Making the Decision

After the Panda algorithm change I spent a lot of time rebuilding my own residual income. I didn’t write for Suite because they were hit hard and financially it didn’t make sense to place more articles there. I had to spend my time placing articles where I could get the most bang for my buck.

In the meanwhile, I kept my eye on Suite and the changes that were occurring. There were a few things that I observed that helped me to decide to return to Suite:

1. Suite’s management is doing everything in their power to restore Suite 101 to its prior standings.
2. They showed that they value their writers by changing the bonus system, the minimum article writing requirement and the minimum payout threshold. Each of these changes makes writing for Suite a bit more attractive.
3. Most importantly, the earnings drop seems to have bottomed out and earnings seem to be picking up again.

Those three observations plus my long history in writing for the site were enough to help me make the decision to return as a Feature Writer.

During My Hiatus

During my hiatus from the site my articles earned a few hundred dollars. The last time I wrote an article for Suite was May 2011. Between May and October my articles continued to earn. Overall, my lifetime per article rate with Suite 101 is a little over $56 an article (I’ve been with them for 4 ½ years). That’s not a stellar per article rate, but not bad for online writing.

Because I like calculating my earnings based on the current year (can’t pay the mortgage on last year’s earnings), my current per article rate for 2011 is a little over $155 per article. No matter which way you slice it, I have little to lose and much to gain by returning to Suite.

My Freelance Writing Arsenal

My arsenal has reduced in size when it comes to online writing sites. Adding Suite back to my arsenal makes it the only non-owned content site I write for. At $155 per article, I’m willing to make the sacrifice.

Everyone’s experience at Suite is a bit different. On occasion I get the question, “Is writing for Suite 101 worth it?” I have a history with Suite and it’s definitely worth it for me. Is it worth it for a newbie? I still think it is. As I’ve mentioned before, the editorial feedback from Suite’s editors helped improve my online writing style. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. That kind of feedback is invaluable.

UPDATE 10/18/2011:   After writing this post, Google released another iteration of its Panda algorithm.  Suite 101 came out on the bad side of this algorithm.  As a result, earnings have plummeted. Yesterday my earnings were $0.28.  You might want to wait until the dust settles before joining Suite.

Currently, Suite 101 and Demand Studios revenue share fall under the truly passive category for me. I haven’t written an article for Suite since May 4, 2011 and my last revenue share for DMS was written on January 4, 2011.

When I look at my revenue share earnings, I can only reminisce about the Demand Studio “good ol’ days” when we were able to submit writer-generated titles. In hindsight, I wish I wrote at least 5 or 10 more of them.

Comparing the Two Sites

I have 270 articles on Suite and passively earned $126.81 in the month of August. With Demand Studios, I have 9 revenue share articles and earned $122.98. My 9 articles with Demand Studios brought in $3.83 less than my 270 Suite articles.

It just goes to show how crazy this whole Internet journey is. I can say for a fact that the quality of my Suite 101 articles is far superior to anything I’ve written for Demand Studios. It’s not that I didn’t write quality for DMS, it’s just the nature of a How to article. There are some concepts that don’t fit within the confines of the How to structure.

Not Isolated Results

The above results are not a fluke. If you own several blogs on a wide range of topics, I’m sure you’ll find the blogs that provide the most well-thought out grass roots information pale in earnings when compared to those that promote a popular product, service or concept (there are a few exceptions).

I could earn a lot more money with a blog that promotes diet pills than I would with one that instructs readers to eat healthy, drink water and get plenty of exercise. The pill promoting blog would probably get a lot of spam comments while the other would develop a loyal following of helpful community members.

Always a Balancing Act

There is one thing I’ve learned about writing online. It is a constant balancing act. You’ve got to write to the masses in order to keep a roof over your head, but you also have to write from the heart in order to keep your soul replenished. It appears that this gal has a bit more replenishing to do.

Photo by Marília Florêncio Santos

Suite 101

I’ve been both a contributing writer and a feature writer for Suite 101. I recently re-claimed my Insurance Feature Writer spot only to realize that I’m totally burnt out on the subject of insurance so I decided to vacate the position again. I’ve been browsing their available FW positions to see if there are any that I would enjoy.

Feature Writer vs. Contributing Writer Earnings

All Suite writers took a large hit as a result of Google’s Panda algorithm update. I’m down to a fraction of my former earnings. At my current earning rate it really doesn’t make much of a difference if I’m a contributing or feature writer. As an FW I earned a 30% bonus, but 30% of not much doesn’t give you much.

When I compare my month to date earnings from June (no FW bonus) to the same period of time in May (including FW bonus) my June earnings are lower by $3.48. Not enough of a difference to really matter.

Change in Strategy

Previously, I wrote for Suite primarily for the residual earning potential. I wrote articles in hopes of earning  steady residual income. However, with the recent decrease I’ve changed my strategy and adjusted my writing frequency accordingly. In 2010 my Suite per article rate was $84.30 (income divided by number of articles). Currently, in 2011 it’s hovering around the $100 mark ($104.03).

