Why I Choose to Work at Home Writing for Pennies Online

The online writing community is very small. Even though there are thousands of online writers who work from home, you will find that many of them write for the same sites you do. The sites we write for are sometimes called content mills by people who consider themselves to be "real writers". Through forum posts, blogs and websites, we have learned what high earning writers think of us. When they are not looking down their noses, they are expressing pity that we write for what they consider to be pennies.

Why I Write for Pennies

Some writers have a lot of bad things to say about the websites I write for. They create one sided reviews that blast online writing companies for taking advantage of new writers. They tell me that I am the reason they cannot find good paying writing jobs. That magazines and newspapers are becoming obsolete because of me. They say that if I am willing to write for pennies then companies will no longer pay them dollars.

These writers are not looking at the big picture. Most of them are holding writing and journalism degrees and college educated writers and editors. I am not. Problems at home and bullying at school meant that I skipped school most of the time. I instead spent my days sitting in a library reading. What I know about writing I learned on my own. I don't have a degree but I do have common sense and for the most part, I know how to put sentences together.

I don't get paid a lot of money, but then I'm just trying to pay bills and the writing is doing that for me. As I said, I don't have a high education like the writers who judge me, but I'm not stupid. Why would I take a pay cut? Don't understand what I mean? Let me do the math (I'm horrible at doing math but bear with me).

If I don't write at home online, I have to get a brick and mortar job to pay the bills. With my lack of degrees and the bad job market right now, I will probably end up a cashier or working at Burger King. These jobs won't pay me more than $8 an hour. However, one article at Demand Studios can net me $15 an hour. I write fast and clean and at TextBroker I tend to write mostly $3-$10 titles so I can do anywhere from $20-$50 an hour. Get it yet? Those "pennies" add up for me.

Who Really Makes More Money

While I'm being judged because I write an article for $5 and you write one for $300, lets look at the real truth. You just sold that article, usually with full writes to a newspaper or magazine. Let's say I submit an article to Associated Content. I received maybe $3 upfront. Sure that is a very small amount compared to your $300. However, that same article will also receive money from page views. I have a number of articles that were written years ago that have earned me over $300. These articles are evergreen and will continue to earn me another $300 in the future.

Sites I Write For and Paying the Bills

I write for a number of websites. Demand Studios used to be my bread and butter, but constant changes and stiffer rules meant that it was taking an hour or more to write one article. If I write for another site that has less stringent rules, I am able to make more pay hour, even if they pay less than Demand Studios.

As I mentioned before, I write for Associated Content. I was away from the site for a while, writing at other places, however, I continued to earn page view money every single month going on almost four years now. I am a big gamer and when a new video game came out, I decided to write a review on it. The game was called "Return to Mysterious Island". I wrote the walkthrough, posted it for page view money only and when I was paid the next month, I received over $200 in my PayPal because of that one article. It still continues to earn money for me even though it is no longer as popular as it once was.

At TextBroker, I am a star 3 writer. This means that I earn one penny a word. Yes, that is a very small amount. Yet the articles are so simple that I can quickly write a quality article in a few minutes. In an hour I've made enough money to pay the water and gas bill for the month.

My bills are less than $1500 depending on how often the air conditioning system is on. In Florida, its on for most of the year, so I see a lot of high electric bills. However, I write enough to make $1500 to $3000 a month across multiple writing sites. So why would I go work at McDonald's to earn less money?

Now that I've stepped away from Demand Studios, I have started to build up my Associated Content portfolio again to make more page view money. Even though I have rarely written over the last two years, I consistently earned anywhere from $50 to $200 each month. Another friend of mine earned $200 to $300 a month and around $500 a month with 200 articles during the holidays. This is due in large part to over 50 holiday articles that she had written.

Professional Writers

Don't pity me. I know where I am in life and I'm OK with it. When you write that you sold an article for $1000, I'm happy for you. Yes I'm slightly jealous, but I'm also aware that you are a professional. I never claimed to be one. I simply know how to put words together, and a lot of buyers have told me that I'm one of the best writers they have had so far. As they say, you get what you pay for, and when people pay $1 for a 500 word article, they usually get back kindergarten material.

Whether I write for a demanding website like Demand Studios or a more laid back site such as TextBrokers and Associated Content, the end result is the same. I put my all into every article. Sometimes I'm tired and the last few are not top quality but I always try my best to give a buyer an article that will enhance their websites and not make it look like it was created by a child.

I know a professional writer can glance over this article and point out numerous mistakes. You should be able to. You know a lot more about writing than I do. What I do know is that this article is better than a lot of written works online. I don't say that with arrogance. I say that as someone who has been paid to edit articles that a buyer paid $1 for. I say that as reader who loves to surf the internet. I have seen horrible writing and I know I can do better. But I also know that I'm no where close to be a great writer. When I scroll through writing or work at home forums, I see writers who are creating novels and I know that I don't have that ability with the writing education that I have. I don't say that as I guess, I childish fumbled through a novel a few years back, after almost a year I heard back from the publisher. I'm going to take a wild guess that it was considered junior high school quality at best. They gave me tips and told me what I did wrong, but to this day I don't understand any of the tips they gave me. However, I tried and I never have to wonder what if.

Where I Go From Here

Back to my pennies. My bills are paid, I'm not homeless. In fact I earn more than minimum wage. I earn a lot more. I have mentioned that my lack of degree and schooling is a big reason that I'm obviously not a writer on par with journalists. Some people might ask why I don't go back to school? The answer is simple. College is not for everyone. I have thought about taking online courses, but I have never been that driven. I had an awful time in school the first time, and all those memories are still with me 13 years after high school. I really doubt that I will ever go back. I just don't want to and that is my choice.

As sites that pay people to write continues to close, others continue to open. I have seen professional writers sneering online. Saying that some of us should not call ourselves writers. Well I do consider myself to be a writer. In fact I consider myself to be a good writer. When people ask what I do for a living, I tell that I work at home online writing articles. I am not ashamed of what I do, or the sites that I write for. Thanks to them, I make more money than some people who have degrees and most importantly, I'm happy.