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I have to apologize I have been very preoccupied with things in my personal life and as a result this blog has been left behind. My oldest daughter is getting married this weekend in Las Vegas so the last thing I have time for at the moment is the internet. After my daughter’s wedding I will be logging on regularly to resume putting the spotlight on AC’s best content producers. Until then, have a fantastic Easter weekend.
Kelly
I have a problem with AC’s Assignments or as they were more formally known, C4Cs” My problem is that I feel pressured to claim them; especially when I see a topic that is even the slightest bit interesting to me. For a while I didn’t even bother looking at the assignments available.
I used to think of assignments as way to keep ideas coming for those times when no ideas come at all. Now I consider the whole thing one big pressure cooker.
What usually happens is I scan through the listing of assignments (or C4Cs) and if a title catches my eye I read the rest of the information. Inevitably I see how much time is left to write and submit the article and it’s all downhill from there.
If there is a week or more left on the due date then I instantly feel pressured to claim the assignment because if I don’t it will be snagged up by someone else. And for sure that will be THE one that could possibly skyrocket me to AC fame!
If there’s only a couple of days left to claim the assignment, or worse only one day, then I am almost certain to compulsively claim the assignment. Again, my brain is convinced that there will be dire consequences if I do not claim the assignment before someone else does.
What really gets my goat is that after I claim the assignment I start thinking rationally about the topic and realize I am either really not interested in the topic or don’t know as much about the topic as I thought I did.
Of course releasing the claim is a whole other bag of guilt bombs what with the warning pop-up and everything.
I did it again this week. I claimed 2 assignments that I was surely positive, positively sure that I could write 2 really good articles. Now after attempting a few times to actually write the articles Irealized I have no desire to write about the topic at all. I chickened out and released the calls. And yes I feel guilty about it.
Wow it’s been a really long time since I”ve posted to this blog. That sucks and I do apologize for my obvious laziness. Anywho…
If you belong to Associated Content then you should have received an email today that announced one writer will be getting $500. Why? Because there’s a special content drive going on. Only articles submitted as display only will be eligible to win excluding poetry, prose and fiction. Entries must have 400 words and follow normal submission guidelines. There’s only 4 days left though because the content drive ends February 28, 11:59 Eastern time. It didn’t specify though if that’s AM or PM. Official rules can be found HERE.
I have recently been having a problem with a leaky faucet. Today I had no water in my kitchen. If I had given my husband one of the following articles a few months ago, the problem might have been solved before now.
Check out these plumbing articles.
How To Fix a Leaking Faucet
Guide to Plumbing Emergencies
How to Install a Self-filtering Faucet
How to Install a Kitchen Faucet
Replacing a Worn or Damaged Seal in a Faucet
If you haven’t made your way over to E’s ning site then you really should. His mudpit is rumored to be Mudpit.
One last thing. Some of us are really having a great time on Facebook. If you’re looking for another way to hang out with CPs then go sign up at facebook. You can find my profile here and AC’s groups here and here.
Last week I had the pleasure of talking with Associated Content’s Public Relations Manager AC_Laura. Our phone call was supposed to be an audio interview but due to my inadequacies with recording equipment I wasn’t able to capture Laura’s voice. She was so kind though to answer my questions through email.
She tells me that the photo she gave me to post isn’t “professional” but it doesn’t really matter, she’s still adorable. Here’s a look at our AC_Laura.
Me: The content producers haven’t had much of a chance to get to know you so can you tell us one very specific thing about yourself that you think the content producer’s should know?
Laura: I’m always looking for interesting stories to share with the outside world. One of the things that makesAssociated Content a great place is the huge number of Content Producers with amazing personal stories. I’d love to get the word out about those people and groups. Please contact me anytime you come across something that strikes you as noteworthy and worth sharing.
Me: How old are you?
26. I’ll be 27 in January.
Me: Did you move to New York to work for AC or were you already a resident of the Big Apple?
Laura: I moved to NYC in 2004 for my first job (as a publicist at a book publisher) after 4 month post-graduation stint at a dude ranch in Wyoming. I grew up in Pennsylvania and now I live in Brooklyn.
Me: Are you a college graduate? If so what did kind of degrees do you have?
Laura: I graduated from the University of Richmond in 2004 with a BA in History & a minor in Religious Studies. My concentration was in Eastern European history.
Me: Tell us one of your most embarrassing moments.
Laura: There are many. My most recent embarrassing moment was when fell flat on my face walking across a busy intersection two weeks ago. It was raining and my shoes were slippery and my stuff went flying everywhere. People asked if I was ok (which was surprising, considering that this is NYC and you’d expect them to step over you and be annoyed that you got in their way) but I know everyone else was laughing at me since it was a cartoon-style pratfall.
