Is Writing Jobs Online a Scam? – It’s a Well Written Trap

is writing jobs online a scam

Writing Jobs Online
Overall Score: 2/10
Founder: Glen Anderson
Price:  $1 (7-day Free Trial), then $27/month
Website: writing-jobs.net 

It’s that time again. Time for a review, of course! I was reading around for a writing job, and I found a program that supposedly allows you to get paid for writing online. Nothing odd about that in theory, but is it worth the money? Or is Writing Jobs Online a scam? Let’s find out!

What is Writing Jobs Online?


If you’re on this site in the first place, you’re interested in making money online. And one of the best and most prolific ways to do that is freelance writing.

While I prefer affiliate marketing, freelancing is indeed a legit way to earn money online. I’ve used sites like iWriter and Fiverr to make a few bucks, but a lot of people do it full time.

That’s where Writing Jobs Online (or WJO) comes in. It’s a program that promises to get you a full-time income by writing, for “only” $27 a month.

I’ve seen lots of low quality internet marketing products, on ClickBank and elsewhere, but this is the first freelance writing scheme I’ve encountered.

WJO claims that you can make $30-$120 per hour with them, even saying that top users earn $5000 per month!

If this is legit, then it’d surely be a godsend to all writers. That pretty much tells you that’s its not all that it seems.

But enough foreshadowing. Let’s see what WJO is made of!

The Red Flags of WJO


For some products, the sales page alone is enough to expose them for what they really are. WJO… is one of those products. The alarms are all there. Where to start?

Here’s a good place:

writing jobs scam

Okay… so you’re gonna be a freelance writer, yet you’ll apparently get paid by the hour. Writers get paid by the job, not the hour.

That alone should persuade you to walk away, but there’s more, lots more!

Then it says you can get up to $50 per article and $500(!) for an eBook… without any experience. Come on, would you pay a complete rookie $500 to write your eBook?

In the real freelance world, $50 isn’t unbelievable. Some writers get way more, but only ’cause they have experience. WJO is taking a note from other get-rich-quick schemes here.

Speaking of other get-rich-quick schemes, here’s a trick that WAH Institute used to fake some legitimacy:

writing jobs online sales page
This jumps the shark with BBC News.

Obviously, sticking logos of well-known brands will make you look like the real deal, right?

Wrong!

The idea is here is that you can work for these companies if you join WJO. I’m here to tell  you that isn’t possible, especially if you’re starting out.

These companies work with freelancers, no doubt, but experienced ones. You need to establish yourself by writing for blogs. Then these companies will look at your work, which  might not even make the cut anyway.

I just can’t imagine brands like IGN or BBC would hire someone because they bought some random ClickBank product. Could you?

Trust me, you need a lot of background to even consider working for these guys. WJO is nothing, and can’t do anything to help you out. They know that though.

Here’s the third strike. It’s a calculator that lets you estimate how much you’ll earn.

writing jobs online income calculator
This is the default setting by the way. Pretty misleading…

This is a classic way to entice unsure buyers. The math is solid, but you have to make a lot of assumptions to accept this thing.

First, it just lets you choose how much you’ll earn in an hour. Yeah, sure. To think you’ll start at $20 an article is just foolish.

And once again, writers are not paid by the hour! If you can even find a job, you would most likely need an hour or two to finish it, assuming you care about doing a good job.

Plus, this calculator doesn’t even take into account the fact that a beginner get some articles rejected, miss deadlines, or anything like that.

It’s fun to play around with numbers, but it’s just to hype you up.

This is just sales page pandering. It’s best to ignore everything on it. Sales pages are made to sell, not inform.

The Price

I had to price in this section because the fact that you have to pay in the first place is a red flag in itself.

Before joining fully, you can have a one-week trial for $1, and you have to give out credit card information. This is really shady, and there’s no reason to charge a dollar for trial.

Imagine going up to one of those big brands, and paying to write an article for them. You’d basically be paying to work. That’s illegal.

Well, that’s basically what WJO does. You pay to be a freelancer. That’s just wrong and totally unnecessary. I concede that $27/month isn’t a lot, but the fact that a price exists tells me that WJO is a scam.

Fiverr doesn’t charge you to freelance. Neither does iWriter. Or Upwork. Instead, they take a share of what you make, which totally makes sense.

WJO, on the other hand, uses that model as an excuse. Here’s why it doesn’t just share your earnings:

wjo return policy

How dumb is that? Those “other providers” are so successful because they only charge you if you get paid! That’s what marketplaces are for!

