Yesterday, I mentioned that we’d be listing some new projects today. That is still in the works. However, it’s going to take a little longer than expected as we try to find a way to divide the material and to parse all client-provided direction and specifications. Just thought I’d keep everyone in the loop!
–Carson
Just a heads-up. Either later tonight or early tomorrow, we’ll be listing a series of new projects. These will have slightly more specific guidelines than many of the jobs we’ve listed so far, but they will also be paying more.
–Carson
If you’ve completed two or more Ad Astra Traffic projects and would like a reference/testimonial/recommendation, please let us know. We’ll be happy to oblige you!
I know that some elements would like folks to believe that we’re all about exploiting writers for every last penny possible, but we really do want all of our team members to reach their full personal and professional potential. If a LinkedIn recommendation or some other endorsement can help in that regard, we’re ready to provide one.
We’re ready to vouch for the quality of your work and reliability if you’ve completed two or more Ad Astra Traffic projects.
Our recommendations will be honest, accurate assessments based on our interactions with you as part of the Ad Astra team. They won’t be cookie cutter stuff, nor will they make wild claims about the way you saved our puppy from a burning car while simultaneously writing the great American novel.
We’ll be happy to write up a brief recommendation for you. Alternatively, you can always feel free to list us as a reference if you’re in hot pursuit of a gig.
There’s no quid quo pro here, either. If you’d like to give Ad Astra Traffic a thumbs-up or a live link along with our recommendation, that’s great! It’s not required, though.
We’ve been consistently impressed with the overall quality and dedication displayed by our team members and this is one, admittedly small, way of giving back. Don’t hesitate to hit us up if a few kind words might help you build your testimonial list. Just drop us a line at admin.adastratraffic[at]gmail.com or via the contact page.
–Carson
Those of you who’ve completed Ad Astra Traffic jobs have been emailing us with the finished products. While most of you have been sending them to admin.adastratraffic[at]gmail.com, we occasionally receive submissions at our personal email addresses, too. That hasn’t created any problems yet, but it’s not hard to imagine that it could. Plus, we realize that emailing isn’t the most convenient option for team members.
So, next week we’ll be making a change at the project management site. There will be a form team members can use after completing a job that will allow them to upload the materials. We’ll integrate invoicing into the same form.
You’ll be able to send us a bill and to send your work from one easy form.
I’ll let you know when the new system is up and running.
–Carson
I’ve been quiet lately! That’s because I’ve been busy with a number of projects related to my consultancy and because we’ve been actively involved in the promotion of Ad Astra Traffic.
I wanted to take a moment to share some good news with all of you. Last night we started wrapping up negotiations on what could become a substantial, ongoing project. If we’re able to work out the delivery and price details–and I’m relatively sure that will happen, you can look forward to more Ad Astra Traffic jobs than ever. That arrangement would kick off within the next two weeks. The quality bar for these projects will be set high, but they’ll pay substantially more than most of the work we’ve had in the system during our first few weeks.
Meanwhile, one of our existing clients has announced his intentions to significantly increase the amount of work placed in our hands.
We’re approaching our one-month anniversary and it looks like things should be heating up, as planned. Of course, I’ll keep everyone posted as we finalize these deals and announce new jobs.
In the meantime, Ad Astra team members supplied us with over 25 additional articles over the past few days. I’m continually impressed with the punctuality and the quality of work delivered.
That’s all for now! Time to get back to work!
–Carson
Businesses like ours are often criticized for exploiting writers. We take your work, the client gets the rights to the work and you don’t make the big bucks on each and every article you write. If you believe the naysayers, we’re all about skimming a fortune off the top while we crack the whip across your back.
Trust me, I’d love to pay everyone a small fortune for every single thing they do as part of the Ad Astra team. I really would. Right now, we’re primarily dealing with lower-paying projects, though. That’s reality at the moment.
We’re making every effort to move up the pay ladder and to secure more lucrative work for our team members, but that isn’t a “snap your fingers and retire to Tahiti” proposition. As we build sample materials, a client base, positive reactions from clients and exposure, we hope that we’ll have a nice assortment of higher paying jobs. Remember, we’re only three weeks into this!
In the meantime, I can assure you of a few things. First, the percentage of payment that we collect on the administrative end before paying writers is considerably lower than you’ll find elsewhere. Second, both Diane and I have spent plenty of time in the trenches working on projects like the ones we’ve been offering. We’re not interested in exploiting anyone and want to do our very best to provide a quality, profitable experience to team members.
In that spirit, we’re working on a few added benefits for those who participate in Ad Astra projects.
Part of that will involve freely and happily offering LinkedIn recommendations, testimonials, etc. for writers who’ve successfully completed at least a few projects. I know that the critics believe we’d like to keep you locked up in a basement, slaving away as we prosper, but we really do want everyone involved with Ad Astra Traffic to reach their personal and professional goals. If a solid, detailed recommendation helps you in that regard, it’ll be available to you.
We’re working out the details of how we’ll handle those requests right now and should have something put together within the next week or so.
We’re also working on a different website-based plan that will showcase individual team members to their benefit. I’m sorting through a number of options with respect to this idea, which has been percolating in my noggin for awhile now. I’ll provide details as we reach conclusions.
