How to Succeed at Yahoo! Contributor Network 01/19/2011
by Lyn Lomasi, Article Writer for Hire  Photo: (c) Lyn Lomasi *Note that some resources mentioned below require being logged into your Y!CN account before clicking to read. If you've just joined the site, you are likely curious about how to succeed. Where do you start? What does it take to get to the top? How long does it take to get where you want to be? As a veteran contributor, here are some of the things I have learned. Step One: Before submitting that first article, browse around and take a look at some of the articles that are featured. Also, read advice from seasoned contributors. There are some great examples in the tutorials section. Also, be sure your content adheres to the submission guidelines, as well as the Yahoo! Style Guide. Step Two: Submit your work and learn more while you wait. There is always something new to learn. Do you need to learn more about SEO? Networking? Grammar and style? Ask fellow contributors for their advice and continue to learn from those around you. Step Three: Apply what you learn and rinse and repeat. There is never an end to what you can learn when it comes to writing. This is even more true for web writing. Rules are constantly changing, as is the needs of the audience. Keep learning and applying that knowledge to your work. If you put in the effort, you will see results. Things to Remember: 1) You get what you put into it. If you put in effort to ensure your work is what Yahoo! is looking for, you will see results. On the same vein, if you choose not to pay attention and just write what you want, no matter what Y!CN or the audience is looking for, you won't get very far. 2) Write what you know. It's easy to see the success of others and want to mimic what they have done. However, that can quickly cause burnout and loss of interest...and it will show in your work and your productivity levels. 3) Define your personal success. What does success mean to you? Is it getting your work published across multiple channels? Is it just knowing your subject matter could make a difference in someone's life? Do money amounts play a role? Figure out why you are here and what successes you wish to work toward. This will be different for each person. 4) Web writing is not the same as print writing. If you are good at writing for print venues, that's awesome! But not all of what you learned doing that will help you in web writing. Click here to learn more about web writing. Helpful Articles for Success at Yahoo! Contributor Network: The Newbie's Guide to Success at the Yahoo! Contributor Network AC Tips and Tricks Writing Your First Article How to Write Compelling Headlines for Search Engines Web Writing: The Ground Rules that Make a Good Web Article Best Article Writing Tips from Career Professionals How to Get Your Work Published on Your Favorite Yahoo! Sites Professional Article Writers: The Importance of Self Editing How to Build Residual Income Writing Evergreen Web Content Why Am I Not Making Money at AC? Page Views, Offers, and More How Can I Increase My page Views (PVs) on Associated Content? Internet Writing: Simple Strategies that Attract Readers Importance of Authentic Voice in Writing for Y!CN -- If you have questions, there is always someone around to help, be it one of the Community Guides (like myself) or any other helpful contributors. List of Community Guides: Lyn Lomasi R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben Carol Bengle Gilbert Lisa Mason Abby Greenhill K. Valentine Sylvia Cochran Kathy Browning Jan Corn Cathy Montville 1 Comment  There are always so many great articles to read on Associated Content from Yahoo! Starting today, each weekend I will post some of the best pieces of content published the previous week (Sunday to Saturday). Since I read so many articles and look at so many slideshows and videos (and there is an abundance of talent), I will inevitably miss many of my favorites. To be fair, picks will be based on quality work, rather than my agreement of opinions expressed within. Arts & Entertainment (Video) Meghan McCain on 'Tonight Show': "Who the Hell is Sarah Palin?" by Saul Relative Did 'True Blood' Season 3 Suck by Tamara L. Waters Automotive Carburetor Trouble Shooting: E4ME Quadra Jet Rich-Condition by Spencer Razo How to Finance a Car with a Low Credit Score by Sheila Chase Business & Finance Single and 30: A Woman's Guide to Investing for Retirement by Angie Mohr Creative Writing Three Little Words – a Poem by Theresa Mahieu 9-11: Peace Without Flower by Orchiolum Health & Wellness Positive Ways to Express Anger by Crystal Ray Identifying and Treating Fibromyalgia Muscle Spasms by Christine Cadena How to Use Rhubarb as a Natural Remedy for High Cholesterol and More by Jaipi Sixbear Home Improvement Bathroom Decorating Ideas for Winter by Tal Boldo Tips for Building a Koi Fish Pond by Jasmine Starr How to Grow Great Watermelon by Jaipi Sixbear Lifestyle How to Tell if Your Cat is Senile by Vonda J. Sines Recycled Craft: Halloween Treat Boxes by Sage Adderly The Best Fall Elementary School Field Trips in L.A. County, CA by Cheri Majors, M.S. News Harvest Dinner Benefits Capuchin Soup Kitchen by Michael Thompson Vancouver Man Dies in Car Crash to Save Wife and Unborn Child's Lives by Jeanne Rose September 2010: National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month by Adam Spencer Sports 5 Blogs About Fantasy Football by Lisa Stevens How to Catch More Fish by Changing Your Mental Approach by Brian Gorman Prevent Kids' Sports Pain and Injury with These