Hmm, What do you think of Constant Content? I think they are unneccesarily strict. Too strict for my liking
I haven't ever worked for them, but I have heard the same complaint - and way too little pay for your articles, and no upfront payment.
I think it's great that Constant Content only accepts work from quality writers. That lets their buyers know they are only going to get quality work. As far as the pay goes, it's a lot more than the current going rates on DP.
You set your own prices so I'm not sure how we could "pay way too little". As for being strict.... yes we are, but our customers expect this and it's one of the reasons we are different.
I look at it a bit differently I guess... if you're going to be strict, you'd better pay accordingly. Sites like Constant Content really can't do that, simply because of the primary niche they seem to participate in - targeting webmasters. If their users expect perfect work, they should be willing to pay more. By the nature of the market they seem to focus on, even with setting their own prices writers couldn't generally make enough to justify being overly strict, b/c the middleman chooses to market predominantly to a group that won't pay those rates. Any way you cut it, you're better off learning how to market your own work and not relying on these kinds of services. Then again, if you can't be bothered to learn how to do that effectively on your own, you really lose your right to whine about a service doing it for you.
That's right. I hate the how this one service takes 50% for selling advertisement on your sites. And guess what? I don't use them. I sell my own stuff and get 100%. What a concept. This little piggy went to the market . . . you know the rest.
I myself have landed regular writing gigs with a few clients from Constant Content. These clients pay me $.50/word for quite large projects on a weekly basis, say 2500 articles per week at max, so I beefed up my manpower resources. Now - I have an in-house staff comprised of a lot of writers, researchers, IT specialists, and consultants. The majority of the clients I got from Constant Content required IT stuff. I guess the IT industry pays more than most niches. But I still market my services through other methods since I make it a point to diversify not only my profit sources and my services, but also my marketing methods. That's what I do, and I guess we all do what we think is suitable for our plans.
Bottom line is we have clients that are willing to pay $20 for an article and ones that will pay $150. Again, you pick who you write for and you set your own prices. We have had articles sell for over $500 and articles sell for $5, it just all depends on the license, the client, and you. It really has nothing to do with Constant Content. Many clients end up finding a couple writers they like and working with them direct through CC. So the site ends up being another place where writers can market their work. Almost all the successful writers on CC do freelance elsewhere... its just another venue for them. If a client came to you direct and asked if you could write 10 articles for $10 each, you would say no thank you. It works the same way on CC, a request comes in and you can choose not to write for it.
The way I see... If I was a writer (Which I'm not)... I would be marketing myself anywhere I could. I would have a linkin account with my past clients, I would be active on webmaster boards like DP, active on writer boards, I would have an elance account (even though I hate elance), and I would have my own website. CC is just another place to market yourself and get clients, now if you think your above CC then that's fine. Its a place not just to show your work but to sell it. Some writers can’t deal with guidelines and editors, but if you can't deal with these the writing world is not for you. Many writers have had clients find them through the site. Our top writers get private requests all the time... Why, because the client sees they are serious and have sold and written a lot of content. They see they are active and skilled and choose to use them.
No. I do not really write for Constant Content myself because I prefer to keep the good articles on my own site. However, I have garnered a relatively big list of affiliates that signed up through my website. What I have found was that none of my affiliates is making any earnings. Sometimes, I feel bad that people have signed up after reading my article and yet fail to earn anything from the effort.
Not to completely knock your service, b/c for many writers here I'm sure it's a fine tool... But honestly, almost all of the feedback I've heard is on the low end of the pay spectrum, with the maximum being around $50 an article (from some excellent writers). $50 is still extremely low, and you can make more than that (and more than $150 / article) much more easily on your own than through a service targeting the primary type of audience you're targeting. It's easy to mention bigger numbers if a few have sold there, but honestly, what kind of percentage is that over the bulk of the content sold? I've also heard that articles can sit there for months before selling. If that's the case, you'd be better off writing for magazines with similar wait times, instead of ever writing something on spec. That's just something most serious writers wouldn't do, and it seems to be the bulk of the business taking place on your site, aside from private requests (which I'm sure is a nice feature). The fact is that if someone offers something exclusively on your site, you're not a marketing tool for them... you're a limited distribution channel. These types of sites carry a certain responsibility to handle the actual marketing (which is why you earn any money, and why writers use it when the don't know how to market themselves more effectively, or can't be bothered with it). So I think to lump it into the broader marketing mix is a little bit off-base. Networking and marketing can be done much more effectively without having to write on spec at first and put up your work for sale with a networking tool. Just my $.02. But like I said, I'm sure it's a fine tool for a lot of Web writers.
Lets look at the last 15 sold article as of this second (yes we provide this data to writers) most are $50, some $40 and a couple really inexpensive ones (but these are use licenses). Also, look at the subjects that plays a huge role on how much an article sells for. Most of these $50 articles are not "Magazine" type articles, these would sell for much more. Draw your own conclusions, don't take someone else's. Most writers that don't do well or don't know how to use the site will complain, its expected. As for "articles can sit there for months before selling" yes it possible its also possible they will never sell, but the ones that don't build a portfolio for the writer on the site. Then you don't understand how customers use the private request system. Some customers don't want to send a public request out to thousands of writers and have to deal with them. Instead they look for established writers on the site that have either sold a lot or have written on a certain subject. The site will not work for many and it sounds like it would never work for you, but I ask you not to make assumptions based on feedback from others. I think you have it wrong here as well... Many writers on our site don’t rely on just CC. Many know how to market themselves.... What we do is take a percentage of each sale so we can afford to advertise on sites a typical writer would not be able to afford. For example you probably wouldn’t advertise your services on a site that would charge $5000 for a month banner or you may not be able (or want to) to spend $300 a week on goodle adwords. If you think you can reach the same type of audience without advertising like we do I think you are mistaken.... Or you have a different target audience which is probably more likely.
