19 Best Content Mills To Make Easy Money 2022
- What is a Content Mill?
- How to Get Started with Content Mills?
- Best High-End Content Mills
- Content Mills List For Beginners2020 Edit
- Content Mills for Mid-Level Writers
- Content Mills for Seasoned Writers2020 Edit
- Content Mills Alternatives
- Freelance Job Boards and Listings
- Newsletters with Daily Job Listings
Lately, I have received a barrage of emails asking me for the best places to find writing work. I have posted links and resources in different blog posts and podcast episodes in the past, but today I’ll put together a master list that you can use for your reference. It’s important to note that these sites are always changing. If you are passive, pick one site from this list and write for them you won’t make that much money. A writer who wants to get paid is active, seeking new clients, studying faster writing techniques and always looking for better-paying offers. Content mills have always been a good source of income for many writers, the trick is just to find one that suits your writing skill.
What is a Content Mill?
Content mill is a slang term for a company that usually employs tons of freelance writers in order to generate as much of cheap content as possible. By creating large amounts of text, content farms provide writers with low paying rates.
How to Get Started with Content Mills?
You need to deliver articles and content that are Tier 1. You only have to submit an article or two with a grammar mistake, and your income will be slashed by as much as seventy percent. There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of error. Most clients will take your article and test it in Grammarly. If they see any mistakes pop up, you are immediately in trouble. Don’t let that happen to you.
The great thing about it is that most features are free. Grammarly Premium offers features that are quite useful if writing pays your bills. Find out is Grammarly worth your money.
How to find gigs?
Each of these platforms has different ways of tracking your skill level. They rank on scales from one to three, one to five, or simply pass-fail. If you can write in the top tier, you can make some serious money very quickly. Whatever level you write at, running your work through Grammarly (even the free version) will bump up your rating, increasing your payouts dramatically.
How much do content mills pay?
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Rates vary widely, from $0.01/word to $0.20/word. Industry standard, however, is .10 per word. Some platforms pay level-5 writers EIGHT TIMES more for the same length article. If you want to make real money, you need to treat this like a business.
How much should you charge for a 500 word article?
The industry standard is around $50 per 500 word article. Rates go from .01 and .09 per word with Fiverr and UpWork writers charging .01 to .05 per word. Experienced English native speaking writers usually charge .10 per word.
But, before you can turbocharger your rates, you have to start somewhere, right? Learn how to write UpWork proposals to get hired.
Here are some of the best places to find writing jobs when you’re just starting out:
Best High-End Content Mills
Writing Jobs
I promote Writing Jobs for a reason. It is a paid service, but that gate is what keeps out the riff raff. Instead of fighting with hundreds of unskilled writers for penny jobs, get access to better opportunities. Writers have made millions with Writing Jobs, and it’s definitely one of the first places to start.
Writer Town -> Now Called Listiller
If Writing Jobs is a little too steep, start with Writer Town. They use a much smaller pay gate of just ONE DOLLAR. Writer Town has changed their name to Listiller and is now FREE. This is to separate the serious from the time-wasters and to keep spammers from infecting their listings. They list over 7,000 of fantastic writing jobs at any given time. They always have new listings and the community is very supportive. Find a great network to help you find gigs and review your work.
This is an excellent environment, where you can improve your skills as a writer.
Content Mills List For Beginners
2020 Edit
Writers Work
This platform offers work to freshers as well to seasoned writers putting $20 to $65/h based on skill level. All work is offered fully remote and freelance and with the current situation globally, this could be your first step into change if you’re aiming at being your own boss.
Writers Work offers Part-time/Full-time and Contract positions which always comes handy if you’re after a gig and have to integrate and combine it with your schedule.
- Types of writing jobs: General content, blogs, articles, copywriting, social media posts.
BEwriters
BEwriters platform applies the same principle as Writers Work. Although, they pay a bit less than the mentioned competitor which leads us to the conclusion that BEwirters aims at writers beginners.
They pay from $4 to $15 per page depending on the urgency and complexity of the task. However, their average order price varies from $18 to $47. You can work part-time as well as full-time. You are the one who controls your occupation and income.
