So here I am celebrating my first month in Hubpages (hurray!). I don't even remember how I found out about Hubpages or how I got into it in the first place. But I remember when I saw the site and its contents, my fingers immediately itched to get on the keyboard and start typing the night (I signed up night time here) away. That was how drawn I was in Hubpages. The next thing I knew, I was signing up, filling up my profile, putting in my avatar, looking for my first topic and writing my first hub.

So to celebrate my monthsary (monthly-anniversary), I am writing my first hub for the 30 Hubs in 30 Days Hubchallenge. And this hub is all about my experience / milestones / reflections in Hubpages for my first month.

Okay, these milestones may not have anything to do with Hubpages' "Milestone". But they are for me achievements that I have never really gained before. So what are they?

Fans

As of the hour of this writing, I have 58 Fans who welcomed me in Hubpages and who take the time to read (I hope!) my hubs. It's not quite enough for the 100-Fan milestone but I'm not in a hurry to acquire so many fans either. So thank you very much to my 58 fans.

Equally important, I am a fan of almost 100 hubbers. These are the writers of those hubs that I liked reading because (1) they give useful information and (2) they're very good examples of talented writers, something that I hope to be in the future.

More importantly, I became a fan (and was fanned back) by fellow Filipino hubbers. It gives me a chance to connect with other people from my own country.

Hubs

I've written 17 hubs for the past 4 weeks. Some of these are practical tips, others are travel hubs (which describe places in my country) and some are just reflections of things I have seen and read. These 17 hubs are the most I have written in one month. I'm sure not all are quality hubs but they show my effort to improve my new craft. With this Hubchallenge, I hope I will write better quality hubs in the next month or so.

Comments

Right now I have 93 comments in all of my hubs combined. They are not just proof that people are reading my hubs, they also give me a lot of insights. Some are 'ranting' comments, others praise the contents, others show the opinions of their writers and others simply ask questions or more information but, all in all, they enrich my experience in this site.

These one are also milestones but they are more connected with the milestones set by Hubpages. I've included them here because, hey, these are my milestones too.

Hub Traffic

I already have more than 1,000 views on all my hubs combined. My highest scored hub (which I wrote more than 2 weeks ago) has over 600 views (500 views for the last 7 days). These are statistics that I thought I would not see during my first month here in Hubpages. I have seen several of my hubs with traffic rising, and some with traffic falling. At first, it was a rollercoaster ride (read - time to edit the hubs with falling traffic) but I soon realized I'm better off concentrating on writing more hubs (with hopefully better quality) than editing the old ones.

Hub Score / Over-all Score

This one I've really been obsessed with during my first month here. I've watched my hub scores go up and down, up and down. Same goes with my profile score. My highest score is 98 for one of my hubs while my lowest score is 62. I had a hub scored 33 once. I nearly deleted it, glad I didn't because its score is now in the 70s. My highest profile score was 99 (whoopee!) although it has already dropped to 96. Oh well, that's life.

Google Adsense

Prior to joining Hubpages, I once tried to get a Google Adsense account, unfortunately I was turned down. When I joined I applied once again and wonders of all wonders, I was accepted. And then another surprise came along the way. Thought it was going to take months (even years!) before I see any $$$$ in there. But wonders of all wonders. I just saw it hit $5.00. Not exactly $500 (long way to go yet) but hey, every dollar counts and the $5.00 will eventually hit $50 then $500. I'm an optimistic girl.

Hubpages, An International Community

People, People, People

What I love about Hubpages are the people that I have found in this site, most especially those that I have become friends with. When you join Hubpages, you meet people from a lot of countries, from all ages, and from all walks in life. Truly, Hubpages is an international community.

Update number 1: My earnings have gone up to more than $16! Too far yet for my first $100 pay-out but it's definitely something!

Update number 2: It's now my second month here in hubpages. I have published 32 hubs, have over 100 fans and best of all, I reached 100 hub score. The score may be fleeting, yes, but it shows that, along with the fans and the earnings, my effort is paying off.

Update number 3: My third month, I published 50 hubs and reached 10,000 views.