Income was on a steady rise, then BOOM, it plummeted

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   GwennyOhposted 3 years ago

   Since the day I posted my first article upon returning to write here, my income steadily and significantly rose with each piece posted, and right before Black Friday, was over six times what I was earning while letting old posts gather dust. Even what I was earning after posting a significant amount of new content, isn't that much, as I had so few pieces live even then. The growth to six times plus, was huge just the same.
   
   After Black Friday my revenue took a nosedive, and is now just over double what it was while only old post were live. I asked similar last week, but this week am asking the question in a different way. What I want to know is if everyone or the most of everyone, are experiencing a nosedive in earnings.
   
   I understand that less people are reading nowadays given that it's the holiday season; but I don't have a true idea of what kind of percentage of a drop in earnings I should be looking at.

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      watergeekposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      My revenue dropped too—for both watergeek and Sustainable Sue. It didn't start with Black Friday though. Mine dropped to half of what it was, as soon as HP switched over to the Maven format. It hasn't been back up since, even though I have several holiday articles.

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         GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Oh dear. Do you remember when they switched to Maven format?

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      OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I noticed that most of your articles are not on any niche sites.  Niche sites are where all the money is.  Your articles will earn much better if you transfer them over.  You are allowed to submit 1 article every 2 weeks to the niche sites.
      
      I know that it is a hassle.  It took me more than 2 years to move all of my articles to niches sites but it was worth it because I am earning much more money now.

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      Jodahposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      My earnings dropped by a third in August from what they had been since May. So far it seems this month's may have risen slightly but still below what it was.

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   Shesabutterflyposted 3 years ago

   My income for the entire year is about half of what it was the last two years. I am starting to see an increase in earnings the last month or two, but it is still nothing compared to what I was use to seeing. Amazon sales are also way down. I'm assuming becasue they no longer look like affiliate links. This is generally the season for my articles to do well so I'm not surprised my earnings are up, but I was disappointed they do not look like the last two years.
   
   I don't remember when HP merged with Maven I think it was about two years ago. The niche sites were just recently migrated every couple weeks to the Maven platform with a few being moved at a time.
   
   It started in July with Tatring and ended at the end of Sept with the move of the last six. You can look through the official announcements forum, and find the exact weeks for each niche site if you're interested. Each weekly migration has their own post which includes the sites that were moved.

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      Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      My Amazon sales are pretty much what they were, but Amazon lowered their commission from 8% to 1% on almost everything, in an act of pure, unadulterated greed.

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         GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         It was hard enough already, to get Amazon to pay off.

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   GwennyOhposted 3 years ago

   Thanks to OldRoses and Shesabutterfly for suggesting to move articles to niche sites. I am working on it now, but I've only had opportunity to submit one so far, and it was rejected. I still need to find out what they are looking for. I have read suggestions by them, so I guess it's up to time and experience. It appears that I'll be spending as much time with rewriting as with writing, which isn't what I had in mind. I wish they could be more clear on what they are looking for.
   
   I was told that they provide critical advice on what needs improvement; however, I assume they don't do it anymore. I didn't get one, nor notification of such a review happening soon.

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      Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I wish they would be more specific as well. The only time I knew what they were looking for was when an editor contacted me directly saying I had an article that was selected for a niche site, but needed improvements.
      
      Every time I submit an article myself I never know what staff is looking for if it gets rejected. I only ever have a generic email which is not helpful at all. I think it depends on which editor you get as well. It is not equal across the board even within the same niche site.

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         GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for sharing your own experience, as it gives me a better idea where to go. I am starting to feel as if I met a dead end here. I know my writing is okay... but knowing that to get paid according with my efforts I'll have to rewrite a gadzillion times, just stabbing in the dark as to figuring out how to rewrite according to niche site requisites... well smh.

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            CYong74posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I think there's really nothing very difficult about Niche site submissions. In fact, it's relatively easy compared to other submission sites. (I write for various other sites and SEO companies, so I have experience with this) You just to ensure:
            
            1) Proper English
            2) Proper use of pictures particularly copyright
            3) Content doesn't make false claims. (Be careful with motherhood statements)
            4) APA title style and correct attribution of facts/images
            5) Content that has not been regurgitated a thousand times. If you must write on these, use a different angle.
            6) Don't over optimize SEO. Be careful with using the same words or keyphrases too often.
            7) No self promotion. Use Amazon as links not capsules.
            
            The only other thing I'd add is to avoid highly popular topics. Now, I know this sounds counter productive as far as revenue is concerned. But when you write on offbeat topics, they are easier to "make their way in," if you know what I mean. Correspondingly, you need to fuss lesser about such hubs, and you can write more. The revenue then piles up.

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               GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I addressed those things, and still was declined on the one I submitted.

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                  CYong74posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  On which hub?

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                     GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     This one. And I didn't get a breakdown of why it was rejected either, so I have no idea what's wrong.
                     https://discover.hubpages.com/religion- … her-Things

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                        Beth Eaglescliffeposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        Have you tried any of the suggestions to improve the article you were given a few days ago?
                        https://hubpages.com/community/forum/35 … ost4165189

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                           GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                           No but they will be implemented when I have a chance. I really appreciate the suggestions, but honestly, Beth, the more suggestions I can get on this the better. As well I was asked to post the link here in this instance.
                           
                           I really feel lost. Before I can rewrite it yet again, I have to update my blog. I hope to make this the last rewrite for it. If it is not I won't be trying again, for sure.

