Switching writing models to earn money as a writer

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   TessSchlesingerposted 4 years ago

   In my first month on Medium, I have earned more than I have earned at Hubpages in the same period. Of course, my earnings at hubpages are now less than 10% of what they were a year or more ago.
   
   I'm not sure what is happening at hubpages, but its ranking on the web has fallen drastically. Put that together with the fact that adspend has fallen into the black pit (of possible no-return), and the days when writers earned a small and desperate percentage of whatever adspend was available, then one can see that many publications are doomed.
   
   International publications like the Independent, the Guardian, and many others are no longer depending on Adspend. They are depending on subscribers.
   
   That's how Medium and Substack work.
   
   This explains the system.
   
   https://on.substack.com/p/a-better-future-for-news
   
   The nice things about these sites is that there are no hoops to jump through. Sure, it took me a week to get two of my articles curated for the big time on Medium. And sure there are people on Medium who haven't had an article curated in the three or four years on Medium. One lady said she was told it was the topic - Christianity. The bottom line is that there are people on hubpages that have been here a lot longer and they still aren't earning. The bottom line is that some people write well, and others don't. And the other bottom line is that there are some pretty awesome writers here as well.
   
   So if you are a half way decent writer, the days of funding writing through advertising are over.
   
   I don't know if hubpages will recover. I think they made a strong move when they didn't remove all the dross from the site years ago. And I'm sorry about that, because there are a lot of decent writers on this site, and it's sad that their income is going to fail because advertising is going to lose its power.
   
   That is the world we are now entering.
   
   Whatever decision you make about where you are going to write, I wish you well.

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      OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I've also joined Medium, but for different reasons.  After years of writing how-to articles, I need an outlet to be able to write more creatively, stuff that would never earn here on HP.  I don't expect to earn much on Medium.  I don't write on any of the "popular" topics, but it's a good place for me to experiment a little, find my voice, enjoy writing again.  Writing has become a real drag for me the past couple of years.
      
      I appreciate everyone's explanation of Substack.  I wasn't sure quite what it was.  Interesting concept.

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         TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Can I have your URL on Medium?  What do you write?

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            OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you for asking.  It's https://medium.com/@carenawhite.  Right now I am concentrating on 2 topics, how I'm surviving the pandemic as well as more creative garden writing.

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               lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               "...this is the Disney version of nature". Nice way to put it. I'm probably going to steal that in conversations. I also grew up with vast open land and nature around, it was amazing.
               
               Do you pronounce the word herb with a silent 'h'? Only asking because you wrote "an herb".

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                  OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Here in the US, the h is usually silent. There are a few people who pronounce it, but they are few and far between.

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               TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               This URL doesn't work, but I did add you as you found me!

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                  theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Just remove the period from the end
                  
                  https://medium.com/@carenawhite

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         Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, that's a great idea.

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   Marisa Writesposted 4 years ago

   For many HubPages writers, the problem will be that Medium requires a completely different kind of article.   
   
   ....which will also be an advantage for versatile writers, who can choose to write one style of article for Medium and another for HubPages.
   
   Opinion pieces, politics, news commentary, self-discovery and poetry have never done well on HubPages and probably never will.  They seem to do well on Medium (Medium even has its own poetry magazine, I believe).
   
   Substack is not an article-writing site.  It's a place where you can create your own blog/website with an attached newsletter.  For Hubbers who have a lot of Hubs on one specialist subject, it would be worth considering.  It would be pointless for anyone who is not a specialist.
   
   Thanks for making Hubbers aware of these options.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I'm curious about your last remark.
      
      Substack isn't a content writing site. But one still writes articles - for a paid subscription list.
      
      Writers need to adapt.
      
      I think coronavirus is going to be with us a long time, and a lot of business is going to go under, which means a lot of adspend is going to disappear, which means writers will need to be paid for by some other method.
      
      Certainly, as a result of Google and Facebook taking all the adspend, about 75% of print publications have closed during the past 20 years. I think there's another shift now.

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         Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         An article-writing site is a site where many writers contribute to one website. All of the HubPages niche sites, and the main site, are article-writing sites.
         
         On an article-writing site, you are like a staff writer for a magazine.  For administrative convenience, you can see all your articles grouped together on your own account, but Google doesn't see it that way.  It just sees Hobbylark as one website to which all its articles belong, Letterpile as one website to which all its articles belong, and so on.
         
         Substack is a blogging platform which allows each individual writer to create their OWN individual niche site - just the same as if you started a blog on Wordpress or Blogger.  The difference is that Substack offers several enhancements, allowing you to run a newsletter and a subscription service associated with your site.

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            TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, I'm aware of that.
            
