Content Mill?

So, those of you who have been writing for residuals have probably figured out that your earnings have taken a hit recently. It's all part of Google's attempts to weed out content mills from their search results. Though you might think that your articles are better than "content mill" quality, Google may not see them that way.

I actually was surprised by some of the sites that took the largest financial hits. Suite101, which I always looked at as being one of the better writing sites, has seen a page view and residual decline of nearly 40%. It's hard to convince writers to increase their articles with a down trend in earnings.

Oddly though, sites like eHow seem to be doing fine. eHow, to me, is the quintessential definition of a content mill. It's articles lack consistency and many of them are just poor. For some reason though, eHow earnings have not declined dramatically.

Since I am not a techie, I must admit that I don't quite understand why some sites or articles do better than others in this new Google environment. I'll have to wait to hear what the pros recommend. For now, I'm taking a bit of a writing break and focusing on my jewelry. Luckily, I have just also started a job teaching Zumba, so I have more money coming in.

For those who don't have that extra income, it may be time to regroup. Perhaps the next step would be to write fewer articles, but make those articles extremely well-researched and detailed. Again, I will keep my ear to the ground and listen to the pro's advice. One thing is for sure though, business as usual is over. It's time to change.

What are your thoughts on the new Google changes?

The Secret to Great Photography is to Take Enough Photos

Today, I was thinking about a photojournalism class I took in college, way back in the day when we used to use film in our cameras. Part of our requirements for that class was to take a roll of film a day. It didn't matter what we shot, as long as we used the entire roll of film and shot throughout the day.

The reason that this practice was stressed is because the true secret to great photography is taking enough photos to increase your odds of having a great one. Sure, you need to learn how to properly work your camera and how to manipulate your images with your shutter speed and f-stop settings, but great photographs are about capturing the moment. You can't do that while calculating your next shot in your head.

I think that online writers can also benefit from this philosophy. How many times do we online writers research techniques, chat in the forums and obsessively check our stats. Though it is important to know techniques and proper writing practices, too many writers spend too much time thinking about writing.

Instead of planning, just write. Write as many well-written articles as you can. Your writing skills will advance and you will increase your chances of writing an article that banks the big bucks. Instead of scouring the internet for trade secrets, write what you know, write it well and write it in as many articles as you can.

Sometimes we in the writing community just need more "do" than "think". This is not to discourage research and planning, but the more articles you publish, the greater your chances of hitting the residual earnings goldmine. So commit to writing at least one article a day and see where it takes you.

Broke, Busy and Bustin a Move with Bukisa

Well, as the title above indicates, I'm pretty broke right now. Sure, I'm paying the bills, but my goal is to increase my residual income, and it seems to be stagnating. So no time for moping around, I'll just work harder and evaluate my goals.

Originally, I was spending most of my time writing for Suite101. Though I'm still writing quite a bit for the site, my earnings seem to be standing still. Who knows if this will turn around in the short term, though I'm sure that the earnings will pick up over time as I write more content. That said, I need to put my eggs in a few different baskets. With that in mind, I have decided to pursue another 100 article challenge.

My next goal is to publish 100 articles on Bukisa and track their earnings. I primarily use Bukisa as a place to promote my articles for other sites. Their 200-word requirement makes writing articles a breeze, and I have seen some decent earnings for the minimal amount of work involved. I might as well track those earnings and see just how profitable Bukisa actually is.

I have already done this experiment with eHow articles, and it will be interesting to compare my earnings from eHow with the earnings from Bukisa. I'd like to get 100 articles completed within two months, but this is also a very hectic jewelry-making time for me, so we'll see how things go.

Anyway, feel free to try this experiment with me. I would love to see exactly how much one can actually benefit from the earnings on Bukisa. I'm excited to track the progress. Be looking soon for my 100th article announcement.

eHow's Writer Compensation Program is Over

I can't really say that I'm surprised that eHow decided to end their WCP. Though administrators continually told eHow members that nothing was changing, they announced this Monday that articles could no longer be published through the eHow publishing tool. Instead, all future articles must be written through Demand Studios.

Though I am a Demand Studios member, I am upset that eHow publishing tools are no longer available. Publishing with Demand Studios can be so much more arduous due to the inconsistent editors and the time it takes to find a title. Ofcourse you can create your own assignment, but it is still not as simple as eHow.

I also think that the closing of the WCP will only logically lead to mass article sweeps. It only makes sense that Demand Media would want to flush out old content in favor of flat fee articles that would make them more money over time. Because of this, I strongly encourage all eHow writers to back up their articles as soon as possible. If the articles get removed, you can post them to AC or Bukisa.

