Quitting

I submitted a cancellation request for my TKA membership a few weeks ago.

There is no question that The Keyword Academy is a great place to start with niche blogging. I would recommend it to anyone who is just starting out.

But I no longer felt it met my needs once I got past the initial learning curve.

Not enough to justify almost $400 a year in membership dues.

I know they've added a lot of extra features that many people like, but I have some reservations about those extras, which I'm not gong to delve into publicly.

Your mileage my vary.

My thought now is to funnel that $33 a month into outsourcing some content work.

See if that gets me any farther.

In other news, I have had some health challenges this month and my freelance work (in a non-writing field) has picked up enormously which slows me down. Frustrating. I need to somehow make this work. I have too much on my plate, my body is uncooperative arghhh. Overwhelming.

Killing Trolls and Backlink Score

Hey ya Mommas and Poppas. Grooviness, flowers and peace signs to you.

Yes, I am channeling hippies today. No, I don't now why either.

So there was some trolling last night on the wahm forums. Some guy who was doing so well writing for higher tier markets that he had the time to swoop down and lecture us lowly 'wimmin-folk' on how we could be doing so much better if we weren't lazy.

Yep, the troll called us lazy.

Well, here's a nice little tidbit that sums up why web content writing and passive revenue sites are good gigs.

I have a mere 100 articles on eHow. The last one I wrote was in February of this year. As of June, my earnings had already doubled over last year.

I am talking 4 figures here. As in thousands. of. dollars.

This is the beauty of passive revenue.

Unfortunately, the passive revenue market seems to be in flux now and I don't know if the business model will hold, which would be a huge bummer. For now, however, there's money to be made while I'm doing something else.

Dance while the band is still playing and all that.

This rocks. If I'm in the hospital, which I was earlier this year, I can still make money without worrying about deadlines or pleasing editors. If the baby is sick, I can give her my full attention. I can go on vacation and write it into a tax deduction. I can write about whatever topic I want. I can research and format as I wish.

I have no desire to garner a byline in more elite markets. Zero. I've done the 'writing is my passion' thing already. Have a few novels under my belt and have dealt with New York as well as agents (although I didn't end up selling a book, the editor flaked and quit their job which killed my book). I have published short fiction and hob-nobbed with big names in the writing world (who critiqued and mentored my work). I even started a very successful writing group that has yielded several published authors with multi-book deals.

And you know what? I'm over it! I. Don't. Care. At this stage in my life, I'm not about the glory, I'm about the money and there are a lot of pennies on the internet. If you get good at scooping them up, you can make bank.

Hey, more power to you if your dream is to write for the Big Boys and Girls. I'm not going to knock anyone for doing what makes them happy. But, it's not for me. Most magazines bore me to tears and the thought of writing the 50th annual Skin Cancer Warning Signs for Summer article (as if they haven't run a similar title every year since God was born) makes me contemplate suicide.

Not to mention book publishing is dying and is going to change so profoundly a lot of us won't recognize it anymore. So what's the point of chasing a book deal? May as well publish it myself (which I am hoping to do).

I don't want clients. I don't want hard editorial oversight (although some is okay). I just want to do my thing and make money. So far so good.

So there are my thoughts on all the 'elitists' running around so 'concerned' about those of us who don't aspire to be as 'successful' as them.

Here's a tip, go enjoy your success and stop trying to undermine ours. We don't care what you think and we don't need your approval either.

In other words, Suck It Troll.

In other news, squeeeeeeee, I got a good backlink on a niche site. Yay! Yay! Yay!

Mid-Month Check In

Chugging along.

eHow earnings are 1/2 of what they were last month so far. Not good. I'm sorry to see it drop so soon--I was hoping for a few more months of love.

I have to say I am kind of curious on the radio silence now that everything goes through Demand Studios. No one is raving. No one is complaining. What gives? I checked the Alexa rank and ehow is holding steady so they aren't tanking. It's just odd to me that all the chatter has gone mute. I would think that people's ebooks could easily be retooled and sold to newbies same as before--the income stream is still there. So what is going on? Anyone know?

Is Demand Studios offing anyone who dares to talk? I may write a revenue share article for them just to see what's going on for myself.

Adsense took off like a rocket and then petered out before it completed the mission. So I am not sure where I will end up for the month there, but I had hoped to go up another $10 in income at least. Things could still turn around.

Amazon has been dead dead dead. I wonder if their sales are down or something? It is just beyond dead!

Other than that, I'm writing writing writing. Trying to heal still. Getting ready to renew my domains and reflecting on the fact that out of 10 sites, only 3 are showing signs of life. I will probably sell the other domains sometime next year.

Oh! And one of my sites finally hit page rank of 2. Woot!

