Using Content Sites to Build Residual Income

This is the last guest post in queue before I start writing again. I’m happy to say that this is a guest post from Maria, founder of the Residual Income Web Blog. She is also the author of the infamous eHow eBook which I personally used to drastically increase my ehow earnings, and she has a lot more projects underway as well. Here is a wonderful article from Maria about increasing your residual income with content sites.

I began my passive income adventure by writing content articles for a large website that had recently started a user-driven content section. When I started writing these short SEO (search engine optimized) articles, I had no idea what – if anything – they would earn. I certainly didn’t image they would be the start of something big and even lead to a paradigm shift in my freelance writing career.

For many established online writers and Internet marketers, writing content for other sites is something that simply doesn’t occur to them; and for new online writers starting out, going for a sure thing – selling content for a flat rate – is more attractive than the unknowns of writing for residuals.

However, it is my experience that revenue-sharing content sites can be a significant income generator for virtually all online writers and marketers, whether newbies and seasoned professionals. In most cases, the income is truly passive once the articles are written – the page rank and internal linking system on the sites is often all that’s needed to get content indexed by search engines and found by those searching for the information you’ve shared.

Content sites are a great way to explore many different niches at ones, without having to set up a hundred mini niche sites or dilute the topics of your current sites and blogs. I use content sites to get a feel for what I enjoy writing about and what is most profitable for me. This information has been invaluable in starting my own content sites.

They can also be quite lucrative, as I have discovered. Over a dozen individual articles I wrote on eHow have earned over $100 each … a number I have trouble matching on my own sites thus far. For content writers selling their articles for $10 or even $20 or more, experiment with revenue-sharing sites to see if you can earn a better rate writing for yourself.

Choosing Content Sites

Potential earnings are often the main criteria for writers when considering a content site. If earnings potential is not available, for example if the site is new or current writers aren’t broadcasting their earnings, look at the pay structure if published. For example, some sites pay a portion of Adsense or per 1,000 views. There are other factors that should not be overlooked. One of the main things to consider is whether writers retain rights to their content. If so, you can always remove and republish your work if earnings aren’t what you expected. In addition to earnings, look for the site’s Alexa ranking, traffic statistics, age, popularity and number of active users. Spend some time on the site and check out the article input tool. I find the best thing to do is write a few articles on any decent revenue-sharing or user-driven content site you come across and write more – or not – based on your own experiences.

Writing Content Site Articles

Read through each site’s terms of use or user agreement. Some allow only original content, some allow duplicate material as long as you are the author. Some sites are okay with inconspicuous, related affiliate links; others ban them and repeat violators.
Learn basic search engine optimization and do basic keyword research for each article you write. Your main traffic is via search engines, on site and off, and your articles have to be written with this in mind.
Maintain high quality standards. No only is your reputation at stake; your earnings are too. Well written articles perform better overall.
Keep most article between 300 and 700 words. Length is lethal online, but too-short articles may be ignored by the search engines.

Hidden Benefits of Content Sites

With a profile and library of articles on several content sites, you will find that in addition to article earnings, you can:

Gain backlinks to your own sites and blogs through your profile and articles (if the site allows do-follow links).
Drive traffic to your niche sites, information product or affiliate sales pages.
Increase affiliate earnings.
Build an online presence, gain brand/ name recognition.

Do you write for online content sites? Do you do it primarily for the earnings, or traffic and backlinks?

Again, for more from Maria, you can visit her website at the Residual Income Web Blog.

Posted on : March 11th, 2009

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9 Comments (Click Here to Leave a Comment Below)

Reply Sarah H. on March 11th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

I only write for eHow at this point. At first I was thinking of doing it for a combination of extra income and encouraging traffic to my blog, but now I just think it’s about the income. I write about so many different topics on eHow and most of them aren’t really relevant to my organizing blog.

Sarah H.´s last blog post..Reader Poll: What would you have done in my shoes?

Reply christopher on March 11th, 2009 at 3:41 pm

A question to content site writers: Do you notice the law of diminishing returns in play? I’m not experienced in the field; but I just don’t see how spending 20-40 minutes (thinking up idea, keyword check, formatting thought) is a strong use of time. If the earnings were truly to be passive and continue to stream, then yes, I could understand someone plodding along. But if they do fade (which is what I would guess most often happens), and you rarely see the breakout article, are you really working for yourself or for ehow? (I don’t mean this to be negative. I appreciate anyone’s effort to be entrepreneurial. We’re all in this for the same thing. I have an e-book and am now starting in on affiliate sites. Content sites just never made sense to me — and I’ve yet to read a strong argument on their behalf.)

Reply Big truck trader on March 12th, 2009 at 1:01 am

what do u think about making few niche websites with gr8 content and keep it for longer time (few months) till it comes in ranking and make money in future ? that would be more beneficial as whole income will be urs or writing for ehow and get some part of income from it ?

Reply Maria @ Residual Income Web on March 12th, 2009 at 3:55 am

christopher — No, quite the opposite. In fact, my top ten earners so far in March on eHow were all written 11 months to 14 months ago. Haven’t touched them since except to add or change the Resource links. In addition, one affiliate link that I put on several of my older eHow articles has brought in hundreds of dollars this month alone.

Big truck trader — I have niche sites as well as content on sites like eHow. The difference is, I am seeing more immediate, larger and long-term earnings with lesss effort on eHow so far. Further, as I’ve mentioned, you can write on practically any topic on eHow and do well, whereas your own niche sites should stay on-topic to do well.

Maria @ Residual Income Web´s last blog post..How to Make Money with a Website: Building a Site

Reply christopher on March 12th, 2009 at 12:06 pm

@Maria @ Residual Income Web, you’ve changed my mind!!! Thank you for the response. I guess it’s like anything else web related, it’s not just about doing something, it’s about doing something well. I see the potential. Every article doesn’t have to hit — and the downside risk is only the time that went in to writing the article. And when one does hit you have a viable resource that generates traffic to your affiliate site.

Reply DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com on March 12th, 2009 at 11:26 pm

Solid post– inspires me to look deeper into these opportunities . . .

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com´s last blog post..Affluenza: What is It and Have You Been Inoculated?

Reply Paola on October 24th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Hi there, anyone can advise on other content sites that it’s worth to use and that are open to Europeans|? Thanks

Reply Matt Duffield on October 27th, 2009 at 9:12 pm

Hi Paola,
I have been building my content article base for awhile, and write about my results and opportunities I find worthwhile on my blog called The Residual Income Challenge. My challenge is to work a little bit each day and increase my daily residual earnings until I am making $100 per day in residual income. Check it out, I’m sure you can find several other sites to write for that are open to Europeans.

Reply Tri Khuc on June 2nd, 2010 at 11:17 am

Since these content site take awhile to accrue decent residual income, what other motivations do people have to write on these content sites? If these websites did not do revenue sharing or pay for the articles, would people still contribute? With revenue taken away, the only benefit left for contributors is to promote their website…but is promoting their website more important than earning residual income from these content-driven websites?