Content mills seem to receive a bad rap. These are companies like Demand Studios who pay $15 - $20 per post; they've added a travel writing section. It could be good money when you're starting out at as a writer. What do you think? Are content mills worth the time and effort?
What are your thoughts on content mills?
(8 posts) (6 voices)
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This is a great question, especially for writers just starting out. Based on my experience, sites like Suite101,Demand Studio and any other site soliciting that you provide nearly free content with the promise of a big payout later is not the route to go. These sites would be useful if you could recycle content used elsewhere in order build an audience. However, they require that posts haven't been previously published and stipulate that they can't be used elsewhere for at least a year. I found that the readers these sites attracted didn't drive substantial traffic to my own blog.
In short, these sites are really like working on contract with very little renumeration. When you have limited time, especially as a part time freelancer, there is simply no ROI (return on investment). I recommend establishing your own blog and networking through other similar blogs via comments and links to your own posts.
Posted 5 months ago # -
For the most part I agree with Steve - I think you're far better off to focus on building your own blog, and it's audience, with the end goal of earning revenue from your blog that would outperform a $15 - $20 per post fee......
However, all that being said, those sites are not much different that article syndication sites such as EzineArticles, except that they're paying you for the article, so I think if you can write something that is decent enough content to make them happy while still driving SOME traffic to your site, it can be worth investing a small amount of your spare time.
I haven't dug in enough to find out if they offer an author resource box like EzineArticles and most other article syndication sites, which would help readers find your site, but maybe Rebecca has - she tends to keep up on those things better than I do.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Hi all,
Really interesting topic for me as I have a site where I offer writers very little by way of payment (for the record, I have yet to pay myself a dime) and then send writers on trips when I can as way of saying thank you. However, I am not familiar at all with writing for "content mills." But I think it is a good idea to write for each one a time or two if the opportunity were to show up.
While at the end of the day, I created a couple of blogs that has yielded some rewards (lots of press trips and a little dough) and gets a lot of readers, starting a personal blog or web site is not a "build it and they will come" proposition. Most people are not willing to put the time and energy it takes to get any traction with an Internet audience. It is a full-time job and to do it well requires more than just writing -- I have found out the hard way by lots of trial and error. I would not start a web site until you have a clear idea of what you hope to achieve and how much work you are willing to put in. For now, I spend 20% writing, 80% marketing.
I am not saying that writing for a content mill is a good idea, but I think getting your work out to as many readers as possible is a good idea. I think having a wide variety of clips to offer an editor is important. Truth is it is very competitive out there. I receive 1 to 2 articles a day (around 50 a month), and I am just a good, small to medium-sized site.
I think you try a little of everything to develop a good list clips and keep plugging away.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Angela
MemberThere are pros and cons to writing for content mills. If you can find legitimate content mills then I think it's all right -- extra cash is welcomed! Unfortunately, some content mills are not ethical. I just read an article about Quality Gal. Don't bother writing for them, they give writers the run-around. Sigh...
Posted 5 months ago # -
You take the good and you take the bad and there you have content mills! I read many articles that state to avoid content mills. Some editors at Quality Gal accused writers of plagiarizing. The writers later found out the editors were using their work (plagiarizing) and passing it off as their own. Forget about payment -- you could be waiting a long time.
Research content mills before you write for them. I've heard that some of the editors at Demand Studios are tough, I'm not sure why. You may be better off writing for an organization and building your freelance writing on the side.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Outside of getting money, what does writing for a content mill do for you?
- Does it really improve your writing cranking out 300-500 word articles?
- Does it build traffic or link juice to your website?
- Does it create a referenceable portfolio you can show to other companies? Would you be proud to show an article for ehow?I'm guessing the answer to all of those is "no". You aren't really building your career by writing for these people. You are just earning money. When you factor in the time it takes, you are probably earning less than minimum wage.
You'd be ahead economically and professionally to get a job at McDonald's and write for your blog than you would be to try and write for a content mill.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Hey all,
I am not sure the idea here is to build a career writing for a content mill more than it is just another link in the chain.
I would also argue that it depends on the article whether or not it builds traffic, link juice or portfolio worthiness. My most popular article that drives several hundred visits to my site a week, and has for years, is a photo from eastern europe -- I have no idea why it is relevant, but it does get me traffic. The photo came from a terrible writer in the Ukraine who had an interesting story about a popular eastern european festival, but needed a tons of editing to translate into English better. Still it was the photo that kept getting found on Google.
This is true of all social networking type traffic. Sometimes I do well with Stumble Upon, Twitter, Facebook and sometimes not, but I would hate to have to depend solely on any one of them. They are all just different avenues to explore.
I am going to write an article or two and see what happens and put it on e-zine, go articles and e-how and see what happens. I will keep you all posted.
Posted 5 months ago #
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