Do You Still Have Hope In The Content Section Here At DP?

It's all supply and demand. People that are willing to write 1,000-word articles for $5 (native English-speakers, I might add) mess up the game for the rest of us. It is similar to the phenomenon where thirsty dudes continuously flirt with unattractive women, causing them to think highly of themselves, making the really attractive women unattainable to average Joes.

 

This thread was started on March 1st. To be honest, I haven't really seen a change here or on other writing platforms that I used to use.

If I was depending on writing alone at the moment, I'd be living in a box somewhere eating garbage. Thankfully, I'm pretty good at web development (not design, just development).

There's definitely not room for any kind of web development freelance work worth my time on freelancing forums. You have foreigners offering PSD to HTML services for $50 to $100 for an entire site.

Sure, a lot of the code won't be cross-browser compatible, your website won't be responsive to various resolutions and you'll have to hire someone else to fix a lot of mistakes, but at least it's cheap.

I've personally found it much easier and better offering web development for local and online business. It's definitely not like chasing pennies around for content or trying to market yourself to companies online when they get tons of e-mails every week from foreigners offering them "cheaps contents".

 

DP content forums have, in the past, given me many fruitful jobs and partnerships that helped me in my evolution as a writer and online freelancer. However I lost hope in those forums long ago due to buyers who ask the world for a few dollars, cheap sellers who drive down prices for everyone and so on. Now I can't stand to look at them.

I have long since moved on to other places and fields of work, and am much better and richer for it.

 

Every resource available to you is useful, no matter what.

TC

 

I've read Corygeer's posts on this subject before. I agree with most of what he says.
I have gotten tons of work via DP some great, some crappy, however I take responsibility
for that for not doing research and that's part of the learning curve. Yes, many companies
and clients are just cheap bastards looking for the most they can get for the lowest so they
have something to brag about. Others hire writers at lower than should be rates as they
act as middlemen. You won't find out who is naughty or nice if you're not in the game or
sitting on the sidelines complaining.

I enjoy this game because for me it's getting paid to study. The regular time I would
spend futzing around on the internet I can better use getting paid to do that.

I've seen all sorts of scenarios happen and have had to track down criminals from DP
all over the planet. A small section are real scumbags but the heartbreaking scenarios
are people who have to steal and lie and underhand because they have a gun to
their heads like in India and Pakistan and parts of Africa, Asia, and even the U.S..
These people are either involved in organized crime or the victims of it. Cops
around them are corrupt and there's nowhere for them to go. They either come
here to DP, steal or get a bullet to the head or their town or village or families
get hurt. Believe you me there are some pretty evil people out there and their
numbers are in the tens of millions.

So that's the deal with DP and other sites. They can't police it all. It's up to the site
members to take a hand but also the site itself should listen and take appropriate action.

 

Agree. People charging lesser and lesser for content writing. It makes it harder for writers to make money selling articles.

 

I think that many internet marketers recognise that you get what you pay for.

There was one thread that I remember (on Wickedfire, not here) of a new internet marketer ranting about poor supplier quality particularly in regards to delivering on time. He then asked the more experienced marketers what to do.

It was soon clear that he was always choosing the cheapest option and the same answer came through from all the experienced IMs - be prepared to pay more or accept unreliable quality as a price of business. Although the original poster argued that it was the supplier's moral duty to keep their promises, it was clear from the most hard bitten and long lasting IMs that you had to pay for reliable quality.*

The quality of non native English speaking web writers may have gone up in the last ten years (in most cases it can hardly have gone down) in almost all cases that there is still a chasm between native and non native writers. If you want coherent content you will need to go native.

* There is always the chance that you can luck out and get a good quality writer really cheaply, but they soon raise their rates or get more money and less stress at McDonalds.

 

Textbroker is a quality site to write for, but you have to work to be on their good side to get to the 4 star and make any money. The 2 star is usually not worth it. These types of places aren't bad really, I'm glad they are around to have the option.

Really I would like to write on whatever I like, and then sell the article somewhere without a big hassle. I could even make .01 per word as long as it's not a big hassle and I could write it on what I want.

Isn't Digital Point a good place to do this? Reading this thread it seems that maybe DP is not so good for this anymore? Any input would be helpful.

 

From what I read here over my time I spent in DP, it seems like most buyer are looking for cheap articles.
I think most buyer is still not aware of the importance of quality article.

 

Not all sites need good articles, lots of content covering lots of relevant bases is what is needed. Although changes in the Google algorithm has cracked down on this - there is still a market for spun articles.

However there are a lot of content buyers who are running sites that would benefit from good writing and either don't realise it, realise it but are small time and so can't afford it or (and this this often goes with the second point) do not feel confident enough to know the difference between good and bad writing and so don't want to risk paying good money for bad writing.

 

That's the problem with Odesk for me, was all the cheap jobs people wanted for articles. Just wouldn't work with the cost of living in America.

I guess I'm wondering though if I place an article here for about .01 per word, would there be takers. I'll have to find out when I try of course, but just wondering if anyone has done this and sold any articles?

