The Easy Way to Make it as a Travel Writer - anyone can do this
davidfg (flickr)
At first glance travel writing seems like the perfect job. Travel around the world, write about it, and have someone else pay for it all. However, if you dig a little deeper you’ll likely find that travel writing isn’t as great as it may sound. Sure, the travel aspect is amazing, but the intense competition, arrogant editors, and unsteady/nonexistent paychecks are not.
Well, what if I told you there was a way you could travel anywhere in the world, and at least supplement your expenses by writing about anything you want. Your writing just has to be decent and about a moderately unique topic, and you are pretty much guaranteed to get paid. Want to hear more?
Associated Content and its implications for the budget traveler:
The opportunity I’m talking about is writing for Associated Content.com. If you are already a freelance writer you have probably already heard about Associated Content from other sources around the web. However, if you are just a simple budget traveler, looking for an easy and mobile way to make a little money on the road to supplement your travels, Associated Content is probably new to you.
Associated Content is a large informational website that purchases all of if it’s content from freelance writers. All you need to do is sign-up, fill out a simple profile, and you can start submitting content.
You can write about anything that you want, and minimum article length is only 400 words. Once you’ve written a 400+ word article about a topic that is of interest to you, you simply submit it to the Associated Content editors for review. Make sure you submit your article for “upfront payment review”–as this is the option that will pay you upfront for your article–and wait for your work to be reviewed and a payment to be offered.
In my research it seems the average payment offered by Associated Content is around $5 per article. A week ago I submitted two articles for upfront payment, just to try things out, and received about $4 for each.
Obviously $4-$5 per article isn’t very much. If you’re trying to make a name for yourself as a writer, Associated Content should probably only be used as a last resort (to put food on the table). It’s very unlikely you will make a name for yourself by writing for Associated Content.
However, if you are simply looking for a way to make some mobile income on the road, Associated Content is a pretty incredible opportunity, I wish I had heard about earlier. Once you get used to pumping out content, you’ll probably find that you can write a decent 400 word article in about 30 minutes (maybe less). Say you write 4 articles a day for a total of 1600 words and a total time commitment of about 2 hours. If you average $5 per article, your 4 daily articles will pay you around $20/day. Now if this was my job back in the States, I would be in trouble if I was only making $20/day. However, what if you are traveling through Southeast Asia–where you can live quite comfortably on $20-$30/day. Here, your 2 hours of work for Associated Content could pay for all or most of your daily travel expenses. This means the crunch on your savings will be far less, and you can extend your travels for much longer.
You also have the option of writing a lot more for Associated Content. Need an extra hundred bucks for a stay at a beautiful Thai beach resort. Just pump out an extra 20 articles and you’ve got it. Associated content has no maximum or minimum submission guidelines, so you are free to write for them as much or as little as you like.
As I said above the site seems pretty willing to pay for and publish any decent article. As I said, I have submitted two articles to the site, both of which were reviewed, accepted, and paid for (about $4 each) in a little over a week. The articles I wrote are really nothing special, they are short 400 word posts, that I basically put as little time into as possible. You can see my two articles through the following links:
Associated Content also accepts audio, video, and photo submissions. Overall I think this site could be very helpful to the budget traveler, whether you use it to fund all of your travels, or just to make a few extra bucks on occasion–it’s definitely worth checking out: Associated Content.
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Interesting option, if someone is really desperate for cash for while travelling. But consider: How much money is Associated Content making from your $4.00 article? Are sites like AC ultimately driving down the the value of quality content?
My advice to writers is to accept a decent wage for your work or contribute (for free) to worthwhile publications for the exposure (there are some great travel publications out there that don’t have the commercial revenue to pay their writers well, but who write and publish simply for the love of travel).
Writing and publishing can be a pain, there’s no question about that! But stick it out with higher paying publications — learn their format and write for their audience — and you’d be surprised at what you can save for your next trip.
Certainly worth trying out.
I don’t think you can get your name out too much
Thanks for this post
jim
http://www.yosemitereservations.info
@Travel Editor: I agree that publishers like Associated Content may just be pushing the price of quality content down, but the same could be said for the hundreds of publications out there that don’t pay at all for submissions. I have even noticed many that attempt to make writers feel guilty about submitting their works for payment.
That said, I personally see Associated Content as more of an option for those travelers that DON’T want to become travel writers. Rather people that are simply looking for a way to make some mobile income to support their travels. For these people, following the frustrating and convoluted road to becoming a published travel journalist would be a waste of time. Associated Content, I believe, is a better use of these people’s time.
@Jim: I agree, worth checking it out. A good way to make a quick buck from anywhere in the world.
I am a professional writer by trade (www.seocontentsolutions.com) and write for numerous sites and blogs - I know that there are paid opportunities to write for travel blogs - I have one client that may definitely be interested for sure. I will certainly check into this for you - if anyone else is interested, send me an email at christine[at]lifestylevacationing.com
Christine
@Christine: Thanks very much, please keep us updated!
Good points. It would certainly be impossible to turn around a magazine quality article for quick cash while on the road. (Although, Matador’s Bounty Board would be my first stop before AC)
I’m curious… If you’re writing while on the road to earn cash, what’s the turn around time for earning cash from AC? (i.e. how long would it take from the time you submit the article to when you can get paid and actually use the money?)
@Travel Editor: Associated Content says that it takes up to 2 weeks to review submitted articles, then about another 2 to receive payment (16 days from submission to payment).
However my submissions were reviewed faster than 2 weeks. In my experience, it takes about 10 days from submission to receive payment.
*Payment is through Paypal.com
I agree with your recommendation for Matador’s Bounty Board. That can also be a good resource for getting started as a travel writer and picking up some “quick cash”. Link is here for anyone who is unfamiliar with Matador Travel: Matador Travel Bounty Board
Unfortunately you have to be a US citizen to receive payment for any articles
$4 per article is certainly better than waiting for a good offer over the Internet. This good offer may pay you more, but usually it comes once in a while and when it does you see that many clamor for it.
It’s better to make $4 per article and be able to do it without restrictions. You have control over the number of articles you can submit and the money you would want to earn.
Also don’t forget AC pays performance payment. So, it’s not the end of the matter for you after AC pays you for your article. You get $1.50 per thousand page impressions. Say you have a hundred articles in AC. Each just has to get at least ten hits a day for you to earn $1.50 without you having to do anything. How much is that a month?
ummm, 1600w a day is a lot of writing. But then again, I guess it all depends on how good your writing is. I work as a financial journalist and if I had to write that much every day I would shoot myself!