HubPages - Confessions of a Novice Hubber - Who's Laughting Now Beethoven?

Dear Hubbers,

I woke up around the very reasonable time of 7:30am today; had the mandatory morning coffee; ventured out to do some tedious business at 8; before returning home an hour later, having only achieving part of what I had set out to do. Nevertheless, I set about my daily routine and, with a familiar apathy, opened my email...It was then that I got the news...

I was informed of reaching the "impressive milestone" of publishing 10 Hubs. Little did I regard my achievement with satisfaction until Hubpages informed me that said achievement was comparable to Ludwig Van Beethoven's lifetime of work.

"Ludwig van Beethoven composed ten violin sonatas. You have now written just as many Hubs - and you’re only getting started!"

I was a little surprised to find out that my 10 Hubs have already gained worldwide renown and critical applause that equal that of Beethoven's sonatas. Now in the know, I have no doubt that my accomplishment will also go down with equal prestige in the dusty pages of history.

While I do admire Beethoven - do not mistake that - I now feel a certain sense of superiority over the virtuoso pianist. What he accomplished in 52 or so years throughout the Holy Roman Empire, I have done in two weeks from my Toshiba laptop.

Two Weeks of HubPages- What I Have Learned

When I first came across Hubpages.com I was fervently seeking for work online as a content writer. It is a dismal sight when you come across an advertisement for a content writing gig and they offer $2 per article. It is a struggle to motivate yourself to complete a job with such minimal reward. But then I found HubPages and it struck me: why get paid $2 per article when I can write, publish, and promote my own work?

A little investigation filled me with enthusiasm and further reading of the abundant HubPages' success stories whetted my appetite for equal measures of monetary glory.

I started out with a couple of very quick and simple articles to get a hang of how to use the website (which to all accounts is very well put together and simple to master). Then i moved on to more directed articles that were derived from my limited SEO skills. To start with, I told myself, I would produce a reasonable 5 hubs a day - as to quicken the approach my undoubted personal success story.

But my daily target became quickly reduced to around 4, then 3, then to reality. I had once again forgotten to consult my general lack of self-motivation (which is top secret information to all of my prospective employers, bar the ones who have had the pleasure of employing me previously).

What Keeps Me Hubbing

The acknowledgment of my lack of motivation was surprising as it always is; this reality, however, never deterred me from continuing to publish Hubs. Either has the realization that I am not going to get rich overnight here - nor in six months of passing nights. Rather I have come to realize the true value of HubPages to myself.

I am not going to say that I love writing: it can be quite an annoying and tedious pursuit. But I do gain a certain satisfaction from the challenges it presents - a satisfaction that I cannot quite define in words. More than anything though, I find I have a desire to improve my writing skills. And this is a place I can work on that desire, and maybe, just maybe, earn a little reward in the mean time.

To this end I have also concluded to cover subjects that interest me personally, and not because a subject may have 20 million monthly searches. "Quality articles flourish" after all, as Hubpages never fails to remind: a statement which made me feel quite guilty reading as I bashed out the first few hubs as quickly as I possibly could.

I've also come to realize that this is a great place to hone my SEO and other related skills, which are admittedly currently limited and which I find myself lying about on my CV. This also applies to promoting my content through social media and forums. I can use certain techniques for one Hub, then differ for another, comparing the results. The progress is slow and but I am learning for sure.

But more than anything the HubPages community keeps me coming back. Yeah, that's right, I mean you guys! From what I have experienced so far the community is a mature group of like-minded people who are more than happy to share their knowledge, which is nice to see when all I have to expect from internet discussion is a lot of spamming and a lot of insulting.

So I Shall Stay For A While...

I like the atmosphere and the challenge of attracting traffic, so ill hang around. Plus if I actually write some material I consider "quality" its good to get it out there and see what happens. And maybe I will earn some money in the end; but i'm not too concerned with that anymore: i'm happy to just going along for the ride.

Given a Tashiba laptop, internet connection, and Resurrection, perhaps Beethoven would surpass my Hubing talent, given time. But as it stands, this being Hub No.11, it is clear for all to see I have outdone his achievements. Wolfgang is next.

PS. I still don't know what one call oneself when they are an active Hubpage user. I think i've heard the term "Hubber" abound, but this might be a product of my imagination. Seems right and wrong at the same time. What is the right terminology?

PSS. Happy Hubbing!