Me: Are you married? Got kids?
Laura: Not married, and no kids or pets. I wish I could have a dog but my schedule is not pet-friendly and I even have trouble keeping plants alive. Someday I’ll live somewhere with a lawn and space for a puppy (and kids).
Me: What’s your favorite genre of books to read?
Laura: I love fiction, especially historical and magical realist. I like nonfiction if it has a narrative that reads like a novel and I’m in a book club that is reading entirely post-apocalyptic fiction which is awesome, if a little scary. The best books I’ve read recently are The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz andLiberation: Being the Adventures of the Slick Six After the Collapse of the United States of America by Brian Francis Slattery.
Me: What kind of music do you listen to in the car?
Laura: I don’t own a car but my iPod on the subway features a lot of classic rock with a healthy serving of pop music. I especially like The Black Crowes, the Cold War Kids and will happily own up to loving 80’s and 90’s pop music.
Me: What kind of personality do you have? Are you bossy, happy go lucky, mean, driven etc?
Laura: I just took an informal survey of my coworkers Darnell and Brenna (we all sit in the same area) and they both said “bubbly,” so I’ll go with that. I’d also add blunt, social, motivated and a little sarcastic.
Me: What moment in your life are you most proud of?
Laura: Getting a book onto the New York Times Bestseller List. And getting my own apartment without having to ask my parents for help.
Me: Is working for AC your dream job?
Laura: Yes, it’s awesome. My coworkers are a real inspiration to me. Every one of them is smart and dedicated to making Associated Content the best it can be. The community of Content Producers and AC’s story in general are so unique and exciting that I want to spread the word about them because I think it is a story worth sharing, so it makes my job easy.
Me: Were you drawn to the written word all of your life?
Laura: Absolutely, I’ve been an avid reader since I was little. I remember reading my first chapter book (which I still own) in the back of the family van on the way through a national park.
Me: What made you decide to start up AC’s blog again?
Laura: It was one of my goals when I started here to revive the blog and make it a part of the Associated Content experience. The blog has always been of great interest to AC but it was difficult to maintain consistently without a dedicated blogger. I get help from other departments because maintaining a blog is hard work. I hadn’t tried blogging before this and I have tons of respect for bloggers now.
Me: What do you hope to accomplish with AC’s blog?
Laura: The purpose of the blog is to keep CPs abreast of developments at the company, to highlight exceptional CPs and content on the site, to address events and developments in the world that affect the AC community and to be a public-facing platform and voice for all things AC. How am I doing?
Me: Do you think we’ll ever see any posts by guest bloggers, specifically from the top content producers?
Laura: That’s a great idea! Yes. Would you like to write one soon? If anyone is interested, please message me. I’m AC_Laura.
Me: If this were your last day on earth what would be your one final statement to the content producers?
Laura: Success in the Web 2.0 world is all about self-promotion. Drop your modesty and get out there and get your story heard!
Thanks you Laura for an enlightening conversation and a great interview!
You can visit AC_Laura’s AC page here.
After the dust settled a bit AC decided in all its wisdom to give us new CP-pages. To revive the spirits a bit methinks. Or just to give some staff something to do. I don’t know for sure what goes on in Denver Colorado, except that it has mountains and Mountain-time instead of normal time. Perhaps their hours are a lot longer than the rest of the world and so they find themselves staring at the walls at times, and boredom sets in.
Instead of going on social websites (which are designed for people who have time on their hands) or playing games like Monopoly, AC has so-called “thinking-corners”. These are designed for the staff who have nothing to do.
While the rest of the AC-office walls are covered in awful floral wallpaper which dates back to the Seventies, these “thinking corners” are designed by Interior Designers. You wouldn’t say so, though; because the floor is strewn with beanbags; also sad left-overs from the Seventies. The walls are in yellow for as one Designer pointed out: “Yellow is the color for activating the brains according to Feng Shui”.
So the plan to change the CP pages was hatched on brown bean bags and in a canary-yellow environment.
This lengthy introduction is to emphasise how deeply AC cares about all of us.
The first CP-page try-out wasn’t what we had in mind. So the staff was sent back into the corner and sank back on the beanbags to ponder. Soon the brain-activating yellow started to work. It worked so well that everybody forgot to go home and worked right through the night. A Psychologist was called in; not for the staff of course. But for us.
While the staff, now completely hyper thanks to the all the yellow, was hopping up and down the Psychologist had to choose the colors for the new CP pages. Not stupid either, at $300 per hour he took his time.
Unfortunately there are only so many colors under the rainbow and by now An Important AC- Person had started counting how much the whole color-scheme was going to cost. And even on Mountain-time it was quite a bit.
