Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Options for Online Writing - Ways to Publish on the Internet



Options for Writing Online


There are many avenues for publishing online. Advances in technology now mean that virtually anyone can find or develop a platform for online content (including written works, photos, and video).

Here are Just a Few of the Avenues for Getting Materials Online

1. Review Sites


Review sites allow writers to provide information about products and services used. There are many options today. Some of the online review spaces were developed specifically to house reviews while others are part of content or sales sites. Amazon, for example, allows buyers to provide feedback or reviews on items purchased. Many other companies selling online have similar type review options for purchases now.

Epinions is one of the oldest online review sites with over a decade of publication. It is the first large review site that sought out general consumers and paid for review content. Be aware that Epinions is now owned by Ebay and that they have a parallel site called Shopping.com. It is likely that Epinions will gradually shift over and become a shopping focused site and likely without the pay out model.

Viewpoints is a newer space, although they have a few years online at this point. Most contributors are not paid, although they do have a payment option for active members who apply and are accepted. Viewpoints allows users to add products not in the database and also to upload photos.

2. Online Content Mills or Content Farms


Content mills are web spaces that depend on constantly updated content provided by various writers. In most cases, writers are paid a small upfront fee for accepted content (from as low as $1 per article up to usually $20 with a few higher pay out prices), however, some content mill sites have revenue share programs. In some cases, revenue is based on the number of visitors to an article while others are based on a share of the income from advertising visits.

The reference “content mill” or "content farm" is generally considered to be derogatory. Many writers with more traditional writing backgrounds note that the pay tends to be very low and that, in some cases, the quality of the content is lacking. These concerns are valid, although some content mill work pays fairly well, and some of the content mill materials are well written and provide solid information.

Some content mill examples include:

  • Constant Content
  • Demand Studios
  • Examiner
  • Suite 101
  • About.com

3. Blogs


Another route to online publishing is to set up a personal blog. Writers have more control when hosting and posting on a personal blog. This is especially true when going with a blog template (wordpress is common) with a personal domain name like www.myname.com. If hosting the blog, then the owner must buy the domain name and also pay a monthly hosting fee. Generally these fees are very reasonable (only a few dollars per month on hosting).

Google also hosts blogs at blogger.com. There are no costs associated with starting a Blogger blog. The templates are not as robust as other templates (usually linear from newest reading back through oldest post), although more sophisticated templates can be purchased and uploaded.

Blogger blogs are the easiest to use, since they are integrated with paste in fields for design. They are also easily monetized though the Google AdSense program, however, it can take years to reach the cash out mark of $100. Wordpress, by contrast does not allow affiliate ads on sties, so anyone wanting to monetize will want to look at Blogger or purchase a domain name and pay hosting fees.

Note also that many online sites have companion blogs. Often these blogs are written by paid employees, but some companies will hire writers to post or will open up the blog to readers/fans.

4. Freelance Writing


Some online spaces hire individuals to write materials for websites (and some purchase articles from the online content mills). Content is critical, so some companies and site owners can and do farm out some of the writing.

Writing on a contract basis includes a variety of types of content production. A writer may be hired to do blog posts, feature articles, copyrighting, or to provide SEO (search engine optimization) editing.

In terms of pay, freelance writers online may be making as little as $1 for blog posts or articles, but some writers are paid along the longstanding print industry standard of $1 per word for big name sites or by contract (x number of dollars for x assignment) or even by the hour.

Freelance writing offers flexibility and convenience, but freelance (or contract) writers do not get benefits like traditional paid employees. Work for hire (freelance) requires writers to track pay and expenditures and to pay taxes yearly (or by the quarter for those earning higher wages). In effect, you own a business if you are a freelance writer.

5. Staff Writing


With the explosion of web sites for companies large and small, staff members are often asked to contribute web content as part of the job duties. This can range from doing news or feature articles to PR releases to blogs to working on social media associated with the employer company.

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