Associated Content Producers Spotlight

My #1 goal with this blog is to spotlight every single active content producer on Associated Content.  In one form or another.

That is an enormous task.  It suddenly dawned on me that I have no system for keeping track of all these people.  So far what’s here is what I’ve pulled from doing random searches and from gathering those I already know.  I don’t think that’s going to continue to work.

So I need help.  I really need everyone to throw links my way.  Even if you don’t necessarily like someone but you can live with their content please, please send me a link.

If anyone has any ideas on how I can achieve this, I’m extremely open to suggestions. I’m doing this because I get a huge kick out of it. I love it.

I’m also open to more of you making guest posts so if you have something to say shoot me a PM  or leave me a comment.

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Some of you are signing up in the “Cps Popping In” box and that’s ok because it lets us see your avatar and what not but that is not the sign up link for here.  That is the signup link for mybloglog.com.

To sign up or register look for the LOGIN box on the left hand side below the Random Cp Blogs box.

I moved both boxes to help eliminate confusion. Sorry for mixing you up.

Kelly

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Nobody ever gives the AC staff an award, or at least I don’t think they do. So I decided to make one up myself. I dub thee, AC Sam our best AC staffer award because even though the entire team works very hard you have really put a face on Ac and for that I thank you.

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Welcome everyone to Ac Spotlight. I started this blog because I found it difficult to separate AC stuff from my regular blog. The two just don’t always mesh.

I like to list articles on my blog and share them with as many people as I can. I get a kick out of it. But my blog could be offensive to some so I decided I’d put together a blog to highlight all the content producers that’s nowhere near my other blog.

I wanted it to be a place where other CPs can contribute and everyone has a chance to be noticed; even if it is in a small way. Plus I get the chance to hobnob with the best of the best and that’s always cool.

My goal is to put every single active content producer in the spotlight. Hopefully all of us will discover new writers at AC. I encourage all of you to share links to other content producers so I can get them up on this page. Feel free to leave a comment or send me a private message on AC.

Mary Jane’s gossip box is about to blow up with all new gossip she keeps sending me. Don’t be surprised if she hits you up on private messages. And she says she’s openly taking submissions.

The Barefoot is a contributor. Who’d a thunk it? I wasn’t so sure I would be able to persuade him into scribbling something here so when he said yes I was ecstatic. I’m looking forward to reading all of his posts.

The AC Spotlight embraces the E with irregular doses of EMohrman. Gotta love him, he’s the funniest man on AC. E has agreed to impart his bullshi…uh, words of wisdom upon us whenever he gets a notion to post. I wish he would/could post weekly but, well, you know E. The fact that he’s even willing to post here is amazing! I’m flattered!

We know her as a tough as nails seasoned content producer, and I believe she is. Angie has graciously agreed to give us a piece of her mind. I’m really looking forward to Angie’s posts on financial matters. I hope to learn some new things because I need all the help I can get.

Momie has lots of kids. Boy does she ever. And because of her extensive experience with rugrats she has tons of information for work at home moms. Now Momie is also contributing to the AC Spotlight to help the WaHMs even more.

All the boxes in the sidebar that list articles are RSS feeds which means they automatically load from AC’s database of articles.

The Random CPs block rotates a snapshot of one of the blogs listed in the CP Blogs box every time you refresh the page. If you want your blog or website to be included in the blog roll and random cp snapshots give me a shout. The only requirement is that your blog or website be about writing in some form.

The AC Spotlight box isn’t quite so random. I’m just grabbing Cps and posting them as whatever category I found one of their articles in. If anyone knows of a good image and text rotating script let me know. Oh wait I think I can do that with an image rss feed. I’ll have to look into that.

It’s all free publicity. I love giving it away. I can’t say that this blog will get you mega page views but I can say, at least your efforts have been noticed.

Anyhow, welcome everyone. I hope you all enjoy being spotlighted.

Kelly

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This is by far the best thread you will ever read. If you’re trying to learn the ropes of being successful at Associated Content then visit this thread posted by Michy.  Michy has brought many CPs into the light and as long as her thread remains active, she’ll continue to cause more growth amongst CPs.

Click here to visit Michy’s Thread

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Pam Gaulin recently posted an unofficial challenge for June. The rules are simple; publish 100 articles in the month of June. Pam doesn’t specify whether or not these published articles have to have received upfront offers or not but that got me thinking.

In case you’ve never sat down and figured out how much money you can make on Associated Content think about this.

Let’s say you submit 5 articles a day, 25 a week and get your 100 articles published with offers. If each of those offers is at least $5 you would make a whopping $500. (I’m horrible with numbers so somebody correct me if I’m wrong)

Granted writing that many articles can bring your page view average down however if you write well written articles with good keyword density and ad alignment AND you promote them your page view average should come back up.

Someone once asked if you could make living writing for Associated Content and so I thought I’d bring back a few articles to point out that it is possible.

