Associated Content Discussion
I am opening up the floor today for discussion and opinions on writing for Associated Content.
For those of you who keep up with me on a regular basis, you know that I posted this article a week or so ago about how I was going to start writing for AC again, and you also know that I started a blog called Writing Success at Associated Content at the same time. I was all fired up after seeing that I had received performance bonus payments in my Paypal account from AC, even though I hadn’t written anything for them for many months. The payments were only change, but still, I thought I could make a little extra money writing articles while I was waiting for new opportunities to drop at PayPerPost AND make money through the AC Performance Bonus for page views.
Well, that enthusiasm has been extremely dampened after I submitted five articles, (all previously published on my blogs, in AC’s defense, but before the Performance Bonus was implemented I submitted previously published or non-exclusive content to AC and still received between $6-$9 an article.) This time I was rejected for upfront payment on all but one article, which only paid $4.00.
I blogged about this on my AC blog and said that unless I made good money from page views through the performance bonus I would not be writing for AC any longer. Then this morning I found a comment from the founder of Associated Content in reply to my post, asking me not to quit, and telling me to market my page. My reply to him was that I felt the balance wasn’t fair, I was writing the articles, I was getting paid next to nothing or not at all and I was expected to do the marketing, and asked him what HE was doing?
I would REALLY like to hear from ALL writers on this subject of Associated Content. You can choose to comment anonymously if you write for them and don’t want your identity known. I am wondering if I am being unfair or if you agree with my take on this.
I look forward to your replies.
[tags]associated content, writing, page views, online writing[/tags]
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Comments
Hey Susan! Long time no see, but hey, AC is not a Pay per post outfit, it’s an article content site.
Anyway, great to hear from you and don’t be such a stranger. 
Hi Denise!
I haven’t written for them for over four months, but I still get a dollar a week due to the performance bonus. It’s not much, but I didn’t publish much there either.
I don’t think that it’s a place where you could make a living (unless your requirements were low), but for making spare change it’s nice.
You might leave a note linking here on http://www.wahm.com in the WAHMS Who Write forum. I know that some of those WAHMS write a lot for AC. They might be willing to come here and comment.
[...] I have opened the floor for discussion and opinions about Associated Content at Freelancing Journey. I hope that you will join in and help me decide if I am being fair or unfair with my last post. I received a comment from the founder of AC to that post. You can read the details on my blog post here, where the discussion is going on. [...]
When I hear people say things like, “I only $3 for my article” what I want to know ask is, “Well, why aren’t you searching for more profitable topics, then?
But it seems that people want to use sites like AC as a dumping ground for “why I hate my mother in law” pieces or “defense of the stay at home mom” articles. No one really wants to research the more profitable topics. They want the easy way out, 10 minute articles.
There was a time when I was embarrassed to have my stuff on AC simply because the writing got so bad. I’m glad they’re tightening up their standards.
To me personally, Associated Content was helpful in the beginning of my career. I use it very rarely now, but I still suggest it for beginners. It was a big esteem boost to have my work published, even though the pay was very low. There’s no harm in using it as a stepping stone!
Associated Content is a great place to start a writing career especially if you don’t have samples. I sold some academic papers and essays to AC and referred potential employers to my AC page.
Writers can maximize their earning potential by learning about search engine optimization and keywords. Also, AC makes requests for certain topics that will yield more money.
I haven’t written for AC in nearly two years because I’ve been busy with other projects. This is a nice place to begin.
It’s great to see all of the differing perspectives. I am coming to the conclusion that it really is about perspective, the whole AC thing and agree with the fact that it is a good place for beginners to cut their teeth.
As far as my own stuff, I guess if I am getting paid $4.00 for an article that I already posted on my blog and I get paid for page views I shouldn’t complain. I suppose I should really start studying what AC teaches about marketing your AC page if I want to increase that income.
Hi, Jen. Thanks for your input. That was my initial reaction when my articles were rejected for upfront payment. And now I don’t see how it would be worth my time to keep a blog about AC and to market my page if all that work will not make me any more money than $30 a month. I have too much marketing work to do with my four niche blogs that help me make a full-time living to worry about small change.
[...] Posted on September 28th, 2007. I had some conflicting feelings about writing for Associated Content so I opened up the floor on my blog, Freelancing Journey, today and got some really great and diverse input. Here is the link to the article and the discussion. Please feel free to voice your own opinion about Associated Content. [...]
I don’t mind it a bit. I’ve only written for them once in the last three months, but I’m getting about $15 a month. It’s not a living or anything, but I think it’s great that I’m still being paid for the things I wrote a year ago. And a lot of those I was paid well for- 10-15 an article much of the time. It’s also helped me get countless freelance gigs, which I do make a full-time living with. I’m not going to sell all my best crap there or anything, but I think that AC definitely has its place.
I’m hearing such mixed things about AC! I just joined, so I really hope it pans out for some side cash.
Hi! I found your blog through wahm. Very nice
I only decided to see if I could start writing for money a whole month ago. However, the very first articles I wrote I submitted to AC.
