While the payment is different, I don’t personally see a huge difference between, say, my work for Tonic.com (I’m paid a monthly fee to blog regularly about science topics) and my work for Examiner.com (I’m paid a residual fee to blog about education) and my work for About.com (I’m paid a flat fee plus incentive to write and blog about autism).

In all three cases I’m writing “content” on a regular basis for a site that collects blogs/articles, uses SEO/web 2.0 as a marketing tool, and pays me as a freelancer. My guess is that, on an hourly basis, Tonic.com is the best fee — yet About.com is by far the best exposure, and Examiner.com offers the most writerly freedom.

Meanwhile, I’m negotiating with a corporate client who’s interested in having me write a blog on green issues to help position her business as “green.” I’ll probably be paid a per-blog-post fee in that case. Her site isn’t a “content site,” but won’t I be writing “web content?”

You see so many ads asking for “web content;” just trying to wrap my brain around what that really means!

Lisa

Thanks for stopping by and offering your comments.

Sorry for the late response – I wasn’t around over the weekend.

Some sites like Suite101, b5Media, About.com and Examiner are the equivelent of a blog or online column. Users are chosen for their expertise in a particular topic and they write about that topic as often as directed (in their contract) and receive either a flat fee or residual payments based on traffic.

For sites like Wisegeek, Demand Studios and LoveToKnow, writers choose from a pool of available titles and write articles around those titles based on the website’s guidelines. They’re generally paid per post.

Corporate sites hire writers to create content for two reasons – the first is to bring in search engine traffic and the second is to create interest in their product or brand.

For a site like CNN, they hire journalists much in the same way a newspaper hires journalists.

I hope that helps?

Deb

My recommendation has always been to use content sites as a springboard to better opportunities, or to use them to supplement the income. I don’t think it’s my way or the highway and I don’t think everyone needs to suck it up and write for content sites. I don’t even think writers should write for content sites forever.

My point is to have an open mind and realize times have changed. When I started in publishing (20 years ago, heh) there was outrage over the writers who wrote for free or a byline to gain experience. I make the same comparisons to content sites today.

Anyway, I don’t know what else I can say about this that hasn’t already been said. Use content sites, don’t use them, it’s all about choices. Do what’s best for you.

Yo Prinzel, pay the writer.

I say, do whatever works for you, as long as it does work for you. Personally, I am more gratified and typically better paid (although not always) for writing traditional by-lined articles for various publications. Is that all that I do? No. Am I open to new things? Sure. But part of why I became a writer to begin with is so that I could tell other people’s stories. Yeah, yeah, it’s sappy, I know. I just find a lot more personal satisfaction in writing that allows me to do that, so that’s what I seek out. But I am not going to criticize someone who finds that writing short SEO articles for, say, Demand Studios or some other client, works out best for them. After all, I wouldn’t want that person to tell me that I shouldn’t pursue what I want to do, would I?

1. content for a “content site” (Helium, Examiner, Suite 101)
2. content for site like About.com which pays differently/expects more
3. content for a corporate site (marketing material etc for the web)
4. content in the form of articles for a news/feature site (CNN.com)
5. content in the form of a personal blog that’s monetized (eg Deb’s blog here)
6. plain ordinary writing of whatever sort that winds up on the web
7. writing for big sites like Huffington Post

Are these all “content?” And can the term “content” refer to what’s in a book, magazine or newspaper — or is it a web-only term?

Lisa