A lot of "Web content" sells for much more than that as well... but only for the writers who know how to find the gigs. People will complain about any service, which is why I was trying to be a bit fair in my post. I don't like those kinds of services, and don't generally consider them appropriate for the bulk of professional writers, which is something based on my own experience and knowing how much more writers can make by doing it on their own (and what I help to mentor several writers to do). But like I said, it may be a perfectly good resource for most of the writers here (who are more likely to target the same kind of market that your site would seem to appeal to... obviously not every user would fit exactly within the "webmaster market" and that's not what I'm claiming). I'm not being snide here... a genuine question. Can writers use those pieces in their own "real" portfolios if they don't sell, or are they permanently on the site whether they sell or not, and not able to be added to a professional portfolio? If they can't be used elsewhere, I'd say it's not necessarily in the writers' best interests, although I can understand from a business perspective why the company wouldn't want to allow that. Actually, I did note your private request feature as a possible exception to my more general feelings already, just prior to that quote. It's still a matter of playing the middle man, rather than active marketing though... it's more of a networking function than a marketing one. While similar and related, it's not exactly the same thing... and active marketing is a reasonable expectation for writers using these kinds of services to have. It really comes down to the point I already made on that topic... "Networking and marketing can be done much more effectively without having to write on spec at first and put up your work for sale with a networking tool." It won't work for me, b/c I'm a heavily-networked professional writer who also happens to specialize in the marketing / PR field (meaning marketing my own work and building and maintaining connections isn't an issue). For many writers that's not the case, and I've already acknowledged that in your favor in my previous post on more than one occasion I believe. I wasn't trying to pick a little virtual fight with you, but the fact is that the majority of professional writers don't use these types of services (and I'm not saying that none do), and with a lot of writers here wanting to pursue that career path, I do what I can to help them avoid common mistakes that cause them to undersell their work and target inappropriate markets. That's how freelance writers get themselves stuck in a rut that they can't later climb out of. I don't have to worry too much about where I can advertise, due to my background which I've already mentioned. Between my consulting, my writing, and my own sites which earn well enough on their own, my schedule's nearly always booked solid... and I've done that simply by knowing how to network and creatively market my services. I don't believe in spending money where it doesn't need to be spent, which is one of the things I try to help writers that I work with understand. Again, for writers who don't know how to do those things as well (and many simply just don't want to make the time for it independently if you want to be realistic about it, whether they can or not), your service offers a benefit in that department. For many others, it wouldn't. There probably is a different target audience. I've mentioned your market as I can best guess in my previous post. I'm a specialist, so I target clients in my niche (most often business-related publications on the Web, large online publishers, or businesses needing internal content online or off - newsletter articles, press releases, Web copy, articles or news for employees, etc.). I don't target a more general Web-based audience. But my methods work well with that group as well. I'm constantly turning down general gigs and referring my fellow writers just because of my networking and the fact that I won't often accept gigs outside of my specialties. I don't claim that my way of doing things is instant, and I don't claim that it's for every writer. But I do fully stand by my opinions on whether or not a writer should accept strict terms with a service or client if they won't (likely) be adequately compensated compared to the quality being demanded. I've seen tons of crap content on the Web, so I probably wouldn't blame you for rejecting 90% of the things you reject. But a question was asked, and I gave my thoughts on the topic. Take it for what it's worth. I'm not looking for everyone to see eye to eye with me. Obviously, I have strong opinions of the topic of using third party services to sell your work. Obviously you do as well (and understandably so). I think it's an interesting subject and something where writers, especially Web writers, can certainly benefit from a discussion on both sides of the issue. I recently moved and overhauled the SixFigureWriters.com blog. I've been looking into new features for the site, and I think an interview / debate series might prove to be interesting. If you would be open to answering a few questions (next week maybe), I'd be happy to have you as a "guest" on the blog to chat about the topic.
If there is one thing I have learned, its never get in to a debate or a argument with a writer I would be happy to as long as people understand I'm the worst writer on the planet. One of the reasons for starting CC was because I couldn't write... nothing has changed there. But I don't think we disagree to much on this subject, I think we have a different outlook. This is most likely due to the different markets we are in. I think the real issue here is you don't NEED a service like CC... Just like a designer who doesn't need to find new work. If you already have clients and have the "word of mouth" networking going, then you wouldn't need to find more work. Work finds you at that point. This goes for all freelance jobs and the goal for freelancers is just this.... Get to a point where you no longer need to find new customers. But not everyone is in that position...
Well, it doesn't need to be anything like a formal debate. I'll just put together a few questions that we can answer from both perspectives, we'll both respond to them, and I'll publish it. That way readers can see two sides of the coin and make their own decisions about what's right for them, and the structure means you don't have to worry about me ranting off-topic or attacking your opinion. We can always respond to various points in the comments if you want, but the piece itself would be more of a resource to simply help writers decide what path is more appropriate for them. It's true that my network does most of my marketing for me these days. It wasn't something that took me very long to achieve though, and I did it without these kinds of sites, which is why I'm able to look at it the way I do... getting to that long term goal more quickly, and working with other writers on how they can do it most efficiently. It's a subject that we'll obviously never agree on, but I do think it'll make an interesting blog discussion. I'll PM you some questions early next week.
And that's a great point. Most freelance writers will never achieve the "nirvana" status and if they do, it's generally short-lived. It has to do with marketing. Those of us that excel at marketing will naturally get more out of clients, hold on to clients better, and will be able to get more for our time as a result. In fact, the right move for many writers who are freelancing is to hire a person/company to guide their IMC effort.