Celebrating one year at Hubpages!

When I joined Hubpages a year ago I didn´t have a clue about what hubpages was or what I was doing! I literally stumbled upon hubpages when I was searching the web for ideas about how to make money from writing. I knew that I wanted to write the only question was in what form and where. I searched for Swedish platforms at first of course, but didn’t find any that suited me. I didn’t just want a blog where I would write about my daily thoughts or my daily shores. The web is full of personal diaries that no one ever reads. So, maybe I at least had something right; I wanted a place where I could publish my writing and earn some money from it! And the moment I saw hubpages I immediately joined in.

My first mistake was done almost immediately. When I was going to sign in a username it got a bit difficult because all the names I did choose was already taken. And after three or four attempts I got a bit stressed since I was also in a hurry that day. So as a last attempt I typed in “thougtforce” which got accepted! Yes, I thought, at last! Afterwards I realised that I had forgotten an “h”! It was supposed to have been Thoughtforce”. I wanted my name to mean something that was important to me and also said something to the reader. Ok, I can live with it, but it is a bit annoying.

So lesson number one:

Make sure you have plenty of time and let it take some time when you choose your username, because you have to live with it! Everything else you can change afterwards, but not your name.

My second mistake was to think I could just write and make loads of money in some mysterious way coming from clicks from unknown people reading my work. My intention was to just write without ever interacting with anyone. This was the first time that I showed my writing or my thoughts written down to someone else, even though I have been writing all my life, and I was simply a bit afraid. I was afraid of how my writing would be received, would people like it, hate it, would they choke from laughing, would they be offended, would they …….you know what I mean.

So therefor I decided to show only half my face in case anyone would recognize me! Haha, if only I had known how unlikely that is! Most Swedes I know haven’t heard of hubpages so the risk of anyone recognizing me is minimal even now after one year! And by now, I don’t mind if they do! After a while I got used to my avatar with a half face and I deliberately let it remain for a long time after I didn’t feel the need to hide my face anymore.

Lesson number two;

You have to work hard in order to be recognized and it takes a lot of time! If you want to try your writing skills you can be almost anonymously for a long, long period. But you will still get support from this wonderful community no matter how you look on your avatar.

But there I was, showing only half my face and just wrote about what came to my mind.

I didn’t know anything about SEO, the importance of tags or the importance of headlines or topics. And I had no knowledge about the hubpages community. I am ashamed to admit that in fact I didn’t want to know either, because I thought that I could stay out of it and just focus on my writing.

After publishing my first hub I immediately started on the next and then another one just as I had planned. When my first comment on one of my hubs came and the kind comment was followed up with my first follower I didn’t really know what to think, but since I have good manners I immediately answered both comment and followed the kind person back.

My first brave hubfriend was CyberTroll, soon followed by BkCreative, Izettl, elayne001 and James A Watkins. These five hubbers couldn’t know that they met a recluse! I am still thankful for their kindness and encouragement and for giving me such a warm welcome on hubpages. I remember thinking that appreciation coming from such excellent writers and good hubbers must mean that I do something right! And I am still very happy for each and every comment and follower that interact with me. During this year I have learned that it is interaction with others that creates my creativity!

That was my lesson number three:

Always try to encourage new hubbers and make them feel welcome with kind words if you think they are good or look promising!

I do the same for others now whenever I can but I whish I could do it more, but sadly there never seems to be enough time! I know how important the first feedback is, it can mean the difference of someone continue to write or quit before they even began. The hubnugget contest and the Hubhopping as well as the hubfeed is a great help in finding those new good hubbers and should be a daily and weekly routine for me.

After that first meeting with some of the hubpages community I continued to write my hubs as planned but found myself reading the work of others more and more. It was like a new world slowly opened and I began to realize that I was part of something fantastic sitting in front of my computer in a small country in Northern Europe. Suddenly I meet people from all over the world, enjoyed armchair travelling to places I haven’t been and some I haven’t even heard of, I read about issues and opinions of politics in other countries which is so important in our global way of living. I got first handed reports of the weather situation on other continents, learned about special food dishes and traditions in other countries, the flora and fauna here and there, beautiful castles, waterfalls, religion and believes and non believes. I enjoyed reading beautiful and sad poems and read clever and thought-provoking thoughts and ideas about relation problems, health issues, body parts, organs, self help, economic advices, gemstones, computers, cleaning, animals, gardening, plastic bags, bra’s and so on. And I read some marvellous stories, both fiction and reality stories, that grab my heart and my mind totally.

