Goodbye, and Thank You

1. 90

   lisavollrathposted 9 years ago

   Friends, it's been an interesting two months since I migrated here from Squidoo, but I've decided HubPages isn't the place for me, or my content. Starting tomorrow, I'll begin the process of moving my hubs to my own web sites. (Including today's Hub of the Day, which is my second this month.)
   
   For what it's worth, I think the people here are great, minus the one or two who have been real jerks. I'm very impressed with the way the staff here handled the merger, and participated in the process here on the forums. Thanks to all the staff and hubbers alike who answered my bazillion questions, and generally made me feel welcome.
   
   I don't think HubPages is a bad place, and I'm not leaving with bad feelings. I just think, in terms of how I approach marketing myself and my various creative projects online, HubPages is a bad fit. If there are two words that have made my decision to leave this site an easy one, they are "passive income". I just can't wrap my head around the idea that the prevailing approach to building readership here is to just post articles, and hope Google likes them, and that people eventually find them through search. I don't know how to sit back and wait for readers to find me. That goes against everything I know about marketing myself online.
   
   So, thanks. It's been great knowing you. I wish you all success, and inspiration, and endless page views.
   
   Lisa

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   1. 77

      LuisEGonzalezposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Sad to see you go.............
      

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   2. 86

      rebekahELLEposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Lisa, I don't think that is the prevailing approach to building readership here.  With the competition online now, it simply isn't enough.  There are plenty of talented hubbers here that you'll never see in the forums who realize that you can't wait for readers to magically appear.  Don't take what you hear in these forums as the prevailing approach.  You've made a great start.
      But at the same time, you need to do what you need to do if this is how you pay the bills.  I wish you the best.

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         ChristinSposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         I completely agree with Rebekah and would be sad to see you go.  Many of us here choose to ignore Google and promote ourselves on social media, and that approach works better for me. 
         
         I will admit however that I find myself nearing the same point as you.  My traffic here is abysmal when I don't constantly promote it on social media and it's tiresome.  My own websites are thriving since the latest Panda update while my HP views seem to continue their downward trend for me.  I'm thinking also of re-homing most of my work, but leaving some here as I enjoy the community very much.  You offer a lot to HP and I do hope you will continue to participate when you can.
         
         I can understand the sentiment from both sides here

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   3. 75

      Lionrhodposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Can you possibly explain your theories here? It might be helpful for us newbies.
      
      I'm going to miss you! Please do post where we can find you.

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   4. 74

      Barbara Kayposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Lisa, Many of us do actively market our content. One thread doesn't mean that is the way all of us feel. If you still need to move your content, I'm sorry to see you go.

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      Dale Hydeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry to see you go.  I have moved quite a few of my Hubs that became unfeatured here to my site over the past year myself.
      
      I am a tad confused about what you refer to as "passive income."  To me, "passive income" was not sitting around waiting for Google to find you and readers to pour in.  We have always been encouraged to share our material socially and other ways with backlinks and such.
      
      "Passive income" was originally meant to mean, to me, that once published, you did not have to update the article and income would come in.  That has all changed since I became a member.  Now we are told to continually tweak our Hubs with the various whims of Panda and Penguin and what HP may think is the right thing to do at the moment.  It never stops.  Passive income is not longer a part of HP in my way of thinking.

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   6. 90

      lisavollrathposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Guys, thanks for all the comments. I'm not looking for anyone to talk me out of this. It's a done deal. It makes sense financially, and fits better with my business plan for 2015.
      
      I forget that many of you don't know me. I started writing online at About.com in 1999, and left when I ran out of things to say about my topic. I went to BellaOnline for a while, and then to Squidoo. At the same time, I was building my own web sites, and my email list. I have readers now who have followed me from site to site since I started.
      
      Oh, and while I was doing all that stuff in the last paragraph, my day job was as a content editor in the online marketing department of Michaels.com. If ever there was the perfect education in how to, and how not to, market the kind of stuff I do, that job was it.
      
      Right now, I have six web sites scattered across the domains I own: LisaVollrath.com, TenTwoStudios.com, & GoMakeSomething.com. Some of them are commercial sites, some are supported by ads, and some are purely to showcase my artwork. On Facebook, I manage two art groups, and a business page. From all these sites, I've  cobbled together a good enough living to own a home, and pay my bills.
      
      And yes, I am doing well here at HubPages. But not as well as I can do on my own. I came, I saw, I crunched the numbers, and now, I'm going.