Niche Blogging Back Link Strategy

I have recently discovered the concept of do follow blogs and do follow forums. So I am making a list and plan to target these sites as a means to acquire back links.

If you are interested in doing the same, just google do follow blogs and do follow forums.

November & December Earnings and What to Do for 2010?

I've been pretty busy with lots of family holiday type stuff and haven't been able to update.

In November and December, I made roughly $300 from all sources each month, so $600 for both months together. However, eHow took a nose dive in December and I feel lucky to only end up $40 short of the November's total and that other earning sources came in high enough to cover the eHow shortfall.

Because eHow is incredibly secretive, I can't say for sure, but my gut says I am missing a day or two of earnings updates. I know they swear up and down that there is never a problem, but eHow's parent company, Demand Studios, did manage to accidentally overpay their writers in December. Call me skeptical, but I don't really think eHow has a good handle on their IT platforms. Anyway, my dates on views, articles, and earnings went wonky mid-December and just never came back right that I saw.

Now, of course, you can't even see your eHow earnings due to some year end glitch that takes everything off line. So I can't even tell you my final total for December or for the year! Grrrrr.

Do I sound jaded? Well, I admit I'm a little less than enthralled with eHow at the moment.

However, income from other sources is not exactly blowing me away, so eHow is still the best paying gig online when it comes to residual income.

Hubpages brought in zero earnings in December and under $5 in November. Infobarrel netted less than $4 the last two months and I was even on the front page at one point! Adsense is down too, but I was never making much to begin with, except that one time when I had a time sensitive topic that made it to #1 on Google.

Amazon is my saving grace right now. Earnings there have steadily grown and I need to find ways to leverage that into even more income.

As for 2010... I am reserving judgment on my strategy as I'm waiting to see how some things play out with eHow--there are some serious ethical issues with their business practices that I need to get a feel for. However, when people mention their earnings on message boards and blogs, I can see that I am outperforming them. Maybe I just need to deal with the shadiness and just go for it on eHow, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't like being lied too, even by omission which seems to be eHow's preferred method. I also don't like being exploited.

Other than that, I probably need to abandon my niches (either selling the sites later this year or using them for links) and start new ones that are better researched.

And that's it.

Sick With a Side of Troll

You know what's worse than a cold?

Having a cold and discovering a troll all over your ehow articles.

There's a reason I don't link to my sites or articles on this blog, it's to avoid the trolls. I don't want someone to get steamed about what I say here and take it out on my articles.

So that's why I don't link to anything. In case you were wondering. Which you probably weren't.

Aside from the cold, I've been spending a lot of time this week trying to figure out my niche strategy. I need to give it a good effort and see if I can turn any of the work I've done so far into profit.

Status Update and My First Ceast & Desist Letter Plus Lots of Opinions

Things are hopping over here. My daughter has hit the 'been there, done that, why do I have to do it again' phase of potty learning. Which is to say, she screams a lot while I really wish I drank. Three bottles of Jack Daniels a day would probably do it. Unfortunately, I was born with a palate that makes alcohol taste like moldy dog-doo. So no relief for mom.

Anyway, I digress. This is an internet marketing and writing blog.

Some things are going really well. Others not so much.

-eHow is going gangbusters for me and I barely spent any time working this month and my earnings will break all previous records. I finally wrote 3 articles this week, the first in over a month. I also spent an hour doing some back linking. Which has paid off in a major way, my earnings have really shot up.

I see lots of forum posts over on eHow where veterans say they don't do any article promotion. I have to think, based on the results I've seen, that they are lying and perhaps hoping to sabotage the competition.

Or maybe I got lucky? Who knows, but I do know building back links means more money for me. Plus, it's mindless work, great for those times when I just can't face a blank page.

-Amazon affiliate earnings have had a boost this month. Not huge money, but a huge increase over what I have made in the past. I'm really impressed. I also emailed my friends and family asking them to use my affiliate link, although that was recent enough I doubt it reflects in my earnings.

-Hub Pages is just a black hole of nothing. Very few views. Even fewer ad clicks. Almost no revenue. I continue to be puzzled. I have read rumors that Hub Pages got the ol' Google smack down and I have to believe it's true. How can I be so successful on eHow and then to go Hub Pages with the same SEO skills and...nothing. Very strange.

The thing is, I like Hub Pages. I love the format and the ability to do all sorts of different things. So I keep posting there and hoping something good comes out of it.

-Niche Websites are not doing so well, but I can't say I've given them a lot of attention either. I really need to work on adding content and back links so that I can say I gave niche blogging a fair shot. Right now, I couldn't tell you if I was successful or failing because I don't think I've put in the work. Time is in short supply and eHow is so much easier and more profitable.

