How HubPages fits into my life: "I was divorced in February [2010] after 30 years of marriage and being a stay at home mom (SAHM). HubPages is about 1/3 of my income at the moment. It allows me to stay home with my kids while still being able to support them. I like watching my AdSense earnings increase monthly. If it continues to increase at the same rate over the next year as it has over the past two years, I will be able to cut back on my workload and spend more time just being a mom."

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "It takes me about 2 hours to research, write and publish a Hub, so with the more than $41,000 I've earned so far, that comes to just shy of $30 per hour."

Passive earning even when not writing Hubs: "Once in awhile I get a busy month and take a month off. My earnings continue to be average."

"HubPages gave me the experience I needed to work with SEO and keywords until I became comfortable with them. I did the work but HubPages gave me the venue. I have had a book published and can make my living as a writer. Not many people are able to do that."

"It does take patience and persistence but all good things do."

Marye's traffic has steadily grown over time. She now enjoys over 12,000 Hub views per day and about $3,800 in revenue per month..

Visit Marye Audet's profile

Writing and earning on HubPages: "Everyone wants to know about the money that you can earn with HubPages. Over the past three years I've written more than 1,000 hubs and earn about $1,500 per month in passive income from those Hubs. When I started writing on HubPages three years ago, I really didn't have high expectations. I loved the site but had tried various article and blog sites in the past with only mixed success. Three years later I have abandoned many of those other sites but have stuck with HubPages because it provides me with a lot of great benefits."

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "I spend approximately 10 hours per week on writing and promoting my hubs which averages out to about $30 per hour for my part-time work."

Passive earning even when not writing Hubs: "My passive income has steadily increased even during times when I took a month or two off from writing."

Beyond the earnings: "I am able to write about topics that truly interest me. I receive comments and feedback that result in interesting and rewarding conversation around my topics of interest. I also greatly enjoy participating in the contests that HubPages has been offering periodically and that I find it to be a terrific way to add some unexpected money to my steady passive income earnings."

"I have been able to use my hubs as a portfolio of samples to gain other lucrative writing work around the web."

"The HubPages community (through comments, fan mail, forum posts, etc.) is a very strong and positive community. I find it enjoyable to contribute to this community."

Kathryn's sustained writing on HubPages has paid off handsomely—she earns $1,500 every month, even when she takes a break from writing..

Visit Kathryn Vercillo's profile

Time before first AdSense payout: "5 months, I think. Since then, it's grown every month except for January."

What earnings are spent on: "With the $1,000 I won in the Eat, Drink and Be Hubbalicious contest, I bought one daughter a washer and another daughter a dryer. I've mostly used my HP earnings for extras, like for fun trips and stuff for the grandkids."

Passive earning even when not writing Hubs: "I'm not consistent. I write fast, so when I feel like it, I might write several Hubs in the same day. Then I might go weeks without writing on HubPages at all. This is what I love about HubPages - I can take a vacation and still earn!"

Beyond the earnings: "I've made some great friends on HubPages. I've found Hubbers to be supportive and caring."

"My greatest forms of success on HubPages, in my opinion, are the writing jobs I've landed from people who read my hubs. Several have contacted me via my profile page and hired me to write for them. They're keeping me very busy! Also, it's nice when a publisher is impressed with an article and asks permission to publish it in a magazine or other periodical. I've granted such permission several times in exchange for a link to my profile page."

"I love writing, and it comes easy for me. I have a lot of hubs, and I'm pretty happy with my results, especially since many of my hubs were written just for fun and not for making money."

Persistence pays off! Habee's steady publishing has resulted in climbing traffic and monthly revenue..

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What HubPages earnings have enabled: "My earnings from HubPages have always gone to good use. Our family went on a vacation to Lloret de Mar [with my HubPages earnings] and in March 2011, my car will have been paid for, thanks to HubPages. After my car payments each month, what money I have left over is split 4 ways to buy my children little treats."

