Things I Love Thursday – getting PAID to write!

Benmakesten, one of the blogs I follow, had a post about getting a paid writing gig. When I read it, I was:

1. Really happy for her! She’s a great writer.
2. Jealous.

The gig is for some national website with local pages. The pages have an events calendar, garage sales, local news, weather, traffic, and she was going to be some sort of sort of  “Examiner”.

As I kept reading, I saw that they pay not only for articles, but for referrals (of other writers) , which kind of sounded fishy. I tried really hard to find the catch, but I spent quite a while on the site and it looked very legit (and actually, very useful). It’s ranked as one of the top 100 websites by Quantcast, which to some of you won’t mean anything but some of you will think that is awesome. And wouldn’t you know it – they had yet to find a Grand Rapids Family Entertainment Examiner.

So I gave it a shot. Why not, right?? And (you probably know where this is going by now) I got it!! Here is my Grand Rapids Family Entertainment Examiner Page. My bloggy friend left a VERY enthusiastic comment the other day, I think approximately one exclamation point per dollar she got for referring me, so I was really happy the referral program is real.

I got my publisher access, and wrote an article. They are shorter than blog posts, like 200 words and they want at least two a week. There is a real, live person who gives me feedback on the first few articles. There are examiners for everything. I think my favorite is the “Grand Rapids Burger Examiner“. I think my husband would be perfect.

The best part though? The training materials. You don’t have to do the training, but there is a TON about SEO Optimization, keywords, traffic – all the stuff we are willing to pay big bucks for at conferences or courses. It’s just right there, waiting for me to dive into it. It’s awesome. I think I’ve learned more this week about those things than I have in my three years of blogging.

So if you want a comprehensive city guide (even if you’re not in Grand Rapids, there is one for you), check it out. If you want awesome training and a paid writing gig – and referrals – definitely check it out. I would get $50 and I would pay you back in enthusiastic comments and exclamation points.

You do not have to be a blogger to be a writer for the Examiner. In fact, I read a lot of the bio’s on the other Examiners and most of them are not bloggers. What do you have to lose? Please make sure when you fill out your application that you use my name (Jennifer Rees) as the person who referred you so I get credit when you apply and more importantly – good luck!
For more Things I Love Thursday, head over to the Diaper Diaries.