I did manage to get myself into a bit of trouble with niche blogging. One of my niches happens to have the same name as another website. Completely accidental, but even so I received a 'Cease and Desist' letter all the same. So I need to come up with a new name. Which kind of sucks. Although, it could be worse, I could have lots of traffic and revenue on the line, which I don't. So I guess low earnings aren't always bad. *weak smile*

-I am going to work on an internet marketing plan for a blog someone wants to start. I'm looking forward to creating a business plan and showing someone how this all works. If it goes well, I may put together an ebook on the topic, but we'll see.

In other news, I continue to follow the noise over the whole I'm a writer and wouldn't touch Demand Studios with a ten foot pole because they have content mill cooties vs. No, I'm a writer and I love Demand Studios so much I take Viagra to keep them happy controversy.

Right now, I'm of the mind everyone would be better off just doing their own thing. You do you and let me be me kind of thing. It's just a waste of time to argue. The fancy pants writers could probably make $5,000 with the time they are wasting complaining about everyone making 3 cents a word at DS or people like me who are making $200+ this month doing nothing more than resting on their laurels. I'm beginning to wonder if the real writers doth protest too much.

I will say, I think web content writing is different from being a traditional writer. I wouldn't call what I do writing, I call it internet marketing. Of course, at parties, I tell people I'm a writer because no one knows what the hell internet marketing is. (Also, as I've mentioned, I do have some bona fide publishing credits).

I will also say that the paradigm is changing. The real writers think the problem is all of us willing to work for Demand Studios, when in actuality, it is the internet. New technology has changed the game and the angst that causes is being displaced on the not real writers who are moving with the times.

I read an article recently that said 80% of ad revenue is being diverted from print to online media. It's cheaper (usually), has a wider reach, and is more effective than print advertising. The future for freelance writing is on the internet. In addition, I happen to believe low prices won't hold sway forever. Things will evolve quickly once print media stops hyperventilating about how the internet is eroding their market and gets with the program. The internet isn't the enemy, it's the future.

Grow or die.

PROSELYTZING

I am biting my cheek this very second so as to keep myself from shouting about how I am averaging a $100 a month on eHow as of my first full month on the site.

I see sooooo many new people who are completely lost and instead of being proactive, they whine, whine, whine.

I know people who could use a $100 a month but show zero interest when I talk about my online money making ventures.

I also see many people complaining about making zero money from Hubpages and looking for a solution. I always point out that ehow money is much faster than Hubpages and I'm summarily ignored.

Sure, writing web content may not be for everyone but, here's the thing, the big secret about making money on ehow...

It is FREAKING EASY so long as you invest the time to learn and the time to write.

Here are the three keys to making money on ehow:

1. Understand SEO.
2. Know how to find good keywords.
3. Build good backlinks.

That's it. If all the above is Greek to you, then please check out Willow's excellent and FREE ehow tutorial. If you must, go ahead and buy an ebook but there's no reason to spend money on the ehow learning curve, particularly because I think the game has changed a bit since most of those ebooks were written. Web content writing is more competitive, there are a lot more people now and everyone wants to write about the same moneymakers (i.e. acai berry weight loss) so newcomers need to really be ready to bust their butts.

And here's the one action that brings in guaranteed ehow income:

1. Write 100 how-to articles. (Although I have fewer than 100 and am now pulling in over $100 a month regularly. See, if you nail 1-3 above, then you don't necessarily have to write as many articles.)

Yes ehow is glitchy, mercurial, and sometimes bites the very hands that feed them, but it is also the fastest and easiest way to get into making money online with absolutely no experience. eHow is a valuable training ground and it pays you to learn.

In other news, Hub Pages has been a surreal experience for me--Like holding a party that no one comes to. For all eHow's faults, the site really does generate income quickly, which is nice positive feedback. Hub Pages is slow to pay off from what I can tell. I think I've made like $3 in the last 3 weeks with them. So kind of lame. However, I have been using my hubs as backlinks for ehow which has pumped up my earnings there quite nicely.

So not a total loss.

My niche sites are slowly inching along. I am starting to think they were right when they said it takes a year to get off the ground. I am making pennies. Getting some traffic. But nowhere near outpacing ehow.

Amazon.com affiliate sales are also slow for me. At one point this month, I had posted a bajillion links and was getting a ton of clicks and zero buyers. So my conversion rate went from 4% to 1.2%. Nuts!

BOOYA! WOOT!

#1 baby! Several times over. In less than a month. Yup. One of my niches is now ranked, highly, by Google and I will probably have somewhere around a $10 adsense day today. Maybe. We'll see. Because adsense is nothing if not unpredictable.

But, yeah, baby. #1!

I also had a $7 update from ehow. I'm getting there.

Happy dance.

Happy dance.

Joy. Joy. Joy.

