When I signed up to write for eHow I knew that I would eventually earn money.  However, the longer I write for eHow, the more valuable it becomes.  Not in the dollar and cents type of value, but a pre-testing the market type of value.

Topic Variety

The good thing about it is that with a little research (and sometimes a lot of research), you can write an eHow on just about anything.  Of course there are those topics that require hands on knowledge and experience to write about, but for the most part the range of topics is wide open.

I tend to try to write on a variety of topics.  Some do well and others, not so well.  The good thing about that is that my eHow

articles tests the internet market for me.  It allows me to see which topics are winners and which ones to stay away from.  Knowing what pays is the first step when it comes to niche marketing.

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Niche Marketing Testing Ground

Whether you earn direct income from eHow as a part of the Writers Compensation Program, or affiliate income, by inserting affiliate links in the resources section, it’s a win-win situation.  This applies to non US citizens too.  Don’t let the inability to participate in the WCP program stop you from writing for eHow.  With the proper strategy it can be a lucrative gig.

Take the Info and Run with It

Because some of my eHow articles were so popular, I decided to try my hand at a niche blog on the topic.  I’m still in the testing phases.  I’ve not done any advertising for the blog nor have I submitted the site to any of the social networking sites.  It’s too young and to ill prepared to make its internet debut (I didn’t even put a link to the new site from my NJFM blog yet).  Given all of the above disclaimers, I’m averaging about $1.35 per post on little to no traffic.  To top it off, there’s not much to read on the site.  There are only 14 pages.

I didn’t spend a lot of time confusing myself with keyword searches to find the  most popular key words.  I didn’t do all of the research that the experts might have recommended I do.  All I did was write a few eHow articles and periodically review the stats to see which ones were performing the best from an income and traffic point of view.

The best part of it all is that I didn’t have to purchase a niche marketing research tool.  I got paid by eHow to find a potentially lucrative niche topic.  Does it get any better than that?  To me, this is a win-win situation.

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