July was my first month without Amazon income and as such my income plummeted. I've been searching for an affiliate to take its place and so joined Linkshare and ShareaSale. I've put a few ads up in various places, but have yet to make my first sale with either.
The great thing about Amazon was that you could advertise a book and someone could click on the link and buy a computer. With Linkshare and Shareasale you have to advertise one small company or another and people basically have to buy what is offered. Some of these companies are fairly unknown, whereas many more people have Amazon account.
Still floundering about what to do with online writing, I gave myself 3 weeks to publish a book on Amazon Kindle, and I did! Here's the story Homeschooling Boys
My traffic at HubPages was half its pre-Panda levels and HubPages introduced subdomains. I changed everything to subdomains and saw an increase of traffic of about 10%-20% and a tiny increase of income. I'm not sure it will have any long term effect.
Here are my Google earnings for July from highest to lowest
WebAnswers
Best-Reviewer
My Own WebPage
InfoBarrel
HubPages
I did go over 200 tops on Best-Reviewer and am currently the top publisher there. On WebAnswers I mainly ask questions to help with my other online work, especially this month with my book.
Jul 31, 2011
Jul 30, 2011
I published a Kindle book!
When I was 10, a teacher in my school put a poster of a competition on the outside window of his classroom. It was a picture of two bikes, one was perfect and the other had unsafe faults on it. The competition was to find the differences. Every lunchtime people would gather round this poster pointing out the faults. I got a piece of paper and wrote down the differences, there were well over 100. Many people made suggestions and showed me some differences I hadn't noticed. I handed in the paper and eagerly waited.
I won the competition, I can't remember the prize, but I remember it was a really good one. The thing is, although it was really easy to spot the differences, mine was the only entry.
Writing a Kindle book was like that. When I mentioned I was writing a book many people said they wanted to write a book. I'm convinced that almost anyone could write a Kindle book, but few will actually do it.
Here's my book
Homeschooling Boys - Gaining Maximum Success from Minimum Cooperation
I won the competition, I can't remember the prize, but I remember it was a really good one. The thing is, although it was really easy to spot the differences, mine was the only entry.
Writing a Kindle book was like that. When I mentioned I was writing a book many people said they wanted to write a book. I'm convinced that almost anyone could write a Kindle book, but few will actually do it.
Here's my book
Homeschooling Boys - Gaining Maximum Success from Minimum Cooperation
Jul 29, 2011
Jul 28, 2011
Jul 27, 2011
Jul 26, 2011
Creating More Bookmarks for your HubPages Articles
Creating More Bookmarks for your HubPages Articles
Jul 25, 2011
Jul 24, 2011
Jul 22, 2011
How to Increase Traffic to Your Hub
It's not enough just to write your article and sit back and expect Google to find it, you have to advertise and promote your articles, here are details on how to increase traffic to your hub.
How to Increase Traffic to Your Hub, Blog or Website with Bookmarks
How to Increase Traffic to Your Hub, Blog or Website with Bookmarks
Jul 21, 2011
Jul 20, 2011
How Do I Get Started Writing Online?
I earn money in many different places. The phrase is "multiple streams of income". If you want to do so too, you can read my blog or look at my webpage and wonder, where do I start? My friend recently asked me to help her get started earning money online. I had a think for a while and then advised her to sign up for Mechanical Turk and WebAnswers and here are my reasons why.
There are two main ways of earning money online. One is to directly earn money, you do a job and you get paid. The other is to earn residual money, you do work now, there are adverts on the page and you get paid for the adverts for as long as the pages stay on the Internet. It's very hard to work and work purely for residual income because it can take months or even years before you start to see much income. Many people give up. At the same time, although Mechanical Turk doesn't pay much per hour, to start with it's better than residual income. When the residual money starts to come in, you can stop Mechanical Turk.
Here are two articles I've written about WebAnswers, the first is an introduction to the site, the second gives you tips on how to earn reasonable money there.
Easily Make Money Online with WebAnswers and Google AdSense
How to Really Make Money Online with WebAnswers and Google AdSense
And this is a top I've written on Best-Reviewer about Mechanical Turk, or MTurk as it's more often known. I found 3 really good articles about MTurk (not written by me) and I've put them together in one list.
