The Pros and Cons of Content Mills for New Writers

Low-hanging fruit has a bad rap in history. It practically gave Isaac Newton a concussion. We won’t even get into what it did to Eve. Low-hanging fruit incensed George Washington so much that he cut down a cherry tree.

Low-hanging fruit can make people do crazy things.

But what about content mills for new writers? This low-hanging fruit of writing jobs seems like an easy way to jumpstart your writing career. In this article, we’ll go through the pros and cons of content mills for new writers.

What Are Content Mills, Anyway?

Content mills connect businesses with writers. They promise companies plenty of low-cost content for their websites to help them rank for SEO while promising writers steady work and pay.

Sounds great, right? Not so much. Content mills are distinguishable for their low pay, often a penny or two per word.

Pros of Content Mills

Low pay aside, content mills offer some pretty important benefits for new writers.

New Writers Can Practice Content Writing

Businesses want writers who understand the nuances of writing marketing content. Content mills, which have lower standards for entry, are a way for new writers to practice writing content for businesses.

Online content plays an important role in a company's marketing campaign. Content needs to register on search engine results and convert customers.

To be successful, content must entertain, educate, and check important SEO boxes. These boxes include:

• Keywords

• Clear headings

• Relevant sources

• Readability attributes, such as numbered lists, bullets, and short paragraphs

Content mills offer writers a chance to learn how to write the kind of content that businesses want. And they often secure various companies and industries as clients, meaning you can likely find assignments you like to write.

Writers Don’t Have to Wrangle Clients

One of the biggest perks of content mills, especially for noob freelance writers, is that you won’t have to wrangle any clients. Because the content mill platform and company works with clients directly, you can just sit back and accept assignments. No pitching your services. No invoicing clients. Just write, receive a few edit requests, and submit. Breezy.

Get Access to Steady Work and Pay

Some businesses flock to content mills because they can get a lot of content for cheap. As a result, many mills will have a fair amount of work available to their writers. And the bar for entry is so low, you can easily sign up to write for several content mills.

Reputable content mills offer regular, reliable payouts. Always research a content mill thoroughly before writing for them. You can do this by performing several online searches using the name of the content mill with words such as “reviews” and “scam.” 

Cons of Content Mills

The promises of writing experience, an expanded portfolio, and steady pay make many writers sign up for content mills. Remember, however, you can’t write “content mill” without “con.” Consider the following downsides of content mills for new writers.

Content Mills Pay Very Little

You already know that, at pennies a word, each article pays very little. But you may be surprised at how long it takes to write an article.

Well-written articles take time. Depending on how much you know about the topic and how quickly you write, a thousand-word article can take an hour or three.

Writing at a break-neck speed just to get a decent hourly wage won’t result in work that you use as samples for potential clients.

New Writers Have No Job Security

Content mills tend to see the writers as easily replaceable. And they may boot you from the platform or simply stop sending assignments without warning or for insignificant reasons.

A content mill’s editing process can be unpredictable, too. An article that earns praise from one editor may be sent back to the writer by another editor. Things like perfect grammar are more important to content mills than great writing.  

It’s Hard to Break Free from Content Mills

From a psychological standpoint, it can be tough to break free from content mills. They let practically anybody write for them. So, you won’t build confidence as a freelance writer like you would writing directly for a business or agency.

You won’t get experience marketing yourself, and marketing is far more difficult for writers than actually writing. If you send out a hundred queries to land one client, you’ll be far happier and satisfied with yourself than if you apply to a content mill that will almost certainly accept you.

Even worse, churning out enough articles to meet your earnings goals may make you enjoy writing less. After a while, you may decide being a freelance writer isn’t for you, which would be a shame because there is real writing work out there.

Skip Content Mills and Go for Better-Paying Clients

Yes, you can!

Content mills seem like an easy way to start your freelance writing career. And for many freelancers just starting out, they’re a great place to cut your teeth and get into the groove of writing, editing, and managing assignments. But you can get their benefits without the downsides if you skip content mills altogether. The soul-crushing nature of pumping out articles could erode your passion for the work.

Instead, commit to marketing your freelance writing services to businesses and marketing agencies. Doing so is far more difficult than signing up for a content mill. But it will also be more rewarding.

Do you need help learning the ins and outs of marketing for freelance writers? We can help you get started. Find all the resources right here to help you get on the road to making money writing.  Check out these helpful guides for new writers.