            My point was simply that the payment model was changing - that advertising was going to be scarce, i.e. adspend.
            
            And if writers are being paid from adspend (advertising budget), then they are going to earn less and less.

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               Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               So what precisely were you curious about in my last remark?  I don't quite understand.

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   theraggededgeposted 4 years ago

   I was just wondering how you were getting on, Tess. Have you got a link to your Medium profile? I am intrigued but don't know if my sort of thing would work there.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I'm still working some things out, but I'm pretty happy with the way it's going.
      
      Tony Lawrence (Pcunix) also joined at the same time I did, and he's also happy with the way it's going.
      
      https://medium.com/@tessaschlesinger
      
      We've been working together figuring out which topics do well and which don't.
      
      If you join, we'll share data with you.

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         theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         You have a great collection of articles already, and in wide-ranging topics. I am tempted
         
         I'm always a bit nervous of a new platform. I was a member of HubPages for two years before I plucked up the courage to write here. The Apprentice program gave me a lovely kickstart, for which I'll be ever grateful.

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            lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Oh, you were in the apprentice program! Wasn't it just for new hubbers? They should definitely begin that again.

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            TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I understand that.
            
            I've known for a good many years that the model on which hubpages is based will eventually fail.
            
            In real life, I've worked for magazines, newspapers, and SEO companies. Adspend is disappearing because Millennials aren't into stuff, and they don't trust advertising.
            
            With Cornonavirus, I'm sticking my head out when I say this, but I doubt we will ever return to 'normal.'
            
            I think we're going to be hit by coronavirus again and again and again. I think we are going to be in a state of perpetual social distancing. I think people are going to work more and more from home, and that things are going to move on line.
            
            The days of shopping in stores are going to be limited, and I think lots of people are going to die as governments insist on opening up to save the economy.
            
            I think our economic model is going to change, and as a result advertising is not going to be what it used to be.
            
            I think it's true that some of what I write is more suited to Medium than to Hubpages, but that's because there are subscribers paying for content.
            
            Hubpages used a model where followers and subscribers aren't needed. It's based on SEO - people searching for topics.
            
            Quite apart from that, Google constantly changes what is required, and it's a constant hop and a skip for HP to keep ahead of the SEO.
            
            In the past two years I've been studying how to sell books (picking up at last), and the one constant I keep hearing is that one has to have an email list of people who want to read one's stuff.
            
            I've been incredibly resistant to that. However I'm gradually coming around. If one wants to survive as a writer, that's the way we are going to have to go.
            
            These are my opinions.
            
            I may be wrong.

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               theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               I've done it https://medium.com/@troi_53705
               
               I also took a paid membership. Is that a good thing?

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                  lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Congrats Nice bio.

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                  TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Absolutely. I will tell Tony that you've joined as well, and we'll bring you up to speed. We talk on Twitter but are also fb friends.
                  
                  I will add you. Where can you I write to tell you what you need to know.

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                     TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                     Um. Egg on my face. I've just reread it and whatever I was thinking has disappeared in the darkest recesses of my mind. Sorry, Marisa.
                     
                     Your points are valid for people who write about topics that are not well received on Medium. There are, however, more than 1000 magazines on the site, and one can start one's own magazine.

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                        Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                        I saw that, but I still think the "how to" style articles that work (or used to work...) on HubPages would be totally unsuitable for Medium, even if one started one's own magazine.  Whether there is anywhere else they would work is another question.

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                           TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                           Marisa, I'm not sure. You may be right.
                           
                           On the other hand, platforms change.
                           
                           One person brings a list of followers with him/her from another platform, and that begins to take off.
                           
                           It's numbers that count,
                           
                           One is paid according to whether one's article is read or not.
                           
                           So if one is googling a topic, one will find an article on hubpages. One may well find it on Medium as well - behind a paywall.
                           
                           I know that because in the past when I've looked for data, I've often found a Medium article that covered it, but I hadn't paid $50 (for the year) so I couldn't read it. I must say, having paid it, there are stunning writers there.
                           
                           So if someone had a website with a 100,000 followers (instagram or elsewhere) that showed one how to sew, and then one started writing on Medium, those followers would follow one there, and some of them would pay or would already have paid. This is what a good number of people have done.
                           
                           Unfortunately, their topics are more about making money, writing, etc. I'm done with those topics!
                           
                           When one opens a publication on medium (anyone can), one can invite other writers to write there. Or one can source articles on medium and add them to one's magazine- with permission, of course. People like being asked to have their stuff in a publication because one gets more readers because it's topic specific.
                           
                           So if someone opened up a publication for dancing, and then posted many different articles about dancing and music and invited other writers who wrote about the same thing to write as well, over a period of time it would grow.
                           
