Associated Content - a question

[mephet]

Now, I'm not here to promote this particular website, but to ask you fellow writers a question: have you tried it? Profited from it? As a teenage with little to no income and craving a little extra money, stumbling upon such a page seemed like a perfect dream, too good to be true, so I can't help but fear that there is something else behind it.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/

Is it safe? Do you suggest it?
Feel free to move if placed in wrong forum.

[Shaun]

Mephet,
Sorry nobody got to you. I think AC is one of the many content mills. You can certainly try it to earn a little cash, but it's not going to do much in the way of creating a journalism or non-fiction career for you. My understanding is that they don't pay very well and, as a result, produce low-quality work. Real journalism pays a lot for quality, and that's because real journalism requires real research.

But that's my opinion and I'm often very skeptical about places like this.

[Kody Boye]

Mephet,
My understanding is that they don't pay very well and, as a result, produce low-quality work.

Shaun hit on a key point here.

Associated Content pays on a per-click basis. In general, every time someone clicks on your article, you get a 'view,' which may or may not count as an 'impression.' The 'impression' is, for the most part, how the viewer of your article sees the ads that are placed alongside it. If someone clicks on it, I think that would technically count as an impression, but don't quote me on that.

You're better off not looking toward a by-click site for this. I myself work for a freelance writing website, but I've found that their guidelines are so strict that you often get rejected even if you resubmit the work with a question asking to clear something up (meaning you're on a two-strike-you're-out basis.)

Taking it from me, and from people who have actually 'worked' for these kinds of sites, please, don't do this. You're basically wasting your time for two reasons: You don't get paid by the hour, and you don't get paid realistically (AKA, not even minimum wage.) Even the writing 'job' I do, which pays anywhere from $15 an article and up, isn't guaranteed money.

I'd suggest trying to sell your fiction. The money may not come to you for a while, but it adds up once it starts coming in.

[Shaun]

It's also smart to write columns for magazines. Fiction mags are always looking for columns.

[julio_w]

I've looked into Associated Content in the past too. As Kody said, it's pay-per-click stuff, which isn't going to pay much at all. If you're looking to make money online, your best bet is to pick a subject to focus on, contact a few small websites about doing some free writing, and send them articles to get some samples up.

Once you have a decent range of samples, you should start contacting some of the mid-range and bigger sites within the subject you write about to get a paying writing job.