AssociatedContent.com is one of the many get paid to write articles that have popped up on the internet nowadays. The reason these sites have become so big and why they're willing to pay you to write about damn near anything is that search engines like Google.com are always looking to find relevant content to serve to users like you and I.
So some enterprising entrepreneurs have figured out a way to provide this content to Google while earning money for doing it. They pay you to write about anything you like and in turn Google will usually rank this content in the top 10 of the search results for given keywords. How AssociatedContent.com makes money and thus pays you is by displaying related ads on the content you write. Ironically most of these ads are served by Google. So it actually comes full circle if you think about it.
So let's give you a clearer example. If you do a search on Google for "Get Paid To Write Articles" you should notice an associated content page result near the top of the results. If you visit the page you'll see an article someone wrote about Getting paid to write articles and on the left of that article you'll notice some ads. When folks click on these ads, AssociatedContent.com gets paid. In turn they share this revenue with folks like you who write articles for AssociatedContent.com. But just keep in mind this happens so many times for so many keywords so you can see how they can afford to pay you. It's really a smart business model and why so many other sites like Helium.com and Mylot.com are doing this.
At the end of the day even if you didn't understand a word I just wrote up there, all you really need to know is that AssociatedContent.com will pay you anywhere near $3-$10 per approved article that you write and submit.
It's one of the easiest ways for you to earn some money online. If you can write an email chances are you can write an article. Do you have any interest or hobbies, then you should probably start there because you can easily belt out 5-10 400 word articles like nothing. The key to success with AssociatedContent.com is to write about what you have a passion for because your writing will be of higher quality and chances are they will pay you on the higher end because you're adding real value.
Sure you could probably get away with writing about things you know little about. But I'm almost positive your writing will reflect this and thus your pay will as well assuming they actually approve your article.
What are some complaints about Associated Content.com?
Some of the biggest complaints have to deal with the pay. And I think that's a result of what I just discussed. People try to "game" the system by writing articles that they have no knowledge of or have plagiarized or used elsewhere. So AC will usually reject these articles and guess what? You don't get paid. This of course enrages people and this is where you get that AssociatedContent.com is a scam! So you have to keep that in mind if you happen to read anything negative about this or other websites that pay you to write articles. If you follow the rules you shouldn't have any problems. Does this mean that there hasn't been times where Associated Content (Please note an ad will load before visiting the page. Just click on the skip ad link on the upper right hand corner to visit the intended page.) has wrongly accused the innocent of breaking the rules? Nope!
But for the most part I think they're an honest company and there are far more positive things being said about them than there are negative.
So I definitely recommend AssociatedContent.com as a legitimate work at home opportunity! You don't need to be a seasoned writer to make money writing articles, you just need to have a passion about something and be able to dedicate some time to write about it!
This is absolutely amazing. I’m definitely going to give this a try. Thanks for the great post!
You’re welcome.
The site is a scam as they manipulate product to avoid paying. They are also dishonest in allowing you to submit an article under one specific plan for pay and then unilaterally change that weeks later again when they see they have to pay out. There are better sites. Associated Content now known as Yahoo Voices is a site well known for poorly written and conceived content. There are better places.
Rather than go all through their website trying to sort this out, I guess you must mean that they only wish writers who reside in the USA and not anyone from Canada. So, I guess that is end of story for the moment. Thanks for that comment, LT; otherwise, I would still be going around in circles on their site, only to find out it was a no-go for me. I quite agree that the IRS response is a bit much, as there are affiliate sites who will pay international affiliates by using special forms that the international affiliate must complete. This does not seem to be so difficult for most of those so I am not sure why it is a problem for a lot of these writing websites.
Look time no hear from. Glad to hear from you. Forgive me, I’m Not really sure what you mean about the whole barnacle on the bottom of the boat analogy. I’m not that bright to figure it out. lol
But glad to hear you’re still out there kicking.
It is a pity that it doesn’t pay international writers, and it is a bit bogus to say it’s to do with the IRS. As we’re all freelancers, we can be paid by anyone; AC doesn’t have to declare our taxable income.
Alas, the lack of pay means I’ve just wasted a couple of hours reading though all the tips and advice it gives about submissions. However, at least I read them and eventually discovered that it doesn’t pay its international workers. It’s missing out on potentially great content–after all, who better to write about a place than someone who lives in that place?
