

When an even slightly experienced freelancer looks around the market these days, the situation can appear quite glib. Upwork.com is a perfect example of the much-derided 'content mill'. The moniker is pretty much exactly what it sounds like - a place for high-volume production of 'content'. To those not involved in any aspect of creating or utilizing said content, this can be a fairly ephemeral term. So for those out of the loop, 'content' in context refers to essentially every written word you see (and sometimes hear!) from every corner of business, advertising, government, and so on. Content may be the single most highly overlooked and under-appreciated aspect of modern business.

At the heart of this statement lies a basic principle as old as humanity itself: the quality of communication is foundational to every enterprise. Knowing how to speak to the ethos of the times, to connect to the hearts and spirits of a society, to make people feel understood - this is the fulcrum by which the world moves forward.



I've just presented a series of incredibly bold statements, but the truth of the matter is that I am, if anything, underselling the issue. So while you're chewing on that, here's another treat: very few people can write well. Just as almost everyone can perform basic mathematical operations (2+2=?), throw some higher level formulas around, and see how many intelligent answers you get. Most people comprehend - at least intuitively - the basic workings of their native language, but writing is as much a talent and discipline as anything else that people can excel with. Very few have a true grasp of syntactic construction, narrative flow, how to structure parentheticals, the importance and distinction of ellipses, but everyone instinctively appreciates and recognizes language and communication done right - just as everyone appreciates not seeing a rocket launch explode halfway to atmosphere.

So now that we've ironed out a basic understanding and ironed away a few misconceptions, we can begin to work at the real meat of the subject.



Content Mills: These sites are not about quality content production - as a whole - and their existence does much to handicap and degrade a professional appreciation of quality communication. One source I spoke with was able to carry over from Elance.com several of the clients they found. It's not so much their existence itself that is so troublesome to so many - it's the fact that they are flooding the market and setting the most obvious example for new freelancers to lock on to.



In fact, the most successful freelance writers I've encountered - and I'm making a consistent effort to speak with as many as I can find - have laid out fairly similar stories: they've utilized previous platforms, established excellent relationships with several clients, and then carried them forward to a long-term, highly productive partnership. Unfortunately, that process seems to have by and large face-planted.



And this is the crux of it! Quality content is an absolute must, but for every business person who understands the field as it is and the importance of quality content, you have hundreds of people who 'just want something to throw up'. But when you have people out there debasing the value of English language content - people who have English as a second or fourth language and find rates of $0.01 per word a considerable step up from their local earning capacity - it has a notable impact on the entire market, because too many folks don't immediately comprehend the value of communication.



What we have here is a race to the bottom. I want to expound on two major points:

Everyone wants to save a buck. But if businesses don't consider the quality of their content as seen by potential customers a point of the highest priority, I have to seriously wonder about their understanding of the market and even their own bottom line. This evaluation - and I'm deadly serious here - is absolutely nothing against aspiring English writers of non-English speaking countries. The hourly wage of:

Vietnam is $0.52 an hour.

India is $0.40 an hour.

Bangladesh is $0.40 an hour.

It is completely rational for these folks to grab on to every opportunity that can be found.

In fact, the issue becomes even more muddled as we explore a company’s natural desire to cut down on costs, which can even - albeit rarely - be positive, such as the recent popularity in letting their staff employees work even part time for part of the year from home, which translates to a savings for the company that closes around $11,000 a year. This is not only good for their employees, but the business itself. They are saving money and getting a jump in creativity, engagement, and moral from their employees.



There is a reason businesses budget's for advertisement and marketing is often much higher than even that of their own labor force. Utilizing professional freelancers who take their work seriously can be toward nothing but the benefit of a business that understands its own desire for success.



Being a freelancer, author, and editor myself notwithstanding (okay, maybe just a little withstanding) I strongly suggest that a more open and mainstream acknowledgement of the value (and market value!) of content and writing needs to surface. The hard facts in recap are:

Not everyone is a good writer. It is every bit as much a skill and professional aptitude as mathematics, accounting, marketing, pr, hr, and so on. Professionals develop within their niches, education, and the scope of their natural abilities. We value them according to the their accomplishments, experience and training.

Writers should be no different, and for every major article you read, be it a social-media pop buzzfeed fluff, a National Geographic piece that revolutionizes bio-engineering, or the latest in corporate paradigm transitions, know that a writer is behind that - and if you're lucky, their input, clarity of thought, and precision with communication is so adept you can utilize it to advance not only your business, but yourself.