FREE Updates

Demand Studios is making a change to the Decision Format. It has always been about presenting two different view points then giving the reader the bottom line. However, many topics do not have strong counterpoints. In the past, DS has accepted Decision Format articles that had a strong argument for one course of action without much of an argument for another course of action because it is unlikely someone would choose that. They say they wont do that anymore.

If a Decision Format title does not have a strong point and counterpoint, it should not be accepted. It is not enough to say you could do one thing but you shouldn't do the other thing because that would be stupid. Any Decision Format article that does not present a balanced argument will be rejected. Avoid these titles.

The third edition of Demand Studio Secrets is now available! It has expanded to 182 pages and is updated from cover to cover. There a more detailed revenue share section plus new chapters on health insurance, taxes, new writer probation, contests, photos, instant rejection, site glitches, new formats, and the future of Demand Studios. I also talk about using Demand Studios to help you finance travel around the world. I am currently writing a companion book on that subject that will be available in the fall.

Legacy status will be extended to anyone who purchases the third edition of Demand Studio Secrets through September 30, 2010. Those with legacy status are entitled to free updated editions of Demand Studio Secrets for life.

The new Demand Studio Secrets forum is a huge success. Writers are welcoming it as a much needed outlet for alternative views and questions regarding Demand Studios that wont be heard on the company forum. It is completely anonymous, so there is no fear of repercussions. You can ask any question you want and get candid answers. Check it out on at this link: Demand Studio Secrets forum. You can also click the "forum" navigation link on the left of this page in the blue box.

In response to overwhelming demand from this website and others, Demand Studios is finally overhauling their poorly designed rejection appeal process. Before you get too excited, let me tell you how it works. It will be like asking for an instant replay review in professional football. You will have two "flags" that you can throw to appeal a rejection. If you win your appeal, you will not be charged an appeal credit. If you lose, they take it. You get an additional appeal credit for every 20 articles you get approved, but if you use them up before earning more, you are out of luck. The best part about the new process is that you no longer need to fill out forms and send email to appeal. You can just click a button next to your rejection on your work desk within 7 days of your rejection.

They have come up with a very interesting system. I am conflicted. On one hand, it is commendable that DS is making an effort to address the horrendous unfair rejection issue. It alienates writers and reduces morale. Writers feel like they have no voice and that they are oppressed by faceless copy editors who arbitrarily hand out rejections and rewrites. This new process is a simple way for writers to stand up for themselves and save their work without consuming too much time.

On the other hand, this makes the whole process seem like a game. One month you might get no unfair rejections. Another month you might get five. The process should be about need, not limits. I understand that they must curb chronic appealers, but I think a better way to do that would be to just warn and penalize abusers of the system. It is like their system for flagging bad titles. They ask you to volunteer your own time to alert them to bad titles, then threaten to punish you if they don't agree with your selections. It doesn't make a lot of sense. The appeal credit system will make writers hesitant to use them for fear that they might need the appeals later. Maybe that's the point. Giving writers this tool makes DS look like they care, but will actually just reduce their appeal workload. They can guarantee that no writer can complain more than a few times per month. It is brilliant.

I have created a new forum on the DemandStudioSecrets.com website. It is a place where writers can make comments, ask questions and level criticism that they don’t necessarily want on the Demand Studios forum. It is completely anonymous. Just make up a username that differs from your Demand Studios username. If you need help, advice or just want to vent, please feel free to utilize the forum on DemandStudioSecrets.com. I promise not to pull any punches. To visit the forum click the link in the blue box on the left of this page.

Demand Media is preparing to go public, offering stock for sale. This promises to be one of the biggest IPOs in years. Demand Media had revenues of $114 million in the first half of 2010, up from $91.3 million for the same period in 2009. They also cut their debt in half. The company is in solid shape and is growing fast. I've been asked if I plan to invest. I preface the answer by saying there is no question that Demand Media is positioned to go huge. The infusion of cash that an IPO offers will allow them to go after some big time acquisitions and play with the big boys like Google and Microsoft. They could soon become another giant or could get gobbled up by a bigger giant. Either way, the stock price promises to rise. However, all IPOs are about hype. The more buzz you generate about a new stock, the higher it gets bid up on the day of release. This makes the company owners very, very rich instantaneously. The stock price inevitably adjusts to reasonable levels over the following months. In my opinion, Demand Media is an excellent long term investment. However, trying to buy stock on the day of release would be foolish since you will never get the preferred price enjoyed by insiders. Keep an eye on the stock price, then leap on it when the price bottoms out. See and hear co-founder Shawn Colo and Steven Kydd, executive VP of Demand Studios, talk about it by clicking this link.