This was because I had read several comparisons of different places (constant content) and it seemed AC would be more lenient.
All my articles were bought for upfront fee for $3-$4.
As I have been doing some writing for clients, I realize I could really be making much more. Also, I have been praised for the work I have produced. This brought me to attempt to have an article accepted at CC. Of course, I figured I was getting ahead of myself. My first one was accepted at CC!
I will continue to submit some of my articles to AC for the hopes of a little bit of long term monies. I’ll also send them articles and see what they offer.
Example, I wrote one intending to be 500 words. However, it turned out more like 750. We’ll see what they offer, then I’ll decide if I want to sell to them for exclusive or not.
I think it is a perspective. As a full time writing gig or serious income, it’s not realistic, but I would have loved if AC was around when I was a 17 year old college student. Using AC in conjunction with niche blogs and Squidoo and other such set ups can work together to get some pretty decent income, but I’m not sure it’s ever full time. I don’t think it’s a bad way to make some side money, save for an extra vacation or something.
There are a lot more problems going on right now than you would possibly believe. Last month I was making around $1500 a month from AC. I was getting paid $3.01 per article– writing about 25 articles every day– which took me about 10 or 11 hours.
If you take a look on the forum now, you’ll see a lot of angry content producers. It’s only the people working on the site full time that realize what is going on. Somebody who submits 1 article a day is not going to recognize any difference.
As of around October 23, 2007– Ac is only accepting about 1 out of every 15-20 articles for upfront payment. Every article is getting denied within seconds, without even being read. People are starting to think that the CMs are on vacation but we know this isn’t the case.
Last month the performance payments were all miscalculated. We we’re all supposed to get at least twice of what we were really paid. That means that it showed we would get $100 but we were really paid half of that amount and they said that all views were accidentally doubled (somehow).
Once the page view situation was figured out, they stopped accepting articles. Everybody is searching for topics on AC that don’t even exist and getting the same response, “This topic is too common to justify payment.”
Instead of us writing articles and having 95% of them accepted, now about 5% are being accepted. I’m not going to write for 11 hours a day to make $6.02.
If you ask the full timers on AC they will let you know. I’m not the only one. Check out the forum on the Associated board. We’re all lookin for jobs now folks!!
Hey Shannon, thank you so much for bringing this update, even though I am sorry to hear that so many people, like you, are being affected. I haven’t written a thing for AC since this discussion and will not write for them again. Looks like maybe they are on their way out?
I skimmed over most of these comments and the post itself. This is my first time here. I am a freelance writer and have never written anything for AC. I came close many times, but always backed out and searched for another market. I’m not saying it’s bad or good to write there. I really know nothing about them except what I’ve heard/read.
My question is this:
As writers that pour our talent and heart into our work, why do we even have to consider $3 or so for an article? This is so sad to me…
I did recently sign up under a friend that has had tremendous success at Constant-Content. Now, what are your opinions on this site? I haven’t sold anything there yet but I only signed up a few days ago and uploaded a few pieces. I don’t know if I’ll have any success there or not, but at least the articles that are on there are ones I’ve already sold or didn’t invest much time in.
By the way, I wish AC (and everyone else) would realize quality writing is worth our effort.
I SO agree with you, Michele. Writers should be paid what they are worth and the debate has been going on for years about writers settling for peanuts and making it all harder for everyone due to the fact that people can buy writing that cheap, the law of supply and demand, you know? It sends a message that makes the value of writing go down.
As far as Constant Content, I have never written for them but I have heard mixed reviews. A good place to talk to those who are writing for them is the WAHM forums.
Hi, Denise!
Though I’ve written quite a few articles for AC, these days, I only ever submit reprints that I’ve either sold elsewhere or posted to my blog–or both. And that, very rarely, because it hardly seems worth the trouble with the prices they’re paying these days–when they pay at all.
At Constant Content, my highest priced article went for $300, and I sold one for over $200 and two others for $100 each (though CC writers only get 65% of the price paid for their articles). Most, however, go for less than $100 and some considerably less. It all depends on the buyer and the project. But, one thing’s for sure: you’ll almost always get more for your work–and usually a good deal more–at CC than you will at AC.
Jeanne
Denise,
Forgot to mention that I wouldn’t recommend that V–or anyone else–sell exclusive rights to their work at AC (or at least only do so very rarely) for the low prices that AC pays. (I’ve only ever sold them exclusive rights to one article that I didn’t think I’d care to ever use again.) If you sell non-exclusive rights, you’re free to sell those articles over and over again and continue earning money from them in the future. Don’t let the very small hike in AC’s offer amount lure you into making that mistake. It isn’t worth it!
Good luck everyone!
Jeanne
I only write one to three articles a month for AC, but my monthly view bonus grows larger every month. I’m not getting rich, but it’s lunch money.
Hey stranger, yourself! Looks like you’ve gotten yourself into quite the quandry here — I wonder how many other pay-per-post outfits are set up the same way — the onus is on you, not them, to get yourself seen.
You ARE only one person. There is only so much one person can do.