How to Earn More Up Front Payments from Associated Content

Most writers who churn out articles on associatedcontent.com have taken a look at the suggestions for earning up front payment provided by the company. We all know that associated content doesn't offer upfront payments for opinion articles, fiction, poetry, comedy, and audio. There is also no up front payment offered for movie and video game reviews, or for articles like this one that share tips and tricks with other associated content contributors on ways to make more money through the site. So it's important that you keep in mind that this insight comes with nothing more than performance payments attached to it. Feel free to spread it around amongst yourselves.

Now that you've had a refresher course on the types of articles you won't earn up front payments for, here's an insight into the types of articles that you will... within reason. One type of article that has the best chance of earning an up front payment (in my experience) is a review of a local business or event. These articles are unique, which is one of the most important requirements for earning up front payments. They also broaden the geographical areas that Associated Content has content about, which is another reason these articles do so comparatively well. If you are specific in your wording, give lots of relevant facts, and you make sure to include easily discoverable content (especially with the title) then your local review will likely be picked up for an up front payment.

Another type of article that's similar to but different from the previous article is a general review. These reviews tend to be geared more towards products than towards business or events. In my experience reviews of tabletop role playing games earned a high percentage of up front payments, but reviews of particular firearms, laptop computers, or even vacuum cleaners could also be appropriate topics for this sort of article. As with business reviews the goal with a general review is to be unique, specific, and to offer as much factual information as you can while keeping the article interesting. The title will likely be very important; it should be straight, simple, and to the point.

It is possible to earn up front payments with general articles as well. This approach is rather hit or miss though. The key is to find content that is unique without writing about a subject that's so niche that no one will read it. Writing about cultural phenomenons or historical events is interesting, and there are usually people who will read these articles. But like the other suggestions they will have to contain searchable content, be easy to find in a search, and they'll have to be significantly different from other articles in the Associated Content database. It's not a bad idea to do a little bit of research on the website beforehand to make sure that what you're writing about isn't so common that there are already hundreds of articles on the exact same subject.

These are just general guidelines mind you, and they are heavily influenced by my experiences as a contributor to Associated Content. If you're looking to cash in both before and after your articles earn page views (since it never hurts to keep an eye on how many page views your content is likely to get) then you could certainly do worse than following the above advice.