For example, let’s say you’re running an Hourly entitled “I can write you an excellent 700-word blog post about technology for $50.” After a while you get into a routine of doing 700-word technology articles and the work just flows.
Bottom Line
Overall, PPH provides an ideal platform in which to advertise specific offerings under conditions that you get to outline. This can be a refreshing change when compared to rigorously applying and competing for client-posted jobs that often come with a long list of unique requirements. If you’re looking for a way to find good-paying clients that will hire you to perform writing jobs you enjoy doing, then signing up at PeoplePerHour should certainly be on your to-do list.
