Associated Content: Two Years and Growing

I have been with Associated Content now for a little over two and a half months. During that time I have noticed a few changes. With those changes come both complaints and compliments. Associated Content has for the most part remained true to its beginnings of providing a way for most everyone to write articles for the others using the web to read and use.

As a content producer I may not always agree with some of the things Associated Content has done. But who of us are always happy with things going on at where we work? Most of us will find something at some point in time to complain about. For many here the biggest complaint is what sometimes appears to be the inconsistency of a pay scale. However even I have to admit that at least they pay, which is more then I can say for some other sites me and others have joined over the years.

For those of you who don't know Associated Content is celebrating its third year. Started in late 2004 by Luke Beatty, Associated Content has grown beyond what I believe to be even Luke's own dreams of what it started as. Many will argue that Associated Content is nothing more then a paid to blog website. Others will say that Associated Content is the next form of journalism. And still others will say that Associated Content is merely a website that is paying people to write opinion pieces so that the company can make money, while give a little of that money to those of us that do the work. No matter what your view is of Associated Content the fact remains that unlike many '.com' companies out there they are growing and succeeding.

Looking back in the Associated Content Library to the first month - which I feel has some great stuff that many of us need to go back and read - you will find articles mostly about computer knowledge and other common topic articles that can today be found most anywhere online.

One of the most published content providers back in January 2005 was Steve. Steve shares his knowledge about computers, car insurance and finances. Another of the beginning content providers was Dave. Dave being a professional writer provided some insightful articles about a wider range of topics. The only other content producer I can find back in January 2005 was Rachel Zients. She only published two articles but was (maybe unbeknown to her) part of what has become much bigger and more widely used form of media of information. These three content producers provided content in the beginning of Associated Content. According to their profile pages none of them have been active for over a year and half.

Moving up to March 2005 we start seeing more names appearing in the library on Associated Content. I have spent most of my life working in restaurants and I can tell you that if restaurants had the amount of increase that Associated Content had in just two months of operation more of them would be successful. In just two month Associated Content went from having from three to five content providers to having a little over a hundred. Since that time the number of content providers has continued to grow by leaps and bounds.

But why has Associated Content grown so fast in such a short period of time? What makes so many people want to join this website to write? Is it the money they can make? Or maybe it's the changes to get recognition for something they wrote? There has to be a reason for so many people wanting to join this kind of website. There are hundreds of other sites on the web that have offered to pay for peoples services; There are sites offering money for everything from surveys, polls, product sampling and others. So what makes this site so different?

The answer may surprise you actually. No it is not the real money that Associated Content pays to its Content producers that make this site successful. No it's not the Content producers themselves that make Associated Content successful. It's YOU! That's right YOU!! You have found the content on this site. You have come in and checkout what we the "Content Producers" have to say. And you have left your thoughts on the web for others to find. You have spent the last three years searching the web for content that will enrich your life in one way or other. You have told others of the things you have read or seen. You have shared what we have said with others and together we have re-shaped this corner of the world we live in called the Web.

People everywhere are looking for something they need. Associated Content has provided the collective majority of people with one core site to find a lot of what we are all looking for - Insight to answers to what we want to know. In doing so they have recruited people just like you to share with everyone what they think, what they know, what they dream and what they have experienced.

The internet was first started so that a group of scientist could easily share information between themselves. Today the internet is a place where everyone is able to share information with anyone, anywhere, at anytime of the day or night. Associated Content is by far one of the best locations to find most anything anyone might want to know.

Today (unlike its beginnings) Associated Content consists of a large number of articles ranging from family life to computer technology, from sport and fitness to crafts and travel. If you can't find an article on the home page then check out the library. If it's not in the library you might try requesting that specific content from Associated Content.