Reading through more of WebsiteMagazine.com, February 2011 Issue (page 12)…

By using Yahoo Contributor Network – also known as YCN, “anyone can publish just about anything with the push of a button – articles, videos and photos included – to Associated Content and Yahoo partner sites, and get paid for it.”

Question to you the reader, have you used Yahoo Contributor Network? What are the pros or cons to using this to help spread awareness and seek new audiences while earning revenue for yourself and promote your brand at the same time??

A few tips from WebsiteMagazine.com:

• Don’t skip details in your profile – when it asks for your websites – include your Facebook and Twitter Profile URLs (and any other relevant networks)
• Be very detailed about Personal Information and Area of Expertise
• The reason WebsiteMagazine.com is mentioning that you should be very detailed is because YCN will use this information to help in the process of determining what contributors get which assignments, including localized assignments such as community reports and business reviews
• Continuing to say that this helps to extend your community within YCN in and out – by linking your websites, blog and online profiles

Submitting Content to Yahoo Contributor Network

• Title
• Description
• Choose Tags
• Select Photos
• Provide Any Other Supporting Information (including links and citations)
• IMPORTANT TIP: Choose the best possible keywords and phrases to use in titles and descriptions, tags and in the body of the content itself.
• Use a keyword tool, such as Google’s External Keyword Tool or Market Samuari to select those keywords.
• NOTE from WebsiteMagazine.com: If the photo is not necessary consider skipping it – the process is time consuming and the photo needs to be selected from Yahoo’s public gallery or be a image of your own.
• The process then continues with “Editors at YCN will manually review your first three submissions for publication. Depending on the type of payment options selected, this process will take one to two weeks. After the first three articles have been published, content can then be published immediately – again, depending on the payment options selected.”
• The next process follows with: “After a producer’s first three articles are reviewed and published, a simple push of a button instantly publishes anything else.”
• Getting Paid by YCN: Through PayPal in two basic forms – up-front payments and performance payments. WebsiteMagazine.com continues with more details on the process: Up-front payments can take up to 10 days for review after content is submitted. Payments can vary, but an “offer” is made ranging from $2 to $15. Once the article is ACCEPTED, your content is published and eligible for performance payments.
• Let’s talk about Performance Payments: based on every 1,000 page views your content receives. To let you know – payments range, depending on which Yahoo property publishes the content – for example, Associated Content pays the highest at $1.50 per 1k page views and Yahoo Sports pays the lowest at $1.10. Each contributor has a “Clout” score that increases as more articles are published and more page views received. Increased Clout can result in higher payouts.
• What rights do I have? WebsiteMagazine.com continues with “when it comes to distribution, publishers also have options from which to choose. Exclusive, Non-Exclusive and Display-Only. Exclusive is Yahoo owns the rights and content cannot be previously published nor can it be republished by you in the future. Non-Exclusive means that the content producer is free to publish the content anywhere. Lastly, Display-Only content may have been previously published, can be republished by you and its completely under your control – meaning you can remove it from the Yahoo Network at any time.

Can YCN be a great choice for your local business / online entity?

Of course it can. Yahoo wants fresh, quality content just like Google and EzineArticles – so in this case if you can get links back to your site, new audience and get paid – then why not? Adding this option to my client’s article submission process!

Drop by after you have submitted your content and let me know how it goes. I will also keep you updated through future blog posts of my client’s outcomes.