People Start Hubbing & Quit So Sudden, Why is this?

1. 60

   Manchester23posted 12 years ago

   
   I've noticed, as I was browsing over a lot of the newest "Hubbers" that most of them started off strong, with this idealistic vision of how, what, when they were going to write, and it was going to be Amazing; However, as time went by, it seems they only came to write one Hub and just stopped and gave up. 
   
   I'm curious as to what Causes this dilemma for the new? Any Ideas, Hints, Tips, that might help these new folks to stay on track with their goals of writing?

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   1. 61

      dutchman1951posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      writing is passion, not garunteed income
      takes a while to make money, it is not instant
      subject has to appeal to an audiance, takes market savy
      
      all learnable, but not immediate sucess. Hard work, and dedication.
      
      write what you know, with zen

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   2. 96

      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      If you have a goal of writing good, quality hubs that is one thing and is probably quite sustainable for most.
      
      Many, however, come to HP to write a few blogs, get 1,000's of views and comments and have a good time.  It doesn't work - HP is not for blogs and requires a much higher standard of writing.  Many won't put that kind of effort into what is, after all, a quick blog for interested friends and family to see.
      
      Some come to make money and that's fine, but they fail to realize that HP is not a get rich quick scheme.  It takes lots of hard work and lots of time to be successful financially here.
      
      Basically it is due to unrealistic expectations that causes the type of thing you see.

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      1. 82

         David 470posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, blogging will not make you any income, unless you just so happen to hit certain keywords.

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   3. 63

      hotwebideasposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think people expect big earnings quickly and when they realize that the reality of Hubpages is different than they expected, they leave. Hubpages is a lot of work.

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      lisabeamanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      When I first started with hubpages, I was really excited about it. I would check my stats and see how many views I had and I would rejoice when my hubscore went up as well as freak out when it went down. I learned pretty quick though that this was not a quick money-maker.
      
      I do think that that's when a lot of people will bail out. But even besides that... hubpages is a lot of work! It takes time to write quality hubs, browse others hubs, and see what's going on in the forums. I took a pretty significant break for a while because I really needed to focus on finishing my novel and HP was too much of a distraction.

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   5. 67

      6 String Veteranposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi. Been Hubbing for a few months, and to share my experience thus far:  I love it. It is a great outlet, allowing me to exercise writing as well as be creative with images. Plus I'm writing about my topic(s) of choice and have the opportunity to make money from this experience. So I see HP as all WIN.
      
      Regarding financial income, my first monetization goal is to make $400/month ($250 at least) from my Hubs. As I see it, making any Hub-money (or 'Honey") is the last step of a 3-part strategy; content-generation and readership-building are the first two.
      
      As for quitters, I believe people give up here because of lack of patience and / or lack of love of writing. At one point I was down about HP after doing some calculations regarding immediately-possible income. However I soon began to focus on the fact that HP makes it super-easy for me to write, publish, and attain readership (I just have to do the leg-work, or should i say 'finger-work'), so I worked on content alone. As my writing got better and a style started to emerge I began to focus on readership as well.
      
      My initial monetization deadline was 25 followers but I am going to change that since I am just learning how to attract readers. Rather than monetize along the way, I'd like to build a larger readership. Once I really know what I'm doing in that area I'll learn and apply various montetization techniques. I figured it's better to first learn how to attract readers.

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   6. 0

      jansplaceposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think some people believe they will make a lot of money quickly and this is never the case, unless you've  written a best seller!   
      All us writer's know it is hard to become a recognized name within the media field, it takes time and effort and it will not happen over night.
      
      Passionate writers stick at it those who think it's an easy way to make a buck, give up when that does not happen for them.
      
      My goal is to make a decent living from something I truly love doing but I know that will be in the future not today.
      
      My comments reflect 6 String Veteran and I totally agree.

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   7. 0

      klanguedocposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Nothing that is worthwhile comes easy. This is especially true with writing. This is true regardless if your are poring your soul out through prose or poetry or researching some hot topic. Writing takes time. Period. It isn't about the money, well not completely. The money will come if you spend the time to write good quality content with the appropriate keywords and linking.

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2. 41

   Greg Sageposted 12 years ago

   I would ordinarily never deign to toss forth an article I've written in such gaudi fashion, however, in this particular case, I have written not only a hub, but an entire series on the subject.  It outlines the ups, downs, pitfalls, and triumphs of this crazy business.
   
   Exhaustively researched, an painstakingly detailed, it is generally considered to be the "HP success bible"
   
   Far better to learn from the lessons of the pioneers in the field than to hack away blindly with a machete in the HP jungle.
   
