The METRO Content Platform: Hires Fast, Pays Fast
Are you looking for a freelance writing job or editing job that hires fast and pays fast? If so, are you interested in copywriting?
If you answered yes to both of those questions, you may be interested in the METRO content platform.
In its job ads, METRO describes itself as “a content development and data services platform that handles categorization and content needs for a range of major online retailers.”
I started checking this company out several months ago. From what I’ve seen, most of the writing work is creating product descriptions, and the editing jobs involve sprucing up those descriptions.
There are categorization tasks, but they don’t involve any writing. You go through batches of products and select the best category for each item. It’s just point and click.
There are also research tasks. I believe these involve finding information on products to help the writers complete their descriptions. But I’m not sure what else is involved because METRO only lets you see job details for projects you’re qualified to complete, and I don’t have research credentials.
How Does METRO Content Work?
METRO is based on the premise of a freelance subway. When tasks are available, you’ll receive notifications that you can “hop on the platform” and get to work.
There are various projects and each has its own guidelines. So, for example, Alabama (projects are normally named after states) may involve writing 75-word product descriptions for an office supply store and that copy may be written to target office managers.
Meanwhile, Arkansas may involve writing 200-word product descriptions for a furniture company, and you’ll be writing for individual consumers in a different tone and style.
To get hired, you have to take a reading comprehension test and then an English general writer test.
The writing test is a product description assignment. If you pass the test, meaning your product description is satisfactory, you’ll get paid for it.
Once you’ve passed your writing test, you’ll get a writer score and an English comprehension score based on your work.
When I signed onto the METRO content platform, the scores from your writing test determined which jobs you could take. Now, the platform has gone to issuing badges.
With the badge system, if you want to work on Arkansas tasks, for example, first you have to check whether your writing and comprehension scores make you eligible. If so, you have to test specifically for Arkansas to prove you can write for that client.
Again, the tests involve writing product descriptions. And you may have to write a certain number to get your badge. When you take badge tests, if your work passes, you are paid.
I’m assuming that the process for editing works similarly, except you take an editing test after the reading comprehension test.
But I’m not registered as an editor. And like I said, METRO tends to only let you see details for work that you qualify for.
Over time, you can improve your writing and comprehension scores by working and getting tasks approved by the editors without needing any corrections.
Higher scores make you qualified for better projects, which in many cases, involve higher-paying work.
How Much Money Do You Make On Metro
Different projects pay different amounts, depending on the number of words and the rate per word.
The Alabama project is the lowest paying that I’ve seen on the platform. It pays .05-and-a-half cents per word but the product descriptions only have to be 50 words. So, you’re talking about $2.75 per product description.
I’ve also seen a project on the METRO content platform that paid a range from teens to the upper $20s per product description. But that project required adding HTML tags and creating bullets under the product description.
Categorization tasks pay writers .03 cents each.
METRO says:
“Most of our community members earn an average of $18-$25 per hour. More experienced, higher skilled members may earn well over $30 per hour.”
I think it’s possible to hit somewhere in that range sometimes. But the projects that are most often available for writers range from about $2.75 per product description to 4 dollars and-some-change.
That means writers would need to write about six to 10 product descriptions per hour, and I don’t think most writers are averaging that.
But there is a feature in your writer’s dashboard that will show you how much you’re earning per hour based on your pace.
Getting Started On the METRO platform
When I started this post, I used the word “fast.”
You can literally get set up and be working on the METRO platform in two to three days.
When you take a test, it can be reviewed within that hour or it may take a day or two.
One thing about METRO is everything tends to happen pretty quickly. Whether you’re a registered writer or you’re testing, they tend to stay on top of the review process.
It took me about three days to get started because I failed the writing test initially and took the editor’s advice to study the guidelines before I tried again.
Unless things have changed, you have three tries to pass. But, don’t confuse the speedy hiring process with an easy process. Based on what I’ve read in the forums a lot of people fail multiple times.
If you want to write for METRO, you need a Paypal account because that’s how you’ll get paid.
Payments are issued three times a week—on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays—unless one of those days is a holiday.
Why Should You Consider METRO?
I’m not going to say it’s impossible but between the number of tasks, the rates, and the number of freelancers who hop on the available work, I wouldn’t advise trying to rely on METRO as your sole or main source income.
But the METRO content platform does fit the bill for an OMT (On My Terms) gig, which I’ve recommended for freelancers to have financial flexibility.
METRO lets you work as little or as much as you want, and the payments come quickly. So, if you have a pop-up expense, a dry spell with your clients or extra time to burn, you can hop on when it works for you.
If you’re going to sign up for METRO, please do so via the links on this page. Doing so help$ KnowGoodWords, and all help is much appreciated.
