How Do You Stay Motivated?
I am such a champ at procrastination. I am well aware that this online thing takes time, effort, and lots of work. Yet for the past couple of days, I have not been able to get motivated to do anything constructive online. Of course, I've had time to post on the forum's 'last post contest' thread consistently day and night.
What I'm asking in a very long-winded way is, how do you stay motivated to keep on keeping on when the money builds up sooooo slowly. (This is in no way a criticism of Hubpages. Actually, at Hubpages I've managed to make more money in a shorter time than with any other online endeavor.)Ah the lovely art of procrastination. It is indeed difficult to defeat, but you just have to know the trick to it. In my case, I am mostly a fan fiction author as of late so the best way to get motivated is to watch the TV show, movie, and /or book in which you based your fan fiction on. Then you can remember why you loved the series so much to do a fan fiction in the first place.
As for other types of hubs, do something you love then write about it. That is the true key to being a successful author. If you don't love what you are doing than you won't put your all into doing it in the first place. Since I love writing so much and I certainly do enjoy watching television, I write about those things.
Now if that isn't enough than you probably need to let your muse have a vacation. It is indeed possible to burn yourself out, so remember to take a break every once in a while and let the creative juices settle. You never know when inspiration will strike and you don't want to be completely exhausted when it does.
Okay, that is enough speech making from me. Sorry, I have a tendency of becoming overly passionate about things, especially when it comes to writing.
I am just enjoying the community and trying not to feel guilty about that
Time to time I get rushes to actually do something, and this is when work is done
With 274 Hubs, you should be proud of your productivity!
You know Misha is a very successful Hubber. One thing he said, which I've always remembered (but done almost nothing about ) is that actually writing the Hubs should be the smallest part of your effort - most of your time should be spent marketing your work, e.g. by joining relevant forums, social bookmarking, etc.
That sounds like the perfect stuff to do when you don't feel like working at a new Hub!Thanks for the compliment, Marisa.
Yeah, Misha is a Hubpages legend. I read somewhere on these forums that Misha expects to be making somewhere in the ballpark of 6 figures in a year. Am I remembering correctly, Misha?
I do remember Misha speaking repeatedly about the importance of marketing. If you ever want to teach a seminar or sell an ebook, Misha, on how to replicate that success, I'm the first person to contact.
And Marisa, thanks so much for the excellent advice. It is a great idea. I've been pretending to do that somewhat, but not really getting much done. I am still learning the ropes about marketing and so I feel like I make more headway making new Hubs.
Misha, just being responsive like you and Marisa have done helps. I guess I'm just in a melancholy mood tonight.
I'm surprised, Misha, that you don't bring in traffic from forums. I haven't had a whole lot of success with social 2.0 sites either. I'm still trying to figure out the final piece of the puzzle.
Hanging around forums does not bring neither many backlinks, nor traffic - at least for my topics. In fact, this is the only forum I am hanging around currently. And this is 100% for enjoyment.
Angela, when I'm not motivated and procrastinating its usually because I'm hesitating hugely(!) on the next step. It's something I want to do but sometimes its 'scary' - which is just another way to say 'exciting'. (I prefer exciting!). And if I can't get past the stuck state by seeing the reward at the end of it, I task it on my calendar and take it one step at a time until the momentum builds. Its definitely mind over matter.
And like Misha said trying not be feel guilty about it is good advice -no need to beat myself up about it if that's what I choose
to do. Right now.
Good luckLifebydesign, I didn't forget about you!
Sometimes what you mention is exactly what causes me to procrastinate, but I don't think so this time. I believe I'm just having trouble seeing the light at the end of the tunnel or even sometimes believing that there even IS a light, you know?
And you're right, it is mind over matter. And my mind just wants to play and pout at the same time at the moment.
I promise to reply tomorrow - it's too much strain on my tired brain right now
Good night, ladiesI motivate myself by striving to have a clear desktop.
My PC desktop.
I have two monitors running. The second one is off to my right. It's got folders. Lots of folders. I don't mind the mess on that one. I can just switch it off if I don't want to see it. But I usually have most of the screen taken up by Windows Media Player or my DivX player anyway.