So, lesson number four: When joining hubpages you are not just a writer, you have the opportunity to become a reader of totally new and fantastic hubs on a wide range of topics! It is marvellous and you never know what you will read from day to day or what you may see.

Izettl – a brave and fantastic woman that write hubs that leaves no one unengaged! A writer with more wisdom than I thought possible in a young woman. I won´t even try to describe her, you must go over there and find out for yourselves!

BkCreative - always first with the most useful nature health remedies, I have learned so much from this kind hubber. She does the searching and gives you all the answers!

Elaynee001 – A hubber with great life experience, interesting facts about traditions and useful tips. She does wonder for many new hubbers and welcome them with her comments and bravely follow them as a first follower!

Dhadame - a great writer that I hope will write more. I like all her hubs and here style of writing!

Eiddwen - a hubber that share joy and warmth in an amazing way, I can´t get enough of her poems and stories!

Scribinet – an amazing source of great information that is beautifully presented. This is a hubber with so much life experience and I am grateful to follow.

Kashmir56 - writes very useful hubs and share knowledge about PC software, religion, nature and more. You are a very good hubfriend Tom, with a big heart that radiates kindness and respect for others, humans as well as animals.

GG.Zaino - what can I say without it sounding inappropriate but I try anyway)) Somehow I feel a strong connection with you, maybe it is because of your connections with Sweden or because of your great personality! I so enjoy your stories about you and your family with Elliot.

Carrie450 - a hubber that share so much hope and kindness around her. You are an inspiration to everyone and also one of the strongest women I have met.

Martie Coetser - another fantastic writer that touches me as well as everyone else with her humanity and warm soul. Martie, I feel we have so much in common and I am so impressed with your writing!

Onegooodwomen – I wish I could meet this great woman! She writes about common things in an uncommon way and I look upon everything she writes about in a new way after reading her hubs. She has accumulated several generations of knowledge.

A.A.Zavala – I love your beautiful poem as well as your writing and your witty comments. And I am still curious about who you really are!

Victoria Stevens – a great and kind hubfriend that writes about many different topics. Her hubs are well written and always very interesting.

Vocalcoach - the hub name is spot on! She is a great coach with so much wisdom and kindness and she gives of her knowledge to everyone with great enthusiasm!

Prasetio – I have read so many great hubs from this kind man! He is the master of sharing spectacular and beautiful places and inventions. I have travelled to the most unbelievable places with the aid of his hubs and learned so much new knowledge from his hubs about facts.

Lilly Grillzit - this is a fascinating woman that knows everything from practical landfill construction and how to life in the mountains and in the wilderness as well as being an expert on taxes and human relations. I so admire this strong and sensitive woman!

Tony Mac - I have learned so much about South Africa and its interesting history from this writer who let me come along on tours in a way that it feels like I have actually been there.

Aceatnna - Whenever I need to read something beautiful I can count on Aceatnna. She is the most prominent writer on describing love in a beautiful way. Her poem really touches your soul and makes everyone more beautiful inside after reading her work!

Drbj - Is like a mentor and a model of the ultimate hubber; excellent writing and interesting topics. Whatever she writes about is professionally presented and done with a big heart and a great sense of humour. I am afraid I have become a stalker:))

Ruzica - is a very sensitive and wise writer that shares her wisdom with warmth and great care for other people. There is so much to read and learn from her writing!

AliciaC - can make difficult topics into interesting articles that are easy to read for everyone. I always look forward to her hubs knowing I will learn something new and useful. This is a lady with impressive knowledge about for example science and biology and all her work seems to be done with great enthusiasm.

Just ask Susan - Again, the name is spot on! Susan is a fantastic writer that shares poetry, recipes and hubs about many different topics in a way that feels so natural. It is like all that excellent writing writes it self and as we all know, that takes special skills! I always learn something new in her corner.

