Another New Member Searching for Help

1. 61

   Trefoldposted 14 years ago

   So after getting fed up with the freelancing website I was working for I started searching around for a new place to write for. So I found Hubpages, and after reading through the user guide (ok I'll admit, I read the first five chapters and skimmed the rest)it looks slightly promising and a little overwhelming at the same time. I love hearing the stories about how much people have made here, but when it talks about the affiliate programs things seem entirely luck based. I am coming from Demand Studios where I was paid per article compared to traffic, and was just wondering if I could get someone to help show me the ropes, point me in the right direction, and help me get a little extra income flowing in my way. I have thrown up five hubs and I'm going to set up the affiliate program as soon as I get done here.

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   1. 59

      Super Chefposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hi there after looking through a couple of your hubs. The first thing I noticed was duplicate content. If you wish to make any money through the affiliate settings you are best to submit original high quality information, trust me I learned from this. Take a look at this article by Mark Knowles one of the top hubbers on this site for page setup and tips to monetize your hubs. The link is http://hubpages.com/_kjc12345/hub/How-I … first-page . Hope this helps

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      1. 61

         Trefoldposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the response, though I'm not sure what you mean by duplicate content. All the articles I posted are actually articles I wrote for someone else and got rejected.... So they SHOULDN'T be anywhere else online.

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         1. 59

            Super Chefposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            What I meant by duplicate content if you use google on advandced search for the last paragraph of your hub about the stock market domino effect there are 445,000 different refrences to this exact paragraph online which in turn will have a negative effect on your hubs.

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         2. 0

            wordscribe41posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            http://www.ehow.com/about_5509232_avera … -deck.html
            
            This article you wrote is still on EHow, so it is considered duplicate content.  You can leave it, but you just won't make as much money. 
            
            Welcome to HP!

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            1. 61

               Trefoldposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               wow, thanks for pointing this out guys. This article was rejected by Demand Studios, they refused to pay for it and said it wasn't up to their standard.... Yet here it is, on their account. I posted in their forums and will be sending the help desk a nice little e-mail.

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2. 79

   kirstenblogposted 14 years ago

   There are a few hubbers that I would recommend following as their work is VERY informative. Mark Knowles is a great resource for learning how to write to earn a residual. Sufidreamer really seem to know his business for freelance writing and blogging to create both short term and long term earnings. Nelle Hoxie is definitely worth following as she is considered the resident amazon affiliate queen (tho she is focused on ebay now). James A Watkins, Sunforged.. goodness there are so many people to learn from, it's impossible to list them all! Point is that EVERYTHING you need to write articles that have good earning potential is in a hub somewhere. The difficulty in posting a 'you need to do this, this and this' post in a forum is that there is a lot to think about and understand to make effective use of SEO, keywords, finding topics, attracting traffic and getting the most with the affiliate programs here. Get to know which hubbers here seem to have similar aims and desires from HP and you should find the most relevant information for you. All the best!

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   1. 61

      Trefoldposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, there's a lot of names there. I'm going to start reading up on the suggested authors as soon as I get done replying here. I decided to go back and finish reading the getting started guide, so  I think all that info has finally sat in. Just one stupid question, how do we increase our..... hubscore? that little number on our pictures?
      
      I'll have to admit that cash is the main reason I'm here. I enjoy writing, and want a job that'll allow me to have fun while working, which is what brought me here.

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3. 59

   Ohmaposted 14 years ago

   Welcome Trefold
   Great advice Kirsten. There is always something to learn and to add a few to the list ThisisOli, LivewithRichard, Dale Mazurek, Marrissa Wright, yea I to could go on for days.
   The point being that if you cannot find an answer her just ask! The writers here are so helpful and there is always at least one or two hanging out in Knowledge Exchange forums.

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   1. 61

      Trefoldposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Just ask you say? Very well then.
      
      I signed up, posted five hubbs, got everything set up with adsense, what should I be focusing on now?

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4. 89

   Urbane Chaosposted 14 years ago

   I've used DS a couple times before, but really, I wasn't that impressed.  Before I joined here, I thought about going my own route and creating a specific blog - but, as with anything, it takes time to build up traffic to a blog, much less to get noticed.
   
   Once I found hubpages, like you, I found the concept interesting.  I through out a few hubs, set up the affiliate links, etc, and sure enough, I started getting hits immediately.  That doesn't happen with a new blog.  It did take some getting used to, but it's well worth it.
   
   Now here's the thing: With Hubpages, you don't get instant gratification.  It just doesn't exist.  With HP, it's a long term process, but the end result will beat anything anyone else offers - unless you own your own blog AND have the traffic you need. 
   
