Is Associated Content Good For Freelance Writers?

By Lisa A Mason
This is a common question I get asked through my website, Twitter and other associations. People have heard about Associated Content being a place to publish articles for pay online and they want to know if it's right for them. There are many different reasons why one might consider publishing on Associated Content. For the sake of this article, we will only discuss the beenfits or downsides for freelance writers.

Here's what I think about Associated Content as a source for freelance writers:
There are some benefits to using AC if you're a freelance writer. There are also some downsides you must take into consideration. You should weigh the pros and cons and then you will be able to determine if it's right for you based on where you're currently at in your freelance writing career.
Benefits:
    Build clips and online samples
    You get your own byline
    Can choose what you want your byline to be (can be a pseudonym)
    Pays upfront offers and performance views bonus
    Choose your own topics
    Teaches you to write for online markets
    Teaches you to use SEO in your writing
    Nice Google ranking of your articles

Here are some downsides:
Many professional organizations and publications still do not recognize these sources as "clips"
The pay is often low, especially as you first start ($3-5 per article often)
 Database is now full and only truly unique articles will be accepted

Some ways that a freelance writer can make use of AC is if they have articles for a client project that was cancelled or rejected, to write about whatever you want to take a break from assignments, to build a database of samples when you're new to the writing scene or as article marketing for your website with a little upfront article pay bonus.

If you're going to write for $1 per 100 words for clients on job boards, you may as well do it for AC and write about whatever you want. However, if you do high-quality article content for $2 per 100 words or more, you might find AC pays too low to be worth the trouble. Even though the pay is low, some writers choose to use it anyway for some of the other benefits it offers.

Lisa Mason is a freelance writer with a specialty in Internet content and SEO articles. She has written thousands of articles, hundreds of ebooks and thousands of website pages and related content. She is the author of How to Earn a Living Writing for the Internet.

Lisa Mason, Professional wordsmith for hire: gamer, wife, mother, entrepreneur, published poet, co-owner of game guides company (http://www.liti4.com), public speaker and Internet business consultant. You can learn more or follow Lisa's blog from her website: http://www.freelancewriter4hire.com