It was a difficult time for me and my family financially. I had very little, if anything in my bank account. I could barely afford $2 worth of gas, let alone anything to feed someone in my family. I started looking over the net, trying to find something or someone to help me. I wanted a job online. The only thing I could contribute was my writing skills. I typed, "Earn money online" in the Google search box. Up came hundreds of links to hundreds of different sites. The one that caught my eye was called, "Associated Content" where I would become a content producer.

I clicked on the link. The screen flashed as the site was opening. The screen went totally blank for less than a minute as this site was uploading. Suddenly, the Associated Content front page popped up on my screen. I looked in the FAQ section, read all about this site, and learned that I could earn some money by simply submitting an article with 600 or so words. I still didn't know certain things. I would pick up on these things as time went by, but let me tell you, it was sure a difficult learning experience at first.

As I mastered all of the special features on AssociatedContent.com, I started to notice a few things. The one thing I noticed was how addictive it was to obtain an audience. The site calculates how many times someone has looked at your stuff. You can see it by clicking on the "My Content" section. I wanted more people to read my articles. I set out to find out how some people had already gained up to 1 million page views or should I say, 'hits' by the time I signed up. I looked over their stuff. None of it seems to be much different than my own work. But I kept trying. I looked in the "Forum" areas of this site, and read what advice other writers had given. Now after more than a year, I'd like to say that I'm an accomplished Associated Content Producer. I'm still reaching for that 1-million-hits goal. It seems like it's impossible, but I keep my chin up. My day will come. I will be listed among the most popular producers on that site, someday.

The one thing that still bothers me about my measly 100,000 page views is the fact that there are several writers for AssociatedContent.com with a million views who haven't written as many articles as I have. Truth be told, they're no better at writing than I am. Maybe they just have the right flashy titles for the right flashy subjects (cheat codes for certain video games). I will not lower myself to gain page views by posting cheat codes or any such nonsense. I want my work on AC, and my point of view taken seriously. I've worked too hard to degrade myself.

I look for the popular subjects. Then again, I can't write about something I don't know about. If the more popular subjects are on politics, I tend to avoid them completely. If the popular subject matter is about arts and crafts, I feel little too intimidated. One of the biggest pieces of advice I found on AssociatedContent.com was to write about things you can write about. And, I've already chosen those few subjects I like to write about; holidays, movies and the writing of other content producers. In doing so, I'd like to think that I've helped contribute to AC in one way or another.