WORK IN HELL

Craigslist Ads From Hell

2013-05-20T09:44:00.001-07:00

From: LA/South Bay Edition SCAM: MyWritingJobs.com (ALL) Very slick scam which I have seen on craigslist several times now, which links to a video that is VERY convincing about how you can earn (at your leisure) a VERY good living as a copywriter by joining mywritingjobs.com. If you google "mywritingjobs" what comes up points to a different reality. A dinosaur of a website

Craigslist Hell: Screenwriter's Special

2013-04-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

Sounds good to me ----------------------------------------------- Writers Beware (All Over) Writers: DO NOT give your screenplay away for free to ANYONE for ANY REASON. Maybe you think it will help you just to get something produced. That WOULD help you IF you got paid for it. Every director/producer/filmmaker wannabe on here claiming to have connections or a great crew or excellent

Seeing Red with Green Light Articles

2013-04-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

I wrote a while ago that this company contacted me but there was never any work in the queue. Well, for the past couple of months, I got work but it's the pay that's been inconsistent. Here's the scenario. Writers get to pick articles from the dashboard and work on them immediately. Whether the word count in 400 or 1000, there is about 4-5 hours to draft, proof and submit articles. Clients

Employment Scams and Avoiding them Like Measles

2013-04-03T11:27:00.004-07:00

Not long ago, I got a phone call from someone named Chase who basically asked me if I wanted a job and I said yes. He said "Welcome to XYZ Merchandising Company". Backing up for a moment, I used to do some merchandising and mystery shop jobs (I'm Silver certified) and some legit companies will contact you based on your affiliation with certain companies or your reputation. Click here for a

Real Assistance Resources L.A. and Beyond

2013-02-20T13:09:00.000-08:00

I ran across this blog a year or so ago and was pretty damn impressed. Apparently, this person came to L.A. looking for that golden egg and got a surprise instead. A really raw account of what can happen to anyone trying to make it in the big city. Many people come out here looking with stars in their eyes or whatever, even if they don't plan to be in front of the camera. Did I tell you

Oh Yeah...I got an OfficeMax Story, Too

2013-02-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

Now, the thing is that I dig office supplies. Not just the cute ones but those that serve more than one function. And since I am a Marketing major, I may find my way back to retail real soon, so I write this with love. *giggles* Anyway, I worked at one of the first major office supply companies to arrive in the L.A. area back in the late 80s. I wasn't even old enough to drink but they did

Career Day From Hell

2013-02-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

When I was in school, this was rather limited compared to my friends that went to public school as vocational and trades were given just as much exposure as professional careers. Anyway, I learned some things but like many who went to school in the 80s, something was missing. Even my friends that went to continuation school had it better than this. Courtesy of Hip Hop Wired. For those of you

Writer Watch: More Content Writer Reviews

2013-01-22T15:59:00.004-08:00

Though this article is nearly three years old, it has unbiased (though not as juicy) information about many of the more known content providers. Also, I'd like to thank those who put the word out on my articles. Over the past few weeks, I've noticed that a few culprits(namely those asking for long samples) have stopped advertising for writers. Hopefully, many of us can ban together and give

Writer Watch: Odesk Clients From Hell

2013-01-07T17:21:00.002-08:00

The response has been strong for my last post about content sites. So I decided to bring in the New Year by letting the public know which clients are on record as not having paid for services rendered. In this case, these were writing or marketing jobs. Now here are two things I must make clear. I am human and make mistakes like anyone else. Sometimes this has been reflected in my

Hey Techies Who Freelance and More!

2013-01-07T09:56:00.002-08:00

Here's a post I ran across while going through my LinkedIn groups. Though my computer geek side was never strong enough to make a living at it, I can appreciate what the poster was going through. If you liked the previous post about the different writing content companies, there is more where that came from. Like I mentioned, I had more private clients than reliance on content companies and

Writer Watch: Content Sites Rundown..the Best, Worst and Confusing

2012-12-29T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hellgirl is only here to help! I know there are many who may not remember me from the original Writer Watch page that started on the eHow network. I moved it to the original Work in Hell site where I had a monthly account of freelance clients from hell in full detail. While this year has had more returning clients, I still used content sites to fill in the slow periods. And I also wanted

RIP Jacintha Saldanha

2012-12-07T15:34:00.002-08:00

I wanted to end the title with the regular 'in hell' but this hits too close to home. Since there are constant updates to the States, I won't publicly recall this story about Kate's health care team. Courtesy of Yahoo News. However, it does bring me to a pretty stressful time in my life when I was temping. In the States, there are privacy laws called HIPAA (which stands for the Health

Writer Watch: Why These Content Companies Slay Me

2012-12-04T10:52:00.001-08:00

All you can do is laugh as long as you don't invest too much of your time. Today I got a rejection from ArticleMarketing.com and it was not my first this year but one of the funniest. For one, they request that you send over a 500-word sample. Yeah. Normally, that is enough for me to say forget it and the fact that they want it formatted according to their Style Guide with SEO in mind (5-

Stay Away From Retailers on Turkey Day!