   This is a serious subject that requires rigorous study.  It is in that vein that I humbly submit the following:
   
   <snipped - no promotional links in the forums>
   
   My only hope is that it may serve as a landmark.. a beacon of hope if you will... guiding lost souls along their circuitous path to HP success.

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3. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   People sign up for stuff and never do it.  People start doing stuff and then give it up.  Seems to apply to most human activities.

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4. 81

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years ago

   Well - people are obviously disappointed to find out that you can't just talk about what you want to talk about on the net and make tons of money!
   
   I'm dedicated to this - I'm not going anywhere.  If I get another decent job I might slow WAY down, but I'm not going to quit project Hubpages.

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5. 60

   FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years ago

   Being that I'm from outside the US (Canada), I'm not allowed to sign up for Google adSense for the first six months as it is.  Certainly the topics I write about here interest me strongly and I find it much freerer to choose content when I'm not writing primarily for money-when you are being paid, you have some compensation for writing subjects that don't light your passion.  There is big market for technical Writers in this age that I'm seriously looking into training to do this specific type of writing.  That would be entirely to pay my bills.  Hubpages wold contune to be because I love writing about my passions

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   1. 86

      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Canadians are allowed to join Adsense immediately. The six months restriction is only for certain countries - mainly Asian.

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      1. 60

         FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I am?  Then I myst be doing it incorrectly.  I'll look up the information of the learning centre. Thanks  for the heds up!

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         1. 59

            recommend1posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            It would be easier to just apply and see what happens ?

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            1. 60

               FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Alright, I will do that.  Thanks.

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               1. 60

                  FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Turned out the problem was I had only published one hub when I tried to sign up.  My account is now active.  now forthe wonderful world of Panda being relevant to me now.
                  
                  I am quite used to people in the arts not making much money and splitting money 60/40 with galleries etc.  my Mom's an artist, so I have experience already.  But I've never been involved with anything based on clicking ads.

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                  1. 81

                     Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I like your take.  This IS my art.  The good thing is that now we also have the HP ad program, and not a day goes by that I don't earn something.
                     
                     I used to curse amazon - but now I encourage anyone here to join amazon.com as an affiliate, eventually someone will buy from your hubs on amazon.com, but they can't if you don't join.

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6. 60

   Manchester23posted 12 years ago

   Ya it's definitely interesting. I almost felt sad, as this is how I believe a lot of folks live their lives now days. We have this passion, this quick drive, that says, "I can do anything I want and will make it happen." But then Instant gratification kicks in, "What? Not many people are reading what I"m writing? I haven't been promoted yet? I don't live in this house yet? etc... What's the point then?"
   
   It seems to be a generational thing too. I remember my Grand Folks always talking. "Back in the day" It's true, when they were young, they put their mind to something and found a way to make it happen. But as the years have passed, it seems, we have this ability to just give up on everything.
   
   So you guys think a lot of it has to do with the money instead of the drive to just write about things that are important to them?

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   1. 60

      Manchester23posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I guess a huge part of me is relating due to the fact I currently just started my 30 day narrative hub with me having quit smoking. So in a way I can relate to the, "I want to give up feeling."

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   2. 81

      Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes - I think it's about money.  I didn't come to hubpages to make money.  I can to hubpages because another person, hubpages' "Springboard," who I used to talk to on Myspace told me about Hubpages, and told me that it was an outstanding community.  Springboard then convinced me that because I ALREADY wrote things online constantly, that it was pointless to do so without making anything from it - and I was sold.
      
      So I already was sort of obsessive about writing online - and Myspace destroyed itself, and ruined it's blogging community.
      
      I didn't come here to make money - but the POSSIBILITY that I could make some money made it more fun, more challenging, and probably made me better at writing.
      
      I do think most of the people that come and go just thought that it would be easy to post some nonsense, and make some cash - they didn't realize that they'd have to take the time to learn how the internet works, and compete with people who were already writing about what they liked to write about, etc, etc, etc.

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7. 76

   wheelinalloverposted 12 years ago

   From my limited experience people leave for many reasons. Some find their material is worth more somewhere else. Others find a consistent paycheck more desirable than wondering if there will be enough to meet the bills and when.
   
   Many find the rigor of writing to be too much on a consistent basis. Writers block is another reason people stop writing. I personally run a full time internet business which makes it hard many days to find time to write for hub pages. Most of my work now is writing ad copy.
   
