Earning on the Internet, My First Year

This was the question I was asking myself in April, 2011. Like many people around the globe, I had been using the internet for years. I used it for everything, news, information, making new friends and even shopping.

I knew that there was money to be made on the internet, but I always assumed it was for the experts who got in on the ground floor. It was not until 2011 that I began to hear that average people such as myself were actually making money as well. So I began to research the idea, I wanted to know more about this revelation.

When I searched on Google for ways to earn money on the internet I found several hubs written on the very topic. At the time I had no idea what a hub was, but i took the time to read through a few of them and see what they had to say.

I wish that I could share the titles of the hubs that pointed out the way for me, they deserve a little credit for convincing me that this road was worth travelling. Unfortunately I am unable to recall them, but they did provide me with enough information to get started and I am forever grateful for that.

One of the websites I read about in those hubs was a question and answer site called WebAnswers. I had never heard of it before, but the desription sounded appealing to me, certainly I was able to answer a few questions and the thought of earning a couple of dollars was a bonus.

So I went to the WebAnswers site to check it out for myself and I liked the feel of it. It was a well put together website that was easy to navigate my way around and find questions that I could answer. I had no idea if it was really possible to earn anything, but I decided to join and give it a try.

I made it a point to visit the site everyday and answer a few questions. Within a week or so I was approved for a google adsense account and linked it to my WebAnswers account. I was now ready to watch the money come rolling in.

Unfortunately, it did not happen that way. Sure I was answering questions eveyday and earning a few pennies here and there. Still I did not panic, I had realistic expectations and knew that it was going to take time and hard work.

During my first few months I kept hearing about the google panda updates, which I had no idea about, except that it was a bad thing for WebAnswers. Long time members were saying that their earnings were dropping and the site was doomed. I was concerned about this, but as a new member I figured that I had nothing to lose.

As I write this hub I have now been an active WebAnswers member for one year and plan to stay with it for the time being. It has not brought me wealth, but it has provided me with my best earnings so far.

A few weeks after joining WebAnswers I heard about the website Mylot and decided to check it out. It did not seem to offer the potential of WebAnswers, but it was an interesting concept and I liked the idea of earning per post.

Now with a year under my belt on Mylot I have to admit that the site has been mostly disappointing. There are a few interesting discussions to participate in, so I visit the site a few times a week to keep active. Still the earnings are quite low even by internet standards in consideration of the amount of time needed.

I will likely phase out my usage of Mylot in the coming months, but it has been a learning experience.

I am no longer active on Mylot. It did not take me long to realize that the website was never going to be more than another social site. It was my experience that all the time spent working on the site amounted to mere pennies a day and you have to post daily just to achieve that level. In the future, I will be concentrating my online effort at websites such as hubpages, which provide more satisfaction and results.

It now appears that Webanswers is no more. A little sad to see it go, but I can't say that I am surprised. The site was a good idea, but it was becoming over run with spam and nonsense posts. So now hubpages is the only site I am active on.

After a couple months of working on WebAnswers and Mylot, I began to look deeper into the Hubpages site. I liked the look of the site and the layout seemed really user friendly, especially for a beginner like myself.

So I created an account and spent the first few weeks just exploring the site and browsing different hubs. It's always a good idea to get the feel for a website before publishing your own work.

In all honesty, I did not publish many hubs during the first few months on Hubpages. Even though I had notebooks full of writings over the years and had always aspired to be a writer, I had never put my work out for others to read. I was scared that people would say I had no talent and to give up the dream.

I have to admit that I have grown to love the community here on hubpages. The kind comments, words of encouragement and the constructive criticism has gone a long way towards bringing out the writer in me. I hope that as time passes and I publish more hubs my writing continues to improve. I will remain indebted to the hubpages community for bringing this shy writer out into the public.

With my first year under my belt I feel that I have grown as a person and the future looks bright. I have learned a little along the way and I hope to continue those trends in the next year.

I will continue to keep active on Hubpages and WebAnswers, but I also hope to expand into other areas as well. Before the year is over I want to begin my own blog. Ultimately I want to begin publishing some short stories and maybe even a novel in ebook form.

I am looking towards the stars and enjoying the journey. I owe it all to you the people who have taken the time to read my words. I offer you all my humblest thank-you.