What is Going on Over at eHow?
I’m in the process of conducting another eHow experiment so I set up a separate eHow account. No biggie, after all I set up my original account about a year and a half ago, so I’m no stranger to the process.
Imagine my surprise when shortly after setting up the account (within hours), I received several friend requests. No, let me rephrase that. I got a flood of friend requests, about 100 of them. What is going on?
Spam Setup
Having been around the internet block a time or two I knew this was a setup for spam. I went through each of the friend requests and approved all but one of them. Within minutes of approving the requests, the messages started coming in.
Some messages were targeted to a wide range of recipients and others were sent to me directly. The usual sign up for Bukisa, please read, rate, recommend and comment, do you want to make real money…signup for HubPages and Bukisa. Here’s my link, and so on…
Disgusted
No matter which way you slice it, I don’t like spam. I reported the offenders, but I’m not so sure that reporting them does very much over at eHow.
It made me think that if this is what new members are bombarded with when they first sign up with eHow, it’s a wonder that they stay. The avalanche of spam and the technical issues that eHow has recently been plagued with makes one stop and wonder.
Such assaults might steer a newbie down the wrong path. Unscrupulous and self serving emails like the ones I received can make one think that encouraging readers to click on ads or writing spammy How to’s just to earn money is what eHow is all about and it’s not.
eHow Old Timer
Since I consider myself an eHow old timer and have earned a few thousand dollars writing for them, I realize that even with the glitches, software melt downs and occasional late stat updates, it’s a site worth writing for. I’m not taking eHow out of my freelance writing arsenal, but it would be nice if the members would adhere to a higher code of ethics.
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Comment by Deborah on 10 March 2010:
When I signed up in September of last year, I had the same thing happen. Ironically, when I got out of the RRRC groups, I started making money. I’ve barely put any effort into it and reached the $10 mark last month which means I should be getting paid this much. Again, I don’t think that’s very bad for the amount of effort I put into it. Now that I see the potential, I’m going to start SEOing my articles. I’ve heard of people making hundreds of dollars per month on eHow just using basic SEO. I’d be content if my residual income just paid my rent.
Comment by Shannon on 10 March 2010:
I didn’t know about the spam situation, Felicia, but it doesn’t surprise me. Maybe eHow isn’t doing anything about it because — if the gossip is true in the forums — they’re more interested in the DS model, rather than eHow’s WCP model. (That’s the rumor, anyway.)
My only issues with eHow are the lag time with stats and their buggy interface. But I’m not a new member. I joined eHow in 2008.
Shannon´s last blog ..Don’t Let Google Know You’re Broke
Comment by Julie @ Write for eHow on 10 March 2010:
Interesting. They must really be targeting new members in particular.
Julie @ Write for eHow´s last blog ..My Thoughts on the Future of the Writer’s Compensation Program at eHow
Comment by Rachel @ Pen Meets Wallet on 10 March 2010:
I joined eHow last May, and I had a similar experience. It took a while to weed out all the spammy messages. Most of the time, if I have a message, I automatically delete it rather than waste my time.
Rachel @ Pen Meets Wallet´s last blog ..Why Having an Idea Folder is Essential
Comment by WriterRosie on 19 March 2010:
I’m new to eHow and really haven’t had spam. I’ve had maybe two friend requests. But I am a little annoyed at the publishing process. I submitted an article three days ago and it still shows as draft status (even though I got the whole “Thank you for submitting” note). I’m wondering if it’s worth the trouble… I’m on DS and Suite, too, so perhaps I should use my time there instead.
Comment by Felicia on 19 March 2010:
WriterRosie, I feel your pain.
Since I’ve been writing for eHow for quite some time, I’ve learned to take the hiccups in stride. They can be frustrating but every site has its issues. For example, I woke up this morning and my site was gone (can’t get more of an issue than that).
So, while eHow is having its problems its wise to spend your time elsewhere if it annoys you too much. Come back once they have things straightened out.
Me, I’m beginning another eHow experiment. They’re making it difficult for me to work my experiment, but I’m determined to stick with it through the ups and downs. I’ve earned quite a bit with them so I take the good with the bad. It’s kind of like marriage. I’ve got too much time invested to quit and run now.
Comment by WriterRosie on 19 March 2010:
Felicia- when you put it like that, it makes better sense! I’m married and my hubby annoys me sometimes, but I don’t go and find another husband! lol. I guess I’m a bit fired up because I just read writergig’s eBook and am very inspired. I think I’ll hold my horses and see where eHow takes me
Comment by Felicia on 19 March 2010:
Good for you! I think you’ll be happy with eHow in the long run.