   Some like I believe I am, are answer people. If I hadn't found a way to make money giving answers I would be broke. To this day I say you can find my best work in the forums and writing ad copy.
   
   Feedback from other writers helps keep people on track. I remember when I first started here people from hub pages would come in read my work and leave a positive comment. This helped me believe my work had value. Without this my stay here would have probably been over.
   
   I am personally glad this didn't happen, there is no where on the internet where I have learned more than by writing and talking with other writers. Without this experience my business would not be as good as it is today.

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8. 60

   Pamela Sarzanaposted 12 years ago

   I think if a person is to have successful Hubs we have to research key words and phrases and use SEO and the least competitive of the keywords ..etc  . It takes a lot of work, and time that many of us don't have. That opinion is shared by quite a few. I have done allot of reading, but am just a beginner myself.

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      Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I've never once researched keywords.  I'm all for people researching keywords - it's a good thing.  I only write what I know, and I know that that makes my writing readable, and full of keywords without me having to research those things, or think about them.  I do know the very high value of on page search engine optimization - such as titling pictures, links, and videos with what I already know are the relevant keywords.
      
      I think that the best thing I've learned, besides on page optimization, is knowing the good sites for generating traffic, and what sites are "dofollow" backlinks.

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         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Like you, Wesman, I write almost exclusively on things I am very knowledgeable about and already know the key words. 
         
         What I don't know, though, is the long tail phrases that people use to search with.  I use the keyword tool mostly for that.  Very occasionally I will find a keyword that I hadn't thought of, but mostly I just want to find what those weird people out there search for to find the information I have!  It is seldom the phrase that I would use.

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         1. 81

            Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Isn't Google Analytics awesome?  I've had NINE persons find my hubpages stuff while searching for information about Casey Anthony.
            
            I assure you - I have never, EVER, not even ONCE ever mentioned that person, her legal troubles, her deceased child, or anything related to any of that in any hubpages article that I've produced.
            
            Another wild thing I noticed one time - I've got a hub titled something like, "Texas isn't what you think, Texas is beautiful."
            
            Okay, a search term that came up is "the death of James Terry McIlvain."
            
            Listen - just like I've never mentioned Casey Anthony - I've never ever mentioned James Terry McIlvain.
            
            James Terry McIlvain is a former Holleywood actor who appeared in things like Oliver Stone's "PLatoon," and more than a dozen other movies, television shows, commercials, etc, etc, etc.
            
            I actually lived with that guy for six months years ago - but I've NEVER mentioned him on any Hub. . . .and. . . He's NOT DEAD.
            
            Crazy things happen on the interwebs.

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9. 55

   TVGuideGirlposted 12 years ago

   Focus, time and return!  Hard to keep focused, hard to find time and then when you don't get viewers, it becomes discouraging, to many, is what I'm thinking!

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10. 60

    seamistposted 12 years ago

    I think it has mostly to do with money. Unless you love to write or you're desperate for money, the earnings are so dismal in the beginning, it's disheartening. The way the after-Panda earnings are now on both Adsense and Amazon, it's more profitable to begin your own website and monetize it. Since Panda, my traffic is 1/3 of what I had pre-Panda, and although I know the HP staff is trying, I don't think the situation is going to recover any time soon.

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11. 59

    recommend1posted 12 years ago

    It is hard to keep the initial rush going through the inevitable re-writes and editing and then the keyword optimisation and the normal hard work that goes with getting a good article and readers.  I have a big round robin of inter-related articles written for my site, some as hubs and some as articles ellewhere, all the hard creative work is done but the grind of editing and keywording and rewriting sections and fitting the article to the required formula of each site and directory . . . . . . . . .

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       Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I'm dreading it.
       
       I'm not even writing on the right topic yet.  The keyword thing's got me stuck at the moment.
       
       I've even got a couple other writers and a cartoonist that want to contribute when I pull it together, but I'm still stuck playing with keyword tool, and trying to get everything relevant.

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          recommend1posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I think keywords are more simple than we make it - finding them with the google tool is easy enough, choosing the right words is not that hard, making long tail or phrases seems to work itself out as I re-write with the keyword list at my elbow.  I do find it helpful to keep the main keyword list quite short.  All this may not be the best way to approach it but I do find it the easiest and it makes the text more what I want to write rather than an advert.

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12. 73

    WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

    I haven't bothered to add new hubs because I am tired of this site being broken all the time. Once again, the statistics are frozen.
    
    Also, I do not trust the HP Ads programme. On Sunday, my hub views doubled, but the HP Ads report gave me fewer impressions and much lower earnings. I'm beginning to think this place is a big scam.

