Focus on what you can change – not what you can't.

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   Jan Stepanposted 17 months ago

   Hello everybody
   
   There's something I've been thinking about for a long time when reading through the forums. Lately, the negativity in here has been over the top. I understand the reasons and share the frustration with you all – I am also frustrated. We all know that there's much more to wish for. However, the so-repeating suggestions of "fix this because this is the issue" are not helpful to anybody. I have quite a lot of knowledge of SEO and site-building and know what a science it is to hit the sweet spot in a constantly changing landscape – no matter how much experience you have.
   
   There are no easy fixes. Everybody complains about the layout, but let me remind you that the layout on our sites is, in most cases, still better than what you can encounter on other sites. Nobody I've shared my articles with has ever complained about the readability, not once – neither on phone or PC. Most were happy they could read the article for free because, as many of you know, many sites lock their content behind subscriptions. Believe it or not, I see that as our massive advantage and why I believe the future here still may be bright for us writers.
   
   But most importantly, stop focusing on what you can't change. I know it's hard, specifically when one invested a lot of effort and time in something... But what does it help to focus on things you can't do anything about? Why not use all that energy to support each other, your fellow writers, and the people behind all this instead?
   
   We're all in this together, and everybody wants to succeed. So let's unite and show everybody how damn good we are and that we're a force to count with.

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      Kenna McHughposted 17 months agoin reply to this

      Jan, I hear you. I agree. I just finished a new article and will complete another one today or tomorrow.
      
      With that, good management is caring.

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         Jan Stepanposted 17 months agoin reply to this

         I see you're getting very close to 200 articles, Kenna. What an impressive milestone!
         
         And yes, I agree. Good management goes a long way.
         
         I saw that it started to go a bit overboard, and most of the complaints were more or less identical as well. Having studied management and observing management approaches in various industries, I think there's the right time for criticism and encouragement. We've had a lot of criticism already, so I feel it's time for some encouragement now.
         
         Even the leaders and decision-makers need to hear that people are with them. It can be a lonely place up there.

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            Kenna McHughposted 17 months agoin reply to this

            Thanks, Jan. I don't know if decision-makers feel lonely, but it would be nice to hear from them.

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      SerenityHaloposted 17 months agoin reply to this

      Yes and no. Complaining can get out of hand, but it's important that people voice their frustrations. It is clear that there are things that are unresolved. It would be somewhat cruel to tell these people to put on a happy face when they may have lost hundreds or thousands in earnings. They're frustrated for a reason. You can always not read what they're saying if it bothers you. You can start a different forum topic for positive engagement.
      
      Jan, I see that you've been here for two years. You've put together an impressive portfolio. You almost have 100 articles! For many, their earnings started going backward about two years ago, and that decrease may have been significant. They more than likely would like some compassion and to feel heard, not told to shut up because it's making things worse. That's pretty frustrating for those who got hurt by recent updates, whether from Google or internally.
      
      People are complaining because their earnings haven't recovered, and they're hopeful that something can resolve it. If they don't get what they want one of three things will happen:
      
      1. They'll leave. They'll stop writing here and go somewhere else. There are other competitive platforms where people can write and earn money. So if you don't like the way someone is in the forums ... they'll probably eventually leave.
      2. They'll keep complaining and trying to find a magic cure for their HP account. (These people are still somewhat hopeful even if it comes out as complaining.)
      3. They'll stick around and wait ... and wait ... and wait ... but for how long? 
      
      Then there are some people who will adjust their expectations and be weirdly satisfied with their smaller checks. This isn't fair to expect of people, in my opinion.
      
      Also, things have changed for people in different ways. Some niches seem to have rebounded better than others. Some people can be more flexible to the chaos while others do have genuine frustrations. Those who have been around for a long time have likely seen the most significant setbacks to their accounts.
      
      What's helpful? Using SEMrush before you write a new article and getting an idea of the site's health. You get 10 free searches on it a day.
      
      -----
      I do think trying to shed more positivity here is a good idea, but on a separate note, it's important to understand why people are complaining.

