How To Quit Working

It's not surprising that many people want to quit their jobs. There are many reasons why someone would want to. The work stinks, the pay is lousy, benefits are poor, no upward mobility, crappy bosses and on and on. For me the problem was that I was tired of being an employee. I had been a chef and restaurant manager for nearly 15 years and had grown tired of it on many levels. Primarily was the realization that I was stuck. If I wanted to make more money I would have to take on more responsibility, which in the restaurant business generally means more hours. I was already tired of working 60-70 hours a week, nights, weekend and holidays. I wanted to sit on the other side of the bar, with all my friends, having a good time.... not working.

it was from this well of feeling that I was able to draw the motivation, patience and dedication it took to achieve my ultimate goal; self sufficiency. I was lucky enough to have a friend turn me on to writing for the internet, you are lucky enough to have me. I'm not going to tell you that you can make millions with little effort using the internet. It's possible but I am not that guy. It takes work and effort to succeed as a writer. It took me over two years to successfully replace my former career with my new one. With my tips and experience you may be able to do it much quicker.

If you're going to be a writer you have to write. This means getting started somewhere. It doesn't really matter, the point is to write and to try to build up some material. Hubpages is a great place for this and especially good for newbies or those with little to no experience (writing or with the internet). I got my start writing SEO articles for my friend. He and his wife run a writing/editing business and needed content. What I did was write short articles about food. My first topics included salmon, mercury in fish, organic vegetables and the growing farm-to-table movement in my hometown.

• SEO - search engine optimization - A list of best practices intended to make websites, web pages, blogs and articles easy to find. This includes keywords, format, titles and content.

The purpose of SEO is to make websites visible to Google and other search engines while providing engaging, high quality and easy to read material. When someone enters a search one of the engines then scours the internet looking for the pages that best match the search query. The better your SEO the easier it is for the engines to see your page, index and rank it. If Google doesn't like your page it won't read it, the same is true with people so you have to write with both in mind.

If you are going to be an internet writer you will need to know at least the basics of SEO. This is another reason why Hubpages is a good place for newbies to start: Hubpages is really good at teaching SEO. I don't know if they still do it but when I first got started there was an apprentice program. You could sign up and they would guide you through all the aspects of using the site to create great content.

• Click Here To Sign Up For Hubpages, It's Totally Free!

Affiliate marketing is one of many ways to make money on the internet. Writers and web publishers can earn money by displaying the ads of other businesses. This can be done through PPC (pay per click) networks like Adsense, Amazone and Ebay or, in some cases, by signing up directly with the vendor. Hubpages harnesses the power of ad revenue with all three of the sources listed above. When one of your readers clicks on ad or clicks through to Amazon or Ebay and the buys something you receive a portion of the income.

• Affiliate marketing can be used with Hubpages or on your own blog or website.
• Hubpages displays Adsense ads to the side of hubs, or at the end. Amazon and Ebay can be embedded within the hub.

Hubpages allows you to make money through the ad program. Ads pop-up on your pages, when someone clicks on them you make money. The caveat is that you won't make very much with this program unless you hit the jackpot with one of your hubs. The best way to make money writing on the internet is to freelance. There were an estimated 6.44 million websites in 2012 and the number is only growing. Each and every one of them is trying to get ranked by Google and they need your writing to do it. Connecting with one of them, or better yet with a few of them, is the way to go.

Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you hanging here. There are numerous places on the internet created for the purposes of connecting freelancers with work. The two that I use the most and find to be the most reliable are ODesk.com and Elance.com. When I got started they were independent, since then Odesk bought Elance but they still operate as separate sites. All you have to do is join. You will be able to build a profile, list some of your previous work in a portfolio, scan job listings and bid on work. One reason I like them best is because they process all payments with an escrow account ensuring you get paid for work completed satisfactorily.

• Don't be afraid to start low. It's not awesome making only $5 or $10 an hour but you have to start somewhere. Each job you complete enhances your worth, the next job will pay more.

I'm not going to lie. It may take a little time but if you stick with it you will find the right work for you. These sites are not limited to writing so don't think that is the only way to freelance on the internet. You can find offers for any kind of work that can be performed from home, remotely or over the internet... seriously.

The caveat is that there are a lot of people looking for work and a lot of them live in countries with lower than average standards of living. This means that you may be competing with someone offering $5 for work that may take you several hours to perform. This is not equitable for you but also not the obstacle you may think. Why? Because the jobs you want don't pay that low. Serious website owners know the value of your work and will pay accordingly.

A piece of advice I have gotten from nearly every professional SEO I have every talked to or read has been to build a niche. The internet is filled with thousands if not millions of people with similar interests as you and they are all looking for interesting and informative content.

On the flip-side there are also numerous professional websites in each and every industry with the power of money and a savvy tech department to back it up. It can be very difficult to compete with all of them if your topic is too broad. A blog about cats is going to be like a grain of sand on a beach when it comes to search optimization. A blog about heriditary problems common with cats is much more specific and much more likely to get higher ranking from Google.

This is yet another reason why Hubpages is so good for new and old bloggers alike. The site is non-specific so any acceptable user generated content is allowed. You can use it to explore your writing and find out which subjects work the best for you and then build on that subject. Or,if you are already writing, use it as a place to write articles supporting the content you have produced for other websites. I was surprised that my hubs on birds get great traffic despite the plethora of information available on the internet. My titles like Owls In North Carolina and Back Yard Birds Of North Carolina are among my top producing pages and why I went on to write another handful of aviary related articles.

