“Content mills.”
If you’re a writer, just saying those words together is the emotional equivalent of cursing in front of your grandmother.
Truthfully, content mills do make for a ridiculously easy target.
They don’t pay enough.
They work their writers to death.
They churn out crappy copy and turn search engine results into dumpster dashes. They teach writers to be worse at their craft, not better. They eat self-esteem for breakfast. They disappear at the most inopportune moments (like just before payday).
Did I mention they don’t pay enough?
But content mills can also be “crash course” training grounds for long-term success in the grown-up, go-it-yourself freelance world. Here are the 6 most valuable freelancing lessons content mill writers can learn from the experience.
1. Lack of firsthand knowledge is not an obstacle to your writing career
In other words, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know anything about silkscreen adhesives or cloud-based security solutions. That’s what the Internet is for.
Today, thanks to the content mills, I enjoy and welcome the challenge of a new or unusual topic assignment.
New Freelancer Tip: To translate the skills you’ve gained through working for the content mills into the big wide world of “no-mills freelancing,” sit down and make a list of all the weird, unknown, strange, and also familiar topics you’ve written about for the mills. Re-read that list every time you are tempted not to query, submit, or accept just because the subject matter isn’t something you already know well.
2. Your self-discipline is solid
Liza Minelli once sang, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”
She, of course, was referring to New York City. But truthfully, for an exhausted content mill writer the Big Apple holds no kind of temptation compared to the lure of your own comfy couch and the promise of (yet another) restful nap.
Thanks to the content mills, I know I have the self-discipline to make it as a work-from-home freelancer.
New Freelancer Tip: Your mill experiences have given you confidence that you can write on deadline and submit clean, fabulous copy. That same discipline will now stand you in good stead as you take over the other behind-the-scenes tasks the mills used to do for you (including setting deadlines, sending email updates, updating client contact information, generating topic ideas for queries and submissions, following up on those queries and submissions, etc.).
Luckily, technology is just a click away to help! Here are just a few great tools you might consider using: Online Stopwatch for time management, Mail Chimp for email list management, Evernote for keeping track of topic ideas, Trello for to-do lists. (By the way, all of the resources listed in tip #2 and tip #3 are courtesy of our very own fearless freelance blogger, Sophie Lizard! Get the full list here.)
3. You’re a warrior on your own behalf
If you’re like many new freelance writers online, you may have found yourself working for more than one content mill simultaneously.
This means you had to juggle different sets of writer guidelines, different editing systems, different invoicing and payroll schedules, different payout deadlines, different error resolution processes, and more. It also means you’re now a vigilant samurai warrior on your own behalf, which is a skill you will need when working for your non-mill freelance clients as well!
New Freelancer Tip: You now get to set up your own in-house systems for setting rates, negotiating with clients, issuing and executing contracts, invoicing, and tracking payments. As tip #2 outlines, there are many great apps and tools that can help you take care of all kinds of small business essentials – often for free or just pennies per day. You may want to use some of these tools to help with the financial side of running a business: Adobe’s
Acrobat Sign for e-contracts, and Harvest for time sheets and invoicing.
4. You have a thick skin
Looking back over your content mill writing days, how many of the mills you’ve worked for expected you to churn out Pulitzer Prize-winning literature – even if you were writing blender reviews?
Probably quite a few, right? They didn’t hesitate to alert you when the content you submitted was not quite up to their exacting specifications. Happily, this creates one of the most priceless gifts the mills have given you – your ability to take instructions and criticism.
New Freelancer Tip: Thick skin notwithstanding, to transition successfully away from the mills into a stand-alone freelance career, you will need to clear your head of past bruises and bumps from content mill criticism. You can now choose who you acept as clients – and you want clients who are like you.
So right now, before you even launch your new biz in earnest, sit down and write out all the reasons you KNOW you are AWESOME (this can include, but certainly shouldn’t be limited to, your writing). For example, you do what you say you are going to do. You do your best on every job (even if your pay doesn’t reflect what your best is truly worth). You are kind and respectful. You are honest and you have integrity.
