Become a Paid Writer For Make Use Of!

* We are currently not accepting any applications *

Are you hopelessly addicted to the internet? Do you Digg, Stumble and blog on a daily basis? Do you Twitter while you’re Friendfeeding?

We are always looking for more writers to help us turn the site into something bigger and better than ever before – and our next star writer could be YOU.

Are You Wondering If You Fit The Bill?

Well you can easily find out by taking the following Make Use Of entrance examination:

Are you totally obsessed with computers and the internet?
Do you have a panic attack if your internet connection goes down for two minutes?
Are you constantly telling people about the latest new cool web app that you have just found online?
Are you the first person people come to when they have a question about their PC or web?
Are you good at explaining stuff and getting your point across in a neutral unbiased sort of way?
Can you write regular posts on a long-term basis? At least one 500-800 words long post or a couple of quick ones a week?
Do you have a good working knowledge of the Wordpress blogging platform?
Are you able to take cool screenshots and turn them into images that can be use in articles?

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions then you are the person we’re looking for!

Other Requirements Which Would Endear You To Us:

You make yourself available as often as possible online and you respond to emails and instant messages in a timely fashion.
You are available on at least one instant messaging network (Google Talk preferred).
You respond well to us editing your work and offering constructive suggestions and perhaps the occasional constructive criticism.
You have a sense of humour and a team spirit, ready & willing to help out.
You actively participate in responding to readers comments to your published posts.
You bribe us with laptops and other electronic goodies (OK, this one was a joke!)

Things Which Will Make Us Trash Your Application Instantly:

Giving us laughable and unbelievable job titles. “Hi Mark & Jackson, I am the Intersteller SEO & Marketing Consultant for the United Federation of Planets….”
Giving us a one line email : “yo dude, gimme a job, thanks”. How about telling us a bit about yourself?
Emailing us your ten page resume. How about you give us the brief highlights instead?
Emailing us your application over and over. We don’t need five emails thanks. One will do.
Finding out you can’t write English to save yourself. Perfect written English is a MUST.

Now, See What We Can Offer You In Return:

A full credit for the article.
A permanent author page on MakeUseOf.com with your information and all your published articles.
A short info about yourself and a link to your website/blog or even Twitter profile at the bottom of every article in the form of a footer.
We will promote your website wherever possible. With over 290,000 Make Use Of subscribers (and rising fast), you’ll be sure to receive traffic to your site.
Very good monetary compensation. Payable via Paypal at the end of each month (see payment structure below).
Full editorial support when writing your articles. If you have any problems with your articles, we are happy to help you out
Once in a while participate in a monthly prize draw which hands out cash prizes to 3-4 of our writers. So as you can see, we do try to be really generous!
An easy 7 day training course that shows you how to write attractive articles and earn additional bonuses.

Payment Structure

Below is a quick guide to our payment structure.

For MakeUseOf Blog applicants:

A minimum payment of $30 a post for starting authors. The minimum payment for staff authors varies between $45 and $60 a post.
Additional bonus of $10 for each post taken from our Story Ideas page. We give a rich pool of article ideas to choose from.
Depending on the performance of the article you might also get a hefty bonus.

For MakeUseOf Directory applicants:

A payment of $8-10 for each submission to MakeUseOf Directory.
An additional $12 bonus for each article referenced from popular website.

Apply To MakeUseOf Blog

* We are currently not accepting any applications
If you are interested in writing for us, just drop our Assistant Editor Jackson Chung a line at : post4us[at]makeuseof[dot]com with links to your website / blog (if available) and also tell him why you would be a good fit for the Make Use Of team. Maybe you could also suggest some topics that you’d like to write about?

We would also appreciate hearing about your background – age, location, what your day job is, etc. That enables us to get a fuller picture of the person behind the application.

If you don’t have a blog to show us, we would ask you to write a no-obligation sample article of around 500 words so we can assess your writing skills. While the choice of topic is up to you, please try to pick something within our coverage. The topic selection will be taken into account when judging your application. If we like the article, we will hire you, publish the article and pay you. If we don’t like it, we won’t hire you, won’t publish the piece and promise never to publish it behind your back.

As well as studying your past writing experience, we will also study the subjects of your past posts to see if you are in the habit of picking winning topics which would make MakeUseOf more popular with readers. We will also ask you some other questions to gauge your general attitude.

Any applications with spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, written in an unidentifiable language, with dodgy links or attachments will be rejected and deleted outright.

Apply To MakeUseOf Directory

* We are currently not accepting any applications for the Directory *

If you’re interested in becoming a contributor to the MakeUseOf Directory then send an email to directory-apply[at]makeuseof[dot]com. The directory articles are mostly quick reviews of useful websites. While directory articles are easier to write (25-30 min), they don’t get as much exposure and have a lower pay (see above). To get a better idea check out latest directory additions here.

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