Is there a way to build a site that offers very good, interesting, unique content without a paid full-time editor? And if you write for such a site, can you make any money from it? These and other questions will be answered as I take a look at Fortitude, a new website that operates on a model likely to make many professional writers and editors cringe.
Fortitude is the brainchild of Nick Oba, former owner of another website I've reviewed here, namely Qassia. In fact, I did a two-part review of the site. In the two years since then, the site has changed its name to Qondio, and seems to be doing quite well. So what is Fortitude, and how is it different?
First, a quick review of Qondio. It's set up for those who want to promote a website. You're only allowed to have one account, ever, for which you pay $5. You can then submit content to the site (which it refers to as “intel”). Your content is reviewed and rated by several other site members before it goes live. You can include a link in your content – and this link is explicitly a do-follow link. Qondio has a number of controls in place to discourage spammers, and at last count has reached a PR of 6, which isn't bad.
Okay, so how is Fortitude different? Well, this site is specifically intended for people who don't have a website to promote. You can still link out in the content you submit, but all of your links will be no follow, which can't help you in the search engines. And the site still expects you to submit good, original content. So why would you?
Simple: Fortitude actually pays for content. You can earn anywhere from $1 up to $100 per item you submit. But there are significant catches that make this site different from any other publisher.
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