designs delight  on September 21st, 2009

so Paula are you going past $100,000 from blogging this year?

What does writing like a blogger mean? I am looking for one of these freelance writting gigs which accepts a UK based writer. ( there is an opportunity to start one of the freelancing news site which accepts writers from all over the world).

is the examiner better than associated content- yes google algorithms favour brands these days.

Paula are you doing sponsored tweets yet?- That is a nice earner these days.

Paula Mooney  on September 21st, 2009

Hey DD — I haven’t updated my income since June. Check back after Dec. 2009 to see what my annual closes out at.

Yeah, writing like a blogger I guess just means too opinionated. Maybe they don’t want folks writing like Perez Hilton-type of mean.

I’m loving Examiner.com more than AC because Examiner’s business model is great — their channel managers oversee their writers and they make it so easy to post your articles — plus, they pay for Associated Press images, so you’ve got a lot of pictures you can legally use with your Examiner pieces. Examiner lets you publish right away, the last time I was on AC, I wrote a timely piece about AC being featured on The View. It took AC about 5 days to get that published!

I haven’t done any sponsored tweets. Thanks for the tip.

LexiB  on September 24th, 2009

That is fantastic, Paula. Have you thought about writing for About.com? I haven’t applied to Examiner.com yet but I am still interested. Much continued success to you.

Paula Mooney  on September 24th, 2009

thanks lexi — do you write for about.com? what’s their pay rate like? do you post up your income online anywhere?

LexiB  on September 24th, 2009

As much as I would love to, I don’t write for About.com but their compensation scale is posted online. Their guides are guaranteed $675/month for two years and then $500/month afterwards. Bonuses are based on growth of pageviews. Hiring bonus is $250.

Tamiko  on September 28th, 2009

Hi Paula! I’m so glad I stumbled upon your site. I, too, was just selected to be a writer for Examiner.com and was looking for someone to connect with to see how it was going. Thanks for providing your insight. I am the St. Louis Evangelical Examiner and am too excited! God is soooo good! If you don’t mind, I would like to get your opinions and ideas of how you’ve become successful. Please email me back if you would have a few minutes to advise me or show me the ropes. This would be a tremendous blessing to me. I will be up and running once my first article is approved and my background check is done. I wish I had seen your page prior to applying – I would have been a referral to you.

Tamiko

LatinaR  on September 29th, 2009

Hi Paula,
They accepted me back in June, but I never got back to them. The story is different now after reading your testimony. I’m on board as a Web Site Design Examiner.
Thanks and God Bless.

Paula Mooney  on October 1st, 2009

Hey there, Latina Renee, I’m on your Examiner page now.

Tamiko – Yes, check out some of the tips in the comment section of this post to find out how I get more traffic:
▷▷▷▷▷▷▷How Much Does Examiner.com Pay Writers? $500 for One Guy in 2 Days, Some Examiners Make $8,000 Per Month – Not a Scam or Hoax | PAULA NEAL MOONEY

Tasha  on October 5th, 2009

It’s true that a handful of Examiners can make a lot of money, but only if you have a celebrity/pop culture “beat” and post numerous times per day. Unfortunately, the Examiners who do this are not necessarily producing original or quality content, which doesn’t help those of us who are taking the time to publish higher-quality articles.

another examiner  on November 1st, 2009

Paula, who are you trying to scam here..

An Examiner  on November 2nd, 2009

If you cant make money on the Examiner you are doing something wrong or you have no idea what an SEO is. I made close to 3k last month and my “beat” is pretty random. Additionally, Paula is a fantastic writer and I have personally read many of her writings on Examiner.com and it’s appalling to say she gets the hits she gets because of her “beat”. Paula and many other writers became proactive when it came to writing smartly and not wasting their time. Additionally, I find it immature and trite to say, in general, that someone on Examiner.com who post every day or numerous times during the day, ie Work hard, do not do as good of work as you because you don’t publish like the rest of us do. If you were worth your salt, you would know what it means to learn how to successfully write a profitable post, and not take three days to write it.
Paula, great website and I will see you on Examiner.com.