I’d like to invite ALL of you to share what, if anything, we can offer our team members to add value to working with Ad Astra Traffic. If you have any ideas, let ‘er rip! The comments for this thread are open and you can always drop us a line via the contact form.
–Carson
As you can probably guess, many of our clients book orders intending to use the final product in their article marketing efforts.
The undisputed champ of article directories is EzineArticles.com. While there are over 1,000 other article directory options, nothing delivers traffic like EzineArticles.
Recently, EzineArticles announced plans to raise their editorial bar. They expressed a preference for longer, meatier articles and promised to crack down on “thin” content.
For better or worse, many marketers rely on EzineArticles as a component of their overall business plan. As such, this policy change has worried more than a few of them who may have been on the borderline when it came to submitting quality articles. It should have some of them even more concerned about the freelancers they’ve been using. It doesn’t take an investigative journalist to discover that MANY of the articles that have been approved in the past wouldn’t pass muster today.
We see this as a potential opportunity to provide clients with a measure of security that comes with quality writing. If one of our clients expresses an intention of submitting the material to EzineArticles, we’ll guarantee approval (contingent upon the submitter following all other non-article requirements).
Pricing for those jobs will reflect the guarantee policy and those projects will be labeled accordingly at the project management site.
You can read more about this addition at the main Ad Astra Traffic site.
You may also want to look at our standard guarantee policy. We put a great deal of faith in our team members to do things the right way, and that’s reflected in what I believe to be an unrivaled set of assurances.
We can make an offer like that because our team members are talented, ethical and reliable. I’ve personally looked at every piece of content we’ve produced since our first pre-launch project and have ran every page through CopyScape and other “originality checkers.” Outside of a few “on the fly edits,” I’ve found very little need to tinker with our product.
So, thanks again for your great work. It’s enabling Ad Astra Traffic to do things the right way–and to market an exceptional service on that basis.
Here’s last week’s update (yeah, it’s a few days behind schedule, but I decided Sundays were a good day to do these).
We wrapped up a large multi-part project. Overall, at least ten different team members contributed to the production of 230 different articles and blog posts. We had a few people who bumped right up against the deadline. However, the whole affair never had us rattled. Instead, I walked away from the experience very happy and extremely excited about the future of Ad Astra Traffic. Here’s why…
Communication was excellent. The people who didn’t have their work done days in advance kept us posted regarding progress and were quick to respond to inquiries. It would be easy to panic 24 hours out from a deadline with more than 100 outstanding pieces, but we didn’t even break a sweat. We knew what was happening and when to expect delivery. We also learned that the new “live chat” feature on the project management site can be a powerful resource when the clock is ticking.
Efforts were impressive. When you have a large job involving many people, it’s only natural to expect a few problems here and there. Life happens. On this go-around, we had team members dealing with some very difficult situations. I’m not talking about “the dog ate my articles” stuff here. There were very real family and personal health issues in play as well as some other situations that could’ve easily derailed some of the work. Our team members didn’t make excuses and they didn’t bail out on their work. We did need to reassign one job but we had fair warning and the person involved was confronting a situation that warranted the move. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with the perseverance and commitment demonstrated by everyone.
Quality was amazing. Our team members have consistently produced absolutely fantastic work product. This week was no exception. There’s nothing better than checking articles as I run them through CopyScape and being blown away by just how good they are. I don’t think that’s something everyone in this line of work can say and I’m really proud of that.
In terms of additional projects… I just listed and assigned a WordPress theme modification job and I know of at least two small article jobs that should go live tomorrow. We’ve been in fruitful discussions with one client who plans on placing new orders this week and a few others who are devising future orders. Meanwhile, outreach efforts continue and we hope to make November an incredibly busy month for many of you.
You may be aware that the leading article directory, EzineArticles.com, has tightened their editorial standards for article submissions. EzineArticles is the major player in their field, and the change has many Internet marketers a little worried. Last week, I announced a willingness to guarantee that all Ad Astra Traffic articles labeled as potential EzineArticles submissions will be approved. Rates will be negotiated accordingly, and those who plan on using our material for article marketing can place orders without worrying that they may not get what they need. I’ll probably issue a longer post on this topic later in the week.
We’re kicking around a few ideas about ways we can offer something extra to our team members. If things go as planned, we may have a few announcements about these benefits within the next few weeks.
Well, we’ve been in official operation for two weeks now. Overall, I’m thrilled with the results and expect things to continue to improve! Keep your eyes peeled for new projects and thanks again for your hard work and willingness to share your talents.
–Carson
Last week we announced a little contest for those who’ve completed an Ad Astra project. Anyone who wrote a post describing their experience as an Ad Astra Traffic team member was eligible to win a free t-shirt.
Debra B. is the winner!
Debra, if you happen to see this before I email you, drop me a line–I need to know what size you’d like and where to send the shirt!
–Carson
I just finished paying all outstanding invoices.
With all of the rush jobs this weekend and the other new projects, sorting everything out was a little more involved than usual.
If I missed your payment, please email right away so that we can pay you!
NOTE: Remember–there is a handy-dandy form accessible from the project management site that will allow you to invoice us after turning in a job. That form makes an oversight virtually impossible.
–Carson