Top 3 Best Advice About Making Money With Amazon Mechanical Turk
There are two main ways of earning money online. One is to directly earn money, you do a job and you get paid. The other is to earn residual money, you do work now, there are adverts on the page and you get paid for the adverts for as long as the pages stay on the Internet. It's very hard to work and work purely for residual income because it can take months or even years before you start to see much income. Many people give up. At the same time, although Mechanical Turk doesn't pay much per hour, to start with it's better than residual income. When the residual money starts to come in, you can stop Mechanical Turk.
Here are two articles I've written about WebAnswers, the first is an introduction to the site, the second gives you tips on how to earn reasonable money there.
Easily Make Money Online with WebAnswers and Google AdSense
How to Really Make Money Online with WebAnswers and Google AdSense
And this is a top I've written on Best-Reviewer about Mechanical Turk, or MTurk as it's more often known. I found 3 really good articles about MTurk (not written by me) and I've put them together in one list.
Top 3 Best Advice About Making Money With Amazon Mechanical Turk
Jul 19, 2011
Best Reviewer - How To Add Images to Top 10 Lists, Earn Money and Get Backlinks
Here is a post on Wizzley by Pukeko about Best-Reviewer. Both sites are pretty new and I think they will both grow a lot soon.
Best Reviewer - How To Add Images to Top 10 Lists, Earn Money and Get Backlinks
If you want to join Best-Reviewer, please use this link
Best Reviewer - How To Add Images to Top 10 Lists, Earn Money and Get Backlinks
If you want to join Best-Reviewer, please use this link
Jul 18, 2011
Method for Writing Articles
This is the method for writing articles, using the Google Keyword Tool.
If you wish to start Writing Online, email me at CyberScribe457@gmail.com
If you wish to start Writing Online, email me at CyberScribe457@gmail.com
Jul 17, 2011
Online Writing and the World of Change
A few months ago Xomba decided to stop their referral program. A referral program is a way that you can earn money by telling your friends about the site. When they sign up, you get a percentage of their earnings. This is a way that the site can say thank you to you for telling your friends.
One day Xomba had their referral program in place and the next day they didn't. I fully expected they would continue paying out for past referrals, just stop future ones. But that is not what they did, they stopped paying everyone for all referrals. Some people had put effort into sending people to Xomba's site and had many people join under their referral code, but they lost that stream of income overnight.
I thought this was very unfair, but the moral of the story is that it is Xomba's site and they make the rules. That's why it's a good idea to write in many places and not just one. At any time the sites you write on can change the rules or even disappear. If you write 1,000 articles on one site and suddenly it's not there any more, then you have lost all your income. If you wrote 500 articles on one site and 500 on another and one site disappears then you have only lost half of your income.
The world is changing and the online writing world more so. Just be ready for the changes when they happen.
One day Xomba had their referral program in place and the next day they didn't. I fully expected they would continue paying out for past referrals, just stop future ones. But that is not what they did, they stopped paying everyone for all referrals. Some people had put effort into sending people to Xomba's site and had many people join under their referral code, but they lost that stream of income overnight.
I thought this was very unfair, but the moral of the story is that it is Xomba's site and they make the rules. That's why it's a good idea to write in many places and not just one. At any time the sites you write on can change the rules or even disappear. If you write 1,000 articles on one site and suddenly it's not there any more, then you have lost all your income. If you wrote 500 articles on one site and 500 on another and one site disappears then you have only lost half of your income.
The world is changing and the online writing world more so. Just be ready for the changes when they happen.
Jul 16, 2011
Jul 15, 2011
4 Steps to Increase Your Blog Traffic
I read this person's blog all the time, there is great information in this article and in the other things he's written.
4 Steps to Increase Your Blog Traffic
by Daniel Scocco
4 Steps to Increase Your Blog Traffic
by Daniel Scocco
Jul 14, 2011
HubPages Plans to Loosen Google “Death Grip”
Subdomains on HubPages. Is that the answer?
I've moved my 3 HubPages accounts over to subdomains. I guess only time will tell if it helps traffic, but my question now is, why would we write on HubPages where we get a share of the earnings, when we can write on Blogger where we get all the earnings?
I've moved my 3 HubPages accounts over to subdomains. I guess only time will tell if it helps traffic, but my question now is, why would we write on HubPages where we get a share of the earnings, when we can write on Blogger where we get all the earnings?
Jul 13, 2011
Jul 12, 2011
All About Google Part 2
More about Google. If it seems complicated, don't worry, just install Analytics and wait. It will seem simpler in time.
