3 Reasons to Write for Low-Paying Online Sites

I contribute to AssociatedContent.com (AC) and eHow on a pretty regular basis; I've posted a couple of articles to Helium.

Regular readers of my blog and newsletter may wonder why I contribute to sites like this when I earn more from my SEO writing and other freelance writing gigs. Well, there are three reasons. One sitting in my inbox when I logged on this morning prompted this post.

Why I Write for "Article Paying Sites" Like AC, eHow, Helium, etc.

Special Assignments: This morning when I logged on, there was an email from an editor at AC offering to pay $25 to write an article on How to Write a Small Business Plan.

As I've written enough business plans in my life to do one in my sleep, this article will probably take 30-45 minutes to complete. While it may seem paltry to some, when you're writing about what you know, it's usually a breeze to knock out and it doesn't take any research. For me, these are the best kinds of assignments.

I've been writing for AC since April 2006. To date, I've submitted well over 500 articles. The bulk of them have been on the business of freelance writing. When I first started to submit, I submitted a lot of content I'd written as press releases from an old business I had. So, a lot of that content was business-focused, eg, How to Market Your Business Online.

So, over time, I've established myself as somewhat of a small business expert. And, this is probably why this special assignment came my way (I have no way of knowing how/why I was chosen for this assignment).

The Direct Benefit for You: As large sites like AC build out, they hand out special assignments that pay more to proven contributors who write well (let's not forget this part).

Residual Income: Most of the articles I submit to AC are posts from my blog that I'm simply recycling. After all, I've written it, so why not pick up a few bucks for it. I usually receive anywhere from $4.50 to $6.50 for these. It's an extra $20 to $30 week. Or, the way I like to look at it, an extra $80-$120/month (I look at income in terms of how it adds to my bottom line in a given month).