Anyway, I'm hoping that the transition to the Demand Studios publishing model for eHow content will be relatively simple. I guess only time will tell. I do know that I will continue to diversify my content over a number of sites to protect myself from any future sweeps or problems.

How do you feel about eHow's decision to drop the WCP?

Why am I Not Writing More for Bukisa?

So I just realized that I have only two active articles on Bukisa. To be honest, I'm not really sure why I haven't written more articles for the site.

Though Bukisa doesn't seem to show a great PPM (pay per 1000 views), it does provide a great venue for writing many articles in a short amount of time and could turn out to be another decent money-maker.

Bukisa articles need only to be 250 words long and can be written on any topic. Like eHow, Bukisa's articles are simple to write and anyone can crank out quite a bit of content in a short amount of time. Though it would be tough to make decent money on Bukisa alone, it could help to add to my income from my other residual sites.

For this reason, I am going to try to increase my Bukisa articles over the next couple of months. I'm dedicating one day of the week solely to my writing and the rest will be primarily focused on jewelry. Hopefully by diversifying the sites I use, I will be able to make a more steady stream of monthly income.

My ultimate goal is to pay my mortgage solely from residual income. This will take pressure off of my jewelry business and will help when I have lean financial months. I'll try to keep everyone posted on my Bukisa experience. Hopefully I will have some good news to post.

Be Cautious When Writing for eHow

Lately eHow has been going through a number of changes. In an attempt to clean up their site, they have been deleting many contributor's articles.

This wouldn't be that big of a deal, except that it seems that some articles are being deleted for reasons that make little sense, if any.

For instance, an article was deleted for being spam. The only problem was that the article was one that was suggested and approved by eHow staffers. How could it be spam if eHow suggested it?

Some eHow members are also suggesting that eHow is replacing their articles with Demand Studio articles. Demand Studios is eHow's parent company. At Demand Studios, writers get paid a flat fee of $5-$15 to write articles. These articles then get used on sites like eHow to earn residuals for the company. By deleting member articles and replacing them with Demand Studio articles, eHow would be able to make more money in the long run. So it seems to make financial sense for eHow to stock the website with as many Demand Studio articles as possible.

The positive aspects of eHow are that articles are extremely easy and quick to write. However, you have little control over your article once it is published. They can delete it without notice. For this reason, make sure to back up all articles.

Here are the problems I personally have with eHow:

1. Lack of Transparency: It's hard to know eHow's reasoning for many of their decisions. It is also extremely difficult to get answers to questions.
2. No Stability: It seems that things are changing monthly at eHow and a recommended article one day could be deleted the next for being spam.
3. No Control: eHow has dropped memberships with little explanation and I personally don't fully trust that they wouldn't reuse deleted articles for their own financial gain.

Here are the positives to eHow:

1. A place to reach a broad audience.
2. Extremely easy articles to write.

So basically, if you are considering writing for eHow, I would do so with extreme caution. For now, I will not be writing any additional articles for them, but I am happy with keeping the articles I have up and running.

Creating, Creating, Creating. . . Making Money????

Lately I have been trying to create both jewelry and freelance articles in an attempt to eventually make a living working from home. Notice that I used the word eventually. Though I am seeing modest returns for my hard work, I am by no means even close to paying a mortgage with my writing or jewelry. It would be easy to get disillusioned and give up, but I am actually pretty optimistic. Why?

Knowing What I Don't Want to Do
Well, over the last few years, I was working at a dependable job, but I hated it. My stress level was through the roof and I lacked sleep, exercise and sanity. My pay and benefits were great, but every day on my way to work, I would imagine what it would be like to just keep on driving and not go in. There were some aspects of my job I enjoyed, but not enough to make the stress and fatigue worthwhile.

Trying Something New

So now that I am working from home, there are other stresses, such as making enough money and staying on task, but I am thoroughly enjoying directing my own path in my career. The amount of work I do is directly tied to my earnings and there is endless potential for growth. I can also express myself creatively with few limitations. So far, the experience has been invigorating. In fact, I feel like I've been awakened from a deep sleep. So how do I get this new direction in my life to sustain my financial needs?

Laying the Groundwork

First, I know I must lay the groundwork by amassing a large cache of online articles on the top-paying residual sites. I am going to avoid upfront pay for as long as I can because the residual sites will allow me to establish long-term financial growth. I find that the best site for financial growth is Suite 101, followed by eHow. I am going to focus my energies on those two sites to produce a future of substantial residual earnings.

Second, I am going to focus on making high-quality and affordable jewelry and promoting that jewelry online and locally. I am going to look into wholesale opportunities for some of my pieces. I am also going to apply to shows to reach new audiences with my work. By establishing a client base, I can then start to make more sales and reach more people through word of mouth recommendations.

