Update 12/10/12
iWriter is out again for guys using mobile ISPs (Safaricom, Orange, Airtel, Yu modems). I hope you are all implementing the lessons below that I wrote after the last interruption.
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Finally, iWriter is back in Kenya. It has been a long weekend for Kenyans as we were not able to access it due to the recent iWriter ban. There was a collective effort from different followers on this blog to get it back; from sending mails to the iWriter support, to Brad Callen’s post in Warrior Forum. At the end of the day, the site is now fully functional for most Kenyans. We don’t know if there will be another iWriter ban in future.
Unfortunately, not everyone is out of the loop. According to Brad, “It also does not relate to how talented a writer is (i.e. their rating). It has entirely to do with the IP class their account is associated with. If a writer’s account is blocked, they can thank a scammer in their area for this.” Therefore, there are still a few Kenyans who will not be able to access the account due to the fact that there are scammers in their IP class.
A few lessons learned:
1. Writers need to diversify and spread their wings to other sites so that they are not affected by a problem in any other website
2. Try out developing your own writing business where you don’t have to rely on article writing websites but where clients come straight to you
3. Always try to do the right thing and follow the required guidelines in article writing websites to prevent a personal ban or a ban on others in your area
4. Strive to always deliver quality content. Nothing can get you out of an article writing website more than poor content, no matter what else you do.
5. When united for a just and right cause, most of the time you will succeed.
6. We may need our own freelancing website
7. Always use the proper avenues and proper language to vent. Trying out bad publicity will only ruin your personal image
Bottom Line
Kenya has some of the best writers in the world. There are numerous opportunities out there. Always remain ethical in whatever you do. If writing is your passion, there is no limit to what you can do. No stumbling block should put you down. Stay positive and optimistic always! Whether or not iWriter is back for you, start implementing these lessons and all will be well with you.
As usual, feel free to share this post with your friends using the social buttons below. Is iWriter back for you? Do you have suggestions on other article writing sites like iWriter? Feel free to drop your comments below.
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- iWriter Suspends Kenya (freelancerkenya.wordpress.com)
- iWriter.com Review – The Best Article Writing Website Part 1 (freelancerkenya.wordpress.com)
i am using an orange modem. i have a problem with logging in my iwriter account.how do i go about this?
Hi Kimutai,
You may have to change to Airtel for the best experience.
Thanks.
Hi guys,
I can see we are many suffering from iwriter’s block. I contacted them and this is what they had to say:
“Hello, I’m very sorry but the class IP range that you are logging in from has at least 1 reported spammer associated with that range. Because of this, the IP range has been permanently blocked from iWriter. In order to protect our customers, this block must be put into place. Again, I’m very sorry.”
I do get the the error code 403 forbidden when I try to log in. The easiest thing I do when that happens is I delete cookies and cache then restart the machine. Voila! then its back again. I do it every time that error thing comes up. That works for now.
I am using a Safaricom modem.
In reference to other writing sites, let me list a few including those that pay in pounds and euros: mytypist.net, greatcontent.co.uk, odesk, elance, peopleperhour, constant content, associated content, guru, scriptlance, freelancewriting.com, vworker, clickworker, suite101, hubpages, squidoo and many many more.
Hope this helps.
iWriter’s block! Great way of putting it :). Thanks a lot Lucy for the great information. I am sure you have helped many 🙂
I just started on iwriter this month and stumbled upon this site. I couldn’t help but add to what Lucy is explaining about accessing iwriter by simply clearing cookies.I also found out that it is only possible to access the website with Opera browser while using orange modems, but you still have to clear cookies when the forbidden error starts showing up. Otherwise, if anyone tries accessing iwriter without any luck, there are ways to mas your ip address.
Thanks Jane for your input. I’m glad that that method works great for you.
Hello cza,.i use jtl and no prob with it. my worry tough is on the number of projects that are on my board..am a premium writer and lately the most number of job goes to 3 pages..are u experiencing this too?
Drive,
That’s really strange. I would assume that with Kenya and other countries out, there would be even more jobs.
Anyway, take advantage of the fact that you can access.
The accounts have not been suspended. What they have done is to bar access to the accounts by banning IP addresses for Mobile ISPs in Kenya. There are several ways to circumvent this blockade including the use of purchased IP addresses from USA, UK etc. The easier way out is to visit a cyber which is powered by ISPs who are using the ADSL (fixed lines telephone lines) routers. I use a Livebox from Orange and I can access my account.
Thanks cza for your useful comment. I hope others can also access it via ADSL. I always advise guys to check out other sites to avoid dependency and such frustrations.
Is it only me or can any one else not access iWriter??
Most guys can’t. Seems like there is another problem. I hope you are active in other freelancing websites.
We were never in the clear guys, its a classic technique to avoid their brand getting tarnished. They were planning to block kenya from the start but the outcry by writers wouldve dented their reputation so they silently started blocking kidogo kidogo. same way a company fires afew workers a month instead of many at once to avoid lawsuits
There a lot of writing gigs out there that are yet to be known by kenyans but I tell you there is one that pays 24 usd per 500 words and for now iwriter situation is permanent after i contacted the support they told me there is nothing they can do
I am also noticing Airtel is not working. As of last week, all ISPs could access, including Safaricom.
Tony, 24 USD per 500 words, seems too good to be true. Anyway, as always everyone can feel free to contact other readers for work at their own risk.
I hope the iWriter problem is temporary.
wame block orange safcom and airtel i have another one can share info with anyone for a fee work is ther no hustle applying pay is 24 usd per 500 words not complicated articles same as iwriter
Indeed this sounds too good to be true. Why dont you share this info?
they are at it again. wamefunga orange ..ama its just me n my neigbhour?
