Hello readers! Welcome to another edition of ‘Profitable Platforms!’ You can see previous posts in this category at this link. Let’s get started!
If you couldn’t tell by the fact I that I run a website such as this, I’m really into writing. It’s one of my many passions, you know. With this in mind, I was excited to come across a freelance writing site where I could easily get paid to write! Naturally, I made good use of it, and I’ll show you how to do the same. So, just what is iWriter?
What is iWriter?
There’s an oft-repeated saying when it comes to internet business, and that would be “content is king.” And that would be undeniably true.
Content is the one thing you absolutely need to really make it online, so of course there’s gonna be a marketplace for ordering some.
Are you familiar with content mills (also called farms)? They’re online mass-producers of blogs, articles, and other text content, provided from their huge army of freelance writers. These are hugely important resources, as the need for content is always present.
To put it simply, webmasters needing content like articles, blog posts, and eBooks post a listing for a writer to accept and, well, write. iWriter is one of these content mills.
As you might expect, content mills are great ways for writers to make some quick cash, and possibly form a sort of secondary (or tertiary, or any other -ary) source of income. Some writers make it a full-time job!
In truth, content mills are often very similar, but iWriter is a unique platform, and I mean that in both a negative and positive sense. I’ll elaborate soon enough.
For now, we’ll take a look at how iWriter works, and how you can get paid to write content!
How to Use iWriter!
All right! Let’s do this!
Once you sign up and enter iWriter (you can do that here), you’ll have to take a short grammar quiz. This shouldn’t be too hard if you’re well versed in English.
Then you’ll be taken to the Dashboard. Here’s where you’ll see your rank, balance, and other features:
You’ll notice I have a few bucks in there already. I wrote 5 articles to earn that, if you care to know. But more importantly, you’ll see my rating and rank.
I have 4.5 stars and a “Standard” rank. Higher ranks are “Premium,” “Elite,” and “Elite Plus.” I’ll go into more detail later on. For now, we’re gonna go into “Write Content” at the top there.
Here are the listings. Pretty nice earnings, huh? You could make some decent bucks with this!
It’s not all earnings, though. There are many points of interest here. The first is the time to complete. When you accept an article, you have to finish it within the allotted time, or you lose it.
There’s also the approval rating. You can see the first listing here comes from a guy with 98% approval. So if you follow his guidelines, you’re pretty likely to get approved.
The next is the word count. See, word count is what determines your pay. That’s why the 400 word wedding article pays less than the 1000 word dog one.
But Makki, why does the third listing pay less than the second?
Sadly, that picture isn’t the full story. See the ‘writer type’ up there? Only Elite and Elite Plus writers can take these articles. Since Elite Plus is more prestigious, each word counts for more.
Let’s scroll to the bottom, where we’ll find projects we can pursue right off the bat!
I know, it’s not the best pricing ever. The Premium and Standard rates are pretty bad. And you’ll notice the approval rating here is even worse.
It’s understandable. If you’re paying for less, you’re getting less quality, regardless of the ability of the writer. But with Standard articles, anyone can write them immediately after signing up. It makes up somewhat for the lousy pay.
Speaking of pay…
Getting Paid in iWriter
If you’re using iWriter, you’re gonna want to get paid. Otherwise, you’ll be working for nothing. And that wouldn’t be productive. I’ve probably extended this intro as long as I can.
Now, you remember the ranks I mentioned above. Those ranks determine how much you get paid. As you write more and more, your rank increases. Here’s standard: 
Yeah, I’ll say it again, it’s not very much. Compared to other content mills or freelance marketplaces, $6 for 1000 words is terrible. Luckily the ‘standard’ (heh, heh) is pretty low. You don’t have to be an experienced writer to have some success here.
Premium is achieved after getting 25 ratings in your account, and having a rating of 4.5 stars. You’ll notice this pays a bit better. Well, of course it does. It’s a better ranking! And if you write a few articles a day, you’ll make it quickly.
Elite is where it gets serious. You can tell by the guy’s suit. He means business.
Elite is a much bigger increase from the last rank than Premium was. An Elite writer can make some decent money on the side.