It was difficult: A red background was too romantic and would send out the wrong message. Green looked as if AC was part of an environmental group; while black was too gloomy. Charcoal grey was wiped off the table because “it said nothing” and cream looked too much like a wedding-invite. My suggested (tasteful an sophisticated)border of vines were thrown out because” what on earth has that to do with articles?” And nobody wanted smileys on top of the pages.
The Psychologist finally looked up; a twinkle in his eyes.
“A crisp white background is needed. This will tell outsiders that your CP’s are innocent as driven snow. Almost virginial I would say. In this world that’s so rare that it will be picked up immediately by outsiders.
And I would add some light-blue. This will subconsiously say: the sky is your limit. Blue is also a soothing color and very natural. Yes, together with the white it will give the impression of sky and puffy clouds. It will radiate calm.”
One staffer started to say that it also looked like a washing-detergent commercial and another said that too much white could make CP’s snow-blind. Which was highly undesirable; you can’t have a writing-site with tens of thousands dreamy snow-blind writers.
After a hot debate the decision was made: The CP-Pages will stay in white/blue, but we’ll send everybody a pair of expensive sunglasses and a can of bright yellow paint. Of course this was the best solution to the problem.
However, there are a couple of snags: 1. There won’t be any notification about it in the threads. Instead you’ll come home one day to find a UPS-package containing 1 can of yellow paint and 1 pair of sunglasses on your doorstep without a return-address.
2. You’ll have to do the painting of your walls yourself. AC is busy with other stuff and doesn’t involve itself in manual labor. Only reading articles.
So that’s the full explanation behind the white/blue combination of the new CP pages.
I think. I haven’t heard a better one yet. PM me if if you do.
A couple of months ago it happened: when I tried to log in AC (as you do in the morning) there was no AC. “Website cannot be found” it said on my screen.
I stared at the words. I couldn’t believe it. And I tried again, and again. Still no AC.
After banging my head against the wall, I sat down and looked at my lonely cup of morning coffee. Usually the first one is followed by many more by the time it’s 9 am. But no more AC, no more coffee. No more chatting on the threads, no more writing articles.
I imagined that a disaster must have happened, there in Denver. And normally I would have known what kind of disaster, because it would have been on AC. But not now of course. Because AC had ceased to exist.
I thought of what could have happened; it must have been big; Sam would never have given up without a fight. I pictured him clutching floppy disks in his bloody hands, defending himself with a paperclip.Of course, I thought, muscled Russian mobsters carrying machine-guns have taken over Denver! But no, I thought again, we’re talking about Denver, Colorado, not Moscow. And surely this would have been on TV. Sam sprinting through the streets must be a sight to behold and the CNN TV cameras would have zoomed in.
Finishing my coffee (and thus loaded up on caffeine) I finally had the solution. Why I hadn’t thought of it before I don’t know.
Because what do you do when you have a problem? You email Sam. By now it seems, whatever your problem is; ranging from: “how to fix the dishwasher” to “how to keep the kids quiet” to: “What’s the best place to go on Summer vacation?”, Sam gets the questions, by email. He has no answers to all these totally irrelevant questions of course, but that’s not the issue here.
So, I emailed Sam to notify him that it appeared that he was out of job. He’s a big guy, but he can move like lightening in cases like this. I got an email back saying that no, AC was still there. I logged in and everybody and everything was where they should be. I got out my hanky and wiped the sweat off my brow, immensely relieved. It must have been a glitch on my end.
But it got me thinking: suppose, just suppose, that one day AC is really gone? Would you miss it? Would you miss the people there? The writing?
Just think of it.
It could well be that you would miss it more than you realize now.
The last few months at AC have grown inflammatory, derogatory, accusatory, defamatory, feudatory and even hallucinatory. All because of politics.
Content producers brave enough to state their political opinions have had to fight for them. CPs and readers have agreed and disagreed, sometimes in the forums, other times in the comment section of articles. The battle has clearly defined the political stand Content Producers are taking.
Associated Content is just as politically divided as the rest of the nation which only goes to show that amongst opposing viewpoints we are still one nation united together.
If you were to create a map of Associated Content Producers and mark them either red or blue like they do with the electoral votes map on the news the results would be remarkably similar
When I searched AC’s library of articles siding with both presidential candidates there were more results in favor of Obama. Not by much though. I used the search term “vote for obama” and “vote for mccain” and 2,832 turned up for obama and 2,518 for mccain. You have to take into account though all the articles listed in those results that said won’t, can’t or don’t vote but even then there are still more articles in favor of Obama than there are of McCain.
Of course now that it’s November 5th it doesn’t really matter who voted for who because Obama has already won.
Perhaps we should have a little compassion for our Conservative, Republican, McCain loving Content Producers. As a gesture of letting bygones be bygones I offer you this list of disappointed CPs.