                           That's the way the system works.

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                              Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                              If someone had a successful website with a large following, I doubt they would have time to write on Medium, or even feel the need.  They can probably earn a better income on their site. 
                              
                              For me it's all theoretical as I have zero interest in writing much these days.

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                                 TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                                 Not true. Umair Haque is one of the world's foremost thinkers. He has numerous books out there. He writes for many other publications. and he writes on Medium a good few times a week.
                                 
                                 There are lots of people who have blogs and high paying websites, and they do.
                                 
                                 Casey Botticello does.
                                 
                                 https://caseybotticello.com/
                                 
                                 Marisa, I understand that you don't want to write for Medium. But there are other people, in view of the fact that we may be earning $2 a month now, who might want to, and whose articles are better suited there.

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                                    Margaret Panposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                                    And here I thought it was just me who earns $2 a month because I'm still new here. I was under the impression that things were better for older members.

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                                       theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                                       They are I'm still in the mid hundreds, but under half of what I normally earn. I'm having to delve into my other half's bank account for grocery money

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                                       TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                                       For the last few years, I've always made payout - two or three times or a bit more the payout level.
                                       
                                       What is happening now is not normal.
                                       
                                       It's been going down for months.

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                                       DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

                                       There are plenty of "older members" who earn less than that. Even according to Mediums own figures, 93% of the people who write on that site earn less than $100 a month. https://medium.com/blogging-guide/mediu … 17a6369036
                                       OldRoses comment about why she wants to write there is great. If you want to join the site to be creative, go for it. If you want to earn there are no guantees anywhere.

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                                          TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                                          No, there are no guarantees anywhere.
                                          
                                          But some people routinely manage to earn wherever they are, and some don't.
                                          
                                          I guess one has to know whether a site will work for one or not.

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                                             DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

                                             Very true Tess. I think you have to enjoy it and if you manage to earn too that is great.

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                     theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                     I'm not on FB but I'll turn on my contact button on my HubPages profile. Is email okay with you?

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                  TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Here's an interesting list of keywords for Medium. You can see which ones are read the longest. You get paid by the amount of time people read your articles. So you're aiming to be read.
                  
                  https://gist.github.com/baditaflorin/e3 … 9d20411816
                  
                  If you download that into a spreadsheet, you can see which topics are best written about on Medium. Obviously those that have four minutes reading are better than those with one minutes reading.
                  
                  There's a lot to learn before you do your first article. Let me know where I can email you.

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                     theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks, contact button on. https://hubpages.com/@theraggededge

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               viryaboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               You just summed up all the thoughts swirling around in my head in the past few weeks.
               
               Some of the reasons why I started publishing on KDP. Expanding on some of my articles and publishing them as eBooks.

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                  TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Yup. Exactly what I did. Took my top performing article and turned it into a book. It's now my top selling book.
                  
                  I think to diversify is important.

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   bhattucposted 4 years ago

   Medium is not earning from ads but from the fees from members which is $5 per month  at present.
   They distribute some money to writers from this. So model is different there.
   Anyway, a good writer can earn everywhere.

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   lobobrandonposted 4 years ago

   I see your point and I have to agree with Marisa. This is something we already spoke about too.
   
   But all things aside, I still cannot read your articles, not until the start of the next month. The topics you wrote about would never really do well on HP, that's for sure. But, my question to you is this:
   
   You are comparing your first months on HP to Medium. Other than the fact that you have more experience with writing for an internet crowd today, did you publish as many hubs in the start? I ask this because you've got plenty on Medium, half the amount that you've got here.
   
   I love your author bio on Medium btw.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. I did. The first time I joined hubpages, I wrote approximately three articles a day. I hit $300 in a few months, and $600 within six months. I left because of the nastiness.
      
      However, those days, the environment was completely different. It was before Panda.
      
      Also, it's impossible to write on hubpages at the speed with which I can write on Medium. The formatting is different. It's much easier to access.
      
      Also, I suppose, I'm to some degree done with hubpages. I'm tired of editors changing my photos and that affects my traffic. People go for pictures - not for words. That's what makes them click on the article. Keywords are useful when it comes to Google search, but not if people are clicking on links from sites like facebook or pinterest.
      
      The second time I joined Hubpages, I didn't write for a year. And, no, I didn't write as many articles.
      
      The point is that with all my articles there now, I have still earned a bit more on Medium than I have on hubpages with all my articles.

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         lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Oh yes, I remember now that you had another account. That makes sense. But, I am not at all surprised that you do well on Medium. Good luck and also good news on your books.

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   lobobrandonposted 4 years ago

   Interesting.

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