Tips by Georgia Lund Technology Using Your Computer Monitor as TV Instead of Buying HDTV by Robert Falden Connecting Home Appliances to a Smart Electric Grid by Kevin Hagen Starting a Home-Based Videography Business by Robert Witham Travel Chicago's Hidden Discount Movie Tickets and Discount Movie Theaters by Shamontiel L. Vaughn Oklahoma City Bombing National Memorial Pictures by Mandy Robinson Exterior Photos of the St. Louis Gateway Arch by Kristen Wilkerson Please read and share these outstanding pieces and stay tuned for next week's picks! Favorite piece of my own work from this week: Englewood Family Matters: How and Where to Adopt Pets If you know of an article worthy of mention, please submit it to Ask Lyn with the subject line “Weekly Picks”. Please only send in high quality submissions. Only the best of the best will be included. Self nominations welcome. * Lyn Lomasi is a home school mom, award-winning journalist, author of "Positive Parenting Tips for Every Week of the Year", owner of several websites, and a Community Guide at Associated Content from Yahoo! Questions? Ask Lyn. Associated Content is a freelance writing site providing creative writers of all genres an opportunity to share their wealth of experience with other readers. Associated Content contributors number over 300,000 and have published over 2 million articles. This is a great opportunity for new writers to build a volume of work and get paid for it. Associated Content pays their contributors by Paypal for upfront pay for articles and page views. You can also publish content for "display only" retaining your republishing rights, while still getting paid for page views. Associated Content provides a valuable opportunity to writers who are specialists in a particular field to become a featured contributor. Continue reading>>>  New to writing for Associated Content? After signing up and reading the FAQ, TOU, and Submission Guidelines, you may still have questions. As a seasoned AC Contributor and Community Guide, I've compiled answers to some of the things new writers may wonder about and need help with. New to AC? How to Use the Social Networking Features If you're a new to Associated Content, you may not have given the social aspects of AC much thought. If you have, but you haven't done much social networking online, it may be slightly confusing at first. What does AC have to offer in this area? New to AC? Incomplete, Submitted, Offer, Pending, Removed, and Other Status Terminology You found Associated Content and have just started submitting content. But, now your article has a status you don't understand. Incomplete, Submitted, Offer, Pending, Removed, and more are statuses you might see on your article. How to be an Objective Reader in Social Writing Circles When participating in social writing networks and websites, you will come across a wide array of opinions. At times the viewpoints of others will not be the same as your own. It is possible to disagree with the writer without putting them down. How to Balance Time for Writing, Networking, and More at AC When I first joined Associated Content, I thought I'd only be writing. At first I didn't realize there was reading and commenting on articles, forum participation, writing lessons, promotion, and so much more. So how do I make time for it all? Business and Personal Benefits of Being an AC Contributor When I first joined AC, I had no clue just how valuable that choice would turn out to be. Based on my experience, AC's unique combination of writing opportunities, resources, and social networking features is vital to all freelance writers. How to Keep Readers Interested in Your Articles If you expect to make money in online article writing, you need to develop an audience. First, you need to draw readers in via promotion, SEO, and the like. But once they are there, you need to figure out how to keep readers interested. Why Am I Not Making Money at AC? Page Views, Offers, and More Struggling to make money writing for AC? About to give up and decide it just isn't for you. Maybe you just need a quick refresher on writing for AC and the web in general. As an experienced AC Contributor and web writer, perhaps I can help. *For more tips related to AC, stay tuned to this blog, check the page For Writers, or contact me here or at AC. I'm a Community Guide there and love helping fellow writers.  Associated Content is always looking for great parenting content. As a Featured Contributor in that category, I know that AC is always seeking out great writers, videographers, and more. The site accepts submissions of articles, videos, audio, and slideshows. So, what's the benefit to you? You could possibly be paid for articles that are unique, well-written, informative, and entertaining. Plus, you get to work any hours you want and stay home with the kids, too. And you don't need to pay some scam site, only to find out it wasn't what you thought it was. You can write about parenting. But you can also write about other topics as well. AC pays writers to write what they know. Once you join (always free - no "upgrade" fees), you are given the opportunity to choose from topics or to submit work on your own topics. If they choose to publish the content, you will get an offer. Whether you accept is up to you. You also have the option of submitting for performance-only, which (depending on the rights option you choose) can speed the process after the first few submissions. Videos, audio, and slideshows do not currently receive upfront offers. However, there still is earning potential