Build Your Writing Portfolio with Patch (+Perks!)

Full Review of Patch.com

Patch.com is a great resource for anyone who enjoys writing and making money, especially if you also have working knowledge of how to do some video photography. I firmly believe that this is a site that all work at home professionals should be acquainted with.

The New York City based company isn’t run by a group of internet experts like most online businesses that use freelance contractors. The individuals who keep Patch.com running smoothly are people just like you. During their professional lives they’ve been photographers, sales staff, editors, writers, and even film experts. They all got together and created what would become an online newspaper which has gone on to create some great opportunities for work at home contractors.

One of the things that makes Patch.com different from other online newspapers is that, even though it enjoys national coverage, it also features local news. It zeroes in on communities using zip codes and local freelancers can provide content about their community, including jobs, real estate, and local businesses. If you want to get a discussion going about something happening in your area, Patch has a Conversations section that makes it easy for you to do so. Since Patch is active on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, you can use the work you do for the website to make new connections that could turn into income-earning opportunities. (See my post, Online Writing Jobs to see more great ideas for work from home writing gigs.)

Payments

The one downside to Patch.com is that it can be difficult to access how much you’ll earn from the site. At the moment, Patch has set things up so that the pay depends on the location you’re reporting about and the type of assignment you’ve completed. It seems like Patch's main form of payment now is in “exposure”. Getting your piece seen by as many readers as possible. There are other perks as well – but actual cash payments seem to be few and far between if they exist at all anymore.

According to their site – here's what you CAN expect as a Contributor:

Here's what you get when you post on Patch as a contributing writer:

* A personal Patch login so you can post directly to the site
* Promotion on local Patch homepages and in daily newsletters
* Shares on Patch Facebook and Twitter pages, now numbering more than 2 million fans
* The chance to be featured nationally each month as a stellar local contributing writer
* A direct line to the Patch headquarters so we can help get your stories seen
* Free swag so you can wear it around town and spread the word that you write on Patch

What I like About Patch.com

Even though I think everyone should create a Patch.com account and look into various ways they can contribute to the site, I don’t think you should count on it as your main income stream. What I like about Patch is that it allows you to not only showcase your writing, but since most of what you’ll report will be local, you’ll be able to use Patch.com to help you make some connections to local businesses people who might than hire you to do things like write up press releases and create high-quality content for their websites.

Getting the Most out of Patch.com

Since the literal financial compensation you receive from Patch probably won’t be much, you need to make the site work for you. Posting high quality, relevant pieces will generate a high number of views, which could increase the amount of money you make with your next piece. You should also make sure that you include links to all of your Patch articles each time send your resume to a potential client.

Since Patch has low pay rates, you should only do work for the site when your other avenues of earning money have temporarily slowed down. Signing up as a Contributor is easy, for more info go here.