I could subtitle this post “Why I Appreciated Writing There and Why I’ll Probably Never Write There Again”.
I started writing with associated content a few years ago. I was a brand new stay-at-home mom cruising around for something better to do with my computer than chat rooms and Mai Jong (Have you ever noticed how addicting that game is!?). When I found Associated Content I thought, “Oh, I can write articles” and off I went.
Let me say this – I didn’t know anything about being a serious freelance writer. I would never choose to write for Associated Content today, but I’m glad I did at that time.
The Benefits of Writing for Associated Content – What I Got From the Freelancing Experience
I wrote about 40 articles for Associated Content and made about $400 total in upfront pay. It’s not great, but it’s not horrible. I also continue to make about $15-$25 each month through the new pay model which pays on page views.
The forums are very active, and many of the writers are extremely helpful. I made contacts at Associated Content that have been fabulous – both personally and professionally. I learned how to format my articles to be successful on the world-wide web, in addition to just being informative articles. I discovered that not only do I have a lot to say, but there are people who actually want to read it!
The Downsides of Writing for Associated Content
Now that I am an experienced freelance writer, and have written so much web content for both public sites, and private contract, I will not contribute new material to Associated Content at a high rate. In order to get an upfront payment with Associated Content you must give them exclusive rights to the work! And the pay you get is usually not very much – sometimes only $3 or $4.
There is also a lack of editorial oversight, and an inability to edit content once it’s posted – both of which I personally dislike.
How Associated Content Pays Freelance Writers
Associated Content will publish your article one of two ways. If you sign away all exclusive rights they will offer you a small, upfront payment. OR you can publish the article as “non-exclusive” and you’ll get the page view payment only.
All articles published on Associated Content will be paid according to page views. Starting out, you receive $1.50 for every 1,000 page views. That’s only about one-third or one-half what I currently make at Suite101, and one-tenth what I make at Examiner.com!
If a writer had some research they wanted to reuse and put out in another forum, and wanted the exposure of the bio and information on Associated Content, they might find it a viable option. I appreciated the quick response in getting my articles up and paid. And, as I said before, it was a great way to learn the ropes of web content writing.
Ultimately though, for me, I stopped contributing to Associated Content on a more regular basis because I picked up other markets and other, higher paying jobs.
Visit Associated Content for more information about getting started.
Visit my Associated Content Profile and see some of the articles I’ve published there!
Good article, Angela. Hopefully it will help other stay-at-home women out there. It is hard sometimes, I think, to find an at-home source of work that honors one’s productivity with good pay. Thanks. – Jen.
First, you don’t have to give them exclusive rights. You give them non-exclusive FIRST RIGHTS, but you have total freedom to sell or reprint your articles elsewhere, unless you are writing for a partner, in which case, they are buying your articles for exclusive rights, and you can’t take them down. I’m surprised you made $400 in upfronts on 40 articles. That’s way more than most people make. And your performance income is great. I guess it depends on what you write about. I have about 63 articles there, and if I get $4 a month in residuals, I’m happy.
My experience was (keeping in mind that I haven’t contributed an original piece there in over a year) that in order to receive UPFRONT payments you had to grant them the exclusive rights. Also you have to remember, their upfront pays used to be much higher before they switched to revenue share and dramatically dropped the upfront pay amounts.
As for residuals – I actually make two to three to four times that payout amount at Suite101 leading me to ask myself, “Why contribute an article to AC only to make a slight percentage of what I would gain from putting that piece up on Suite101?” Which is probably the MAIN reason I haven’t written for AC anything new in a year or more.
Having said that – if someone is unable to get hired on at Suite101, AC is a great alternative for learning the ropes of SEO and web writing.
Great info here – I am just beginning to write freelance and appreciate learning from seasoned veterans.
I like the way you have written many articles toward your favorite interests, children, pregnancy and so forth so it goes along with your other job interests.