with them. Sometimes there are requests for them, which offer upfront payments. Also, all published submissions (text, video, audio, and slideshows) receive a page view (performance) bonus, which starts at $1.50 per 1,000 views and grows with success on the site. 1,000 views may sound high, but in my experience, it does not take very long to get there and it can be done easily over and over. If you know SEO, it will help a great deal. If you don't, I can help you with some tips on that, topics, and any questions regarding writing for them. My acceptance rate is high and I've had experience in pretty much every aspect of AC. Joining is free. This is not a scam, nor is it a get-rich-quick scheme. Earning money is possible here, but it does take some effort, as with any content production. I have been writing for this site for around 3 and a half years as of the time this is published. You will be a freelancer, will not be committed to a certain number of submissions, and you will never be asked to pay them anything for being a member of the site. Being a member simply allows you to submit content and interact in various areas of the site. If you are interested, click here to join. Once you are signed up and signed in, click here to follow me on the site and then contact me there to let me know. If you have any questions at that time, or through any of the processes (article submissions, audio submissions, coming up with ideas, etc...) I can help you. I am a Community Guide and am extremely familiar with the site. I look forward to helping some talented parents earn money while staying at home with the kids. More About My Experience With AC: Why I Recommend Associated Content to All Writers Business and Personal Benefits of Being an AC Contributor ![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small} Click here for copyright permissions!Copyright 2010 Lyn Lomasi by Lyn Lomasi, Article Writer for Hire Staff  Are you a freelance writer with some insight to share? Try reading the Yahoo! Style Guide to see how your experience compares. Maybe you need to brush up on something. Test one of the lessons in the Y! Style Guide and let everyone know how it helped you. Associated Content from Yahoo! (AC) is having a giveaway for registered Contributors. You could be one of 15 people to win a special hardcover edition of the Yahoo! Style Guide, the ultimate writing and editing guide for today's digital world. How Can I Enter? Very simple. Check your AC Assignment Desk for the assignment. Read the instructions and then click claim if you're interested. Publish your assignment by Monday August 2, 2010 to be entered. Winners will receive their very own Yahoo! Style Guide (hardcover edition) and will also be featured and promoted in various prominent locations. Where do I Find More Details? Full contest details are on the assignment claim form in the Assignment Desk. I'm Not a Member of AC. What do I do? Join! It's a great place to publish, network, and learn more about writing for the web. If you'd like to sign up under my referral number, please click here. If you have any questions about AC after signing up, feel free to contact me through the site. I'm a volunteer Community Guide. Some of the great entries so far: Writing a Strong Headline - Yahoo Style! by Karen Sanders How to Write Powerful Headlines for the Web by Linda StCyr The He, She and They of Article Writing: Are You Pronoun Gender Biased? by Donna Thacker Quotations and Punctuation in Web Writing - What's Right? by Lyn Lomasi Build Writer Confidence - Expert Advice from the Yahoo! Style Guide Word List by Cathy A. Montville Learning About Commas with "The Yahoo! Style Guide" by Catherine Spencer Yahoo! Style Guide Helps You Research Your Audience by Emmaleigh R. Hall Simple Techniques Put the Optimization in SEO by Marie Anne St Jean A New Spin on Words Tutorial from the Yahoo! Style Guide by Maxine Nelson Online Reading Format Fundamentals from the Yahoo! Style Guide by Sylvia Cochran Are you struggling to make money writing for AC? About to give up and decide it just isn't for you. Perhaps all is not lost. Maybe you just need a quick refresher on writing for AC and the web in general. As an experienced AC Contributor and web writer, perhaps what I've learned along the way can help turn around your situation. Why Can't I Get Page Views? Are your articles performing poorly? Perhaps you need a new strategy... Continue reading this article>> Interview with Writer, Jolynne Hudnell 06/24/2010
by Lyn Lomasi Jolynne M Hudnell, a Featured Contributor in more than one category on AC, recently granted me an interview. Her join date is May 22nd of 2009. Jolynne focuses mainly on health, diet, and parenting. However, she is also a talented poet and story teller. My favorite piece of hers on AC is an audio poem titled 'I'm Still Here.' This piece shows her incredible strength and positive nature. Read on to learn more about Jolynne and don't forget to check out her Contributor page afterward. >>Continue Reading this Interview The writing world is a big one. Venues, clients, and gigs are in abundance. So what makes Associated Content stand out? Why do I constantly tell people it's the go-to place for writers? Since I've been a member for years, I could sit here all day listing things. Instead, I'll only discuss a few of my favorite reasons.  