Article writers that are paid by the pay per view system? Is it worthwhile?

@grkelly (1206)
Malta
September 3, 2012 6:49am CST
I have met several article writers who post their articles on sites which pay per view. However I cannot understand the reason behind this as in my opinion it is not that worthwhile. I never tried these types of sites out personally as I was always paid per article not per view. I figure that one needs to generate quite a lot of views, probably hundreds in order to get paid reasonably well? I guess it takes long to earn a reasonable amount of money in such a way?
1 person likes this
12 responses
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
3 Sep 12
I belong to Helium, and I get a mixture of income streams from there. There's the pay per view income, which is around $60 a month on the 1,800 articles I have there. I get that every month, whether I write another word or not. In additon, I have been paid upfront payments for a lot of those articles as well. Some of them have also been sold as stock content to other sites, so I retain the copyright - and the page view earnings, as well as snagging $5 for each one that's sold. Then there's the big payers - last week, I earned $64 for a 900 word article, and I've done some regional guides for a Spanish website which paid $30 each, as well as providing me with a small but regular income each month for making a few forum posts and blog entries. Ostensibly, Helium relies on page views, but I manage to maximise the income opportunities there and earn a decent amount from it, without having to run a website of my own. It suits me as I'm not technically minded, and prefer to spend my working time writing rather than running a website. Also, I can still pick up independent gigs, and work for other sites. The main thing is to work in a way that suits you and brings in a good income.
@mommaj (23155)
• United States
3 Sep 12
Sandra that's great. I haven't been doing anything on helium. I just stick with Yahoo. Sounds like you have a really good following though. Helium pays better for the page views than ac but I never made enough from helium to keep trying. Guess I should go back.
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
3 Sep 12
I think you are the first person I have met who makes so much income in this way and that's good for you . Obviously 1800 articles is A LOT! so it takes time to earn a decent income ultimately.
• Philippines
4 Sep 12
Hi, Sandra,that's awesome. I hope I can earn as much (wishful thinking...). I have signed up with Helium, but have not submitted an article yet. I think you can get assignments there, right?
@riempie9 (1021)
• South Africa
3 Sep 12
For who or whom do you write articles?
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
3 Sep 12
Would you mind introducing me to one or two sites where I can also write for immediate pay? - I told you that I do not work at sites. I don't know about iwriter.
1 person likes this
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
3 Sep 12
I do not have or work with sites. As you know I had several contacts with people who need articles on a regular basis and I eventually set up a group of writers and together we cater for their content needs. I posted this discussion because I cannot understand how people take the time to write an article and then get paid in cents according to the views generated. I don't think it is worthwhile.
@riempie9 (1021)
• South Africa
3 Sep 12
I wrote an article today about clients and writers and how we are treated and scammed. Would you mind introducing me to one or two sites where I can also write for immediate pay? I could not get to the iWriter site all day. Do you know if this is problematic for others too or it is just my browser. Thanks.
@scheng1 (24650)
• Singapore
4 Sep 12
Hi Grkelly, I do not think there are many sites that pay by page views anymore. If you get paid by per article, that means you are functioning as a ghostwriter, and once you have sold the article, you no longer have ownership of them. Some of us just do not like this method, since there is no passive income component. It is true that articles can take years before they make a dollar each, but some articles do outperform others. My top article in Helium has made about thirty dollars for me so far.
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
5 Sep 12
Yes it is all ultimately a matter of tastes I guess. Some prefer immediate cash while others are more patient and prefer to 'invest' their articles and earn on an ongoing basis even though it may be just for a few cents at a time.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
5 Sep 12
I actually have to say that for me, I prefer to be paid per view on the articles that I've written as opposed to having the articles bought up front and then never making another dime from the articles that I've written. The reason that I think that pay per view is the way to go is because of the fact that when you are being paid on a per view basis, the maximum threshold that you are able to make from the articles that you've written is infinite whereas if you've written an article to only be paid up front for it, the amount that you are able to make off of the article is finite.
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
5 Sep 12
Yes it is all ultimately a matter of tastes I guess. Some prefer immediate cash while others are more patient and prefer to 'invest' their articles and earn on an ongoing basis even though it may be just for a few cents at a time. I agree that in time the pay per view method adds up but personally I still prefer getting paid immediately for an article.
