I don’t like to brag, but I will make an exception for this article. I am always caught off guard when someone asks me what I do for a living. As one of only a handful of professional Wikipedia editors, many people don’t understand what a Wikipedia writing service does. Most people only understand Wikipedia as a website that is edited by unpaid volunteers. I used to explain to them how I operate and make a living from editing Wikipedia, but now I just tell them I make money editing Wikipedia and sit back and watch as their eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. It wasn’t until recently that I had time to sit back and reflect on how my current profession fell into my lap.
From freelancer to professional Wikipedia writer:
I used to edit Wikipedia as a volunteer editor. It was fun, people were friendly, and it was a great way to occupy my free time. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I ran across an ad for someone looking to hire a Wikipedia writing service to help with an article. I responded to the ad as I was just starting to get into freelancing and was familiar with how Wikipedia code is written. What I was not familiar with was how much paid editing was hated by other Wikipedia editors. The project took me 3 hours to complete and I was compensated $50. I had been on a “Wiki-break” from the website for a year or so and didn’t really pay attention to the changes that were taking place. I soon found out that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore when I returned to do the project.
The edits that I did were reverted after a short time. I was angry and frustrated and came face to face with my first administrator who deleted my “masterpiece.” Upset, I filed a complaint with other administrators who quickly jumped all over me for even considering filing a complaint against one of their own. It was at that time that I learned 3 very important lessons that have helped me expand my business into what it is today.
- I could make money doing something that was basically a hobby.
- In order to do so, I had to play by the rules set out by bureaucrat editors who interpret guidelines to mean anything they want.
- I had to actually learn the rules and guidelines that have been established by these bureaucrats over the years.
Paid Wikipedia editor vs. professional Wikipedia editor:
From day one, I took on any Wikipedia assignment that I could get my hands on. I understood Wikipedia guidelines, but did not realize how much they had changed and how stringent the standards for article creation had become. After the first few months of editing any article that people commissioned, I decided that there was only one way to survive in the Wikipedia writing service business….only create articles and make edits that met Wikipedia guidelines.
What separates a professional Wikipedia editor from a paid Wikipedia editor is simple. A paid Wikipedia editor will take any job for pay, regardless of the topic, the likelihood of the article not being deleted, or any guidelines that could stand in their way. They will put anything into a Wikipedia article if that is what their client wants, regardless of what consensus by Wikipedia editors has determined should go into an article. They are quick to delete negative content simply because it is negative, and quick to write an article with promotional tone just because that is what the client wants. A professional editor is different.
A professional editor operates more like an attorney. They advise their client on the guidelines of Wikipedia during the entire article creation process. I have many clients who request that I remove negative information from their articles. Depending on the circumstances, I can; however, there are many times that I cannot. As a professional editor, I advise them the best way to take on the information. The majority of the time is to make sure that the negative information is worded based on what the reference says, and does not include additional information that someone attempts to surmise from the source. In addition, I make sure that it is included in the correct section of the article, and the appropriate weight is given to it (e.g., minor incidents of negative information should not take up an entire article). So while you can choose any Wikipedia writing service, it is best to choose a “professional editor” over a “paid editor.”
In the end, a person working with a professional editor will end up with a great article in the end. Someone who works with a paid editor will end up with a page, but will more than likely be contacting me in the future to save it from deletion or clean up the tags after the paid editor that they hired botched the job.
by Michael Wood – Michael Wood is an online marketing expert and owner of Legalmorning.com. He specializes in reputation and brand management, article writing, and professional Wikipedia editing. He is an expert Wikipedia editor and has helped hundreds of businesses and people post their articles to the site where they have otherwise failed. He is a regular contributor to many online publications including AllBusiness Experts, Yahoo, Business Insider, Business2Community, and Social Media Today.
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