sockii's blog

I published this article as an opinion piece, this morning with the disclaimers below that it was solely published as my opinion. I've now had it "Editor Declined" by Y!CN - a first for me. Here was their email as to why:

Your submission, Working Out the Numbers, has been declined by the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

This content is in violation of our Submission Guidelines, which state the following: "Don't publish content that consists of feedback intended for the Yahoo! Contributor Network staff. It is not appropriate to publish content that criticizes or reviews our policies, staff members, or other contributors. Contact us with suggestions and/or complaints. You can use the Contributor Forum to discuss the Yahoo! Contributor Network with other contributors. But even in the Forum, attacks on other contributors are inappropriate. If you feel that someone has published an item that violates any of these guidelines, flag the content by clicking the "flag" icon (present on all Associated Content from Yahoo! pieces) – don't call out the person in public." Our Featured Contributors FAQ states: "Our Featured Contributors are expected to strictly abide by the Yahoo! Contributor Network Submission Guidelines, the style guide in their particular category, and all instructions from Yahoo! editors." Please note that due to these standards, submitting content that violates our Submission Guidelines could result in the suspension or revocation of your Featured Contributor status. We are happy to respond to your feedback via any of the appropriate channels of communication detailed above. You can also contact your Featured Contributors Program CM using the email address provided to you in your acceptance email. Thank you for your understanding and thank you in advance for abiding by all Submission Guidelines in the future.

I'm seriously tempted to just ask to no longer be an FC, period. If the following is so grossly critical of Y!CN that I cannot have the voice to speak it, then I no longer want to contribute to such a company. End of story.

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Working Out The Numbers
Or, Why I've Started Writing Considerably More for Demand Studios instead of Yahoo! Contributors Network

An introductory note: The following is purely my personal reflections on my own interests, objectives and needs as a writer. I'm not out to "bash" anyone who has a different point of view, but to simply explain why I've made the decisions I have of late in regards to my writing.

The Yahoo! Contributors Network - known when I first began here as simply Associated Content - was where I first dipped my toes into the waters of content writing for the web. Of course, I had my own journals and several websites on-line already - professional and hobby-oriented - but I'd never made it a goal to directly make money with on-line writing before. I had been a system administrator and written considerable content for a large website which had always struggled to make enough money to stay afloat through on-line advertising, therefore I wasn't keen to pursue a site where ad sharing would be my only source of writing income. I wanted - I needed - direct pay for my writing in some form or fashion to make the effort worthwhile. I wasn't thinking of this as a plan to make tens of thousands of dollars a year as frankly I had other part-time jobs already which were more critical to my livelihood. But something I could work on for a few hours every morning to help pay the monthly household bills? Hey, sign me up!

I very quickly got the writing "bug" on AC and enjoyed slowly building up my page views and monthly earnings, as meager as they were at first. I found trying to chase hot news stories and celebrity gossip wasn't for me as they never had been my interests. I concentrated on the subjects I loved the most: travel, food, crafting, local interest stories for Philadelphia, classic and alternative rock music. Over the months I worked hard to get into the old AC Featured Contributors programs and at one point was in four at once - at least until the Local FC program was killed.

I was becoming really pleased as each FC category I was in meant three upfront $10 assignments a month, and that was a nice little boost and incentive to keep writing for AC/Y!CN. I didn't feel as though I had to worry about chasing the page views as much, although they were slowly but steadily rising. By January 2011 I was closing in on my goal of having a 500 PVA (Page View Average) for my body of work.

I applied to Demand Studios around that time to start broadening my writing markets. I was thrilled when my application was accepted quickly, yet struggled with the format for some time. Even after mastering the basics of their writing guidelines, I found it difficult to find open subjects I could tackle. For $15 upfront - and no residuals - I couldn't justify wasting too much time researching obscure technical topics I knew little about.