As it’s owned by Yahoo!, I doubt very much it’s a scam. You’ve got a nicely written and informative article here. I’ve found a lot of people only cry scam when they’ve been rejected for something.
Back to CloudCrowd and Demand, I guess!
I agree with you about people running around the web labelling something a scam because they have been rejected or don’t agree with a policy. That’s why I always take scam reports with a grain of salt and always dig deeper to see if I can spot a pattern of similar complaints.
Thanks for chiming in.
I think this is an important wave of the future because writing and adding ads to individual ads can seem like a waste of time compared to revenue promised by these sites. One man gave figures for his results (rare) and he made about $35 over several months from a niche oriented private blog but he makes several hundred dollars a month from sending stories like you describe here.
Best Article Ive found on the Internet. Keep up the good work.
I don’t know if it’s the best one. But I’m glad you appreciated it. lol
I went to login today to my associatedcontent account that I’ve only had for about 2 weeks, and found that they banned it due to a violation in the terms of contract. I find this odd, because I have yet to even submit an article for approval. The first thing I did was copy-paste my article that was completely my own material from word into their template. Next, I went to their photo sites that they recommend/require you use when uploading photos to your article. I uploaded one of the photos that did not require permission to download/use (per statement of the original photo taker), but found that it did not suit my article, and then ended up taking my own photo with my camera. I then uploaded my original photo but had problems cropping it to size to fit the autocropping job that associated content did on my page preview. I sent them a message asking how I could fix the photo so that it would appear properly on the actual page. After anxiously waiting for 1 week for a reply so that I could finally submit my FIRST article for review, I try to login today and find that I have been banned. This makes no sense to me, as I have not published anything yet, nor have I even submitted something for review. The photos I used consisted of my own work and the work of a photographer who did not require permission to use her work(I also gave credit to the photographer in the exact same way they tell you to in their help section), and who I also found on the list of associated content’s approved sites. Lastly, the article that I wrote was entirely my own work, which I had not even submitted for approval for publishing. Sorry for the lengthy post, but does anyone have any experience related to this?
And this is why I have my own blog. You take the time to add value to one of these sites and they pull stuff like this. Maybe there is another side to the story. But again these internet companies won’t even give you a chance to discover what you did wrong or have a conversation with you.
I feel for you. Take it as a lesson learned and focus on creating your own site where you call the shots.
I make about 100 bucks a month without lifting a finger but then again i have 1300 articles on AC.
but if you know how to write for SEO and like to write its great for side cash. ive made like 5,000 in 4 years which isnt great but its fun to see how many clicks ur stuff gets
You did lift a finger to write the articles so let’s keep that in mind. You don’t want to give people the impression that the $100 per month you’re making happens because you wished for it. That being said yes after you’ve initially written an article that is SEO optimized it can continue to make you money on auto pilot for many months or years to come provided it’s not something super competitive.
I know this is the case for articles I’ve written on this blog.
ive has an associated content account for a while, its great id recomended to anybody
I just started writing for AC and i have to say its a great idea to make some extra coin writing.
@Jill St. James:
Jill,
I just started writing for AC about a week ago, I wrote one story for AC and then decided to take an assignment from their desk, I wrote a Halloween short story for AC and submitted it a few days ago. After submitting it, I went to log-in the next day and have been unable to. I sent the company two e-mails and so far, it has been three or four days and no word. I am a professional writer who has written for several newspapers and various clients websites. In fact, I served as a features editor on a newspaper for several years.
I emailed the company and asked when the problem is going to be corrected because I have content I would like to submit when I can log-in. I spend a large number of time on this short story as it is 11 typed pages long and such content literally requires hours to make sure it is error-free.
I hope this issue is resolved soon. However, if what you say is true and you have had problems in this regard with the company, I may not ever be able to get onto their website again. I am waiting to see if this issue can be resolved in a timely manner.
At first when I got blocked, I thought it was because I entered the wrong password and applied for a new password using their link. But, every time I try to enter a new password, I am blocked. Their website won’t even allow me to enter a new password. It refuses to accept it. And after following the same directions more than 80 times, I know I am not doing anything incorrectly and for some reason am being blocked by the company server.
I know what my actions will be if the company fails to help resolve this issue in a timely manner. However, it being less than a week, I don’t want to prematurely take action.