Make Money with Google AdSense on HubPages Part 2, Analytics and KeyWord Tool Also Explained
Make Money with Google AdSense on HubPages Part 2, Analytics and KeyWord Tool Also Explained
Jul 11, 2011
All About Google Part 1 (and a Bit About Amazon)
There are many ways to earn money online, but the top two have to be Google and Amazon. This is part 1 of all you need to know about Google (warning, it's a bit complicated)
Make Money with Google AdSense on HubPages Part 1 (and Amazon too)
Make Money with Google AdSense on HubPages Part 1 (and Amazon too)
Jul 10, 2011
Jul 9, 2011
Explanation of Google Analytics
This video explains Google Adsense, Adwords and Analytics, as needed for the online writer.
Jul 8, 2011
Writing Your First Hub
Here are detailed instructions on how to write your first hub, with videos
How to Start Writing on HubPages - Uploading Your First Hub
How to Start Writing on HubPages - Uploading Your First Hub
Jul 7, 2011
Get Started Writing Online
I sold on eBay for 5 years and then started writing online. With selling online, you have a product, write a listing, sell the item, make some money and it's gone. But the beauty of online writing is that you post your article to the Internet and it can stay there potentially earning you money for ever.
Read this article for more information.
Get Started Writing Online with HubPages and Google AdSense
Read this article for more information.
Get Started Writing Online with HubPages and Google AdSense
Jul 6, 2011
How to Earn Money Online if You Live in California
How to Earn Money Online if You Live in California, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, Rhode Island, or Connecticut. These are the places Amazon no longer has their Affiliates program.
I've signed up for ShareASale.com and LinkShare
They both deal with affiliate sales for a number of companies. For the last few days I've been changing my Amazon links to ShareASale or LinkShare products. Barnes and Noble is an affiliate with LinkShare, so if previously I advertised a book with Amazon, it's being changed to an affiliate with Barnes and Noble.
Right now, I haven't touched anything on HubPages. The staff there say they are talking to Amazon and may have an announcement soon. I really don't want to change all my adverts to something other than Amazon to then find out Amazon has a "B" plan. So I've been changing the ads on my own webpage, InfoBarrel and LivingSimply.
The best things about Amazon were that they sold almost everything and that most people already have an Amazon account. I would often advertise one product, someone would click the link and then buy a different product. You wouldn't believe how many books I advertised and how many laptop coolers I sold. Eventually I got the hint and wrote articles about laptop coolers and sold even more.
Now I'm advertising with one company for books and another for laptop coolers, I don't see how it can be as lucrative.
I've also struggled a little with the ShareASale and LinkShare sites, neither of which are as easy to use as Amazon. I spent all of one afternoon working out how to get a link for a Barnes and Noble book with LinkShare. But finally I managed it, and then made a video to show others how to do it. The thing about LinkShare is that you don't get the affiliate code in the same way for all merchants and that's why it's a little confusing.
Anyway, I loaded Barnes and Noble affiliate codes on Living Simply and recorded myself doing so. You can view the video here.
If you want to join ShareASale, please use this link
ShareASale.com
If you want to join LinkShare, please use this link
LinkShare
I've signed up for ShareASale.com and LinkShare
They both deal with affiliate sales for a number of companies. For the last few days I've been changing my Amazon links to ShareASale or LinkShare products. Barnes and Noble is an affiliate with LinkShare, so if previously I advertised a book with Amazon, it's being changed to an affiliate with Barnes and Noble. Right now, I haven't touched anything on HubPages. The staff there say they are talking to Amazon and may have an announcement soon. I really don't want to change all my adverts to something other than Amazon to then find out Amazon has a "B" plan. So I've been changing the ads on my own webpage, InfoBarrel and LivingSimply.
The best things about Amazon were that they sold almost everything and that most people already have an Amazon account. I would often advertise one product, someone would click the link and then buy a different product. You wouldn't believe how many books I advertised and how many laptop coolers I sold. Eventually I got the hint and wrote articles about laptop coolers and sold even more.
Now I'm advertising with one company for books and another for laptop coolers, I don't see how it can be as lucrative.
I've also struggled a little with the ShareASale and LinkShare sites, neither of which are as easy to use as Amazon. I spent all of one afternoon working out how to get a link for a Barnes and Noble book with LinkShare. But finally I managed it, and then made a video to show others how to do it. The thing about LinkShare is that you don't get the affiliate code in the same way for all merchants and that's why it's a little confusing.
Anyway, I loaded Barnes and Noble affiliate codes on Living Simply and recorded myself doing so. You can view the video here.