- An Examiner

Paula Mooney  on November 5th, 2009

Heh? What reason would I have to scam people? This is why I stopped reading most of my comments…

Paula Mooney  on November 5th, 2009

Thanks. God bless you and other folks who defend me and know that you can make money with Examiner.com

Eleonora  on November 28th, 2009

I’m an examiner and I’ve made next to nothing for 3 months. I’m writing travel which isn’t as popular as pop culture, of course. What is SEO?

Another Examiner  on December 10th, 2009

I think everyone should go to Ms. Hoy’s site and read about examiner.com, then respond here.

Site: http://www.writersweekly.com/new.php

Oh, and ‘An Examiner’ should learn about grammar..the post has several errors and it is difficult to believe someone who writes like that can make ‘3k’..

Another Examiner  on December 10th, 2009

Oh, Eleonora, SEO is Search Engine Optimization..if you Google it, Wikipedia explains it nicely.

Bianca  on December 11th, 2009

I started in October & I haven’t been making anything! I write 5 articles a week. I tweet, post on facebook, all that stuff.. and nothing.I’m really about to give up.

jsnolan6  on December 11th, 2009

Hi Paula,

I am new to the writing online and I was wondering if you happen to know of any more companies that hire for writers, and what their pay is? I have been looking on your site, and I think I may have missed it.

Thank you,
Stephanie

Paula Mooney  on December 11th, 2009

Examiner.com is the best I’ve experienced — outside of my own websites and the Google Adsense I’ve earned from them, that is.

I’ve also written for Associated Content in the past too — and I still get about $120 or so per month from them, and I haven’t written for them in a while.

Those are the only two websites besides my own personal websites that I’ve actually written for that I can recall. Other folks talk about Demand Studio and others, but I haven’t written for them.

Paula Mooney  on December 11th, 2009

You’ll notice that a lot of the most-traveled Examiner.com writers write about 5 – 7 articles per day, plus they SEO the pieces.

Paula Mooney  on December 11th, 2009

I put my actual print screens of my income at Examiner.com and have no reason to lie to anyone. And subsequent months made even more than $3,000 per month at Examiner.

writercorinna  on December 13th, 2009

http://www.examiner.com/x-33016-San-Diego-Motherhood-Examiner

Thanks for the encouragement since I have just been given my W-9 form to FAX back to the Examiner in order to begin writing as an Examiner on the Parenting and Motherhood channel… I have no idea what to expect in the way of earnings; and your website definately offers the least bleak estimate!

I hope that anyone reading will browse the parenting and motherhod channel. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!

writercorinna  on December 13th, 2009

*motherhood channel (Smiles!)

MKblackwood  on January 19th, 2010

So happy to have found this site — found an examiner.com article googling for info and was wondering how credible it was — now I know its credibility is precisely the sqare root of nothing.

Examiner  on January 21st, 2010

I’m one of the highest earners on the Examiner.com site. For November, I made nearly $12,000. December, I made $9,000. January, $8,000.

20 hours of work a week.

Life is good.

Clifford Bryan  on January 21st, 2010

I made $300 plus in about two hours off of a Michelle Obama article. 7k a month. I hear Google is thinking about buying Examiner.com and using it to fill in gaps in Google News. It makes sense since Google is releasing Caffeine soon. Google probably makes by my guess close to $40 million plus a month from Examiner.com articles. Caffeine update should be over soon Paula. Google pulls Examiner from news to speed up the process and do data studies. I’d be surprised if they don’t buy out Examiner soon. Then we’ll make even more. I’m so happy I got in on the ground floor.

Mari  on January 28th, 2010

Hi Paula! With your encouragement, I applied for a local position at Examiner.com. I hope I’m accepted. I’ll let you know what comes of it.

PS – I used your name as a referral

Paula Mooney  on January 28th, 2010

Sweet — thanks. I’m still adjusting to Examiner’s latest changes of making sure the local folks are really writing local.

I also became a national examiner for Christian TV and Christian Music, so hopefully my pageviews and earnings will build back up with them.

Either way, I’m focusing on writing my other sites as well.

