I'm in Canada. How realistic is it for me to believe I will see any earnings; even after 6 months to a year writing high quality hubs?
That is a tough question to answer, I do not believe anyone can give you a clear answer. May I ask you if you have any experience writing online on any other sites?
I agree. I like your writing. After 10 hubs go ahead and apply to Adsense.
Where you are makes absolutely no difference to your chances of earning money (unless you're in a country with a probation period for Adsense - which you're not).
I've been writing for over 10 years. I have never been paid for it though. I have also never attempted to publish any writing. I'd like to, but have no idea where to start.
You are a Reiki Master so that is the niche I would start with. I read your hub and would suggest you get a little more in depth with how to become a reiki practitioner (change the title to How to Become a Reki Practitioner or something simliar that people will be searching for) and then build articles around it describing the methods and tools used, and why they work etc... For instance: How long does it take to become a practitioner and then a master using your personal journey to illustrate the article - what are the milestones etc..
Having read your hub I am still not sure exactly what reiki is and what practitioners do. I would include more in depth info to get up to 1500 words. That seems to be a sweet spot.
For each reiki item/tool you discuss in your articles, you can have an Amazon affiliate ad linking to the best oil, massage tables, stones whatever to increase your earnings.
Rae, if you are just starting out writing here on HubPages, I am only guessing you do not have an Adsense account, yet. Am I right or wrong?
I was advised by the site to wait until after I have published 10 quality hubs first. And as of now I have two.
If you do not already have Adsense add about 6 months for that, so pay out in 12 month is probably unlikely unless you can write something like a hub a day. (At least 20 featured hubs are required to apply these days)
Oh, I didn't know that HP notified members of that. That's cool. So, 8 more hubs to go to apply for the Adsense. From the hub I already read, I do not think you will have any problems getting approved.
Thank you, for the info and the compliment
You are welcome. I see you have gotten a ton of information and good advice on this thread already that will help you on HP.
Is your head swimming yet trying to absorb all this? I know its too much to take in all at once.
It is a lot to take in, yes. Thank you. It is nice to have a wide variety of opinions and information
What I suggest you do is follow the steps to fill in your tax information. You'll probably find that all you're asked to do is fill in a statement asserting that you're not a US citizen or resident. If that's the case, then HubPages doesn't get involved in your tax at all - they pay you the whole amount.
After about a year you should be making $100 a month. A lot of writers on here make a lot less and make announcements on the forums just for making payout, or $50. If you are only making $50 every month or two it is nothing to crow about.
$100 a month is not much, and you will not even make that much if you do not write original articles that have clear titles and summaries so that search engines can find your material and point readers to you. Read SEO hubs by Writer Fox, the newbie hubs by Marisa Wright, and the informational hubs by Relache (about potential income, rules on HP, etc). I also found the hubs by Barbara Kay helpful for searching for alternative and less common sources of traffic to start out. You should also read all of the FAQ and everything in the learning center before starting out.
It may seem like a lot, but if you do not do it you will never excel.
After you do that reading, I would recommend changing the title of your first two hubs.
It can be a lot of work starting out here but there is a decent potential income available to the few that learn to write what the search engines can find.
Good luck.
Thank you very much sir. That provides me with enough information now to make an educated decision on how I will proceed.
The data I gathered from self-reporting users over the entire lifetime of HubPages has shown it takes the average site user 9-18 months to achieve their first $50 payout.
I believe DrMark's statement about earnings is unrealistic. The historical monthly average payout from my data appears to be about $10, and that has been the majority experience for the predominate number of users on this site, even once they have been here for 2-4 years.
Not only is it realistic, it should be the norm. If more writers concentrated on subjects that they were passionate about (like you, Melissa A Smith, alexadry, etc) instead of just chasing keywords that they have read are going to be successful (too many of these to even mention), they would make payout in a few months and by a year be gaining at least $100 a month.
I have read your stats carefully. No, the majority are not making that much. (I also do not think the majority even takes HP seriously. Based on all of the answers you field in the forums, they have not even bothered to read the FAQ, learning center, etc.)
So I agree the majority earns little, but does that mean the OP should gain as poorly as they do?
You can write about topics of interest and still use keywords. If you want any kind of search traffic, you do still have to use keywords that perform well. If you only want to write about what you're passionate about with not much interest in search traffic, then you need a good social media and HubPages following of fans who will actually read what you write.
If you use a keyword tool to tell you what sujects are "hot", which words are going to pay the most, and then write those things that you think are going to be searched for, you are going to be sorely disappointed. The way to succeed on here, in my opinion, is to write what you want but make it search friendly.
I have only been on here a little more than two years, but in that time have seen hundreds of forum posts by writers complaining that their hubs are ranked poorly by Google. When I look at their hubs, I find that they are always about the most popular keywords (acne, asbestos, how to make money on the internet, how to succeed on hubpages, etc) and it looks like they are just trying to game the system.
I agree that is not the way to go about it. I can't write about a topic that I'm not interested in, but I always keep search and keywords in mind. I do use a keyword tool, but only after I've chosen my topic. I certainly don't start with the keyword tool.
You seem to have an absolutist position. People can use keyword tools to look for areas they are expert in and enthusiastic about rather than to blindly grab topics. And even people not using keyword tools can have strategies to use search-appropriate keywords and SEO suitable titles. There is more than one way to write profitable content. But just blindly assuming you will make a lot of money here is probably not one of them.
Absolutist? I hope not. I am still learning what is working and will continue to apply what I learn to my account.
Blindly assuming you will make a lot of money here? No, but REALISTICALLY, the OP can make about $100 a month after about a year. I am not sure how often reiki is seached for, but she could focus on many aspects of that practice, as well as many other alternative therapies.
You present it as actually being the norm. And it is not.
Okay, I guess it should be, but most of the people on here do not do the reading, do not look at other hubs and learn, and do not even manage to write more than 10 hubs. That is the norm.
It should not be.
I agree with this 100%. It is important to have realistic expectations.
Dr. Mark's expectations for new writers on HP pretty much mirrors my experience here. It took about a year with 30 hubs to reach first payout. After 4 more months I was averaging triple that. Not a fortune, but very doable.
It takes some time to see what subjects take off, why they may be more successful than some of the other hubs and then try to replicate the successful ones and develop a niche.
I agree that $100 a month after a year is overstated. My own experience doesn't bear that out. I think it depends on your SEO skills and the topics you choose.
I took off a year, but still had about 20 hubs. It took me 3 years to get first payout! In the past year,sales whether here or elsewhere are not terrfic, but average at least 1 a month rather than 1 a year. Earnings were creeping up until September.
Because of taxes they have to take off it does make a difference Marisa.
As far as I know paying the tax on your earnings is the hubber's job. So what you receive is not affected by it?
HubPages doesn't deduct taxes. It's up to you to manage your own taxes and your HubPages income will be treated the same as the rest of your income.
taken from - http://hubpages.com/faq/#taxwithholding
HubPages Earnings Program - Taxes
My account shows a withholding amount being reduced from my balance, why?
Based on the tax information you provided and/or the tax status of your HubPages Earnings Program account, the Internal Revenue Service may require certain amounts of your balance to be withheld. Unfortunately, HubPages cannot provide guidance or advice with respect to any withholding or the tax information that you have provided.
You note they refer to the IRS - that's for US residents. HubPages doesn't handle taxes for non-US residents.
Withholding should not affect most hubbers. The norm is for Hubpages to effectively say "getting your tax on this income paid is your problem".
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