My main screen though, it's a bit of a mess, but I try ever so hard to get rid of the clutter. So I strive to reduce the amount of documents that are sitting on there by getting my work done.
Of course after I reduced it by a few I'll end up adding a few others that I've either thought of or have pulled off the backburner.
It keeps me on my toes.
Something that can also work for me is giving myself a choice. Either finish this hub or go and do the dishes.
That usually sees me end up finishing the hubDarkside, Lissie, and BrainFire,
Thanks for the replies.
I like your ideas, Darkside. Especially the either/or choices- avoiding dishes would be a great way for me to get hubs done, too.
Lissie, congratulations! I'm glad your motivation is on high and things are on track. And thanks for the encouragement. Unfortunately, awhile ago I checked my Adsense account. I have one of the lowest amounts ever for this time of the day. It sucks and really doesn't help with the motivation.
BrainFire, I also like visualizations. I try to keep my future that I want in my mind's eye. It is more difficult at times like now, though. Thanks for the tips.
I have decided that for today at least I'm forgetting all about this online stuff. I'm spending the day with my daughter- shopping, eating out, dollar movies. I'll get back on track tomorrow, hopefully.Sometimes a little rest is what you need most, so you can approach everything again with a fresh outlook. I know I need that every now and then.
Have a wonderful time with your daughter - sounds like fun!OK, as promised yesterday - a short write-up about how I approach making money on Hubpages.
First - yes, I do target a six-figure income level by the end of this calendar year. It does not mean I plan to actually make 100,000 or more during this year. It rather means I plan to have daily revenue in the $300-400 range. Considering currently I make about $100-150 a day, and just a year ago I did not make anything worth mentioning, it does not look that impossible And yes, I started in 2005, and for about two years there was literally nothing to report.
No, it is not all from Hubpages. The main money maker is my own site, and Hubpages currently are directly responsible for about 10% of my earnings. Indirectly it helps ranking of my other sites and pages. My business model is publishing free content and earning on selling ads. I use Adsense, WidgetBucks, Shopzilla, Adbrite, Commission Junction, Clickbank, Amazon, and Ebay.
I live by search engine traffic. I found it to be the best quality for my niche and business model. So, 95% of my work time and my business expenses go into link building. I do not place backlinks for direct traffic - although I don't mind if I get this extra bonus - I do use them to build my rankings with search engines.
I mostly use article marketing, commenting on blogs, and Web2 - and then I rack those backlinks up with a bunch of social bookmarks. I do submit my own site to directories, too.
I think that's pretty much it - in short
Oh yeah, and did I tell you before you even start you need to do a keyword research?- RFoxposted 16 years ago
0Hey Misha,
I must say I understand the importance of links but I don't understand what 'link building' is. Could you explain in truly simplistic terms how you 'link build'? I'm just a little confused because you said you don't place backlinks and I thought backlinks are what you want.
Do you exchange links with other companies? Or do you leave your link when you comment on other blogs etc.? Are outgoing links important in your articles?
This is the part of web marketing I don't quite get, yet. Umm, well, I was not clear enough, sorry. I DO place backlinks. In hundreds in fact. But I do this not to get direct traffic from whatever place I put a backlink, but to up my rankings on search engines. If I get some direct traffic, it's a plus, but I never concern myself with whether I get it or not.
Is it more understandable this way?
And link building is just that - placing your backlinks in any worthwhile place available And no, I don't do link exchange anymore - it is a proven waste of effort nowadays. Outgoing links are a controversial issue, and my take is - I don't do them. Many respected experts think they help - I did not see this in my experiments, so I just don't do them.
Next question, pleaseLOL, I asked for the next question - I got it
Hi, you actually don't NEED fans I think. It's nice to have them, though. And it just coincidentally happens you usually wanna keep track of them, if you have more than a few. And it is much easier to do if they are registered at the same website.
Just my thoughts - don't know what the official answer is
Welcome to HugpagesThanx
Hi Embitca
It changes over time. I started with doing everything myself, and gradually I am moving towards outsourcing.
I fully outsource directory submissions. At $0.14 a pop it's a no brainer Of course paid directories are manual.
I bought a software for social bookmarking. Still, some of them I do by hand cause they are not included. I use every networking possibility to leverage bookmarks - I am a member of several groups who do bookmarks for one another.
