The Great A-xperiment: Paying More for As

So it’s been a whopping 12 hours since our last blog post here at QG, but as I said in that post, we’ve got some important things going on!

We’re going to try something new.  As you know if you read our last post, we’re making modifications to our current grading methodology by using rubrics.  Part of this new system, as I wrote yesterday, was about finding a way to ensure we were all grading on the same scale, that grading was as efficient and objective as possible while still using the human eye.

That was the first reason.

The second (and much more fun) reason is that we’re trying to find ways to incentivize performance.  Before today, we paid the same amount of money for a B as we would an A.  This meant you could (if you were so inclined) do perfect work… not an error in sight… and get the same amount of money for the work as someone who just barely did what was asked.  Even if you got a C… you lost a couple bucks… so what?

So now… things change

As of today, if you get an A, you get more money.  If you have looked at the rubric, you may have noticed that getting a 4 requires a little more.  There’s a reason for that.  An A doesn’t mean you get paid a couple more dollars…

It means more than double.  At least… it used to be more than double… but more on that in a minute.

Not to sound too Ed McMahon-y… but $40 for an A on most of our articles!  Of course we always want the best from all our writers, and we are well aware that we get it, but we figured we couldn’t write about how we needed more A articles when writing 2 B articles might take you less time than writing 1 A, and you’d make twice the money.  It was the financially sensible thing to do to cut corners… we’ve just been lucky enough to historically get writers who take enough pride in their work to do great work regardless.

2 B articles… 1 A article… the square root of pi… I’m having flashbacks of algebra class… not fun.  But what is fun is making Bs worth $20… so that’s what we’re doing.  Bs are now worth $20.  That’s a thing now.

But there are a few catches (there always are).

1. This goes into effect today FOR THE ARTICLES WE ARE ASSIGNING OUT TODAY.  Check your payscale on the article you’re writing, you’ll see when you pick up something new from today on.

2. This is an experiment.  If paying more doesn’t yield better results (meaning more As and Bs) we have to scrap the idea.  That said… if we get better results… it stays.

3. This applies, for the moment, to education-based articles and blog posts.   Sorry… no payout of $40 for a 50-word optimized piece. Again, keep an eye on the payscale for the articles you pick up.  

Things they are a-changin… but let me make it absolutely clear again that this new change takes place on articles we assign today, so pay attention to the pay scales on your assignments to see when it takes effect for you.

So while the rubric thing might have not made sense to you yesterday, I hope it makes a little more sense today.  To demand more from writers, we knew we had to do two things.  First, make sure every writer is graded by the same criteria and held to the same standards as every other.  Two, pay more for exemplary work.

So this is a way of accomplishing both.

Thank you, personally and as a representative of QualityGal, for the work you have put forth thus far.  We want to continue to reward you for it… and hope this is a welcome first step.

Matthew Holden is the Director of Content Marketing for Online Writing Jobs, and a frequent contributor to the OWJ blog. After receiving a Master’s degree in English Education from Sage Graduate School in Troy, New York, he began writing freelance, and eventually full-time, for various companies and media outlets. After spending some time writing marketing copy, he became interested in the various ways a company can market itself online through the use of different types of content marketing.

Today, as the Director of Content Marketing, Matt oversees strategy creation, production, implementation, and promotion, of content written by experts and influencers from across the country in every vertical imaginable. When he is not overseeing the creation and promotion of thousands of pieces of content a year for OWJ clients, Matt can be found writing some for himself.

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