Freelance Writer’s Review of Associated Content

I’ve been writing for Associated Content since 2007 and I thought that it was time that I reviewed this freelance writing outlet.


My experiences with Associated Content have been positive, but if you’re looking to make a real living writing for them, look elsewhere.

You get paid by AC based on the number of unique page views that your content receives. You can also offer your content for upfront payment review (plus page views) in exchange for giving them exclusive rights to your article. But this upfront payment is quite low. The last time I looked at Associated Content’s policies’ page, I believe that it said the typical upfront payment is between $3 and $20. However, I have never been offered more than $4 as an upfront payment on any of my articles.

And don’t think that they will automatically approve an upfront payment for any article that you submit to them. They have certain rules about what constitutes upfront payment-worthy content, although these rules are very fuzzy and (I feel) varies from editor to editor.

One more thing…unless they’ve changed their policy on monthly page view payouts, they take a processing fee out of your puny payment. This really bothers me since, without freelance writers, they would have NO website. How dare they charge us for paying us the money that is well below what freelance writers should be making! (Thankfully, there is not such charge for their upfront payments).

…oh well.

But Associated Content is a great place to get writing experience and to showcase your writing talent. However, if you want to use your published content to woo prospective employers, make sure that you proofread and edit your content carefully. Associated Content does no line or content editing of their articles (even the ones that are accepted for upfront payment).