An Objective View on Associated Content

I've been writing since I first learned HOW to read and write. We all know, however, that actually publishing your works is the most difficult and frustrating part of trying to be an actual author. In my opinion, countless numbers of people WRITE, but you're only an AUTHOR until you're published.

Therefore, a site such as Associated Content sparks immediate interest with any aspiring writer. I remember when I first heard of AC. I did some quick research and then completely ignored AC because of a few headlines that said AC was a scam.

Several years later Associated Content was brought to my attention again, this time by an actual user of it. This time around I went and read the Terms & Conditions. Now it sounded pretty legitimate to me so I signed up. Then totally forgot about it until it I suddenly received an email from AC saying something along the lines of "hey, you've been with us a while but haven't done anything, where you at?" Not in those exact words of course.

By this time I had seen AC mentioned several times in the forums that I'd been flitting around in my attempts to make some spare change. That and the reminder email from AC, finally pushed me to submit my first piece of content.

So far, I am pleased with Associated Content. I know the upfront offers are not large sums like we'd like to see, but it's better than nothing! After all, wouldn't you rather receive a small compensation for doing something you enjoy than to not receive anything at all? What good is it for us to write our thoughts down and then have them sit to rot, never to be read by anyone else? I'm sure many of us have notebooks filled with stories, poems and other writings that, without sites like AC, would sit and gather dust forever.

Plus there is the fact that your works are being read by other people. You receive comments, critique and actual input from other readers, writers, authors and publishers. This in of itself has its own gratification factor.

One major drawback however, is the wait time between submitting a work for upfront payments, to actually receiving an offer and publishing. Since it almost always takes at least 1 week before you get your offer, you have to take that into consideration when trying to publish timely articles, such as an editorial on a news headline. If the time of publishing is more important to you, than you would have to forego the upfront payment and publish with the PPM option only.

Apparently one reason that it takes so long for AC to respond on submissions is the small size of its staff. Under-staffing was one of the key points in articles disclaiming AC. Those that condemn AC, also point out the small compensation and minimal effort AC puts in to promote your works for you. Plus, I guess AC gets quite a bit of revenue from the various ads placed on our content pages. So in comparison, our revenue as content producers is miniscule to what AC can earn on actually displaying our content. While some say this is deplorable business practice - I say it's just business!

How many companies out there do you really think keep their profit margins down just to better satisfy or reward the consumer? I wrote an article about how product quantity is shrinking and yet we are being charged higher prices. Does this sound like ethical business practices? Not in the minds of the consumer. What can the consumer do? Either choose to buy the product and give the company their profits or not buy the product. Unfortunately, the practice is being used by just about every company out there, so somewhere down the line you're going to be a "victim" of it. Associated Content is just another business. They have chosen their way of making profit, and we, as the consumer, have the choice to support it by submitting our content, or the choice to go against it by ignoring it completely.

Associated Content can't compare to actually having your very own book published in print, but it can offer some satisfaction. With the small monetary rewards and the potential online readership, we are encouraged to continue writing. It gives us reasons to create new works. Quite frankly, compared to some of the other ways one can make legitimate money online, AC is one of the better and fastest. I've made more money on AC in a few months than I have in 1 year on a couple of the sites I frequent.

So ultimately it boils down to personal preference. Do you want to earn some spare change on the side by doing something you enjoy? Or would you rather focus your energies on other more difficult means that may or may not end up paying you in larger sums? It's a free world, make your choice.

**No matter what methods you choose to make extra money online, you should ALWAYS read the Terms and Conditions carefully. Then make your decision on whether or not you wish to join.**

A few opinions against AC:
http://cutewriting.blogspot.com/2008/05/unethical-business-practices-by.html

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2006/12/victoria-strauss-associated-content.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/companies/associated-content (read the comments)