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A Twisted View About Success on Hubpages
Two Things, or Maybe One Things
Recently I have been considering writing on Hubpages with the goal of generating a living income. I received an email the other day notifying me that I had accumulated 100 followers! In that email was a link to Hupages success stories. There are a decent amount and I studied the highest earners in earnest.
There were two things that struck me. After I recovered from the backhanded blows, I evaluated what they were. One idea that becomes apparent is that SEO, backlinking and being involved in the Hubpages community are nearly essential to becoming a 2011 dot.com writer millionaire, or shall we say, thousandaire. Although I have to admit, I still don't know what the heck backlinking is or how to do it. I know if I sit down and just read about it and experiment, I'll have it down in a day. But when I consider this, I also have to consider another source of practical knowledge: The Bible. God says that, "a day is as a thousand years..." and so on. You get the picture. Well actually you don't. Because although I have searched the internet to and fro for a picture to represent the "thousand thing" analogy, I realized that since pictures are worth a thousand words, my readers would get bored because a lengthy article... zzzzzzzzzzzzz blah blah blah.
The Numbers Start to Add Up
But then I ran across one hubber in particular that caught my eye. After I asked him to give it back, I took stock of the other success stories and compared them to his. While others may have proudly added a total of 600 hubs to their profile to make that $1200 a month, this particular eyeball thief had only published about a third that number and was making even more monthly income!
The Master Key
The key was this: While other hubbers (successful ones of course - and I'm not saying they are doing it wrong either since I haven't even broken the $100 mark myself) spend approximately 2 hours on research and writing for each hub, this particular slowpoke spends about 6 hours on research and writing, and of course a little more time commenting on other hubs with the end result being that the lazy slob publishes one hub a week instead of the required three the other industrious little hubbers put out.
"Real Writing"
The moral of the story of course is quality over quantity. But that all depends. Depends on what? It depends on what kind of writer you are. Are you an analytical writer with a need to completely understand everything about your work? Maybe you are something that is the exact opposite of what you don't find in most papers: a real journalist who digs deep and cites real and verifiable sources. Seriously, how can a real journalist write a piece that depends completely on the Associated Press?
Journalism No Longer the Holy Grail
"But that's a pipe dream!" you scream. At me that is. (Was the exclamation point really necessary since I added a description of the kind of tone being used? Whatever, I liked it that way. If you don't like it - No! Wait! Don't go!). Ahem. Yes yes, I know that's not the real world. Papers have to put out content that the masses will pay for. Thankfully, more and more the internet is killing the papers and allowing real writers (real bad writers) to put out content and make residual income off of the ads placed next to your articles for your convenience mostly by Google Adsense.
This puts us in the precarious position of generating an independent income, thereby allowing us to stick out our collective tongues at the traditional tie-me-down publishing venues (which by the way, still insist on using old typewriters and carbon copies), while scraping our bellies, hanging our tails and licking Google's face, imploring Google Alpha to stick around and keep us motivated to write so we can earn our paychecks. Of course we internet content producers will bemoan the day that a nuclear bomb sends out an electromagnetic pulse destroying every working computer in sight and those out of work paper journalists will have the last laugh, right along with the cockroaches I'm sure.
Incidentally, if the internet ever fails on a global or even national scale, I am very sure that we'll have bigger things to worry about (like those 10 foot long radioactive cockroaches).
Bringing in the Loot - Make it Hurt
I have wandered from my original point to make that second one: as long as writers put out good content which brings in the loot at Adsense, then we'll be able to write for a living online. Now I also know that my comments concerning journalism and the ethics practiced by those in "real" journalism (Time magazine writers need not apply) will provoke some ire. Although I seriously doubt that the big names in journalism will even pay attention to this humble hub, maybe it will attract writers from smaller papers who still feel a sense of pride in what they do and are severely offended by my small minded comments. Good. Please add your comments below. This will increase traffic to my hub which will lead to more revenue for me and also contribute to your continual demise. Go ahead. Comment. You know you want to.
Besides, I am only hitting where it hurts. But due to the whimsical nature of this particular piece, do not expect to drag me into a serious and heated debate, because I won't go there and furthermore I will pummel you with inane and backward logic common to flame wars on religious and political Youtube video comments sections or other misguided forums.
Back to Basics
Where the hell was I going with this? Oh yeah, Successful hubbing. Point is that trying too hard will not quite get you there. Like a P-51 Mustang trying to break the sound barrier (before the orange, pointy airplane did it), you'll succeed in getting past the sound barrier at the expense of your wings. Hmmm. Good analogy. If you love to write, writing well is like flying. Find yourself a thermal and enjoy the leisurely ride to higher altitudes. The real challenge is finding that thermal and staying inside it. The other way is to beat your wings until you think your heart is going to explode and when you think you've struggled to the top, you look up and see a happy bird several thousand feet higher who got there the easy way and is now effortlessly staying there by using the tops of thermals and other currents only he can use. You're not high enough.
My Final Point - Honest.
