My Experience with Online Writing Site Constant Content

Constant Content Pros:

· Many high-paying writing assignments from clients.

· Authors can write about any subject matter and submit their articles to CC.

· Articles are displayed on CC until they are sold or the author removes them.

· Authors can set their own prices and level of rights.

Constant Content Cons:

· Clients are not obligated to purchase articles written specifically for their requests.

· Clients often "scope" CC to see what kind of content can be produced for their article ideas and do not actually buy the articles.

· Because CC requires that a good 1/3 of the article be shown to the client prior to purchase, there is the possibility of plagiarism.

· CC does not keep client funds in escrow, leading many clients to request content, review it, and then never purchase it.

For those of you who are looking to make money by writing and submitting articles online, freelance writing sites on the Internet have multiplied. Each site offers some way to make money by writing. However, how can you find out if the site is worth the trouble before investing your time and efforts? In this review, I provide some pertinent information about the online writing site Constant Content (CC). This site has its pros and cons, and I will highlight why you would want to (or not want to) write for it.

I have been producing content for CC for at least three years. CC allows authors to write content for specific client requests, with the client setting the desired purchase price for the content. Authors can produce the requested content and then match the client price for that article or set their own price for the article. Authors can also write "free-form" content and set their own price for it. Authors designate what rights they want over the content: Usage, Unique, or Full Rights. With Usage, the client has the right to display the content only, and the author reserves the right to re-sell that content to another client. With Unique, clients can display and change the content as they see fit. With Full Rights, clients can not only display and change the content, but only they get to show it. In other words, the author cannot resell the sold content, and CC will actually remove that sold content from the author's profile.

Constant Content Article Submission Process

When I first joined CC, I was required to fill out a short English grammar quiz. The quiz was rather easy, so I passed it with flying colors. At that point, I could go into the CC site and peruse client requests for content. Client requests differ by subject matter, length and especially by price. If you find a content request that you want to write, you simply obtain the specifications and write the article. You then submit the article to CC for review and wait a day or two for approval. Once your submission is approved by CC, you can contact the client and notify him or her that you have written some content for his or her request. If the client accepts your submission, you are paid 2/3 of your offered price for the article. The remaining 1/3 of the money goes to CC as commission.

Recently, CC has streamlined the article submission process by having authors specify for which client request they are writing when they submit their article to CC. In this way, the client is notified about the article immediately upon CC approval. However, the process can still be a bit slow. It is not uncommon for an author to wait an entire week before being notified of an article's approval. Meanwhile, if other authors are writing the same content for the same client, an inadvertent race ensues, with the losing authors being stuck with specific content that cannot be sold.

Fussy Clients are an Issue on Constant Content

Another issue with CC clients is that they are not obligated to accept an article that has been created per their request. I've submitted some very specific client-requested articles through CC only to have them ignored. This would lead me to try to sell the articles by offering them to any other client via CC. However, a very specific, and especially time-sensitive, article is unlikely to sell: after all, who is going to buy Real Estate Report, June 2010, once June 2010 is over?

The best strategy to use with CC is to actually ignore client requests unless they are highly lucrative or are very general content requests. It is actually more cost- and time-effective to write search engine optimized, popular article topics and then submit them to CC for general display on the site. If the article topic is hot enough, the article will be purchased in a few days anyway. Using this technique, I've had articles sell that were fewer than a few days old. Also, if the article topic is hot enough, you can set the price much higher than what CC suggests without worrying that your content will not sell.

My Own Constant Content Earnings

I estimate that, in the entire time I've been writing articles for CC (which is now almost three years), I've earned close to $2,500. This of course means that I've earned much more than $2,500, since 1/3 of my earnings were taken away by CC for its commission. CC is not exactly my favorite writing site, but it has proven useful during the times when I needed to make a quick $50 on an article and was already an expert on the requested subject matter. I would still recommend CC to anyone who is hoping to break into the freelance and online writing business, however.

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