Associated Content - Yeah or Neah?
I’m not one to bite the hand that feeds me…but I haven’t been fed by this master in a long time, for the simple fact that I haven’t submitted there for months. Associated Content is often touted as a great place to earn money online. My response to this: “Maybe.”
Does Associated Content pay you for writing? Yes, if they accept your work. In the “old” days a couple of years ago, they accepted pieces quickly. I never had anything rejected. These days, I hear, they are more selective about their qualifications. I commend them for tightening up their acceptance rates. But this also means it can’t be used as the “article dumping ground” that many people advocate.
Does Associated Content pay you for what your writing is worth? This is a bit of a tricky question. They have their own standards of what constitutes a good article based on how much Adsense or other advertising income they can earn. Does this mean that this is the best price you can get for this particular article. Most likely, not. You could sell the same article to someone else for 2 to 3 times as much as you can make for the standard AC article ($5-$8).
Do I recommend writing for AC? Suprisingly, yes. But I’m going to qualify my answer with “It depends on where you are in your writing career.” If you’re just getting started online, I recommend giving Associated Content a try. It’s a great boost to your self-esteem to see your work being published online. You’ll get a thrill out of getting your first paypal payment for your writing, and it might encourage you to check out this web writing thing more.
But I highly recommend that you move beyond AC as soon as you get your footing in the web writing world. Why spend time researching and writing articles for submission to AC when you could be doing the same to create your own websites, sell PLR or ghostwrite for others for much more money? It’s the same time invested, but it’s much more profitable.
What’s your experience with Associated Content?
This post was inspired by a similar discussion at Freelance Journey
Warning: Copyscape and Blogs
Originality is important in all types of writing, obviously and web writing is no exception. When I do a majority of my research online, or when I outsource to another writer, I always run the content through Copyscape.
Copyscape does free plagiarism checks that compare a URL to the rest of the world wide web. In order to use this, I had been uploading my work to my blog, then using the blog URL in Copyscape. Easy, right?
Not so much.
It wasn’t until I was checking someone else’s work that I realized the implications of uploading to the web before delivering to the client. Her work came back as a match to a blog that had a completely different subject from the articles. The articles were word for word, but something didn’t add up. I was confused so I asked her about the similarity.
It turns out that she was doing the same thing I had been doing, and Google had indexed it. You can imagine my horror thinking back on all the times I’d done this with my content.
I got premium credits at Copyscape immediately. At only 5 cents a search, they are a bargain compared to being accused of plagiarism.
I’m looking for your outsourcing questions and stories
Outsourcing is a major part of writing online, whether you’re a marketer outsourcing to a writer like me, or a writer outsourcing your overflow to another writer. I’m creating a product that will (hopefully) help writers and marketers navigate this important, and sometimes complex, arrangement.
Marketers are always looking for good people to outsource too, and are let down way too often from what I’ve read. Writers are searching for great clients, but sometimes end up with the short end of the stick by unethical buyers.
My new report is going to address all of the important issues relating to outsourcing, from both perspectives. Best of all, it’s going to be free!
What are you experiences with outsourcing? Any tips for success? Or horror stories? Share your comments below.
Do you have topic burnout?
I recently hit the wall with self-improvement writing. Anyone who knows my work knows that I love writing about self-improvement, so much so that I became the “go to” person for that topic. I’ve gotten quite a few clients in that niche, and even one monthly order. My self improvement PLR site, as a result, has gone greatly undeveloped. I just had a hard time coming up with unique ideas for my clients and for myself.
When I read Sharon Hurley Hall’s post “The Reluctant Expert” I could instantly relate. She writes:
“Every freelance writer has topics that they love to write about. They could write about them forever and always find something new to say. Then there are the other topics, where after a while they start to feel jaded, as if there’s nothing more left to say about this particular topic. It’s not burnout, exactly, just topic burnout.”
That’s exactly what I have…topic burnout! But lucky for me..and you too…Sharon provides some great tips on refreshing your mind and your writing so you can get the job done.
Check out “Get Paid to Write Online.“
13 Ways to Give your PLR offering more “oomph”
Today I’m debuting my new look! Special thanks to Mary at IM Freeway for the slick new design.