So SEO can be a good thing, but it occurred to me that if a writer makes the most money by using his natural talent rather than mass producing strings of words in the proper order to regurgitate the expected tripe that browsers seem to feed on, then maybe we shouldn't worry about SEO either! Man what a concept.
Which leads to my final epiphany about writing for success. Cut out the SEO. Cut out the backlinking, the word counting and the spammy content. Take the easy path to success: don't write anything at all, just leave the page blank and hit, "publish."
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Comments
you have done a great process in this subject!
Hi wait a minute, you have just saved me. I thought I was the only one trying to figure out what the backlinks and SEO are all about. I have been in the internet writing for a while, I have read tonnes of traffic manuals and all talk about backlinks and SEO and you know what, I think that is the stuff for Google not for a humble humber like me. I was almost giving up in writing until I read this hub. I will now write good hubs without care of either SEO or backlinks. Thanks for saving the day with this honest hub, I can now look at people on the face and tell them I do not care about SEO or backlinks, I care about quality writing.
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We accustomed to find high on existence yet as of late I've accumulated a weight.
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Very cool SilentReed. You totally got my point with the pictures, pure entertainment to break up the article. The pictures were all related to themes above or below the sections, but they were meant to make you laugh or contemplate. I have to admit the fish came off the internet somewhere, but I'm sure a very public website. I am more careful with pictures now - if there's accreditation, I give it.
It is fun to hear someone else enjoyed that blank space at the end, I was worried it wouldn't work. Although I had so much fun writing this I hardly cared.
Thanks for the great comment!
Whimsical and delightful to read. You really hit hard where it hurts..in the belly but only when I laugh.
Particularly enjoyable was your final point...that blank space at the end of this hub. :) If a picture is worth a thousand words, that was priceless.
BTW, It's hard work looking for images (what with copyright infringements etc.) in the internet to try to fit into our hubs. I think you have struck upon a good idea...Just download pretty pictures like that school of fish. Although it has nothing to do with the article it provides a respite for tired eyes (especially useful for boring hubs. Not this hub I hasten to add.). "Oh look at those pretty fishes". I think I spend more time looking at that picture than reading your article. In fact, I have downloaded it for my desktop display.:)
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Thanks cclitgirl! What you got out of it was what I was aiming for. Many took this as a learning hub but that was certainly not my main point. I think your point about fun can be extended to the idea that keeping it fun is the best way to succeed.
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Thank you Esoteric. I will eventually get into the stock market myself, learn how it works and lose some learning money ;-) As for the book, I am forming an opinion as of late that books are the best way to make money writing - even non-fiction (or maybe especially non-fiction). Blogging is great, and Hubpages works for a few, but writing out here on the netways isn't as easy as 123. What are you writing?
I like your writing style. :) This is witty, funny, and definitely encouraging. I enjoyed your digressions and I have to agree that it's all a bit of a mystery, but I suppose part of the fun is in cracking that challenge. :D
Great hub Alexander. Fortunately for me, I do well enough at my business and the stock market so I don't have to rely on my writing. I will be taking a shot at a book (one of my very lengthy hubs) in July, however. It would have been sooner, but I noticed I sort of forgot to finish one of the sections, so I am rushing to finish that.
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Iamaudraleigh, you are definitely welcome!
I'm not sure what you mean by gross income because I just get paid out what appears on my earned money on my account page. For the first time, next year I'll have to file taxes for my meager income from writing! I'm pretty happy about that but it isn't much. I see you have written about twice as many hubs as I have and have almost twice as many followers, maybe you are getting paid differently than I am?
Yes, it is hard to write a common piece, but if we could write ordinary fluff, we wouldn't be here in the first place. And of course, I don't believe we would succeed here if we did.
Thanks for coming by, hope you're doing well.
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Pwalker281, thank you for being so long winded, I learned allot and I really enjoyed your comment. I am now going to have to learn how to use Pinterest and give CloudExlporer a big hug (and some Pinterest love).
I agree that the Hubpages format is very well organized and easy to use, which makes it an absolute pleasure to write here.
I'm glad you shared your SEO story, it shows that working too hard at SEO can kill your passion for writing, but it appears you still find it a useful tool, so it wasn't a waste of time for you to go through that.
I had to chuckle when you described, "on-purpose," backlinking. I tried that once, it was horrible. I now realize that if I want to attract attention that way, I need to be involved with those other sites, care about what I am reading and that comes naturally to me anyway so when I do start that, it will be fun.
I haven't reached the Adsense payout yet, a little over halfway there, but I've been paid twice through the Hubpages ad program in the last few months, and it has really boosted my confidence in this, "online writing thing."
These days, being a successful writer has a lot to do with online presence, and to be honest, I like it. Book authors are required to market their own books anyway, so it seems to me that doing all this writing and marketing online is just another part of a writer's career. But, passion comes first and thank you for reiterating that point so well today.
I like your article and your witty humor! I try to make money here. However, it is hard for me to write a common piece. My gross wages is completely different than my take home pay here. People say they make so muck. I think they are talking about the gross income, right? I like how you expressed your thoughts and added cool pictures to grab our attention. ps, thanks for your support too!