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   7. 83

      bethperryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Lisa, I will miss you much. You are an engaging person with a good head on your shoulders. But we must all be willing to take chances and work to make our hearts' contentment, otherwise it will never come. I wish you the best of luck with your new endeavors and that you will be very happy. Hugs

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      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I for one am going to miss you - I have grown used to seeing your familiar face in the forums.  Best wishes with your future projects.

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      lawrence01posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Lisa
      Sorry I haven't gotten back earlier as I was sad to read that you were thinking of leaving. I was going to suggest that whomever wanted to could be more pro-active in promoting each others writing in that when we find a good hub really worth reading that we can share it with the people on our social media outlets. If we could get more hubbers doing this then we would effectively be marketing each others hubs and promoting each other.
      
      I realize that may not be what you're thinking of but it's a start and it's what I've started doing as I tried the 'write and hope' method with Squidoo and believe me it really does not work!
      
      What do you think?

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       Susana Sposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Some go for the passive income approach (I went that route and I'm still making thousands per year on old content) others go for a social media audience. There's no right or wrong way. I've only just started to get my head round how to write for social traffic and have some new hubs in the pipeline with that aim - hopefully they'll do what I want them to do! You can definitely mix and match or do one or the other. It's up to you.

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       Christy Kirwanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Best of luck in your future projects, Lisa, and we hope you'll come on back if it's ever a better fit with your business goals. Take care.

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2. 91

   jansharesposted 9 years ago

   I respect that, Lisa. I hate to see good people go. I was just getting used to you in the forums. You became a good hubber. I wish you success in your online endeavors. Peace out.

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3. 61

   paradigmsearchposted 9 years ago

   Lisa, you've racked up over 10K in views in only 2 months. That's impressive in anybody's book. Not to mention an author score of 99. For me, anything over 95 is a flaming miracle.
   
   Don't burn the bridge, merely make it one of many.
   
   HP is the only decent writing site still on the planet. I do agree that the only thing better is your own domain names, I'm in the process of doing that my own wonderful self.
   
   But keep HP as one of your venues. I do hope you've tried the HP ads program, can't be beat. In fact, I'm going to get around to torturing HP about expanding it, but that's for another thread.

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      LuisEGonzalezposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Like Para said, you seem to be doing really good here and I don't see any need for you to leave. Leave your articles here be and come back from time to time to tweak them etc and enjoy what HubPages has to offer.

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   2. 90

      lisavollrathposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      55K as of this morning. I'll get a nice payday next month.
      
      The author score? I still have no idea what that number is about.

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         Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         BTW - 99 is a pretty good Hubber/Author score. Careful some would kill for it lol.

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4. 64

   cfinposted 9 years ago

   Lisa,
   Many on hubpages write articles and don't have time to market them. For me, hubpages is right for my current situation. I spent some time last year, spreading my tourism articles around the web. They are still a success today. I do not, however, have the time to do so regularly.
   
   Your level of commitment though, is a higher one. Why work for someone and through someone when you can make it on your own. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. I very much respect your attitude and level or commitment.

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5. 76

   Shorebirdieposted 9 years ago

   I actually think you're doing quite well here.  I'm not doing very well here at all, though I'm actually doing much better than I did at Squidoo with the same content.  I am used to posting just articles because that's why I do on many other sites.

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6. 93

   Phyllis Doyleposted 9 years ago

   Lisa, whichever road you choose to travel, I wish you all the best and great success. I would like to see you stay here at HubPages, however, you know yourself better than anyone does and must follow your heart and spirit. Take care.

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7. 0

   Crisantonioposted 9 years ago

   So sad to meet you on the day that you're saying goodbye... -_- good luck and may the universe smile upon you! But in all earnest, I hope we meet someday. Take care from us at Hubpages!

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8. 88

   WryLiltposted 9 years ago

   Er, how do you market? I still don't know how that works and this account is at nearly 4 million views with 70 hubs.
   
   If you write content that markets itself, then you don't have to waste time marketing. Instead you can go write more
   
   I started a website 18 months ago, just to throw out some old articles. Now it's nearing 3,000 views per day. 75% of that is from search engines, the rest is from people sharing because it's good content that answers questions.
   
   I personally hate hands on marketing!

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      NateB11posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      + 10,000
      
      Glad you said it, because I was thinking it; well, I don't have the success that your work has, but my feeling is the same. I can't imagine busting my *** to market my work, I'm in no way a marketer anyway (hate that kind of thing), when people who just want to find my work can in the search engine; because they want and are looking for the information. I mean, that's the point of passive income. Not to do extra work. And have more time to write, etc.

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9. 73

   brakel2posted 9 years ago

   Lisa.   I understand but hate to see you go. You are such a positive influence on this site. Can't you leave some hubs behind to see the recovery that may come?  It can turn around. I hope you are here to see it If not, good luck.