I'm a little excited.

As for Demand Studios, I see their writer scorecard is live and I'm now completely demotivated. Even though my rating is above average, I still don't feel it reflects the quality I give them (and note the writing quality here on this blog is NOT stellar and I don't claim it is so please don't think it's representative of my professional writing--this is my brainstorm and blow off steam blog. It's not meant to be pretty.).

For me, until they make it so we can rate the CE's back or at least dialogue with them when they are unreasonable instead of having to walk away or risk outright rejection (which counts against you and can cause you to be terminated so lots of people just walk away), I'm going to be peeved.

Still, I need to put on my big girl panties and just write for them. I need the income because niche blogging isn't going to meet my income needs for a while.

FROTHING

1. I am so beyond ticked that I wrote such a better article on a topic and the editors of the website (that shall remain nameless, but I'm sure you can guess) picked a crappy article on the same topic for the homepage. It doesn't even conform to the site's format standards!!!! I am SO annoyed. It further confirms my suspicions that there is a serious flaw in the business model on that website and affirms my decision to control my own content as much as possible.

I can see a crappy article being on the homepage, that can happen to any site, but to highlight content in violation of the site's guidelines? After they've pissed off their contributors by deleting content with the same format violations with no warning? Nuh-uh. Something is wrong, wrong, wrong with their business model and I think it hurts their credibility. I question how long that kind of stupidity is sustainable for both site owners and users.

2. I have made some money on my Amazon affiliate links. Less than $5, but I'm amazed because I would've never predicted the traffic source for that income. People are buying (small) appliances based on something I wrote, which just makes me smile. I was trying to be helpful and it appears I was successful.

3. Adsense is rocking! I have a 5% click through rate already and the site is only a month old and has only had adsense for 1 1/2 weeks. I did monetize it right away (which is a huge no-no) but only because the topic is so time sensitive with an expiration date in just a few months. I don't rank really well yet on Google, however, I have an ad revenue article that is in the top 10 results, which has been driving traffic to the niche site. This topic is HOT and all over the news so tons of people are looking for information.

4. My ad revenue earnings are chugging along. I will definitely, overall, make $100 this month. Or more. There's still a week left.

Okay, now I've got to get cracking!

SOMEONE HELP ME

I am a woman obsessed. I have never been known to have OCD tendencies...until now.

Now I refresh and refresh all my earnings pages. Ehow. Infobarrel. Adsense. Statcounter. It's like a tic and I can't stop. I'm afraid google is going to ban me from Adsense for refreshing the earnings screen too much.

Other than the need for some good psychotherapy and medication, I am chugging along. I've picked topics that I have some expertise in and have been building content.  I guess it pays to be insatiably curious and to have good retention of obscure minutia. Believe it or not, I was a Fortune 500 manager and a massage therapist and a writer and a baker. All at the same time. I was made to be a nice blogger, I guess.

We have even had some ad clicks. So exciting.

And that is all. Just learning, learning, learning and writing, writing, writing.

NICHE BLOGGING LINKS

I am psyched to report I've made a little bit of money on my 2 niche blogs. It's less than $5 but it's still something.  I am going gangbusters on ehow as well and am holding my breath as I wait to see if I'll make it to $100 this month--and I haven't written anything since the beginning of the month.

Partly because we've been traveling, the baby has stopped sleeping (ugh!), and I think I'm catching a cold.

Here are some interesting links on niche blogging and making money with blogs:

Blogging tough way to make money - but here's how-- I actually disagree with this article. The monetary rule-of-thumb seems to be outdated. Fifty cents per 1000 hits? I don't think so--I'm doing better than that and I don't even have 1000 hits yet. Still it was an interesting, if outdated, read.

How to Make Money from your Blog -- A nice overview of what it takes to be a niche blogger.

How to Build a High Traffic Blog -- Another nice overview from someone who is an expert.

Happy niche blog reading!

RAINMAKER

I have my first rainmaker, one article that is raking in the dough over at ehow. I've had $10 earning jumps in one day and have around $40 in earnings so far for July. Which is a huge jump.

On the one hand, it's exciting to have a money maker finally.

On the other hand, it's depressing because I have 40 some odd articles that are earning pennies dimes. And that's on a good day!

Plus, my rainmaker has an expiration date. The topic will go belly up in the Fall because that's when the program I wrote about ends. So another bummer, this is just a temporary blip.

I need to write a lot of articles to make up the income gap, which does not sound like fun at all. Blech.

On the niche front, I wrote some articles to build backlinks to my niches and am still waiting for them to go live. The approval process is taking forever. In fact, I just got back from a 2000 mile road trip and the articles (just 500 words each) are still in the editorial queue. Hard to imagine that I can drive faster than someone can review a 500 word article!?!?!