If you don’t already have a professional site, I would suggest that as a possible starting place (especially if you plan to write for the Web or do any kind of business writing / commercial writing). If you want to learn more about writer platforms, I have a separate blog devoted to that – http://QueryFreeFreelancer.com where you can find a list of 30 things you can do to start building your writer platform (I believe it’s in the “build a platform” category — one of the original posts).

You have very well explained that article sites are not a good place even for beginners and they stall one’s progress.
Please tell me where and how to start then ?

1. It’s important to note that $1000 per article via a content mill is the exception and very far from the rule.

2. There’s still a big difference between having that $100-1000 up front or on publication than in small amounts over several months or even years (as noted in the article, then you’re able to save or invest it rather than seeing the small trickle of income).

3. You mention that you have 42 articles that have made $100 or more. Just for curiosity’s sake, how long does it take for most to reach that level and how many articles have you written in total, including the ones that didn’t earn to that level?

Forty-two articles so far have made more than $100 apiece. Keep in mind that total time invested in these 300-500 word content articles ranged from 15 minutes to 1.5 hours. The hourly rate so far is excellent, and it improves as they earn more money month after month.

Residual income is my business model; using a content site as one piece of that pie works very, very well for me.

Great article, and if you don’t mind I’m going to post a link on my site as well on Monday. You absolutely nailed revenue sharing to the wall and I couldn’t agree more.

It’s like working for free. You’re working for free if you allow people to exploit you for ad revenue or view rates. As I’ve said over and over (I preach this particular topic a lot), if you can’t make minimum wage at your writing, rethink. McDonald’s pays more and that looks MUCH better on a resume than giving away your work to virtual thieves.

I pay the bills with my pen, and I am damned good at what I do. I am not going to be paid $1 for a whole article to get “exposure” and maybe-someday get residuals. I want to know what I’m paid and get it per contract, in a reasonable amount of time.

Clients get what they pay for. If they pay crap, they get crap. yeah, plenty of writers for those sites jump all over me whenever I say it, but it’s true. Let’s face it, if the writers were good enough to earn a living wage somewhere else, that’s what they’d be doing. Not writing 20 articles/week for $1/article.

I have clients who admit to me that if they see a content site on a resume, they immediately delete the pitch, because they’ve been burned too badly by the low quality of those writers in the past.

I’ve lost clients to lower bidders who specialize in mill content sites and almost every single one of them has come back, apologizing and horrified at the poor quality of writing that was turned in — and they come back to me at a higher rate than they left.

However, I also get ROYALTIES on my work, which is a whole different ball of wax from RESIDUALS on one of those mill content sites. I’ve got some good contracts for royalties on the fiction and plays, at fair rates, and they prove that my work holds up over time.

And let me tell you, that last royalty check that covered the emergency visit to the vet the other night came just at the right time!

I make a high five-figure living from writing and teach others how to find good-paying clients and markets and get steady assignments…hope I can help you and some of your commenters! I answer questions about breaking into good-paying freelance work at my Start Freelance Writing blog on my site.

Get paid what you’re worth, all!

Carol Tice
http://www.caroltice.com
http://Twitter.com/TiceWrites

I am on some residual income sites and I must admit that I am not happy with the income that I get. At least with one site, I was getting between $30-$50 a month and so far since they deleted some of the articles I have, it’s down to 73 from 106.

I knew about writing for myself in order to earn residual income. One guy in fact complain about Associated Content on workathomenoscams.com Long story short, the guy deleted his account already before blasting it to everyone on that site about the editors are just there to get your contents for them to make money. i would like to outearn what I am getting right now because this is just rediculous and I have been a writer over a year now. I need something change where I would get paid of what I’m worth.

Very well put, Jennifer.

For me a “writer” is someone who has the skill, talent and experience to command payment for their work. Anyone who does not is an “aspiring writer” or a hobbyist. Similar to what Jennifer mentioned, I would never take a few piano lessons and call myself a “musician” or label myself a “lawyer” because I take an interest in law and have read a bunch of legal books in my spare time.

Like many professions, a writing career takes years to grow, with a lot of learning and sacrifice along the way. I have a journalism degree (not that this is necessarily a prerequisite) took on several tough internships and even now, am still developing as a writer and expanding my career. It is a long road that takes persistence and dedication and can bruise your ego at times. My above comment was not meant to “tear anyone down,” on the contrary, it was to support fellow writers who have worked really hard to get where they are in an indeed cutthroat industry.

And yes, I believe content sites are not a good business model for “real” (as in professional) freelance writers. And I also believe that those who have only ever published on such sites have no business calling themselves “writers.”

I am actually surprised that anyone would be insulted by this.

I have regulars who occasionally want quick turnaround, and I try to accommodate. But if my schedule won’t allow for it, I simply let them know. It’s rarely a problem, and they know my schedule’s usually full. It’s important to be clear about your availability up front. It’s no one’s business if your availability is set by your family obligations or something else — just when they can expect you to be available, and what kind of turnaround you’re capable of. I find that those issues have been extremely rare since I started posting turnaround estimates on my website for particular projects.

So if you’re meeting resistance, change who you’re targeting. We have a post up at http://QueryFreeFreelancer.com as a part of our 30 day marketing bootcamp going on now that covers how to do it (look at days 1 – 3 specifically).

I’ve done freelance and have asked for decent rates and met resistance. I find that all the people willing to take bottom dollar outnumber me and make it impossible for me to command top dollar.

And the deadlines are impossible. I had to beg for 2 days on a 500 word piece that required finding and reading over 100 pages of obscure research to write. With a small child at home, I cannot meet these short deadlines and provide top notch content. Kudos to those who can, but it’s beyond my capabilities. Frankly, the clients I’ve dealt with are crazy. I gently fired them and they still harass me, trying to get me to write content for them on the cheap.

So I focus on ad revenue. I know I’m not going to get rich, but I’d be happy with a few hundred dollars a month. I can write when I have time. I can pick any topic that interests me. Plus, I’m getting better at the SEO game and my earnings reflect that.

Ad revenue has flaws and pitfalls, but there is money to be made. It can be a good fit in some cases.

M