Performance Pay Vs. Ad Share Revenue

When it comes to online content writing the writer's motivation is twofold. On one hand, writers write: That's what we do (and do not let anyone tell you that you aren't a real writer). On the other hand, we want to get paid for our effort. Online content writing is a labor of love. It takes a lot of work before any true payment benefits kick in (unless you are writing for upfront payment). There are two main types of payment options for freelance online content writers: performance pay and ad share revenue.

Performance pay is when a website (such as Associated Content) pays you a set amount of money per page view. In the instance of Associated Content, they pay their web content writers $1.50 per 1000 page views. So, without a lot of traffic, you won't make much money. That's the main downfall of performance payment. It requires a significant amount of time generating traffic through link building, forum posts and social media. Take me for example. I don't market my articles much. I have approximately 150 articles (as of this writing) and I make maybe $2-5 a month.

Ad share revenue is when a website (such as Hubpages) pays you a percentage of the ad revenue that is generated from your article. When a reader clicks an advertisement on your article, you get a certain percentage of the revenue that ad generated. Ad revenue has potential to make you a lot of money. The downside in comparison to performance pay is that you could have hundreds of people read your article but if they don't click a link you don't get any money. (NEVER CLICK YOUR OWN LINKS! This is click fraud!)

Some websites utilize a combination of performance pay and ad share revenue. Some websites such as Firehow and the old eHow have a secret algorithm that they pay which combines ad share revenue, performance pay, article popularity, comments and ratings. You never know how you are going to get paid and on websites such as these, it pays to be active in the community.

While we are talking freelance content writing payment, there is another point freelancers should keep in mind. Almost all content writing websites pay via Paypal: Associated Content, Demand Media, Textbroker, and eHow to name a few. Without a Paypal account, you're not getting paid. Paypal has its perks. One tip I can give freelance content writers is this, get the business debit card. This provides immediate access to your Paypal funds.

For an in depth review on online content writing, please read "The Death of Print: Writing for the World Wide Web."