I found your hub via a backlink that CloudExplorer posted on one of his Pinterest boards (thanks, Mike!). After reading it and some of the comments, it hit me that this hub has been generating comments for over a year! which tells me you have struck a chord with writers here at HubPages.
When I first came to HubPages, I was absolutely excited about using the "capsule" system to create articles. My tech writing background and obsessive-compulsive need to organize were thrilled with the format. And the opportunity to make some money doing what I love was a big plus! Over two years and close to 60 hubs later, I'm at an impasse. I went through a big SEO phase, beginning about a year ago, trying to understand what it was and how to use it to help my hubs generate more money. In the process, I lost sight of why I started writing here in the first place ... because I love to write. That doesn't mean I don't want my writing to generate income. It just means that writing what I'm passionate about has to be how I choose the topics to write about.
I still do a little SEO (e.g., some keyword research and a little on-page SEO), but it's typically AFTER I've written a hub. My best writing is done when an idea pops into my head, and I think, "I want to write about that!" I'll either do a little keyword research up front or, if the words absolutely must be written, I'll write the hub and then go back to do a little keyword research, add the appropriate keywords to the hub in the appropriate places, and then hit publish.
I hate to do what I call "on-purpose" backlinking, i.e., trolling the Internet to see what forum I comment in so I can leave a link to my hub. Fortunately, I also have a crochet blog, and a lot of my hubs are about crochet, so I can put links to my crochet hubs on my blog. But other than that, and commenting when I come across an interesting article that allows me to leave a link, that's all the backlinking I do.
This strategy hasn't made me rich. I get a payout, thanks to the HubPages Ad Program, about every other month and I just reached the $100 Adsense payout last month after 8 years of having an Adsense account. If I keep my hubs up, I'll get another one in a couple of years. So much for Adsense. I even took it off my blog because the ads looked tacky.
All this to say that writing passionately and money aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. You simply have to realize it's not a get-rich-quick scheme ... unless of course you write erotic romance novels like E. L. James and publish them on the Kindle platform (how I wish I could write genre fiction!).
Enjoyed reading this hub. Voted up and across (and sorry for being so long-winded ... the hallmark of a passionate writer :-))
My numbers have gone back up, so maybe I just had a hiccup on google for a few days. It is hard to figure everything out sometimes.
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It's true, but you don't even have to write hubs to benefit. I haven't been able to write anything here because of some time problems for over a year I think, but I do comment around a lot and my earnings have been rising. I love residual income, and I can't wait to see what happens when I get back on the writing horse. Google is a fickle entity though, I feel your pain.
It seems to me that being active is the key. I haven't been writing for a month or two because I've been busy out of town and Google/hubpages just slashed my views from 200-300 a day down to 40 or so. Activity is definitely the key. Google rankings do not mean anything when hubpages can zap your account for not writing.
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toknowinfo, thank you. You said it right and I enjoyed your comment.
Loved your hub, just wanted you to know
Can't for the life of me do SEO,
Rated your hub up all the way
and had to comment on this day
I enjoy the writing so that's how I spend my time
even though in my hubs, you will never see me rhyme
Backlinking, SEO, and keywords make writing unfun
and now my compulsion to comment in verse is done.
I totally agree!
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DO avoid all that backlinking stuff! I read a post by NJFM (No Job For Mom) that Google is once again scrutinizing search optimization strategies and backlinking is under the magnifying glass. Natural backlinking is encouraged though - meaning people link to your site because they want to, not because you paid for it. So I'm not sure where your own personal efforts stand (linking from HP to your own blog), but Google is becoming more and more successful at halting internet farming and encouraging people who genuinely want to express themselves to make money from natural searches and growth. I'm all for that. I have never done SEO, and seeing the changes that are happening, I never will. I could never trade the words I chose for empty keywords. It may sound good, but it wouldn't be my work. Might as well go work at a newspaper where half your work is cut so it will fit on the page!
I wish I could avoid all this technical backlinking and SEO stuff but who knows, maybe if I understand it some day, I may like it! One thing I know for sure is that if I can't write the way I like, I'm not going to succeed anyway! I'm still trying to figure out a way to make real money writing, I'd like to find a proven way to do it.
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Oh boy, it's been 8 days since you wrote that last comment! I must have dreamed writing a response ;-)
I am most certainly not a professional photographer but lately I am finding unique perspectives on what I see and I just whip out my phone and take the shot. I am planning on using them in planned future blogs - I think for us amateurs, it's our own personal perspective that makes a picture interesting.
I enjoy waffling with you (even though I like English muffins more), so I'll be coming by to check out your hubs in the near future.
Hi again Alexander Mark, I agree with you about the pictures drawing people in, I've been trying to use my own pictures most of the time, although I'm not so sure that it is a good thing as I'm no photographer. I find it fun though and I'm amusing the family, so I see no reason to stop, maybe in time I'll get better.
