There is a lot of debate on the Internet regarding writing for low-paying sites and content mills. Content mills are sites in which writers receive article topics, or they can choose the topics fro the sites. Writers are usually encourage to write a lot of articles because the articles are sometimes distributed to other blogs and sites. Some mills have a minimum of articles that they feel that you should submit every day or every week. There are some writers who say that you should never write for content mills, because the pay is too low. The mills usually pay a couple of dollars for a 500-word article. They say that content mills devalue your skills, and many people liken them to slave labor. However, I would say that writing for content mills can help you pay the bills if you are struggling financially, and if you are a fast, accurate writer, you can make decent money from some content mills. If you have a full-time job, you can write a few articles from content mills in your spare time for extra money.
If you are a full-time writer, you can keep a few content mill sites in your client list so you will have work to fall back on when your regular, higher paying clients have no work. Some content mills provide articles with residual pay, so once you write the article, you can receive royalties. That’s a good deal if you have articles that articles that rank high in Google search engines. A lot of writers contribute to content mills because they often pay once or twice a week, rather than on publication like the print magazines. Some content mills are better than others. Seek out content mills that offer pay raises for exceptional work. Seek out content mills that offer residual pay and upfront pay. Beware that content mills come and go, so find stable content mills that pay $10 or more per 500 words. You can write for the lower-paying mills when you need extra money quick, you are a beginner, or if you really need the cash and have no other work. There are higher paying mills, like Demand Studios and About.com (some people consider this site a content mill). Landing a job with the higher paying, more reputable mills, can be challenging. However, as you write for most of the mills, always look for higher paying jobs.
Examples of content mills:
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