Pros and Cons of Writing for Content Sites

Pros

• With all the content writing sites available, there’s a good chance you’ll find something that jives with the type of writing YOU want to do.
• The Internet now presents more opportunities to make money off your writing than ever before.
• Your work is viewed by a real audience.
• You determine the size of your workload and when and where you will complete it.
• You build a diverse portfolio.
• The work is steady.
• There’s large potential to earn residual or “passive” income — your articles can continue to bring in money as long as they’re on the ‘net, without you having to put any additional work into them.

Cons

• The pay is often low, sometimes ridiculously so.
• It’s difficult to rely on content writing as your only income, as you’ll have to write a LOT of content before it can start paying off in big ways.
• The lower pay on the “write what you want” websites makes it hard to devote time to writing about your interests; instead, I tend to commit most of my time to websites that promise an upfront payment, even if the topics interest me less.
• The return on your time investment varies, depending upon how efficient a writer you are. The slower you write, the less payback you’ll receive for your time.
• Writing for content sites does not necessarily increase your credibility as a writer or expert. Like self-publishing, people in the industry know that not all content sites have quality control; as such, they may not perceive you as an expert when they read your article on Associated Content the way they would if they saw it on the Mayo Clinic website, no matter how much you know.

I’d like to experiment with more content sites and build up a healthy pool of articles that could earn residual income. But for now, monetary concerns restrict the amount of time I’m willing to devote to experimentation. But I definitely encourage writers to try it; getting paid for your writing is good, even if that pay isn’t quite the figure you fantasize about.