FYI: you’ve just written out a list of the qualities you want in your new freelance clients. 🙂
5. You have worth as a writer
Even though you’re just at the beginning of your journey as a non-mill-dependent freelance writer, this doesn’t change the facts: you’ve already been making a small but noticeable chunk of your annual income through your writing skills. Thanks to your stint with the content mills, you know you can “earn while you learn”.
New Freelancer Tip: No client worth working with is going to ask you to be perfect, to never ever make a mistake, to be able to rattle off an encyclopedic knowledge of esoteric subjects at the drop of a hat. They expect you to have writing skills. The rest will be a process of first drafts, second drafts, further refinements, and then a finished product.
To transition with success away from the mills and into your own freelance career, give yourself permission to be imperfect, to make mistakes, to correct those mistakes with alacrity and grace, and to stay a willing student even as you grow and strengthen in writing and in business.
6. You can write for big businesses
Some of the content mills you’ve worked for may have kept client identities anonymous. But perhaps some have not. Even if you can’t show clips to prove it, you can still walk into your new no-mills freelance business knowing some of the clients that accepted your content were heavy-hitters. How’s that for a confidence-builder?
New Freelancer Tip: Sit down and make a list of any companies you know you’ve written for through the content mills. If you’ve only worked for mills that keep client identities top secret, then make a list of the posts and articles from top magazines and blogs where you have found yourself saying, “I could write as well as this!” or “I could write better than this!”
Those are the big boys and girls you can write for – and to successfully transition away from mills feeding you an endless succession of anonymous, low-paying assignments, you must commit to reminding yourself of this. This will give you the confidence to pitch that big blog or magazine – because you CAN do it. You absolutely can. (If you’re struggling with this, read this awesome post. Then read it again. And again. And again…)
All that to say, if you feel like a “victim” of the content mills, I encourage you to sit down and reframe your experience in light of valuable lessons learned.
The truth is, you are nobody’s victim, but rather a courageous freelance warrior who’s survived the toughest of the boot camp trenches!
Need help to move from content mills to big-budget gigs? Check this out:
Awesome article. I particularly like “They eat self-esteem for breakfast,” but all your lessons are great, too! I love how you’ve included actionable tips that can push you forward from the content mills into a successful freelance blogging career. I have to remind myself of the last one often. 🙂
Hi Alicia – so glad you enjoyed the post and found value in the tips! This is my first guest post for Sophie – she was an AWESOME help in crafting the post so it would offer the most value to our writer community – I learned so much as a writer myself from writing this post! 🙂
Hi Shannon , You were a savior there if i must say. After web crawling for writing gigs and ending up, every time, at the brutal ways of content mills, your insightful article helped in clearing up many things. Now i can face up to their rugged ways of teaching the newbies as i hit the high road of my writing journey. Cheers
Hi Ali – so glad to hear the post was helpful to clarify your own experiences with “the mills!” Sometimes I find that only by hearing others’ experiences can I fully make sense of my own – and validate the inner gut intuition that may be doing its best to guide me towards or away from more of the same. Thanks for sharing – and good luck as you join me in journeying away from content mill writing for good!
Excellent article! I’m not a content mill graduate myself, but I did do my time in job sites like elance and odesk, and the same lessons still apply!
Hi Patrick – it is so reassuring to hear that the lessons may have “universal” application – makes me feel even better about “putting in my time” in the content mills to know I can take what I learned there and apply it to any new goal I set – thanks for reading and sharing your experiences! 🙂
I used to work for an agency who outsourced all their blog writing via a content mill, so I’ve been on both sides as a client and as a freelancer. I think taking the time to research the content mills you’re interested in can pay off big time. The content mill I work with has projects that pay as low as $2 for nearly an hour of work, but if you prove to be a great writer that meets deadlines, they do offer writing jobs that pay $40+ per project. Content mills aren’t a long-term solution for making good money, but it’s a great start.
Hi Tiffany-you make such a good point and I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences from both sides. I have had not good and not-so-good experiences writing for mills, and overall I think I am a better writer and professional for having done it. Thanks again for reading and sharing!
