Information is the new currency, for sure. It’s the reason behind many of the posts I make, such as “Knowledge is Power“, and “Research in the 21st Century“. Global awareness is how I’ve managed to make my mark on the industry in such a short time, and how I’ve been able to make money despite certain traditional writers claiming I’m “wrong” in my analysis and reasonings.

When someone is clamoring that it’s “impossible” or that you “can’t do” something, it’s usually a last-ditch effort by them to keep you below them on the totem pole. Certain writers don’t want you to find success at places like eHow, because it further proves them wrong. Plus, it strips away their mantle of power, because the work that was traditionally being funneled through to them is now being spread out to many other writers who have the same exact qualifications and credentials.

Glad you enjoy the site so far. Hope to see more of your comments in the future!

What I find curious though are people like Carol (the “traditional hardworking freelance writer”) bashing “content mills”-the “envy” abounds.

And interestingly enough it has VERY little to do with the content and much ado about the “low barrier to entry” to said “mill” and the resentment about how “anyone” can earn money for their writing.

I’ve been to sites that were written by “traditional writers” and the content was often poorly written and one-sided. The traditional school of journalists need to “get with it” and think outside the box. The internet can and will change the way EVERYONE does business and makes money-if the slow adopters would get off their “credentials” and embrace the fact that content sites WILL and HAVE changed the way people write, find information and make money.

Information IS the new currency. And as I see it NO one group of people has the key to the information kingdom.

If person A writes 5 articles in 5 hours for 100 dollars apiece, he makes 500 dollars, or 100 dollars an hour. If person B writes 2 articles in 2 hours but spends 3 hours researching/marketing/querying/etc., but gets paid 250 dollars per article, he still made 500 dollars. At the end of the day BOTH writers made 500 dollars for 5 hours worth of work. One writer wrote for 5 hours, while the other writer wrote for 2 and spent the rest of his time marketing/querying/researching/etc.

It’s only exhausting if you don’t enjoy what you write. Personally, I always pick topics I either already have a passion for, or things I would enjoy learning about. Either way, I win, because I’m doing something I enjoy, which means it is no longer work, but a hobby that I’m getting paid for!

Working for eHow is like working for any other company. I’m sure the people working for Chrysler and Enron and other companies thought they had job security, and look what happened to them. This directly ties into your question about why I’m “hungrily” looking for other clients and pursuing a wide variety of opportunities. I like to keep my doors open, and I like to work for a wide variety of places in a wide variety of markets.

Think of it this way. Sometimes I like to eat McDonalds. Other times I might want Olive Garden. I might like to cook a meal at home and enjoy a nice grilled steak with a Caesar salad and a bottle of Italian Chianti or Australian Shiraz or Bulgarian Melnik. Every one of those meals shares one thing in common: they are all food. In much the same way content is content. It doesn’t matter if it’s an article published in the New York Times or if it’s something published on eHow. At the end of the day it’s still words on paper (or a page) and someone is still writing me a paycheck.

I’m certainly glad you are successful at what you do, but there are a great many people out there who are just as successful and even moreso, and they do it in ways that might not work for you or I. That’s the beauty of working in a global market, because you can always learn new ways to innovate and make money!

And… how much will you earn if eHow busts? Lots of these sites go under, you may know. These residuals are a promise that’s often not delivered. You may have read that eHow and other sites are being increasingly mocked for their low standards…we’ll see if they’re around in a year or two.
http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/005741_12022009.html

Also, if you make such a great living from just writing for mills, what’s this whole other side of your business on your site, where you seem to be hungrily pursuing outside clients? I thought you said you just wrote for mills because you didn’t want to ever have to query or market yourself. Hm.

Carol Tice
http://www.caroltice.com
http://Twitter.com/TiceWrites

It’s very easy to get caught up in the “first glance” of places like eHow, which is why so many people discredit them as being low-paying, but just like I showed with Demand Studios, and you showed with your math for eHow, these places are actually extremely lucrative…if you are willing to put forth the effort and know how to use the system.

I love math. Ironically, when I was a student I wasn’t that good at it, but over the years I’ve developed a healthy addiction, probably fueled by my love of that show Numb3rs. But I also learned in my previous job that you can never look at a project from just one angle. To truly appreciate the utmost potential you have to be able to stand back and assess every angle before making your final decision.

Thanks for the shout out, and I’m sure I’ll be linking more of your stuff in the future!

I’ve learned a lot about the power of writing online through eHow.com, and although I’ve made a good amount of money from it, there are people who make far more than I do, who are cranking out new articles each and every day. If I wasn’t working on other projects, I’d be cranking out new articles every day too. It’s really not difficult at all – it’s just there is a bit of work up front that is necessary.

On a side note, I love how you talk about proving people wrong with math. I love to do the same thing, for both my own confirmation of whatever it is I’m calculating out, as well as for the naysayers too.

Thanks again for the link, and I wish you all the best. Cheers!