Because I want my per article rate to increase each year, I’ve slowed down my writing production to maintain the higher rate. In other words, instead of writing a ton of articles in hopes of earning a lot of money, my philosophy is (as Rod Tidwell instructs in Jerry Maguire), “Show me the money!” When the income justifies writing another article and my rate doesn’t dip below $90, then I’ll write. Oddly enough, writing one article a month seems to be the magic number at the moment.

Keep Building My Own

I learned a lot about writing online through Suite 101. They were my first online gig after writing off-line for years. Their editors introduced me to keywords, key phrases and how to get traffic to my articles. If it weren’t for Suite it would have taken me a lot longer to understand the dynamics of on line writing.

That knowledge gained at Suite has helped me to build my own sites. If I continue to write one article a month for Suite, I have a lot of spare time to concentrate on my own stuff.

I have no ill feelings towards Suite 101. Don’t get me wrong; when earnings first began to decline, I was a bit miffed. No, I was more than miffed; I was down right upset that my earnings were declining without much word from the folks at the top. Now that I know what’s going on, I can make informed decisions and I’ve decided to continue writing for Suite 101.

Good ol' Days

In the good ol’ days (pre-panda and pre-WCP closure), I used to write articles based on what I was doing. When I was reformatting my computer and ran into a problem, I’d find the solution and write an article about it. When I figured out how and when to transplant a hydrangea bush, I’d write an article about it. Oh, wait, I never did write that article. I have yet to successfully transplant a hydrangea bush.

I’m getting a little off topic but you understand where I’m coming from. With the Google algorithm change, Suite 101’s revenue dropping and eHow’s WCP kaput, I have not changed my basic plan. Quite some time ago in my journal I wrote that I wanted to write my life and nothing has changed.

Same Plan Different Implementation

While I still sprinkle my life’s experiences around the Internet, the way in which I do it has changed slightly. I say slightly because the groundwork was laid prior to the recent changes. I now sprinkle my life around the Internet through my own websites/blogs.

I have over 20 blogs/websites (28 at last count). Each of the sites are on topics that I am either currently investigating, have investigated, or enjoy writing about. The topics of my blogs are very similar to the topics of my eHow articles. As a matter of fact, some of my blogs were eHow inspired.

Looking at the Digits

When I used to sign into my eHow account, I noticed there were several articles that earned quite a bit, some barely earned and others earned steadily and moderately. My blogs are no different. Some blogs earn nicely, some not so and others bring in a steady moderate income every month. The same goes for traffic, although we all know that a heavily trafficked site doesn’t mean that it’s a money maker.

Winners and Winners

Some folks may look at my blogs and categorize some as winners and some as losers, but I think all of my blogs are winners (well, except one).They’re winners because they do just what I want them to do. They allow me to express myself through my writing and earn money. Some are not very popular but they are lucrative. Others are popular and not lucrative at all. All of them, in my opinion, are successes.

I think as online freelance writers we get caught up in the financial/traffic metrics of an individual article or site. As I look at the progression and growth of my blogs, they somewhat mirror the progression and growth of my eHow articles. Some of the blogs takeoff right out of the gate while others are a bit slower to gain readership. My eHow articles were no different.

Another Slight Writing Strategy Modification

In the old days, writing in clusters was encouraged. In other words, select a topic, write several articles on it to address the topic from several angles. Once all of the articles were completed, interlink them in an attempt to gain additional traffic and readership. In the end you have a small cluster of 4 or 5 articles that provide an in-depth discussion on a particular topic.

Now, instead of writing clusters for a content site, I create a blog. My blogs are usually more in depth than 4 or 5 articles. I now have a blog on which I can continue to discuss the topic for as long as it holds my interest. I enjoy blogging more than writing for a content site because I set the rules. I know which topics my readers like because I have full statistical data (info that content sites cannot provide).

I get to see how readers find my sites and the questions they used as their search terms in an attempt to find the answer on my blog. As I review the search queries, I know in an instant whether they found the answer or not. If it’s a valid question that I overlooked, I’ll then take the time to research and write about it so the next person with the same question will definitely find the answer on my blog.

What Am I Saying?

I’m saying that these are the Good ol’ Days. Okay, I know we all suffered a temporary financial setback as a result of the changes, but it’s only temporary. It only becomes permanent if we spend our time dwelling, mulling, wallowing and complaining about it. Heck, 50% of my residual income flew out the door (more details on my current financial standing in a post to come), but I can’t sit around coaxing it to come back. I’m off to find new and more exciting venues.

The bottom line is the plan is the same but the implementation is a little different. If we modify our writing habits in accordance with today’s climate, I think everything will work out just fine.

Why did I do it?

Easy, the drop in writing requirement. When Suite dropped the required writing from one article a week to one a month, I realized it was something I could do. My earnings at Suite have tanked but my 2011 per article rate is currently holding at $96.99.

Worst Case Scenario: If I don’t earn another dime from now to the end of the year and write the minimum of 1 article a month, that would mean my per article rate drops to $56.10. Since I believe that my articles will continue to earn (granted not at the rate they earned previously), I think the one article a month is worth it.

Let’s face it; I’d have to write 3 DMS articles at the $18.50 rate to almost earn what one of my worst case scenario Suite article earns.

Guess it’s time to dust off my list of insurance titles and write a couple of them.