   My suggestion, keep writing for DS (or another company), and at the same time, write different articles for HP.  Remember, when writing for HP half of your job is marketing, half is writing.  Over time, you'll start to see good money coming in.  That means, you don't have to work AS hard.  It's always best to have several things going on at once.
   
   As for your questions, there's a forum called extreme hub makeover.  Post a link to one specific hub you want examined there, and you'll get quite a bit of feedback.  There's also a wealth of information in hubs, just use the search box.
   
   If I get time later on I'll take a look at what you have.
   
   I wish ya the best!

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   1. 61

      Trefoldposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Ya know I was wondering how many old DS writers I'd find here. They've kinda ticked off a few people with their latest changes. Thanks, I look forward to hearing from you.

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      1. 89

         Urbane Chaosposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Alright, I've had a chance to look at things here.  You're writing style reflects that you typically get paid per article - which isn't a bad thing, it's just a completely different animal.  Writing for Hubpages is a lot different. 
         
         I'll take a few key points here and try to explain, so forgive me if this gets lengthy.
         
         1. Writing for HP is for long term profit versus instant income.  Imagine you have your own web site.  How would you organize your articles on that site?  Where would you get your pictures?  How would you generate traffic to the site?  These are all things you have to think about.  Each "Hub" is like a separate web page, and you market it as if it was a single web page.  With that respect, if you decide to give HP a try, you absolutely must learn about SEO.  Try this, through google, see if you can find your article titled "Stock Market Domino Effect" just by casual browsing.  Most people will not type in "Stock Market Domino Effect" into google, rather, they would type "Stock Market."  According to Google, there isn't enough searches on "Stock Market Domino Effect" to even generate a specific number of searches.  To be successful, you have to learn how to market your articles as if they were on your own individual website.  You generate sales by advertising, not by the article.  You generate interest with the article.  With that said, it takes time to build enough traffic to make a good profit - but, the profit you make is recurring, in other words, it keeps coming in for your article long after you wrote it.  Think royalties - similar concept.
         
         2. Longer hubs typically do better.  The three articles I looked at were typically around 500 words.  In an ideal situation, articles do best when they are between 800 to 1300 words.  That gives Google enough information to pick up specific keywords and move your page to the top.  Not only that, it generates interest with the reader.  You know the old adage, "Content is King", it's no different here - only this time, you're writing for both an audience and in a marketing aspect.
         
         3. Learn the use of capsules.  There's a lot of great articles on HP about capsules.  Think individual website - you have a header, subheaders, pictures, links, etc.  A Hub is no different.  Use that to your advantage - use the headers in the text capsules and the descriptions in the picture capsules for marketing your article - Google picks up first on these items.  Besides that, create unique and interesting headers to capture the readers attention.  Think newspaper, "Energizer bunny arrested, charged with battery."  Give people a reason to read further.  "Overview" as a header does not inspire me to continue. "The Average Cost of a Deck" doesn't tell me what the article is about.  Actually, I thought it was about building a deck, not about playing cards.
         
         4.  In general, you are the sole owner of your content.  You have the power to do with it what you will, and it's success or failure is entirely up to you.  Market them well, and you can earn a decent profit from them.  In fact, I sold one of my articles on here to a local magazine just by happenstance - they read the article and wanted to include it in their mag.  I got paid 300 bucks for it, plus retained ownership of the article.  Not a bad deal.  The point is, learn as much as you can about SEO, Backlinking, Keywords, etc. and you'll do well.
         
         You have some great articles here with a lot of great information.  I would expand on them a little, and then market the hell out of them.  I think you'll do well.

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5. 73

   relacheposted 14 years ago

   Be sure to read the FAQ as it offers the best concise guide to the site, http://hubpages.com/faq/
   
   And there are TONS of Hubs written about how to make Hubs.  You can customize what part of the site you wish to search with the pull-down, to get just "hubs" pick that option.
   
   How well you will earn varies with your writing skill, ability to produce Hubs, topic choices and promotional efforts.  Suffice to say, the more you put in, the more you get back.

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6. 59

   Csjun89posted 14 years ago

   For hubpages one of the more important thing is to get backlinks, while doing keyword research.
   
   e.g. friending people gives you a backlink from their profile page to your profile page
   
   or you could also interlink your own sites by linking similar hubs together.
   
   But ensure that the links are only one way

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   1. 61

      Trefoldposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You mean like putting links to my other related hubs in the hubs? What exactly do you mean by one way?

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7. 61

   Trefoldposted 14 years ago

   Well guys I wrote my first article today written solely FOR hubpages. Please take a look at it and tear me apart, I want to have a long list of mistakes and things I could do better. Don't forget I'm here to make money while doing something I love, so if you can tell me something that's going to help me with that goal just speak up. The hub I wrote is Making money with hubpages and adsense.

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