The only good thing is that you can get a refund, since this is a ClickBank product.

Still not enough evidence? Let’s get into the product itself, then.

Inside Writing Jobs Online


The sales page really makes it seem like WJO is this exclusive marketplace of jobs, but in reality there is very little in the program.

Inside the member’s area, you can see many categories offered. But even though there’s a lot to look at, there’s also little to care for.

writing jobs online review

Now, there are a lot of sections(15), but most are useless.

Getting Started is simply a group of 4 eBooks. That’s it. It doesn’t even deserve its own subheading.

Writing Jobs/Gigs

After that, the entire first row is the “job marketplace” that’s so exclusive. This is the heart of the program, but in this case the heart is diabetic, infected, inflamed, and shriveled. Let me explain.

There are no jobs listed in WJO. None. These 4 sections simply give you links to REAL marketplaces like elance.com. Seriously, the program is just directing you elsewhere. And guess what? All the places they link to are free, as they should be.rick and morty scam meme

Some of the links take you to sites that actually want to see some of your previous work. Others won’t even pay you. They’ll give you a link, though, that will help promote your site.

(This is actually useful for a blogger, but chances are the people buying this are totally new to online business, so they don’t even have blogs.)

Of course, none of these sites are guaranteed to accept your work in the first place, which defeats the purpose of WJO.

So then, what is the purpose of WJO if it’s raison d’être (pretentious for “reason to be”) is dead on arrival?

Writing Tools/Software/Video

The first three sections of the second row are resources that help your writing.

Tools is just a list of programs like WordPress, Skype and Flickr. I honestly don’t know why they would make this a thing. Who doesn’t know these programs?

Software is an equally useless list of programs like Google Docs, Evernote, and Twitter. I really don’t know how WJO differentiates between “tools” and “software,” since both are almost the same.

There are also nine videos that actually give you some useful info, but they’re definitely not notable. Or worth paying for. At all.

Writing Jobs Online/News

Jobs Online is actually a list of advertised jobs from indeed.com. These are real jobs here. I’m talking programming, accountancy, editing, and stuff like that.

Most of them aren’t even freelance writing jobs, which destroys the “laptop lifestyle” WJO brags about! Sure, talk about being free, then advertise real jobs. What a joke.

The news section is just links to news articles from freelancing websites. No unique content here.

Premium Surveys/Other Online Opportunities/$400 Bonus

These 3 sections are all based around links to survey sites. I know, right?

american pennies
You’ll be rolling in the Lincolns with these survey sites!

Why are survey sites being included here? Did I miss something? Am I reviewing Survey Jobs Online (SJO)?

Taking surveys is a huge waste of time. I don’t know how anyone could make more than a few dollars with them. If WJO has such a good job selection, why are surveys here?

And that “$400 Sign-Up Bonus” may be true, but remember that survey sites have a payout threshold, yo. Earning like $5 across 20 websites won’t get you anywhere if you need $10 to get paid.

Conveniently, all the links are affiliate links. Hmm, I wonder…

Tips and Tricks

Just articles taken from another site. There’s really nothing here you can’t find with a “freelance writing tips and tricks” search in Google.

So Is Writing Jobs Online a Scam, Bub?


Is this a trick question? Of course it is!

Usually I’m hesitant to cry “scam,” but if this doesn’t fit the bill, what does? It promises a job marketplace, gives you links to other (free) marketplaces, and even tries to make some money from affiliate links to useless survey sites.

It is absolutely not what it looks like.

The very fact that you need to pay to work is a farce. Stay away from Writing Jobs Online, and if you’ve bought it, request a refund from ClickBank.

If you really want to make money as a freelance writer, there are a lot of places to go to. You don’t need overhyped link lists to help you out either.

I would check out a marketplace like Fiverr or Upwork to start. You could also try content mills like iWriter, but they pay newcomers very little.

You could also check out this list of paying freelance websites by WriterTown. Some of them pay pretty, so definitely look into it.

The problem with going into freelancing without any previous work is that you’re limited to content mills and marketplaces to make money. There is a way around that though…

A Better Choice

Huge companies like Yahoo and BBC do hire freelancers, but they need to see their work. For most writers, that work comes from their blog.

If you have your own site, you can write about whatever you want, and eventually start to make money from it. Pretty cool, huh? You can also start doing guest blogs and building a reputation, which can lead to getting hired by those big brands.