OneSpace (Formerly CrowdSource)
This is a platform you can use to get started and write extremely short articles. They pay $.025 per word. That comes out to $2.50 for every one hundred words you write for them. Most of the jobs are writing short answers to questions that people post on their website. They pay every single day, so if you need a few bucks, fast this is a good platform for getting started.
The jobs here tend to be 1-200 words in length, so you are making money at $2-5 a job. It’s not huge, but if you can write fast and crank out ten gigs an hour you can start to earn a decent wage. You can certainly make more than minimum wage starting on this platform.
StudioD (Formerly Demand Studios)
StudioD is a good platform for beginners. They pay more than some of the other Tier One content mill platforms, starting at $25 per article. That’s pretty good. Many direct jobs will pay you $25-35 per blog post or article, so their pay scale is pretty reasonable. They are kind enough to pay twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. You are never more than four days from your next paycheck.
They require an application to get on board. While you’re waiting, sign up for a bunch of these other services.
Zerys
Now we are moving toward the lower end of the spectrum, where many writers need to start. They pay just over a penny per word, around $.014. For a thousand-word article, you are going to make just $14. But when you apply my speed writing techniques from 20K in a Day, you can crank out a lot of these articles fast.
This is a platform where you start and build your portfolio, but work to leave them as quickly as possible.
They will connect you with good potential clients, and some of them will generate a lot of work for you. The work can become steady, which is one positive.
Great Content
Great Content is a good platform to grow with. The lowest tier pays just $.004 per word. That’s brutal and not something you can live on in the West, but the top tier pays $.12. That’s a phenomenal rate and one of the highest payouts in our Tier 1 best mills.
Write a few articles and demonstrate that you are a native speaker and they will move you up the tiers very quickly.
The Content Authority
The Content Authority is better for weaker writers. If English is your second language or you are just a weak writer trying to learn your chops, then I would start here. Their bottom tier is much better at $.007 per word.
Unfortunately, their top tier is just $.03, so you’ll make far less than top tier on other networks.
Writer Access
Their website isn’t the most impressive, but at least they have the courtesy to list their payouts right on the home page. A writer can make from $.014 up to $.07 per word. They pay better than some of these platforms, and by the time you are top tier, you will be ready to move to a better platform.
They also have good work for editors, translators, and content strategists. These jobs start around $21 at the bottom, but you can work your way up to $70 per hour which is a pretty decent wage. Check their page to see the latest price bands.
Content Mills for Mid-Level Writers
Scripted
Get onto Scripted as quickly as you can. They charge their customers $29-$85 per blog post. This translates into payouts of $25-60 per article. If you are a native-English speaker, you should find Scripted a great place to start raking in the cash. They pay high, and that’s because they only let in high-quality writers. If you are still learning this skill, you may not get accepted on your first try.
That’s ok. Just try again in a few months.
They also have a FABULOUS program if you want to make a living as an editor. This program has so much work if you pass their rigorous testing process.
Freelance Careers
Unlike the competition, they pay per page instead of by the word. Payouts range from $7-$31 per page. They are looking for lots of academic writers as well. If you lean toward the technical end of the spectrum, this might be a nice place to lay your hat. They have less than a thousand writers on their rolls, so it’s not too crowded.
Unfortunately, they have about ten writers on the books for each job available. Once you establish a reputation as a strong writer, you will be able to beat out the weaker writers with ease.
The Dollar Stretcher
They don’t share their pay scale publicly, but The Dollar Stretcher has been known to pay $.1 per word. This is pretty solid, and they are a strong blog with a long history and a stellar reputation. If you get into their good graces, you can make a first-world living writing for them part-time.
Constant Content
This is more of an action house, where you write articles and then list them for sale. When someone wants them, they place a bid and or just pay your asking price. This is a more advanced platform with a lot of other options for growth. They do a lot of connecting writers with clients as well.
A great place to list some articles once you have your portfolio sorted out. Blog posts here often sell for $60+. The one caveat is that the site takes a hefty 35% as the middleman. This is more than some other sites, but your take home will still be significantly higher than the Tier 1 sites mentioned above.
