Author: Melinda Curle

Scripted Review

Company: Scripted

Website: Scripted.com

Overall Rank: 85 out of 100

Company Overview: Scripted is an online marketplace that connects businesses that need blog posts, articles, social media posts, and newsletters. It is an excellent place for business owners to get quality posts. Writers who are new to freelancing can enjoy the opportunity to pitch for jobs and show off their skills to editors who need the work.

My Experience Writing for Scripted

I have been writing freelance blog posts for the last two years, and joined Scripted as a way to pick up additional writing gigs. My writing has rapidly improved since joining Scripted. As a freelance writer, the best way to get jobs is to pitch ideas to editors. To do this you have to discover who the editor of the website you want to write for is and review their website to determine their target market. This can be very time-consuming.

Scripted allows you access to over 300 projects with the defined target market and keywords given to you. This allows you to focus on creating an excellent pitch without spending time figuring out who the right contact will be and researching to see if they have already done a post on the topic.

When I started working with Scripted, I hated the pitching process. I hated coming up with ideas and pitching them only to have them rejected. One weekend I sat down and created 30 pitches. Then I waited. I was discouraged that I didn’t hear back right away, but of those 30 pitches, 4 of them got accepted.

Now I don’t worry too much about pitches that aren’t accepted. It just means that my writing voice or ideas aren’t right for the client at this point. I didn’t like doing revisions at first but have come to accept that they are part of the process of becoming a better writer.

Scripted is the best place for new writers to find their first writing jobs. It may take some persistence to master the art of pitching a blog post idea, but it will make you a better writer. You’ll discover what the managing editors want to read and share with their readers.

The Good & the Bad

The Good:

PRO #1: Quickly find jobs that you can apply for today!

PRO #2: Pitch to many types of jobs and discover what kind of copywriting bests suits your writing style quickly.

PRO #3: You are able to bid higher rates than many content mills will pay.

PRO #4: There is a timeline for getting the project done and having the revisions completed. This helps the writers manage their writing without becoming overwhelmed when an editor requests revisions a month after the article was written.

The Bad:

CON #1: There is a test to determine your writing proficiency before signing on with Scripted. You will be charged for the test (about $15), but your earnings from your first job will more than cover the expense of the writing test.

CON #2: You may end up pitching for many jobs that you don’t get. This can take up quite a bit of time and it’s discouraging when you don’t get the jobs. While this does take time, it can improve your pitching and help you hone your skills.

Scripted Tools & Training

Scripted provides writers with a writing platform to create blog posts and newsletters for their clients. It is very similar to WordPress. The Scripted platform has a textual analysis which lets you know what grade level you are writing at. This is very helpful when writing for specific markets.

Scripted has a feature to detect plagiarism prior to submitting your work to the client. If you have used too many direct quotes, your work could be flagged for plagiarism. This ensures that anything given to the clients is quality work.

Within the Scripted platform, there is an email function to allow communication with the clients.

Scripted Support

When writing for Scripted, you will have the support of the Scripted team. Some of the accounts are managed accounts and you will be interacting with a manager from Scripted. They will indicate to you where your writing can be improved to meet the needs of the client. Additionally, if your bids are out of the clients’ budget, but they still like your proposal, they may negotiate a smaller word count or lower price.

My Verdict

LEGIT! If you are just getting started with freelancing Scripted is a great platform to find writing gigs that pay pretty well. You will gain experience and polish your writing style. Some gigs will allow a byline, which helps you to build your portfolio. 

If you don’t know how to reach your target market, your business will be in a lot of trouble. I can speak from experience. The first business I started was a complete flop. I needed to reach the decision maker for medical practices in order to pitch my medical billing services to them. Connecting with them was very difficult and I ultimately decided I didn’t care for medical billing.

Over the years, I learned more about marketing and how to engage with people in a way that will convert them to sales. I discovered ways to reach a target market online that are very effective and efficient.

Step 1: Define Your Target Market

If you have a gadget that you feel everyone needs, your ads and marketing will fail. The first thing that you need to know before creating your marketing content is “Who will this benefit?”

Let’s face it, everyone needs to eat a healthy diet, but the majority of college kids are going to gravitate towards beer and pizza. Targeting them with ads for kale salads will be a flop. On the other hand, women in their forties who are trying to lose weight would be the ideal customer for a kale salad advertisement. They may have even convinced themselves that they like kale salad with the right dressing.

Get very specific on the age, location, interests, and gender when you define your target market. This will increase your likelihood of converting your readers. If you are writing for a company, make sure you do your due diligence and read up on their target market.

You’ll want to understand how the product meets their needs and what the common complaints and pain points are for the target audience.

Step 2: Research Their Hangouts

Know where most of your audience spends their time online. If you are targeting B2B business owners, you are going to do better on LinkedIn than on Facebook. It is geared more towards professionalism and lead generation. If your audience is a Gen X ers, they are going to be on Facebook for social media as opposed to Tik Toc or Twitter.

If you are trying to reach a specific interest group, such as Appalachain trail hikers, you may have more success in Facebook groups or online forums, such as Quora or Reddit. These platforms allow people to discuss questions and concerns about their hobby.