Elite Plus is the highest paying rank there is. iWriter doesn’t have a snazzy chart for this rank like the other 3 do, but you can see it pays really high (the photo in the last section also shows Elite Plus listings). Why, it would take 6,000 Standard words to equal the pay for 700 Elite Plus words!
It’s imperative to note that these are only minimum payments. A requester can also tip you, if you’re lucky. I’ve been tipped a dollar before, but they can be much higher.
As for the actual payment, iWriter offers a variety of payment times, like weekly, biweekly, or monthly. They’re better than other content mills in this regard.
You also need to have a minimum of $20 in your balance to withdraw the money. I’m an impatient, instant gratification millennial, so this is a negative for me. Still, it’s objectively a positive.
Incremental Income!! Is iWriter Worth It?
Make no mistake, using iWriter can earn you money.
Just how much money is a different matter entirely. It all depends on the amount of time you spend on the website, and the effort you put in.
Are you prepared to write for practically nothing until you get to higher ranks? Because that’s the reality of iWriter. The pay is only outstanding at the Elite ranks. Take a gander at this calculation, which shows how much an Elite writer would get if he wrote three 500-word articles a day (~$8 each).
That’s a decent source of income, right? Perfectly manageable too. 1,500 words is pretty small for an accomplished writer.
Let’s crank it up, and write 10 500-word articles a day!
Jiminy Crickets! $29,000 a year! That’s a decent living for most people! No doubt, iWriter can be a valuable source of income at these rates!
Of course, you’d have to be pretty quick to write that much in a day. It’s not very realistic of a goal.
So let’s try 100 500-word articles a day!
Stupendous! Colossal! Magnificent! Totally not gonna happen!
That calculator has no limit. There’s a moral in there somewhere…
Besides the money, there’s also the training aspect. You will surely get better at writing using iWriter.
Exaggeration aside, iWriter is definitely worth it. You just gotta watch out…
iWriter Downsides and Precautions
On iWriter, there are some things you gotta watch out for, and some things that just stink.
Always make sure a requester has a high approval rating. You do not wanna write an article only to get rejected by some jerk who expects a high level of quality for $1.23. I’ve seen approval rates of 15% or less. You get what you pay for, requesters!
You should read the ‘Special Instructions’ an article comes with. These are often…um, instructions that define what the requester wants. It’s really important to read the instructions, because you will get rejected if you don’t follow the guidelines.
A really bad aspect of iWriter is the lack of jobs available for standard writers. If you wanna get to Premium, you have to take every job you can. Sadly, you’re gonna have to work for almost nothing for a while, since Standard jobs are taken so fast.
Profitable Penmanship- The Potential of iWriter
Is iWriter a good place to make some money? In my view, it sure is. But I only made $20 after a few jobs. I’m not focusing my full attention on it, and you probably won’t either.
To be honest, the real value of iWriter is in the experience it provides, at least in my opinion. Having to finish an article in a set amount of time speeds up your writing considerably.
In truth, iWriter offers a “Fast Track” program that elevates you to Premium or Elite right away, but it costs $150. I’d recommend trying Standard out first, to see if you can be committed enough.
All in all, at higher ranks iWriter is definitely a “Profitable Platform.” The rates can get pretty good. But unfortunately, the beginner rates are just horrible. There’s always the “Fast Track” option, but it seems exploitative, to be frank. 
Unfortunately, the mass-productive nature of content mills has only increased the expectations of requesters while decreasing the earnings of writers. They brag that they only cost $1.25, but that’s a horrible deal. The writers are paid peanuts (in the lower ranks) and the requesters expect way more than they’re paying for.
Still, you might like iWriter, especially if you get fast tracked. Sign up here to try it out. Fortunately, you can start writing immediately after doing so. I highly recommend you check multiple times throughout the day if you choose to remain Standard, as listings can go fast!
You can also sign up and order articles instead. Remember though, you get what you pay for, so be reasonable!
While iWriter can be a great source of online income, there are indeed much better opportunities out there, especially involving writing. If you wanna know how to make big bucks by writing for yourself, join me in here (you’ll have a blast inside that link!).