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    1. 59

       recommend1posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I am not adding new hubs because I am not prepared to go to the lengths of making co-ordinated sets of articles on different sites for the rules here to suddenly change and make it all a waste of considerable time outlay.  So I guess I also don't trust 'them' yet either.

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13. 70

    R.S. Hutchinsonposted 12 years ago

    I came to hubpages to meet girls...
    
    not working out so well yet (!)
    
    .. so I think that is probably what is going on.

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       Manchester23posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Haha - Nice Hutchinson - Any luck?

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       1. 60

          Manchester23posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I'm learning about flow right now, I'm doing this 30 day, a hub a day about my not smoking and what I'm experience from my point of view - and I find it that folks only read the first  "Intro" page, which is just my outline - but if they were to go to Day 1, I'm almost positive they would find it entertaining enough to read each day. Haha - I just don't get what's so awesome about the outline that explains why I quit. It's slightly discouraging but I'm still doing it just because It's entertaining for me to write - I don't write to be read I write because I like writing... Hmm...?

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          1. 73

             WriteAngledposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Wishing you all best with your stopping smoking.
             
             I smoked my last cigarette on June 3rd last year, after coming back from the hospital where my partner died. In the short time we were together, I had descended to smoking about 40 per day. Since then, not one

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                lisabeamanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                I'm sorry about your loss... but that's amazing that you've stopped smoking! Good job!

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                1. 73

                   WriteAngledposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   Thank you
                   
                   David was unable to cope with life changes and blows of fate. He chose to destroy himself with alcohol. As a result, he made my life hell for most of the time we were able to be together. Perhaps it sounds heartless, but my life is easier on my own...

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                      lisabeamanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                      No, it doesn't sound heartless. A friend of mine is divorcing her alcoholic husband and he's making things very difficult. She's questioning her choices and wondering if she should have just stayed... I hope she can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that once everything is said and done she will be able to feel that burden lifted. I think it's harder to see the oppression when you're being oppressed. I'm glad you found the freedom you needed.

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14. 77

    imatellmuvaposted 12 years ago

    When I read the bios of new hubbers, I find that some people think they're going to make a ton of money in a short time...like they're gonna get a fat check by the end of the week! I also find that some hubbers, do not attempt to edit and/or re-edit their work; the content is of poor quality, and perhaps the title too, the hub is low in the page rankings, and they're not generating desired traffic, even from fellow hubbers. With that said, some people stop writing because they've joined for all the wrong reasons. My suggestion to new hubbers is that you join HubPages, and write here because you enjoy writing. You stay because, in addition to a great venue for writing, you've found a great community of people to interact with.

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15. 42

    Mikeydoesposted 12 years ago

    It is a lot to take in, but once you learn it.. Man does it open your eyes.

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16. 76

    wheelinalloverposted 12 years ago

    If it wasn't for the community and support I honestly don't know that I would be here today. I was a published author before my first hub was written. What was needed for me was self confidence in my skills. Most of the early articles published anywhere I now consider very poor quality. The only reason they are still here is they contain information some people can benefit from. Many of them have been at least partially rewritten in an attempt to improve them. The articles written for other sources the won't let me remove. One of the nice things about hub pages is they do leave us in control of what we have published.
    
    I can't tell you how many hours I have spent writing articles which will never be published here. My writing is an outlet and it seems many times it takes me into things which are not allowed here.
    
    I realize its a good thing but I really don't like to see the message from hub pages saying your subject is off limits here. If I even think for a second its going to show up my article is taken somewhere else.
    
    As for income for me that will probably never happen here. The niche that works for my businesses is off limits. It's also overcrowded so finding keywords which work has been impossible.
    
    Well I am off again to try to figure out how to add value to, without cost or obligation.

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17. 74

    Richieb799posted 12 years ago

    People have no desire to succeed, I didn't even look at my Adsense earnings until I'd written 50 hubs and I heard other people saying how the first pay check is the hardest to achieve.
    Then after 7-8 months I'd made payout and my earnings were increasing daily.. until I started getting paid every month

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18. 67

    Ladybird33posted 12 years ago

    The world has become "instant income" or that is what is being thought or maybe even taught.  The new people come here wanting instant money and with it doesn't come and they finally figure out why...they leave.  The rat race of "hurry up and do" has really been sad for this generation because they aren't "learning a lesson" or finding something during the process of trying something new.

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    1. 74

       Richieb799posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Very true! 'its a disgrace to see the human race in a rat race' to quote Bob Marley

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