I tend to find people in the real world a funny lot too and exhausting to be around, one of the pluses of writing I find is that when the head starts to spin you can turn around and walk away, when dealing with real people I'm pretty sure that would be classed as rude!!
Very observant of you to notice my use of spelling, at least it meant you read my comment!! I've noticed many spelling differences between what I class to be the American version of a spelling and the English.
Never under estimate the power of being a little silly or daft sometimes, life is far too short to be straight faced all the time.
If we don't take what journalists write too seriously, then what they write can become a sort of laughter therapy, good for the soul!!
Anyway, I've now waffled on for far too long.
Nice to meet you too Alexander Mark.
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Hi debbie, thanks for the read and the great comment. Some of it was sort of luck I hate to say. I wrote a hub about wolf hybrids and grabbed several pictures I liked off the internet and that hub is the most visited of all time. I think it's the pictures that bring people in, and today I would be much more careful about what pictures I can or can not use, but there you have it.
I write about certain subjects that seem to be popular (quite by accident I assure you) and I often present a more "balanced" view that seems to appeal to people I think. I am not going to be modest here but those factors and some writing talent is what probably drives that tiny bit of success (then again, you may wonder how talented since I used, "seem," and, "quite," twice in this comment!).
I have never been great at establishing relationships in the real world but here I think my faults turn into positives. From your comment, I suspect you are a good writer too, plus I think you may be European or British from your spelling of humor (my brother insists on spelling, "check," as, "cheque") so that makes me like you even more ;-)
I'm being a little silly, sorry.
I'm glad someone finally voiced a similar opinion about journalists, I was starting to feel quite alone in that until you came along!
Now I've bored you enough, great to meet you.
I love the humour in your hub and totally agree with your take on journalists!!
I'm slowly bumbling through, learning what I can about on line writing and what brings in the pennies. Hoping that one day the 'penny' will finally drop!!
You must be doing something right as I got cramp in my finger scrolling through all of your comments.
A fun hub, I enjoyed reading....
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Hello Gypsy! Biography??? You know, I never seriously considered doing one of those, who knows. But for now, I am slowly working on a novel but work stress has really hampered my efforts. I am still not sure if I should rewrite the first chapter or not! Thanks for the vote of confidence - that means much coming from you.
Excellent response Alexander Mark. How about a novel or a biography of someone you admire?
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No you're not! I have been musing about this for quite a while. There are places where you can make a living writing about products and services like Demand Studios, but like you, I am absolutely not able to write that kind of... well, drivel. It's completely contrarian to my talent. I think the only way I'm going to be successful with writing is to follow my passion. It sounds like we are in the same boat.
The keyword thing perplexes me still because it completely changes the way your articles read. Affiliate marketing works apparently, I follow a good writer's blog who promotes an affiliate marketing system that has produced success and he constantly encourages his readers to try it before they buy his book - a fair gamble. But I KNOW I probably won't be able to finish more than a sentence of that kind of writing!
Now I also know your stuff is worth reading and I enjoy no writing more than when it's from the heart and not from the keyword list. I'll be by soon - thanks for commenting WannaB Writer.
I loved your hub. I don't make the money I probably could if I did what the money-makers do. However, I would be bored to death writing product reviews and sales pages. I hate shopping myself and so it's hard to do affiliate stuff I'm not interested in.
I can't write about things I don't care about. Period. It helps if I'm passionate about a subject, but I at least have to be interested. I simply can't sit down with a list of trending topics and research the keywords and then write. It isn't me. If I did that, I'd never have time to write.
On one hand, Google says to write for people. On the other they want you to follow certain styles that help search engines. Put the keywords in the first sentence and maybe in bold. Maybe I want to use a hook without a key word in that first sentence. I don't want to sound like a textbook. If I wanted to write research papers, I would have stayed in school longer.
So, I write what I know and then, when it's written, I may see if I can make it more search-engine friendly without ruining it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I know I'm not alone.
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Thank you very much Shinkicker, very much appreciate your visit. I promise I will come by soon. Do you get a lot of thermals in Scotland? ;-)
Great Hub Alexander
I reckon I've given up trying to break the sound barrier (or the pound barrier I suppose since I live in Scotland) and float on the thermals instead.
Thanks for an entertaining and also informative read
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phdast7, sorry it took so long to get to your comments, I didn't want to just dash off a quick and easy response to such eloquent compliments!
Don't you just hate it when someone beats you to a subject you want to write about? I am so looking forward to reading your profile and visiting your hubs.
I am honored a teacher gave me such a high grade ;-) Thank you.
Alexander - Found you through a comment on someone else's Hub. Read your profile and then this Hub. Wow. Part of me is so encouraged by and impressed with everything you wrote (thoroughly enjoyed the humor, irony, etc., you sprinkled through out your serious plea that we care about writing, and writing well, first and foremost)....
And part of me is flat-out jealous because I would like to have written it myself! :) Excellent Hub. I so appreciate and agree with your emphasis on the craft and quality of writing, then caring for and supporting the community. You placed SEO and monetizing where they belong...at the bottom of the list.
I have to go grade papers now, but I will be back to explore some of your Hubs. Thanks again.