@else22 (4317)
• India
3 Sep 12
I have joined a couple of article writing sites.As one of my friends here in Mylot has told me,we start earning more after we have written at least 500 articles.And you have to create a good traffic to our articles by joining social networking sites and providing links there.We may as well ask our friends to read our articles on the concerned sites.That's what I can now say about earning from online writing,because now I am a fresher here.
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
3 Sep 12
My! 500 articles! That's a lot. I reconfirm my thoughts that it is better to get paid per article than per view.
@else22 (4317)
• India
4 Sep 12
And I think,'Wow!Only 500 articles!I will complete it soon.'Believe me,it is not that difficult.Visit some article writing sites.You will find the articles there are not so long and complicated.You can easily write 500 or even more articles within a few months.Just one or two articles daily.However it is your choice.I don't know any article writing site that pays per article.If you find one,then please tell me also.
@liguoping (179)
4 Sep 12
I think the principle is quite similar,the site which paid per view is according to its overall profit and visitors,in my opinion the paid will not high and stable,unless you have many friends and fans,so if you don't have many fans,it is not suitable for you.
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
5 Sep 12
Yes I agree with you. Those who make a decent income from the pay per view system tend to be those who know how to promote, spend a considerable amount of time and effort promoting their article links and have several followers and friends. And this is nott possible or feasible for everyone.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
3 Sep 12
It's worth it if you can promote your own articles and if you're a good writer. Not only do you get paid for the page views today, you get paid for them tomorrow and next week and next month and next year... so a one time job of writing can bring in quite a bit over time. Multiply that by however many articles you can write and it can be quite lucrative. Residual income is also great in that if you want to take a vacation or get sick enough to not be able to work, your articles continue to make money for you.
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
5 Sep 12
Yes it is all ultimately a matter of tastes I guess. Some prefer immediate cash while others are more patient and prefer to 'invest' their articles and earn on an ongoing basis even though it may be just for a few cents at a time.
• United States
3 Sep 12
In order to make a living off writing articles you need to submit more than one article a day for months to generate views. It is worthwhile if you can do it, i think its a great way to earn. I only have 100 articles and slideshows on assoicated content but then again i do have a full time job and i get a couple of dollars each month from the past articles i have written and the most recent ones i have written. It takes a while to get alot of money from a site like that. You need to generate thousands of views to even see sometype of income.
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
3 Sep 12
You need to generate thousands of views to even see sometype of income. = that's what I thought, and that is why I cannot understand how some people feel that it is worthwhile. I prefer to get paid per article.
@babyEj (1522)
• Philippines
3 Sep 12
Some of my friends were very passionate in writing and since they do have web of friends it won't be very difficult for them to have viewers. Writers who enjoyed such system surely has large group of friends. I think for you who writes for money will not be contented and I understand you because you treated writing article as job ; yet there are few who are unique, exclude me...
• Philippines
3 Sep 12
I don't know if articles can really earn enough in pay per view basis either. However, if the article is a living one, then there is a chance that it can shoot up earnings in CPM basis. But such live articles are the ones which updates and is ever evolving. That is what I am thinking of writing about if it is a pay per view basis. However, it is quite difficult to think of article topics than can be perpetually living.
@timetravel (1425)
• United States
3 Sep 12
I would think it could work for some, if the article is SEO rich and generates lots of views. And if one can "promote" the article via links in social media websites, or blogs. Otherwise, I would tend to agree with you.
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
5 Sep 12
Yes it is all ultimately a matter of tastes I guess. Some prefer immediate cash while others are more patient and prefer to 'invest' their articles and earn on an ongoing basis even though it may be just for a few cents at a time. It is also a matter of one's needs. Some need cash now and so the pay per view system is not worthwhile as it takes a lot of time to geenrate a decent income from that. Besides for those who work online as a full time job, it makes much more sense to earn per article written.
• India
3 Sep 12
With this kind of sites we have the ability to republish our articles, once we write an article, we can rotate it through various sites and earn based on the views, it is not tough to generate the views if we have lot of friends in social sites, in my opinion this kind of pay per view is far better than writing for a certain amount, while writing for a certain amount say $5, we only get that $5 and don't have the ability to reuse our articles, but with this kind of article writing sites, we can earn a lot from our single article based on the view, i.e it will generate passive income as well as we can use the same article in various sites and make a lot with it, if we have more patience
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
3 Sep 12
Yes I can understand your point. Thank you for explaining. I do not think it is worthwhile because I prefer tobe paid there and then. But obviously everybody has his/her own opinions.