 

@Lowdown0, just take a look at the Content-Creation section in 'Buy, Sell and Trade' in forums (https://forums.digitalpoint.com/forums/content-creation.102/), the 'Buying' gigs in particular. Most of them speak for themselves. There are offers that will drive you nuts. What will amaze you even more is that some writers who can barely put a sentence together (as is evident from their posts) have received kinda rave reviews for their work.
Content mills are not really an option if you want to pull some serious money from writing. The best way is to make your own clientele who need content regularly and pay a good price.

 

@Content Maestro Thanks for that reply and help. I know your right, if a person wants to make any decent amount of money for their time they need to look for private clients. From my experience with .01 or less a word with Textbroker and Hirewriter, I was spending about an hour and a half in totality to make $5-$7. I got faster, but in reality I would have to make at least .02 cents a word to make it worth while.

Still, I'm glad those sites are there if I need to make that measly $4/hr. The thing is I don't want to commit to creating content on a fixed schedule on demand. I checked out that section, people (like on Fiverr) are willing to work for .005 cents word. After I'm here a bit, I'll give it a try nevertheless. Thanks.

 

There are some good-paying gigs here but they are posted once in a blue moon. You have a better chance approaching potential clients proactively and directly via private conversations (PMs). Also, you can check out the signatures and profile pages (the Information tab esp.) of people who post in BST. Most of them have websites that need content at least now and then if not regularly.
I guess you are quite new here (from your no. of posts). Once you're active and continue participating in discussions, people will start noticing you and good clients will also approach you directly. Well, you can definitely throw an ad in the Content Creation and also market your service through your sig. once you have the privileges.
As far as selling pre-written content is concerned, you may try selling some articles in the Article Marketplace (https://marketplace.digitalpoint.com/articles) but honestly speaking, don't expect a great price out of it. (Not discouraging you, just telling the facts.)

Content mills are handy in some cases (as when you need to make that measly $4/hr) but I would ask the same again – Are they really worth your time and effort?
Cheers.

 

@Content Maestro Thanks for the tips, I appreciate this. I like this forum and the feel of it, more than the warrior's forum, so I'm glad to have started here. Already I'm learning, what you said makes sense for sure, and it makes me think writing content could very well be a good earner if I were willing to put the effort to do what it takes. I'd also have to spend some time working on my craft.

What do you think about GhostBlogger? I checked out BloggMutt, but they say you have to have a Linkedin account, which I don't want because it is a Freemason themed social network. Blessings.

 

The responsibility for the content section becoming crap is not with just the purchasers. Writers are swarming in and not many are good at it. Over the past 10yrs I've hired about 17 of them to write on the same website. All of it has to be rewritten except for the ones I wrote. I cannot write for shit but somehow my content flows smoother and has less BS sentences to make the article longer in it. In these times I look for cheaper prices because it really didn't make a difference from my experience.

Now complaining that $1/100 words is dirt cheap Detroit rapist hangout charges is total crap as well. Most writers can research for 10minutes, then write and juggle researching at the same time while finishing 500/words within 30minutes. It works out to about $10 an hour however the money is not claimed to the gov't, taxes are not paid on it, and there is absolutely no liabilities for the writer. You don't need to provide a resume. Hell, you don't need a high school diploma. Let's face it. Random people offering one time jobs on a forum shouldn't be demanding $20 an hour. If they want that then they'd be writing for real companies and be giving their social insurance number to them.

It's not just the content section as well. Ever since this penguin crap came out quality of everything regarding webmaster stuff has turned to crap. Look at the site auctions. Pile of turnkey crap and hotelcombined scam crap.

 

If you are truly a solid writer, and you are looking to make a living off of that fact, why are you browsing webmaster forums for work to begin with? I know professional copywriters and they work for magazines, publishing companies, PR firms, liberal arts and social science journals, newspapers, run their own blogs, etc. If you have the portfolio and/or resume to back up your claims regarding your writing ability, why aren't you seeking work from more 'legitimate' venues? There are plenty of opportunities out there for competent writers but I think that DigitalPoint, WarriorForum, and places of a similar nature are not where these opportunities lie. Perhaps this has not always been the case, but it certainly is now. So, rather than posting a monthly wall of text across these forums complaining about the lack of quality clients, go ahead and move along to somewhere that better fits your needs.

 

These are some good points from a slightly different perspective. I think there are better writers than me of course who could write a quality piece faster and make more money. I did start getting faster after about the 40th article or so. I stopped taking notes and started like you said @DinoJRG, to write while researching. There are many opportunities, so yeah it's up to each of us to either accept what's available or seek a better strategy. One thing that doesn't help is complaining about something someone has accepted, cause it is their/our choice.

I'm not so sure some of the best writing jobs are so much for top notch writers craft wise, but more so their ability to fit into the likely more mainstream media source, as that is where the money would be. The learning curve for people who are Internet illiterate, yet good writers, halts their progress to a large degree, while the storming web head zooms by to the big jobs cause they can navigate this large maze called virtual land better. As for me, I was a near complete Luddite to Internet writing only 9 months ago.

 

Sorry, I have not checked Ghostbloggers out yet. However, by the looks of it, the pay offered seems decent.
(PM me if you wanna discuss further about other online content marketplaces. This thread is mainly about the content section here. Let's not digress.)

 

I can understand the frustration of many writer. More and more writer come to online to write and it pushes the price of the article down.
Sometimes when I see the rates of the articles out there, I ask myself if it is still possible to make money by writing.