 This one is a freebie. If you want to learn the basics of becoming an online freelance writer, download So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer (also available in Kindle format).
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HubPages is a Keeper
Felicia | Aug 20, 2009 | Comments 29
As you know, I recently started writing for HubPages. Although I signed up quite some time ago, I only wrote my first article a month ago on July 20, 2009.
Understanding the nature of residual writing, I know for a fact that the first month of any online residual writing site is usually an exercise in faith. You keep writing because you know things will work out in the long run. Well, my exercise in faith has created stronger HubPage faith muscles.
My 30 Day HubPage Update
Thirty days after placing my first hub, I now have 17 hubs. I should really have more hubs than that because I signed up for the 30 day challenge, but was unable to finish it. My website hacker diverted my attention from writing and things got a bit backed up.
Anyway, back to HubPages… I have 17 hubs and have earned a little over $12 so far. I earned a .68 with Kontera and the rest with Google AdSense. I haven’t quite gotten the hang of eBay (sad to admit) and I didn’t earn anything with Amazon as yet.
A HubPage Revelation
It wasn’t until I wrote one particular hub for HubPages that I realized HubPages’ value. After writing the article I realized that it made sense to keep them in my arsenal. I won’t re-write the entire article here, but if I have at least 5 reputable online content sites where I post my work regularly (at least one time per week); I believe within 5 years, if not much sooner, I should be set for life (this doesn’t include my blogs and niche sites).
A Little Comparison
Some folks earn more and some less with HubPages. I couldn’t help but compare my first month with HubPages against my first month with eHow and with Suite 101. Since I’m contractually prohibited from sharing my Suite 101 numbers, see if you can read between the lines:
| Site | # of Articles Written in first 30 Days |
Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| Suite 101 | 6 | More than HubPages but Less than eHow (Closer to eHow than HubPages) |
| eHow | 69 | $22.04 |
| HubPages | 17 | $12.23 |
Now that the numbers have spoken for themselves, I think you should check out my post on working smarter and enjoying Google’s favor . It’s tempting to put all of my efforts into Suite 101, but that would not be a wise move.
Filed Under: Earning Money • eHow • Freelance • HubPages • Legitimate • Opportunities • Residual Income • Suite 101
I so agree with you Felicia! Great post. I have just seven hubs up and I’ve made over $16 in Adsense in July and August ($12 in Adsense this month to date). The bulk of that comes from one hub. In fact, imagine my surprise yesterday when I checked Adsense and found I had earned $7.68 yesterday from that hub. I’ve also made a couple of Amazon sales.
I think hubs are such fun to build too. Kind of like building mini-sites.
I look forward to following your progress with them.
.-= Julie @ Write for eHow´s last blog ..Last Chance (for now) to get Janet Ford’s eHow Ebook =-.
Congrats on your HubPages success, Julie!
Wow, $7.68 from one hub in one day in such a short period of time, that’s great! Just imagine how much you’ll make as time goes on.
Man, I sure do love earning residual income!
Oh, and I wanted to mention that this line of your post was really exciting: “I believe within 5 years, if not much sooner, I should be set for life”. I am re-discovering the power of residual income and have some similar goals.
I think I even inspired myself on that one.
I signed up for HubPages a few days ago and was excited by the opportunity that it held. My excitement, however was short-lived. I often found, when visiting the site, that the Featured Hubs were of an adult nature. I thought that Hub Pages was a reputable site like Suite 101 or About.com, but it quickly became clear that that wasn’t the case. I have my reputation to protect and that sort of content is something that I certainly don’t want to associate myself with. It was for that reason that I decided to focus my energy elsewhere until such time that Hub Pages decides to clean up their act.
That’s interesting. After reading your comment, I signed out of my account and browsed through the feature articles.
I didn’t find the type of content you mention. There were articles on the recession, jeans, alcoholism, work at home programs and more.
The featured topics are business, religion, education, politics and pets.
This is not to say that some hubbers may stretch the rules and place inappropriate content, but I haven’t come across it as yet.
The beauty of the internet is if one site doesn’t work for you, there are always other options.
I haven’t run across much adult content at HubPages either. Interesting.
