An email was sent out today from the powers that be, at Demand Media Studios. In it was information on how the structure of DMS is changing and that there will not be as many assignments available as usual in the general eHow section for writers, but assignments will continue to show up.
For those of you that do not know, articles have been drying up there for about three months now and simply saying that there will not be as many articles is kind of like hearing, we do not need you anymore. Although this is not the case in this situation, it still brings concern to those writers who count on DMS as their major source of income. I included myself in that list, but like the winds I have changed direction. I have decided to turn this negative into something positive instead.
DMS is still a wonderful company to write for, the pay is on pace for the quality of work that you would expect to receive as a writer working for them. The changes in Google, with the Panda update has seriously made many web content companies look at the structure they have in place for providing reading material for their audience. I understand the need for DMS to make changes to how they do business, after all they are a listed company now and they have a commitment to their buyers.
Many of the writers and copy editors that work for DMS have a problem with DMS not saying anything about this whole process over the last several months. If DMS had stated that this is the change coming forward and to expect assignments to slim down, then many of the writers and CE’s would have started looking elsewhere to build their freelance careers (along with DMS of course). The problem is, many of the freelancers at DMS did not take the time to diversify.
This is a lesson that everyone can learn from. When you are self-employed, do not expect the company that you are working with to treat you as an employee. When the winds change, you need to be able to change right along with them. Do not put all of your eggs in one basket, spread yourself around. That way if one company changes, slows down, dies or cuts back, you will not have to start all over from scratch just to get going again. You will be able to let go of the offending company and continue moving forward like nothing happened.
For myself, I plan on writing more here at Yahoo! Contributor Network, building on my experience in small business and network marketing niche. Eventually I will be making my own website using everything that I have learned and built. My goal is to teach others how to be successful in their own businesses, regardless of what they are doing. Showing them how to get out of the rat race. Please follow me along on my journey and ask questions if you have any as we work together to build something successful.