subject: Cheap Article Writers: Content Over Quality? [print this page] Educated and skilled article writers are becoming a rare breed in some areas of the writing market. The worry is that this will spread to other areas of the writing market. "Cheap article writers wanted" is an ad that you see all too often anymore on the Internet.
If you are an educated writer, than this type of work is not for you. This type of work is for writers that have little experience. That is what the pay rate is saying. You are lucky if you are paid one cent a word, which is usually not the norm in the world of the Internet and article writing. The pay is usually more like 1-2 dollars per 500 word article. This is a sad state of affairs for writers in general.
The writing that is needed is web content usually for SEO purposes. This type of writing requires research, the ability to be able to use your words well, write interesting content while adding key words or phrases for SEO. This takes time and talent if quality material is wanted. However, many people that need article writers are looking for the cheapest rather than the best.
Freelance writing is becoming increasingly popular. There are numerous websites that are being made each day and they all need to have content, and marketing. This is where the need for freelance writers is the highest. It is also one of the lowest paid jobs.
As long as writers continue to accept the low pay for their hard work, this will be the norm for the future, and it has already started to affect some of the freelance article writers for magazines. They find a cheaper way to get the articles that they need, they will move from a writing staff to outsourcing.
You have college educated writers that do Internet article writing on the side to supplement their income from whatever job that they may currently have. Some do it for the love of writing, others because they have no other outlet for this talent. Quality and skill should be paid for no matter the forum.
You would not find a doctor who would drop their pay rate to do surgery. Granted writing is not surgery, but the skills that a writer has are learned in college just like the surgeon. I would not want to pay a doctor based on quality of work, who would want a low quality doctor? Nobody would use one. Writers are however expendable in today's world.
If you are a writer looking to get paid for your education and talent, you may want to look at serious publications and news papers that have not yet turned to the freelance market. Many businesses are also popping up offering cheap article writers. This does not bode well for the future income of writers.
