Passes & Canyons Blog

Being a motojournalist definitely has its plussses. I shot this photo while on a media tour with EagleRider.

I’m working a full-time job these days so I rarely check craigslist any more for writing gigs. I did go there a couple days ago, however, and the first item on the list caught my eye in a hurry. Here’s what it said.

Looking for a motorcycle rider who writes articles (Remote)

We are a motorcycle company looking for an article writer. We sell motorcycle parts for Cruiser Motorcycles, focused on Harley. This position can be long term and done remotely.

Articles will be created approx 2-4x a week.

Requirements:

*Must have motorcycle riding experience
*Please submit a resume
*Writing Sample
*Students are welcome to apply
*Blog URL optional but is a plus

it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: $15 Article, 500 Words

OK, $15 per article is not a lot of money but heck, if it’s something you enjoy doing and you want to see your name out there then it’s a place to start. If you know how to write you can bang out 500 words in half an hour and that would give you a $30/hour wage.

I’m not a good one to do this sort of thing for the simple reason that they want someone who is into Harleys and that is not me. And after 40 years of writing for publication I don’t get excited about seeing my name in print any more. But maybe you are, or someone you know is. If so, and you want to give it a shot, go for it. You’ve got nothing to lose.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Motorcycle safety studies continue

Biker Quote for Today

“Yea, though I ride through the valley of the shadow of the Harley, I will fear no R.U.B.: For my FZ6 art with me; thy power, thy speed and thy handling they comfort me.” — Metrics 23:4

Out with the OFMC.

Making a living as a freelance writer is tough. After scraping by for nearly four years writing about riding motorcycles I’ve taken a full-time job recently, as you may be aware.

Why was that necessary? Let me give you an example, fresh from reality.

I started out writing for Examiner.com in May of 2008. It took a while for the money to start coming in but it did start flowing, and it kept growing month over month. By the time my last full-time job ended, in March 2009, I was making enough doing that gig part-time that I decided I would not look for another job, I would become the National Motorcycle Examiner on a full-time basis. Along the way I had also picked up a gig writing for RumBum.com, so I figured all I needed to do was pick up a couple more gigs and I’d be fine.

And that’s exactly what happened. I found a few small online motorcycle publications who I could consistently sell articles to and I also picked up a gig off Elance.com where every two months I would deliver a batch of eight articles that were about anything I chose as long as they contained several specific key words. The idea there was to put stories up on this dealer’s website and have those key words be found in web searches and thereby bring people to the site. Things were going well. Oh, and of course, I was also occasionally selling articles to Rider magazine and to Kawasaki’s Accelerate publication.

Then RumBum went out of business, as did another of the smaller regional hard-copy publications. Then the Elance gig just went away. I had been receiving emails every couple months ordering up a new batch and then they stopped coming.

And then, in the latter part of 2010, Examiner started making changes to their payment arrangements that whittled away at my earnings. From making hundreds of dollars every month my earnings quickly dropped off to less than $100 a month and kept going down. Now, in the month that just ended, I’ve hit a new low: for the first time since October 2008 I did not earn enough to even get paid. They have a $25 threshold and if you don’t make at least that much in a month they don’t pay you that month; you get whatever you’re earned plus whatever else you make in the following month, once you do reach $25. So yeah, I didn’t even make $25 from Examiner last month.

Of course I have had something to do with this latest drop-off. For the most part I have stopped writing for Examiner because it’s just not worth it. I do put something up at least once a month, though, because I still get page views from the stuff I’ve written previously and you have to be writing currently to get paid. So it’s like an annuity and I write once a month or so in order to keep that annuity coming in.

And now, with a full-time job, it’s hard to even find the time to do the work I can still do. I promised another article to Mark Tuttle at Rider magazine some months ago but I still haven’t gotten it written. That’s not good. Once this contract gig I’m working ends I’m going to want to dive back into freelancing so I need to hang on to the clients I still have. But it’s so hard to get motivated when I have so many other things to try to squeeze into just two short days on the weekend.

Clearly I don’t know what the future holds. But you’ll hear about it here, of that I’m certain.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Only a biker knows . . .: Motorcycle wit and wisdom, #26

Biker Quote for Today

Must work to afford Bikethings.