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10. 89

    Sharlee01posted 9 years ago

    Best of luck.

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    Rochelle Frankposted 9 years ago

    I understand that it is a personal business decision, and I wish you well in that.
    It has been a pleasure to see you here over the past couple of months, both you content, attitude  and comments have been superb. I think you have been a positive influence on HP in many different ways.
    Are you sure you don't want to leave just a bit of content here for awhile?
    Best wishes.. at least let us know how to find you elsewhere.

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    Solarasposted 9 years ago

    I really and truly hate to see you go, and will make my attempt to keep a part of you here right now.
    
    You will make more here than you will on your own sites per view.  So why not share the wealth between them.
    
    Crazyhorsesghost is often making $1000.00 a day by using his personal sites to drive traffic back to HP.  He expects to make $10K a day doing this.  I don't know if that is possible, but you and he may have similar sized viewer bases.
    
    We have enjoyed having you here on a personal level.  I think you should consider how HP can work in an overall marketing scheme. Don't put all eggs in one basket of course, but you may find some profitable eggs here, and certainly fellow hubbers that would like for you to stay. Please reconsider... this is a good site which can improve your overall marketing scheme.

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    1. 93

       Phyllis Doyleposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       " I think you should consider how HP can work in an overall marketing scheme. "  I so agree with that.
       
       Lisa, please do not be too hasty to leave and at least try keeping HP in your marketing scheme, at least long enough to see is it works for you.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I find the complete opposite to be true.  I get fewer visitors to my own sites but I earn far more per visit.

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          Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          How?? From what source??

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             Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

             Mainly from Google, just like HubPages.
             
             Of course, it does depend on what you are writing about.  I write about dance and there are no big, dominating sites in that subject area like there are in, say, food or fashion.
             
             The recent Panda update, which was supposed to give small- and medium-sized websites a better chance, was good to my sites.

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                Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                I had the same views on HP and my blog, but HP was paying 4 times what I got from Adsense.  Maybe I don't have the right ads in the right places. It says for optimization one star, but it looks pretty spammy to me already.

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                1. 85

                   Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                   You can't make money from Adsense alone.  In fact, I don't even bother with it on my blogs because (as you say) it looks so spammy.  You make money with affiliate marketing - actively seek out companies in your niche who offer affiliate schemes and join them.  I don't bother with banner ads - I use product images linked with my affiliate link, in posts where they're relevant.  Sure, they will earn only if people buy stuff, but it's up to you to find and recommend products they'll want to buy! 
                   
                   Start a newsletter and invite your blog visitors to sign up.  Once you've got a good subscription list, you can start approaching companies in your niche to sell them advertising space on your blog and in your newsletter.  You might even be able to partner with a supplier to sell their products direct.  Write some ebooks and sell them to your subscribers as well. 
                   
                   By the way, the link on your profile to your blog doesn't work - you can have only one website on that link and you've tried to add two.
                   
                   I suggest you  look at this site which has lots of Blogger templates you can download:
                   http://btemplates.com/blogger-templates/fluid-width/
                   
                   I would also recommend looking at Skimlinks, then you can forget about the Amazon ads - instead, recommend products in your text when you're providing a solution, make those recommendations hyperlinks to Amazon, and then add an image.  If you can manage to hyperlink the image too, fine - but it is fiddly on Blogger.  Also remember the rule we know on HubPages - your ad or link has to be right where you recommend it.  At the bottom of a post never works.

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    Arachneaposted 9 years ago

    I saw this thought, "Hmmmm." Thought something else but kinda forgot what it was before I got my fingers going on the keyboard. Your voice of perspective will definitely be missed around here. I wish you all the best in your decision.

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    Nanciajohnsonposted 9 years ago

    As a newbie to both Squidoo and HP and writing articles, I did not get to follow you yet!  I quickly went to your FB page, gave it a like so I can follow you after leaving HP.  After glancing at your websites and FB page, I think I understand and respect your decision.

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    goatfuryposted 9 years ago

    That's awesome, Lisa.  Congratulations on a bold decision, and presumably you'll still have some content left behind for passive income earnings, right?  If so, that's awesome.  If not, consider diversifying just a tad and leaving a handful of articles here.

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    amiebutchkoposted 9 years ago

    Good luck and was very nice seeing your face around here the past few months.

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    Marie Flintposted 9 years ago

    With all your experience, Lisa, who am I to argue? Thank you for leaving the names of your sites where you can be followed. Blessings!