Todaysbest4me - Why I can’t Vote for Obama.
Charles Drengberg - Top 10 Reasons Not to Vote for Obama
Amanda Keller - Questions in The Rain as I Vote for McCain.
Timothy Sexton - Top 5 Reasons You Should Vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin
Alison Hasselguist – Why I Vote John McCain and Not Barack Obama
Virtual Vee – Why I Will Vote for John McCain
JHoff – This Time I’m Supporting McCain
LarrWayne – Vote for McCain Not Higher Taxes
I was recently informed that I made a blunder and included a couple of articles that were actually written in sarcasim. So I went ahead and removed those from the list above and ind will instead add another list in this post for those in favor of Obama. Thanks Sheryl!
AC has been stressing the importance of our profile pages lately. Partner calls for content can be effected by what’s posted on our profile page. Here’s a few profile tips.
1. Save the kitschy title and use keywords to describe what kind of writer you are
2. List your interests. List as many as you can think of. The more interests you have the broader the range of partner C4C’s that will be available to you.
3. List your top achievements and writing ventures if you have any. Don’t be afraid to link to websites that have published your work. Include links to your personal web site or art gallery.
4. Use your bio to explain a little about who you are and what your strengths as a writer are.
5. Don’t lie or exaggerate. You are who you are so there’s no point in lying about it. Eventually it will catch up with you and any thoughts of a career in writing will be out the window. Flew the coop.
There have been many firsts in AC’s history including its group of first content producers. Some of those first content producers have moved on to other ventures but a handful of the original CPs still remain. These are the CPs that have found success as a web writer and many of them are willing to share what they know with new CPs. Here’s a list of successful veteran CPs you might want to emulate. You could do worse than aspire to be like them.
These are all people that have weathered the storm that is sometimes called AC. They are still striving, still succeeding and still writing.
Often times a new content producer will get off to a start without realizing that writing for the web, whether it be for AC, Helium or somewhere else, is much different than writing for a print publication.
when I first started I had no idea there was a difference. I hadn’t paid any attention to the differences between articles on the internet and articles in magazines. I thought I had found a site I where I could rewrite all my old print articles and make a killing in cash doing it. Easy as 1-2-3.
Around the time the page view bonus program was put in place.I found the AC forums and began to learn that writing for the web is a whole different beast.
At first glance it’s easy to fall into the trap of promotional techniques. Someone recommends doing some promotions to get your name out there and suddenly you find yourself linking everywhere you can. That’s not promoting, that’s spamming.
If content is King then a well written, grammatically correct copy is surely Queen. Quality counts.
How well an article is written is just as important as how searchable and high ranked it is on Google.
Having said that, there is a time when promoting become necessary. At some point you have to let people know that you have a presence on the internet. One of the best threads I ever read on the subject was Michy’s promotion thread. It’s about a gazillion posts long now but it’s still the best thread for newbies to read.
With print publications there is no need to advertise yourself or promote to certain audiences because the publication has done that for you. They’ve take the time to gather readers, learn their interests and discover how to cater to what they are looking for; they’ve done the demographics and dry runs. You, the writer, are selected solely to fill in the already labeled and defined slot.
As a web writer you have to define that slot yourself. Your job is to carve a groove into an already existing niche or to create a new one. And while you do that you’ll be expected to research and stay abreast of the trends going on in whatever demographic of reader you are trying to build a readership out of.
Web writing is hard work. It is by far harder than whipping out an opinion piece for print where simple, friendly conversation is accepted both as a tone of voice as well as a style of writing. Being able to combine that with efficient keywording techniques is an art not easily accomplished.
It is indeed an art because the most successful web content writers are those that know how to communicate with us in a conversational manner and still manage to keyword and optimize the piece so that it rises to the top of Google.
I posted all of this to say to anyone coming from the print world into the web writing world, don’t rest on the laurels of your past print world successes. What may have fueled the flames of your successes then won’t necessarily work on the web now. Don’t let it get you down. Just keep plugging and welcome to web writing.
As I was sinking into one of my re-occurring reflecting and insightful moods (also known as day-dreaming) I thought of AC. About the people there, what kind of lives they might live. What the similarities were, and also the differences.
Of course, although AC is American-owned, it is fast becoming a global site.
The first thing that set me off thinking along these lines were the time-differences. By now I’ve become pretty good at working out what time it is in many places. Still, I always feel slightly sorry for the Americans, as they are always 18 hours behind us. It seems that I’ve already lived their yesterday.
And Europe is usually 12 hours difference. This is easier, at least for me.
Still it’s always fun to get a comment from India when it’s evening here and afternoon there.
But fiddling with several time-zones is only a minor issue.
