How to Benefit from HubPages - An HP Writer's Perspective

"Hi Lawdoctorlee,

You have hit a pretty impressive milestone—your 3 Year Anniversary on HubPages..."

The above is a tidbit from an email I recently received from HubPages (HP). I find it hard to believe that three years have already passed since I started writing on HubPages. Quite frankly, the novelty has not worn off for me.

Why did I start writing on HubPages and why do I continue to do so? Here is a bit of raw honesty for you: three years ago, when I was frozen by post-traumatic stress disorder, my therapist suggested that I write. Just write. Period. It does not matter if anyone sees it or likes it or agrees with it. Just write. So I did, first in diaries by hand, then out of boredom I revised old college term papers, and then published many of the re-writes as hubs. I had no goal to become a writer. Truth be told, I needed another avenue to express myself because I was tired of hearing myself talk; and I needed to exercise this massive brain before I would suffer from cerebral atrophy. (That's a joke, People.).

Perhaps you are new to HubPages or you may have been here for several years like me (maybe longer). Maybe you want to learn how to be successful as a newbie or maybe you are trying to figure out whether HubPages is worthwhile. It is with this in mind that I write this Hub. Allow me to share how you can benefit from HubPages as a contributor (from an HP writer's perspective).

Become a Better Writer: If you always dreamed about become a writer, this is your opportunity. The more you write the better you become. "Writing is such a important skill to develop, particularly in this information world." The use of proper "grammar, spelling, and the ability to be articulate are valuable skills." (Lugo.).

The Opportunity to Share: There is a tremendous amount of freedom on HubPages to share an endless stream of information. Here is where you get to write about the topics that matter to you the most. I write about law, politics, travel, parenting, and personal growth. I can ask questions and answer them. I can read hubs on topics that interest me, share my opinion, and comment. It is a stimulating, positive, and healthy way to interact with other like-minded people instead of having random conversations in online chat rooms. It is here, on HubPages, that you can share your life's experiences and teach others. And, yes, HubPages can be the medium that allows you to simply vent.

An Encouraging Support System from Other Writers: Let's face it...everyone needs at least one cheerleader in their life. Here is your opportunity to get dozens of cheerleaders. Whether it is from a fellow hubber or someone on the outside who decided to read your work on HubPages, many people share your views, leave comments on hubs, vote the hubs up or down, and let you know if they think the hub is "funny", "interesting", "useful", "awesome", and "beautiful." Other writers can decide to "follow" you or leave "fan mail." I must admit that every time I receive feedback it puts a smile on my face: someone out there in the world thinks that what I write is not only important enough to read but worthy of commentary.

Develop an Audience: Particularly, if you are writing about things that matter to a lot of people, you can develop an audience and following. There are over 82,000 published users on HubPages. That is a good start. Share what you are doing with the people you know. Many will be interested in what you are writing.

A Permanent Way to Keep Your Writings: Many of us have our work (poetry, stories, and the like) written in notebooks or journals. Many of us have our writings stored on thumb drives, hard drives, or computers. Uploading your work onto HubPages is a way to keep this work "digitized, unlike hard copies that tend to be lost or destroyed over years if not kept properly." (Dip Mtra).

In a relative example, I email my friends and family regularly. When I started writing on HubPages it gave me something else to talk about with them. The emails included a link to my latest hubs. It was in this way that a former professor of mine learned about my hub "Affirmative Action: Is it Still Necessary in the 21st Century?" He loved it and asked me if I was interested in expanding the hub for a book he was writing on the topic. He assured me that I would get publishing credit. Who knew that writing on HubPages would lead to real-world, academic publishing? Well, it did.

Similarly, I took my law school thesis on modern-day segregation in New Orleans, divided it up into a series of hubs, and received super feedback from readers. It was then that I began to gain the additional confidence I needed to reach out to my professor's publisher. I took down the hubs, revised them into chapters, and sent it out with a cover letter to one of the publisher's editors. Why not? If my professor thought my hub on affirmative action was worthy of inclusion to his book, perhaps the publisher would think that my thesis would be a worthy project. Sure enough, the publisher (ABC-CLIO) was interested; and the thesis became my first book How Do Hurricane Katrina's Winds Blow? Racism in 21st Century New Orleans.

With these two professional publications to my credit, other editors from ABC-CLIO were willing to publish my work (independent scholarship, not hubs) in its academic database. To date, I have seven academic articles in the ABC-CLIO academic database.