More Time With My Family My family means the world to me. Whenever I was working a 'regular' job, I had no time to spend with my kids. There were days when the only time I saw them was in the morning just before school and at night with just enough time for dinner and a story before bedtime. To me, that's not a good definition of family time. I was working harder then for less money than I currently make writing. Now I homeschool my kids. I see them all day every day, including when I'm working. Are they in the way of my work? No. The kids come first. Writing for Associated Content helps make that possible. I can work when I want, choose what I work on, and I don't have to file paperwork when I need a day (or even months) off. I don't have to let my kids get raised by someone else while I'm at work. I realize not all people have that choice and childcare is necessary for some parents. But, I am certainly appreciative to have found AC, so that I do have a choice. Choose Your Own Topics When working with most clients, the topic needs to conform to their standards. That's great and I love the satisfaction of producing something that fits a client's exact request. However, there are times a writer needs to just write down whatever comes to mind, what interests them, or even what they feel will make a difference in helping someone else. AC is awesome for that. I get paid well and consistently for my own ideas at AC. You sure can't beat that. Residual Income I absolutely love writing and will likely be doing it until I die. In fact, when that fateful day comes, I'm sure I'll have a pen and notebook or the latest computer in my hands in the process of writing something. However, if anything ever happens, I like knowing that my family has some residuals to depend on. It's also just great to have income I no longer have to do anything to receive but keep my AC account active. Unlike some clients, AC not only pays an upfront payment on qualifying content, but all content published at AC (and following submission guidelines) earns a performance bonus. This means that every single day, I have content earning money for me - content that I already wrote previously. If I were to stop writing today, the work I've already done is still earning money. Variety of Ways to Earn Another reason I like AC is the multiple ways in which I can earn money. I can submit my own ideas, accept assignments, and even write news. I can choose one, all, or a combination thereof. Also, with each of these options, there are assorted ways to go about it. For instance, some assignments are targeted to everyone, some to a specific group of people, and some are even for outside opportunities with other venues. Because of the multiple ways to earn with assignments, there also are varied amounts to make and some are pretty generous. Exposure For years, I was keeping my work in notebooks or posting it to personal blogs and web groups, with a limited audience. AC is one of the top content sites and based on my experience, is absolutely amazing for exposure. I cannot count the number of opportunities I have been blessed with since joining the site. Any writer in the process of building a brand or even those with an established brand could potentially benefit from the free exposure AC offers. No Gimmicks Ever read those get-rich-quick schemes that offer all these glamorous payouts, citing examples of people becoming millionaires every day? That's not AC. There is decent income to be made at AC, but it's not going to happen by spamming people with pyramid schemes and the like. They also are not going to pull a fast one where you sign up free and then have to pay for something later. You shouldn't have to pay your writing clients. They should be paying you and that's exactly what AC does when they see quality content. Wealth of Knowledge By interacting on AC via the forums and networking with fellow writers, a vast amount of knowledge can be gained. Not only will you learn what works for AC by communicating with others and reading their work, but there is much to be learned about writing, in general. I highly recommend getting involved in the forums and also connecting with fellow writers on Associated Content. It has definitely been well worth it for me and I appreciate each and every person I came across on AC who helped make a difference in my life. Be Rewarded for Efforts Ever had one of those jobs where you do all you can, but get recognized for nothing and criticized for everything? Yeah, me too. Unfortunately, many of us have. In my experience, Associated Content is exactly the opposite of that. The comments readers leave are rewarding and the staff is very supportive. Also, there are a mix of programs and opportunities available for deserving writers. Further Reading on Some of My Success at Associated Content: Business and Personal Benefits of Being an AC Contributor 2009 PMA Acceptance Speech: Community Spirit I'm an AC Millionaire! You Can Be One Too! How to Sign Up for AC and Where to Go For Help Interested in signing up at AC to see where your writing can take you? Simply go to TinyURL.com/JoinAC (don't worry, it's free). If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to message me at AC once you sign up. I'm one of the Community Guides and would love to help. UPDATE: AC has now been acquired by Yahoo! The deal is set to close in the third quarter. More details can be found in our post that will be updated as necessary. Click here for copyright permissions!Copyright 2010 Lyn Lomasi  SEO, Promotion, RSS, and More A question I get asked quite often is “How can I increase my page views (PV's) on Associated Content?” Whether you're new to online writing or you've been around a while, there's always something to learn about increasing views. Having been an internet writer for years, I have done my fair share of experiments and heard plenty of advice, good and bad. Here are some of the most effective ways I have used to increase my page views on Associated Content. