How to turn down quality applicants.
Hola all,
Hope this Tuesday finds you well.
Just wanted to highlight one of our latest comments!
I am a veterinarian with 30 years in practice and I thought it might be fun to try writing for DMS. I have been published in print just a few times, have a blog for my practice, have done several paid writing projects for websites and nonprofits, and DO in fact know how to write.
DMS turned me down flat for writing for their Pets Section. I see from the comments that I am not the only qualified expert who has been slapped in the face by these clowns.
It helps to understand the business model of site that depends on Google contextual ads for revenue. If an expert wrote an article that provided all the information a searcher needed, that searcher would be less likely to click on an advertisement to learn more about the topic.
But when the articles are written by non-experts with little monetary incentive to go the extra mile, there’s a good chance one of the ads will tempt the reader to click elsewhere for more information. Adsense ads often have deceptive titles like “What your vet won’t tell you…” that are hard to resist when you’ve just read a shallow treatment of some pet health topic.
If Google Adsense switched over to a 100% pay-per-view model instead of a pay-per-click model, this wouldn’t be an issue. There actually are PPV ad networks, but eHow does not use them extensively.
Another theory why DMS turns down real experts so frequently is that they don’t want to deal with conflicts between expert authors and non-expert CEs.
If you want to write for them that badly, just apply again with a different email and downplay your expertise.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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I think they turn you down if you are too qualified. That makes sense if you think about it. The CEs – not qualified for the subject matter, most of them are not even good editors. They need the CEs to be the authorities though, because that is how the system works. They can’t have writers who have the credentials to know more and can prove it. Too much room for error and that can bite them in the ass. It is that simple.
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From the Demand Studios (accepted) writer forums:
“I was recently disheartened and disappointed to be told I am ineligible to write education articles. I have 25 years of classroom experience. I have taught at the middle school, high school and university levels. I have a doctorate in education, a masters degree in teaching history and a masters degree in curriculum and instruction. I have published a column on education issues and contribute to several education publications. I honestly do not understand how I could be ineligible to contribute to the education section.”
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This is actually a hidden blessing. In the long run, it’s best just to get rejected from the get-go than to try to put up with their moronic CEs, horrible production process and totally inconsistent and irrational demands.
You’d just end up getting fired in the end, because a CE would take issue with you calling a dog a canine or something, and flag you for lack of content knowledge.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Not only did chefs not get invited to the cooking section, personal trainers not get invited to the fitness section and tax attorneys not get invited to the business section (despite having long writing histories with Demand and being allowed to write in other sections), multiple Demand writers posted in the forums, “Awesome! I have no experience in this area, but they let me in.” You can find multiple posts like this in the thread announcing the start of the new channels.
I’m completely serious. Right next to posts by highly qualified experts in their fields saying they were rejected, you’ll find posts by writers saying they didn’t apply and have no clue how they got permissions. If you click on the bios of many of the approved channel writers, you’ll see they have no experience in that field in their bios – which are supposed to have writers’ specific experience listed. I can see an expert who’s a terrible writer getting rejected, but if the expert is good enough to keep writing in other channels, why is Demand rejecting qualified (by their own admission) writers and accepting writers with no experience? It puts a lie to the whole “expert writer” PR blitz.
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The only thing that matters when you apply for a section is the color of your scorecard.
There’s no way the staff editors have time or can be fucked to pore through lots of detailed writer applications listing and referencing various areas of expertise.
Instead, they go on the scorecard alone, setting the bar at whatever level will produce the required number of writers for each section intake.
That’s why the experienced writers who know how to pen bland content with just enough detail to hoodwink the CE into granting a 4 get accepted into virtually any section, while the experts with less experience in manipulating the Demand system don’t get through.
Simples!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Even I’ll agree with that. DM does NOT check into the resumes of any applicant for any job. CEs only have to pass a stupid-ass copy editing test to get in, and anyone with reasonable English skills and a meticulous mindset ought to be able to pass that. They don’t check on squat. You could copy and paste Bob Woodward’s CV, and they wouldn’t catch it.
THIS is a reasonable claim. It’s when you sucktards go beyond this, way beyond this that you look like retarded, paranoid douchebags. You’re the Tea Party of the content biz.
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