Passive earning even when not writing Hubs: "Because of work commitments, the birth of our 4th child in July this year, and damaged tendons in my hand and wrist, I have not been able to write much or be as active on HubPages as I would have liked to be this year. Although I have been largely absent from the site, my earnings have continued to come in at around $1,200 every month."

Beyond the earnings: "I have met a lot of good people through HubPages and made a few friends who are always on hand to offer a shoulder or some friendly advice when you need it. I write for the love of writing rather than for financial gain, so the biggest reward for myself is seeing my latest Hub being read and commented on."

"I have learned a lot of things since I first joined HubPages 4 years ago but the most important thing that I have learned is to write about things that you know a lot about and love. When you do that, it shows in your writing and the number of visitors that your page receives can still make it a high-earning Hub. For example, my Hub World War 1 - Trench Warfare gets around 13,000 visitors a month and earns me around $35 every month."

Jimmy's persistence at writing about what he knows about and loves has paid off, in the form of growing numbers of readers and monthly earnings..

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Earning history on HubPages: "I joined the site in January 2008 and it probably took about 8 months before my first AdSense payout. I added a few blogs to my AdSense account, as well. I have been regularly getting Google checks since late 2008, and my HubPages AdSense revenue has grown from about $100 a month in early 2009 to around $950 a month in late 2011. If I had to take a stab in the dark, I'd say that I've probably made in the neighborhood of $20,000. That doesn't count a few prizes in HubPages contests, either!"

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "Overall, I've spent probably about 15 hours per month at HubPages, so about 500 hours total since I started in January 2008. With the $20,000 I've earned so far, not including prize winnings, that would come to an equivalent wage of about $29 per hour. That includes visiting the site each day to browse new Hubs, find new people to follow, and respond to comments."

Earnings when taking a break from writing Hubs: "Even when I was busy building my blogs in 2008, I continued to see revenue from my existing hubs climb. That is probably the biggest difference for me between blogging and hubbing. My Hubs are evergreen and continue to get visitors and clicks. Each blog post is more of a "flash in the pan." Visitors come for a few days, or a few months if I am lucky, but you have to continually feed the blog with fresh material. I have a few hubs that regularly receive a healthy number of visitors, and these were some of the very first Hubs I published!"

Interesting things you've been able to buy with your earnings: "My earnings at HubPages are primarily a "reserve fund" for the family. We have four children, all of whom are busy in sports. I've used earnings on HubPages to pay for gymnastics meets, traveling for Little League state tournaments, and dinners out. When spending the money on myself (I rarely do!), I've purchased nice running shoes and other gear."

Rewards beyond earning: "HubPages has provided me with much more than supplemental income. I've made several great online friends and been lucky enough to meet several hubbers in person. My online writing has come a long way since the earliest Hubs. Through feedback and trial and error, I've learned how to create SEO-optimized articles using paying keywords. But I also return time and time again to HubPages to share parenting experiences, discuss how to manage diabetes (I live with Type 1), write about my running, or to simply create a hub using my personal photographs. I love participating in the HubPages contests, too. The short deadlines push me to be a more efficient, better writer."

"Since I joined HubPages in 2008, I've taken a leave of absence from my law practice. I'm able to stay at home with my family, while still enjoying the creative, professional outlet that online publishing offers. HubPages provides a consistent, fairly predictable income. I enjoy writing about what I know and reading/responding to thoughtful comments. Doing what I love, and having the flexibility to be with my kids - that is success to me!"

Unlike her blogs, which have required constant effort to maintain traffic levels, stephhicks68's HubPages traffic—and earnings—have snowballed with time..

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Earning history on HubPages: "It took exactly one year before my first check from AdSense. Now I earn over $600 every month. Honestly, my Hubbing has helped defray a lot of my college tuition costs!"

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "I have actually spent a lot of time writing Hubs. I would say since I have more than 400 Hubs, I probably spent a good 30 minutes-1 hour on each, so maybe 200 hours not including the time I take to visit other Hubs (which I think helps with my earnings!) That works out to about $30-40 per hour."