Staying Vigilant and Putting in the Hours

Finally, I have to look at my writing and jewelry as a full-time job. I have to put in the same amount of hours, if not more to make my dream a reality. I can't let up in a month, two months or a year if I want to make it in the residual writing or jewelry business. Luckily, I am fully dedicated to working as hard as I can to make this happen. Keep your fingers crossed for me though, because I will need a lot of luck too!

Splitting Time Between Writing and Jewelry

Recently, I have been working on starting an online jewelry business. I plan to have my Etsy shop open at the end of the month, and I want to have at least 20 quality items ready to sell. This means that my freelance writing is taking a bit of a back seat. Currently, I am only writing articles for Suite 101 to make sure that I keep my minimum requirements for the month.

By shifting my priorities this week, I have really examined what is working for me online and what is just a waste of time. This examination has led me to the following conclusions:

1. Writing for upfront pay doesn't make much sense unless you desperately need the money.

2. For me, eHow and Suite 101 are the most relevant money-making sites.

3. Posting large amounts of affiliate ads doesn't result in much money. In short, post some but don't waste time posting a ton of links.

4. Social networking is good promotion, but don't spend too much time chatting with online friends.

5. Setting minimum goals and tracking earnings helps to understand how to make more money online overall.

As an online freelance writer, your time is incredibly valuable and must be used effectively to maximize your earnings. For me, the majority of my time will be spent writing residual articles for legitimate sites that produce predictable and steady monthly residuals. I believe that publishing trumps promoting, posting ads and social networking.

100 Articles on eHow! Join Me!

I finally made it to the 100 article milestone on eHow! I was inspired by a posting by fellow freelance writer, Felicia, in which she wrote 100 articles and tracked their progress over the long term. In the same fashion, I intend to track the earnings of my 100 to see how they progress. I may go on to write more articles, but I will just track the earnings of the first 100.

Surprisingly, 100 articles didn't take that long to amass. I found little ways to be more productive with the process as I was going. If you are a fellow SEO writer, I hope that you will join me in trying this experiment yourself. It was actually quite a bit of fun and I'm extremely curious to see how my earnings add up. I will be adding earnings info to this posting at the end of each month for a year.

• Before Aug 17* - 25.22
• Aug 2009 - 27.21
  
• Sept 2009 -33.48
• Oct 2009 - 31.46
• Nov 2009 - 19.87**
• Dec 2009 - 18.09
• Jan 2010 - 21.12
• Feb 2010 - 19.52
• Mar 2010 - 25.97
• April 2010 - 21.96
• May 2010 - 28.48
• June 2010 - 23.34
  

*100th article published on Aug 17th, First article written in April
**Due to eHow's November article sweep, I lost 6 articles, dropping me to 94 total
Total: 296.23

Make $5000 a Month Freelancing

Okay, maybe $5000 a month is shooting for the stars, but it is possible. This week Suite101 sent out a letter to announce that a member made $5000 in residuals over a one month period. As a struggling freelancer, this news is incredibly encouraging. Though I realize that I probably won't be anywhere near this number for a long time, it is great to keep in mind that I could possibly make this much in the future. I would be happy with half of this amount, but I won't be able to get there without consistently adding articles to residual sites.

I think that often times it's easy to start strong as an SEO writer and then fizzle out, but I'm going to focus on frequently adding content to my online sites so that I can one day get to that $5000 mark. If you want to give it a go as well, click on the Suite101 or Bukisa widgets on the side of this blog to join and start writing for residuals.

Be the Tortoise When Writing for Residual Income

Though I have not been writing for residual income for long, I have seen the potential for making money long-term with seo writing. For instance, I have seen my E-how monthly income rise by $5 a month since I started writing. Though this meager amount is nothing to get excited about now, it shows that I can build my residual income over the long run. So in short, slow and steady wins the race and it pays to be the tortoise rather than the hare.

That said, I think it is important to write as many articles as you can when you are starting out. I look at it like banking. The more money you are able to place in savings when you are younger, the more money you will be able to earn through interest. I see the residual writing game in much the same light. Compiling a large collection of articles on many sites early in the game, will help you see your residuals grow more in the long term.

Ofcourse, like any good savings plan, regular deposits are a must. Once you have reached an initial goal of 50-100 articles on any site, start a new minimum goal for each site. You could require yourself to write at least one article a week, or two a month. As long as you are contributing regularly, you can see steady residual growth.

