Yes, I am a card-carrying member of the Psychic Friends Network, so I know what you are thinking…
You got this email about your reservation, but it also mentioned something about stretching and taking a shower. You are a little perplexed. You have already showered for the day, and you don't particularly feel like stretching at the moment. You really just want to write your post and submit it to SocialSpark...but you are a bit confused.
Well, let me wipe off my crystal ball and try to make things a little clearer for you all. Once you receive the reservation confirmation email (the one about taking showers and stretching, haha) you have 12 hours to write and submit your post.
Please note, your 12 hour window begins when the email was sent to you, not when you read the email. So be sure to notice the time the email was originally sent out. Once you have read your confirmation email, you should login to SocialSpark and make your way to the Marketplace.
Once you are in the Marketplace be sure to find the opp you have the reservation for, and click on "view this opp". From the opp information screen, there should be a yellow Tools box at the right of the screen that says "opportunity reserved".
Click on that and it should take you to the submission page. Here you will be able to review all the requirements of the opp and reread what the advertiser is requesting.
Please be sure to visit the advertiser website to make yourself familiar with the company before you write your post. Also, be sure to include the links that are required by the advertiser, exactly as the opp states. It is easiest to copy and paste the link directly from this page, that way you can prevent any accidental mistakes.
Now, go ahead and write your post. Or take a shower and stretch a few times if you wish. But, after all that be sure to write your post. After you have written your post, make your way back to the SocialSpark Marketplace. And now it is time to fill out all the information and click "verify post". This will send your post directly to Customer Love for review!
***A suggestion that you may wish to listen to: When you reserve an opp, I suggest that you go ahead and write your post and then save it in "draft" mode. This way when you finally do get the infamous shower email you can just proceed directly to the opp submission page. Just a little hint.***
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Comments (RSS)
Colleen said...
"When you reserve an opp, I suggest that you go ahead and write your post and then save it in "draft" mode."
I can't imagine having the free time to write opps you MAY end up getting a reservation for. There are plenty that I am queued for that I still have not been given a slot for. There are plenty that I am waiting for a slot for that had a price of $20+ when I reserved them, but when my reservation is finally created, the opp may only be paying $5.50, in which case I'm not interested. (Unless it's really truly a one of a kind OHMYGOD I love this opp kind of thing!)
To suggest that people write opps in advance of getting their slot is a recipe for frustration.
May 16, 2008 4:06:25 PM
Cass said...
Write a post for an opp we may or may not get? That would be no.
May 16, 2008 6:11:19 PM
Lisa Marie Mary said...
I don't think I'm up for that. I've had enough that I didn't get paid for with that other company that has you write the posts prior to acceptance. The 'if' and 'maybe' thing just isn't very appealing.
May 16, 2008 6:31:48 PM
alli said...
I'm not a fan of writing drafts of posts I might get paid for. Like Colleen said, there are plenty of opps I have been put into the queue for and never heard about again. I don't have that kind of time. I'm already frustrated with the reservation time being twelve hours. Putting time in for something I may or may not get is even more frustrating.
May 16, 2008 7:17:33 PM
Loretta said...
With as many as I've requested a slot for and that are now closed without me getting a slot ..... um, yeah, what they all said.
May 16, 2008 7:21:28 PM
suni said...
Never been a big fan of "if" "then" statements .. can't say it thrills me here. I have had the same experience as Colleen with the whole waiting period, find out it's not worth your time in the end. Definitely not writing anything up so that I can say no to it days later.
May 16, 2008 7:59:35 PM
Aahz said...
Considering how often it has been a struggle to get paid for opps that I DID get a reservation for I'll have to agree with EVERYONE commenting above. There's a reason that's unanimous, guys.
One of them has had a total of 12 "responses" in its ticket thread and at least 3 employees working on it, but is still not resolved. The other has been in ticket limbo without response for more than 24 hours now, despite my 12 hour reservation window having long closed at this point.
If we wanted to spend the time and energy to write about these companies for free we would go ahead and do that without IZEA.
May 16, 2008 8:22:50 PM
Jody said...
Gotta agree with everyone else on the writing before you get the opp. I can go a week or more without getting an opp from SS- even though I apply for opps daily. Not a chance of me writing it in advance "in case". And I'm with Colleen about not taking opps if they drop $$ significantly between applying and receiving.