Rewards beyond earning: "My experience with HubPages has been very valuable. It's great to read comments from people who understand where I come from or appreciate my work. I've gotten a lot of e-mails from people who have read my Hubs that mean a lot to me. For instance, my favorite holiday is Christmas, so I wrote a Hub about why I love it. Soon after, I got an e-mail from a soldier fighting for our country overseas during the holiday, and he said that reading my Hub made him feel better even though he was away from his family. That's still my favorite thing I've ever gotten from being a part of HubPages."

It took a year before glassvisage received her first $100 from AdSense, but now she earns about $650 every month..

Visit glassvisage's profile

Earning history on HubPages: "I didn’t get rich quick using HubPages. I have put in hours upon hours related to HubPages. Being successful takes a willingness to learn and put in hard time. I have averaged about an hour and a half a day on HubPages reading, commenting, and, of course, writing. If you add that time over the course of 21 months, I have made about $3.20 per hour so far. This sounds horrible now, but I can expect to work less—or not at all—and still make more than $1200.00 a month."

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "In the recent couple months I have only worked about 30 minutes a day and made about $1,000.00, so that figures to about $33.00 an hour. That’s the highest rate I’ve ever been paid in my life."

Rewards beyond earning: "Even though I like making money on HubPages, there are other benefits of writing here. I have learned to write more effective, interesting, and useful content. I also use HubPages as a creative outlet, and the flexibility allows me to do that. I even think writing Hubs has improved my ability to write songs, another passion of mine."

"I have made meaningful connections with other Hubbers. Most importantly, I get to feel satisfied with a sense of accomplishment. All of these benefits are direct results of my HubPages involvement. HubPages is a place to grow and mature."

It took a while for his Hubs to gain traction, but now Blake's Hubs earn him thousands of readers every day, and a consistent almost $1300 per month in passive income..

Visit Blake Flannery's profile

Earning history on HubPages: "It took me 4 months to get my first AdSense check. My average monthly income from HubPages is around $850: 45% Amazon, 45% HubPages Earnings Program & 10% Adsense."

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "As time has gone on it’s become more difficult to answer this question because of the long term earning opportunities a Hub has. The longer a Hub is getting good traffic the higher the hourly rate is. For instance, I’ve spent a total of around 15 hours on one of my Hubs and it has earned in excess of $1000 over 2 years. That makes the hourly rate for that Hub over $60. Of course not all of my Hubs do so well!"

Interesting things you've been able to buy with your earnings: "I gave up working for an employer in October 2009 to focus on working online, so my HubPages earnings don't go towards interesting things - they go towards essential things! I pay all my household bills and day-to-day expenses with my HubPages earnings."

Rewards beyond earning: "I think the biggest thing for me has been learning from other more experienced Hubbers about earning online (and having the opportunity to collaborate with them at times as well). HubPages is the one place on the internet where I know my questions will be answered honestly and advice will be given freely without any sales pitch! The community here is truly fantastic and people are always ready to help out, so I am totally indebted to all those who have shared their wealth of knowledge with me. Another invaluable reward has been the opportunity to create a portfolio on HubPages, which has enabled me to get a constant flow of freelance writing work."

"Stumbling on to HubPages has definitely been one of the most fortuitous things that has ever happened to me. Firstly, I'd always wanted to try my hand at writing and HubPages has given me the perfect platform to do that. I get to practice different writing styles and my confidence in my writing ability has increased a lot. It has also allowed me to reach for some long term goals which are threefold. To earn enough online to allow my husband to retire, to go travelling long term and to write my first novel. All of these are now well within my grasp."

Susana's persistent commitment to publishing Hubs on HubPages has paid off in the form of rapidly-growing daily traffic and revenue..