High Earnings: True, HubPages has an ad revenue program. Do not give up your day job. This is passive income. You write a hub and you may get advertisers to place an ad on your hub. Nissan had an ad on my hub "Car Insurance: Having the Right Coverage," so did Geico. Readers will click on the ad and that generates ad revenue for the hub. I do not expect this hub to generate ad revenue. What advertisers are linked with this topic: "How to Benefit from HubPages?" Probably none.

The generated revenues are really pennies per day. For example here are a couple of days for me:

Thu, Jan 15, 2015, $0.42

Wed, Jan 14, 2015, $0.31

Tue, Jan 13, 2015, $0.36

Mon, Jan 12, 2015, $0.26

The average for me has totaled about $50 per quarter, sometimes more. But I don't do this HubPages thing for the money. I do it for the collective experience. Many hubbers have cried out against the low revenues. Some hubbers have not received a "payout"; and, while much of this could be improved by HubPages, for now, it is what it is.

Here are some tips to get better earnings:

1. write about topics that will drive high traffic
2. write in a way that drives high traffic
3. broaden the topics of your hubs to reach readers outside of HubPages
4. share your hubs via social media and email.

Here is how the above suggestions work: recently, I wrote a hub about the high-profile cases of research misconduct. I post links to my hubs on Twitter. To my surprise, The UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO), "tweeted" about this hub, shared the link, and called it "very interesting reading material." Within a couple of days, the University of Hawaii Office of Research Compliance and U.S. Office of Research Integrity, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services "re-tweeted" UKRIO's "tweet" with the hub's link. No, I do not know anyone at these agencies but I am grateful they believe it's good quality work. Of course, I sent all of the agencies a "thank you" Tweet.

There are so many hubs that explain how to increase hub traffic. Read them and implement the suggestions.

Instant Fame and Success: Truth be told, it takes time to establish yourself as a writer, years; and, if you want to be a pro, you need more than talent; you need the credentials and experience (and the connections) to do it on a professional level. Even the pros have to wait for their money. Publishing is based on royalties. You get paid a percentage on each book that you sell; and you have to wait for the book to sell.

More Personal Communication from HP Staff: I'm not sure what the 15 staff members do on HubPages. I don't think any of us know what they do. What can 15 staff members do for more than 82,000 writers? My guess is not much. We get a ton of automated messages. The most personal communication I received from the staff was when I was writing in their apprenticeship program. That was a short-lived opportunity.

Tracking your success on HubPages can be done a number of ways. It really depends on what your idea of success is.

1. Maybe you like to interact with other writers.
2. Maybe you like recognition awards or accolades (how many reads did a hub get, getting a "rising star" status, or you want to be popular among readers).
3. Maybe you use writing as a therapeutic method.
4. Maybe you want money.

Let me say this, no matter what you do academically, professionally, or for fun, if your motivation is money, you will not be successful. You are successful when you love what you do because that is where you are willing to put in all of your time and effort. Putting in all of your time and effort into what you love brings personal satisfaction and expertise. The more you do anything the better you will become. Practice does indeed make for perfection.

I am just one of over 82,000 published users on HubPages. This hub is just one of more than 950,000 hubs. You are one of "36 million people who explore HubPages every month." (HubPages).

I hope that if you are new to HubPages that you enjoy writing here. I hope that if you have been with HubPages for a while that you continue to stay. Write whenever you want about whatever you want. Make no mistake, what you have to say makes a difference in this world. Continue to do wonderful things. Stay encouraged and stay blessed.

Dip Mtra. Comment dated January 20, 2015, on "How to Benefit from HubPages: An HP Writer's Perspective.'" Liza Lugo, J.D. HubPages.com. Jan. 3, 2015.

HubPages. "What is HubPages?" http://hubpages.com/about/us. Access date: 1/19/15.

Lugo, Liza. "The Benefits of Keeping a Diary." HubPages.com. April 13, 2012. http://lawdoctorlee.hubpages.com/hub/The-Benefits-of-Keeping-a-Diary. Access date: 1/19/15.

By Liza Lugo, J.D.

© 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Ms. Lugo retains exclusive copyright and publishing rights to all of her articles and photos by her located on Hub Pages. Portions of articles or entire content of any of these articles may not be used without the author's express written consent. Persons plagiarizing or using content without authorization may be subject to legal action.

Permission requests may be submitted to liza@lizalugojd.com.

Originally written and published on January 19, 2015. Latest corrections and edits made on February 23, 2015.