Summary of AC Happy Hour 7.29

Associated Content broadcast a live session with Founder Luke Beatty and CEO Patrick Keane, and over 175 contributors attended.

If you missed the broadcast, or just want a refresher on the topics covered, here’s a brief summary of the leaders’ responses:

What are the topics that pay the most?
Home Improvement, Health and Wellness and Automotive categories tend to generate the strongest traffic, says Luke Beatty, but the goal for all Contributors should be to focus on specialization and write on something that you already know, vs. entering a field that you know nothing about. Don’t create duplicate content, and make it as unique as possible.

What about the News category?
Firsthand news accounts, interviews and special perspectives have more value than summaries of existing news articles. It’s important to focus on creating fresh and unique content, even for the News category.

Does AC plan to branch out internationally?
There is potential for the company to branch out internationally and delve into mobile distribution says Patrick Keane, but these are not AC’s priorities at this time.

What are AC’s immediate priorities?
AC plans to build its contributor base and improve the user experience.

What has been the high point of your career?
Luke Beatty answered this question. Making a people-powered company successful, and every organic success that AC has experienced has been a big positive for him.

Why have upfront payments dropped?
Payments have not dropped, but have remained consistent, says Luke Beatty. Things to consider: is there duplicate content already published on the web, and is it optimized? AC IS paying more, but the real money is made on the performance of the content. Have to remember that this is a marketplace, and there is a lot of competition out there. Distinguished and unique pays better and is what AC is looking for.

How is AC differentiating itself from competitors online and offline?

Weekly Roundup: Summer Diet Do’s and Don’ts

Is your daily diet helping you stay in shape this summer, or has eating healthy taken a backseat?

Here are a few pointers from AC contributors that might help you get your summer diet back on track:

Best Foods to Eat for a Summer Diet by Rebecca Broadway

Tasty and Simple Summer Diet Recipes by Patrece Snow

How to Grill Fruits and Vegetables by Cathy Miller

Top 10 Summer Diet Tips by Jason Cooley

Easy Summer Recipes to Keep You on a Healthy Summer Diet! by Eileen Koetter

Little Steps to a Great Summer Diet Plan by Devon Taylor

Great Summer Diet Lunch by C. Isgro

Seasonal Eating: Six Summer Superfoods by Lee Gibson

AC Announces the Community Guides

AC has announced the six Community Guides who are busy showing the newbies the ropes and welcoming new contributors to the community.  These guides will be working ‘behind the scenes’ to keep contributors publishing consistently, and pointing them in the right direction when they have questions.

Congratulations to Lyn Lomasi, Lolaness, Kathy Browning, KValentine, Sylvia Cochran and Carol Bengle Glibert for your newest appointments as  Community Guides!

Lyn Lomasi

Lyn, formerly known as Momie Tullottes, is a momtrepreneur who also serves as the Lifestyle Category Editor at AC. She lives in Houston, Texas and has been on AC since January 2007. She’s also one of hte very-active Contributors on Twitter, so be sure to follow here if you’re not already @MomieTullottes

Lolaness

Lolaness is an instructor who won the PMA award in 2006, and the Top 1000 award in 2008. She lives in Durango, Colorado and has been on AC since May 2005.  Racking up over 4.5 million pageviews, this is one Contributor you don’t want to miss!

Kathy Browning

Kathy is a freelance writer and publisher of The Cheap Gourmet cookbook. She’s currently working on her second book, and has been writing articles about restaurants, food, cooking, writing and product reviews on AC since April 2005. Kathy lives in sunny Florida.

KValentine

He’s the only male Community Guide on the team, and KValentine has been on AC since March 2008. He’s published over 160 articles about movies, photography, science fiction and current events. He lives in San Jose, California and was a Top 1000 award winner in 2008.

Sylvia Cochran

Sylvia has made a name for herself on AC with her edgy, non-partisan writing about current events and politics. She’s a freelance writer, German and English translator, and also scooped up the “Best of AC” 2008 Election Coverage Award. Sylvia brings us the latest news and views from the Greater Los Angeles area in California, and has been publishing with AC since April 2007.

Carol Bengle Gilbert

Carol Bengle Gilbert is one of the well-known AC veterans, and received the 2008 People’s Media Award for “Best Article”. She’s been publishing on AC since November 2006, and brings us a wealth of content in the travel, politics, education, parenting and history topics. Her web writing credits include the CBS/Late Night Show with David Letterman.