Media Piston Question

[WAHMBrenda]

Originally Posted by laporter79

Well, I wish I could make 18 dollars an article. Here's the problem:

#I would have to advertise myself, which I suck at.
#Find and negotiate with private clients who may or may not pay for the work.

This is EXACTLY why I stick with content mills. It may mean continuously changing up how I do things, moving between mills to make what I need but I don't have to deal with those things you mentioned. Since I'm semi-retired now that's important. Plus I don't have to make a lot nor do I want to spend a lot of time to make what little I do need. I like having my time as my own and that's something the mills provide me with plenty of. So, while some people may bad mouth the mills, for me they're the best thing out there. It just goes to show that everyone's situation is different.

[CJWrite]

Originally Posted by laporter79

Well, I wish I could make 18 dollars an article. Here's the problem:

#I would have to advertise myself, which I suck at.
#Find and negotiate with private clients who may or may not pay for the work.
#Hire someone to proof/edit because I miss my own mistakes, even though I do great proofing when it comes to other people's work.
#ETC, ETC, all of which would cost me time, and time is money, and right now I have none.

With that being said, they pay, they do the advertising, they take care of my problems, and they beat the ass of the other content mills I have plugged for. For GOGS sake, London Brokers only pay something like 5.50 for 500 words x3 articles...really? Do people who work there use spinning software? It was the first writing job I ever got online and I thought I was doing well. One week later I was looking at my earnings realizing that 2 dollars an hour was silly. I can walk down the street and find 2 dollars an hour and get my exercise in.

I do not have time to build a residual income with my writing, I need money today. I cannot work outside the home because of my husband's schedule conflicting with anything I may have planned. I have children to take care of and I like to shop online. So, the few eggs I have pays for my extra's while the hubby takes care of everything else.

It is so hard to find gigs online that are not scams, and MediaPiston is a good place for writers who are just getting started writing online.

The concern of how much the customer is paying the company is just silly to me. If I owned a flooring business and got paid 5,000 dollars for the average job I would still have to pay my employees. The guy actually laying the floors might make 12 dollars an hour but I am not going to negotiate with him on how much of my profit he deserves for being a part of my business. If he wants to make 5k dollars, let him get the contractor's license, insurance and advertising. Then we can compete!

Right now, a lot of us are the one's laying the floor. And it's not like you have to accept the available low paying jobs anyway...

I could personally care less where ANYONE chooses to write. I was simply amazed at what they were charging clients and how much the writers got. I posted this thread to see if I wasn't seeing the higher paying jobs for some reason. For all I know - and by the sounds of the email response I got - they take special requests from clients that pay more than $0.01 per word.

If not, I just think it seems like a lot to take out as a commission. I understand that businesses have costs, but wow. Now, those are some costs!

Do I care where writers choose to find work? Nope. I believe that people need to do whatever they can to make money, especially those just starting out. (Well, within reason! ) As most people realize, I'm one of the last people that's going to chastise a person for doing what they need to do to make ends meet!

Originally Posted by WAHMBrenda

This is EXACTLY why I stick with content mills. It may mean continuously changing up how I do things, moving between mills to make what I need but I don't have to deal with those things you mentioned. Since I'm semi-retired now that's important. Plus I don't have to make a lot nor do I want to spend a lot of time to make what little I do need. I like having my time as my own and that's something the mills provide me with plenty of. So, while some people may bad mouth the mills, for me they're the best thing out there. It just goes to show that everyone's situation is different.

I'm used to content mills, myself. That's what I started with and that's what I stuck with. They were simple, and relatively hassle free.

Now, I need to start relying on private clients (for my own reasons) - and I hate it, honestly. I suck at marketing myself, and I don't trust the majority of the population, especially when it comes to my livelihood. During this time of year, I need to make a full-time income, and the mills just can't give me that anymore.

Thankfully, I did end up lucking into a private client that pays pretty well, for what I need to do. But it had absolutely NOTHING to do with my marketing skills! Just luck.

As I mentioned above, I'm the last person to criticize someone for trying to make money. I didn't start this thread to offend anyone, and I'm sorry if I did. I was just curious.

[Kiernansmom]

Originally Posted by CJWrite

I emailed them asking why they took so much, and this was the reply:

That is ridiculous. Every site provides those features. Heck, I run all my articles through plagiarism software for free or very cheap! It does not cost that much for them to do that.

I'll be honest. I really don't understand why people are still trying to get into content mills at this point. The good ones seem to be gone or dying a slow, painful death. In the time it takes to fill out an application and provide a sample at a single mill that pays $.01 or less per word, you could have started getting your own private clients. I've had a couple flaky clients, sure, but they still tend to be easier to work with than some of these mills, and they pay much more. I have a couple of backup mills,and I definitely see the benefits of them, but only when they pay a decent wage, not $5 or less. I don't feel like going through a long list of mills that are likely not even "alive" anymore, just to find they pay peanuts.