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I agree Chris, camaraderie is one of the best aspects of HP (the very best is being able to write and be seen of course), I have met so many interesting people with different and great views on everything, that I think HP is very special and irreplaceable.
Believe it or not, you've been on my mind lately and I am planning on lurking your profile and checking out more of your work as well - so feeling's mutual.
Rants from other hubbers are fine, but I don't think I'll ever do that because when I rant, it's ugly.
Grateful for your visit brother.
Mark, I just went back and dug into your profile...and started in.
I found hubs by mistake one day..I jumped in and spewed out some thoughts....then I put on a writing I had done several months before....I had never shared it with anyone before, but I thought what the heck...I ended up getting some good comments and have developed some fantastic friends.
I made three bucks one month! But what really makes me excited is the comradely that I have found here.
I am learning more and more about writing...I have now done (attempted) a few poems, and have shared many "rants" as I like to call them....
Overall, this place is a blast and a blessing to me.
Thanks for sharing with me on my hubs...and for this one.
Chris
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It's starting to, yes.
Is it working for you Alexander?
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You have peaked my curiosity leroy, I am coming by to check out your drivel and I am sure your drivel is better than the usual drivel one finds on spam sites and forums. The question you posed sparked my brain to think about the value of money and what drives it, and your comments make me think too. Your my kind of driveler.
I would have to agree that the money aspect drives the internet engine (pardon the half-pun), but it always amazes me that it starts with a passionate few who get things rolling without apparent reward. Take blogging. That started at a time when the internet was still not part of the physical commercial media, and after years of people blogging - posting personal musings and other information, it became profitable. Even now, many people don't entirely believe that you can make money on the internet creating commentary on finances or daily routines or other seeming nonsense. I love capitalism when it works.
I like your response to one of my questions; and, decided to look at some of your hubs. I not sure if I enjoyed the article or the comment section better. If the key to "success" on blogs is to write drivel that says nothing, then I can do that. (I think I can do that. I am pretty sure some of my Hubs are drivel. People keep reading things into them.) That is probably not the point of your article. I don't understand SEO; and, am under the impression that the industry (Is that the correct term?) is geared to sites that sell something. I think this might be the longest comment I have written.
cool. I didn't actually think u were lazy ;-)
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GClark, thank you - you are right by the way, I didn't mean to impart much knowledge, and I'm glad I achieved my main goal. But I can see I'll have to work much harder on that, because your comment was coherent and apparently you multi-task well. I consider that a challenge! I'll drop in for a visit soon.
PDXKaraokeGuy (I thought I'd spell out the entire name this time just to prove I'm not lazy - at least not always) thanks and I'll do my best.
Thank you! Keep up the good work!
Absolutely loved your almost stream of consciousness/humorous style of writing. You imparted some great info even if you didn't mean to and I am still laughing as I type these comments. And, before you ask, that is a bit like walking and chewing gum at the same time. What can I say, I am proficient at multi-tasking. GClark
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Please do Gypsy!
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Wow CloudExplorer, what a magnificent perspective. Your point is very valid, although I have to admit I don't completely understand people that have no desire for money but just want to express themselves. I need to cultivate that attitude in my future ventures, although I went through a period of learning where I figured out that the passion for writing and expressing what's on your heart is the most important element in producing hubs or anything on the internet.
Some people can write garbage and be successful, but we don't ever want to find ourselves in that miserable state - not as genuine writers anyway.
I love that you got the idea I was trying to get across with the P-51 and the struggling bird.
Thanks for finding me and writing such mighty comments even on my fanmail. How can I refuse such graciousness? I'll be by to read your hubs soon my friend.
Great inspiring response CloudExplorer. Perhaps I shall write here again!
Personally "Money", isn't my objective at all, I'm looking to show the world what my mind has been thinking about ever since I was born. I believe we all have some intense stories to tell to the world, ummm. We should all be thankful, that our stories are getting heard and read today on Hubpages, so If anyone else is like me they too are here to get their voice heard.
A digital voice that gets "Heard", across millions of potential web locations, & to viewers worldwide whom are starving to feel what you've been through, to absorb knowledge you possess, to read whats in the deepest corners of your mind, to discover the truest essence of a complete strangers perspective view point on this thing they call Life & so much more countless reasons.
Hubpages is that in a nutshell to me, they could have a called it anything & I would still be here, because I've been here ever since I discovered how to write onto the web by means of blogging, hubbing, or whatever they wanna name it. As long as a single person can see what I have to get out of my mind, that's all that matters to me.
Adsense that for all I care, its only worth what efforts we all put into this machine counter thingy they call a computer & the Web. If you simply let it all go, and write from the heart, if the blessing is due to you there is nothing to stress just let it flow. Like he stated above with the part on the the "P-51, the happy bird & beating your wings).
Powerful hub you have here, I love it when a plan works out such as this beautiful hub you wrote @Alex. Voted up on all levels.
I still write but not here.
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Thank you very much PDX, I am humbled by your equally well-written comment.