• I often use Hubpages and my Hubpages profile as an example of my work and include many of my articles in sample portfolios.

Videos are a great addition to any website for several reasons. The most important being they engage users, generate traffic and add an extra dimension to your SEO.

Ever been searching for something on Google and had a video included in the results? This is because there was a video relevant to the search. Webmasters are looking for freelancers who can create and use video in their writing and on their websites. I like to use them to add humor to otherwise dry subjects. In one hub I used a cartoon of Foghorn Leghorn and the ChickenHawk in an article about.... chickenhawks. I may be showing my age but who doesn't love a good cartoon of Foghorn getting harassed by the baby chickenhawk.

Just about every where you go on the internet are opportunities to create a profile. I highly suggest you do so on any platform you choose to use. When doing so be very smart about it.

• Avoid using names/handles with no relevance.
• Try to use the same name/handle at each site. They don't all allow the same length or types of characters but get as close as you can.
• Be complete. Add as much detail as you can. The more the public knows about you the better.
• BACK LINK! When you make a profile they will usually provide space to link to other top social sites as well as at least one of your own blogs/websites.

SEO extends beyond the articles to the author itself. Google may have abandoned its authorship program for search ranking but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Creating profiles on all the major social media networks works in your favor in quite a few ways. First and foremost it enhances your visibility and helps people remember you. It also provides a platform for disemanating your content to current followers as well as attract new ones. I use Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Linkedin and Google+ for this purpose. Anytime I post an article on Hubpages I also post the link on each of these sites, provided it is relevant to the platform and my greater objectives.

Social media can ....

• Help you attract new followers
• Help you let current followers about new articles and/or updates to you and your sites.
• Help build back links to your pages and websites.
• Be used in affiliate marketing
• Help establish you as an expert in your niche... the more sources you can be found the better, just keep it relevant and useful.

A funny thing happened one day when I joined a forum. I'd never used one before but had heard they were good places to post, useful for links and could help me generate traffic and increase my SEO. The same rules apply here as social media; fill out your profile, keep the posts relevant and respect the community. If you do so you will be rewarded. One of my rewards was that I was asked, eventually, to help moderate the forum.... for a fee. This means greeting new users, answering/replying to posts that go unanswered and to delete spam or other unwanted content. Now forum moderating is part of my weekly workload and a skill I have added to my profile.

Starting with what you know is always the easiest. I was once a chef and restaurant manager which explains my hubs on Building A Restaurant Schedule and How To Manage Restaurant Equipment Inventory. I also have an interest in collecting silver coins which was the basis for my hub What Is A Dollar Really. Things like your work, your education, your hobby, sport or other interest. Begin by searching Google for websites on your subject. If there are a lot of high quality returns on the SERP (search engine results page) then you may need to get more specific. If not, then you're in business!

• The Google search bar can be instrumental in finding keywords and phrases with which to build your publishing empire around. When you enter a word look and see what other searches the toolbar suggests for you.

Starting your own blog is much easier than you may think. The internet has evolved to point that the most inexperienced webmaster can produce high quality websites with the click of a mouse. Two that I am most familiar with are Google Blogger and Wordpress.com although there are others. These two sites let you build a free website/blog using their technology. You can create a site about whatever interests you and use it as a platform for earning. If you've reached the point where you can produce top quality hubs then there is no reason why you shouldn't start your own website. Some benefits include;

• Not limited by Hubpages policies and editorial practices.The policies are fine and intended for the best interest of Hubpages and the community, the problem is that there is no guarantee they will allow your content to be published... or that they will make it visible to the public.
• A blog is a great way to increase revenue. The more pages you have, in more places the more visible you and your topic will be to the search engines.
• Links and SEO. The root of all internet money making is proper SEO. Back links to your sites help generate traffic but also increase your SEO in the eyes of Google, Bing, Yahoo and other top engines.
• Focus- The most important benefit that starting your own website can do is provide focus. Hubpages is great but is also very diverse. There are hubs on literally every topic imaginable, your own hubs, like mine, may also be quite varied in subject. When you find a niche in which you can make money having a blog/website devoted specifically to that subject will increase your SEO and earnings potential.

If I were to find myself in the position of needing to start all over again I would do things much differently. Instead of discovering each aspect of internet publishing on its own I would begin with a plan and do ALL OF IT at once. The first thing to do is to start with a topic or subject. From there I would start a new website based on my subject. I would then go and create social media profiles for my website with every platform I know of and then begin the work of writing writing writing and writing ... with breaks for posting and back linking.

• Don't forget to actively search out and bid on freelance jobs that interest you. It provides extra income and will only increase the value of your other work.

Freelancing can be a difficult way to work, especially at first. There is no guarantee you will find work, or that it will pay enough or that it will last very long. Some weeks I spend more time looking for work than I do doing work but it always pays off. When I have to I do piece work but I am always on the lookout for long-term gigs. Over the years I have built up several regular customers that are the foundation of my monthly income. I supplement this with piecework, my own blogs, Hubpages and anywhere else I can find that will pay me to post. My job is to write for people, my work is managing about 10-15 individual sources of income that all pay me to do some form of work on the internet ranging from weekly newsletters to blog posts, articles, columns, and forum moderation.

• Stick with it. It takes some time but it can be done.
• Freelancing and web publishing is not one job, it's a collection of jobs equaling a satisfying home based business.
• Don't rush right out to quit your job. You need to get cash flow established and then you can begin to slowly reduce your responsibilities until you find yourself in my shoes... retired.