Have to wonder if writing here is worth the effort...

1. 42

   thom w conroyposted 10 years ago

   Have to wonder if writing here is worth the effort...
   
   Okay, I have tried just about everything to get natural traffic but to no success. I get the whole "write better hubs, longer hubs, seo friendly hubs" etc. but this just feels wrong to spend an enormous amount of time in the hope of getting somewhere with no viewable progress in the present. No one gets a free lunch, but it seems as though Hubpages expects you to perform work now to maybe be paid at a later time. Getting tired of chasing that dangling carrot, from experiences on other writing sites you can get natural views from absolute garbage but can't get it from good articles here.

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2. 80

   phdast7posted 10 years ago

   Have you ever considered writing what you want, when you want, and how you want?   To hell with meeting HP's expectations and to hell with your expectation of HP as a source of income.   Why not view and use HP as a source of satisfaction where you post quality work that you are proud of?   I would salute you and such a choice.

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      Faceless39posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I totally agree.  I have always written whatever I'm interested in at the time, and take each hub as a lesson and learning experience.  I make money, and I learn in the process.  Bravo!

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3. 42

   thom w conroyposted 10 years ago

   There are many, many venues to write to "satisfy your soul" - content sites, blogs, ebooks and others. However, I write to earn extra income among other reasons and I am not free labor. If someone earns 2 cents from your writings and unique perspective you deserve a penny for your thoughts.

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      phdast7posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You should not be free labor and probably then HP really isn't worth the effort, because whether you make any substantial money on here is very iffy and very difficult.   Good luck.   

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4. 87

   nochanceposted 10 years ago

   Writing is not, and never has been, a way to "get rich quick." Write because you love it, not because you expect to make money doing it. I've written causally here for the last few years (mostly during the summer because I was a student) and have made a little over $200. It really isn't much considering the amount of effort I've put into this site.
   
   But I have gained a lot of knowledge about publishing online and I've earned a lot of followers and friends who will probably read my stuff if I end up publishing for real someday (I'm working on a novel).
   
   If you write good honest articles then maybe you'll get readers. Sometimes it depends on your content, sometimes it depends on Google. Good writing floats to the top it's as simple as that.

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      phdast7posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Well said nochance.   I agree with you wholeheartedly and your response was much nicer than mine.   

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      thom w conroyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It'd not the content or the quality of the writing - it's the publishing venue and the folks that own the platform that determine the payment scheme. As for as the "write because you love it" and the get rich quick thought I agree to a certain extent

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5. 68

   WalterPoonposted 10 years ago

   Both phdast7 and nochance have said what I wanted to say. I kinda like HubPages, now that I get used to it. The greatest reward is that inner sense of self-satisfaction in seeing your hub featured. I wrote a few thousand articles for Wikipedia (especially Malay Wikipedia) for free and at the end of the day, what do I get, other than constant harassment from some of their rogue administrators? Even missing out an "s" can become an issue, especially with the British English articles.
   
   Write what you enjoy writing... I have not even bother to see if my hubs are SEO-friendly or whether my keywords are high-trending... once I have exhausted what I want to write, then I will look into those because it is good to enjoy a hobby and yet get paid for it.
   
   You mentioned: " Getting tired of chasing that dangling carrot, from experiences on other writing sites you can get natural views from absolute garbage but can't get it from good articles here."
   
   It's not HubPages that's dangling the carrot. They pay you 60% of what they receive from AdSense, Amazon, eBay, or whatever. So they are very much in the same boat as we are, except that they earn over many hubbers, whereas we only earn from our own hubs. The more we make, the more they make, so why would they want to make life difficult for us?
   
   "... from experiences on other writing sites you can get natural views from absolute garbage but can't get it from good articles here." I can see that you sound frustrated but you have to rethink whether what you say is, in fact, true. How can absolute garbage earn any money when good articles can't? Doesn't make sense, right? I would be glad to visit those sites and verify them for myself.

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      thom w conroyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Let's see - Gather.com Triond  Helium and tons more. Half of the Squidoo Lens are nothing more than one big advertisement with little or no information of value to anyone over the age of 8.

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      WalterPoonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Google for the article, "Squidoo vs. Hubpages: An Earnings Comparison". It says HubPages wins hands down:
      
      Squidoo: 13.86¢ per lens
      Hubpages: 55.74¢ per hub

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      thom w conroyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      And the point is that Squidoo stinks more than Hubpages? I'm finished with this thread - I cannot believe that otherwise intelligent people are so naive and to churn out hundreds of hours of effort for pie in the sky that may not ever fall. Peace.

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   4. 68

      WalterPoonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thom w conroy, I agree with you. If you are writing merely for the money, it may not be worth your while. I write because I like to write. It took me 5 years to see monthly payments from AdSense for my websites.

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   edhanposted 10 years ago

   It depends on individuals. I come here and sometimes write as it is kinda as a hobby. I like to read mostly from here and at times answering questions that I know of the answers. Or giving my opinions that might helps others. It is fun and good to share in writing. At the same time, I made some friends.

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7. 77

   Escobanaposted 10 years ago

   Are you in it for the money or are you in it for the passion of writing quality content?
   
   Do you LOVE the community or do you AIM for traffic and numbers?
   