Rob Hanlon - a man who writes hubs with a great sense of humour and also have a refreshing vision on life and its many problems. I always appreciate comments and hubs from this interesting hubber!

Fuchsia - another brave writer that shares her live experience and give so much help to others by doing so. It takes great skill to write about personal things in a way that everybody feels like it is written just for them!

Erin LeFey – writes poetry that touches those who read it in a special way as well as great short stories. And as if that wasn’t enough she also write about other topics and share here life experience and knowledge.

Docmo - is a writer in a class of his own and everything he writes is imbued with the doctor´s compassion and love for people and life itself. Whatever he decides to write about comes out complete and beautifully wrapped up. I love his stories as well as his hubs about other things!

Mrs.J.B - is like a fresh wind with interesting articles and marvellous stories. A hubber with straightforward comments, a big heart and a great sense of humour:) A visit in her corner always feels like getting an injection of vitality and common sense that is so well needed.

Ashantina – shares her knowledge accompanied with fantastic encouragement. She writes in a special way and it feels like she writes to you personally. I wonder how she does that?

Shygirl2 – her writing seems to come straight from her heart and if so I am amazed over how good she are at describing a character in her stories in a way that they feels real and as you know them well. I do wish she would write a book that I can read in my favourite armchair without being disturbed.

Ask DJ Lyons – another brave woman who shares her knowledge and her love to life itself. Recipes for a long and healthy life as well as hubs about nature and entertainment can be found on her site. She is an inspiration to me and all her writing is written with compassion.

Alastar Packer – is both a marvellous writer as well as a fantastic reader and a great friend. He writes about many different things and I suspect that everyone can find something interesting on his site. I have learned so much from reading his hubs and sometimes I found myself reading about topics I didn’t know I was interested in with great pleasure and engagement. I take a special writer to accomplish that! And I suspect that his wide knowledge and interest is the reason for his great comments that always is spot on and written with engagement.

Koffee Klatch Gals – A writer with many different interests and skills and luckily for us they are all shared! This is a very talented writer that writes about everything in the same excellent way and help so many from her writing.

Will Starr – whenever I see a new hub from Will Starr or if I want to enjoy a good story already published I grab a cup with something, (depending on the time of the day) and make myself confortable and just enjoy his fantastic and exiting stories! Every story is well written in a way that immediately engages me and they have also special twists at the end. I try in vain to figure out the end but with no success so far!

JS Matthew – I guess I would like to describe this great hubber as a happy freelance writer. He shares his knowledge with great warmth and enthusiasm and is a very good member of this community! I admire his kindness as well as his writing.

Mrs. Menagerie – writes wonderful hubs about many things and I am specially fascinated by her knowledge about how to live in coherency with nature in the best way possible. She writes with a good sense of humour and with a wonderful outlook on life.

Trish _M – manage the great skill to write interesting and also objective articles about many difficult topics such as theological matters as well as scientific and historical matters. A very talented writer!

RT-Talloni – the master gardener that shares knowledge about everything that is worth knowing in a fantastic way. A great source of inspiration that gives me a need to get out there and get creative in the garden!

Triciajean - we meet only recent, but I so enjoy her intelligence and knowledge about human interaction. A visit in her corner leaves you enlightened and you will have a new and shining toolbox to use in your social life.

There are also some hubbers that I deeply miss that was important to me during the first part of my first year and I must mention; Wife Who Saves that had a mission and a plan that she hold on to, KatieM that was a great part of this community as well as a great writer.

There are so many more great hubbers who’s writing I enjoy reading and I would like to mention all of you here, but I can´t go on forever so I stop now. I apologize in advance to all others that I haven´t mention and I hope that you all know who you are and feel that you are special to me. Everyone of my followers and everyone that I follow as well as every hub I have commented on has made my experience here very special. I thank you all and because of this great community I will never be the same person again!

Lesson number five:

You will change for the better after some time in this great community. Even if you don’t want to:))

Thanks for letting me read all those fantastic hubs and for making my first year at hubpages very special! Please enjoy the video down below!

Tina