Step 3: Create Content that Appeals To Your Audience

Before you create that next blog post, think about what does well with your audience. Do they like sensationalism? Do statistics appeal to them? Are they trying to maximize their budget?

Create content with headlines that will appeal to the target market. A good example is the Youtuber Frugal Fit Mom, a mother of four, created a video on Youtube that was 126 meals for $30 Emergency Extreme Budget Haul. The video was a hit with her audience because they are moms who are trying to save money. This video appealed to other moms who enjoyed learning how to save money and feed their family. It got over a million views in a month.

The video also had a sensationalistic title. The 126 meals were individual meals. It was a week’s worth of meals for her family of six. By using the large number of 126 meals instead of a week’s worth of groceries, it triggered the viewers curiosity.

Step 4: Engage with Audience

It is tempting to slap up an advertisement and hope that it creates sales. It rarely does. Audiences now have become a bit immune to advertisements. They know that marketing can be overblown. People are now looking for a connection with brands. They want to feel like the brand is in alignment with their values. They want to trust the brand.

To create a connection and engage with your audience, write in a conversational style. This can help people to feel like they are having a conversation and really relate to you. Share a story or experience in your content. For example, I started this blog post out with one of my most embarrassing business failures. I also used common speaking phrases, such as “let’s face it.”

Only write in the first person if that is the brand voice that the company wants you to use. For some industries, it is better to use a more formal tone.

Another great way to engage with your audience is to interact with them on social media and through forums. Ask whether they enjoyed your product or how they would improve it. You could also ask how and when they use your product.

Step 5: Stay Consistent

Customers are seeking consistency and stability. In the online world, it is easy to set up a medical billing business one day and realize you aren’t cut out for it a few months later like I did. Demonstrating consistency in your brand story over time builds trust and reliability.

Channel consistency will help to build your brand’s message. It will improve your SEO rankings and customers will feel that they can count on you more when you stay consistent with your message.

A consistent message includes having the same brand story on all of your social media platforms and website. Your logo and colors should be consistent. You should have a consistent voice on all of your platforms. If you are engaging with a conversational tone, it should be the same on Facebook as it is on Twitter. If you have a formal tone on LinkedIn, it should remain formal on Twitter.

Writers must master the art of connecting and engaging with an audience. To do this, you need to really get to know the problems that plague your target market and how the product you are promoting will uniquely help them. Much of this can come from practice, but it also comes from spending time learning about the daily challenges that your target market faces. The more you know about your audience, the better you will be able to reach them. 

Believe it or not, but SEO isn’t the only thing that will attract or repel your readers. A great blot post format can determine whether people stay or leave your website.

It’s true! People are looking for scanable information when they read blog posts. They want to find that information quickly.

So, I’ve gathered some tips for formatting a great blog post.

Short Sentences and Paragraphs

When people are reading online, they want the information NOW. They want to be able to quickly scan the blog post and determine if the answers to their questions are going to be found within the blog.

Keep your sentences short and to the point. Readers don’t want to dig through flowery language to discover your point.

Keep your paragraphs to about 2-3 sentences. This will break all the high school rules that you learned for constructing paragraphs, but visually it will be easier on your reader’s eyes.

Draw Your Reader’s Eyes to Important Aspects

When readers see a sea of text, it can be difficult to scan through and discover the important information. You want visual variation. Use bold and italics to emphasize the main keywords and points.

Visual variation makes your blog post more scanable. Readers can quickly discover the most important topics when their eyes are drawn to bolded words.

Use Headers and Subheaders

Break up your content into sections. Use headers and sub headers when you start to talk about something new. This will not only provide some additional visual variation, but it helps the readers scan the blog post and discover whether it will contain the information they want.

Many times readers will discover new content and simply scan it and bookmark it to come back to it later. Often people access the information on their phones. They may not have the time to read the full blog post, but they will be determining whether it is worthwhile and they should visit the site again.

Make sure that your sub headers are cohesive and related to your headers. If you are discussing many things under your header, you may want to number your sub headers.

Keep it Readable

While readability is a bit different that formatting, it is extremely important. People should be able to easily understand your blog posts. Avoid using complex industry jargon and stick with a middle school reading level.

To determine the writing level, you can use the Hemingway app. Enter in a few sentences and it will let you know what grade level you are writing.

Here’s an example of a post-graduate sentence that would turn many people off. It is simply too complex and does not get to the point quickly:

“With astronomical advancements regarding efficiency and visual communication in design best practices, creators are taking more process-oriented approaches to the development and building of their products than they ever have before.”

Whew…can you see the complexity? It is a bit too much.

Whenever possible, you should use the more simple word. For example, you can replace utilized or leveraged with the simple word “used.”

The following sentence is another example of being too wordy:

“I strategically leveraged my mobile device in order to locate the place in which I would consume my dinner.”

That can be changed to simply:

“I used my phone to find a restaurant.”

Do you see how much easier the second sentence is to understand. The first sentence requires a bit more thinking to grasp the meaning.

Use bulleted or numbered lists

Readers love lists. They draw out the important elements quickly and easily.