Of course, since you’re mostly likely new to all this, you need training, and the best place to get that would be with my #1 Super Program. It gives you to free websites to work with, and provides you with a step by step process for building a successful online business.

Plus, it actually gives you a full free trial, no credit card needed. There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Check Out My Super Program Here!

What do you think about WJO? Would you consider trying it out? Got any questions? Leave a comment below!

Your roommate in writing,

-Makki

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14 thoughts on “Is Writing Jobs Online a Scam? – It’s a Well Written Trap

  1. I love to write so I might have ended up checking into some of this information. So thank you. There are so many scammers out there I almost gave up looking for something online because of it. I need to be at home for my kids so I am very happy to have found WA and have read a lot of interesting and informative content from others like you since I have. Feeling very grateful.

    1. Programs like these target beginners, and drive any hopes of success into the ground. I myself was about to quit until I found WA, so I know how you must have felt. Luckily, you’re back on your feet. Thanks for commenting Billie!

  2. Thanks for this review! I kept getting spammed from people pushing WJO and even though I was quite a rookie gut instinct scream NO!! 😀
    It’s hard if you don’t know what warning flags you should look for and I think you have presented general red flags and WJO red flags brilliantly in this post! Keep it up!

    /Cat

    1. I’ve seen “make money online” sites (like mine) that push trash like this. One of them even said they had “success” with this product. Any success you get with WJO is success with other sites. WJO is nothing but links. Glad you stayed away from this, and thanks for reading!

  3. When I was looking for work online, I came across this a lot. Its a good thing that you warn people about scams like these! Never ever pay money to get a job unless you’re doing training -with good reviews- or building a business. After all, most businesses require investments, but not hired jobs.

    1. It’s not exactly paying for a job per se, but it’s mighty similar. Actually, this is just as bad. You pay for a bunch of links to other websites. Free websites. That’s a red flag if I ever saw one.

      Investments aren’t even close to what WJO does, but you make a great point Emma. It’s just cheating people out of their money and discouraging them from continuing online business.

  4. Hi, Makki

    I always think your reviews are both honest, in-depth, and interesting.
    I have thought about making money with freelance writing and I have heard about Writing Jobs Online, but I will for sure not contact them to find writing jobs for me. Since they are not doing anything for me and I have to pay for nothing I will obviously not be a member of their site.

    Tove

  5. Hi Makki,

    Another interesting, very thorough article. Where you do find the time to fully investigate all of this stuff? It’s a great service to anyone curious about these services. Great work.

    Because I’ve seen so many of your other reviews, I know that you are balanced and honest. So when I saw “2/10” for this up front, I knew we were in for a rocky ride, but that you’d still be fair. And you were.

    I really appreciate how detailed all of your posts are, step-by-step through all aspects. It doesn’t leave the reader with much by the way of questions. Very well done.

    Keep it up!

    Kevin

    1. That means a lot Kevin! Thanks for reading. WJO is useless, but the way it’s presented can make anyone excited. So it takes some digging to uncover what it really is. I do try to be fair, but I had no other choice but to call it a scam. What else do you call essentially paying for links to free-to-use websites?

  6. Hi, thank you for such an informative and detailed article. I was happy to read the reasons why it seems this is a scam – I think often when people are looking for work they only see the hooks; this article pointed them out in a way everyone an understand.
    No one should have to pay to get work online – I think this must surely be the first red flag!

    1. That’s exactly right. Lots of newbies see the sales page and are hyped up. The hooks are attractive. That’s why it’s important to research a product before believing their claims. And of course, paying to working is unethical and the number one reason why this is a scam in my view. Thanks for commenting!

  7. Great review again Makki. I find myself coming back here a lot because I enjoy reading about programs to avoid/try. I had actually already been looking into online writing programs that pay you to write. Glad I know to avoid this one! If you were to pick one get paid to write program would you pick? I know you mentioned a few, but I was wondering which one you thought was best/most lucrative. Thanks!!

    1. Great question Sam. For freelancing, I’d recommend starting with a content mill like iWriter. They pay horribly, but they’re good places to get a feel for writing. Then you would to want to go into the big leagues. My personal favorite is Scripted. It pays a lot if you can qualify.

      There’s also the link I left in the post, which I’ll leave here. It’s full of good programs!

      http://writertown.com/9-websites-like-textbroker/

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