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Earning history on HubPages: "A lot changed at HubPages in 2011 with the introduction of Google's Panda update, and although my earnings fluctuated, statistics show that I only had three months where my totals fell back to 2010 levels during the time span from late February (Panda debut) to July (subdomain debut): overall my earnings were higher than the same months in 2010 the rest of that time. Despite all the turbulence, I've seen a 20% increase in earnings for 2011, and that's with the last quarter still to go..."

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "No idea. Since I write for multiple sites as well as doing other writing projects, I often create content when struck in the spur of the moment and the edges of everything overlap or blur together. I didn't have a day job when I started with HubPages, and it was my goal to get to the point where I didn't have to do anything specific for any set number of hours any day and to not have to go back to driving a desk for someone else. I've now been lucky enough to be doing "whatever" for about five years."

Earnings when taking a break from writing Hubs: "I've got the freedom to work when I wish which was my main goal of going to work for myself. A few years ago, I wanted to be able to take the time to travel and participate in some intentional communities several times per year. Having web content that works whether I'm home or not is how I pull that off. In April 2010 I got an iPad, which not only gave me another topic to write Hubs about, it allows me to actually keep an eye on things while I'm on the road. Until this past year, when I traveled, my Hubs were left to mind themselves, which they really do admirably. I think a lot of people are really scared to let their Hubs mind themselves, but I had no choice until recently, and quite frankly, my Hubs frequently grow in traffic and earnings with zero effort on my part. I had a stunning run of travel not too long ago. I was on the road every other month from Oct 2008 through October 2009. And I don't think anyone in the HubPages community even realized I was gone all that much. No matter where I was, the rent was still being covered back home."

Rewards beyond earning: "Writing at HubPages taught me more about monetizing the content writing skills I'd learned at sites I'd written for previously. Having a variety of sites has been interesting for comparing stats and seeing how different niches of the same topic perform. Curiously, the one facet of human behavior that has really been hammered home from writing online content is that people don't read...lol... Seriously, a lot of Hub visitors want personal attention for their questions but don't want to put forth any effort to get their answers. It's a very strange paradox, like they think the stranger they are asking is a mind reader."

Relache's focus on consistent, high-quality Hubs has paid impressive dividends over the years in terms of traffic and revenue, especially during the runup to the holiday season..

Visit relache's profile

Earnings history on HubPages: "It took me 8 months to get my first AdSense payout. Now HubPages pays my mortgage."

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "I probably spend about 20 hours a month working on hubs and answering comments. I've been with HubPages for about 50 months, but took a break for several months while I was too busy with other work a couple of years ago. I figure it works out to my earning about $20 an hour for the work I've put in so far. If I just took my hourly wage for the last year's work it would be much higher, for the last half year or so it's probably like $40 an hour. Of course, my hourly wage for the first 6 months was only pennies an hour! Over the last year or so I've been quite busy with other projects and have had very little time to write Hubs; so the income I am making from the site now is based on very little current year work - maybe an average of a couple of hours work per month - which is nice. That works out to over $50/hour over the last year."

Beyond the earnings: "It's been fun connecting with people who share similar enthusiasms over the years. I am now in regular correspondence with a number of new friends who have similar passions for BBQ'n or charcuterie, for example."

"I've always really appreciated HubPages for its effectiveness in getting traffic to my articles. I'm not much into SEO or keywords or any of that, preferring to spend my time here just writing articles about what I enjoy. I am sure my disinterest in keywords and such costs me money, but the HubPages platform seems to get my writing enough traffic that I can still earn reasonably well without having to do the work that I don't much enjoy. I'm glad to be writing about what I love doing, and I'm really glad to find out that you can make money here, even without a mercenary focus on big money topics. Writing about food is interesting to me and that's what kept me at it during the first long while when I wasn't making much."

While John has been fairly consistent about publishing Hubs, his traffic and earnings have swelled. Now he earns about $1300 per month on the food and recipe Hubs he's published..

