Success at Associated Content? Probably Not for Me!

I read the several forum categories on page views, bonuses, productivity and the like and recognize that I am not going ring up enough money from Associated Content to do much more than indulge in a Starbuck's Grande something. However, I am perfectly content in continuing to submit pieces to AC and receiving other gratification. More money would be great, but I write on subjects that interest and fascinate me and if everyone else in the world is less than fascinated or less interested, that's the way it goes.

There is a certain irony at work here.

For the past six or seven weeks, I have been part of a "team" designed to solicit new Content Producers. During the course of those efforts, I have met with creative writing classes at the University of South Florida, gone to gatherings of want-to-be authors, passed out flyers at local libraries in the Tampa area, posted notices in bars and restaurants near the University, recruited individuals with whom I came into contact, and generally made a real pest of myself.

To each person or group to whom I spoke, I mentioned the monetary rewards from writing for Associated Content; I did not inform the audience that to make substantial sums, one had to write a prodigious amount of words! I do not meet that category, at least from the comments of other Producers. To be honest, I also stressed the importance of writing if one would be a writer. The skills to be learned are derived from practice.

During the seven months I have been writing for Associated Content, I have had published 82 articles, about 20 of which have been freebies, without payment. From the others, I have received a grand total of approximately $350., or about $70 per month. During the same period, I have garnered close to 19,000 "page views" or about 232 per article. A couple pieces have collected over 1,000 views each.

The point is: why keep plugging away, when other Producers claim to have page views four to six times what I show? Why don't I write the eight or ten articles per week (per day ?) that others generate? Because then it wouldn't be fun; it would be too close to work and I have retired!

I could dash off pieces on how to clean my car's windshield or how to get the last dollop of catsup out of the bottle and on my hamburger or how to clean a carpet, or write a breathless commentary on Paris Hilton and the underwear lapses of Ms Spears, and probably (if I sprinkle the text with sufficient key words) make a bit more cash. But this is not me.

I write for the fun of writing, of using words to tell a story in the same manner as an artist uses oils and watercolors. I write for the ego trip, certainly, of seeing my output in print, served up for the public to view. I write for my enjoyment in thinking of something that interests me, doing research and then trying to induce others to share my interest.

And that's why I write for Associated Content. . .for the pure pleasure I receive.

A bit more money would be nice, however.