Examiner scaminer  on February 8th, 2010

I spent–no, I wasted 3 months as an “Examiner.” Aside from the lack of proper journalism etiquette I observed from many of the writers, the Examiner staff preys on those desperate for a writing gig and exploits the skills of those who do well. They literally saturate the market with Examiners so only a select few, well-established writers make money. The rest are just free advertising fodder for the company. Be honest Paula; the vast majority of Examiners make next to nothing. Let me say that again–the VAST majority make next to nothing. I wrote 20 articles in two months, networked, tweeted, SEO’d, and my efforts netted me $75. When I spoke to my channel manager about what I could do to increase my page views, I was told, and I QUOTE: “you’re doing everything right.”

If people want to write for Examiner.com, that’s fine. Just make sure you understand that this is like any other “I made $5000 in a day, ask me how” kind of opportunity. You’re one of thousands trying to make money through this company, and almost all of them make pennies on the dollar, if they’re lucky.

Whitney  on February 15th, 2010

this is bullshit. I write for examiner, too, and the pay is a penny a page view. unless you write about Twilight, Gun Rights, or Exopolitics, you won’t make jack.

Paula Mooney  on February 16th, 2010

I publish my real income from Examiner. It dropped when they were kicked out of Google News — but thank God they were put back in.

Kelly  on February 22nd, 2010

Paula, I’ve noticed that your stats read only 6 subscribers and only 122 comments. By looking at your stats on analytics could you tell us roughly how many unique visitors vs returned visitors you had?

I’m trying to determine exactly how Examiner factor in so many things when they determine our payment. I understand we don’t get paid based on page views alone.

Thanks,

Kelly

Paula Mooney  on February 22nd, 2010

Hi Kelly – My Cleveland Pop Culture Examiner page has 40 subscribers, the Christian TV Examiner page has 2 subscribers and the Christian Music Page has 2 as well — those last two national positions are newer pages, so the subscribers are still building.

I’ve updated the post above with screen shots showing my Cleveland subscriber numbers — plus I’ve included a screenshot from my Google Analytics from the previous 30 days.

Thanks for your comment — hope this helps. I don’t know what Examiner factors in when they determine our payment. I believe the bounce rate applies — the lower, the better.

Kelly  on February 23rd, 2010

Thanks for the update Paula. It helped alot, I appreciate it. I’ve just started with Examiner and so far, your blog is the only site I’ve found that posted stats like that. Gives me a bit of hope.

Maybe next month I can post my stats also for all the world to see. Cheers.

Paula Mooney  on February 24th, 2010

I hope so, Kelly.

It can take hard work and favor from God and more hard work and research and learning about SEO and promotion and the like.

I hope some of the other highly-paid Examiners will post up their stats, too, because that’s how one Examiner helped me: Clifford Bryan posted a comment last year telling me how he’d made $500 in the previous 2 days (he writes about Michelle Obama) and that’s the only reason I joined. If he hadn’t have told me his true numbers, I would’ve never known.

Back then, honestly, it was easier to make more money — but Examiner.com is still a very viable outlet to write articles for, in my humble opinion.

Priyantha  on February 28th, 2010

Paula, great insight for a first-timer. Just got accepted as an adventure travel examiner in Toronto, Canada and writing my first article. Your site helps, thanks.

Paula Mooney  on March 1st, 2010

Cool, glad for that.

I hope you do well.

Christopher Collins  on March 3rd, 2010

I began writing for Examiner on Feb 12, 2010 and I have made just under $40 so far with 15 articles and 3 subscribers and average about 100 pv’s a day. I have 3100 pv’s and rising; all in a 2-week time period. It took me 5 months to get to that at Associated Content.

I am impressed because of what I make, I will be using to help pay off debts.

Therefore, I enjoy Examiner!

Christopher Collins  on March 3rd, 2010

This is my page.

http://www.examiner.com/x-38352-Paulding-County-Republican-Examiner

Stephanie Siam  on March 6th, 2010

I, too, write for Examiner.com as the Tampa Diets Examiner. I was expecting a different number when I took the position (which I found through Monster.com). I’ve never written professionally before, and I wasn’t sure how much money I would earn.