Staying with the savings and banking analogy, make sure to also diversify your deposits. Bank articles in many different residual sites to see money from each. Each site will have its own positives and negatives. Having articles in many online communities and sites will help you establish your online presence and bring in more revenue. Some online residual sites to consider include ehow, bukisa, associated content, suite101 and hub pages. Any of these sites, with the exception of associated content, can be accessed by clicking on the links on the side bar of this page.

Remember that slow and steady wins the race. If you stick with it, you will see returns and growth. Good Luck!

Diversify Without Spreading Yourself Too Thin

Online freelance writers or SEO writers can easily find themselves spread thin trying to write for the many residual and up-front payment sites available. Freelance writing is as much about being a multitasker and time manager as it is about being a skilled writer and researcher. So how do you know where and how to spend your time?

Originally, I thought that I would spend most of my time writing for up-front payment sites like DemandStudios because it seemed like I could make the most money from those sites. After I thought about it though, I realized that they couldn't pay me what they were offering for my articles if they weren't making money off of them. That's when I realized that writing for residual pay had the most potential for long-term money making. That's not to say that I didn't still write an occasional up-front payment article. It's always nice to have immediate money. I just figured that I wasn't going to spend much more time with up-front payment sites than I needed to.

So, I am currently trying to add as much quality content as I can to two residual sites: E-how and Suite101. I think that these two sites have the greatest money-making potential. Suite101 even offers a 10% bonus once you reach 50 articles. I am also slowly sprinkling in articles to sites like Bukisa and Associated Content. I am working hard at producing high-quality articles with optimized keyword usage. By honing the majority of my focus on two specific sites, I am able to be more productive and feel less like I am spreading myself thin.

Am I The Only One Confused By Helium?

So I am trying out Helium for the first time. I have heard very little about it and I'm blindly feeling my way through the site.

Initially it sounded pretty great because you supposedly get up-front payments and residuals on your articles. In fact, I was offered a payment of $5 for my first article.

I guess my problem is that their site is difficult to navigate and I'm taking a while to fully understand what I need to do. For instance, I wrote my first article, but I don't know where to check to know if I was paid the $5. Also, they require writers to not only write a certain amount in a given time, but also to rate a certain amount of articles in a given time. I've never worked for a site that required writers to make ratings. I guess it makes sense, but I am still confused.
I just wish there was a simpler way to check what I needed to do.

Now for what I do like about Helium. The site allows you to write about topics about which other writers are posting articles. If you are reading an article based on a writing prompt, you can click on a little pencil logo and write an article based on the same prompt.

All in all, I still think it's a little early for me to sum up my overall experience with Helium, but I hope that my confusion lessons as I continue to use the site. What are your thoughts about Helium? I would love to hear how others are using the site.

Making the Most of a Layoff

As many of you out there, I have been hit hard by the recession. I thought that I was one of the lucky few who had a job that was recession proof. As a teacher, I thought that I would certainly have a job next year. So when I was called into the principal's office and told that I was being let go due to financial and staffing issues, I was shocked. It turns out even public education has been hit hard by the recent economic downturn.

So, after allowing myself to be shell-shocked for a couple days, I decided to devise a plan of action that would allow me to make money even if I couldn't find another teaching job. I earned my first degree in journalism and I remembered my professors talking about freelance writing. I thought that I might as well give it a try. Little did I know that the Internet had made freelance writing extremely convenient and endlessly profitable.

I did a couple of searches for freelance writing sites and read a few blogs about freelance writing on the Internet. I started with a website called Ehow.com. Ehow allows writers to post articles about how to do just about anything. The articles earn residuals, that is to say that they earn money based on how many people read the articles and find them useful. The more articles you write, the more money you earn, and Ehow articles continue to make money as long as they are posted online.

I eventually went on to find more residual-based sites such as Bukisa and Suite101. These sites allow you to write about whatever you want. Writers earn more at Bukisa when they build their network by asking friends to sign up. Suite101 also pays residuals and a bonus of 10% once you publish 50 articles. The site provides excellent editor advice as well. By writing for these different sites, I am able to improve my skills and enhance my monthly earnings.

I also found some sites that pay up-front payments for articles. Demand Studios pays $15 for every article accepted. They also have a stringent editing process and many times they will ask for a rewrite of your article. If you have strong writing skills though, you will be able to make fairly decent money with Demand Studios. Demand Studios also provides a residual program but, in my opinion, I don't think you make as much money with residuals on Demand Studios as with other sites like Ehow. I also just signed up for Helium, but I haven't written any articles yet. I will report back once I see how that site works.

Anyway, I'm also starting this blog to let others know about online freelance writing. I will try to keep you posted of my trials and successes. If you are a freelance writer, I would love to hear your stories too.