What do you think of iWriter? Did you sign up? How were the projects you took on? Was the money good? Got any questions? I’d appreciate some answers in the comment section below!
Your spiritual sibling in scripting,
-Makki
Latest posts by Makki (see all)
- How to Keep Your WordPress Blog Secure - January 17, 2018
- Why You Should Start Your Blog in WordPress - January 8, 2018
- Essential Plugins for Your WordPress Blog - December 27, 2017
Makki, thank you for this comprehensive review of the iWriter program. Very well written! I think I’ll pass though on writing for them, but I may like to have them do some projects for me. With my work schedule, it’s been hard for me to keep up with my writing for my blog. It’s good to know how they get their writers and how the grade their writing ability.
All the best, Kevin
Hey Kevin! Nice to see you again. I can fully understand your situation. iWriter can be a useful source of content, but I advise you to pay more than a few dollars. You need quality content, after all. I’m happy to see the article has helped you out in this regard. Hope you have some success being an iWriter requester!
Hi there Makki,
Thanks for sharing this information. I just clicked on your link and created a free account with iWriter. I’m an aspiring writer and hope to become a freelance writer in the near future.
I just have one question, are clients able to claim authorship?
I wish you the best of success Gaylene! If writing is your passion, then iWriter will no doubt be of some use to you, whether through improving your skills or earning you some extra cash.
You can claim authorship, but the requester is free to use the article as he/she as they like, provided they pay for it, of course. Hope that answers your question! Good luck!
Your website is so awesome. I can see in your page that it is full of information about earning money online. You put a lot of effort in and this is a great outcome. I will recommend this website for someone looking for such information about earning online. Thanks for the infromative look at iWriter as well.
Those are some mighty encouraging compliments Gilbert! Glad to see you like the site! I really appreciate your spreading the word. Hope to see you again!
Nice review Makki! I had no idea there was a program out there like this but this seems like a pretty good way to make some extra income. Is it easy to sign up?
Have you used it frequently? Good point about the 100 articles a day. I mean I guess if you wanted to work 20 hours a day you could probably do that!
Worst comes to worst, this seems like it would at least be a good way to get some writing experience while getting paid. You never disappoint my friend!
Unlike other content mills, iWriter is pretty quick to enter. You just pass a grammar quiz. I use it when I’m not working on other things. An article every few days basically. It’s not nearly as much as possible, but I’m not looking to make a living out of it. Yeah, even if the pay is bad, you get some decent experience. Thanks so much Ryan! Always a pleasure to see you again.
You know this is not bad for writing a few articles. I think it is probably similar to creating content for my blog. I am not that great though, and don’t know how I would fair putting articles together for people. Can you do it for a subject that interests you, or do you have to stick with what is supplied? I see a category listed, so I assume I could find a category that interests me and start from there?
You can choose based on categories, for sure. You certainly don’t have to write about something you’re not interested in. However, if you don’t fast track to the higher ranks, I would suggest writing when you can. Standard doesn’t have a multitude of projects like the other ranks, so it’s hard to be picky. Hope this answers your question!
Cool, I never heard of iWriter before. Not really a viable full-time job in my opinion but if you love writing it would be great to do it on the side for that extra cash. Starting to run out of ideas on my own site too – perhaps I can use this site for new ideas.
You’re mostly right Matt. However, some people do use it as a full-time job, but this leaves little room for anything else. A side job would be a good way to go. Be wary if you decide to hire work for cheap though, since the quality varies widely. Thanks for your insight!
I can not believe this exists! I am not a writer and I don’t actually want to sign up for this since I hate writing BUT this has some crazy appeal to it that even I can’t ignore. This also would be great for people who don’t have a job or need one but want to make extra money on the side to save up for a surprise for their bread winner.
I wish that writers were valued more so that the initial pay rate wouldn’t be atrocious, but the good news is, is that you can increase your pay rate to something substantial. I hope more writers see this article and I am definitely gonna send some people here to get the whole scoop. Thank you for sharing!