If you want to join ShareASale, please use this link
ShareASale.com
If you want to join LinkShare, please use this link
LinkShare
Jul 5, 2011
Jul 4, 2011
Google Suggest and Keyword Tool
This video explains how to use Google Suggest and Google's Keyword Tool in your online writing.
Jul 3, 2011
The Concept of Residual Income
The idea of writing on the Internet is that of Residual Income. You write something today and it keeps earning for as long as it is up on the Internet. That's an awesome concept and one that has encouraged many writers. You can learn more about residual income here
The Concept of Residual Income
The Concept of Residual Income
Jul 2, 2011
Looking Forward to the Future
The beauty of earning online is that knowledge gained is never wasted. When I learned to add HTML on my eBay auctions many years ago, I didn't realize that I'd need that skill later in the online writing world.
In the last month I'd heard rumors about Amazon canceling their Associates program and started to wonder how I would earn online income if I lost that stream. I discovered shareasale and had started using it, but have yet to earn something from it.
I've been offering gigs for a while on Fiverr. One of the gigs I offer is to write a HubPages article advertising a product. This is very popular, it makes me do 2 or 3 hours work and I receive $3.92, which is not much. But the reason I offer it is that I find out what products people want to promote and they are usually the same ones that advertisers pay google to advertise. Also, if someone pays me and I have a deadline, I find it helps with the motivation.
Many of my Fiverr customers are repeat customers as they sell many products. I realized there is a need for people like me who can write English well to advertise products that people want to sell. With that in mind I updated my website to offer my writing servies to advertisers. You can view that here
Tina's Treasures
so next time someone asks for help I can point them in the direction of my webpage, complete with paypal buttons.
The other thing I'm using my webpage for is to offer consultancy by email. I write about organization and decluttering and teach classes in real life, so it's a skill I can help people with. Offering help by email is as easy as updating my webpage and adding more PayPal buttons. You can see my page here
Reduce Clutter
Anyway, with the loss of my Amazon earnings, I sat down and listed all my options and it looks like this (in no particular order):
1. Write a Kindle book
2. Join Keyword academy
3. More on InfoBarrel
4. Aim for Google money
5. Shareasale
6. Take a break
7. More math classes
8. Increase ebay
9. WebAnswers
10. Join something new – Wizzley, Excerptz
11. My blogs
The way to income involves two things, knowledge and action. There's no point reading about how to make money online without doing anything, and also you shouldn't just blindly load content online without some knowledge and a plan.
I did consider taking the month of July off, but not for long. At the start of the summer I set myself an earnings goal for June, July and August. I really don't want to change my mind one month into that plan, even though I don't expect I will now reach July's goal.
I have enough presence online to keep adding to my content, especially on Best-Reviewer and WebAnswers. Mainly though I will be replacing my Amazon ads with adverts from shareasale. However, right now the Kindle book looks like a good option.
Just remember the phrase multiple streams of income.
In the last month I'd heard rumors about Amazon canceling their Associates program and started to wonder how I would earn online income if I lost that stream. I discovered shareasale and had started using it, but have yet to earn something from it.
I've been offering gigs for a while on Fiverr. One of the gigs I offer is to write a HubPages article advertising a product. This is very popular, it makes me do 2 or 3 hours work and I receive $3.92, which is not much. But the reason I offer it is that I find out what products people want to promote and they are usually the same ones that advertisers pay google to advertise. Also, if someone pays me and I have a deadline, I find it helps with the motivation.
Many of my Fiverr customers are repeat customers as they sell many products. I realized there is a need for people like me who can write English well to advertise products that people want to sell. With that in mind I updated my website to offer my writing servies to advertisers. You can view that here
Tina's Treasures
so next time someone asks for help I can point them in the direction of my webpage, complete with paypal buttons.
The other thing I'm using my webpage for is to offer consultancy by email. I write about organization and decluttering and teach classes in real life, so it's a skill I can help people with. Offering help by email is as easy as updating my webpage and adding more PayPal buttons. You can see my page here
Reduce Clutter
Anyway, with the loss of my Amazon earnings, I sat down and listed all my options and it looks like this (in no particular order):
1. Write a Kindle book
2. Join Keyword academy
3. More on InfoBarrel
4. Aim for Google money
5. Shareasale
6. Take a break
7. More math classes
8. Increase ebay
9. WebAnswers
10. Join something new – Wizzley, Excerptz
11. My blogs
The way to income involves two things, knowledge and action. There's no point reading about how to make money online without doing anything, and also you shouldn't just blindly load content online without some knowledge and a plan.