Make a Living Writing for Associated Content by Amy Brantley

Can You Make a Living Writing for Associated Content by Lee Andrew Henderson

An interview with Carrie Freeman by Joniv

The Unofficial June Challenge thread

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The web’s greatest enemies are word processing programs. They do violent and unpredictable things to web forms. With a little knowledge you can avoid hours of heartache and destruction.

Now don’t even start with the, “but every web site on earth needs to work with Microsoft Word.” The worldwide web standards are not controlled by Microsoft. Just because you happen to use MS Word for everything is no reason for the rest of the world to conform to your limits. Arm yourself with a little knowledge and get with the program.

KISS it
“Keep is Simple Stupid,” is the best advice you can take away from this article. Use a very basic text editor to write things you plan to paste into a web form. Articles, résumés, and feedback rants are all examples.

Why are word processor so heinous?
Programs installed on your PC have access to the PC’s operating system, font definitions and formatting options. They also use proprietary codes to work their magic. Web servers do not have these nifty attributes. They expect you to provide plain text. When your text contains codes the web form can’t decipher, horrible, nasty things happen.

If you have dodged the bullet until now, chances are you were just keeping it simple when typing in Word. Trust me it will bite you eventually.

A little HTML goes a long way
The web runs on HTML. Just learning a little bit can be a life-saver. There is absolutely no reason to not learn the basics. Having a “mental block” is not an excuse. HTML is too easy. You need only know a hand-full of tricks to simplify your life.

1. Hypertext Markup Language is all about putting tags around your text which make the browser do certain things. HTML tags are inclosed in less-than and greater-than signs. To mark the end of what you want the tag to do, you use less-than, slash, tag, greater-than. Seriously, it’s that simple. For example <b>make it bold</b> gives you make it bold.

2. Know the basic tags: b=bold, u=underline, i=italics. That will cover 90% of your formatting needs.

3. Hyperlinks are simple. HTML has a multi-tasking tag called the anchor. You use it to create many things, but the one you’ll need most is a hyperlink. The format is: <A HREF=”http://thebarefoot.wordpress.com”>My Blog</A>. This leaves the words “My Blog” for the reader to see, but if they click on them, their browser goes to the address. So the results are: My Blog. (Note: the tag is case-insensitive.).

Why should you listen to me?
I know. I know. Some say this is all too difficult to bother learning, but I promise it will save your text one day. Some say, “Word has worked so far,” but I promise it will get you eventually.

I happen to be the technical weenie for a site which process hundreds of résumés each day. About once a week, we get notice of someone whose résumé won’t transfer correctly. One hundred percent of these cases have been people who pasted word-processor documents directly into the web site which houses their résumé. If you’ve ever been perplex by Associated Content not displaying your article correctly, just think how these poor people feel when the window to apply for the job is closing in a few hours and they have no résumé to send.

All you Word die-hards, I’ll be looking for you in the AC forums. It’s just a matter of time before you post in a panic.

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Associated Content is home to all kinds of writers, from novelists to poets.  Here’s a shout out to just a few of the many many poets that can be found on Associated Content.

Kady the Hippie Woodstock – A poet whose titles include, Free Space, Lazy Kitty, I Want to Love, Hello I Am Dork and I Refuse My Indoor Toilet.

Pure Writing -  This is a content producer that is all about poetry.  Titles include, Waste Time, You Lied, Your Soul is Cold as Ice, Rewind Time, Like the Sun and  I Walk Through LIfe.

John Gugie – John wishes Associated Content paid for poetry so much so that he wrote a poem about it called, If AC Paid for Poetry.. .  His other poetry titles include, So Cold Outside, The Road Back to Us, The Mask Falls, Ode to MacGyver,  End Days and Go it Alone.

Stephanie Modkins – A long time content producer, Stephanie has more than enough page views to earn her spot as one of the top 1000 Cps. Her poems include, Memorial Day Haiku, She is More Than Wonderful, “The Poem I Never Wrote” and Short Poems for Black History Month.

Crutnacker - Known as a jokester Crut’s poems include, Say Cheese – a Poem by My Daughter, A Poem for Scrapbooking Widowers, Trying to Get Tickets for Hannah Montana — a Limerick and George Bush’s Economic Outlook.

3lilangels – This stay at home mom writes poetry like, Daddys Precious Gem, Mothers: Make Them Feel Special Show They How Much They Mean to You, Eternal Love, Three Little Angels Taking a Bath and Precious Babies.

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I have included as many new CPs as I could verify from the Best New CP thread. If you have links to any of the nominees that I left off please post the link and I’ll get it put into this poll. Thanks – Kelly

[poll id="3"]

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Here are a few articles you may or may not have already discovered on Associated Content. Enjoy!

Choosing the Perfect Tent for Your Vacations – Choosing the perfect tent for your vacation is important as an inadequate or unsuitable tent will lead to a lot of misery when you are out camping. The wide range of tents available can be very confusing. Here a some useful tips for choosing the perfect tent for your vacation.