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                        CYong74posted 3 years agoin reply to this

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                           GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

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                              AliciaCposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                              GwennyOh, I have to say that I think there are safety concerns in the article, as I mentioned when you asked for suggestions about it before. You need to point out in the first text capsule that you’re talking about only a pin prick of blood. You also need to say somewhere in the article that the skin should be sterilized before the prick. You should also point out that handling someone else’s blood might be risky and explain why.

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                                 GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                 Good points, and thank you, AliciaC.

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                                    AliciaCposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                    I forgot to say that the implement that pricks the skin must be sterile as well.

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                                       GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                       I was right beside you on that one... I am going to specifically state to use a disposable blood drawing device, for that reason.

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                  Sustainable Sueposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  Another thing to be aware of, which has nothing to do with your writing skills, is that there may be other articles on that site on the same topic. In that case, you can read what the others say and write yours from a different angle, if it's your specialty topic. If it isn't your specialty topic, then it doesn't matter how many times you rewrite, your inexperience will show, and the niche site won't accept it.

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                     eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Also if the article is similar to other articles, Google may not rank it for its title because of the Site Diversity changes they made last year. I ran into this problem and had to get an article moved to another niche site. Sometimes however they will rank two articles. I have a basic and more advanced lawn mower troubleshooting guide and both are listed on page one.

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      Marisa Writesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Looking at your articles, I see two things that might help.
      
      One is the same advice I recall offering to OldRoses when she was beginning the same process:
      
      We all grow up learning that a good article starts with an introduction giving background information.   You need to throw that idea out the window now - if you're writing online, you need to turn the whole thing on its head.   Background information must always go at the end, not the beginning.
      
      When someone arrives at your Hub from Google, you have ONE paragraph to convince them you've got the answers they're looking for. If you fail, they'll click back to Google and visit the next result. 
      
      The best use of that paragraph is to give an overview of what the Hub is about.  You can do that explicitly, i.e. "In this article, I will show you how to ....' and then list the things you'll cover, in bullet points. 
      
      Remember that the summary you create when you're writing a Hub, isn't visible on the Hub itself.  It only appears on the Google entry (and sometimes, not even then). 
      
      The other good thing about the bullet-point list is that it's a good check for you.  I sometimes find, when I try to create that list, that parts of my Hub are in the wrong order, or perhaps don't even belong.

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   Rupert Taylorposted 3 years ago

   I'm a bit of an outlier, and happy to be so. My earnings have risen substantially over the fall, albeit from a miserably low base. Back to where they were a year ago. Whether this has anything do to with putting the niche sites on Maven I cannot say.

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   GwennyOhposted 3 years ago

   I am going to ask for a hand on this one... in between working on my blog post I am trying to do some keyword elimination. I am trying to remove the word 'blood' as much as is possible. I am having trouble with that. If you can help me find ways to remove one or two instances of it, that would be great. I can't think of any synonyms that would work. Lifeblood is the only one, and it's unsuitable.

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      DrMark1961posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      It is a bad idea, in my opinion, to add synonyms that make your writing un-natural just so that you can meet an arbitrary number/percentage. If I am writing an article about ear infections, I certainly am going to use the word ear and infection numerous times, probably more than the percentage that you have been told.

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         GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Thank You! I think you saved me. I will go and put removed ones back in. It was indeed more natural before.

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         Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I don't know...infestations of the canine organ of hearing interspersed with bacterial contamination of the auditory apparatus has a ring to it.

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            DrMark1961posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Yeah, I was just thinking of that!

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               GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               ...hilarious!

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            Sherry Hposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            

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   PaulGoodman67posted 3 years ago

   My earnings are fine, all things considered. I did stop getting Amazon earnings reports on here though over the weekend. I hope that is resolved soon.

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   Marisa Writesposted 3 years ago

   When you get the generic email, ignore the first bit, and look for a paragraph tacked on at the end, which addresses the specific reasons why your Hub was rejected. It's usually there.
   
   One possible reason, which they'll never mention, is that there might be too many Hubs on that subject already.  For instance, you might submit an excellent recipe for goulash to Delishably, but if there are already a couple of goulash recipes on Delishably, it won't be accepted.

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   Ekcedeonposted 3 years ago

   @Marisa, that's so true.

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   Marie Flintposted 3 years ago

   My payouts have always been poor, Gwenny, so I have nothing to contribute. Right now, all my articles have ads off by choice, and I'm looking at Medium as a new venue for my writing.

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      GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks @Marisa for the added insight into getting articles moved to niche sites. Thanks to everyone else also, who has given me a clear idea that whether income drops or not, is likely to be topic related.
      
      @Marie, I too am scoping out Medium.

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         Marisa Writesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I don't think Medium will work for a lot of HubPages writers, but I think it could work for you. 
         
         To get paid, your articles on Medium have to be behind a paywall. That means you need to win regular readers who are willing to pay a subscription, not random one-off visitors looking to solve a problem.
         
         That means people who write "How to Change a Tyre" type Hubs won't do well on Medium, because they're earning income by attracting one-off readers.  Whereas I can see your topic attracting people who want to learn about witchcraft in general so they'll keep coming back for more articles.
         
         Here are handy instrucitons for importing your Hubs to Medium:
         https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articl … -to-Medium

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            GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you very much. I think that this info will help me start off on the right foot.

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    GwennyOhposted 3 years ago

    They turned it down again. It simply is not worth my time to rewrite it a third time. They said it has potential. Whatever.

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       GwennyOhposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       They said that perhaps to read it out loud would help iron out grammatical issues. You know, maybe they don't like the way I write, but I do.

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