Kenyans we have to get serious. many people all over the world have been making money writing for many year even from sites like iwriter.its high time those people who do not want to get tired just left the sites alone.it is not fair for all Kenyans to suffer because of a few scammers who deliver poor quality content and give themselves extra ratings.remember that this is our job and we must take it seriously.as long as writing is a passion,some people make income entirely by writing.guys it will help your iwriter if you change your server from safaricom to one of the others.
Evelyne,
Thanks a lot for your comment and concerns. Yes, we should all make our living honestly. We had also established that it doesn’t work with Safaricom in Kenya but the rest are fine. You can see the discussion in my other post:
http://freelancerkenya.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/iwriter-suspends-kenya/
Happy writing Evelyne!
Its back again though I haven’t changed my service provider. Hope this time round it will like this without interference. Thanks guys.
Happy for you kims. All the best 🙂
Am I the only one or the site has again been blocked?
Hey Kims,
It’s still working. Have you changed anything e.g. your internet service?
I changed from Safcom to Airtel and now can connect to iWriter without a problem. Safcom IPs are the problem. You must change if you want to work with iWriter man, no doubt about that. Hope you succeed!
Yeah Kims. I hope to see every legit writer back to writing. Thanks Benleem for the update.
Hope this find all of you well and healthy. Is anyone having trouble logging in into their iWriter accounts?
Hello,
Yeah, there are some people having problems. Check out the comments section of this other article and see what people have been doing about that:
http://freelancerkenya.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/iwriter-suspends-kenya/
All the best
Textbroker uk is somehow complicated, they pay in pounds not dollars!; withdrawing pounds from paypal the ‘kenyan way’ is not possible; have been working there the past few months; their job posts for people in the lower tier i.e 2 and 3( this is where a majority of writers are positioned after their sample articles are reviewed) are literally empty!. If you are lucky, you will find an assignment after constantly logging in for over one week. Anyway, i stand to be corrected
Thanks for the info about Textbroker. Anyone else please keep us posted with your experience. How do you withdraw from it?
Hi there, there is a way you can withdraw from paypal while in Kenya. Its a kaprocess but once you get it then you will be good to go. You get the money either to another paypal account, moneybookers or mpesa, zap and the likes at a fee of course.
Hi Lucy,
Thanks for your comment.
Kindly check the link below. I have found the two ways to work very efficiently and securely:
https://freelancerkenya.com/going-about-paypal/how-to-withdraw-money-from-paypal-in-kenya/
It is not working for me yet; quite sad since i was instrumental in moblizing individuals to post in certain forums; maybe i was the sacrificial lamb:(
Sorry Stv,
Don’t give up on it as you are trying other options. May I ask, if you are comfortable revealing, what is your ranking? Are you premium, standard or elite?
Other writers are saying that after sometime theirs came back.
Guys, try textbroker.co.uk. Its similar to iwriter.com but they will need you to submit a sample article first before approving your account. Its only disadvantage is that work is scanty but they pay well (in euros!)
by the way, Walter, thanks a bunch for the information you offer freely. Others would charge for it. I truly appreciate your kindness.
Most welcome Elodie 🙂
May God bless you
Hi, i started on iWriter recently. When i noticed that i was not getting through to them during the weekend, i thought it was some technical hitch. It really through me when i came back to this site only to discover that the entire nation had been blocked. It is so frustrating to finally get thru to a site and start making money- only for it to collapse after you have started. iWriter is so convenient for me. I’d like to ask- if the country was blocked before i withdrew the funds i already have in my account, would i be able to withdraw them? Do you know of any other sites that are like iWriter- in that they make it so easy to just jump in and start- no many examinations or stuff like that? I have heard about UVOCORP, ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS etc. but i hear one has to have considerable amounts of money to purchase such accounts from someone else because applying for one is so hard. What do you think?
Hi Elodie,
Yes, you’d be able to withdraw the cash during the ban. According to support, they would send you the money on your next payment schedule.
Other sites – iWriter is unique in the way it operates. Personally I don’t know any other site like iWriter. You can try out Fiverr though it operates differently. Also check out the other sites in the article:
http://freelancerkenya.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/4-surefire-tips-for-securing-your-online-writing-business/
The sites given there are not exactly the same but you can get similar revenues if you go through. Try as many as possible and you’ll definitely land on something.
And I thought am the only one who has not yet received the payments from iwriter..Keep us posted
has anyone been paid today? i see my bal is 0 in the iwriter acnt but yet to show up in my paypal acnt
It may take sometime but will get there. Give at least 12 hours and then contact support if not. Keep us posted.
Yes we can, with the right focus. Thank you Walter for this idea.
It’s great associating with like-minded people. United we stand, divided we fall. I agree to the fact that we have to look at the bigger picture and start something noble coz we can. I am sure that soon we will.
Thanks a lot Simon. Great ideas normally come before the finances. We have the idea, the rest will follow 🙂
Indeed it is vital to diversify now more than ever. Our own freelancing website would be a great idea! Then one day we can look back at all this and see where we came from.
Thanks a lot writermsa. I can’t wait for us to get there.
Thank you for this post Walter, I am particularly concerned about the idea of coming up with pour own freelancing site. I think we have what it takes to come up with one taking into consideration the fact that Kenya has the best writers. There are so many potential clients all over the world who would love to have their content write but lack the right platform We can if we focus.
You are most welcome Susan. Let’s continue exploring this idea and see how we can take action. I know there are two things that will be very important:
1. Finances 2. Technical know-how
All we need is just for someone to start. Other websites can learn from any mistakes of the first one and keep improving. At the end of the day, we can have something that is fully customized for our writers needs and others in Africa.