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         Kenna McHughposted 17 months agoin reply to this

         Serenity,
         
         Good points.

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         Jan Stepanposted 17 months agoin reply to this

         Thank you, Andrea. I am still a bit away from 100, but I'll get there
         
         I hope I made it evident in my text that I share the frustration with others. I am also here to earn money, as is everyone else, and I am also very negatively impacted by the downward tendency we're experiencing.
         
         My post was addressing those who complain about the same stuff over and over, while the reality is that the issues are far more nuanced. I don't see a point in continuing with the same complaints since:
         1. The team is well aware of them.
         2. It won't make things better.
         
         I've seen people complain here for a long time, and never did it lead to anything good. Maybe if there were more encouragement and willingness for improvement at the very start, we would be in a better position.
         
         I am not adjusting my expectations – I want to spread some motivation to the team and all the writers that even though we're not where we want to be, I still believe in them and stand behind them. That is much more valuable than starting the 100th post about how bad the earnings are...
         
         Complaining won't increase anybody's earnings – so why not change the approach and try to build up a desire for change?
         
         If I were in a managing position here, I would be much more motivated and encouraged if I had people behind me. The entire writing industry is in a very problematic situation. Nobody will profit from sharing any more negativity in this state – it discourages the team and writers, who are doing their best to survive the storm.

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            PaulGoodman67posted 17 months agoin reply to this

            Having being in management positions and dealt with many complaints myself over the years, I really don't think that the "customers shouldn't complain because it upsets the managers" is a strong argument.
            
            The frustration among the writers here is inevitable. For sure, there may be some negative people and serial complainers but that's true everywhere. Coming from a customer service background, the question for me is really more about how those complaints are dealt with by the company.
            
            Andrea is right that those of us who've been here for many years do perhaps have a different perspective. The declines in revenue of 70% or more have had real-world repercussions for some, myself included.
            
            There was also a greater sense of community and inclusivity in the days when HP was independent.
            
            I hope that you're right that it's just a question of "surviving the storm." Having seen basically all of HP's rivals go out of business over the years, including relatively big sites like Squidoo, the current situation is a cause for concern for me.
            
            I do, of course, hope things can be turned around but the longer it goes on, the more worried I get.
            
            For sure, everyone should follow and implement all the recent HP editing suggestions. That's within our power. However, I don't see much else that we can do. The big decision-making is up to TAG and outside forces, such as Google.

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   Rupert Taylorposted 17 months ago

   Well said Jan.

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      Jan Stepanposted 17 months agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Rupert.

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   PaulGoodman67posted 17 months ago

   I'm not one of those who complains about the overall layout and advertising strategy. As you say, that's HP's responsibility and ours is the article writing.
   
   However, I do think that it's worth pointing out that there was a time when the views of hubbers were taken into account to a greater extent.
   
   HP strategies were also explained so that writers here at least had an idea why things were being done a certain way. That did a lot to quell negativity.

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      Jan Stepanposted 17 months agoin reply to this

      I know you're not one of those, Paul.
      
      You seem to be very knowledgeable about our industry and do understand the issues for what they are.
      
      And yes, that's a valid point of yours. Communication is always the key, and it must go both ways. From my subjective viewpoint, the HubPages team communicates with us more these days than they did, for instance, a year ago.
      
      Angel's response the other day was quite detailed and highlighted what I thought about it all myself.

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         PaulGoodman67posted 17 months agoin reply to this

         Editing questions and basic, practical stuff like, say, setting up PayPal get answered but a lot gets ignored. That didn't used to be the case pre-TAG.
         
         I was disappointed with how the drops in Amazon commission rates were handled, for instance. It's obviously an area that directly impacts writers here and I certainly lost money. I didn't expect detailed descriptions of negotiations but the whole thing was barely acknowledged.
         
         I guess my view is that a lot of the unanswered questions are reasonable and legitimate to ask. But it's become pretty clear that they're not going to be answered. So it's futile just asking over and over.
         
         A lot of people have walked away from the forums. The majority of experienced writers just don't engage here anymore. I'm worried that something similar is happening with the site generally.

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