.-= Julie @ Write for eHow´s last blog ..Last Chance (for now) to get Janet Ford’s eHow Ebook =-.
Hi Felicia,
Although I’ve stopped writing for Hubpages, (till I don’t get an Adsense account, which according to posts on Google may take at least 6 months) I feel that after Suite 101,HP has the potential to make money. Ehow doesn’t pay non U.S writers, so it doesn’t count for me, but I do miss not writing at HP.
All the best and am sure with your writing skills, you’d be set for life well before 5 years
Best wishes,
Prerna
.-= prerna´s last blog ..Being a Home Maker: Getting Organized. Staying Organized. =-.
I have a Hubpages account, but I’ve only put up a 3 Hubs and they’ve earned me no money. I’ve been doing well with eHow though. Your post about Hubpages made me decide to give it another look.
.-= Lovelyn´s last blog ..Scary Tea =-.
Lovelyn, I hope it works out well for you. You might see a difference with a few more hubs.
Felicia, once again a great post. I’ve been following you for about a month or so and I’m glad to see you back online, your writing is honest and credible, which is more than I can say about most sites like yours. Thanks again for your honesty and sharing your knowledge. It seems to me that some people get to certain stations in their lives and refuse to share how they got there for fear they will be pushed off the bus and forced to ride their tricycles back to the sandboxes from whence they came – go figure. I am in the tradition of Zig Ziglar who said, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will ultimately get what you want.” I am certain that you will be where you want to be in less than 5 years.
Again, thank you and continue sharing the wealth. I look forward to the next post. Keep writing!
Pashon
You have inspired me to give Hub Pages a try. I am currently writing for both Suite 101 and Demand Studios and I like the residuals I earn at Suite 101. Thanks for the information!
Julie
I always recommend Hubpages to anyone looking to start out or as a way to get some first back links to their new site. It does seem to be fairly effective and (imo) the fastest way to get some basic traffic going.
I am not convinced it should replace building up your own site at your own URL but it is a good starting point.
And even if you fail to make any money initially it can be quite a fun site to read and join in with.
Great discussion! I would also like to ask a question. What is your take on Associated Content? I have recently been given freelance writing positions for Suite101. Ezine Articles and Associated Content. Should I use all of them to post my articles or is there one in particular I should focus on?
Hi Victoria,
In my opinion, Suite 101 is a great site to write for. As far as Associated Content, I signed up a very long time ago, posted one article and that was it. I didn’t like the user interface and didn’t think the earning potential was worth it. I posted my opinion on Associated Content here a while ago.
It’s also been a while since I placed articles on Ezine Articles. Back in my early days I used them to generate traffic to my sites. It didn’t work for me for two reasons. 1) Back then I knew very little about SEO so my articles didn’t do well in the search engines and 2)I didn’t write enough of them.
I no longer write free articles for backlinks. I use HubPages, eHow or other residual writing sources for backlinks.
Hi, Felicia — I’ve been following your blog for a couple of months now. You always have such practical tips and insider information about various freelance sites. I’ve been writing for Triond mostly, but just signed up for Hubpages. I have two hubs so far and haven’t made anything yet. It’s a little difficult to get the hang of HP, but it does seem to have great earning potential. Thanks for sharing your insights.
Hi Aimee,
Sometimes it takes a while for residual income to begin to come in. Hang in there. Keep an eye on your keywords, monitor your efforts and stick with it.
I find that some days I earn a couple of dollars with HubPages and some days not. I only have 19 articles so I can’t complain. I know as I build a base of articles there, things will improve.
Im surprised (but happy for you) that you have seen earnings at that level via your first hubs!
One thing to keep in mind when writing for multiple sites is that you can use each article to create paid backlinks for your other articles.
.-= Writing for money online´s last blog ..Comment by Carrie Bailey =-.
I have been registered on hubpages for the past 18 months- I’ve earned around $99 from them. I think that amazon is your best bet- having recently sold 4 products in the space of 2 months, I am now turning my head to Amazon hubs.
Clare, that makes sense. Some folks are doing very well with the HubPages/Amazon combo.
