Demand Media is a rising star in the content game.
They're a front end for a lot of websites like eHow.com -- A really great website filled with content and advice ranging from pretty good to not bad stuff.
Demand Media takes ordinary people just like, me and others and you sell them your stuff. Articles and Video clips. They'll buy 5 video clips from you for $20 bucks. They'll buy a stack of blathering articles, if they're good to mediocre for .95 cents each. Maybe $1.50 if you're lucky.
An outrage? Not really when you think about it. Sure, I'm sad that my articles I'd write and submit Technique (R.I.P), Photo Electronic Imaging (P.E.I.) used to pay me $375 an article. But today, both magazines are gone. People are willing to work a lot more for a lot less.
It's like the dreaded E-brokers coming into your town. Redfin.com is redefining what you are doing as a REALTOR right now. Why bother listing a home with you for 6% sales commission when Redfin will sell the same house for a flat rate closing cost of $3,000.
The market is a-changing. Some of the stuff we like. Others like Redfin... maybe not so much.
But if you got spare time to write lots of stuff about your world, your neighborhoods or if you're like Frank and got lots of time to record yourself talking to yourself... chances are pretty good that someone else out there might be willing to pay .15 cents for your thoughts or video.
Writing articles and producing content can be profitable as Hell and can eventually turn into a positive $1,000 a month, $2,000 or more sort of sum zero, net gain kind of opportunity for you.
How does it work? It's not too complicated. But there are a lot of people involved in the food chain here.
YOU: Assume you're Frank from Frankly Realty.com for example. Frank has a small boatload of videos called Wheel Estate. It's cute, but for some of us it's getting old now. But for a lot of REALTORS that haven't seen Frank yet, this can be a bit entertaining. And for some next time Virginia wanna be home owners, Frank could be turning the camera around once in a while and filming the places he's going to.
A nice idea here and something that he could be packaging and selling to Demand Media.
So let's assume Frank takes 20 of his videos per month and matches them up with 20 - 30 articles.
He submits them to Demand Media. Who in turn passes his stuff up the machine's conveyor belt where his titles get tweaked for relevant key word searches on local Virginia restaurants, Alexandria Shopping, Arlington Night Clubs, etc. you get the idea.
Next a freelance "proof reader," reads Franks stuff and edits them. He gets paid eight cents. Another editor loads new phrases into the key word machine (website) called Demand Studios.
A writer from Demand Studios spots Frank's cool article and spiffs it up for $15 bucks.
Finally a copy editor reads and edits Franks article for $2.50 and Franks piece gets posted to eHow.com. Or, About.com, or Oxygen.com or a boatload of other sites.
Demand Media is a hot startup it seems. CNN, USA Today and the Atlanta Constitution have tried to copy or become inspired by them. This year, Demand Media will bring in about $200 million dollars. The firm is valued at $ 1 billion.
The problem with you, with me and lots of other people out here in the Blogosphere is that we are blogging for a few reasons;
1.) It's something to do, and
2.) We get points by it.
Because aside from (3) clients I've picked up from ActiveRain since I've started here three years ago, my blogging here isn't making me a lot of money. And a lot of my good blog posts with really important stuff here has been read. Some of the were replied to by (7) or less people.
So why does anyone bother? I'd love to be reading Bernice Ross, Donald Trump or Barbara Corcoran. Problem is... they don't blog here.
But if you're good at educating people... if you HAVE something worthy of reading... then it might as well be seen by lots and lots of people and you might as well get paid for it. So in the off chance one of you is reading this and you really DO have something worth of watching (video) or reading... then you might want to look into Demand Media.
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