A thought
occurred to me the other night while I was lying in bed waiting for sleep to
whisk me away to dreamland. I used to write for a couple content mills. Used
to. For the last few years, though, I haven’t even given them a glance, having
moved on to other writing projects.
To recap a
bit on what exactly is a content mill:
Content mills are agencies that herd in thousands of articles
written by people who are paid a small wage. Usually a third party, content
mills act as a middle-man (or woman) between writer and client. Mills make
money from client, writer makes money from mill, client goes away happy.
That is the
bare-bone description. I provide a bit more details about what a content mill
is in an article I wrote titled What is a Content Mill?
When I wrote
the article a couple years ago I included links to a few mills known around the
web. I decided the first step to finding out if mills are still around would be
to verify the links from the article to see if they still worked. It’s the easiest
way to tell if the content mills listed are still in operation.
I checked
the link on each one of the seven I listed, and offer my findings below. To be
honest, I was a bit surprised at what I discovered.
Demand Studios
I was
fortunate (or unfortunate, however you look at it) to be approved to write for
a mill called Demand Studios. I found it to be a nice learning experience for
the beginner writer trying to make it online.
When I
clicked on the link http://talent.studiod.com/writer/ I was taken to a message stating We couldn’t find the page you are looking
for.
So I did
some further research by using the keywords, demand studios. What the search engine gave me was quite
interesting.
It seems
that Demand Studios is still in operation, but under a new name: Demand
Media-studioD, and under a new web address: http://talent.studiod.com/.
The concept
is the same. An interested writer would click on the “I am a Creator” tab and
be taken to an application. I recall filling out one similar to this back in
2010. The application will be reviewed and you will be notified whether or not
you are approved.
At the time
I was writing for Demand Studios the pay ranged from $3-15 per article. I don’t
know what they pay now.
When I first
started writing for DS there seemed to be an unlimited amount of titles to
choose from. I had no problem finding a few articles to write. Then there came
a time when there were no article titles to choose from. That’s when the fun
ended, and so did the money (what little I earned).
Although the
name and web address have changed, Demand Media is still around. If you happen
to give them a try, or have worked with them before, I would love to hear about
your experience and/or opinion!
Textbroker
I was
approved to write for Textbroker, but never wrote a word for them. I found
their author platform to be a bit confusing. As for the pay, it was minimal.
The link is
still working (https://www.textbroker.com/authors) and the good news is they are still
around. The bad news is the pay is still minimal.
Like DS,
Textbroker has a pool of their own clients who submit writing assignments for
writers or teams to choose from. From what I understand, and remember, when you
are approved you are given a level number ranging from 2-5. Your pay is based
on what level you are on: 2 pays the least (at barely a penny per word), and 5
pays the most (5 cents per word but you must take an extremely tough
proofreading test to qualify for that level).
It seems
they have done a revamp on their website. The information is clear and nicely
presented. They boast to being “the leading article and content writing
service.”
Simply click
on the “I Write Content” tab to be taken to an application. Fill it out and
wait for an answer. Easy as that.
Again, comments
are greatly appreciated by anyone with experience or knowledge about
Textbroker.
eCopywriters
I am
unfamiliar with this company. The link is still working but it doesn’t take you
to the right spot. After doing a bit more clicking I finally found the proper
link to use if one was so inclined to apply as a writer: http://www.dashboard.ecopywriters.com/register/copywriter.
As I
understand it, the site offers writing assignments, and like Textbroker, their
writers start out at a certain level (in this case 1-7) and work their way up
the “level ladder.” Pay ranges from about 1.8 cents per word up to 15 cents per
word, but good luck getting to the 15 cent level.
Have
experience with eCopywriters? Let us know!
Break Studios
Apparently
they are no longer around. When I tried the link it takes me to a page that
cannot be displayed.
Interesting.
I spent some
time searching for the site. I found a lot of blog posts about Break Studios and
every time I clicked the link http://breakstudios.break.com I came up empty.
I found
nothing to indicate they had gone under. I found no articles or forums that
told of their demise.
It is a
mystery.
If you have
any knowledge of the whereabouts of Break Studios, please share.
Writer Access
The link http://www.writeraccess.com/about/#/writeraccess-basics does work. When you click on it you
are greeted with a very nice page that explains who and what Writer Access is,
but the important link for writers is this one: https://www.writeraccess.com/apply/. This is the link needed if you want
to apply to write for Writer Access.
What
impressed me most about this site are the different services a writer can apply
for. There are four:
1. Writing projects
2. Editing services
3. Translation
4. Content strategy
Simply click
on the service you want to work in and complete the application. Seems easy
enough.
I am not
sure what the pay is. If anyone knows, please fill us all in!
wiseGEEK
When I
clicked on the link I was taken nowhere. Seems the link to the writer
application is no more.
Interesting.
wiseGEEK still
exists and looks to be an interesting and informative place that claims to
provide “clear answers for common questions.”
There are
several categories to choose and learn something from, but there are no writing
jobs available to the freelancer looking to make some money.
Ever written
for them? Share your story!
The Good News …
Well, there
you have it. Out of seven sites I linked to there are only four that are still
in operation. The good news is that there are PLENTY of content mills on the
Internet. Research those that interest you. Check out the reviews. Do not base
your decision on what one site says. What works for one writer may not do so
well with another.
If you are
interested in reading about why I decided to stop writing for content mills you
can read about it here.
Good luck!
Photos provided by Jodi Hughey.
Copyright 2016