Gypsy, you said it twice. Therefore I must take your advice under serious consideration :-) How about you?
You really will have to write again Alexander!
You really will have to write again Alexander!
This was an amazing hub. i thoroughly enjoyed it and hung on every word. I don't normally read hubs this long but I was there with you the whole way, nodding and mmhmming and cringing and laughing. You're gifted. You're a truly terrific writer and you have a lot to say and it seems to interest me. It is a pleasure to follow you. i look forward to more and more of your hubs.
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Oh wow, what a comment. Sorry I didn't see this one sooner, I just happened to check my comments section on my account page, I never received a notice for this one in my email - sheesh.
Yep, I'll agree we are like two peas in a pod :-D I am finding that audience building techniques do work to some degree, but it isn't a factory work proposition, if we keep our passion at the forefront and enjoy the entire process, and things move financially from there, that's great. But like you said, finding people like you are the real gold here.
However, I think I will never do SEO - to me it's so false, changing your artfully considered words to suit the driving needs of the fickle Google searchers. I know it works, but if we do good work, it should speak for itself right?
Where have you been all my (HubPages) life? I just discovered you from a comment you left on a hub of someone I follow and thought 'he's the very fellow for me' (same warped sense of humour). So here I am ... and you are!
Gave up with keywords, SEO, back linking etc. after the first 3 months and now I just write what the heck I like when I like. Sadly I can't quite kick the daily stats check habit though but I'm having fun ... especially when I find a golden nugget like you amongst the ... er, other stuff.
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Sorry it took me so long to respond to all your comments, especially you Springboard!
From what I have observed, it's consistency in one's work that gives success, and persistence in what they are doing. I think it's a double element. If you love to drive your car all day long, you can be a great driver and enjoy the ride. But without regular oil changes and maintenance and so on, you won't be driving for long. I like to think that SEO and backlinking aren't necessary, but some sort of self promotion is necessary and the way we choose to do it dictates the results. I prefer long and slow and steady, allowing readers to find me naturally for the most part. The more I focus on the money, the crappier my writing gets.
I agree, we must keep writing - to hell with Hubpages or even the existence of the internet - BUT, I hope we are never reduced to handwriting everything. I love to type away the hours, and I can even adapt to a typewriter, but God forbid you find me drawing animal pictures on some mountain cave (with crayons).
Wesman, thank you for the encouraging words and the visit.
Justom, what you say makes sense. Why just the other day, and the day before that, and the day before that,... I gained another fan from a foreign country that talks about how nature makes her relax and that it is good. I don't know if that's drivel or true expression. Either way, I have to agree. Who wants upchuck for dinner?
That Todd Shaw, what a comedian. He knows damn well the only way to make money writing on HP is to write drivel. Just look at some of the chosen and follow the pattern. Write about shit you know nothing about and add some photos and call yourself a photographer then stop by and watch me throw up:-P Good luck though. Peace!! Tom
To paraphrase what Springboard said - if you write well enough, you don't NEED to know what backlinking is - folks will do it for you.
Can I just point out ANYWAY for the record that I have stated many times here, and in other places for that matter where I send out my thoughts to the masses (which aren't that massive by the way) that good writing and talent and great content are always going to trump anything backlinking and SEO are going to offer up. One need not forget that in the "real world" of publishing, that all it takes is to pick up a bad book and know that you'll never seek out the writer of it again. So it goes with SEO as well. It may work for a little while. It'll certainly work as long as SEO has a place. But I tend to think that it won't. That is, SEO. It won't last forever. I tend to think that search engines will get smarter. That Internet readers are not all that dumb. Good writing will outlast any trickery one wants to put out to get somewhere. Good writing will be the thing that lasts. I'm not saying I'm a good writer or that my content is superior to anything that an SEO writer puts out. But I know that my bottom line at the END of the line may ultimately determine that, and I'm fine with that.
HubPages is truly a fascinating place. That's to be sure. And I can't say, even through my recent tribulations, that I haven't had fun here so far, or that I'm not having loads of fun right now as we speak. I have. And I am.
As for getting paid? Well, that is, of course, an added bonus. I'm certainly not inclined to send any checks back to Google, that's for sure. Do I expect to stumble upon a career in light of SOMEONE, one of those REAL publishers or REAL writers noticing what I write here is maybe worth a little something more? Not on your life.
Either way, whether it's here or somewhere else, I CAN say I'll keep doing it anyway. I'll keep doing if HubPages goes away, hell I'll do it if the Internet goes away. Come hell or high water I'll FIND a way even if I have to invent it myself.
As for the checks? Back to that, yes. I'll do it if those go away too.
BTW, I think you were alluding to something else which I think is true. If you write something thought provoking in a forum like this, people are going to respond, and it's their responses which get included in all that indexing. Write a great idea and let others add the SEO as they comment on it. Hmmm. :)
You're sweet, Alexander. I was just a'kiddin. Have a blessed evening, my friend.
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Ha ha! I can't compete with your comment Susie, you get the last laugh.
