A quote that reflects on the cheap internet content epidemic

In light of all the crappy content popping up on the internet these days, I found this quote rather amusing (and all too true):

"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true."

--Robert Wilensky

This quote brings to mind all of the cheap content that people commission for the sole purpose of bringing in AdSense revenue. While there are some services that pay decent prices for this content, there is also a regrettably large population of wannabe entrepreneurs who post ads offering writers a dollar or two per article. Many of these ads also say that they don't expect high quality work...which harkens back to the old joke that a monkey could do the job. In this case, it's probably true, and Mr. Wilensky might even agree with me.

Now, before any of you SEO content writers get upset with me, keep in mind that I write this stuff too. However, if you're upset because you happen to be one of the writers selling your soul for a dollar an article, please take it from me - you can earn more for your labor than those fruitcakes will offer you. Search all the job boards daily, send a cover letter and resume to anything that looks like a decent offer, and refuse to work for anything less than what you are worth. (And that rate, regardless of what you decide it is, had better be above minimum wage!)

Leave the crappy content - and the crappy-paying content - to those who couldn't write to save their lives. There's no reason why real writers should allow themselves to be lumped in with the "monkeys."