"When I see these wanna-bes boasting that they make $400 month working 4-6 hours a day — honey, that $400 is a HALF-DAY for a pro."

Ooops, maybe you're talking about some other kind of profession.

Although most writers are not good at math, I highly doubt any freelancer is making more than $200,000 a year. That is absolutely ridiculous and an amount that even writers of national best-selling books rarely attain.

If you so-called freelancers are really real, why don't you all post some links to all of these $5,000 a pop articles you've written? The reason is: They don't exist. At best you've probably done three or four magazine pieces at a few hundred dollars apiece.

Also, what are the so-called content mills that have gone out of business? I wasn't aware there were that many of them. What are the names of the ones that went out of business?

This is nothing but a forum for you to try to make yourselves feel better. The problem is….lies don't really do that, do they?

Thanks for the laugh, losers.

@ Katherine Swan: I started freelancing full-time in the fall of 2007 and wrote for a content mill paying $20 an article for about two months. I don't know if $20/article gigs are still around. I tend to see $5 and $10 gigs nowadays.

Great post, Lori.

Katharine, I think you make a good point. If they're serving your purpose at the beginning and you're intent on moving on, it wouldn't kill you entirely to work for them. It's just not going to make you rich.

Paula, I rather like the irony of it, too. 😉

Melissa, I suspect you made a bit more than a few bucks an article. Most of us have worked for someone as a subcontractor. I'm fine with that. I'm not fine with devaluing ourselves to the point where we fight and try to outbid each other for a crap job paying less than a babysitter makes.

I started out at a content mill, but decided it wasn't for me. They wanted too much done in too little time for way too little money.

Devon beat me to the punch and said what I was going to mention about some clients not wanting to see clips from sites like ehow. I've had a few clients that asked for clips and specifically requested that the clips not be from Associated Content or any similar site. Some of those clients explained that since most of the stuff they see on those sites are junk; they won't take writers seriously anymore if they provide links to those sites.

I don't write for any of them, but I notice a few writers offering advice to others to use links to these sites for their clips instead of having their own website. I also notice that if you say something to these people- no matter how nice you are about it- they will bite your head off for mentioning it.

I did start out writing for content mills. I was freelancing part-time on the side of a full-time technical writing, and I can't be too down on it, as content mills served my purposes at the time — to try my hand at freelancing. But when I started freelancing full-time, I very quickly stopped depending on content mills.

Another reason why I veered away from content mills is that they started paying less and less. I got anywhere from $15 to $30 an article starting out, but by the time I went full-time, I had noticed rates dropping and sites going out of business. Sure, I can make $20 an article work if it's an easy subject AND if it's not my primary source of income. Any less, though? Forget it.

I also have to say that my favorite client — the ones I've mentioned before, that I've kept on at a lower rate than I usually charge — is also a middleman, though an SEO marketing firm rather than a content mill. They pay on the lower end of the spectrum, but I still don't give them up. The reasons are similar to what Kim indicates: I can count on payments, and assignments for them are quick to crank out.

The difference, though, is that they are not my only gig. I still market (not much though, like you, Lori), and I have plenty of other clients with whom I work with directly. Yes, I suppose a hard-liner would say that I'm selling myself short with my favorite client, but I don't care. We have a great business relationship, they'll give me as much or as little work as I want, and working with them is actually relaxing after some of the clients I have to deal with. I wouldn't give them up unless I absolutely had to!

I agree though, writers need to stop devaluing their work. If you can't get a decent rate once you have a few months of experience and a decent (if slim) portfolio, maybe you need to step back and reevaluate your skill level.

Marketing is essential. For anyone.

I also love Devon's comment: "…don't expect me to consider you a "colleague". My colleagues respect their profession."

Kathy, I bet I'm getting the same ones. I'd love to compare notes!

Thanks for the perspective. I know I'm just getting started on the freelance path, but I'd see some of those ads for $5 or $10 per post and wonder how anyone could make any money doing it! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one thinking that way.