So far, after starting two weeks ago, I’ve made about $1. My husband makes fun of me and says it’s not a job. Yet, I feel that I’m getting valuable exposure and experience in the professional area of writing that can help me in the future.

I never expected to “get-rich-quick” with Examiner.com. But, hopefully, the pennies will roll in faster.

I will admit, it’s harder to write on the local level than nationally, because there’s more research and legwork involved. It takes me several hours to produce one article, it seems, because I’m looking for local sources and opportunities to include.

However, I don’t think exposure can be likened to “nothing.” It’s not a scam, because it promises nothing other than getting paid. It doesn’t guarantee a minimum per day, week, or month.

Extremely Skeptical  on March 12th, 2010

If it wasn’t for The Examiner insisting on “local content” it would be easier to write for. I recently received a writing position with The Examiner as well (they accept just about everyone who applies, don’t they?) and was extremely disappointed to hear (in more than 1 email from them) how my first article didn’t cover local content and therefore will not receive the “local bonus pay”. Anyone know what that is? $.02, maybe?

If I could just treat it like a blog, only less opinionated, I’d be OK. But I don’t have the time to research local stuff. I doubt I’ll keep doing this. It’s not a scam, but what it is a bit misleading.

By the way, it seems to me that some people do get away with pretty much blogging on their Examiner page.

Plan  on March 13th, 2010

Stephanie and others – Please stop wasting your time and effort contributing to this pyramid scheme in the hopes that, even if you are making only relative pennies, you’ll get “exposure.”

I really hate seeing people get ripped off, and “exposure” is the traditional carrot waved in front of would-be writers to get them to work for free.

I say this as a professional writer: I worked as a reporter for Gannett (the largest newspaper company in the world), the Associated Press, and a national gaming magazine. I can tell you firsthand that I don’t need “exposure” — as an AP writer, my stories were picked up by the New York Times, the LA Times, the Boston Globe and hundreds of other papers.

But even with that kind of resume, the freelance writing market is extremely difficult right now and I have to practically perform miracles to pay my bills.

If it’s this difficult for someone like me, it should be very obvious that the supposed “exposure” granted by a cheap, scammy enterprise like Examiner amounts to nothing. I cannot imagine any seasoned editor at a legitimate publication making a hiring decision based on a potential employee’s work for Examiner.

That’s not to discourage you, and I hope you continue writing if it’s your passion. Writing is a great career or sidejob. But Examiner is not the way to do it — it’s a company that exists solely to enrich its owners and investors, it has no editorial standards, and the vast majority of the 20,000-plus people who have worked for them have made absolutely no money.

If a “news” site is willing to hire anyone who applies without so much as an interview and it has no editorial standards, then you can be sure it exists only as an SEO mill to clog up Google search results and pull in advertising revenue. While you guys slave away spending hours writing and researching articles that net you pennies, the investors and owners at Examiner are making millions. This is a classic pyramid scheme given a light coat of legitimacy so people will give it a shot.

As for the people claiming they make thousands each week through Examiner — don’t listen to them. When you see an infomercial promising a product that will net you thousands while you work from home, you’re smart enough to see it as a scam and avoid the trap.

So I beg you to view Examiner — and similar content mills, like BrightHub — in the same way, because I sincerely hate seeing people get ripped off, especially in today’s economy when most people are trying to supplement their income and pay their bills.

Plan  on March 13th, 2010

“I’m one of the highest earners on the Examiner.com site. For November, I made nearly $12,000. December, I made $9,000. January, $8,000.

20 hours of work a week.

Life is good.”

You are a liar seeking to enrich yourself by ripping off other people. I sincerely hope karma catches up with you, because you are scamming people at a time when lots of folks are desperately trying to earn more money in a terrible economy.

Anyone with a calculator can easily see your lies for what they are.

Let’s break it down, shall we?

- Examiner gets about 17 million unique pageviews a month
- There are some 21,000 contributors to Examiner
- Examiner “pays” based on unique pageviews at a rate of one cent per unique view

That means, in order for you to earn your supposed $12,000 in one month, your “articles” would have had to register 1.2 MILLION unique page views.