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    colorfuloneposted 9 years ago

    Lisa, you are a very good writer, and a good soul. HubPages and the community will be lesser without you. But, my best wishes go with you and I hope you attain some of your personal goals venturing out.

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19. 0

    swilliamsposted 9 years ago

    lisavollrath! You have great articles full of helpful information. From experience I can tell you that with time my Hubs have attracted resourceful people in the Literary Industry and Screen Actors Guild. The ability to showcase my work through the Hubpages been very beneficial! Your Hub articles can play as a portfolio to those who interested in your certain style of work. It's a great way to build your brand. Yet whatever route you consider as Mrs. Kirwan stated the Hubpages always leaves the door open for return as I have seen writers from the past come back in full force. You still may want to consider using your Hubpage articles as a tool to build your brand which is worth the investment. Here is a good link http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/How- … line-Brand
    
    On a seperate note, thank you for your  dog funeral information, very helpful!

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20. 84

    Buildrepsposted 9 years ago

    Bye, Lisa. Hubpages looses a skilful authentic writer. Good luck on your journey!
    I will follow you soon

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21. 67

    Dressage Husbandposted 9 years ago

    I wish you would stay as I really admire your work, but I understand the decision and the basis for it.
    
    You definitely could help a lot of us here improve our work and results. I think you will do very well no matter where you write so go for it and follow your heart.

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    Jayne Lancerposted 9 years ago

    Before you go, Lisa, I'd like to thank you for introducing me to altered books and rusted paper--absolutely fascinating. Wishing you all the best for the future!

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    The Examiner-1posted 9 years ago

    lisavollrath,
    I cannot believe that you are leaving. After the Hubs and comments which I have seen from you. I will certainly miss you that is for sure ;(, I wish you good luck, where ever you go, I just wish that it was not from here.

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24. 85

    Marisa Wrightposted 9 years ago

    Sorry Lisa, Solaras and I have hijacked your thread.
    
    You're probably smiling because I'm suggesting many of the same techniques you were advising to Hubbers, so you see we do agree on a lot of things really!  The only area of disagreement is that I can't see the point of doing those things on a site I have no control over. 
    
    I made the same decision as you a long time ago, as did many of the early Hubbers - there is more potential in my own sites.  I'm still here because I still think HubPages is a great place for new writers to cut their teeth online, and the forums are my online home - but I very rarely write new Hubs.  You might want to hang around in the forums even if you're not writing here full-time - and why not leave a few Hubs here, so you can see how the future of the site develops?

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       Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Ohh - Sorry Lisa - I thought we were on a different thread. Excuse me, sorry!  I am getting confused in my new old age. (Had a birthday last month and things went South).

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    2. 90

       lisavollrathposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       You two have been pestering me with notifications all day today!
       
       I've moved 16 of my 50 articles so far. It's going really well, considering the last week of every month is always ridiculously busy with other things.
       
       I'm not sure I'll be leaving articles behind. What would be the point?

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          LongTimeMotherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          You could drive traffic to them from your own sites (particularly if the hubs you leave are ones you don't expect to make sales on) and then see how it goes. You get paid for views on hp.
          
          Good luck with it, either way.

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          Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          If all your Hubs are relevant to your blogs and fit well there, then perhaps there isn't a point - although leaving one or two in each topic, with a link to the related blog, would give you a few useful backlinks.

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    101Ways2Lifeposted 9 years ago

    Hi Lisa, I have been in content writing all my life, and in online writing space since 2004, and I have found that HP have a very good SEO thing going, which makes it easier for artiles to get ranked, compared to the same articles on your own website. That's what I have found when I have experimented with similar articles.
    
    As others have said before me, it is difficult to get as many pageviews as you have managed in such a short time on HP. If I was you, I would leave my articles on HP, and write updated articles on my own domains. But as you say, it's a done deal and there's no looking back. So I wish you all the best. 

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    shellys-spaceposted 9 years ago

    Lisa: Best of luck to you. If you have any Hubs that don't fit on your websites, I would leave them here and not delete them just yet. I know how much time it takes to keep your own websites up and running, let alone posting new information. You have been active here on the forums, something I find hard to keep with and I participated more on the Squidoo forums, but I can not say it was better, just easier for me to navigate.
    
    Best of luck to you, how ever you decide is best  way to use your time and talents!

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    Arachneaposted 9 years ago

    I thought I'd pop by again. Just finished noting the recipes you'd posted that I want to try.

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28. 0

    Daniella Lopezposted 9 years ago

    Lisa, it has been a pleasure reading your work and engaging with you through forums and the Q&A section. I hate to see you go, but I certainly understand the reasoning behind it. I have also been slowly moving my work to other domains. Hope it all works out for you!

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