Online Business: Dealing with International Clients – What You Should Keep in Mind – Good relationship and effective and clear communication will ensure a dedicated staff. Any insincere staff might pull your whole business down overnight if he feels the grudge against you personally.

Homemade Chicken Casserole Recipes – Here are 3 different homemade chicken casserole recipes, including a Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole recipe! Try it for dinner tonight!

Shopping on Ebay: Confessions of a Neurotic Shopper – The nature of neurosis is that it describes a propensity in many of us to continue to do things that don’t work. It is, in a nutshell, the failure to learn and correct our behavior as a function of experience. I confess to being a recovering eBay neurotic.

DIY Wedding Projects – Whether you want to save money or just make your wedding more personal, DIY projects are the perfect solution.

How to Start a Compost Pile when You’re Lazy or Inept – Written from a fellow gardener who could never get a compost pile going, this article is about how to compost for the lazy or inept.

The Top Ten Ways to Fight Boredom in the Emergency Room – The dreaded wait in the emergency room has driven many patients over the edge. This article might help to save a life one day. Here are the top ten ways to fight boredom in the emergency room.

How to Save for Retirement when You Are Short on Cash – Saving for your retirement when you are short on cash is not easy if you have to deal every month with money problems for paying your bills.

Preventing Dry Hair – Dry hair, being a very common hair type, benefits from external treatments such as herbal conditioning oils, as well as from a diet that includes beneficial foods. Beware of so-called beauty treatments and fashion trends.

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When writing for an online outlet such as Associated Content, it is sometimes difficult for WAHMs to figure out a fair balance between parenting and working. As a mother to 6 wonderful children, 4 of which are at home with me 24 hours a day, I have had to learn how to parent and make money both at the same time. At first it was hectic trying to find a way to make it all work. Some say you have to choose between an income and raising children. I know firsthand it’s possible to choose both without neglecting either.

Since writing for AC can mostly be done at any time of the day, this is one of the easiest ways to get the best of both worlds. The first thing I would suggest, and what helps me most is to leave the computer on all day. Take care of the children’s needs first, of course, and then at each free moment when you are not needed, be on the computer writing, submitting, or promoting articles. When I say take each moment, I literally mean pretty much every moment you aren’t tending to the kids or house. This sounds like a stressful way to work, but I soon realized it actually made things alot easier. The kids don’t have to feel as if I am ignoring them, yet I can still get work done. I actually find I get more work done in a day by doing things this way than I did with a set schedule.

Another thing that helps is to stick to promotion, research, and submission during the day where possible. Actual writing can occur at night and during nap times or other times the children are sleeping or away. If your children are school-aged and are not home schooled, you can write during the times they are at school. I admit that sometimes I write while the children are awake, but I get much more done when I can sit down to write without interruptions. If you do write while the children are around, be prepared for interruptions. Consider this beforehand to avoid stressing when it does occur.

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I found this handy little tool at Pam Gaulin’s squidoo lens. I highly recommend you give it a shot. Especially during those times when you’re struggling to come up with a topic.

With the Niche Generator you just click the link and it spits out random niche phrases. You then use those words to write an article. Pretty cool.

I would love to find a script that allowed me to pull in keywords or phrases or things like that to put on this site so if you know of any give me a shout.

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Written by: Timothy Scheiman – Forum etiquette doesn’t just apply to AC forums it applies to all forums everywhere. Each forum on the Internet has its own rules. What all forums have in common is a standard set of forum etiquette. How should you act and respond on forums?
Be professional

No matter what forum you read and respond to you need to keep your comments professional. Your reputation on the forum will grow very positive and people will tend to listen to more. Forums are no place for childish and immature behavior. All that accomplishes is to anger other members. If your posts anger people they will have a tendency to discount everything you have to say even if you are right.

Be Positive as much as possible

I know its difficult to be positive all the time especially when you are having a problem or complaint. You can still post to thread in positive manner. The moderators will be more than happy to answer your inquiries if posted in a positive manner. These responses will…Read the rest

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Dust off your keyboard and clear your schedule, Associated Content is giving away $5,000. If you write the winning article that is. For one day only, Associated Content will host the ultimate Call For Content contest and accept submissions from registered content producers for a chance to win some big bucks.

On June 3rd AC writers will have from 9am to midnight (Eastern Standard Time) to submit their entry. The C4C contest is open to all United States residents who are over the age of 18.

Associated Content has already announced the theme of the contest. This is what the announcement has to say regarding the topic: “ With a theme of “What’s Next?” appropriate to Internet Week, here is the assignment:

Pick any topic or subject you have enthusiasm or expertise in. Then, project ahead to next year, and explain — in a text article, video or audio clip — why that topic will be relevant to online consumers who search for content related to whatever their interests might be.

The topic can be a person, a destination, an event, a technology, a trend, even a “how-to”—any unique topic you think will break through with people in a new way in the next year. Text submissions are limited to 400-500 words. (Video and audio must not be longer than 2 minutes.)”

Official Contest Announcement

The Official Contest Rules

Register to Submit

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