“why have you joined AC?” Now we’re getting to the crunch. Because the answer is always the same: “Because I like writing”. And true too: if you didn’t like writing you wouldn’t join something like AC. Still, you could’ve bought a diary, opened a blog or you could’ve written long, long shopping lists. But you didn’t.
You had something to tell us: the rest of the world. And, if you get into some serious keywording, millions outside AC will read your articles too. And The Wise People at AC let you write about nearly any subject under the rainbow.
But, it’s not just about writing and getting all those creative juices going. Once that’s done; the Publish button has been pushed and you lean back in your chair congratulating yourself with a glass of wine, something else is happening.
Okay, your work is done; the article is out there, you can go to bed now and have sweet dreams. But people like me are still up and about; reading, reading. Watching posted video’s, looking at pictures, listening to great voices who sing beautiful songs. (Yes, on AC, and these are our own CP”s!!)
AC is fast becoming a global smorgasbord of all the above. And if it weren’t for AC, you and I would’ve missed out on all this talent. And not only all this talent, but also opinions.
I’ve learned so much about American Politics,(for example) that I’ve learned more about it over the past weeks than that of my own country. These are the voices of real people; not a commentator on TV.
Not being a great cook I’ve found several recipes that even a klutz like me can cook. Not only that, I’ve found articles giving me advice on every subject that I can think of. Also: I read articles that made me laugh in times when I felt down, and got good tips on how to date (should that ever be necessary). I’ve travelled the world through reading articles, bought cd’s because other CP’s thought they were good. I could go on forever.
Q:”Why have you joined AC?”
A:”Because you (AC)’ve brought the world to me”
Read, people, read other’s articles too. Don’t just write an article and turn off the computer.
With the economy being in the crapper everyone is looking to scrape together extra money for the upcoming holiday season. Here are some content producers that have found ways to make money online and have written articles about it.
Princess G. has been a content producer for 2 years now and she has an extensive library of making money online tips.
Check out her article, Make Money Selling Art Trade Card Supplies.
Excerpt:
“You can make money by selling needed supplies to art trading card makers and artists. Many artists are willing to buy pre-cut watercolor paper, card holders, pens and inks, colored pencils, paints, collage papers and tons of other types of supplies used in making art trading cards.”
Melanie Marten has had amazing success writing for Associated Content. She has over 1 million page views with nearly 900 articles published. She has written some fantastic content on how to make money online.
Check out here article, Make Money Selling Homeschool Lesson Plans Online.
Excerpt:
“With the hundreds of homeschool websites on the internet, you will find many places to advertise your homeschool lesson plans. Start by creating a basic website with your lesson plans for sale listed. You could also sell them on eBay or homeschooling classified sites. Offering one free lesson plan for potential customers to examine is a great idea. It will let the homeschooling parents know that your lesson plans are worth the money.”
SophieLC is a single mom from Galway who has worked hard to build an online business.
Check out her article, Make Money Online Monetizing Blogs: I Cracked the Code.
Excerpt
“Doing an online search for money-making opportunities will bring up on your computer screen millions of blogs and websites, all promising to give you the ultimate solution to you current money problems”
Timothy Frazier has been a content producer for quite a while. He has a wide variety of articles on all kinds of topics.
Check out his article, Blogging for Money.
Excerpt:
“It’s certainly not time for me to quit my day job and become a full time writer, but if the trend continues as it is that day will eventually come for me, and a lot faster than I first thought.”
Tammy Forner has written 6 articles since she became a content producer and from the looks of her topics has much success coming to her.
Check out her article, Be a Successful Work at Home Mom and Make Money Online.
Excerpt:
“Anyone who wants to be a work at home mom and make money online by blogging needs to realize that both methods for making money blogging are legitimate, but are not for those that think this will be a way to get rich quick. Although blogging can be fun at times, it is work.”
Melanie Winters is a stay at home mom who has been writing for Associated Content for over 2 years. She may only have 19 articles in her library but she’s made it to clout 5.
Check out her article, How-To Earn Money for the Holidays.
Excerpt:
“you do not need to be an upgraded member of a site in order to add an additional stream of income to your checkbook. I will highlight the ones that will pay off if you upgrade on them, but again, it is not necessary to do so! Also, the programs that I recommend do not require you to purchase anything or take a trial test drive of any product that might cost you money”
Kristie Leong is one of AC’s Top 1000. She’s written over 1,400 article and is quickly nearing a million page views.
Check out her article, How to Make Money Photographing Food.
Excerpt:
“Wouldn’t it be great if you could earn income from something you enjoy? If you’re good with a camera and you enjoy good food, you can combine your two passions into a potentially lucrative business.”
Naomi Kent is fairly new to AC but she’s already well on her way.
Check out her article. Work Online - 5 Ways to Earn a Living on the Internet.
