You want to make money writing at home and don’t know how? You could start making money right now with no experience. Learn how to use a content mill to make your first money writing, learn about making money as a writer, and get your first references.
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You saw the gazillion of posts titled “Why you should never eeever write for a content mill if you want to make money writing”.
I’m glad I didn’t read them as they might have discouraged me from making hundreds each month writing for Textbroker. I didn’t know I could make money writing. Until I did.
Yes, there are reasons why content mills are bad. You have read about them. But you also want to make money writing from home. Is content milling for you?
You don’t know where and how to get started. So, why not get a paid writing training?
Wait, YOU get paid! Consider content mills an experimental ground for you. Get started with writing for money at home and train your writing muscle at the same time.
Here are 12 reasons why I suggest you start with writing for money at a website like Textbroker, known as content mills for web content.
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Write for money in a “paid writing training”
You know “How to get started writing for money with no experience right now“. You have discovered your expert topics, decided on topics to get more knowledgeable about, and written your first pieces. Great!
But…
Nobody can pay you if you just sit at your desk and write. If you want a headstart, check out the dreaded content mills like Textbroker. They are great for training purposes and you will get paid for your writing right from the start. There are tons of online writing jobs available right at this moment in content mills.
It never occurred to me that anyone could write and get paid for it until a friend told me about Textbroker. I was in desperate need of some extra cash and thrilled to find out how easy I could make money writing from home with a content mill.
At least … if you have some writing skills.
What if there was a place to get your feet wet, train your writing skills, and start making money as a writer all at once? A content mill can be that place for aspiring freelance writers.
Still hate the idea of content mills? Bear with me.
12 reasons why you should give places like Textbroker a try
1 You get your feet wet with writing for money.
You want to make money writing at home. But how and where do you find clients or writing jobs? Who is going to hire you if you have zero experience and nothing to show off?
Let’s change that. Sign up for a content mill and pick your first short order today. (My first one made me 37 cents!)
Related: 20 Go-To-Places To Find Well-Paid Writing Jobs Online
2 You train your writing skills and you can experiment with writing techniques and workflows.
This is a “safe environment” to learn and play around. You get to write real orders that will get published online. You can learn about what is trending or popular, how long it will take for you to write 500 words, or how much time you need to research or edit, etc.
3 You write for real people and get their feedback without the risk of spoiling your reputation.
The content mill jobs are real and the clients are, too. You only get to see a number but there is a real person receiving your submission. They will use it for their websites. Most clients will give your text a rating. No one but you can see the clients’ comments.
If you want to take some time off, do it. Nobody judging. If you miss a deadline the order will vanish from your dashboard and nothing more. No one will complain.
This is what people can see about you on Textbroker:
Sorry it’s in German. This is my profile at Textbroker.de. I don’t know what it will say in English.
I didn’t upload a picture. You can see my nickname, my rating (“Einstufung”), word price (PpW), texts submitted, texts accepted, texts rejected, or cancelation (“Storno-Quote”). Finally, profile views. You can see that only 45 times someone clicked through to check my profile although I have written more than 1000 orders.
Keep in mind that this is your training field not a place to go on the lookout for clients. You don’t need to fill in the profile information or work on your reputation. In the best of cases, this is a stopover on your way to freelance writing success.
4 You get a rating from Textbroker because they check every piece for mistakes. This is valuable feedback for you!
You will get feedback on each piece you submit! You can learn about common mistakes you keep repeating, for example. They also have some writing resources to help you get better.
Don’t worry. Nobody can see the feedback but you.
5 They don’t pay well, but they do pay and the pricing is clear.
There is no upfront payment or any fee for you to pay. You sign up for free and work there for free. There is no need to make contracts or anything with a client. You submit your writing and you will get paid. No sending out of invoices or reminders.
Also, you know what you will earn and you don’t have to pitch your service to anyone or negotiate a price with a potential client. No market research, no bidding, cold-calling, unpaid bills, or anything.
6 You can start right away in a content mill.
There are always hundreds of orders to choose from in a content mill. You invest no time in pitching or searching for work. Pick up an order, start writing, edit, submit. Repeat. With a little bit of practice, it will get easier and take less time.
7 You can grow your confidence as a writer.
If you are getting started with writing at home you will not feel as a freelance writer right away. Maybe even impostor feelings occur. But one day you want to approach the dream clients in your field and you need to be confident to do so. Writing each day and getting paid for writing will help you build up confidence. You make money writing. It’s not a fortune, but money made writing! You are one step closer to your dream of becoming a writing mompreneur.
Play around with different topics and find out what works for you. Don’t be afraid to pick something up you have never looked into before. (See # 9)
8 Repurpose your content.
If a piece was research-heavy write another one right away (no duplicates!!). Use your researched information to write a similar piece. Put it up for sale at a place like ContentWorld or find blogs or websites that match this topic. Pitch your article as a guest post or for sale.
9 If an order turns into a nightmare, give it back.
It does happen. You pick up a content mill job and it will not fall into place. You struggle to find the right information or putting together words that make sense. The same goes as with missing a deadline: Give back the order and nobody will care. Really. It’s that easy.
10 Negotiate better in your freelance writing future
It’s hard to pitch your services when you tell people you have never been writing for money before. You don’t need to tell anyone that you wrote for a content mill. Let them know that you have written many pieces for different clients in different fields and never had a complaint. Ideally, you have created an online portfolio to show off writing samples. That’s all you need to get started with writing for money at home.
With some writing experience under your belt, you can negotiate better when it comes to individual writing jobs.
11 Get references from your content mill jobs
If you write something you are proud of you could possibly use it as a reference. Once the order is accepted it will probably be published somewhere online. It’s against Textbroker’s TOS that you share your email address with a client via their message system. But you can do a Google search using your text and find it online.
If the website is a place you would like to refer to, approach the website owner. But do this with care! It’s not likely, but possible that your client sold the piece to the website owner and she doesn’t know you’re the author! Or she makes it look like she writes all of her content herself. Always write an email instead of something public like a comment or Facebook post. Let them know you wrote the text and sold it on Textbroker. Include your Textbroker nickname. Tell them how much you like their website and that you would be proud to use it as a reference for your portfolio. If they accept, great! If not, move on.
12 Your writing gets published!
Even if nobody else knows, your writing is published and that is something you can be proud of! People read and share your words.
What if I feel uncomfortable writing for a content mill?
If you struggle to finish an order ask yourself what exactly it is that makes you struggle. Is the topic not right for you? Do you lack some practice? Do you hate the idea of earning that little money or that people don’t value your time? And: Do you even enjoy writing?
When you look back how do you feel about writing? Did you enjoy writing tasks at school? Do you write, even if you don’t have to? What did you do when you first learned writing? Did you eagerly write your first letter or short story?
As much as I hate to say that: If you don’t enjoy writing, then there might be easier ways for you to make money at home. Not everyone is cut for freelance writing. But if you do enjoy writing, there is nothing better than making money writing from home, sharing your words, and getting paid doing something you love! Even if you once started out with content mill jobs.
One reason not to write for a content mill to make money writing
After going through 12 reasons why you should start your freelance writing endeavor with content milling, I need to tell you this:
You can do better.
Use a content mill as a starting point in your freelance writing career. But if you want a career in writing, not just getting paid something for writing, you need to move on at some point. And you will. Learn where to pick up better-paid writing jobs online!
Other posts in this series:
How to make money writing right now with no experience
10 Clever Ways to get a kick-ass profile as a new writer
How to make 500$/month at Textbroker with ease
20 go-to-places online to pick up well-paid writing jobs
Can’t wait to dive in and give it your all? Download the guide to starting a career in freelance writing in 7 action steps from the resource library for subscribers! The guide will walk you through all the steps to take to start a career in writing.
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