Sometimes the editors here can be strict, even when they are wrong. The key to success is to write and list lots of articles. They will sell at random times, but you are setting yourself up for long term passive income surprises.
Content Mills for Seasoned Writers
2020 Edit
Freelance Writing Gigs
Well, we list it here with platforms for seasoned writers, although Freelance Writing Gigs is a writers community, so even beginners can squeeze a gig or two. It’s designed as a job board with listings updated daily.
There you can find online writing jobs to part-time on-site jobs to internships.
Contently
This is the higher level of writing with an agent. They pay hundreds of dollars per article, but they only hire the best. You start by building a great portfolio. When they have work that fits your skill set, they email you with an offer. You can make a lot of money, and as you build a reputation, you will get some very nice offers.
You can’t make a living from Contently as they don’t have work for everyone all the time. It’s best to set up your profile and continue to work on other platforms. You don’t have to check their site all the time as they email you anytime they have a job offer.
eByline
This is another site that pays you at least ten cents a word, worthy of putting on best mills list. You can wait for assignments to come your way, but you can also pitch blog post and story ideas. This is more active than Contently. With a strong portfolio and some good pitches, you can get steady high ticket work.
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Join this site as soon as you feel confident in your writing ability.
Skyword
You can land some good projects here. Only put your best material in your portfolio. Articles pay $40 and up. The more advanced your knowledge, the better the pay rate. They do have writers that get paid in the hundreds for a single blog post.
These top level sites are all exceptional and the more that accept your work, the better.
ClearVoice
Paying at the highest tier, ClearVoice is another site on best content mills list that only accepts highly-skilled writers. Once your portfolio is strong, get into their program, and wait for the work to start rolling in.
Content Mills Alternatives
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Get paid anywhere from $50 to $350 for articles with them, depending on size. A pretty good work source with a strong reputation. If you have a desire to work your way up into print magazines, this is a place worth starting instead of the list of best mills we mentioned.
79 Websites that pay $50 and up for blog posts
Freelance Job Boards and Listings
Newsletters with Daily Job Listings
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Thanks for all of these leads, Jonathan!
The short, but informative, paragraphs on each one are really helpful.
Which tropical island do you live on?
Was working from home always your dream?
Thanks Jonathan! great content & ideas.
Just an observation, as of Dec-18 OneSpace is not taking new freelancers. Not sure if this a temporary measure or they are shutting down.
Cheers!
M
This is the best blog I have found in my relentless searching over the past couple of days. Thank you for taking the time and effort to assist a newbie in pursuing their passion for writing.
Nice blog…thanks for showing the way to the newbies as well as to some older horses.
I’m also one of them, searching for the end of the tunnel.
thanks
Hi Nikhil,
thank you for taking the time and leaving a comment here. Searching for a suitable platform to make a bit of additional income on the side can be time-consuming. Glad I could help.
– Jonathan
Hi Jonathan
I really appreciate the time and effort you have put in for this great list of resources to get a kickstart…… i had never thought of doing this.
Cheers
Jennifer
Thanks Jonathan, I have downloaded 5 of your books and am working through them. Have also bought another couple of items and joined SNM FB Group.
Thanks for all the good, usable info, plus scaling of the value of each. I don’t even want to speculate how many hours / days it would have taken us to collect the same info, particularly coming from behind the 8 ball.
I look forward to a good, productive and long association.
Cheers,
Eric
PS, I am in Sydney, Australia. The author webpage is not yet active – I hope it will be during the next month.
Your blog is great but 99 percent of jobs are for the US or other native speakers although a huge number of highly professional content writers are not natives.
That’s true. Most writers are non native-English speakers. But most of my readers are, so those are the sites I listed. If there are some I’m missing, let me know and I’ll add them to the article.
If you’re struggling to generate provocative, click-worthy content for your business, you may need to hire a writer to help. A freelance writer can bring a degree of professionalism to your content creation that can be difficult to recreate in-house and on budget