I came her to write and get paid. While looking through the local online job Listings I stumbled across the Hubpages Ad for online writers and the rest is history. I had just been laid off from my job after the restaurant I manged went bankrupt, and was looking for something promising. Over the course of the previous nine months I had come to the conclusion that the only way to be truly prosperous was to go into business for myself. Anything else merely amounted to a kind of wage slavery in which your progress and level of success would always be determined by those above you and ultimately the owner of whatever business or company you worked for. For most of my life I had been locked into the belief that financial freedom was the province of a select few either born into it or somehow luckier then I was. I trudged away day after day in low paying jobs, that were never satisfying or fulfilling all the while believing that success would be measured by my ability to pay bills.

I have always enjoyed writing and have kept a journal of one sort or another for years. In the Marines it helped me to cope with the reality around me, in jail it helped me to escape it. Looking at the add on yahoo, I saw an opportunity to pursue that dream of mine and finally start towards that life I had begun to desire. I knew that it would be an uphill climb and in the beginning I could expect little financial reward for my efforts but I also knew that if I could just commit to it and keep at it that one day I would achieve my goal and have a career and business of my own.So like many of you I came to Hubpages to make money. To write about what interested me and to get paid for it.

Making Money On Hubpages

Am I making money on Hubpages? Actually yes I am. For the first several weeks I didn't make a single penny. Getting selected for the Hub Nuggets roundup helped tremendously as far as bringing traffic to my hubs but did little to bring me revenue. However it did open my eyes to some basic tools and methods that would. I will not go into them here only to say that Google ad-words is a priceless commodity and so are many of the more experienced hubbers on here that write about all the little tricks and details to use to build search engine friendly Hubs. If you are not reading Hubs from those who have made money on this site, like Darkside, or our very own Maddie, you are only hurting yourself.

Since I am here to make money, I committed myself to becoming a sponge and soaking up all the information I could find about optimizing my Hubs to generate search engine hits. Suffice to say there were some things about my own writing style and interests that needed tweaking as well, and required a fair amount of objective criticism and comment from other Hubbers. In the end the result is worth the effort. Beyond making money from this site it is my goal to publish books and be read to that end, I have to work on perfecting my skills and practice actually writing. For me the hardest part about writing has always been getting my thoughts arranged into a cohesive stream that flows and is easy to translate into words and articles.

It's Not About You, But Me

After spending a fun and drama filled few days in the trenches of the religious forums I have come to the conclusion that not all of us are here for the same reasons. While this may be obvious to everyone, the real question in my mind was why are some people on this site? What are they trying to accomplish? Looking at many of the loudest voices on the forums lately I have noticed a disturbing trait in the number of hubs they have published. While there are quite a few avatars floating around with low numbers I have realized some of them are merely alternates for established and prolific hubbers, but not all. It seems to me that quite a few people on the forums have come to Hubpages for the sole purpose of arguing away the hours and attacking anyone who does not agree with whatever their point of view may be.

At first I wondered who really has that kind of time, but then I understood something even more profound. None of it matters. Nothing anyone else says in the forums really matters. I'm not saying that their opinion means nothing and they as people don't matter. What I am saying though is why should we care? Why did you come here to Hubpages? I came to write and work on my career and finally to make money. I've been caught up in the circus a few times myself and it is easy to get carried away, but its also easy to walk away. I don't know why all of you are here and I shouldn't worry about it. All I or any of us need to do is remember why we came here and what we set out to do. So again I ask you so that you will ask yourself; Why are you on Hubpages? Is what you're doing right now moving you towards that goal or holding you back?

Time To Get Back On Track

For me personally its time to get back to writing and working on my career. I have immensely enjoyed my time on the forums. It has been both entertaining and educational. For one thing I have learned that God does not need me to fight for him one bit there's a long line of people willing to be martyred for his name. Secondly I've learned some people can't be reasoned with no matter what you say and more importantly don't want to be. Third no matter how pure your data and logic, mix in a little human emotion and the whole affair goes to pot at the speed of light. Finally I have learned that all is fair in love and war, and even the most intelligent will resort to name calling when the chips are down if goaded properly.

So its time for me to get back to writing Hubs. To all my friends in the forums I will miss you,but I've decided to make my points in my hubs, and welcome you all to comment and share but if your reply is longer then my hub then you will be deleted. I came here to write, to publish articles about what I believe in, in a factual and researched format. I came here to make money and practice my writing. This is in no way a denouncement of the forums or those who dwell there continuously, like I said this isn't about you, it's about me. I"m trying to get my own business going online and to build a client base and advertise my work through blogging and Hubs. That's why I am really here.