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Monday, April 12, 2010

Bad AC Experiment - Anyone Wanna Hire this Girl?

Thanks to my writer pal Ann Olson, I came across this tidy little gem of a site called "All Freelance Writing".  Apparently this site is to help other freelancers or online writers find success.  But don't be fooled.  The web is all a-flutter with these type of sites.  But pay attention to the writing and to what the writer says about themselves to decide for yourself if it is a quality site or not.

Take a look at this article.  Go on.  I'll wait.  Come right back.

Like what you read?  If you're one of the AC writers who makes good money from AC then this "experiment" probably just ticked you off a little.

Do I make good money from AC?  I make descent enough for what I need.  I could do more but I also write two topics for Examiner and I write on whatever fiction project I have currently going (I'm working on my third novel right now).  On AC, though, I remain in the "Hot 500" so I'd like to think I've learned a little something along the way.  So, are you going to listen to someone who does make money on AC or are you going to listen to someone who wrote two "craptastically fast" articles and then whined that she didn't make much money?

This "experiment" is flawed from the beginning.  First, you can't expect to write a holiday article only a few days before the holiday and expect it to perform well.  Next, you can't write it badly and expect it to perform well.  Third, you can't expect to do an experiment half-assed, let it ride for a couple of weeks, and expect the results to be something you can try to pull over on the world.  And that is the problem with many writers who whine that they can't make the money they'd like.  They have an over inflated version of themselves and feel like every thing they touch (or write) should be gold.  Then they refuse to listen to the experts and then whine that they aren't making what they'd like... well, go figure.  This is not AC FAIL.  This is contributor FAIL.

So the AC writers came out to defend their work but with every point made, the writer and other members of the blog had a reason for everything.  Thus another sign of the inflated contributor.  Instead of listening and trying to take to heart what was done wrong and learn from it, they obsessively try justify their actions.  But watchya gonna do?  Oh, well.

Point is, I think this writer has actually hurt her chances of picking up jobs.  If I were a potential client looking for a writer to do work for me and I saw that particular post, how the writer knew she was writing bad but didn't take care to correct that, that she couldn't find a good enough topic to gather page views, and that she ran such an obviously flawed experiment and proceeded to dis a website and it's contributors because of it, I'd move on to another writer.

And I definitely won't be promoting that freelance site as anything worth reading.

What's next?  All the good writers who actually make good money from AC are liars?

Alright.  Let's all move on with our lives and continue doing what we love.

5 comments:

  1. AC is not a place to make quick money. I think many people make the mistake that they can submit a few articles, wait a couple of days, and the money will come pouring in - because of our success on there.

    That's not how it works. In order to make a good income, you need to learn WHAT AC wants and what performs well there. What performs well on your blog isn't always going to perform well on AC, for example.

    Think of AC as a client...you need to find out exactly what they want in order to make them happy. If a client requests an article, you wouldn't just say "OK" and write the article. You'd ask the client if he was aiming for a word count, if any references or interviews would be needed, his target audience, etc. The client may request a rewrite or edit to make sure it's right. And you do it, because you want to give the client your best work.

    When you write for any website or client, you DO need to make an effort to understand what they want to make them happy. But if you don't want to do that...you're not going to get the results you want. And you shouldn't expect to get good results either. That's just how it works.


    It took me four months to learn how to use AC the right way. When I started out in 07, my page view average was 300. Several months later, I hit 1000. Now I'm at 4500. The only reason it rose was because I listened to the experts, asked them for advice, and read the tutorials. Then I practiced it. I currently make around $200 per month just by writing a few articles every month. Several others make more than $200 (one person even makes $1100 per month, although this is definitely not the norm).

    If anyone needs any help learning the ropes on AC, please talk to me, Pamela, or the other experts on AC. It can be frustrating to not get the results you want when you're new to AC, but we can help you out. We can show you why your article may not be performing as well, how to write articles that get more page views, and what else you can do to increase your pay at AC. Seriously, all writing websites have a learning curve, but we can help make this learning curve shorter :)

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  2. Thanks, Ann, although I don't consider myself an expert but I can usually point someone in the general right direction! :)

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  3. I've done well enough on AC to include it as part of my monthly budget and it isn't a minor consideration. As Ann noted, it can take time to learn how to use AC properly and there are experienced writers there who are glad to help new writers shorten their learning curve.

    Last I checked, my page view average was nearly to 4000 (about 3700, as of today), although that average didn't rise immediately after starting at AC. It took time and hard work. But it was a learning experience and worth every second.

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  4. I've got articles over both ends of the spectrum. I have a couple that haven't ever reached 100 page views but I have more that are in the thousands to tens of thousands.

    Your analysis of this experiment is correct. You cannot write something a few days before the event and expect everyone searching for those keywords to find your article.

    There are so many factors that she didn't account for and any experienced webwriter knows the difference. Unfortunately, she may have grabbed the attention of writers who are just starting out and hopefully they will ignore her advice.

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