I can say this for any company though, before you write for any website, read the fine print. If a company states in their fine print that you won’t get paid unless they have 100,000 hits on your article. Then, they aren’t necessarily defrauding you. It is in their fine print. It may be a lowbrow tactic by some websites, but they aren’t been dishonest because they did disclose this to you. They cannot help it if readers fail to read the fine print and this is what they are hoping for.
As for AC, I don’t think there has been adequate time yet to see how my particular situation is going to be resolved. If after waiting an adequate period of time and I get no response, there are options open to me as a writer. I do have to say I rarely think it works to negatively slam any company. Even though I have had dealings with other companies who failed to resolve my problems, I have used negative publicity against a company as a last result. Why? Publicity works both ways and just as one negatively slams a company, the company can also say negative things about the writer.
Even negative publicity can take its toll on a fairly experienced writer. In the end, I think a writer needs to consider what cost they are willing to pay if they are in a dispute with a company and things are go badly. Will a little negative publicity by a single company damage one’s reputation if a writer outspokenly criticizes the company? If not, then do what you most as a writer. I am definitely not advocating any writer allow themselves to be walked all over and their work stolen or misused.
I am simply saying I, personally, always give a company an opportunity to right a wrong situation. I hope that what you say, Jill, is just a simple mishap on the company’s side that can be resolved quickly. But if not, I am considering my next options and actions. I would hate to think a website would so blantantly take advantage of a new writer…especially an experienced journalist who has written for newspapers, websites and even interned for the Billy Graham Evangelic Association in Minnesota before the company moved to North Carolina. I think this is wny many writing websites have to be looked as writer beware and take your chances with any website — good or bad.
You are not the only one who has been worked over by AC in my case I had over 800 articles published there when they wrongly accused me of plagiarism and blocked my account. Since AC refuses to answer any Emails I have already contacted my lawyer about this matter, and if it isn’t resolved we will proceed with a lawsuit against both AC and their parent company Yahoo.
Eddy,
What a great site you have, with very helpful information and outstanding interaction. It has been very educational looking over all of the posts pro and con for AC, and I appreciate each opinion. Without mentioning any names I would encourage at least one of your contributors to make sure that their grammar and punctuation are better in their submissions than their posts here. That’s sincerely intended to be constructive, realizing fully that these comments are not written with the same care as an article.
Good luck to each one of you, and much success to you all.
Martinize,
Thanks for the kinds words. I sincerely do believe you’re actually trying to provide some useful feedback to some of the commenters here instead of being a nitpicker as some people are when it comes to spelling and grammar.
So I for one don’t take any offense. Because I’m definitely guilty of the same infractions. lol At the end of the day as long as you’re able to get value from the information presented by me and the folks that comment then that’s great. Sometimes people get so caught up in these minor mistakes that they totally miss the bigger picture. So I’m happy to see that’s not the case with you.
Thanks again for chiming in.
P.S. I apologize for any of the numerous spelling and grammar mistakes I’ve made in this comment. I know there are probably plenty of them. lol
Hey Michael,
Congrats on being a member of the AC family. I still have my articles on there but I didn’t update it since February somewhere before I had my baby. She was born on President’s Day (Feb. 15) and now, she’s 5 months old. But anyway, you should also consider writing for other sites since you can’t rely on all of your articles to make you money at AC which is a hit or miss. Something to thiink about. I currently write at other places for upfront payment and I still do get residual from ehow due to the previous articles that is still making me money. It’s not a lot but better than nothing.
If you are interested, let me know. And there is no out of pocket money to get started writing at these places. You make money of what you are crazy about so cha ching. lol
The point is that even though AC is a nice place to use to show some writing samples, just remember to check out other places too. There are better paying sites for upfront payments and they are all over the Internet. Later.
Laurie
PS. Hey Eddy. Great to see that you still interact with the people that leave you messages about one of the reviews you do. I am thinking about sticking up an article about 15 content mill sites that pay low for upfront payment. I already wrote some about it on videojug but didn’t finish it. After I have it completed, then will post it on AC. I am sure many people wonder how to make money writing on the Internet and Textbroker is one of them on the list.
Just got two more articles “rejected” for upfront payment, but I was able to publish them for performance payments. So that equals $2 for 3 articles so far…pretty weak. The funny thing is that the first article that they initially accepted was on predictions for one NFL division; yet, one of the next 2 articles they rejected was for another NFL divison prediction. Strange logic. Oh well, I’m still going to continue to use associated content and build a portfolio. I’ll still keep you all updated as I hear back on other artic