Wow, I didn't think I would ever get to the "comment" section. It took me 10 minutes to scroll all the way down here. I have a feeling that you are a deep thinker!!! So...what was this hub all about??? lol No really, I do know, but what was it really about? Oh, right, comedy, right? I keep getting sidetracked, Alexander. Or I just have a memory problem...
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You crack me up Gypsy, I have never read so eloquent a comment. All I can say is
Great hub! Love the cat picture and your sense of humor. Not looking forward to 10ft nuclear cockroaches. Voted up!
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Hi Caroline, sorry I didn't see your comment here, I didn't get a notification in the mail. Thank you so much for the endorsement and the votes. If you keep writing good stuff, I am sure the money will come. I am not making much, but I'm up to a steady few dollars a month ever since I joined the HP advertising program. As soon as my life settles back down, I am going to come back here with a vengeance and build that up and get back to reading other's hubs.
Very interesting article, and well written! I completely agree with you that "quality comes first, quantity second." I liked the way you added "humor" in your article-it was very entertaining!:-)
As for making money here on HubPages, I have yet to explore that myself-hopefully someday! Keep writing. I'm crossing my fingers for you that someday you will also earn bug bucks, and more importantly that your hubs will get the attention they deserved. Voted up-interesting/beautiful/funny/useful!:-)
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I hear you on the embarrassment factor. I thought about farming content but realized the smell of manure would diminish my talent and the respect my friends and family have for me as a writer. I get the sense from a few good bloggers and a decent amount of hubbers that quality content sees them through even if they don't see the temporary high revenues that content manure farmers grow. Fighting the system to take advantage of it is wasting a lot of energy and ignoring the rewards we get from writing and reaping the benefits of using our skill and talent to make honest money. I'm heading over to check out your hubs.
Good stuff, Mark, and I think (or hope) that's the direction successful hubbers are moving towards. I realize I could write on topics that could produce greater short-term results, but I figure if I keep attempting to produce quality hubs, I'm far more likely to maintain consistent followers over time (and be a little less embarrassed to share with family and friends).
Well done! I enjoyed reading this.
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Hi Phil! I think SEO is overrated, not because it doesn't work but because I hate doing it and then Google pulls the rug out from people who do SEO. I think your technique works best, my score rises whenever I start commenting a lot and it also rises when I write a decent hub. I do have a hub that gets a decent amount of attention - try writing (passionately) about wolves. Thanks for checking out so many of my hubs! I will try and return the favor.
I'm not much on the SEO, mostly just trying to follow people here to get them to follow me to increase traffic for whenever I write a hub. I'm also hoping that someday I'll write a hub that by chance is a big traffic producer.
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I think the entertainment value was the most valuable aspect of this hub, but I'm glad people find it helpful. I really appreciate what you wrote here, I didn't know the suggestions resulted from Google searches - I am going to try and integrate that into my hubs. Also did not know about accolades, so you have ended up educating me - thank you very much.
I noticed that I make about 3 dollars a month now. It's nothing but I love it because it's consistent and I am starting to believe I can build that up. Your comment has totally encouraged me today, thank you. I will be by to check out your hubs and follow you soon.
Thanks for this Hub. I will say that there is a lot that I don't understand about HubPages and "success" either, but I will say that I do want a lot of comments, followers, and clicks :)
Over my time here on HubPages, I have found that while things may not make that much sense to me, HubPages does seem to know what brings in the income and they try to help you with this. For a while I thought that the whole Accolades thing was silly and trying to suck up your life posting comments and Hubs... but then I saw that the most I tried to improve my scores, the better my HubScore was and the better my Hubs seemed to do :)
Also, when I started HubPages, they had the Hub topic idea bank that would generate ideas for you to Hub about. At first I thought these topics were very strange, but then I realized that they were the most searched-for topics on search engines and that my Hubs were doing quite well for this reason! So I've trusted HubPages and have been content with my "success :)
Thanks for the Hub as usual!
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Glad to meet you Pamela, thanks for the follow - I'll be by later to check out your hubs.
I notice you went to my hubs about Hubpages, I usually never write that kind of hub because there are so many people who know more than me. That's probably why you missed me. Plus HP is pretty big and it's easy to miss hubbers you like.
Looking forward to reading your writing.
I prefer quality over quantity. Writing a lot of articles with no substance only makes me look bad. Great story.
Not sure how I missed your stuff before. I added you as a friend, fan or whatever they call it here.
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Hi Jo,
your comment makes me smile. That cat is pretty cute, I'm thinking I might make it a theme in my hubs.
I made sense? Sometimes I wonder about myself, but when I find other people who are insane, I feel better ;-)
God bless you.
I really enjoyed this. You had humor and loved the photos! especially the cat. It lookes like my cat when her belly is full, and she is trying to sleep. I loved the way you made so much sense! voted up! Because of all the wonderful reasons I mentioned! there is more, but I don't want to fill up the entire page. lol take care
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He he, you found the hidden gem.
"But then I ran across one hubber in particular that caught my eye. After I asked him to give it back, I took stock of the other success stories and compared them to his."