2012-11-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday evening. You've had seconds, maybe thirds of your mother/wife/or really good cook's special dish. And you're enjoying the company of family and/or friends and maybe you've even kicked back a few to celebrate a relatively good year. And as the sun is gone and the moon rises, you decide that it's time to go shopping. Yeah, right. Admit it, these retailers have gone too far!

Demand Media...Have the Chickens Come Home...?

2012-08-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

For anyone that is not familiar, Demand Studios was almost at the top of the content writing food chain as far as opportunities went. Now, I'm not saying that everyone associated was a bad person but their copyeditors left a lot to be desired. Ask anybody who worked for DS from 2008-2010. By 2011, DS began to downsize big time by allegedly going as hard on the copyeditors as they did the

Advertising From Hell

2012-08-30T12:37:00.001-07:00

Although there are many ways to market one's attributes so that they are job-ready, there a few places where most draw the line. They don't want their spouse involved in their job search Though people love to network and let others know that they are looking for work, effective promotion is key So a combination of the first two can compromise a job search but if this is the last of savings (and

Craigslist Hell: Celebrity Edition

2012-08-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

“Father MC has an ad on Craigslist, seeking new artists to rip off. He takes every client for 10 racks and more." Courtesy of HSK. this one-hit wonder from the 90s has had several scams going to fill in the time away from the charts. According to this site, music producer wannabe, professional gigolo and ex-husband to actress Theresa Randle are just some of the alleged titles he's taken on

Friday Freebies: An Early Edition

2012-08-15T18:28:00.002-07:00

Okay, some content company or client from hell has rejected your submission. Don't delete it, re-tool it! Whether you were at fault (mine tends to be grammar) or not, there is something called making your time count. It doesn't matter whether you get upfront or residual payments, it does not make a difference. This also comes in handy when dealing with shady clients. They reject

Wal-Mart Employee Hell 2012

2012-08-14T14:26:00.001-07:00

If you've been enjoying the Olympic games, here's something that hopefully doesn't become a sport - chasing after possible thiefs! Now, I'm not talking about your own storefront, though this is why insurance helps. What I'm speaking of is a Wal-Mart employee who didn't chase after someone on foot - but got behind the wheel of his car and decided to run the youth (who had a change of heart

Who Really Arrives at Work Like This?

2012-07-20T21:33:00.002-07:00

This is the alternate opening scene from Quentin Tarantino's 1997 movie Jackie Brown. It's sort of in a class by itself because it's not as cartoony as his other films but because of the mostly Black cast, this did not receive as much media attention (yep...I said it). When I was updating my other blog, Ol Skool Black Flix, I ran across this and was really happy he did not go with this.

Those Lovely Government Employees

2012-07-14T13:16:00.001-07:00

Recently, my home internet was turned off not long after a major job ended. Things are extra tight and I'm about ready to wave the white flag on things. So off to Starbucks and the library I go for their free internet. Before I found that my Wi-fi piece works OK, I struggled trying to balance client feedback, production and getting more work in less than the 2-hour allotted time.

Writer Watch: An Update/Re-post of Leads

2012-07-14T13:05:00.001-07:00

A lot going on. Where do I start? Okay, I found more leads since one client that seems to never know what they want finally ended the contract. Another one has not paid me since my submission on Monday and I'm tired. Nice guy but he's hurting my wallet big time. In fact, I'm working on another list and here is the listing from the old blog address, courtesy of Entrepreneur Cure.

I'll Take a Knife to the Gut with my Fries...

2012-06-25T15:39:00.004-07:00

Yeah, folks no place is safe anymore. If you're like me and consider Del Taco a slight improvement over Taco Hell, come armed or make your fried fish tacos at home. And if you're not familiar with Southern Cali, this did not take place in L.A. or even San Diego. Hemet is one of those places where most go to retire or just want to get away from the smog - and violence! Courtesy of KTLA news.

Freebie Friday, More Writing Leads

2012-06-23T16:40:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I know it's Saturday and you probably won't get this until Wednesday but anyway...I have a point to make first...or rather, a rant. If a client that you find on any outsourcing site (Elance, oDesk, etc.) has less than 3 stars or below average rating, it is probably for a good reason. I know...DUH! Got burned twice this week. One a-hole on Interact Media wanted a thesis page on vinyl

Writer Watch: Free Leads

2012-06-16T17:29:00.001-07:00

Summer is around the corner and though these were posted on the old site, this may be new to someone out there that is between clients/jobs. Long, long list from Entrepreneur Cure. WalletBoosters Internet Resources