How Associated Content Works

When you first start writing for Associated Content, it can be a bit overwhelming. You are allowed to pick assignments off the desk or write about anything that you want to and submit it yourself.

If I am writing about coloring pages, parenting, travel, or product reviews just to name a few, I submit them up upfront payment. You will get anywhere from $2 on up to $7 or more. Your upfront payments will increase as your clout increases and your page view average. I have seen mine going up lately.

You can also submit as display only. This is what I do on articles such as television reviews, music reviews, movies, and book reviews. They do not pay upfront on these. If a popular show such as "The Bachelor" is on, I can write a recap of it. I will get over 3,000 views in one day on it. You want this type of article to post right away plus they won't pay upfront on it anyway.

I have received upfront payment on a few articles that are music or movie related. One example is this article about Lady Antebellum. Another article that I received upfront payment on was Top 10 Quotes About Love from the Movies. These are considered evergreen which means people will still look at them months or years from now and not just this week or month.

I get paid to write a few TV articles on AC, but this is because I am part of the program with a beat desk. They contacted me about this on their own. To get these options and also articles targeted to you, the best way is to write about what you love. If they like your writing and have more in this area, they might contact you.

They are also changing their featured contributor program. I do not know much about how the new one will work, but will blog on it when it goes live.

Get a Free Belly Bag

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of CryoCell International. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you are pregnant, you can get a free belly bag. These are really cute. If I was pregnant, I would want one for sure! Plus a mom can never have too many bags. I know I was always using them for something when my kids were little.

If you are interested in this free bag, go to www.Cryo-Cell.net

This is where you will need to sign up for the free bag. www.Cryo-Cell.com

I know that I am always happy to get something for free!

Companies that I Freelance Write for from Home.

I started freelance writing in the summer of 2010. When I first started writing, I spent most of my time at textbroker. If you are level 4 here, you can make pretty good money. This site does not have as much work available now as they did when I first started writing. I still write here, but not as much as I did when I first started writing.

They always say to have a lot of eggs in your basket and I have done just that for myself. I was really nervous at first that I would lose eggs or something would fall through on me. Here is a list of all of the places that I write for at least one time a month so that I do not lose my privileges.

- Wordgigs - We have a love/hate relationship depending on what they have available.
- Break Studios - I love them, when I can find good titles. They pay $8 per article.
- Bright Hub - They pay $10 per article plus residuals, but it is not my favorite place to write with all of the rules.
- Factoidz - I really enjoy writing for them. You can read more about it here.
- List my Five - I am really still just playing around with this site. I have only made about $5 on there.
- Seed - This site is through AOL. They don't usually have a lot available, but when they do the pay is amazing. I have been paid $10 for a 50 word article and nope that is not a typo.

My two main eggs are Associated Content/Yahoo and Examiner. I have a love for both of these places. Associated Content pays me upfront for articles plus residuals. They even put them up on Yahoo when the article belongs there. They are always adding new things. I write 14 TV articles a month for here and I could not be happier. I get to use my imagination and write about what I want to write about with this site.

Examiner is where I feel like I am gambling. I never know if the article will do well or not until I put it up, but I have had amazing luck here so far. I will make more on this site alone this month then I used to make with every single place that I write online.

Feel free to ask me anything you want about any of these sites and I will reply or make a future blog post about it.

Sharing Figures

I know that many work at home people shy away from sharing figures of what they actually make places. I am NOT one of those people. I feel like when a friend tells me that they made $1,000 with a company that means a lot more to me than simply saying they make a living. The money I need to live on is going to be different than the money someone else needs to live on in their situation.

I think that we should all share with each other how well we do. Toot your own horn! Be proud of yourself for the work that you do and encourage other work at home moms to do the same for themselves. If you have a bad month, do not be ashamed. We are all busy.

I will say that I only made $500 in January. I took over a week off for my cruise and did not work a lot. On that same note, I have already made close to $1,000 for February and the month is not even over yet.

We all have to figure out what sites work best for us and make it work. I used to write a lot for content mills that want boring articles about printers, tape, cars, and other things I just don't care about writing. I am now focusing on residual and upfront with what I love writing about which is travel, parenting, and television. If you don't love what you do, you will have to force yourself to work which is not fun at all.

Please feel free to ask me questions about anything that you ever to know. I will make future blog on the information or answer you on here. I love helping others and love the ones I have found who have helped me!

Reasons Why I Love Residual Income

As a work at home mom, I am still a stay at home mom as well. This means I am so busy sometimes with activities for my little ones that I don't even sit down at the computer. Today was one of those days.

We went to my daughter's Valentine's Day program and it was amazing. I loved every minute of watching her dance and not really sing. We had a good day, but we were busy.

When I finally got home, I barely had time to write a couple of articles. I look at my earnings and yes I have made money today.

Examiner and Associated Content, plus my blog are my main residual income places. It is great that when I need to take a day off people are still reading my stuff. I can make $20 or more easy on a day that I don't even touch a computer. If you aren't doing residual earnings, figure out a way to put some time into it. We all deserve a day off sometimes and now I can afford to take one.

Boudreaux's Butt Paste for Your Infant

This post brought to you by Boudreaux's Butt Paste. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have wasted money several times buying different diaper rash ointments. My poor daughter has one spot that still at the age of 2 comes back and bothers her. Recently I decided to try something different. I had been told by other people that it was great so I bought Boudreaux's Butt Paste.

I honestly could not have been happier with this product. It does go on really thick, but that is a good thing. It covered up the diaper rash completely and I only had to use it a few times before it was gone. This product even comes in different sizes so you can carry one around with you or get a bigger one to keep at home.

It goes on her easily and comes back off easy. I never have problems with it staining her clothes which is always a plus for me. This is the only one that I will buy from now on for my child.

You can check out their website to get a free sample. That will give you a chance to use it once and decide if you like it or not. It will also save you a little bit of money which is always a good thing when you are trying to live with this economy.

Taxes as a Self Employed Freelance Writer

I have spent a lot of time today researching taxes as a freelance writer. I have used a tax professional in the past and watched them claim things I know are not right. I have been through the training at Jackson Hewitt for working for them and see how little they train their "tax professionals." For this reason, I feel a lot better doing them on my own.

I did not claim a lot this year in the way of expenses since I only worked from home the last few months of the year. This year I will be working from home the entire year. My "home office" is just a small desk area so I probably won't be claiming that expense, but now I am trying to figure it all out. I think I might have to buy a book.

I want to make a ton of money, but I also love my tax return at the end of the year :-)