I’m quite new to this online writing thing, I used to work for print media and radio for years over here in Europe. The lowest paying print gig I ever had was writing a 400-word column for my local newspaper (a paper known for bad pay, it’s a small local paper) and I got 80 euros for each column (that’s around $110 for 400 words). I’ve started experimenting with bidding sites recently but it’s shocking how low most of the bids are. I’ve ended up winning very few bids because there are so many people willing to write for $1/500 words (I think I once saw $0.75 for a 500-word article).

Granted, if you aren’t established in niche (yet), you can make some money and gain valuable experience through some of the opportunities you address here.
.-= John Soares´s last blog ..Capturing and Keeping Your Freelance Writing Ideas =-.

I’ve ghostwritten literally thousands of articles that my clients distributed to directories like EzineArticles.com.

The editorial bar is set extremely low at these sites (though EzineArticles.com is making some effort to weed out the crappola) and I you’re right about the overall quality of articles encountered–especially at weaker directories that are nothing more than Adsense bait in weak disguise.

The directory world may be diluting overall quality, but until something changes with the way search works, they’re going to keep on trucking–at least for awhile.

The reason why people will pay me to write those articles is because they work like a freaking charm under the right circumstances.

When optimized for the right long-tail keywords, effectively written and coupled with a good resource box, they can drive a lot of targeted traffic to the right spot–traffic that converts much better than most sources.

Here’s an example… A few years ago, while playing around on a Sunday afternoon, I found a little info product/ebook in a niche I wouldn’t have considered. I thought their copy was good enough and they had an affiliate program. I did a little keyword research, checked things out a bit, created a quick (and extremely plain) pre-sell landing page, and then wrote a few articles under a pen name that went straight to EzineArticles.

It didn’t take long before the sales started. So, I wrote a few more articles as I worked down the keyword list. Long story short: I spent at *most* five or six hours on the project and it’s netted me literally thousands of dollars over the course of four years.

That’s one landing page on a project site and about ten short articles plus a half-hour of research… Yes, it’s an outlier–those results aren’t typical–but the same core strategy can work with less startling, but still damn good results, elsewhere.

Now, I could’ve built a site or blog on the topic, promoted it and obtained the same results (if not slightly better). Piggybacking on EZA allowed me to get great results with very little effort, however. I can count on a commission or two every week even now.

At some point, I could still opt to use what I’ve learned about the niche to launch my own site to push the product–or to create my own product, for that matter. In that sense, the directories can provide a low-risk method of testing the waters before diving into a particular idea.

I think we sometimes dismiss the idea of using some of these options because *we* know how much crap is in the same neighborhood. In many cases, the people who find the articles aren’t regular info-searchers and they don’t give a rat’s ass where they find things. They aren’t instantly turned off by the domain name upon which the content rests. If you can use directories to get good pre-sells high in the SERPs, the fact that the other 1 billion horrific articles are there doesn’t really enter the picture.

That being said, I think the low quality issue will eventually produce some changes in search, etc. So, it may not be a “forever” strategy. I also think a lot of people overstate the backlink benefit of these sites. The really low-quality directories are well on their way to dying out, as well. In the meantime, one can use the better directories to his or her advantage.

When I started this journey, I thought it would be about becoming a better writer. Then there is the need to learn the basics of social media, blogging, marketing and…. guess this is just the next logical step.

The path to becoming a freelance writer feels like Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole. It’s a whole other world with new jargon, new ways of thinking, strange customs and with people yelling, “Off with your head.”

My experience with has been interesting so far and I’m just at the beginning. I work full time as an English teacher and have two small children, but writing is my dream. In my spare time (whatever that means), I write for Demand Studios and Suite101. I tried Associated Content, but I have seen more residual income faster at Suite101.

For me it is a great thing to be able to need a little extra money and go to Demand Studios and get it. This summer while I’m not teaching, I plan on experimenting with more. I would love to freelance full time and your blog has really helped me so far.

Thank you so much.

I gave it a try a few times, and there was no way I could do quality work without skating very close to that boundary. If it was a topic I could do off the top of my head it was no problem, but when asked to “re-write this article to pass an originality test” it was hard to finish in less than 60 minutes.

If I’m gonna get paid minimum wage, I’ll pick manual labor that allows my mind to wander off into good plot development for my novel, thank you. Besides, heavy lifting is good for your physique.
.-= Erik Hare´s last blog ..Health Care: A Line not Crossed =-.

Here’s a suggestion, one that might be good for someone like you who likes to make lists: why not write a pair of “best and worst” lists of writing sites? Content sites, article directories, bidding sites, the whole works – every place writers go to write that’s not traditional freelancing. Are these sites even worthy of that sort of ranking, in yours (or some other expert’s) opinion?
.-= Eric´s last blog ..Standby Mackenzeie – Chapter 3 =-.

Demand Studios has the strictest of all the guidelines and they recently raised their rates on more than one site, so they are addressing the problem. In fact, they’re one of the few sites that listen to the freelance writing community to clean up the content and pay writers more money. However, because they’re so big and so successful, they ‘re the scapegoat.

But that wasn’t what this post was about at all.

We can’t talk about poor web content and poor rates without discussing all the reasons why this is the case. One site is not to blame for it all.

We’re going to have one writer’s experience with a bidding site this week, and if there’s a good response we’ll make it into a series.

I think it’s terrific it’s working for you. I know there are many happy bidding site freelancers just as there are many satisfied content site freelancers. My point is that we have both good and bad experiences with all of these different places and to single out one site individually isn’t addressing the problem. A lot of places need to be cleaned up.

I’m going to have to think about whether or not this is a good or bad thing.

Anyone with common sense (and who wants a good paycheque) should be able to tell that crowdsourcing, PLR and lowballing bidding sites aren’t going to make you a steady living at writing.

However, content sites like Demand should, in theory, subvert this problem and offer writers manageable rates for the work they put in. However, they don’t, in the name of saying “if you don’t accept our crap rates, someone else will.”

This does not fix the problem. They are representing the unwillingness to fix the problem. THAT is why we bitch.
.-= Matt Demers´s last blog ..Matt rocks The Not So Much News =-.

While I do agree with your overall assessment of low pay, crap content offenders, I would like to make a positive case for bidding sites. I’m on Elance and while its no picnic, I’ve worked hard for my current asking rate rate and an award ratio of 33% there.

Bidding sites are sometimes the only option for international freelancers such as myself who don’t have PayPal services and for whom it would be very difficult to set up a direct deposit system.

I’ve learnt a lot about how to avoid low-balling clients on Elance during the year that I’ve been there and it all comes down to attitude and self-worth. If you believe in yourself, provide stellar work and stick to your guns, then there’s loads of fantastic buyers willing to hire you at a good rate and treat you with respect. In fact I’m working with some right now and aiming to convert them to regular clients.

I do, however, agree with you 100% about article directories, PLR stuff and crowdsourcing!
.-= Salma Jafri´s last blog ..Part II: How to Investigate a Buyer =-.