I have written for a mill and had to laugh at point number one. I once had to write an article about the health benefits of celery. I had a number of strange topics and it was good experience, but I don’t really want to go back unless I’m forced to do so.
Haha-I totally hear you, Cindy!! On the one hand, cool that we can cobble together something readable on “weird topic whatever.” On the other hand – thanks but no thanks. 😉 thanks for reading and sharing your experiences!
Hi Shannon. Enjoyed the article. Did my time with oDesk and eLance. Although I will never go back the one thing they did do for me was get me to break through that fear barrier of writing my first paid article for public consumption.
Hi Tony – I’m so glad you enjoyed the post! I’ve worked for oDesk too – got one somewhat steady gig from oDesk right when I started freelancing that (well) saved my cash-strapped hide – so even though the pay was poor it was pay all the same, and I will always be grateful for that! So glad you were able to break through your fear and get your writing out there – that inspires me! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Shannon,
I loved your tips! I also started with content mills, and while I would never go back, I don’t think it was the worst place to start with. I learned about my worth and my potential speed; braced myself for future rejection and brainstormed for a lot of fun (and/or weird) topics. If I had to do things all over again, I wouldn’t start there. But I don’t have regrets:)
Hi Pinar – thanks so much for your kind words – Sophie really helped me develop each tip so they would be most useful and I’m very grateful for her guidance! It is great to know you and I share a lot of the same lessons from our time in “the mills” – and (for the record) I totally agree with you – I too wouldn’t start there if I could go back, and I too have no regrets. Thanks for reading and sharing your experiences! 🙂
I definitely agree – content mills, while definitely not the best experience, are definitely useful to especially beginning freelancers. Some of the advice that they give are pretty valuable, and you get to work with “editors” who ensure that your content is at least up to decent standard, and you also get used to submitting content on deadline and working with other clients to get out the best possible product.
Hi Daryl – you make such a good point – I too was able to work with at least a couple of mill editors who really helped me improve my craft AND see more of the business “behind the scenes” in the freelance world. It is great to hear about the lessons you learned and hear that your time in the mills made you a stronger writer (just like me!) Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Awesome article Shannon! I know it will sound strange but I still maintain a client that I garnered through Elance because he offered to pay what I was worth from the start, has given me steady work now for 5 months and we’ve already renegotiated based on increase in work/experience in his industry. On the other hand, I did have to slog through WAY too many underpaying job ads to find this one gem in the pile (well over 200:1 ratio so I agree that it really isn’t worth it most of the time!)
Thanks for all these great tips, I especially like your reminder about it being okay to make mistakes. Its good to remember that every day 🙂
Jenn – that is fabulous! It doesn’t sound strange to me – I have one client on Textbroker.com who places orders to me directly and she pays my direct rate – so your experience and mine just go to show that wonderful clients can crop up in the very oddest of places! 🙂 My dad always told me “good cream rises to the top” and so now (in my 40’s) that message is so ingrained I can’t help but look for the good in every experience! So glad to share that with you here!
Hi, Shannon! I can totally relate. Like many here, I started from bidding sites like oDesk, where I also got content mill clients. At first I was happy because I was finally getting paid, but I had to produce not less than five articles each day to reach my target. I found myself working from 8am to 2am almost every day. It eventually took its toll on me and I’m just glad that I no longer have to do that anymore because of better-paying clients.
I think the most important thing that I learned from that experience is self-discipline. I’ve learned to create a daily/weekly schedule and stick with it. It’s just so much easier now that there are less articles to write and more income coming in.
I’m so glad to hear you are out of “the mills,” Mai! I can totally relate to what you share – stressful in every possible way. But I love that we both learned strong self-discipline from the experience – what a blessing! Thanks for sharing your experiences to encourage all of us!
Sorry, I have to say this first: “Birdie mama” is just too adorable! Anyway, thank you so much for this honest and comprehensive post, Shannon. This made me rethink my strategy for my freelancing business. I just started freelancing last month. 🙂 I turned down a few offers because the topics are not my specialty. But I should have taken on the challenge of writing something completely different.
