Review: Associated Content

I began writing for Associated Content about a year ago when finances were getting difficult and I needed some quick income without having to wait for the application process to a real full-time job (at the time, Albuquerque’s job market was already crashing and has not improved since, unfortunately). A roommate told me about the money she was making writing for Associated Content, so I decided to give it a try.

How it works

Associated Content is a site which pays you to submit original articles you have written, which they will then publish and pay you for the views generated. They also have an up-front payment option for most categories of articles, though I’m finding few actually end up accepted for this.

How I work

I treat Associated Content like an internship and write when the fancy strikes me and I have a topic idea that I think will sell well on Stumble Upon or a similar website. I treat the page-view money (currently CPM $1.50) and any up-front payment as a bonus, which happens on about 2/5ths of my articles so far. Recently, I have had a higher – around 50% success rate – after figuring out what sells well to the editors.

Sometimes, articles you think sucked will actually do incredibly on Stumble Upon when somebody picks it up. Most of the money I have made through the site has been random bouts of social media love, which each generated over 1,000 views.

My opinion

I think Associated Content is a decent site with a few misguided editors. The people who review articles are often seemingly stingy and will easily refuse something you have worked on for hours for upfront payment. I like the prompt payments, and they are certainly legitimate, but I don’t know that I write for them as often as I could – or, rather, should – so I don’t have a lot to say. If I ever start writing for them very frequently, I will update with a fresher review.

Survival tips

Surviving the editorial process is kind of difficult. Here are my best pieces of advice:

• Follow trends before they become burned out and others pick up on them.
• Learn what the editors like early on and write only that material.
• Search for every topic idea on both AC and Google before you start planning it out. It’ll save you a lot of heartache.
• Treat page-views as income and up-front payments as bonuses. This is the only way you will maintain your sanity.
• Don’t get disappointed easily. If you do take criticism hard, or have little patience, do NOT use this site. I assure you it will suck.
• Have little pride in your writing and change your writing when they do criticize your topics or approach.

That’s all I have to say for now. I’ll be updating this list from time to time as I learn something new. Hope I helped somebody.

Not Jaded, But Close

I'm a college student and therefore need money to pay for things like rent, tuition, food... When I was living in Albuquerque, the job market was so incredibly bad, it was impossible to get a job anywhere. I was rejected from five places (one even rejected me three times) one month, and ten the next. Desperate for sustenance, I asked one of my roommates for help. She told me about Associated Content and eHow. Ten minutes later, I was on my way to making money online.

I had worked on blogs before, so I knew a little about keywords and search engines and sucking up, so it wasn't until a few months later that I stopped trying to write full-time and began working as a personal assistant with a couple close friends of mine.

If you want to, try other things

I can honestly say that I regret beginning writing at Associated Content et al. It was a bad idea from the get-go. It began innocently enough, with me thinking that between odd jobs, writing, and web design, I could earn enough money to support myself. I actually did, for a month. I paid $400 with that month's work and only had to rely on $50 from my loan refund for the rest.

Unfortunately, circumstances changed, and I was paying an extra $50 for rent and the cost of food tripled (one extra mouth, plus wanting fancier tastes than Ramen and potatoes). I slowed down on writing and started looking for more web design and regular jobs.

Rejected time and again, I started to get depressed. My grades went to hell and I tried to pull them back up, which took even more time out of writing. I understand the concept of passive income, but at that point, I needed money that day, not two years later when an empire was constructed.

I dropped writing completely, save a few random entries in my personal journal and school assignments. I made the biggest mistake when I did this: I have learned now: all things in moderation. Don't expect to get all your content written in a week, and don't stop writing because you haven't made enough.

So if you're looking for advice on writing for a living online, making money through article marketing, or even joining an affiliate network, this is the place for you. I don't claim to have all (or any) of the answers, but I am certainly learning new things every day, and I will be sharing them with the public here.

For now, my best advice is this:

Don't get manic. If you try to do too much too quickly, you'll get burned out, or your quality will suffer because of the repetition and speed. Take your time, think up a thousand article ideas, and then aim for one every couple days.

The other advice?

Promote. People don't find advertisements and affiliate links in a vacuum. You have to show them where it is, first.