Some of the websites I’ve written for lately have been profit sharing websites. Because the web is an evolving medium, some web providers have chosen the profit sharing model, in order to make paying their freelance writers both affordable and fair. In terms of the fairness side of things, some websites have a better profit sharing system than others. A good example of this is The Examiner, which I recommend staying clear of, because they reel in contributors with a promise of giving them a venue to write about something they’re passionate about, for a competitive salary. The Examiner is essentially a content mill, and many of its ex-contributors have complained about making as little as $1 over a long period of time of writing for them. I have also personally taken a look at the content, and the quality of the editing on some of the articles is extremely poor.

What Is Profit Sharing, In The Context Of Web Writing?

A popular means for websites to generate income is through advertising revenue, so many of the profit sharing websites also have ad space so that they generate extra income from not only providing written content, but also the level of exposure that the website’s ads get. Profit sharing websites determine how much of their revenue they’ll give to their contributors, based on how many readers, how much social media exposure, and how involved contributors are in their website’s community. Many of these websites have a large readership, which is why they make a profit off ad space. The rates per view vary based on the website’s individual policy.

Who can benefit from the profit sharing model?

If you write for a profit sharing website it helps to be extremely active, and savvy on various social media platforms. People who are good at marketing their work, regardless of how social media savvy they are can also benefit from profit sharing. Knowing your market makes a huge difference, because your profit sharing revenue will slowly grow. Use hashtags on twitter that relate to your article’s subject matter, so that people searching for whatever subject you wrote about can find your article, share your article on groups that that you follow online, that might be interested in reading your article, and encourage friends and family to share the article with people they know.

Profit sharing websites are great for people just starting out because the number of readers they have is often large enough to draw a lot of attention to your work. If you want to market your area of expertise while earning some additional income, profit sharing websites are a great place to start.

Tips On Profit Sharing Websites:

• Carefully read the website’s profit sharing system, and if it seems unfair don’t waste your time and energy writing for them
• If their policy isn’t clear ask someone that runs the website or check reviews on sites such as Indeed to find out what people who have written for them have to say about what it’s really like working for them
•   Don’t only write for one profit sharing website. Find other ways to make income off writing, or consider finding a day job. There are ways to make the profit sharing system work but it’s best to have other work/income as a fallback, and means of being realistic.
• Stay clear of The Examiner unless you want to pull crazy hours, for very little money, and poor quality editorial feedback, or you only want to write for fun, don’t resort to this iffy profit sharing model.
• If you want to write for a profit sharing website, become more social media savvy, and entrepreneurial. It’s how to get the right level of attention.

I hope this helps, and be careful out there writerly friends! And remember: profit sharing isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you work with the right website, and you’re smart about it.