Visit John D Lee's profile

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "[I spend] an hour a Hub, [so] about 600 hours, plus a couple of hours a month on comments and other stuff, say 100, so... around $11/hour - not a lot but not bad for writing! And, at this point my monthly hours are only about 15-20, so my hourly rate is more like $25-35, which is pretty good."

Passive earning even when not writing Hubs: "I have taken a couple of breaks for a month at a time when other work got heavy and I didn't notice any decrease in passive income. The fun part is that after the boost in October and November, the average always seems to go up."

"I don't have the patience for all the linking and weird word placement, which is why I appreciate all the behind the scenes technology at HubPages. At heart, I'm a writer. The fact that I can publish Hubs and actually make money is amazing to me. Thanks, HubPages!"

Beyond the earnings: "I like the feedback from readers. I've also had a couple of other freelance writing opportunities from clients who saw my work on HubPages. I've even had moms at my kids' school say they Googled something and there I was!"

It took well over a year for Lela's traffic to take off, but patience has served her well—to the tune of $900 per month..

Visit Lela Davidson's profile

Earning history on HubPages: "I have done very well financially with HubPages and have seen my income from HubPages rise steadily since I started. While I knew I had been doing well, I was surprised when I checked my tax and bank records to find that I have earned more than $25,000 in additional income since September of 2006 from my writing on HubPages."

Time writing Hubs and "equivalent wage": "When I first began I was probably spending about an hour and a half per Hub and averaged about three hours per day, seven days per week, writing and publishing Hubs as well as responding to comments on my Hubs and commenting on Hubs by other Hubbers. I now spend less time writing per month on average my income per month has increased dramatically. This month I have written and published one Hub and am working on a second one which means that by the end of the month I will have spent between eight and ten hours working on HubPages. Based upon the approximately $30 per day that I have been averaging this month to date I expect to make at least $900 from Google AdSense this month which, with my projected 10 hours of work, comes to $90 per hour. Not bad for a part-time, name your own hours, job. "

Interesting things you've been able to buy with your earnings: "HubPages income has been making up the difference between what we could realistically afford and the total cost of Alaskan, Caribbean and Mediterranean cruise vacations we've taken."

"I would also like to take advantage of the opportunity to retire early and HubPages is not only providing the opportunity for a nice additional retirement income stream it is also providing funds now to both invest for retirement as well as helping to accelerate the pre-payment of some bills."

Rewards beyond earning: "Writing for HubPages has also been a great learning experience. I have learned much from Hubs by others that I have read. I have also learned much from the research I have done for my articles both about the topics I have written about as well as other, often unrelated, topics I have stumbled across while doing that research. My writing has broadened as I have branched out into new areas that I never would have imagined before joining HubPages."

"Finally, the experience of writing for HubPages has taught me a lot about publishing and marketing on the Internet. This knowledge, plus the income stream generated by my Hubs, has enabled me to get together with my sons and brother to plan a publishing venture in which we hope to publish the journal my father wrote during World War II as well as other materials he wrote and saved during that period while serving in the Army in the Pacific during that war." Read Chuck's Hub on his reflections on his success on HubPages

Chuck's steadily-growing traffic has enabled nicer vacations, quick paying off of bills, and more money for retirement..

Visit Chuck's profile

Earnings history on HubPages:"I get a bump in revenue every year around October, and the average for the next year ends up being higher after the bump. During 2010, the average was about $250 from AdSense. This year, the bump around October was much bigger than ever before, so I’m curious to see if the average will remain high like it has in the past."

"I don’t make a lot from other sources – maybe about $20 a month from Amazon, sometimes more, sometimes less. I don’t consider it income, I just add it to my husband’s Amazon account and he gets to use it to support his video game hobby (addiction). That adds up, though, because I have never spent any significant time on those capsules."

"The first month that I ever even made anything from AdSense was in June of 2007—I made a whopping 72¢ and was so excited! I didn’t actually get my first payment until December of 2007. After that, I got a payment every two months, until October of 2008, when I started receiving regular monthly payments."