I’m another happy HubPages user – I’ve earned over $1,000 in 2 years, which isn’t bad considering that on average, I’ve written less than one Hub a week.
As for “unacceptable” content on HubPages – I think that can be overstated. Most of your readers come direct to your own Hub from search engines, and don’t browse the site or ever see the front page.
.-= Marisa Wright´s last blog ..Comment by =-.
can you publish on Hubpages the same content you’ve published on other sites? I tested out a few blogs on divinecaroline now I’m afraid I can’t post them on hubpages because I’d be red flagged for duplicating?
I’m not sure, Jane. I’ve not done too much with HubPages, but I’m sure some of my readers will be able to answer your question.
I have been a writer on Hubpages for 3 years now, and my reason for starting was to build a writing portfolio, and I ended up really enjoying the experience and I am always looking for new topics to write about. Its so cool that you created this blog because it will be motivational to those looking for ways to make extra income from home.
I have not tried suite 101 yet but I have heard so many good things about the site. I will follow you in your journey.
Hi enjoyed reading the article and all following comments. I have only 7 hubs at Hubpages and 3 of them are Amazon products – these are the 3 that make regular money through Amazon sales, all 7 hubs are on page 1, 2 or 3 for search terms in Google but the other 4 hubs were built to serve as backlinks to main sites which brings in traffic and sales, so for me Hubpages are working. The 3 Amazon hubs were used to test the water and I have gone onto make sites from 2 of them which are also working. I was going to join Ehow.com today but two things have come to light 1) all the ‘scam’ talk which has put me off 100% and 2) I’m UK based so as mentioned above I won’t get paid! I’ve just started at suite 101, mainly for backlinks to sites but with only 2 articles have earned a few dollars for an article I had to write anyway for backlinks. Have bookmarked here as advice seems straight, thanks.
Stella recently posted..Anthony Hopkins –an Insight into his Art and Music
Hi Felicia,
I need your help.
I joined HubPages some 12 months back and have published 14 hubs, the first being in November 2009. I am yet to get an adsense account. I do not have my own blog/website, while I do write regularly for Squidoo/Hub Pages/Google Knol and wish to earn residual income as well.
Can you help? Is it possible to sign up for an adsense, if I do not own a blog or website.
I had registered for a domain name for a blog in Jan 2010, but have not purchased hosting as yet. I want to be able to learn how to set up a blog (I do have content ready for it), but hosting, using wordpress etc is something I wish to learn. Where can I find it in layman terms, so that I can get started.
Really looking forward to you reply. Others may help too..
Thanks,
Seema Adnani
Seema, I’m going to answer your question with a question.
Did you go to the Google AdSense site to see if you can register for an account without a blog or website?
You mention that you have content and a blog domain, but you haven’t purchased hosting because you “want to be able to learn how to set up a blog…” The best way to learn how to set up a blog is to purchase the hosting and set one up.
You’ve got to get into the game if you want to win it. We here at NJFM can hypothetically give you instructions for setting up a blog, but it’s best to either
1) set up a free blog using WordPress.org or Blogger to get a feel for blogging, or
2) purchase hosting and play around with setting up a blog.
There are some things that are best learned with hands on experience. If after setting up a blog you run into problems or have questions, we’ll be happy to answer them, but you’ve got to take a few steps first.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” ~ Chinese Proverb
Hi Adnani
You should just register now for adsense with the domain name you have and at once paste the code into Hub Pages! It costs nothing and the application will take you 5 mins.
If you can build a hub you shouldn’t have any problems with WordPress so long as you start out with a simple theme such as Microniche flex and just go for minimum plug-ins and all in one seo package – just create your home page, ancillary about-us/privacy/disclaimer pages and you’ll be away – really is that simple and Felicia’s chinese proverb is completely true!! Just ensure that whilst you are playing around with the site that it is “no index” status and then you can’t do any harm.
Good luck.
Hi
Great to see this article and to keep plugging away at Hubpages. I to am looking at an income from Hubpages and will get there but it’s great to see article like this that give the inspiration to keep going.
Thanks and have bookmarked the blog, so I will be back.
All the best
Jon