Gurgaon-based online content marketplace Contentmart achieves traction of 16,000 writers and 20,000 clients in less than a year
Born in Simferopol, Ukraine, Anton Rublevskyy had an urge to become an entrepreneur when he was 16. He had launched two companies (which were into mobile phones and accessories) in Ukraine and sold them while they were already climbing their success ladder.
Anton launched another website in automobile space (which is still live), but was not satisfied with the growth metrics in Ukraine. However, the growth and success of the automobile market in India sparked his interest in this sector. In 2013, Anton landed in India and launched autoportal.com and bikeportal.in.
Amidst the hustle bustle of entrepreneurial activities, the desire to build an online content marketplace has always been revolving around him. In August 2015, 29-year-old Anton founded Contentmart, a platform that connects verified copywriters and clients from India and worldwide.
During his stint in Ukraine, Anton tried few similar and analogous content platforms to outsource content. While doing so, he noticed that this is an effective model to avail content services. Moreover, the desire to make a successful digital presence of business fuel the demand for high quality and engaging content in the past few years.
In February 2016, Anton was accompanied by Vikas Trivedi who is now the Business Head of Contentmart. Before Contentmart, Vikas was heading the marketing department for Autoportal.com and Bikeportal.in.
Looking for freelance writer
Anyone who is looking for content can register themselves as a client and can post their order in Contentmart. They will then receive bids and can assign the order to desired writer after they recharge their wallet. Once the client awards any order to the writer, the payable amount for that order from a client's wallet gets blocked.
However, to assure that the quality content is delivered to the client, the payment is only released to the writer's account when the client accepts the given content, making content buying hassle free while helping writers to make money. Every copywriter has to pass the mandatory English test, while many of them qualify 15 more language tests on request.
Running on Amazon Web Services, Contentmart website has been enhanced by leveraging PHP, MySQL, Nginx, and Symfony framework.
Contentmart has so far successfully completed more than 5,000 orders, about 16,000 registered writers and more than 20,000 clients subscription.
“Currently, we are not charging any registration fee or commission from content buyers for using our platform. However, we are charging 10 per cent commission from writers, since they get business through Contentmart.com,” says Vikas, who brings 10 years of experience in Digital Marketing. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Jiwaji University, Gwalior, and an MCA degree from Rajeev Gandhi Technical University, Bhopal.
Content in multiple languages
Contentmart is currently open for Indian writers and has seen a good traction of women writers (especially housewives). But the platform will soon welcome international writers and editors to participate and earn money.
The startup has a team of 40 people spread across Gurgaon and Kiev, Ukraine. Though they are restricted to only Indian writers, they are available globally for content buyers.
In the next few months, Contentmart will allow users to order content in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, and Gujarati. It will also provide the option of ordering infographics, translation services and hand-picked writers as per the requirements – high quality, well researched, technical content.
“For 2016, our prime focus is to help startups, big brands, and E-commerce companies with an instant access to huge number of qualified and skilled multilingual writers,” says Vikas.
Freelancing market at a glance
According to a report by The Payoneer, freelancers in India charge an average of $19 per hour, which is $2 less than what other freelancers are earning globally. The freelance market in India is predominantly dominated by male professionals who cover more than 78 per cent of the market as compared to female, which accounts for only 22 per cent.
The worldwide income satisfaction level of freelancers is 46 per cent, while freelancers who work in the field of Writing and Translation have the lowest level of income satisfaction. Nearly, 46 per cent of freelancers find jobs via online marketplaces. Freelancers in their 20s and 30s constitutes 85 per cent of the total freelancers.
Players like Lexiconn, Writerbay, Indian freelance writers, WorknHire, Lekhaka are riding high on the growth opportunities of freelancing market in India. The availability of these platforms has brought a sigh of relief in the life of freelance professionals who struggled to find the reliable source of earning.