Article Aggregators - Yes or No?
I don’t know if this is the proper term, but I call them “Article Aggregators”. Those sites that allow you to submit all/any articles that you write, but don’t really hire you to do so. Places that collect content pieces and then usually allow you to earn residual income from any ad revenue your material earns (usually through Google ads). Some sites do have a small token payment system in place, but as a Canadian, I am usually exempt and therefore have no personal experience with that.
They all claim that you can start earning money right away, and provide testimonials from those few lucky writers who have seen any income. Don’t get caught up in the hype. Though some money can be made, these are NOT great sources for online writing income.
The biggest problem with article aggregators is a lack of editing or quality control. Even if your writing is top-notch, your work is posted right up there beside someone who thinks punctuation is for sissies. These sites are too often used as a last-ditch location to get work “published” by those who can’t get their writing looked at by anyone else.
That said, they’re not completely useless. By having some of your work available online in this way, you can quickly provide URLs when applying for online writing jobs. Submitting samples in an application is fine, but it does look better (and is more convenient) to be able to supply a few links instead.
Here are a few article aggregators that you can check out if you want to give this route a try for your writing:
I apologize if I have mis-stated the requirements or earning systems for any of these sites. Feel free to add a comment if you have any personal experience with these sites and want to share your thoughts.
If you decide to post some of your work on these sites, you can’t sit back and let the rest of the network bring you traffic (and earnings). You will be more successful if you take promotion into your own hands as well.