I really appreciate that Jeanette! In theory, these content mills are ideal side jobs. But when iWriter promotes its service as being dirt-cheap, it just hurts the quality overall. I’ve seen a requester or two with pages of instructions for a $2 article. Writers just don’t work that way. Thanks so much for your feedback!
Thanks Makki for this in depth review on iWriter. As someone who writes website content for myself and for other website and blog owners I have never been a fan of content mills just because of the low cost for which I would be paid and the gimmicks for levels and ratings.
When I write for someone, whether I am paid by the article or by the word, which is what I prefer, the cost cannot be lower than 3 cents per word. That is the lowest I will write for and the most I was paid was 6 cents per word. For this reason is why I tend to avoid content mills and seek out actual freelance writing gigs.
But I think for people just starting out, content mills are a great option for earning quick cash. The only problem is that the majority of them put restrictions on how you make your money. I understand that they need to make money too, but sometimes it just doesn’t seem fair that you would have to pay to write, even if it is a small fee or a restriction on how you can get paid. I am just not a fan of using a middleman.
All great points. These are legit complaints, and they’re why I don’t plan to use iWriter as anything more than an occasional writing exercise. The nature of these content mills cheapens the efforts of hardworking writers, and always favors the requester. Of course, by content mill standards, iWriter is infamous for it’s horrible pay. I also prefer freelance writing (who wouldn’t?), since it’s a lot more fair.
iWriter pays out more often than its competitors, but you do have a point. The fact that you don’t get paid right away is downright unfair, and why I’m not too keen on trying other mills. After trying out iWriter, I’d rather pursue more standard gigs. Thanks for your deep insight Robert! Always a pleasure to see a seasoned veteran’s viewpoint.
Thank you Makki.
I am so glad I read your post. One writer’s program send me e-mails about their members traveling the world while making large sums of money. The program cost hundreds of dollars and I did not want to spend the money on empty promises.
Is the iWriter program a good idea for a new blogger? What platform would you suggest to someone that wants to write a fiction novel?
Thanks!
Hey there Patty! Don’t bother with those scam programs. It shouldn’t cost you anything to write. It makes no sense. It’s like paying for a job.
iWriter is an awesome idea for a new blogger. You’re able to practice writing blog posts, and you have a time limit, so you learn to make the most of your time. Admittedly, content mills are best for short article work. I wouldn’t use them to learn to write a book. In truth, I’m unfamiliar with such a platform, since I’ve never wrote a novel before. I’m working on one though, but I don’t use any platforms.
iWriter reminds me a lot of Amazon Mechanical Turk. Except MTurk has other tasks you can do as well, like research and taking surveys. It does seem like you can earn some money but not a lot, at least in the beginning. But I think if someone is patient and wants to gain more writing experience than this could be a great option.
It’s sort of a good comparison, I suppose. But iWriter lets everyone in, so long as they pass the grammar test. MTurk is more selective. iWriter is much more consistent, but only in the higher ranks. Yeah, the best use is as a source of experience, really. Thanks for commenting Wendy!
Really great review Makki! I’ve never heard of iWriter before, but i’m always looking into ways of making money from the comfort of my own. I do love writing, but the starting rates for iWriter are a bit discouraging. I can understand why though since people are paying pretty decent money to make sure their content is written by people that have a good amount of experience at writing. I’ll definitely be checking out iWriter. Thanks for the great info as always!
Thanks for your comment Pete! Happy to see you enjoyed the article. iWriter’s rates are pretty low. It’s kinda exploitative in a way. You either buy the fast track for $150 or work for practically nothing for quite a while. However, I definitely think it’s worth a try. You might enjoy it.
It is a scam, be careful, you can write perfect content and submit it to them for the fast track program they will not promote you if you are looking to succeed, the same content can be sent to top content websites for some cash instead. They have plenty of their own writers who need clients and promoting people takes away their earnings.
Hi James. Thanks for your input. I didn’t know iWriter behaved this way, but I’m not surprised. They treat regular writers like trash.
Hi, great article!
I just opened an account I will see how it goes. Thank you so much for the information.