That means YOUR articles — the scribblings of some random person on the internet — receive more page views monthly than many local newspaper sites, many magazine sites, and many websites belonging to large businesses. It also means you would have to outpace the readership of many of the internet’s top blogs, written by people who often get hired away to work for major publications. And it means you’ve outpaced “internet personalities” like Maddox, who have gone on to get book deals, media coverage and big-time job offers.

So that begs a couple of questions:

- If you are one of the world’s most prolific and widely-read writers, why are you still writing for Examiner?
- Why haven’t we seen any media coverage about you?
- How are you able to draw superhuman amounts of web traffic singlehandedly, when it takes teams of dozens or hundreds to perform similar feats on other websites?

Additionally, if we suspend all possible disbelief and put stock in what our buddy “Examiner” is claiming here, we can see that he claims to receive 7 PERCENT of all traffic going to the Examiner website. If we ignore the unlikely numbers, all the warning signs and all the BS, and we assume that there is the possibility to reach those heights and make that much money, at the end of the day there can only be some 14 or 15 people in the world who make that kind of money from Examiner — because the site itself receives only 17 million unique views monthly.

Conclusion: The claims by poster “Examiner” are BS and, with a few minutes of looking at the numbers, mathematically impossible. Additionally, even supposing there are “super writers” who draw more traffic than any other writers on the earth, why would they be working for Examiner, and not a mainstream publication that can pay them more money on a guaranteed, salary basis?

And if these “super writers” do exist and are able to defy all the traffic and page view limitations that apply to every other internet user on this Earth, how much money would that leave for the other 20,985 writers who are contributing to Examiner?

The answer: Pennies.

I rest my case. Like I said, I hope you and karma have a nice little get together in the not-too-distant future.

Christopher Collins  on March 14th, 2010

Plan, you are way off base. I don’t think many of us care of what you think or that we don’t make thousands a month OR that someone notices us.

For many of us, it is extra money and in case you didn’t know, companies will make more money than us <— It is called Capitalism.

Sure many of us are not making a killing but it is money we didn't have before and in this economy, every extra dollar counts.

Here is another thing. I write for a county that has NO real news reporting on Republican politics. I am literally the only one and I do pretty well I might add considering those who enjoy getting information that wasn't available before in which it takes me about 5 hours a week to write 5 articles.

I am set to score over $100 this month.

P.S. For me, I am very good at researching so it takes me very little time to research anything.

Extremely Skeptical  on March 18th, 2010

What I don’t understand is how/why they tell people to NOT blog, to write in the third person, make it “newsy”, etc….and yet….the majority of the Examiner sites I come across are just that – people blogging. ?????

(Sorry, a little off subject……)

writequest  on March 27th, 2010

I just started at Examiner a couple days ago. With the three articles I’ve posted, I’ve made roughly $3.79. That’s including the dollars I got for having all three articles qualify as Local. That’s more than I would have been making otherwise, and I’m fairly certain I can pull in at least fifty a month, but that’s far from what I was hoping when I was hired. Also, that’s with networking as much as I could. Now, I realize that I don’t write about a hot topic (I’m the reptile examiner for Orlando), and I was wondering how I would go about getting a second topic. Any help would be had! (Also, I see what Extremely Skeptical means – I thought the caliber would be a bit higher).

writequest  on March 27th, 2010

Btw: I’ve gotten 85 page hits in three days. Is this a good range?

AliciaT  on March 29th, 2010

I am set to make currently just a few dollars shy of $3000 with examiner.com. My biggest concern are them not paying out. I was so excited to find someone who states they have been paid. This is my first month with examiner and to be be making $3000 a month for writing 2-3 articles a week (like 30 minutes of my time) is incredible! Ill keep everyone up dated on whether or not I get paid!

salkelley  on April 18th, 2010

So, I was accepted to write for Examiner, but I am quite skeptical about this background check. I don’t feel comfortable giving out my social security number, which is tied to my entire existence! Sure, I have given it out for other jobs and lines of credit. But with this being the first online “job”, I am nervous. When I googled the name of the company providing the background check, a lot of postings appears with “scam” attached. I wasn’t expecting to do this as a career, rather a bit of extra cash to do something I enjoy. I can’t decide if this is all legit, or simply another elaborate scam! I have been reading the above posts, but still lost!

