Some Experiences with Associated Content

I first discovered Associated Content nearly a year ago, and signed up for it. I was too intimidated by the site in general to do much there. I did submit one article for upfront payment, but didn’t stick around to see what became of it. I went back to writing for Helium, which was something I was more comfortable with.

When I checked in to Associated Content again, I found I had an offer for $6 for the article, which was on the difference between Protestant and Catholic Bibles. Visions of riches in my head (or at least, visions of diminished poverty), I wrote some more.

The subsequent articles have sold for between $3.66 and $3.00, with one exception. An article on the Saanen breed of goat was at first rejected for lack of reference sources, and then after a re-write was accepted but only offered $1 in upfront payment because they believed nobody would be searching for that topic on the internet.

Submitting an article to Associated Content means that an actual person will review it, and make a judgment on its quality. I find this intimidating compared to Triond and Helium. But it’s a good experience for any writer, and the money involved sweetens the deal.

Associated Content also offers performance payment in addition to the upfront payment— payments based on how many people have viewed the article. The performance payment is not updated daily or hourly so it will take a bit of time to see how much you have earned this way. In my limited experience, my Associated Content articles generate fewer views, and less money, than my articles on Helium, but are ever-so-slightly ahead of my articles on Triond.

To make the most of your Associated Content articles, you would do well to promote them, as you would your Triond articles, on sites such as digg and StumbleUpon. The more views you generate, the more you earn, so this is worth a bit of your time.

How do you write an article for Associated Content? First, do a search on your proposed topic to see how many other articles on the topic there are. This way you can avoid using the same title as another article, and you may see another approach you can take to your subject. Second, use references, from books, the internet, or both. Add a ‘references’ section to the bottom of your article and list them. Write the best article you can, run spellcheck, and proofread.

You need not give up writing for Triond, Helium or any other site when you begin writing for Associated Content. Write for all three, and you might find your writing gets better— and more lucrative— as you cope with the differing requirements of the different sites.