I think the biggest thing to learn from the marketplace at the moment is that you need to be able to "stand out from the crowd" if you're going to get any work. There's no way in the world that I could ever afford to pay the bills if I was charging $1 for 500 words which is why I don't! However, my writing (if I may say so myself ) is always going to beat the software-spun $1 article which suits the clients who want real quality. There is room in the marketplace for all of us (including those charging $1 for 500 words) without having to ask DP to start charging or something else as drastic. You just have to be able to offer something that the cheaper writers can't and you have to make that fact well known!
The problem is two-fold. You have a bunch of people who think they can write (who really aren’t writers of any standard) and are actually just looking to earn a few bucks and charge as low as $1 per article. In addition, you have some buyers who aren’t too concerned about quality (probably more focused on keywords and SEO which will not work anymore due to Google’s Panda and Penguin updates. Genuine writers just need to stick to their guns and demand a rate appropriate to their work. Hopefully, there will come a time when the $1 clan is pushed into oblivion. I don’t mean to be condescending because that amount could mean a lot to some people in terms of their currency or needs, but then again, writers need to keep up their standard. Most of the $1 stuff is utter crap. How some writers have the audacity to try and pass off such stuff is simply amazing to say the least. You will find good writers from just about every country, it needn’t be just the US, Canada, UK, Aus, or NZ. A good writer will always be good at his job no matter where he/she may come from.
Or they are concerned about quality but think they can bargain you down to $1 for the article because it's "just writing".
$1 is a fair price. Think outside the box: Associated Content + OCR software or Encoded via UTF-8 These articles are 100% unique, CopyScape passed and written by ENGLISH native. Anyways just my 2 cents.
Oh boy. Was going to let this go but I just can't. I'm guessing this post was only made to get some attention so I am only going to give it a tiny bit. Quality writing takes practice, experience, and talent- there's no comparing some of the junk I have seen on some websites to the fantastic writing done by the top earners in the field. That being said, don't waste time trying to get $1-$5 gigs if you are a good writer. There are many businesses that expect to pay well for superior content, you just need to know where to find them. I agree with the advice about starting your own website. Having a good portfolio available for clients to check out at your website is essential. Marketing your services is part of the business. I think I have said it before, but books by Tiffany Dow, Ruth Pound, and others will walk you through the steps so that you can come up with a strategy. Those of us who do have talent understand the frustration of competing for jobs that are underbid by people who are not concerned with the quality of their writing.