[WAHMBrenda]

CJWrite, I'm definitely NOT offended. I'm just saying that we all have different things going on in our lives. These "things" mean we each need to work differently in order to achieve our goals. There was a time when I did nothing but private clients. Now I do nothing but mills. (Funny how twists and turns can occur.) I think that many of us overlook the fact that we each need to do something different. Unfortunately a lot of slander is going on about the mills lately (again, NOT from you) BUT if you look at what's really going on you'll see the Internet is just growing and evolving - nothing new there LOL

[CJWrite]

Originally Posted by WAHMBrenda

CJWrite, I'm definitely NOT offended. I'm just saying that we all have different things going on in our lives. These "things" mean we each need to work differently in order to achieve our goals. There was a time when I did nothing but private clients. Now I do nothing but mills. (Funny how twists and turns can occur.) I think that many of us overlook the fact that we each need to do something different. Unfortunately a lot of slander is going on about the mills lately (again, NOT from you) BUT if you look at what's really going on you'll see the Internet is just growing and evolving - nothing new there LOL

Okay - I just have a habit of typing with my big fat fingers, and people sometimes take it the wrong way. Unfortunately, I am a very expressive person when I speak, and emotion and tone tend to be lost via text.

Honestly, I don't care for working with private clients for one reason - I haven't really done it that much. It's new to me, and like a lot of people, I tend to be leery of the unknown. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to get a great PC that pays relatively well. BUT, I still do the $5 and $10 articles. They're quick, easy, and I'm pretty sure I'll get my money. It all goes back to the egg / basket thing, really.

And you're definitely right about the Internet changing! Just like everything else..... Everyone - including myself - needs to evolve with it, or risk being left behind. (God, I hate technology... )

[qbbs]

Honestly, I'm not counting business expenses. Hosting can be bought for larger companies at a great price, especially if they purchase an annual plan. There's advertising. I don't buy it. It is mostly about taking a larger cut.

[inkkognito]

One of the reasons I wouldn't bother to start my own site is that I like places like Media Piston for "filler work" when I need a break in my regular routine. I have plenty of projects going, so I have no time to make another website or market myself as a content writer. I love being able to pop over to a content site when I'm burned out on a big project or otherwise need a break and make a few extra bucks. I'm choosy about the topics so I can write the articles quickly enough to make a good ROI.

[HighEnergyMom]

It always seems that the ones who own the business make the most. I can't deny them a good living, but it rubs me the wrong way also that content mills want perfect work for less than peanuts while they grab a huge share of the price.

I can write and get paid, but I'm not fast and tend to polish work several times. It would not make sense for me to try and earn anywhere near as much as when employed outside. I've basically stopped bothering to log on to mills. Fortunately, I am not dependent on them just to live.

What does make sense to me is residual income and writing my own work for Kindle. You do have to market yourself, but it's not that difficult. Get the ball rolling and it will work for you, even if you do it just a little bit here and a little there, it will add up over time.

My suggestion for those who feel they do not have the time is just start something in a few spare minutes. You can add on to it as you get bits of time, but make it a priority to just get started even if it takes you a year to get a book or two done. You will still be ahead of the game. This should eventually lead to a much better income with less brain numbing work on your part.

Just do it if the mills are driving you crazy. If you can write for them and get paid, you can do it for yourself. When enough people do it, it will change the game because there won't be as many good writers for the mills.

Google has already changed the game for writers, and it's time to take advantage of it instead of just the low-paying jobs.

Keep the mills if you need them, but make time to start some things for yourself. You very likely won't look back and regret the effort.

[anng]

Originally Posted by HighEnergyMom

Google has already changed the game for writers, and it's time to take advantage of it instead of just the low-paying jobs.

I agree with some of this, but there are things I'm also seeing. I've been reviewing books for 10+ years now. I watched as iUniverse and Hard Shell Word Factory came in and started issuing some really sloppy books that normal publishers wouldn't have touched. People paid to become "published" authors without someone telling them they really weren't that good. Often, reading them was a challenge and writing reviews really made me sound like one of the nastiest people out there some days.

I'm starting to see the same thing with Kindle's publishing program. Writing is one thing, writing well is a whole other game. I'm all for writing a book IF you have the talent, but not everyone can turn out a decent story and I always find myself saddened when I get emails from an author who is furious I didn't LOVE his/her book because they feel since Kindle or any of these other publishers published it, it must be good.

[HighEnergyMom]

Anng, what you say is true, it seems everybody and their grandma is doing it, whether they can write or not. My suggestion was not for the general public, I only made it here because people have a lot more knowledge how to write. Granted, 30,000, 50,000 or more words is definitely different than a 500-word article, but it's definitely a possibility.

Amazon did a sweep on a lot of PLR books and public domain books, so they did change somewhat for the better. Supposedly what brought that about was customer complaints, although it seems like it took them long enough to do something about it. Just hearsay, but I understand that some of the people who uploaded PLR have been banned from Amazon.

Those who do a poor job on original work, for the most part, will be weeded out again. The Internet will see to that. A poor writer will eventually give up and quit trying to use different names as author to make more attempts as it just won't be worthwhile.

Because there are so many different devices to download books, there's a huge market out there right now. Amazon is not the only place to upload it for sale. It's just a starting point.

For those writers who can properly put it all together, even working on books in their spare time, it's worth a try to get out from under the low paying mills. Buyers are not purchasing because something is great literature, many just want to be entertained.

The thought has never occurred to me that because Amazon or any of the others accept an uploaded ebook that it must be good. These are self-publishing programs and anyone can try it, so I don't expect an author I don't recognize to automatically be worth reading. They have to earn it. At least with Amazon, you can return the book if you don't like it.