Articles is a mix - I submit many by hand to many web2 places like Hubpages, Squidoo, Ezinearticles, Qassia, Spongefish, Lazzeo, etc. At the same time I use one of the web services to spin and submit articles to hundreds of regular article directories. I am a member of a couple of paid article exchange services, too.
Three way backlinks I also do through the paid services - but of course it requires manual setup.
Blog comments - I tried to do them in a structured manner, but it took too much effort. Now I just comment on any blog post that comes my way and stick a backlink thereHi Lissie
I don't think those are big secrets. They are all over the net - along with the ton of other methods. The problem is to understand what works for you - and this is not necessarily the same set that works for me. Of course there are things that work for everybody, and there are things that just plain don't work, too
Backlinks yeah, they are way more important than anything else. You can rank an empty page on the first place for a competitive keyword if you have enough links. And there is no way you can rank perfectly optimized page with no links at all. For any keyword. That gives you a perspective
Not sure I would go with 100 sites, too much mess for me - but this is definitely my personality trait - you can see it by the number of my hubs Many people are very successful cooking sites by hundreds, though.
I read about your Vic on your blog. Based on what I hear from you he makes sense
Now, coming to specific questions
I do very few of unique content. Most of my articles are quality spun. In fact there is a split on Hubpages - three of my hubs are fully unique, and three are spuns. Have fun guessing which ones I tried duplicate content at the beginning, and it did not work for me. I don't do it anymore. BTW, I deadly need somebody to prepare spins for me - this is the most tedious job I currently do. I am looking for opportunity to outsource this, too
As for nofollow... There are two goals to the link building - getting link love and filling the anchor file. You don't have to mix them, you can have them separate. I am happy to get dofollow link from a juicy page with whatever anchor, and I am happy to get a nofollow link with anchor containing my keywords
Next question, pleaseThank you
Well, your question is the most fundamental one. I don't think I can answer it fully within a forum thread really.
In short, link love or link juice is the combination of quantity and quality of your incoming links for a particular page. Google calls it pagerank and shows some kind of proxy for this on the toolbar. However, what it shows on the toolbar and what it uses for actual calculations of your rankings are two completely different animals. Other search engines have similar calculations in their algorithms.
How much link love particular backlink brings to your page depends on two things: 1. How much link love the originating page itself has. The more it has, the more it can give out; 2. How many links originate from that page. All available link love is divided between outgoing links.
Anchor file or anchor list is just a list of anchors of all links pointing to the page. I think once anchor is included in the list, it is not associated with the link it was used for. Therefore it does not really matter if this was a single dofollow link from PR7 page or one of five dozen nofollow links from PR0 page
If you are really interested in learning SEO, I would recommend to start with this website:
http://www.seofaststart.com/
Download and read ebook, and explore the site. This is the best available beginner course on SEO I'm aware of, and it is totally free. And no, I'm not an affiliate
You are welcome Lissie
Actually, it all depends on the number of articles you need. If you are talking half a dozen - yes, just go re-write them manually, much less work. But I am using hundreds of spins of the same article, and in this case spinning them saves loads of time and effort. And money - if you outsource writing as I do
- RFoxposted 16 years ago0
Jeez Misha you should set up a web answer service. One dollar per question then you won't have to worry about backlinks. Lol
Thanks for answering my question. It is clearer now. Thanks Misha for your thorough answers
And now I'm going to check your hubs and see if I can figure out which is spun. And if I can't tell I the difference I might have to find out the name of your article spinner. But you have to do that manually don't you? I am very lazy LOLProcrastination is my specialty--and I don't even have the grace to feel guilty about it
Amy Jane, thanks so much. I did have a lot of fun with my daughter and it was especially nice because soon we will be separated because of college.
Peter, believe me, I AM the champ at procrastination.
Wow, Misha, impressive. You've definitely worked hard for it, and no one else deserves it more. You always give back and help anyone that asks. Thanks so much for such great free information. You could sell that stuff, but I'm sure you know that! I agree that keyword research is definitely the first and one of the most important steps. It's also one of the most tedious, for me at least.
Thanks, everybody, for your responses!
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