How Much Does Clout Matter on Associated Content?
What Is Clout?
As I mentioned in the introduction, clout level, or more specifically, clout index, is determined as a function of total page views and published articles. Clout index can be determined through a simple mathematical equation. The equation appears as such: Clout Index = (1 + (PA/100))(TPV). Published articles (PA) are factored into a multiplier, up to a number of 200 published articles. This means that the (1+ (PA/100)) multiplier can be a maximum of 3. Clout 10 is reached when one's clout index is equal to 1,000,001. This means that the lowest number of page views a person can get before reaching clout 10 is 333,334. But does clout really matter?
What Are the Benefits of High Clout?
The most obvious benefit of having a high clout level is the increased payment per thousand views. Upon reaching Clout 7, Content Producers begin to receive additional money for every thousand views that their content receives. Beyond this, the benefits of having a high clout level are more intangible. There comes a great deal of respect with achieving Clout 10, as it is difficult and often requires years of writing and marketing.
Does Clout Matter?
Until a person reaches Clout 7, it is my opinion that clout is unimportant. While increasing through the clout levels can be a motivation to continue with Associated Content, clout levels 1 through 6 are largely indistinct and unimportant. There is no tangible benefit for advancing from Clout 3 to Clout 4 for example, other than the changing of badges. For all intents and purposes, Clouts 1 through 6 could be condensed to Clout 1, Clout 7 would become Clout 2, and so forth. Of course, it would take a long time to reach Clout 2 if this were the case. One would need to write 200 articles and get 16,666 views before achieving an increase in clout levels. Even after achieving Clout 7 or 8, the monetary increases in payment are not significant. Clouts 9 and 10 mark the most significant increase in payment, up to $1.75 and $2.00 per thousand PVs. In this respect, it's logical that people obsess about increasing clout levels quickly.
Conclusion
In my opinion, clout doesn't really matter until Clout 7 is reached. Even then, the tangible benefits of clout are not reached until Clout 9 or 10. I think that Content Producers should not worry about clout, other than to perhaps use it as a way to set goals. Obsessing about clout is unlikely to be productive, and is more likely to be an exercise in frustration than anything. If you have any ideas of your own on the importance of clout - or lack thereof - please leave your thoughts in the form of a comment. Thank you for reading!
Published by Steven Moneyworth
I am studying Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and plan on attending medical school after college. Follow me on Twitter at @acsamzolin. View profile
Moving Up Quickly as a New Content ProducerI am a new content producer, aimed at moving up the ranks quickly to write 200 article and achieve clout level 6 with at least 20,000 page views.- Clout 9 ObsessionTrying to reach clout 9.
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11 Comments
Post a CommentThanks for article. It really cleared the confusion I had. Love to cook? You should check out my new articles at http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/934610/daniel_rhodes.html for some of my favorite recipes.
I recently started paying attention to clout- have noticed page views increase when I bother to read and comment on other people's articles :)
Thanks for sharing this.
Frustration--yep I get it. I just wrote about my frustration with that little progress bar. It wasn't so bad until they added that thing now I see it going up and even down a couple of times and it drives me bonkers.
I see you are fairly new. You don't make a bad assessment, either. I am not here yet a year, still I am seeing that when I thought I understood the system thoroughly, I wind up changing my mind some. For instance, partners and others can look at clout, and are likely to view it as a total newbie might - of some value. Seeing those little trophies and a higher clout value may incline them to make personal offers to writers. I am seeing, at least for now, that the whole package does matter to varying degrees.
hah good post, the psychological effect is the same as getting more points in scrabble or any other game and thus a solid motivator. Gaining levels is as pleasurable if not more so than the dollar earned here and there. Napoleon has said that men will brave dangers and even die for pieces of colorful ribbon.
For me it was just exciting to watch the climb because this is where I got started. Now I'm aching to reach Clout 9, just because I hit Clout 8 a year ago, but I just haven't taken enough time to write a lot lately for AC.....thanks for writing this and congrats on Best New Source! :-)
Passing to a higher clout just helps me keep motivated. I don't have them as goals, but I do notice when I pass to another one. Good article and congratulations on Best New Source.
Thanks for taking the trouble to write this. It does help provide some clarity. The numbers game is good to sort of make objective some of the writing goals (and financial ones?) we may have on here, but a little perspective is constructive, too. :)
Great info! Thank you for sharing! :-)