Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
Content mills like Textbroker are great for new writers to get their foot in the door. But is blogging more profitable in the long run? Today, I’m looking at the differences between blogging and content mills and which pays more.
This is all based on personal experience and the data I’ve collected over a great deal of time. Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same success as I have.
Then again, you may easily surpass me in terms of productivity and income. Just keep in mind that effort dictates success. The harder you work on any platform, the more money you’ll make.
Differences of Blogging and Content Mills
When it comes to making money as a writer, you have a lot of opportunities online. Content mills, private clients, blogging, writing eBooks…the amount of money you can make is virtually unlimited.
That is as long as there’s an audience looking for the content you create.
Some of the more important facets you need to consider when it comes to blogging or content mills, though, include:
Rate of Pay
There is a massive difference between blogging and content mills when it comes to your pay. For one thing, a content mill will often pay you almost immediately, or at least the following week.
A blog post can take up to several months or even years to bring in the same amount.
For example, let’s take the most popular page on this website. It’s the 300-word writing sample example for Textbroker. That particular article is 1,527 words long.
As a 4-Star writer on Textbroker, something like this could make $21.38 (number of words X $0.014 per word).
In Adsense alone, I’ve made $24.09 since it was published on April 4th, 2019. And, it will continue bringing in money. If I had more traffic, it would surely be higher.
However, this does demonstrate how a good piece of content is worth the income compared to a content mill as long as you’re willing to wait. Otherwise, you can claim the $21.38 from a content mill and move on.
Type of Content
When using content mills, or even having private clients for that matter, you’re restricted to the types of content you can make. Some clients will want tutorials while others may want simple blog posts.
The bottom line is that you are not in control of the content most of the time. This includes everything from the topic to the number of words you write.
When maintaining your own blog, however, you have complete and total control. Well, as long as you create content people will want to read. For this, you need to pay attention to your target audience.
Difficulty of Creating Content
The difficulty when it comes to writing whether you’re blogging or using content mills greatly varies. This mostly depends on who your clients are and your own capacity for research.
For instance, you might get a client who gives you specific keywords and a topic. All you have to do is write the content. For many, this takes a lot of the leg-work out of setting up the job.
When it comes to your own blog, on the other hand, you are responsible for everything. This means you need to find keywords, trends, topics and put it all together in a stunning layout.
Authorship
One of the most important aspects of being a freelance writer is understanding “ghostwriting.” This is when you create content for someone else and the client adds his or her name to the piece.
Aside from getting paid the one-time fee for writing, you have no authorship credits in most instances of being a ghostwriter.
When you’re blogging, though, you can add your name and information as the author. So if you were to search for “author” and my name, you’ll see a wide scope of everything connected to me.
You just don’t get that as a ghostwriter.
Making a Livable Wage
The reason why many of you are looking to be freelance writers is to make a livable wage. And it’s entirely possible with content mills. In fact, if you push hard at it, you can make a decent income in a very short amount of time.
However, blogging is more difficult in terms of generating income. For one thing, it could take you years before a blog is getting enough traffic to bring in any reasonable amount of money.
But, this also depends on how hard you work the blog, your blog’s niche, the topics you cover and how you market the site.
You could very well bring in a lot of money inside of six months. But, it takes a lot of effort. Don’t be surprised if you’re generating $1 per month from your blog, though.
Blogging income also depends on how you monetize your site. Adsense, affiliate links and other methods will impact how much money your site can generate on any given day.
So, Which is Better, Blogging or Content Mills?
Both platforms have their pros and cons. And both will take a lot of work to bring in enough to make them worthwhile. It all really boils down to you and your financial goals.
Any way you slice it though, I still suggest owning a blog. Even if it’s a free one, blogging can help you fine-tune your writing skills and help attract private clients.
Personally, I started blogging as a way to put into practice the things I learn through editors of content mills.
Immediate Pay or Patience?
Do you need to get paid today, or can you wait for a year? That’s perhaps one of the more important questions when weighing blogging and content mills.
With a system like Textbroker, you can get paid this Friday or Monday. When blogging, a single post could take months before it generates the same amount of money.
Personally, I prioritize paying clients because I need the income. But then I work on the blog when I have time in the hopes that one day it will match what my clients pay.
For example, let’s take writing a review on this blog. I wrote a 2,000-word article about two years ago that has generated $68.11 from AdSense so far. This doesn’t include the tips through Buy Me a Coffee that people have given me because of the content.
That same article would have made me $28 in 2020 from Textbroker clients. I’ve made more than double the money (and possibly a great deal more thanks to coffees) by publishing it on my own blog.
Control of What You Want to Write
If you like the idea of having total control over the content, then blogging is definitely the way to go. This way, you can control every aspect of the material from start to finish.
Just keep in mind that it’s also up to you to write a piece that no one wants to read. And I have plenty of those kinds of articles.
In many regards, blogging is more difficult than writing for clients or content mills. If you don’t have a good content strategy, your blog can sit idle for years.
Writing When You Feel Like It
When it comes to flexibility in writing, blogging and content mills are pretty close to even. However, blogging has just a bit more of an edge.
When writing for content mills, it’s always best to keep yourself productive during normal business hours. So, maintaining a good 9-to-5 schedule is ideal. This is because many of your clients are businesses.
It’s likely they want to stay in contact with you and have a fast turn-around for work.
When blogging, though, you can write whenever you feel the need. But like clients, having a good publishing schedule is often ideal so your blog’s followers know when to expect new content.
Still, I think blogging takes this point. It’s easy to spend a weekend creating content and then scheduling each to publish at a certain day and time. In fact, WordPress makes this incredibly easy.
Ghostwriting vs Authorship
If you want to have your name tied to content, blogging is the more ideal. This is because content mills use anonymity, which means your clients don’t know who you are. The end result is a client claiming your work.
Since I am good at constantly creating content, I don’t mind as long as I’m getting paid. However, there are times when I wish I had more notoriety on certain pieces.
And the more content out on the Internet with my name on it, the better I appear as a freelance writer.
The trade-off, though, is getting money for the content you create. So if you don’t mind someone else’s name being on your work as long as you got paid for it, then content mills are perfect for you.
In the End, it’s Up to You…
It all comes down to how much effort you put into blogging and content mills.
If you’re only writing once per month on your blog, you can’t expect the riches to come rolling in. And if you only write one article for a client on Textbroker per month, you’re not going to pay many bills.
As much of a cop-out as it seems, in reality, the one that pays you the most is the one you work the hardest to succeed. And that’s true with just about anything in life.
Find which you enjoy more and make the most of the experience. And don’t forget, there’s nothing wrong with doing both at the same time.
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