Yet then everything started changing around Y!CN, at least for me. In early February 2011, Google enacted a major overhaul in their search rankings which massively targeted numerous so-called (or in their minds, at least) "content mill" domains - including Associated Content. Like many other Y!CN writers I saw my daily PVs take a nosedive as a result. Where I'd previously been averaging 400-500 PVs a day, with occasional spikes over 1,000, I was now down to 150-200 at best. Response from The Powers That Be at Y!CN were minimal on the topic, save eventually a blog post on the importance of original and quality content. Well, I'd been trying my best to provide original, quality content all along so this advice didn't really have much to say to me.

And just after what I like to call the "Googapocalypse," the old Associated Content Featured Contributor program was closed. A new Y!CN Featured Contributors program would soon begin accepting applications, but I was disheartened. I'd recently convinced a few friends and fellow writers to apply to the old program, and just a month or two into it they lost their "badges" and would have to re-apply. The benefits of the new program were nebulous with only one promised monthly assignment of $15.

I applied to several categories I had been a Featured Contributor in before, and so far have regained one FC title. Yes, a rejection I received in another stung, but already I was beginning to question where my future as an on-line content writer was going to lead me. Better titles about the topics I knew well were coming in more regularly at Demand Studios and I sat down to do a little thinking, and a little basic math.

While a $15 assignment at DS was a "one-time only" payment, with no residuals, that would be equivalent to a "display only/no upfront pay" Y!CN article needing to get 9,375 page views (at my current Clout 8 level, meaning I earned $1.60 per 1,000 page views). In truth, of my over 250 articles written for Y!CN in about a year? Only two articles had ever bettered that number in page views. Even those old $10 upfront Featured Contributor articles would need to get 3,125 page views in order to make that additional $5. And again, from my overall body of work, now I was only looking at four out of over 250 articles which had accomplished this page view goal.

All of a sudden my focus and writing direction became a lot clearer to me. While submitting for Demand Studios meant giving up more control of and rights to my writing, as well as the subject matter I'm writing about, from a financial point of view there was no question in my mind which was the better market for my work. If I could turn out at least two or three $15 articles a morning, several days a week - and with no limit on the number of $15 articles I'd be able to claim and submit in a month? I'd be looking at considerably more money sitting in my PayPal account on a regular basis.

If money wasn't at least a partial factor in why I write, sure, I'd probably continue to publish more here on Y!CN than elsewhere. I still enjoy the freedom of publishing allowed on Associated Content by Yahoo!, but I just don't know that my style and my passions really mesh well with what they wants for their now more heavily promoted sub-sites like omg!, Shine! and Your Wisdom. Maybe I never really was the right fit here to begin with, given my page view numbers rarely hit the levels most of the "Hot" writers for the site were able to achieve regularly. I'll wait and see what "opportunities" I do receive from my one new Featured Contributor program here before applying (or re-applying) to any of the others.

But in the meantime, I'm concentrating more on Demand with the objective of qualifying to write for more of their other properties beyond eHow. I've also been tremendously enjoying creating lenses for Squidoo, where the format is not just more flexible but I can also easily promote my artwork and other projects through my writing there.

Again, what I've written here are all just my opinions and the reasons why I've made the decisions I have of late. And also, why my friends and fans here on Y!CN will likely see less of me around these parts in the coming months, until or unless things change again. You never know. A few months ago I was writing about what a great experience Y!CN had been for me, and now I currently have much more mixed feelings on the subject. It certainly was a good experience in the past; in the present I am undecided.

I certainly would not discourage anyone from "sticking around" Y!CN if they're doing well writing here, enjoying it, or maybe looking in to writing for the site for the first time. But Y!CN is not the old Associated Content, and for some that's good, but maybe for others, not so good. A writer needs to find the market that best meets their objectives and goals, and what's the best fit for one author is not necessarily going to be the best fit for another. My only advice to writers is to not be afraid to experiment and explore - it's a big web out there, and there are many opportunities to put your talents to work.