Everyday Experiments

One of the many new things I vowed to do at the start of the year (or decade?) was to try my hand at writing for the web. I've met a couple of people who swear by the financial opportunities a decent writer can get online, and even know a few who actually make their living as web-based freelancers. So I did my own research on sites that accept non-US based writers and signed up for some of them.

It has been a little over four months and to date I've made around $850. That's not really too bad, considering I only spend 2-4 hours a day (or rather, at night), and not everyday at that, writing online. Here's a breakdown of my earnings so far:

(Btw, I've written a separate review of some of the sites listed here. You can read it here if you want more in-depth details about each site.)

Starting May 1, the writing site Associated Content will start to close its doors to non-U.S. writers, except for those who qualify for its Featured Contributor program (those with "top-notch writing skills, and a strong body of work in one of our featured topic areas", and willing to submit a U.S. W-8BEN form).

Apparently, a new law passed by the U.S. Senate has affected several U.S.-based writing sites with a international, non-U.S. writers. Read more details about the issue here.

This sucks in a major, major way. Helium has just emailed me saying they're blocking users from "regions in the far east", including the Philippines, from accessing the site. And now this.

Oh, and yes, I haven't really been able to access my Factoidz account, either. I'm not sure if it's just a server problem or if they're blocking non-US I.P. addresses as well.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a possible review of the law, or a sudden decision of these writing sites to open up non-U.S. based domains.

*sigh*