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
I agree with you on this. I’ve submitted to AC but they were pretty tight with the purse strings. I think it probably sounds sweeter than it really is, but like you said, if you’re just getting started that might be a good spot for you.