May 17, 2008 7:50:35 AM
chel said...
I wish SocialSpark's system is the same as with PPP so it would be easier...PPP is more challenging...I don't have to wait for slots...
May 17, 2008 8:10:42 AM
Wesley Chan said...
I wish they keep social spark as it is and keep their plans the same. I love social spark, well yes it might take some time of getting used to it but it is like a share market. Once you get the trend, your happy and your making lots of money. Just stick with it and figure it all out and you'll be fine.
You might be thinking "well, IZEA should make more documentation then." Well its kinda impossible as it is a BETA where everything changes. The documentation would be a pain to update all the time and it would probably become a big mess.
Bottome line, Social spark is pure gold, keep it up IZEA!
May 17, 2008 9:06:47 AM
RealityTVFan said...
I have to agree with the others about drafting the posts, personally choice of course but I don't think it's a good idea to recommend it to those unfamiliar with SocialSpark.
Aside from the fact that just because you are in a queue doesn't necessarily mean you'll ever get to take the opp...as someone else mentioned the price fluctuates...so an opp you reserve at $20, might come to you at $5.50 and is no longer what you consider a fair price for the work.
Good post overall though, just that last little comment that is not good advise imho :)
May 17, 2008 10:08:51 AM
MacBros said...
They should include a quick link to the opp in the e-mail/message when you get a reservation to do an opp.
It would save some time getting/finding the opp when you finally get the chance to write about it.
I'm with Colleen also. I also suggest making the 12 hour window a 24 hour window.
May 17, 2008 3:46:09 PM
Hillbilly Willy said...
Willy says - what is all the whining about. Willy likes the idea that most Opsp come out after 11:00 PM and Willy is in bed. Well that means if Willy wants to get the thing done in 12 hours he has to get up real early and do it before work. Oh well thats ok. Willy doesnt like to Shower and eat breakfast anyway.
But Willy sees the solution. Willy is going to write up drafts for the 17 opportunities that he has pending along with completing 2 videos that Willy may have a chance at.
This way Willy can spend all of his awake hours getting everything ready just in case he gets that email at midnight that says he has until noon the next day to get this opportunity done.
This is because Willy likes to make the $5.50 that it finally ends up at even though it said it was $27.50 when Willy reserved it.
Come on IZEA or SocialSpark or somebody! Lets get this act together. Somehow something that was going to be the salvation of all of us has just turned into a nightmare.
10-4 Willy
May 17, 2008 4:20:20 PM
Crystal said...
Erm.. I received that Email about reserved post. But then like the above shown when I go and view the post I am suppose to see "opportunity reserved" but I don't see anything. Does that mean I still don't get that opportunity to write that post?
I am confused
May 17, 2008 5:12:26 PM
PJ said...
Crystal, that means that the time ran out. I've had that happen to me while I was submitting a post. I started writing while it was reserved (like everyone else, I don't waste time writing posts ahead of time), and SS took so long to submit the post that my reservation ran out. So I ended up wasting time anyway. I had to go reserve a new spot but at least I have the draft ready this time. *sigh*
May 17, 2008 5:21:44 PM
Crystal said...
Swt.... Now I know. But by the time I read that already too late...
May 17, 2008 6:32:11 PM
Imelda said...
I had the same entiment about SS when i first joined it, confused on how to go about it, didnt know if i already had taken the opp or not, however things went fine after that. I can earn in SS comfortably as i only have to wait for their assigned opp. Plus i get to choose my opp in SS, too. Comfy, isnt it?
May 20, 2008 7:11:06 AM
Laane said...
Well, let's be straightforward: I don't like this part of the system.
It's like being on wake duty as a nurse.
Right now I'm waiting for 4 days!!! for an opportunity which will pay me $5.50, and I might not even have the chance to write it.
I'm sorry, but it feels like I'm played with.
Living in another time zone means that I either have to stay up unreasonably late, or have just a short time available to write.
I hope the evaluation makes clear that this feature has to go.
We're here puppets on a string.
May 22, 2008 7:17:10 PM
whataslacker said...
why not make it easy and just put a link to the op in that message?????
why make us go through all those steps of going to the ops, search to find the one we want on page 90 out of 200?
Why make is so hard for us to help you make money?
Jun 1, 2008 12:58:44 AM