Excerpt:
“The good news is, you’ll be doing what you like to do on your own terms, so it doesn’t always feel like work. Persevere, and you will soon be reaping the benefits from making your own hours and being your own boss.”
The morning starts off full of promise. The coffee is strong, the sun is shining but it’s nice and cool in the house thanks to the invention of air conditioning, the dogs haven’t knocked everything off the coffee table during their morning WWF regime and ideas for new articles are stewing in the front of your brain for once rather than the back of your mind.
The keyboard awaits your arrival. As soon as you set your coffee cup on the desk the computer’s light flashes green accompanied by an all to familiar beep and the screen jumps to life. It’s ready to satisfy your every whim. There’s not much else on the planet that compares to the comfortable and cozy relationship you have with the computer.
You get settled into your chair, ready to ride the wave of inspiration. Today you will submit not just one, but multiple articles. You will build your que and fill it content that you know will well.
So you sign into Associated Content and check the C4Cs for anything that looks good and within minutes your googling your way into internet space on a quest to find out what the top 5 fashion magazines in Europe are.
All is going well. The writing flows, the editing is fairly easy and painless and then you go to submit your article.
For some reason the submission template is out of whack and it starts eating your article. Oh crap. Better look and see if anyone in the forums is experiencing this problem.
That sounds easy enough. Or so you think. As soon as you get to the forums you quickly realize there are other people having the same problem. So you post a reply to one of the threads and go off on your merry way to read one of the other 200 posts about submission template problems.
After reading 198 threads you decide to return to the original post where you read. You can’t find it. You’re tired and have all but given up submitting your article. Only after letting your eyes drift to the banner ad on the left side of the screen did you see a link to your latest posts. If only you had known that was there.
If only there weren’t so many forums to sift through to try to find threads I’ve visited before. If only there weren’t so many forums that everyone is posting the same thing in several different forums.
Several tries and several hours later you at last manage to get the submission template to work. You article goes through and you keep your fingers crossed that your CM will review it soon.
I wonder how the content producers who do not visit the forums deal with the issues AC is currently experiencing. How are they notified of changes that take place that are only announced in the forums? I wonder how the recent forum changes have impacted their experience as a content producer if it does at all.
There are plenty of experiences at Associated Content. Unfortunately this is a look at what it’s like to deal with AC. Some CPs have it worst and some have it better. I find that to be strange.
While one content producer may not be getting email notifications another might be getting duplicate notifications. We are all dealing with the growing pains Associated Content is experiencing so let us all endeavor to create the best AC possible and keep our fingers crossed that when we come out on the other side of these “updates” that it all works out in the wash.
I’d like to think it will anyway.
For those of you who don’t frequent the AC forums there’s a bit of a joke about “The Kelly’s.” The reason being is that there was at one time several Kelly’s active on the forums. One thing all of us “Kelly’s” have in common is that we are known to disappear from the forums and return and disappear and..well you get the picture. Although I must say, out of all the “Kelly’s” I’m the one that sticks around the most. 
So in the spirit of The Kelly Club I give you articles written by a few of the 600 Kelly’s on Associated Content. Myself included.
Kelly Herdrich is one of the disappearing Kelly Club members. Once in a while she pops her head into the forums so we know she’s still alive out there somewhere.
Some of her articles include:
Personalized Baby Shower Gifts for Parents
NYC Nightlife Guide for Lower Manhattan
How to Tie a Toga
Too Pretty to Fly? Does Judgment Equal Discrimination?
Kelly Hendrix is a fairly new Kelly Club member. So new in fact that she doesn’t even know she’s one of us. So far this Kelly looks to be trying to find her niche and dabbles in a variety of topics.
Some of her articles include:
The Philosophy of Happiness
How to Get Your Money’s Worth (and Enjoyment!) Out of Disney World
The Place D’Armes - Breathtaking Hotel in the Heart of New Orleans
Kelly Spies, that’s me. I’m one of The Kelly’s at Associated Content. My articles and interest tend to seem a little ADD in that they are all over the place topic wise.
Some of my articles are:
National Underwear Day, August 8th
Naked Sports: Sports Activities for the Nudists
How to Dispose of a Dead Body
What Happens to Your Website When You Die?
Kelly Fleming has been an Associated Content writer since 2007. She won the PMA award for top preforming richmedia and has published over 1,000 articles. You don’t see her on the forums much but she has made a name for herself amongst the other content producers.
Some of her articles are:
Work from Home: Squishy Cash
How To: Use Google Maps
Keeping Your Marriage Alive: Tip #1
Different Uses for Step Stools
Kelly Schaub is a brand new content producer. She just joined earlier this month and already has one article published. I’d like to welcome her to AC and to the Kelly Club.
