About the Author

author photo

Felicia A. Williams is a freelance writer and blogger. She spends her time raising her family and writing. In addition to being the Insurance Feature Writer at Suite 101 and freelancing wherever she can, Felicia spends her time tinkering around with her sites, Tidbits and Stuff (a site full of useless and useful information), BLULOW, (all about living green) and Visit Hudson Valley.

See All Posts by This Author

My eHow Experiment


I’ve been away from blogging regularly here because I was attempting to reach my first milestone at eHow. I wanted to write 100 eHow How to’s within 30 days. I managed to get it done with 5 days to spare.

Here’s my eHow experiment.

I’m going to track how money grows and how long it takes to make eHow earnings worthwhile. I’m going to use Demand Studios as my comparison yardstick. If I had written 100 articles through Demand Studios, I would have earned $15 per article, which would mean I would have earned $1,500.

Well, maybe not. Demand Studios recently instituted a change. They no longer pay $15 for writer-generated titles. They pay based on a sliding scale. From what I understand the price can range as low as $5 to as high as $15. Although I completed the 100 articles prior to the title rate change, going forward, that is another moving factor to consider.Write

So far, writing 100 articles earned me a total of $14.46. That means each article is worth a little over 14 cents. I’m averaging out the income across all 100 articles. Actually only 25 articles have earned anything so far.

Using SEO Tactics

I’ve got to say that approximately 25 to 35% of the articles are written using the tips outlined in the book How to Earn Passive Income at eHow.com. Those are probably the 25 to 35 articles that have made money so far. The rest were written on topics that floated into my head on any particular day.

Going Forward

I’m going to continue to place content on eHow, but at a much slower rate. I’d like to see what happens to the first 100 after they season a little.

Check back monthly as I report my eHow earnings. As a matter of fact, why watch what I do, why not join me and try it too?

Month Amount Earned
September, 2008* $.10
October, 2008 $37.73
November, 2008 $83.18
December, 2008 $158.44
January, 2009 $197.46
February, 2009 $227.16
March, 2009 $262.68
April, 2009 $275.32
May, 2009 $232.03
June, 2009** $288.69
Total Earned $1,762.79
*9/25/08 – First article placed on eHow
** I did not write any new articles for eHow in the month of June, 2009
Last Updated: 7/2/09 (Click here for screen clip of 2008 earnings)

Check out My eHow Statistical Trend.

Popularity: 59% [?]

  Digg!

Keep up with the latest. Subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or by Email NJFM is also mobile phone compatible

There Are 22 Responses So Far. »

  1. Looking good so far! I think I have around 54. I’m not going as fast as you, but I’d like to reach the 100 point by the end of the year.

    Jen Bristers last blog post..Are We Having Fun Yet?

  2. Believe me, I’m not going to continue at such a break neck pace. I’ve slowed thins way, way down.

    100 by the end of the year is a much more reasonable pace.

  3. Hi,
    I have almost 200 articles on eHow and so far they have been netting me about $10 more each month. For example, in July I made $55, in August I made $65, and in September I made $75. So, I make $10 more each month than I did before.

    Alina Bradfords last blog post..The Secret to Getting Work as a Freelance Writer

  4. Hi Alina,

    That’s good to know. At least the numbers continually grow. I’ve got a way to go before I get to $55 a month, but I’ll keep writing until I do.

    Thanks for the info!

  5. Oops, I need to correct myself. I’ve been making $5 more every month. I put all the correct numbers here on my blog: http://writetoearn.today.com/2008/10/22/what-can-you-make-on-ehow

  6. Felicia,

    Perhaps a small suggestion based on what I have seen – many bloggers, including myself sometimes in need of articles but looking for a more packaged deals.

    I have seen Tiffany Dow do this – she offers blog posts packages: 1 week, 1 month, 6 month, etc. Obviously topic by the person who orders. Might be something to earn from?

    Alex Sysoefs last blog post..Shoot The Guru Game – Competition

  7. This is intriguing. I am aiming for a 60 article minimum (but trying for more) in November, but I work only on week days and have divided those days further. I use my business colors and have orange and purple days. On orange days I work on eHow and passive income generators such as eHow. Purple days are my education days. I hope to increase my speed in December but get started in real productivity. I bought the ebook (writergig’s) and have used the tips most always and made almost four dollars over about 14 days. I am exciting about your challenge, and am going to be blogging about my progress. Best of luck.

    Jessies last blog post..Writing Support & Articles Worth Paying For: WritingSpirit.Com

  8. Awesome experiment, Felicia, and I’ll be checking back to see how it goes.

    I have also written eHow articles for DS, and at this point my average earned per article in the eHow WCP, outpaces the DS $15 flat rate by a nice margin.

    Best of luck!

    Marias last blog post..eHow User Forum 2008

  9. Hi Maria,

    That’s good to know that the eHow articles exceed the per article earning from Demand Studios. As of this writing, my 14 cents per article on eHow has now increased to a little over 24 cents with 116 articles written.