:)
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Very true! Thanks for coming by JDeAngelis, glad you liked it.
Nice hub.
I believe good writing is key to both enjoying what you write and having others enjoy your writing. SEO and the rest of it turn writing into a science which is great but sometimes a little tedious.
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Agree with you MD, although I find that it can be a matter of degrees if I aim for the money, but I always want to keep it truthful. A surf magazine writer once told me that I should always write the truth - that was the main thing.
Nice AM. If it isn't from the heart I just can't generate the enthusiasm.
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Thanks Pastor, I didn't mean to write an informational hub, honest!
Thanks for the great info here.
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Thanks Phoebe, I will do it.
Great hub. My own "earnings" have yet to reach 20 dollars. I am just here to read and write, which I wish I could do more often, but life has other plans. Lolz.
I love your style of writing, it's exciting and interesting. Keep up the good work!
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I kind of look at it like clocking in for a regular job (but much, much better). Working as a slave for someone else, you are forced to be productive, whether that be the job itself, or something not in your job description but related, or not doing your job but making your boss happy.
In any case, you HAVE to be there and you HAVE to do something. Writing for a living or a part time income can be the same in my opinion.
For me the trick is setting aside valuable time (as it is for everyone)and saying to myself, "I am here for 2 (or 6) hours and I am totally free to write - it is my job. Laundry and dishes can wait just like when I'm at a "real" job.
And that is really, really hard. Right now I'm a hypocrite by the way, I'm working ALOT of overtime and doing a side job designing a website, so that is my excuse. But when the overtime ends in April, I will be setting aside a regular time again to write.
Glad you got a laugh out of this article, and just do what you love. If you want to make money, be patient with yourself and write and comment and learn everyday.
Thanks for checking out the hub.
Hello Alex, Thanks for info. and smiles. Haven't a clue about how it all works ,jandee---like you say 'if put mind to it well maybe a day' but so much to do,jandee
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You really are a sweetheart Rebecca! You must have been the one to push the score to 90, thanks!
I had to go and read this again, and thanks for teh warm words and teh BIG HUGE smile! I can say this is an awesome hub!
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Thanks for the chuckle Jane, I actually had to think about that one for a minute (it's 2AM - during the day it would take me about 5 minutes).
Alexander, haha...I really enjoyed this (and beautifully presented too). There was much I could relate too. I vaguely know what a backlink is but have no idea how to create them effectively.
Love the blank hub concept. I had thought about writing a one-line hub..."How to make Money!!!"...Get a job at the mint.
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Thanks for dropping by Ladybird33, and thanks for the compliments!
I learned something here and I really, really enjoyed this hub. I love your style and it was clear and crisp. Thanks for sharing your knowledge
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Hi James, great to see you, uh, read you I mean :-) Thanks for checking in on me. Yes, I am back, as much as I can. More hubs are definitely coming.
This hub was more about generating a laugh, a sarcastic commentary on making money writing online. I really do believe it's possible, and although 150 a month isn't much, it would pay for a trip to the beach and lunch - or a 100 dollar burger. I'll be glad to get to that level!
I'm glad you are writing your books despite the dubious returns, you will accomplish every writer's goal: to communicate ideas. At least that's my opinion.
I hope you're doing well, and I haven't seen your hubs in my emails lately (although I have missed the last seven hub notices) so I'm ready for your next one - unless it's about baseball ;-)
8 hours! I believe it, the amount of knowledge I gain from your long hubs is astounding. I think I spend about 4-6 hours on a good hub.
I did not know you started writing Hubs again, my friend. I just had a hunch today to come take a look—as I have countless times before with nothing new to see.
I do not use backlinks at all. But I do love the photographs you chose for this Hub.
I spend about eight hours on publishing each Hub. I am making $150 a month so far. But I am gaining invaluable practice at writing which I intend to put to good use by a writing a few books. They probably won't make any money either. We shall see what we shall see.
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Thanks Ken. I bet that you have plenty of material saved up from all of your occupations. I envy your life, writing all day and night is a dream come true. I agree with your sentiment about writing for the love of it. I will have a great day, because I am writing!
Thanks Alexander for the great Hub. I've worked as a bouncer, carpenter, machinist, teacher, and tutor; but with writing I'm doing something I love to do from the time I get up in the morning to when I go to bed late at night. Whether I make money with Hub Pages or not, I'm going to keep writing for the love of it. There are lots of ways to profit from writing than posting with Hub pages anyhow. Once I have a large enough selection of life memory stories written down I might even try putting them all together into a collection of short stories. What matters the most is doing what you love to do and sharing what you care to with the rest of the world. Have a great day and keep writing. Ken
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Hi tlpoague, very nice to meet you. I am starting to see that the love of writing is what we need to focus on first, even if that means we don't make a lot of money.
I tried to write a hub systematically and worked on it for the past two weeks, but although it was well written, it was dry as a bone and bereft of passion. I am not that kind of writer and I don't think most good writers can honestly produce good material just for money.
I'm really glad you came by and are following me, I'll be checking out your corner soon.
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