As I consistently remind readers of this website, Demand Studios is the future of media content. While the traditional media of television news, newspapers and magazines whither and die before our eyes, Demand Studios flourishes. Take a look at the latest two publishers doing business with Demand Studios. They are SFGate.com, the online version of the San Francisco Chronical, and Chron.com, the online version of the Houston Chronicle. These A-list media websites now use the Demand Studios content you create. The old media model of in-house content production no longer works. It is too expensive and revenues are no longer there as audiences abandon traditional media for the Internet. Publications are forced to increase their online presence if they are to survive. Instead of maintaining their own newsrooms, they are farming out the work to Demand Studios. As a 22 year veteran of the traditional news media, I can tell you that everyone in the traditional media sees the specter of death hanging over their newsrooms. That is why I got out of the traditional media and into this. Demand Studios is the future and will only get stronger as it feeds on the remains of traditional media. Be happy you are a part of the new era and strive to be on the crest of the swelling wave. Pay close attention to my chapters on Getting Promoted within Demand Studios. There are many more opportunities than simply writing freelance articles. You will be in a position to piggy back on Demand Media's success.

Demand Studios is now re-branded as Demand Media Studios. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing. Demand Media is the parent company of Demand Studios. DS is the wildly successful content creation division of the company. Since it is getting so much attention, Demand Media is making an effort to direct more of that attention to the entire company. Besides the new logo, you probably wont notice any difference. The website will not change and people will still call it Demand Studios. I mean, Demand Media Studios just doesn't roll off the tongue. I will continue to abbreviate it DS, not DMS. That extra key stroke cuts into my P/T Ratio.

Demand Studio has a new format for LiveStrong writers called Lifestyle Product Descriptions. This is similar to other consumer oriented formats like Travel Review and Product Review with a few notable differences. Even though the forum post announcing this new format calls it a "review," it is not actually critiquing the product. It is strictly a description of the product pulled from a variety of sources that can be seen in a single article. The viewpoint is supposed to be neutral. Unlike other formats, you are allowed to use commercial sites for reference, even if it is not the manufacturer. They don't encourage in-text citations unless they refer to studies or expert opinion. DS wants them written in the second person. They want a lot of "you can do this" and "you will find that" in the article. Writers will find this format strictly grunt work. There is no creativity, just the simple gathering of facts and summarizing. On the other hand, the format is straight forward so you shouldn't get many rewrites.

Another recent format change affects the Fact Sheet format. You are now only required to write three sections instead of five. I did not write about it earlier since this change is insignificant. A Fact Sheet is a miniature About format requiring only 150 to 200 words. Since each section is no more than two to three sentences, you will probably write at least five sections anyway. Still, it is nice to see DS loosening up their formats. There is nothing worse than forcing yourself to write more because of a format requirement.

I am being inundated with email from Demand Studio Secrets readers complaining about increased rewrites and rejections from copy editors who seem to be unnecessarily harsh. I first wrote about this back on May 3. (see archive 1) One writer had an article that called for a "remedy" to a dog disease. It was sent back for a rewrite with the following comment from the CE:

 "Some good information here--but, when I read "remedy" I think of a home remedy--such as the homeopathic remedy you allude to in your tip. Your article, essentially, says take the dog to the vet--and the vet will perform the following tests. In my mind, this does not answer the title. I've queried my lead to be sure. (Maybe a vet is the only way, but then you really would have needed to contact titling to get them to change the title)".

Many independent sites are also posting reviews of the Demand Studio Secrets book. One we recently came across is on CashCampfire.com. They are in the middle of a "Demand Studios Work Challenge" and decided to test the information in the Demand Studio Secrets book. Here is an excerpt:

"The eBook consists of 138 pages and is surprisingly well written. Basically, Kent shares his story on how to make pretty good, often full-time, income with Demand Studios. I’ve found the whole book useful, though one of the most astounding things I picked up from the eBook was that you can actually get promoted on Demand Studios. Kent shares how he is often asked to participate in special projects for Demand Studios, has access to assignments that pay $100 per project, has an increased assignment limit of over 50, is asked on many occasions to attend special Demand Studios events, and how to become as successful as he is by making Demand Studios a full-time career. After finishing the entire book, my mind started doing cartwheels just thinking about what could be achieved, whereas I would have had no idea it was possible to achieve so much if I hadn’t read this eBook."

