Earnings on Triond
When I first saw the website, www.triond.com I was happy in that I could write and contribute things and actually get paid for it. The pay was slow in the first month or so because I only had a few articles so I just kept writing.
When I first saw the website Triond.com I was happy in that I could write and contribute things and actually get paid for it. The pay was slow in the first month or so because I only had a few articles so I just kept writing. I now have over 200 articles and the pay coming in has only gone up marginally, so I have begun to wonder about this. Could it be that I wasn’t getting enough exposure? Maybe I am not getting the type of exposure that generates money? Triond pays when visitors to the articles click on their advertisers, but this is not technically the way it should be.
Having worked in print advertising for many years, I know that as the publisher it was our job to provide the medium in which advertisers will plug their wares. It is not the role of the publisher to make the viewers of the print magazines and subsequently the display advertisements buy anything. The publisher provides a good attractive magazine that is interesting to buy and read in order to bring buyer traffic to view the advertisements as well. The publisher usually has nothing to do with the content of the advertisements which are usually designed and produced by art rooms in the agencies designed for this purpose. Likewise, the publisher still collects the fee for running the advertisements, regardless of whether the advertiser makes sales from the ad or not.
In online magazines I can draw this analogy to websites such as Triond. The contributors are like the publisher in that they provide the interesting editorial which brings readers to the sites and subsequently to the advertisements. Once the traffic is brought to the site the contractual role of the contributor is fulfilled and whether or not the viewer actually clicks on an ad makes no difference. The fact that Triond pays only on clicks to their ads is somewhat misleading as is evidenced by the poor earnings of the articles even though they have hundreds of hits.
As is evidenced by the current grumblings of a boycott there is growing distaste with the way earnings are meted out. Judging from other paying sites such as ehow.com, where a mere 130 articles can earn $70 a month, Triond needs to have a good hard look at how they apportion the earnings on their site. Personally I believe it is the job of the writers and contributors to post good readable articles that will bring traffic. Once this is done their role is over and they should be paid, so maybe an equitable system of pay per hit could be worked out. Whether or not the traffic buys or clicks on ads is fully up to the copywriters of the advertisements and the webmasters who choose which ads to place. Further to this, a sweetener or bonus can be paid on sales that are made from their contributions. This will encourage contributors to write more worthy material. Perhaps my article will stimulate some good debate on this issue.
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Tags: advertisers websites, contributing, traffic, triond, Writing
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December 14th, 2008 at 3:32 am
Thanks for this article Enzo. I agree with you..
December 14th, 2008 at 3:59 am
“so maybe an equitable system of pay per hit could be worked out.”
I honestly thought that this was how it already worked!
December 14th, 2008 at 7:37 am
I can only conclude that if I were to fail then my downfall will be by my own hands and not those of another. Whether we achieve success or not is totally up to us because we are all capable of achieving it, if we are truly willing to put forth the effort. Very good article, Enzo. God bless….
December 14th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Thanks for making clear the workings of the online advertising. I had my suspicions but was never really clear about how things worked.
As I stated before, my earnings are down by 75% since last spring. I am now earning $150 less on Triond.
Thanks for the info,
Darlene
December 14th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I have an article that is steadily getting reads but earns one penny for 993 reads. Math may not have been my strong point, but it gives me pause to wonder. Plus I feel that certain individuals are showcased to lead the reader to their articles.
Bottom line is how to do we know? Do they contend with auditors like every other place I’ve worked at? When our pay goes down tremendously are we just supposed to believe that it is our own doing? I love to write, but I have to eat. I seriously hope this issue is resolved, but even if it is I believe that Triond will close their doors to all of us who have boycotted.
I have talked friends and family members in to writing here. I have hung up fliers at my job – and 500 people work in my area alone. I have attached my link here to everything imaginable, but I am disheartened, as is Chan and many other writers who are feeling like the rock we stood on is sinking sand.
God bless you for writing this query. What I would not give for an answer.
December 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Thank you for the eye opener. I have seen a sharp decline in earnings in only the 4 months I have been here. I am , like many others disheartened. Because I am not alone in annoyance, to say the least, many have endured the boycott to bring attention to the site to fix the ills that it has.
December 14th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Interesting– I was under the impression that they paid us a base rate per hit plus clickthrus on the ads. Personally, I have seem my income increase a bit, but I am fairly new to the site and have submitted a huge amount of decent quality content and promoted my little tail off in the time that I have been here. I am not boycotting but am reserved in my judgement of the current situation due to the recent uprising and becoming a victim of quite a bit of plagiarism.
-M
December 14th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I also thought that the pay was based on the number of hits. I didn’t know that the hits only pay if the viewers click on the ads. I was never expecting the pay to be much, but I have always considered writing to be a hobby and was amazed that I could get anything for my articles.
December 14th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I understood that we were paid a percentage of the products sold on our pages. I know sometimes I make more money on articles that have less viewers. My earnings have fallen off of late.
December 15th, 2008 at 4:18 am
They pay us by how many clicks on the ad in our articles we get….what the heck, is that right?
That would be some nice info to tell us, do they not understand the easier they make it for us to earn money, the more they get,
unless they are making ton’s and we don’t know about it.
Sure I thought the samething when I first started Triond “great,make some money doing something I love”, but the money never really comes in.
I will keep writing here though because it is good practice and I’ll admit it gives me a release, but it would be nice if Triond lived up to their part and take care of us better…
Great article.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Enzo,
I agree with you 100 percent. However, triond editors must not care because they allow articles to be published that may hurt their market. Such as articles that tell the truth about the problems their company is having.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I eagerly await any comments Triond has on this subject. I also write for ehow, Associated Content and Helium and I must say I make way more on those sites though I love my friends on Triond I find myself submitting more and more to the sites that tend to pay more. Bless you for having the courage to write such a controversial issue and put it right out where everyone can read it. Triond, what can we do? Are we getting paid per view or per ad click? How can we increase our revenue on your site? I love your formatting and style and I love all my friends here but I can’t survive on this income. It barely makes a dent in what I make elsewhere. Perhaps I should just be thankful for the exposure it allows/affords me.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Helium also started out paying slowly. However they have implemented many new and improved changes and the money is just flowing in. Perhaps Triond is still fledgling and will improve with time as did Helium.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:41 am
I really hope so, Countrymom.