If Content Only Had A Brain: Looking Twice At Constant-Content

I've decided to give Constant-Content a second look. After I wrote my HubPages article: Associated Content Versus Constant Content, Battle Of The Lowballers I was contacted by Constant-Content's General Manager David Kool who requested a chance to defend his site, which he did wholeheartedly. We engaged in correspondence in the usual virtual way. I am here to deliver to you what I learned first hand from the keyboard of one of Constant-Content's higher ups.

The reduction I brewed from my former article came down to trust regarding both sites. I'm not here to admonish Associated Content, regarding their site I haven't researched them nor had as much direct contact. I am here now though, to advocate Constant-Content as a second source of revenue for writers... but only if you are ready! I don't think Constant-Content is for all blog level writers. I don't mean this as a jab, more as a plain spoken characterization.The nuts and bolts of Constant-Content is that they are trying to sell content to other sites. In order to do that proficiently, the work you submit to Constant-Content needs to be of a certain quality (AP or Chicago Style) in order to sell. This fact alone will turn off any writer who enjoys writing in the first person or who is not into writing to earn a living. Also, anyone who fears rejection because they don't believe their writing is where it should be yet will want to avoid Constant Content until they believe their writing is up to snuff. Again, I highly recommend the warm reception and solid support here at HubPages for writers who enjoy banter about writing or life in general.

At Constant-Content, you have to submit your articles for editorial review. You have three chances for your articles to be accepted otherwise they boot you from the site. This may sound harsh but is in fact a way to deflect plagiarism and low quality work and we can all see the reasoning behind that. This is one more reason I like Constant-Content. They have a computer system (iThenticate) that checks to see if your work is too closely derived from some other source. For those writers who essentially copy others' work and call it their own, this is a major turn off! For those of us whose work has been stolen and used elsewhere (that's me) this is a major plus.

If you don't already get it from what I mentioned above, Constant-Content takes your articles and all of their authors articles and markets them as content to be sold to other websites. The beauty of this system is that a revenue stream can be attained not through advertising as in HubPages or Associated Content, but through repeated sales of the same article, and through development of your reputation as a writer, creating requests for your work. As an author at Constant Content you have the choice to sell varying degrees of the rights to your work at the price you set. If you decide to sell limited rights to an article, it can be sold repeatedly. Or for a higher price you can sell exclusive rights and then Constant-Content takes that article off of the market, it is now the sole property of the website that purchased it. Or for an even higher price, you can sell all the rights to the article to a website, where they consider you a ghostwriter which means they can even take your name off the article and say they wrote it! WTF? It's true. Welcome to the glamorous world of writing. Many authors at one time or another have made money as ghost writers, it takes someone who has eaten their fare share of humble pie to work this way, but it is a way to make money. As a writer, you have to decide which is best. It may seem harsh to be a ghost writer, but take it from someone whose own words have been stolen. At least as a ghost writer you get paid!

But lets get back to the bottom line for a moment. If you are looking for another facet to add to your writing repertoire, Constant-Content may be it. I asked David Kool, the proverbial "man behind the curtain" and the General Manager of Constant-Content if it was really possible for a writer to make $10,000-20,000 a year as a writer for his site, here is his answer:

"It is possible to make that amount of money, though it takes real dedication and we have only had a few authors make that kind of money over our five years in operation. We do have lots of writers that make more in the $5k range. And we have a few top writers that make $40k - $60k a year. The way to make that kind of money, is to start by submitting topically popular articles in droves, then respond to every request that pops up on the site, always deliver on time, and sure enough you will slowly build a group of loyal, and consistent buyers, who only work with you. Let go of your ego and do the work."

So there you have it, direct from the administration! Mr. Kool's clarity about the dollar amount appears refreshingly honest to me. He goes on to say that some of their writers develop a trust with publishers who request the authors work consistently. So although you are not gaining Adsense revenue through Constant-Content, you may gain a career writing content for other publishers. For those of us trying to increase their Internet presence or who aim to publish their own books or blogs in the future, Constant-Content and the publishers who purchase from them, may provide the route you are looking for.

When I asked David Kool, General Manager of Constant-Content.Com why someone would choose Constant-Content over writing their own blog, he had this to say:

"I don't think that authors need to choose one thing over the other. Blogs are fine, though they are difficult to develop into true revenue streams. Constant-Content is a great place to hone your writing skills, to develop long term relationships with some of the most sophisticated and savvy buyers in the online business world. We spend significant sums on advertising and promoting your work and your business. We have a forum filled with some of the best writers in the business who are willing to review your work, give suggestions on how to be more profitable and an infrastructure in place to help you be successful. The harder you work, the harder we work for you.

One of the best things about being part of the community like Constant-Content is that we are in a position to keep our writers up to date with the most recent SEO techniques, buyer purchasing patterns and data to drown yourself in. And despite some of the rage generated by having an article rejected, we always take the time to give more or less detailed critiques to help improve your writing for the online world."

There you have it. What sorts of articles do publishers buy? Maybe you will be requested to write for email autoresponders, or a request for how to clean a diamond ring, you might be asked to review book publishing software or to write about trends in formal dress, the sky's the limit. Is Constant-Content a solid business? They have been transparent about financing so far.  I will be drawing up some work for them under a new pen name.  Check back here in a bit, I'll let you know how it goes!

February 28, 2010

Well after a little disappointment from rejection due to my own syntax and grammar errors I put off Constant Content for awhile! But lo and behold I woke up this morning to find that one of my stories, written a few weeks ago, was purchased! I made over $50 !!! Not bad! Looks like I'll be taking my own advice and taking a second look at Constant Content!