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Yes, I talk about SEO quite often, but there's very good reason. This has been my number one source page view revenue. To put it simple, if people can't find your article, how are they going to read it? How do you usually find information online? In most cases, it's through searches, right? Your goal is to get your article ranked high in those searches so that it comes up for people searching on that topic. How do you do this? SEO. Learn more about SEO and keywording from AC staff and veteran writers: SEO and Keywording for Associated Content Writers Focus, Focus, Focus Tighten up your topic's focus. For instance, if your topic is plumbing, don't talk about plumbing the entire house in one article. Break it up into several articles. In each, talk about techniques to pipe or add fixtures to a specific area. Another part of focus is removing the fluff. Take out all unnecessary descriptions and modifiers. For more on this and other aspects of earning page views, read: Maximizing Earning Potential in Online Article Writing Promotion If you've done the above well, you will be getting a substantial amount of views already. However, you can still get even more by promoting. An article that does well search-wise, will do even better when promoted. There are many, many ways to promote articles. Some include social networks, blogs, and forums. More details on article promotion: Easy Promotional Techniques for Online Article Writers Use RSS Feeds to the Fullest AC provides us all with a main RSS feed for our articles. They also have a neat tool that allows us to create topical, keyword, and static RSS feeds. Submit both your main RSS feed and a variety of keyword and topical feeds to RSS directories to maximize exposure. Also use these feeds on your blogs, social profiles, and websites. Wherever you are allowed to use RSS, use it. More exposure means more page views on your AC articles. For more on AC RSS feeds and utilizing them, read these two articles: How to Create Topical RSS Feeds on Associated Content Using Topical RSS Feeds to Promote Your AC Content Start and Maintain Your Own Website I can't stress enough how important this is for an online article writer. Having your own website gives you a professional place to point clients to. It also gives you a great place to share links to your content. Potential clients, family, friends, and web searchers can all discover your content from reading your website. This adds to your exposure which adds to your PV's on AC. For more on this topic as well as advice on getting started, read the following: Why Online Article Writers Need a Website 8 Musts on a Freelance Writer's Website How Online Article Writers Can Get and Keep Clients Start and Maintain a Niche Website or Blog Having a niche website or blog that focuses on a specific topic is a great way to draw traffic. If you add links to your relevant articles in your posts and around your site, this helps increase your page views on Associated Content. My mother and I own several niche websites and blogs and I also have a Squidoo lens. On these we share relevant advice so that content remains fresh for readers. However, we also share links to other content around the web, especially AC. Associated Content is the easiest place to quickly find links to relevant and well-written content, plus we can help out our fellow AC writers and friends. Of course, we also link to some of our own existing content. Not only does this provide backlinks for those articles, but it helps increase the page views from traffic via those sites and blogs. This site you're on now is one of our niche websites. Here's a couple more: LifeSuccessfully.com NaturallyGreenNews.com Quality Backlinks I just mentioned backlinks briefly above. A backlink is when your content is linked to elsewhere. Google and other search engines place greater value on content with backlinks than that without. If the backlinks are on a quality or high-ranking site, that's even better. Sometimes you can get blog or site owners to link back to you. Other times, people will do this without you even knowing and you'll be pleasantly surprised. I like to link to fellow writers often because I know how valuable backlinks can be. Here's a great video on what makes a great backlink: One thing mentioned in the video, I disagree with - the overemphasis on Google PageRank. The PR tool can help give you an idea about a site's quality to Google, but there's much more to it than PR. For more about factors Google looks at read the following: Google Ditches PageRank in WebMaster Tools Putting it All into Action So there you have it – lots of effective ways to increase your page views. Even one of these techniques will give you some results. However, combining all of them with the advice given at accompanying links will likely be the most beneficial. Now you simply need to start taking action. Many of these things can be done right away. If you have any questions, would like to add advice or input, or would like to share a link to some great info on this topic, please post in the comment section. I'm also a Community Guide and Featured Contributor at AC, so feel free to PM me there or use my Ask Lyn page here for advice. ~~ Written by Lyn Lomasi ~~ | 
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