   Does Hubpages help to improve your skills as a writer and do comments of other Hubbers make you smile?
   
   I can honestly say that Hubpages is not about making quick money, except for those very few Hubbers that are on board for a long time, willing to spend an enormous amount of time in front of their laptop, knowing all about linking and back linking, SEO and other tips and tricks.
   
   To me it's all about the Hublove, friendships, sharing your passion with others and promoting the work of others. The act of gratitude is a very fulfilling one and a very important act in our daily and stressful lives:)

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8. 62

   LoisRyan13903posted 10 years ago

   It all depends on how you look at it.  If you are trying to use Hub Pages to be your full-time job then it might not be worth the effort since you would have to do so many hubs a day.  I had figured out for another site for me to make just $150 a week I would have to between 30-50 articles a week.  Even if I knew what to write it normally takes me 2-4 hours per article and I normally have enough after getting 4 articles done. 
   
   However, would it pay off in the long run?  While you are spending time writing the articles, you can still make money in the future with page views.  I currently have 45 hubs and I make $1-2 a month (overall)  I know that I can't live off that LOL! But it can be an excellent way to forecast my future with HP.  For example, if I publish 450 hubs my I can expect to make $10-20 a month.  4500 hubs=$100-200.  With me I can see having 450 hubs published but not 4500-it would be too time consuming plus I know I will be out of ideas.  As for me, I share what I learn in Bible Studies and do some creative writing.
   
   I would keep what you are doing by studying tips.  I would also join the social networking groups such as Twitter and FaceBook and get a group of followers.  Also set up a Blog with links to your hubs.

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      thom w conroyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with you to a certain extent, but mortgaging your time in the present for an expected future return from writing online is setting yourself up for a tremendous disappoint.  Witness Factoids and most recently Gather as models......

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      LoisRyan13903posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That's why I just do a few hubs a month.  Maybe a great way to get noticed.

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9. 76

   dorothy0328posted 10 years ago

   I have been here on HP for quite a while and I really do not have to many hubs I write when I have time which can be very hard to find. However I have been paid from HP and Google adsense to about $600 this far. This is not a site to get rich quick on. This is a site for writers and readers who enjoy spending their spare time doing such. To me being a member of HP is not my paycheck this is my enjoyment. Try sharing your links on FB, Myspace, Twitter, Blogger and so on. Email your friends copies of your hubs with the links to either your hubs or your HP profile. Answer questions and with in your answer add a hub of yours that you may have written that can better assist the person asking the question. There are many ways to generate traffic and I have read several times over the years that there are people actually making a small living through their writing, It's not impossible and can be done but it will take a lot of time and effort on your part. Are you a member of Google Adsense? If not register make sure you are also registered with hubsense as well. I have not had any luck with the ebay stuff nor do I really understand it but I hope in the future when I have more time I will be able to learn more about other ways to make money on here. I'm sure that there are several hubs about this very topic so try searching making money with hubpages on the hubpages site I remember a while back I had read a very good one so try doing that. Good luck to you. I wish I had a hub written to give you more advice.

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      WalterPoonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      $600 for 25 hubs? That's a lot of money! But is that pre-Panda or post-Panda? Would be glad to hear how much you made since February 2011.

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      dorothy0328posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      well I have recieved 200 from google the reamining 400 has been since 2011. Im not sure how I did it but I did and Im not complaining about it lol Im not sure what you mean about panda though

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   3. 68

      WalterPoonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Dorothy0328, that's fantastic if you earn $400 from 25 hubs since 2011. Panda is Google's revised search engine algorithm that sent HubPages' traffic 72% down and HubPages has yet to recover ever since. Try writing more hubs and you'll double that.

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10. 0

    ExoticHippieQueenposted 10 years ago

    I have read everyone's answers so far, and it seems that the majority feel that the satisfaction from writing high quality material is the payoff, not the money you may earn.  I absolutely agree with that, because I have made so little on this site, despite trying to increase my traffic.  If I based my happiness on how much I made here, I would be very unhappy.  Whatever money I may earn is frosting on the cake.  There are other sites where you can make more money, such as Textbrokers, etc. where you lose the ability to write what you want, and have to fill the needs of the client.  Write because you love it, and keep your day job.

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    Robbie C Wilsonposted 10 years ago

    I joined HubPages for several reasons.
    
    First, I have a terrible memory. I document things so that I can remember it and I figured I should put these on the Internet for other people to use while I am at it.
    
    Second, I want to write a book at some point, so I thought I would practice my writing skills which have definitely improved (I have now written enough Hubs to make up a book so I am happy that I could do it once I have a story good enough).
    
    Lastly, I did want to see if I could make some pocket money from my spare time through writing online. I now do make a small amount which is good, but far from my only aim on being here.

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       WalterPoonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Robbie, your first reason is also one of my reasons. In fact, all your reasons are also my reasons, LOL.

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    erorantesposted 10 years ago

    Yes it is worth doing the writing. You need to do it right. There are a lot of writers
    that are  writing for a few years , and they are making money. Keep writing .One day you will get pay. You need to  have an account with google to get pay.

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       thom w conroyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       With 3 Hubs written how do you know this to be true?????????????

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