You can read the entire review by clicking here.

Many of you have asked what Demand Studios thinks of the Demand Studio Secrets eBook. They officially have no comment. My contacts at Demand Studios say they know that all the information in the book is factual and does not harm the company in any way. In fact, it helps DS by making their writers more efficient and productive. They might resent that the book reveals some of the DS loopholes and that I call them out in the Free Updates section when they make a blunder. However, they have made no attempts to stop the distribution of the information in the Demand Studio Secrets book. I also continue to work with them, so they can't be too upset.

As I write this, I sit is a charming street side cafe in Paris sipping an overprice latte gazing at impossibly beautiful people walk by. It is Bastille Day in France, so the atmosphere is electric with anticipation of the night's festivities. Right now I am working, but it sure doesn't feel like work.

I tell you this to point out how writing for Demand Studios can actually change your life. Since your office is your computer, you can take your work just about anywhere in the world. I have traveled to more than 100 countries around the world. Some of them very remote. In the past five years, I have always been able to find Internet access. Free Wifi is available almost everywhere.

If you apply the method outlined in the Demand Studio Secrets book, you can do whatever you want, go wherever you want, and set your own schedule. You can finance your travels as you go. Many of you are asking for more information on how to specifically use Demand Studios to finance a trip around the world. I am currently working on another book on just that. It will contain tips on equipment, locating Internet access, working offline, data dumping, and other unique issues you need to beware of when you work while traveling. I will keep you informed.

The two month LiveStrong contest ordeal is over and Demand Studios wants you to know that you failed, but they still love you. If you recall, DS offered a $30,000 bonus to be distributed among 1,000 LS writers if they got 30,000 articles approved in May. When this didn't happen, they offered a $55,000 bonus for 55,000 articles in May and June. They ended up with 46,000 articles.

If you regularly read this update column then you know that I was cynical about the contest from the start. Do the math and you find that the bonus would have been $1 for each article written. You also have virtually no control over the result since 999 other writers also need to write the requisite number of articles.

Demand Studios is throwing the writers a bone. They are distributing half the reward to qualified writers. That comes to $27,500, which is about $27.50 per qualified writer. It might be less depending on how many qualified.

There are two ways you can view this:

1. Demand Studios is being really cool by paying something even though the goal was not met.
2. This was an evil plot by Demand Studios to squeeze more work out of writers even though they knew they wouldn't reach the lofty goal.

You can decide which you think is true. It is probably somewhere in the middle. The right thing to do would be to pay a proportionate amount of the reward. That would be a $46,000 reward instead of $27,500. That sounds fair, right?

I want to remind my readers not to neglect revenue share articles. They don't pay up front, but the income they generate can be significantly higher. The example I site in the Demand Studio Secrets ebook continues to set new records for income. In the month of June 2010 alone it generated income of $314.80. That puts the total income for its first year at $2,090.89! Here are the screen captures to prove it:



The article took just 30 minutes to write yet it will continue generating income for many years. The monthly earnings have steadily risen throughout the year. Once you get a few articles like this working for you, you can work a lot less or even retire. Pay close attention to the chapters on Revenue Share Strategy in the Demand Studio Secrets ebook. They detail how to identify profitable revenue share titles and how to make them pay. If you haven't bought the book yet, you can purchase it here.

I am being inundated with questions about the recent Demand Studios site glitches. The site would not store new material and erased previously saved material. This created havoc among writers and copy editors for several days. DS heroically recovered much of the lost data, but some never came back. Everyone lost money and wasted time throughout the ordeal.

Site glitches are somewhat common. They typically last a few minutes then solve themselves on their own without loss of data. The massive failure of the last few days was rare but not unheard of. A few years ago, DS gave every writer $15 for their inconvenience from a site glitch that lasted days. I doubt that would ever happen again since they have many more writers now.