Here’s Kelly’s first article:
Keeping Your Child on a Balanced Diet When They Start School
To see a listing of all 600 Kelly’s registered at Associated Content, click here.
There have been questions regarding copyright issues and photo submissions amongst content producers, particularly some of the newer content producers. Associated Content covered some of these issues recently during a town hall meeting. Here are the slides from that town hall meeting which will hopefully clear up some of the confusion.
I attempted to video the town hall meeting a couple of times and while this time I managed to actually get to the stupid camcorder to record the whole thing was distorted and moving around like there was an earthquake under my monitor. Luckily for me there weren’t any slides during the webinar so all I needed was the audio.
I’d like to point out a couple of things that might be worth paying attention to.
Listen to what Luke has to say about getting rejections from your content manager. He has some good advice on what you should do if you think your content manager misunderstood your material.
Something else interesting was what Luke had to say about AC’s thoughta on different forms of media.
One more thing I want to bring up is that Luke mentions to go through the help desk for help. There is NO help desk. What I believe Luke is referring to is the FAQ page or the Contact Us page.
I also want to warn you. I am by no means a guru with a camcorder and I was trying to get everything together so I missed the first few minutes. Maybe 3 minutes max. I apologize if the audio of this town hall meeting sounds like crap but I did the best I knew how to do. Enjoy.
Town Hall Meeting August 20, 2008
AC is going high tech. In case you missed it Mike just announced the new search plugin for Firefox and IE. I haven’t tried it out yet because I”d have to download Firefox. You should check out SeaMonkey sometime. Hopefully Mike will implement a search plugin for SeaMonkey. (hint hint)
To find out how to get the search plugin head over to Mike’s page and read his article AC Search Plugin for Firefox and Internet Explorer.
I recently had the pleasure to interview our award winning Associated Content Staff Member AC Sam. I wasn’t sure if he’d accept my offer so I was pretty surprised when he volunteered to be my victim. Without any further babbling from me I give you an inside look at one of the men steamrolling Associated Content towards success.
Me: Is Sam your full name or is it short for something else?
Sam William DeWitt is my full, legal name. I was named after my two grandfathers.
Me: What generation bracket would you most likely identify with? baby boomers, yuppies, gen-x’er, old farts etc.
Well, I’m a Gen-Y guy I guess… the Nintendo generation? Team Apathy. None of these really fit me. But I know I came after Gen-X. So whatever that makes me is what I am.
Me: What did you do before you came to AC?
Honestly, I was wandering around a bit in the job market. I worked for several years in radio, doing on-air work mostly, but also doing a lot of promotions gigs. You know when you go to a store and a station is broadcasting live from outside the store, and there are a bunch of people in cargo shorts and tee shirts hanging out in the tent? I was one of those people. Not the best job in the world, but my tan was unbelievable.
I’ve also done inside sales (hated it), media relations (loved it), and worked in the Athletics department of a Division II school here in Denver (LOVED it).
Me:If you could have the job of your dreams, the ultimate career in the universe, what would you do professionally?
Wow… honestly, I’d love to end up back in athletics. I had a great time with the student-athletes and coaches, and it was great to really be immersed in that team atmosphere. But my dream jobs are, in order:
1. Quarterback, Denver Broncos
2. Catcher, Boston Red Sox
3. Community Relations Manager, Associated Content
Me: Do you see yourself retiring from AC, meaning is this where you want to work until you retire?
Wow, I’ve never actually been asked that before. AC would be a great place to retire from, I think. The thing that I love about AC is being able to affect the company with everything I do. I’ve been here for a while now, and I know the ins and outs pretty well, so everything I want to accomplish helps the company, and it’s a great way of looking at it. But I’m still pretty young (turning 30 in April), so the thought of retiring from anywhere is very foreign to me.
Me: What would you say has been the most exciting thing you’ve experienced at Associated Content?
I would say watching the company grow. When I started, there were about seven of us, total, packed into a little two-rooms-and-a-lobby office in Cherry Creek North. I was a part-time Content Manager, so I only came into the office twice a week or so. We moved a few blocks away, to a bigger office, so I started coming in every day. But soon, we outgrew that space, and had to take up half a floor of the same building. Now we’re ankles to elbows in that space, so the next move will probably have to be a significant one. The thing about it is, nobody minds the moving and the shuffling around. It is the sign of a good, growing company that we are doing so, and that is based largely on the influx of Content Producers we’ve had coming into the site. If it wasn’t for all the great CP’s, I’d still be coming in twice a week.
Me: Do people off the street ever just walk in to the AC office? If no, is there a reason; for example, the AC building sits at the back of a dark alleyway or there is a big, scary bald guy guarding the door?
