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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Mixed Emotions from Life123's Closing of Writer's Community

It happened this past weekend seemingly without warning. Since I checked my stats on views at Life123 daily, I noticed something was wrong when on Saturday, I received a 403 error on my Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers. It persisted into Sunday. Finally on Monday, there was a notice that Life123 was shutting down its writer's compensation program. You can read the notice at DeAnna's blog.


First of all, I was perplexed. I didn't realize that the program was a beta program and never suspected that it would be shut down. I was upset that I didn't receive some sort of email notice letting me know of the change in advance. On Friday, everything was fine; then nothing. I am saddened and disappointed since I really enjoyed writing for the site and even included it in a strategy for WAHM to build up internet income quickly.


But, I am somewhat happy since Life123 is doing something that I feel is incredibly honorable and professional. They are paying out the maximum potential earnings of $20 per article written and accepted regardless of the current level of views and keeping them published. With the exception of failing to send me an email in advance of the shut-down, Life123 has been very well run and professional. They have responded promptly to my inquiries and communicated well. The site was easy for which to write.


It sounded from the response to my email sent on Monday that the shut-down was sudden and may have even taken the editorial staff by surprise. I guess that is what happens when dealing with a large company. It certainly makes me rethink the need to develop and publish my own site. This sort of thing could happen without warning with any content site.


Looking Forward to the Windfall

Initially, I didn't fully comprehend the payment for articles already published. I thought I would have to wait until hitting the appropriate level of views for the $20 payment on each article so I wondered how I could track the results. I was surprised to find out, however, that the full $20 payment would be made regardless of the number of views. Wow! That is awesome!

I have written and published 21 articles for the site. That is a total income of $420 minus the $20 I have already received in December and January. According to the email I received, the payment should show up in my Paypal account by the end of February. I am excited to be receiving that $400 payment this month and will be sure to use it to pay off some credit card debt saving myself over $80 this next year creating additional residual income in the process.

So, I guess that means that I will have to get to work writing for other sites. I will keep doing what I have been so far minus Life123 and be sure to update everyone when I get paid ending this chapter in the story that has been Life123. Did anyone else write articles for Life123? Will you be receiving a payment this month?

10 comments:

  1. That $20 per article is a pretty good bonus! It does seem sudden just shutting down the program like that, but I think it is pretty good they're making the payout. Congrats on the windfall!

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  2. When I first read that Life123 was shutting down, my first thought was of you, since I knew you enjoyed writing for the site. I was happy to see that they will be paying for all of the articles. Makes me wish I had placed a few more there! Hope you find another place to earn your residual income. :)

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  3. Ruth,
    Yes I think it is wonderful and very honorable that they are making good on an agreement like that. You don't see as much of that anymore.

    DeAnna,
    I too wish that I had done a lot more in January prior to the shutdown. I would rather they stayed open since I enjoyed the site so much.

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  4. I was considering writing for the site. Thankfully, I chose to invest the time with a new blog instead. One of the things that turned me off about the site was their payment model. It just didn't make sense to me.

    Hopefully, this remains isolated to Life123! Imagine the chaos...

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  5. Let's see--they're keeping the site up, and people can read all of the articles there at the time they shut down? They're paying maximum payouts for every article? I have been mentioning my articles on Twitter from time to time since I published my first one. It looks like it doesn't hurt anything to continue, but that it doesn't add anything to my bottom line. It also looks like I cannot simply publish those articles on another content site. Is that your reading?

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  6. @David,
    Yes you have seemed to sum it up pretty well. I plan on taking the money and focusing my efforts elsewhere. I will drive traffic to my other sites that will continue to earn me money.

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  7. Hi, for all the people who posted or write here..did you receive your payment from life123? Just curious as I haven't received mine yet. Any information would be quite helpful.

    Thanks

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  8. Travis,
    I have not yet received my payment yet, but I am giving them the benefit of the doubt considering the logistics.

    I did receive notification that every one of my articles had been credited the maximal number of views. That happened in February so if the payments work as in the past, we should get payment sometime in March for views in February.

    Believe me, I am watching as close as anybody.

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  9. I've been emailing back and forth with Robert Deutsch, the former VP of content for Life 123 and he says that payments should be sent out completely by the end of Wednesday. So, we shall see,

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  10. Travis,
    It is good that you have been in contact with Robert Deutsch. I am encouraged by your report and am looking forward to receiving payment.

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