Follow this procedure the next time there is a site glitch:

1. Don't freak out. Accept glitches as part of life and don't waste energy being angry.
2. Back up all your material. You should be doing this anyway, but it is especially important to do the first time you experience the glitch.
3. Do not attempt to re-save the article. This could erase everything you previously entered. Much of the data lost from this most recent glitch was caused by re-saving.
4. Go to the DS forums. If there is a site glitch, writers will chat about it in the forums. If nobody is chatting about it, post a question yourself. If there is no response in a few minutes then it is not a site-wide issue. It is just you. Check your computer and Internet connection.
5. Don't waste your time complaining. DS is very good at keeping their site up and running. They probably already know about the problem and are working hard to fix it. Bugging them with complaints only slows them down and wastes your time. Remember that the theme of the Demand Studio Secrets book is the efficient use of your time.
6. Go do something else. Consider the glitch an unscheduled break. Do not attempt to submit anything else until a message is posted on your Work Desk saying the problem is resolved. This will usually happen within a few hours.
7. Don't worry about deadlines. Whenever a glitch takes the site down for a significant period of time, DS extends deadlines.

I am hearing reports of applicants getting emails saying that Demand Studios is not accepting any more writers right now. My contacts at DS say this is a temporary situation that has more to do with their ability to handle the overwhelming number of applications than their need for new writers. As DS drives to expand to take over the world, they need more writers to churn out new content. It should not be long before they are accepting applications again. If you were denied, keep trying.

My contacts within Demand Studios say that they are being inundated with rejection appeals. Giving writers a way to fight back against rejections that they believe are unjust is opening the floodgates. Demand Studios did not expect this. Handling rejection appeals takes time and eats up man hours that are better spent elsewhere. The bottom line is that the process is costing DS money.

They posted the following on the site:
"Due to an overwhelming volume of rejection appeals, we are currently behind in our response times. We will review all appeals we receive, so please be patient and do not send in further queries regarding the status of your appeals."

One way DS is attempting to streamline the process is by separating the appeals for rewrites and rejections. They hope that will help the process move faster since the requirements for each are different.

I want to reiterate what I advocate in the Demand Studio Secrets book. The process of appeal is a waste of time. If DS rejects your article, you still own the content. You can submit it again under another title. DS has hundreds of thousands of titles, many of them are virtually identical. One copy editor may hate your content but another might think it is fine. Appealing costs you money by using up time better spent earning. Most of the time appeals are rejected anyway. Put your ego aside and realize that the process is not personal. Move on.

Demand Studios conceded today that they will not pay out the $30,000 bonus to writers that they hoped to at the end of May. As we wrote about here back on May 4, DS promised to pay out a $30,000 bonus to LiveStrong writers if at least 1,000 of them wrote at least 30 LiveStrong articles each in May. DS now admits that they will not reach that goal and the $30,000 bonus will not be paid despite the writer's efforts. In an effort to continue dangling a carrot in front of writers, they simultaneously announced a new $55,000 bonus challenge to be paid only if LiveStrong writers produce 55,000 LiveStrong articles in May and June.

There are two ways you can look at this. Demand Studios could be extending the offer in a good faith effort to eventually pay it out and reward hard work. On the other hand, it could be an effort to squeeze a lot more work out of a bunch of suckers who will end up getting nothing for their dedication.

As I mentioned in my May 4 article, the bonus would only amount to about $1 per article. Ask yourself if it is worth your time and effort to change your establish writing habits for the potential for a $1 per article bonus that might never materialize.



Back on May 4, when DS first announced the bonus program, the email contained a huge error that any copy editor should have caught. They said it was for the month of June instead of May. Today's email contained the following sentence:

"Since so many writers worked so hard in May, we don't those writers to lose out."

Any copy editor should notice that the word "want" is left out. This reiterates the point we made back on May 4 that anyone can make a mistake. Considering how heavy handed DS can be about errors in copy, you would think that they would read over their bulk emails before sending them out to the very people they constantly chastise to proofread.

Demand Studios is implementing a new "hide" feature in the assignment list. This tiny button has the potential to save DS writers hours of time over the course of a year. When you see a title that you know you would never write, you can click the "hide" button next to the title and it will never appear in your assignment list again. This is extremely useful if you search for specific subjects consistently. If you hide the titles you don't want to write, you wont have to go through them again the next time you search for that topic. The problem with Demand Studios assignments is that there are too many. Hours of time are wasted scrolling through lists of unwanted titles. I highly recommend making ample use of the "hide" feature. Saved time means more money.