Selling private label rights content is a great way to make money with your writing online. Here’s a Thursday Thirteen dedicated to PLR.
1. Research your niche topic before committing to it. Make sure there are an adequate number of searches per day by using a keyword research tool.
2. Find out if there is an existing PLR on the topic, and try to hit different angles and subtopics.
3. Give away a free PLR sample so buyers can see what your work is like. This is so important these days because a lot of crappy PLR is floating around. People are leery of buying from a new face. Don’t charge them for trying you out.
4. Work with another writer in a partnership to get more articles for the same topic. Different perspectives can help give your offering more variety.
5. Limit your offering to less people so you can raise the per package price.
6. Offer several different products for the same topic. Package an ebook, articles and blog posts together.
7. Consider starting a plr membership site - but keep it focused on one theme. The more targeted your membership site is, the more people will join. They don’t like to pay for a membership site and get topics they don’t need.
8. Pair your articles with a graphic designer and offer PLR graphics to go with your ebooks.
9. Offer large packages of PLR. Twenty or thirty articles on a topic will do much better than just ten.
10. Offer rewriting services on your own PLR for a small additional fee. Since you wrote the original articles you know they won’t be difficult to reword (unlike rewriting random PLR that your client gives you….which can be a job and half if the PLR is junk).
11. Upsell your PLR customers by offering them a discount on your freelancing services. For example, when they buy a package they get a 10% discount on the next order from you.
12. Check out the competition often. See what they are doing and learn from their mistakes. Improve on their offers and give 50% more value….through pricing, packaging or service. Set yourself apart from the rest of the pack.
13. Keep a license for yourself! Put your PLR to use and create your own mini-sites and blogs to get long term income.
What’s your specialty?
I’ve found the more writing I do, the more that I enjoy doing specific types of writing. Let me explain. In the beginnig, when I started working from home, we needed money instantly. I didn’t have time to figure out other ways of making money online, and I definitely couldn’t be choosy about the work I took. I bid low so I’d get jobs immediately. I wrote my fingers to the bone (well….I still do some of that these days! ).
But now that I’ve established myself, I’ve started picking and choosing projects based on the type of content I’m required to write. It makes my job easier, and my clients happier. And it makes me wonder if I should have been specializing all along.
People these days are looking for writers who know their stuff. A lot of content out there is just rehashed (and sometimes bad!) information about the same topics over and over again. But if you can add some personal experience and insight into your articles, they are going to have that extra special touch that sets them apart from all the rest. Your clients and their readers (or your buyers if your selling directly to the public) are going to appreciate that and come back for more.
So before you take the next job, really think about whether or not you want to write on that subject. If you can pass on the cash and wait for a better topic you’ll end up less stressed and with a better client/writer relationship.
Write down a list of subjects that you like to write about or have experience in. A lot of time marketers need content on a whole bunch of things and will ask for your specialties. If you have your list ready, you can be specific instead of just telling them “I write about anything!”
You can even use it as a marketing angle - “Courtney Ramirez - specializing in parenting, alternative health and self improvement”
Again, I understand the need to make money NOW (heck I’ve written 300 word articles on garden frog figurines), but once you have a little financial leeway, try declaring a specialty and see how much your income increases.
Stay Happy by Remembering the Important Things in Life!
This is my last post in the mini-blogathon (For more on this special event, visit http://www.ezinemarketingcenter.com/blog/ to support Dr. Mani.)
The theme this year was happiness and I’ve tried, in my own little way, to link that in with web writing. But at the end of the day, web writing is just a way to make money. Real, true happiness comes from things outside of this “online” life.
For me, web writing is a means to an end, and that is end is freedom from working a 9 to 5 job. Being able to go mobile and travel while I work is a big goal. At the end of the day, that gets me through all of the little annoyances or troubles that come along with any job.
And of course, looking at these faces every day, you can’t help but be happy!
Have a great day and make sure to check out Dr. Mani’s site to make a donation and find out more about his important work: http://www.ezinemarketingcenter.com/blog/
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