What a disappointment. I was really excited when I came across Associated Content. This is a website where writers, like you or me, can write articles on topics of their choice or topics requested by publishers and get paid. Sounds pretty simple and easy.

Not so easy with Associated Content. The first hurdle was getting my content approved by the powers that be at Associated Content. I wrote three articles on various topics. I spent quite a bit of time on them and felt that they were well-written and hopefully, helpful to the reader. All 3 of them were rejected by Associated Content. Mostly on the grounds that they were too personal.

I am under the impression that Associated Content is only interested in articles that make proper use of popular key words to help gain their publishers better rankings in search engines. That's all fine and dandy, but not for me. I could drive myself crazy trying to write like that. And for very little money. My sanity is worth more to me than that.

After one is able to get their articles approved by Associated Content, one reaches another hurdle. Upon approval, Associated Content may agree to pay you a set amount for what you've written. That's great. I like the idea that I could write something, have it purchased and then be done with it. But that's not how it works with Associated Content. Writers have two separate account balances. One is for the up front payments received when your article is accepted. The other is for page views. In order to be paid for either, you must have a certain number of page views. So, not only do I have to produce quality articles for them, I'm expected to promote them myself too. So Associated Content can make money off of them. And to top it off, Associate Content would own the rights to my work.

I know that my skill set is not in web promotion. Reaching the amount of page views necessary to get paid is definitely a challenge for me. A challenge, but not impossible. But, if I'm going to spend the time and money needed to promote a website, I might as well promote my own website, not someone else's. Or at least one with a higher return on investment for my time.

I have not heard anything negative about Associated Content not paying it's writers or anything along those lines, so I am by no means calling them a scam. But, it's just too much work for too little money for me.

I also came across a similar site called Constant Content. They didn't have the ridiculous page view requirement like Associated Content does, but I did have trouble getting my articles through their approval process. And again, felt it just wasn't worth my time.

If anyone has had success with this type of online work, I'd be thrilled to know. Post a comment and tell me about it!