You know, I’ve never seen people wander in off the street. But it’s not because we have anyone guarding the door. Of course, if you’re coming by, we’d love to hear from you first, if for no other reason than it would give me a chance to clean my desk.
Me: Does AC do business with other local business owners?
Well, we’ve done some things with eBags in the past, and they’re located in Denver. I think Disaboom is in Boulder. Other than that, we eat lunch at a bunch of local restaurants, so you could say we do business with locals every day!
Me: You come across so sweet on the AC forums that many of us have been wondering about you. For starters we’d like to know if you’re married? If you are married would your wife get upset if we flirt uncontrollably? We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
I’m not married, but I do have a serious girlfriend named Maggie. She’s in the picture with me. And she says you can look but not touch, and that you can flirt as far as your keyboard can reach. J
Me: Do you have children?
Nope, none yet. Someday.
Me: What kind of shoes do you wear most of the time and what color? (you can tell a lot about a person by the kind of shoes they wear)
Well, it’s summer time, so flip flops are the order of the season. I’ve got two pair; one pair is black, with red trim. The other pair is tan. I can’t find the tan ones these days, so the black ones are getting a lot of wear.
In the winter, I wear work boots mostly, or hiking shoes if the streets aren’t too gross.
Me: Do you get all bundled up in the winter with scarves and gloves and the giant parka? Is it really THAT necessary?
I’m not so much for the parka, although my ski coat definitely got some wear in the last two years when we had some serious cold snaps in town. Two years ago was the blizzard, so my standard gear for walking around town (car was useless) was ski pants, ski jacket, hat, gloves, scarf, and goggles. Yep, it was necessary.
Me: Do you have any tattoos or body piercings? If so what and where are they?
I don’t currently. I had my ear pierced in college. Maggie is trying to get me to get some tattoos, but I haven’t decided what or where those would go. I’m leaning towards a Celtic cross on my forearm, but that might be a little racy. And I’m fairly certain my mother would have a heart attack. So it’s a work in progress.
Me: Does the AC office have a dress code or uniform?
Oh my, no. Jeans, shorts, tee shirts, button-downs… we’re all family here.
Me: Are you tall, average or short?
I’m tall. 6’3”, and a big dude, by all accounts. I hit my head on a lot of stuff.
Me: What makes you laugh?
Great question! A really funny movie (Knocked Up, Austin Powers, Big Lebowski) can do it. Chuck Klosterman, who is my favorite writer, always gets me. Anything by Nick Hornby. And, I think my friends are the funniest people in the world. My buddy Matt Bowker is a brilliant stand up comic in Boston, and he makes me laugh every time we talk. Hilarious. You can check out his stuff HERE.
Me: Do you ever write articles?
I used to write a lot more than I do now. I think, at the end of the day, I’m pretty worn out on the computer, so I just try to relax. I have written a few, and I used to write a lot more for a website called BroncosUpdate.com, but…
Me: What’s your favorite kind of article to read?
I love the humor section on AC. I’m a big sports nut too, so anything about the teams I care about.
Me: Lastly, can you give us a hint at what’s coming for AC and the content producers in the future? I know you can’t give us any detailed information but maybe just a clue?
I don’t have much information in that direction, but I know there are some good things coming through in the next 3-6 months. These are things that will make AC an even better home for your content.
Reading Sam’s responses to my questions was both enlightening and funny. Thanks Sam, for the interview!
P.s. Photo above is Sam and girlfriend Maggie. Cute couple. 
If there’s one thing about Associated content that remains consistent it’s the variety of people found in the mix. One particular group is starting to stand out. I like to call them the Greenographers. Here’s a list of some cool eco-friendly, green content producers.
Rosa Hayes is an experienced content producer with over 400 thousand page views to her name and more articles than you could possibly read in a week long readfest. With a few eco-friendly articles under her belt she’s on her way to being a top greenographer as well as a top 1000, PMA, badge bedazzled CP. Titles from her extensive library of articles include:
Green it Policy Making Way Around the World
TerraCycle Products and Going Green
Recycled Jewelry, Herb Gardens and Other Mother’s Day Gifts for Eco-Friendly Moms
Big Momma has an impressive collection of green articles in her library. She’s been around Associated Content for a year now and during that time she’s managed to make it all the way to clout 8 and churned out over 800 articles. Some of her green articles are:
Plan Your Wedding with the Environment in Mind
Fatten Your Investment Portfolio with Green Investing
A Brewster Smythe Writing Concepts takes green living (and dying) to a whole new level. This Indiana lady FOUNDED a committee that is overseeing an ecological change in her community. She’s put her knowledge to use in her writing and has given us titles like:
How Waynedale, Indiana is Going Green!
Bury Me Green: Eco-Friendly Funeral Options
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