Christopher Collins  on April 21st, 2010

The background site is not a scam. Even Examiner tells you that you will get the email with that url/wesbite.

Since Feb. 2010, I have had 7803 hits.:-)

quails5  on April 23rd, 2010

I’ve been writing for Examiner.com for over a year. I used to make $35-50/month. It has steadily increased and I am set to make over $550 this month. I have not rec’d the Paypal pymt for last month yet, but it should be close to $225. I am happy with my side job! The background check is not a scam – they are legit.

Joe  on April 28th, 2010

do you have to give out your SS number? they can really hurt you with that

JFK  on May 29th, 2010

Well… I’m onboard and running. Your tips were helpful. I’m the NY Tech Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/x-48467-NY-Computers-Examiner Some of the standard concerns and complaints remain. (1) No oversight or editing
of content (2) Some of the requirements upon joining were hazy and vague On the + side page views were higher than expected for me. And Examiner has a Huge marketing blitz campaign running. But with that campaign, I hope their intent is to make Examiner more relevant and reliable. With proper editing that might become a reality. Examiner.Com was shown in the movie theater before the premier of Iron Man 2. IF you need to brush up on computer skills and need tips to make your work flow more effective at your work especially at a computer feel free to subscribe and as always God Bless to you all: http://www.examiner.com/x-48467-NY-Computers-Examiner

Rose  on June 20th, 2010

The above article is complete bullshit. I put 3 articles on the web, worked my way up to 14 cents and then the next day my pay was back down to a penny.

THIS IS A SCAM. THEY KNOW A LOT OF JOURNALISTS ARE OUT OF WORK AND IT’S THEIR WAY OF CAPITALIZING ON HUMAN MISERY. I HOPE EXAMINER.COM FAILS MISERABLY.

Paula Mooney  on June 20th, 2010

Just because you didn’t have success with Examiner doesn’t mean others are not. Examiner.com has been a God send for me and plenty of other writers.

The amounts I make from Examiner.com and post on this website and on paulamooney.blogspot.com are TRUE!

havefaithinme515  on June 21st, 2010

I’m an examiner for Jacksonville’s Underground Music scene. I’ve only been writing for the Examiner for about a month. I had a few questions and was wondering if your expertise could help.
Thank you!

Paula Mooney  on June 26th, 2010

Hi just post you’re question and I’ll try and answer whatever I can. Thanks

Whoo69  on July 11th, 2010

That local content rule isn’t even enforced fairly! I just looked at my local politics examiners, and it seems VERY FEW are actually posting stuff that happens IN ST. LOUIS!! I mean, wtf?

OnlineWriter  on July 13th, 2010

No need to put Paula down since she’s obviously doing something right in order to earn her good income. Her examiner site shows that she’s prolific and knows how to write for the web, which is a different beast from traditional/print writing, where you have mostly guaranteed rate. With online writing, as with most fields, if you’re good and you put in the time and effort, you will succeed. You’ll need to understand SEO and how to write in a way that assures your articles will be picked up by search engines and easily accessible to the folks searching for the info. However, if you’re just hoping to make easy money online by publishing only 3 articles, you will likely NOT be successful and continue to wonder why you only earned 14 cents. The people being so harsh and critical of online writing sites such as Examiner.com seem – to me – similar to those who complain about weight loss products. Any of those products, diets or workout routines would probably work IF YOU FOLLOW THROUGH and put in the necessary time, effort and brainpower (research). Using a workout video for 3 days and giving up because you haven’t lost 20 lbs is NEVER going to bring you to success in anything.

OnlineWriter  on July 13th, 2010

I just found these other examiners mentioned in the “real” media:
(50 seconds into the video) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37987766#37987766

(3m:33sec into the video) http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/314148/july-01-2010/threatdown—dawn–actual-food—texas-gop

Forbes article http://blogs.forbes.com/bizblog/2010/06/30/examiners-rick-blair-wants-some-respect/

Paula Mooney  on July 21st, 2010

Thanks; I didn’t know these pieces were out there.