Hi Irene – thanks! My parrot Pearl is my heart….and (now that I work full-time from home) my office mate! Thank goodness we use computers now – if I had to write out my posts by hand he would have them shredded long before I got a single piece finished. 🙂 And congrats on launching your freelance career – how cool! I have read and learned so much from experienced bloggers like Sophie and others here – and much of that has also made me rethink my approach – I think that is one of the biggest benefits of being part of a community like this. And I am so glad to know I can “pay it forward” just a bit with this post – we can continue to learn and grow together!
Great thoughts, Shannon. Thanks for sharing. It’s a refreshing take on content mill problems. I love that you actually translated it into how while it isn’t the best way to find work, it does teach you something.
Sophie helped me a lot to translate my experiences into the most useful format for other freelancers – I am grateful for the experience of guest blogging for her and I highly recommend it! I was able to put what I learned in “the mills” to good use with this post, actually – fun! Thanks for sharing your insights with us all! 🙂
Hello,
I’m in the beginning stages of becoming a freelance writer. I have explored the different content mills that are out there. While I don’t intend to use them as my main source of income going forward, I do like the idea of “getting my feet” wet while at least making a little bit of money. The problem for me has been finding one where I can actually find work. In your opinion, which ones are the best to start out with?
Hi Jeff – that is a great question! Honestly, the most consistent mill for me has always been Textbroker. I even have one client who assigns me direct orders through TB at a rate I can live with, so occasionally I still write for them. I honestly couldn’t recommend any of the others I have worked for – not with a clear conscience. Rather than spend a lot of time trying to get in with the mills, I suggest downloading Sophie’s guide (http://beafreelanceblogger.com/betterpaidbloglist/) – I found one of my main awesome current clients through using this list! I hope her list helps you like it has helped me – and I look forward to reading about your success. 🙂
Hello Shannon,
Thanks for the reply! I do have this list and I’ve picked quite a few from it. How did you approach it? Did you send letter of introduction? I don’t have a portfolio currently, so I don’t have clips to give. I’m just trying to find an effective way to “break in” which can be hard when you don’t have experience. Your thoughts?
Hi Jeff – I think the best answer is found in Sophie’s post here (http://beafreelanceblogger.com/blog-pitch-audition/). Honestly, I just chose the prospective clients from her list that I felt I might be a good fit for, and I pitched them according to any guidelines I found. The first pitch is DEFINITELY the scariest – but as long as you are kind, respectful, and you thank them for their time (plus deliver a most excellent pitch) the rest is out of your hands. I hope that helps (if you search BAFB on “pitching” you will find more awesome articles to help you craft a great first pitch). Good luck! 🙂
Content Mills and similar business models disguised as “better outfits,” all deserve an abrupt and painful demise into absolute obscurity–and Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
I did hard time for several mills years ago, and I was sentenced for several months.
I can honestly attest to that time being one of the worst periods of my life!
To all you writers stuck with “Mill-itis,” I can only recommend the following prescription:
1.) Grab a FREE “URL Harvester” (“Google or Bing” it)
2.) Enter the keyword for your chosen industry
3.) Allow it to pull hundreds of niche-specific related blogs & URLs
4.) Check out each URL and enter sites you’d like to write for in a spreadsheet (finding good companies is an art in itself)
5.) After filtering through viable companies, search for contact info
6.) After you have the DECISION MAKERS’ info for each company/URL….
7.) Browse their website and look for opportunities to write for them/help them get more blog posts/sales/customers/subscribers etc.
8.) Send personalized emails with your suggestions/pitch or call them on the phone.
9.) Rinse and repeat
10.) Eventually say “Adios” to hard time in the Mills.
Glad I saw this article when I did! I’m right at the cusp, where I’ve started to branch out to finding my own clients but still have a lot of work to do. Will definitely be using this as a resource!
Oh that is exciting news, Matt – and I’m so glad to know that my experiences will be supportive as you branch out! Best of luck – one writer to another! 🙂