Passive earning even when not writing Hubs: "I am currently halfway through law school (a 3 year program), and have not Hubbed since before I started law school, but my earnings have only increased in that time. I love that the work I put in a couple of years ago still pays off. Hopefully I will find some Hubbing time during school breaks because I do miss the HubPages community."

What HubPages earnings have enabled: "My earnings generally go into our monthly budget, and is used to pay rent, bills, etc. We are hoping to buy our first home in the next couple of months, and I know that it would be a lot tougher on our budget if I didn’t have this extra income. Probably the most interesting thing I have done with my earnings is that I bought some much needed furniture after winning the HubLove contest (I didn’t include those earnings above)—I now have a comfortable living room instead of crappy yard sale furniture."

Beyond the earnings: "When I was active on HubPages, I loved interacting with the Hubbing community. I even got my grandma to join the site—and she is now more active than I am! The most challenging and fun thing I have done since joining HubPages was participating in contests. Not only do they challenge your writing abilities (mostly by picking your topic for you), but they give you the opportunity to get to know and interact with other Hubbers. They also help you get some great hubs out there with good earning potential."

"I joined HubPages because I wanted to earn a living by writing. Although my career path has carried me in a different direction, I know that I can always come back to writing. HubPages has allowed me to actually earn money doing something that I love, and helped me get better at something that I love—I honestly believe that I can now write about anything, which is a great skill to have no matter what I’m doing."

Stacie published most of her Hubs in a one-month stint more than 3 years ago, and has since seen her traffic and earnings rise while she studies full-time..

Visit Stacie Naczelnik's profile

Earning history on HubPages: "I’ve been writing for HubPages for several years, but I never thought I’d see much residual income from the site. When I started getting payments from Google every few months, I was pleasantly surprised. I started to see regular monthly payments after about a year or so, and they’ve steadily increased ever since. The earnings I enjoy here, to me, are a pleasant fringe benefit of being able to write about things that interest me. Of course, now that I’ve started seeing a nice steady income from residual earnings on this site, I will probably start throwing in a few carefully-selected titles here and there. Just imagine what I could accomplish by doing that since I’m already enjoying nice earnings without really trying!"

Earnings when taking a break from writing Hubs: "A few months ago, I had surgery and was unable to work for about a month. That’s when the reality of being a small business owner kicks in. When you’re self employed, if you don’t work, you don’t get paid. Period. In the midst of my panic, I realized that I’d have some money coming in from HubPages even if I was not able to produce any new work during that month. That was a real eye-opener about the benefits of creating content on a site with a generous residual income program like HubPages, and it certainly helps bring into perspective why I need to continue to produce content on the site."

Rewards beyond earning: "Hubbing has given me an opportunity to pursue interests separate from those that I focus on in my primary business. When you run a small business, it’s easy to get hyper-focused on what you specialize in and ignore your other interests. With HubPages, I have a business-oriented reason to pursue my hobbies, if that makes sense. I tend to write about food, cooking and travel on HubPages. These are all things I love that often fall by the wayside because I am so focused on my other ventures. I set a goal for myself to write at least ten HubPages articles (Hubs) per month, and doing that has helped me channel my workaholic tendencies toward expanding my horizons."

"I’ve really enjoyed participating in HubPages over the years and find it very rewarding – both in terms of personal enjoyment and – now, the financial benefit. I think, though, that my success comes from the fact that I didn’t approach getting involved with the site as a way to turn a quick buck. If you produce quality content about things that you are passionate about, it will show. People will want to read it and learn more about what you are sharing, and revenue will naturally follow. If you’re looking for a way to get rich quick – this isn’t it. No content site is. Anything worth doing is worth doing well -- and should be done for the right reasons. Making money from content requires a long-term mindset, not a short-term, get rich quick approach."

Hubbing for Mary is a way to express herself on the things she loves—food, cooking, and travel. But her traffic graph makes clear that her Hubs also attract traffic and earn money, too..

Visit mgwhite's profile