Here are five great reasons to use a list in your blog article:

1. Lists are easy to write.
2. They create welcome white space in the article.
3. The reader’s eye is drawn to the lists and causes them to stop.
4. Lists are very scanable.
5. Give the impression of getting more information with little reading.

You read it, didn’t you? Most likely your eyes were drawn to the list as well.

Try to work a list into each of your blog posts.

Use Relevant Images and Graphics

Researchers discovered that website visitors scroll through 100% of an article if it contains images and videos.

They will scroll – not read- but it is still useful.

Scrolling and scanning your article means that readers are more likely to pick up on your message. They will also be more likely to click on another one of your links in your website. In increases the chance of seeing your call to action.

Images and graphics keep your visitor engaged. You should try to find relevant images and infographics for all the data that you share on your website. Insert the graphics and images throughout the article, not simply at the top.

Use Image Captions

When visitors come to your website, often their eyes wander to the blog post image before even reading your first paragraph. Make the image count by adding a caption to it that will hook your visitors.

The image caption should fit the theme of the picture, but it also should be engaging and descriptive of the article. You could include questions, power statistics and intriguing information. Captions are almost as important as the headline of an article, so don’t neglect them.

Many people toy with the idea of starting their own blog. The ones who stick with it and consistently blog will actually create a valuable asset that earns them money and connects them to other interesting people. 

So, what are some other great reasons to start a blog?

1) Blogging is Still Alive and Well

Many people may assume that it is dead, but it is one of the best ways to establish your expertise and influence. Regular posts will help to show your expertise in any area. 

It certainly isn’t as easy as it was in 2002, but blog posts lend to great influence online as well as in business.

2) Create a Support System

Over the years, you have to face many challenging decisions. These range from whether to quityou job, move aborad or get involved in exciting business ventures. Sometimes family members mya not understnad your dilemma or be supportive. However often blog readers become the support system that you don’t have in real life.

This is especially helpful early on before you see results. Your support system can encourage you to keep going through the tough times that you want to quit. 

3) Get People Hanging on Your Every Word

Well, they’ll be hanging on the words that you write for your blog. 

As your audience grows, people will start caring about what you have to say. We have become a world where so many people don’t have a voice. To become an influencer is a  powerful thing. 

4) A REAL Reason to go on Social Media

If you’re anything like me, you’ve wasted hours on social media and want to break that habit. However, now your social media presence, whether it is Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Pinterest will have some meaning. 

Social Media is the free tool that bloggers use to promote their blogs. 

5) Worldwide Friendships

You will connect with people who are all over the world that speak the same language you do. Maybe even some that don’t with Google Translate!

I have met people from Australia to Singapore through the wondderful world of blogging. 

Blogging is a great way to gain friendships. 

6) Improve Your Writing

Writing is one of the best skills that you can learn to be successful online. Blogs help you to practice writing. Not only will your content improve as you blog, but your blog gives you a way to test out different styles of writing and refine your voice. 

As you gain experience getting people interested in your topic, you can practice engaging and entertaining them. 

The sky’s the limit!

7) Adds Consistency to Life

The biggest key to success  online is consistency. However, it can somtimes be tough to know what to work on. When it comees to blogging, you set and post a schedule. This provides you with the consistency that you need. 

Working on a daily blog acan be a great way to hone and develop good habits. These will see you towards real success over the long run. 

8) Free Experiences

As your audience grows, you’ll have more opportunities come your way. If you work diligently at it, the chance for free or sponsored experiences will be some of the most powerful events in your life. 
Health bloggers often get free samples of the latest products to review. Travel bloggers often can stay free at hotels in exchange for a review. 

Remember, bloggers are influencers too. Many people look to bloggers to discover the best things to do in an area, the top rated fsoftware or the latest exercise tren

9) Gain Internet Skills

The internet is here to stay. Only kowing Word and Excel won’t cut it anymore. A blog is a useful and fun way to learn what the hell you are doing on the interenet. 

Blogs provide you with the technical skills that are beneficial today. 

Not sure where to begin? Start with your favorite topics that you enjoy reading about online. Can you create a blog from those?

10) Make Extra Money

You can turn your blog into a full-fledged business. It can be a nice side income through affiliate marketing. You can use the blog to advertise on as well. 

Your blog can be used to promote an online course to create a steady cash flow. You can sell guest posting spots when your audience becomes large enough.

11) Learn Photo Editing

Knowing how to make your photosstand out among everyone else’s. It can go a long way when it comes to gaining followers and adding creditbility that many don’t have. 

The photo below has been featured on numerous websites, blogs and even Golf Digest. 

Sunrise on the most famous golf course in the world last October: St. Andrews.

12) Attract Copywriting Job Offers

Blog posts allow you to demonstrate your skill and knowledge of a subject. People may stumble upon your blog and offer you a job to guest post on their blog, or speak at an event. Maintaining a blog positions you as an expert on a topic. 

Many people who start blogs will end up with offers from clients who need web copy either in the form of blogs or newsletters. 

As you can see, blogging helps you to develop many, useful skills. It gproduces lots of opportunities to connect with people and gives you a chance to monetize your efforts if you choose to do so. So, what are you waiting for? Stat your blog today!