I’ve recently gotten a couple of small payments from Demand Studios (in the $5-10 range), and because I’ve been rushed, didn’t figure out until today who they are and why they’re sending me money. Of course, I’d have been on it much faster if they were billing me for something I didn’t recognize!
I submitted an article to the eHow network last year, just to see if it might be another viable stream of passive income. They’re apparently part of Demand Media, so that’s the who and the why. I just didn’t recognize the name.
I realize there is a lot of debate as to the wisdom of these work-for-hire arrangements, but because I teach the Multiple Streams of Income for Writers classes, I felt it would be a good idea to check it out. Anything in the name of research!
Based on this small sample, I can’t say whether or not it’s worth trying, so I’m going to add a total of about ten articles and see what happens. The biggest caveat is that it’s a work for hire system, so you retain no rights to your work. This was irrelevant to me, as the topic I wrote on was not one of my primary teaching topics, so I don’t anticipate ever wanting to reuse it. If the articles sit there and continue to generate passive income, it just might be worth it. I’ll let you know!