Top 5 Things I've Learned About Writing for Associated Content

Without a doubt, writing for Associated Content is one of the hardest tasks I've ever taken on in my life. Upon finding AC, I thought how cool it would be for me to be able to actually get paid to write articles on anything I wanted! At first, the offers were decent and I was feeling pretty good about myself.

Then suddenly, the offers started to diminish, rejections started coming in and I was wondering what the heck was going on. What was AC thinking? I'm a good writer. They're not paying me what I'm worth! That's when I realized.

I suck at writing for the web.

So I started spending some time on the Associated Content forum, and reading what other writers had to say. Apparently, there were a lot of other writers with the same complaints that I initially had. However, there were also other writers who were more seasoned and knowledgeable about what exactly AC is looking for. Reading many of their posts I came to realize, I was the one with the problem.

I finally realized that there were five key factors that I needed to learn if I was ever going to have a chance at successfully writing for Associated Content.

1. Writing for the Internet is a whole new ball game.

It doesn't matter how many books you've had published, how many degrees you have or how long you've been writing. Writing for the Internet is, well, almost an art form. It takes a completely different style of writing to be successful in writing content for the Internet. AC needs content to be searchable, tightly focused, keyword rich and align well with ads (among other things) for it to do well on their website. And of course, it still has to be grammatically correct and comprehensible. It does take time to learn to write like this (I'm sure as hell still learning) but if you are not willing to learn, AC is probably not the place for you.

2. Just because you think it's interesting, doesn't mean the rest of the world will.

You may be a top notch jumping bean collector that can write 50 articles on the complexities of collecting Mexican jumping beans. But does that mean you should do it? Probably not. Just because something is highly interesting to you, does not mean that AC or the rest of the world will be interested in reading it. So when you write "How I Store My Mexican Jumping Beans" and AC refuses to pay for it, don't get too bent out of shape. AC wants articles on subjects that people are actually going to look for. Many people say, "Well I did a search on AC and they have no articles about it!" There may be a reason for that. No one wants to read it.

3. The Content Managers are NOT going to read your entire article.

EMorhman nailed it when he wrote his article "Hey! I Don't Think the Content Manager Read My Article!" This seems to be a big issue for many Content Producers. But what many fail to realize is that the Content Managers never read the entire article. They really don't need to, to be able to tell if the article is something AC will be looking for. After reading EMorhmans article, it's easy to see the logic and reason behind why the CMs will not read your article in its entirety.

4. Clout doesn't mean crap.

If I had a nickel for every time someone on the forums has touted their "high" clout as a reason for why they should receive higher payments, I'd never have to write for AC again. I would pull in hundreds of dollars a week, just from that one little statement. Now this is just my opinion, but the only people that clout really matters to, is the Content Producers themselves. And while it is exciting for us when our clout goes up, it's not an indicator to AC to pay us more. Some people have attained high clout numbers by writing those well focused articles that seriously draw in the page views. Others have attained high clout by writing 20 articles a day, that may draw in a few page views each. When deciding on payment for your article, it's your page view average that AC is looking at (among other things), not your clout number.

5. Associated Content is a business looking to make money.

No business is going to last very long if they are not making money. While we may think our article is worth $50 just because we wrote it, AC is not going to pay for it unless they know it is going to make them a profit. Again, there are many key factors that are going to determine how much AC will be willing to pay. All of these factors are discussed, at length, in the Workshop part of the forum, to help you improve your writing skills for writing for the web. If your not pulling in decent offers, consider that it is something that you are doing wrong, not that AC is just out to get you. If AC doesn't believe they can make money off of you, then they are not going to pay for your work. Would you buy a car that isn't going to drive? No. Of course not. Nor is AC going to buy your work if it doesn't suit their needs.

I may never be a great writer and that is something that I'll just have to learn to live with. However by stepping back and looking at these five things, I've come to realize that maybe someday I can be at least a mediocre writer here at AC.