Demand Media IPO

Disclaimer: I am just a small time businessman and a small time writer. In short, I don't really know much about this stuff.

CNN ARTICLE: Demand Media IPO Stalls Amid Accounting Questions [LINK]

As an amateur freelance writer, I usually earn about $3 every 500 words.  But lately, I've seen interest in freelance writing growing. That brought me to ask the question of whether hiring or subcontracting writing work was feasible. I know of several writers who did this and I'm not entirely sure as to the outcome of their endeavor.

Initially, it seems that the best model for the particular business niche I am in could be in the form of Demand Media which owns eHow.com and LiveStrong.com - both prominent sites on the web. DS currently has in its roster 13,000 active freelancers and about 2 million articles and videos.

CNN and Allthingsd reported this,

"What the added information boils down to: Demand doesn't expense the cost of paying its writers upfront. Instead, it spreads those costs over five years, which boosts its bottom line.

Demand's rationale is that the writers' content will generate revenue for the company revenue for multiple years, so it shouldn't have to recognize the costs upfront. It estimates the "average useful life" -- meaning the amount of time it will make money -- of its content to be 5.4 years."

How long will it take before those 2 million articles will pay off? 

5.4 Years...