I did consider taking the month of July off, but not for long. At the start of the summer I set myself an earnings goal for June, July and August. I really don't want to change my mind one month into that plan, even though I don't expect I will now reach July's goal.
I have enough presence online to keep adding to my content, especially on Best-Reviewer and WebAnswers. Mainly though I will be replacing my Amazon ads with adverts from shareasale. However, right now the Kindle book looks like a good option.
Just remember the phrase multiple streams of income.
Jul 1, 2011
Looking Back at June
May 2011 was my best month ever for online earnings. Then June came and I beat that figure. I was very pleased with myself until Amazon closed my Associates account because I live in California. I don't expect to earn close to that figure for July as Amazon Associates was 74% of my June earnings.
Earning money online is not easy. The only thing that is true is that it is a rapidly changing world.
Back in January I had been writing online for a year. I confidently thought I knew what I was doing and I was starting to see some progress financially. But when Google Panda rolled out in February my HubPages articles views dropped by 90% and my earnings dropped by more than that.
So, I decided, I would concentrate on Amazon. I put my Amazon Associates code everywhere I possibly could and my Amazon income tripled from January to June. About a month ago, however, I realized that most of my eggs were in Amazon's basket and if I ever lost that I would lose a large amount of my earnings. And this week that is exactly what happened.
Tomorrow I will tell you what my plans are for the future without the help of Amazon Affiliates, but today I want to tell you a little about June's earnings. People are always asking if one site is better than another and if they don't write on HubPages, where is the best place to write?
While Google rules don't allow me to tell you how much I've earned, I can tell you that during June I have earned from the following websites in order from highest to lowest.
Best-Reviewer
WebAnswers
InfoBarrel
My Own WebPage
HubPages
Now, tops on Best Reviewer, answers on WebAnswers and articles on InfoBarrel and HubPages are not the same, but I can tell you I have 150 tops on Best-Reviewer, answered 7,000 questions on WebAnswers, have written 28 articles on InfoBarrel and 185 on HubPages.
If you are looking for a new place to write, I would certainly recommend InfoBarrel. You have to write 10 articles and they have to be accepted before your articles upload automatically. That raises the quality and keeps out the spammers.
I'm especially surprised with low the HubPages earnings as I have added 6 new hubs this month. Google earnings on HubPages has consistently decreased every month since January. Most of my articles on InfoBarrel have been there over a year, but I did add 2 new ones during June.
Tomorrow I will tell you my plan for the future without the help of Amazon Associates. But in the meantime if you want to join any of these, please use my referral codes above.
Earning money online is not easy. The only thing that is true is that it is a rapidly changing world.
Back in January I had been writing online for a year. I confidently thought I knew what I was doing and I was starting to see some progress financially. But when Google Panda rolled out in February my HubPages articles views dropped by 90% and my earnings dropped by more than that.
So, I decided, I would concentrate on Amazon. I put my Amazon Associates code everywhere I possibly could and my Amazon income tripled from January to June. About a month ago, however, I realized that most of my eggs were in Amazon's basket and if I ever lost that I would lose a large amount of my earnings. And this week that is exactly what happened.
Tomorrow I will tell you what my plans are for the future without the help of Amazon Affiliates, but today I want to tell you a little about June's earnings. People are always asking if one site is better than another and if they don't write on HubPages, where is the best place to write?
While Google rules don't allow me to tell you how much I've earned, I can tell you that during June I have earned from the following websites in order from highest to lowest.
Best-Reviewer
WebAnswers
InfoBarrel
My Own WebPage
HubPages
Now, tops on Best Reviewer, answers on WebAnswers and articles on InfoBarrel and HubPages are not the same, but I can tell you I have 150 tops on Best-Reviewer, answered 7,000 questions on WebAnswers, have written 28 articles on InfoBarrel and 185 on HubPages.
If you are looking for a new place to write, I would certainly recommend InfoBarrel. You have to write 10 articles and they have to be accepted before your articles upload automatically. That raises the quality and keeps out the spammers.
I'm especially surprised with low the HubPages earnings as I have added 6 new hubs this month. Google earnings on HubPages has consistently decreased every month since January. Most of my articles on InfoBarrel have been there over a year, but I did add 2 new ones during June.
Tomorrow I will tell you my plan for the future without the help of Amazon Associates. But in the meantime if you want to join any of these, please use my referral codes above.
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