    At least the income is trending in the right direction.

    Thanks for the well wishes.

  10. The trend looks good for you.. my stats have been similar.. I’m now at about 150 articles on ehow and am making about $3 or $4 a day on average, I have been a member since July. Give it some time! It is a nice way to earn some extra cash!

  11. Hey, congrats on your earnings. I keep my earnings updated in my blog as well if you would like to check it out. If you would like to share tips with one another then please send me a message on ehow. Happy thanksgiving. Kcjo

  12. Congrats Felicia on your eHow earnings. I think eHow is paying off quite well for both of us. : ) I also highly recommend WriterGig’s book. :) Kristi

  13. Way to go! You have inspired me to keep going. I have a dozen articles and am going to try 100 in 30 days! I am also going to get Maria’s eBook and digest every word!

  14. AnneZ,

    Just remember, it is about quality, not quantity. I have 98 articles and I have been on that site for over 4 months!

    Julie Ms last blog post..Productive Day of Writing with ALL My Voices

  15. Thanks so much for writing about your eHow writing experiment. I like eHow a lot, and it sounds like your experiment is going very well for you. Congratulations!

  16. It looks better to write on Demand Studios, because its been about half a year and you still haven’t made as much money as you would’ve otherwise. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

  17. Hi CJ,

    I guess it’s all in the way you look at it. If you’re looking for quick up front money, then Demand Studios wins hands down. My goal, however, is to develop several streams of residual income. I truly believe that over time, eHow will be the better option.

    If I never write another article for Demand Studios, I’ll never get another dime from them. If I never write another article for eHow, I’ll continue to get paid.

    The good thing is that we have the option to write for both (although I still prefer eHow).

  18. Hmm. Yes, I suppose you’re right. So you make about 300$ a month? That’s really not too bad. How long do you think it’ll take for you to pass up what you would’ve earned in Demand Studios?

    When writing for eHow, about how much do you really get for an article every month?

    I once heard that you made $100 a few days, how did that happen? Just a ton of traffic to your eHows?

    Do those figures only include the 100 you initially wrote, or do they include more?

    Sorry for all the questions, but thanks very much! :)

  19. OK C.J., let’s see if I can answer your questions.

    As far as making $300 a month, it’s a moving target. As you can see from my numbers posted above, the numbers change. eHow has not updated the earnings in a few days so I don’t know how I’m doing for the month of May.

    I’ve written more than 100 articles. As of this writing, I just posted my 301st article. Some of my articles are rather successful and others are not. I have one article that has earned in excess of $200 (and still earning) and I have some articles that haven’t earned a thing.

    When you heard about my earning $100 a day, it was not through eHow exclusively. I write for several sites in addition to having my own blogs/sites. The $100 figure is a collective number for my various revenue sources. I think the most I’ve ever earned in one day so far with eHow was a little over $30.00.

    As far as how long it’ll take for me to surpass what I can earn on Demand Studios, I really can’t give you an answer. I know that writing for eHow is a lot less frustrating for me than writing for Demand Studios. I write for DS on rare occasions.

    Because I have so many articles on eHow, I don’t keep track of the initial 100. I guess I could but it’s just too time consuming and as far as I’m concerned it’s not worth the time. I tend to look at the whole picture.

    If you’re trying to figure out whether or not to write for Demand Studios or eHow, why make a decision? Try writing for both. Over time you’ll come up with your own determination as to which one is better for you.

  20. One other thing I forgot to mention, C.J..

    Time is on your side when you’re writing for residual sites. When I first started writing for eHow, I was averaging less than a few pennies per article. Now each article is worth a little over $4.00. That does not sound like much but that number goes up each day.

    About two years ago I started writing for another site. When I first started writing for them, my per article rate was something similar to what I’m earning at eHow (just pennies). Now each article is averaging about $30.00 per article. I have a fraction of the number of articles there as I have for eHow but time is on my side. Each day, that per article value increases. I fully expect the same thing to happen with my eHow articles.

    So, initially it may not seem worth it. However, my experience tells me that in the long run, it’s very much worth it.

  21. Hmm, yes. You’re right. I think it’ll probably be best for me just to try both; but I’m thinking I’ll just do eHow in the longrun. Thanks very much for your advice. :)

  22. Wow, I am trying to take in all this information. I am a mom, and I just graduated from college with a BSED in Middle Grades Education. My job hunt has been unsuccessful thus far, so I am exploring alternative ways to earn a little money. Even if I only earn enough to take my two babies to the Zoo I will be happy with that. I just need to decide how I want to invest my precious little time. Not that your time is not precious, I just mean the very little time I have to work when the babies are asleep! :) Anywho, thank you for the wonderful, helpful advice and info!

    Mandy

Post a Response

CommentLuv Enabled
Security Code: