Constant Content
Note: This review was written in 2015; we have an update from July 2020 that covers some new issues that have developed on the platform.
NATURE OF WORK AND PAYMENT
Constant Content's primary business model is effectively that of a consignment service for writers. Writers post their own articles on topics of their choosing, and when a client buys the article the writer gets 65% of the sale price. Though 35% is a very hefty whack, Constant Content is nevertheless a popular outlet as writers are allowed to set their own price for their articles, and the end pay still usually ends up being much better than at a content mill.
There also two other options for established writers on the site. Clients will sometimes post public requests for content that writers can apply for, and writers may also be asked to join a managed team for an ongoing project and have access to a private pool of requests with deadlines that can be claimed (a la Textbroker).
As writers set their own terms, pay necessarily varies widely. Payments are a bit more restrictive than at other sites, however, taking place usually in the middle of the first week of each month, with no option to cash out at any other time. Any money you make after the initial cash-out near the beginning of the month will just have to sit beyond your reach for a few weeks.
(
Correction: I've since learned that there's a "semi-monthly" option that is tucked away in your profile, and is off by default. If you enable it, payments appear to be on the 1st and 15th. Would still rather be able to cash out after a certain threshold, but this is a lot better than waiting most of a month!)
SITE HISTORY / LEGITIMACY
Constant Content has been around since at least 2008. Just speaking from personal experience, I've had no issues whatsoever with receiving payment in writing for them for a year now. I also can't find any serious accusations of non-payment anywhere. They really have one of the better reputations in the whole content mill / freelancing online milieu.
INTERNATIONAL ACCESS
I'm having difficulty finding an actual page to cite for this, but just going by various forum postings, Constant Content does seem to welcome international writers. I know that I've seen many client requests there for articles in UK and Australian English, at least. Presumably, you just need to be able to receive Paypal payments to be good to go. Readers, please post updates in the comments if I've got this one wrong.
STARTING OUT
Applications for new writers simply involve taking a five-question quiz in which you must get four answers correct. Other than that, you just need an active Paypal account.
One minor threshold is that you'll need to have five independent articles accepted before you are allowed to directly contact clients.
PROBLEMS WITH CONSTANT CONTENT
You can never entirely predict your monthly income with content mills and sites of this general nature, but it's harder to even get a rough estimation with Constant Content. As with most of these sites, they throw up a huge wall between the writers and the clients, so it's a matter of guesswork as to who is presently shopping on the site and what they want. Clues are given in the form of being able to see the last 20 article sales and the last 30 or so search terms, and certain topics that are hot among shifty affiliate marketers like supplements and investments usually consistently do well, but buying patterns can be very unpredictable. Cannabis is one that I noticed fluctuates greatly -- people will be buying up everything for a month, then nobody touches any of these articles for six months. When you put a piece up, you have little idea if it's going to sell in a week, in eight months, or never. Client requests and requirements are likewise very unpredictable and sometimes off-the-wall.
Getting onto teams helps somewhat, but the pay for most of these seems to be more down in the content mill neighborhood of 2-3 cents per word. The two teams I've had experience with thus far also always seem to have a "greedy grabber" who takes ludicrous amounts of assignments as soon as they become available, since there's no cap on how many you can claim. They usually don't finish them all by the deadline, but CC doesn't seem to keep proper track of that, so they can simply release the assignment just before the deadline is up and not face any consequences.
There is occasionally some crappy drive-by editing, and they do get on weird little jags apparently based on the latest Google algorithm voodoo beliefs going around SEO circles (like right now they have a complete ban on intensifiers like "very" for some reason). But all-in-all the editing here is actually far more tolerable, competent and hands-off than most content mills.
A "cash-out" option over a certain threshold (say $100) would also be very welcome.
FINAL VERDICT - Worth It!
While there has been something of a disturbing downward trend toward content mill pricing as of late, I still feel Constant Content is a worthwhile tool for the freelance writer's toolbox. You can still sell high-quality articles for a fair rate (well above content mill rates), though the range of topics that people are consistently looking for there is somewhat limited. At worst it's a great place to repackage an article that you retain full rights to but didn't sell elsewhere for some reason or another. I don't find I can rely on it consistently for income, but in most months it usually provides a nice boost.
URL:
constant-content.com
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