It has been difficult to keep up with the 60 Day Challenge over at HubPages. I have been incredibly busy without much time to do any significant writing. Needless to say, the result is some mental stress. After I finish with this post, I plan on writing a little more tonight. My hope is to be able to get an article or two done tonight and then one done each day this week with several completed this weekend.
I will probably have to get up quite early this week and forego some sleep to get it done within the next 10 days or so. I am still committed despite being behind. I have published 8 of 30 articles, have one finished but not yet published and one started.
I do believe that it will be worth it in the end. I have already seen a continuous improvement in traffic over the past few weeks. I suspect that when we get to the promotion phase, I will see lots more traffic. I'm sorry that this post will be short, but I want to get writing some more.
April Earnings
It will be close, but I might be able to get to another AdSense payout this month. It will depend upon what happens in the next four days, but it certainly is not impossible despite the fact that I thought it might be after the first two weeks. It is strange how some months start out strong and then wane, while others do the reverse. I don't know if there is any identifiable pattern. Oh well, I have learned not to count on anything yet. As always, I am glad that my livelihood does not depend upon AdSense.
I may not write quite as much here as in the past since I will be working over the next few weeks on my writing. I will try to stop by on occasion, though, and provide updates. Once I am done writing, the time crunch should ease up somewhat. Then, I will be taking a break from writing for the month of May. Thus will end my first full year on trying to make money online. It has been interesting for sure. Well, gotta get writing.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Quick Update on the Hub Challenge
Well, I didn't get as much done this weekend as I would have liked but was able to continue the momentum into Monday and hopeful today and tomorrow as well. I have now completed 7 of the 30 articles and have about 10-15 days left. I am trying to get done by the end of April but suspect that the 30 days actually spills over a little into May. I am sure that some are already done writing. I know someone had 28 completed yesterday.
I have seen a definite bump in traffic to my Hubs. Of course it helps that I published 2 articles on Sunday and 2 articles yesterday. There always seems to be some initial interest when an article is published. The key will come in May when the publishing stops to see if the traffic is improved with the promotion techniques and especially in September or October of this year to see if any benefit is derived from sustained traffic and improved earnings.
Speaking of earnings, I have not yet derived any benefit at all on this front. I didn't really expect to see a major difference. As it stands it will be tough although not impossible to make enough by the end of the month to get the next AdSense check. If I have to wait another month, that will be OK. In the past I would have been really frustrated, but I have other things on which to focus instead. That is really all that I wanted to say this time. I am waiting until I am done with all the articles and enter the promotion phase before I list them here on the blog. I am sure that I will be learning a lot in the next 6 weeks and am looking forward to it.
I have seen a definite bump in traffic to my Hubs. Of course it helps that I published 2 articles on Sunday and 2 articles yesterday. There always seems to be some initial interest when an article is published. The key will come in May when the publishing stops to see if the traffic is improved with the promotion techniques and especially in September or October of this year to see if any benefit is derived from sustained traffic and improved earnings.
Speaking of earnings, I have not yet derived any benefit at all on this front. I didn't really expect to see a major difference. As it stands it will be tough although not impossible to make enough by the end of the month to get the next AdSense check. If I have to wait another month, that will be OK. In the past I would have been really frustrated, but I have other things on which to focus instead. That is really all that I wanted to say this time. I am waiting until I am done with all the articles and enter the promotion phase before I list them here on the blog. I am sure that I will be learning a lot in the next 6 weeks and am looking forward to it.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
I Am a Writing Maniac Thanks to 60 Day Challenge
About 2 weeks ago, I happened to be on HubPages and noticed that one of the members there had developed a 60 day challenge. The challenge involved writing 30 Hubs in 30 days which has become a somewhat normal type challenge coupled with 30 days of marketing and promotion. Needless to say I was very interested especially since I had started to notice that my HubPages earnings were picking up.
It turns out that I was able to participate. The opportunity was available to a limited number, and I just happened to be on the forums at the right time. Well, now I am in the process of writing my 30 Hubs in 30 days. I will have until the first few days of May. The problem is that I got behind since I didn't have my laptop back yet and went a week without being able to get on the internet on a consistent basis. I had it back for this past week, but life has been incredibly busy with work and April 15 and a ton of other stuff.
Now here it is the 17th, and I only had 2 Hubs done. That is better than I thought since I only thought I had one done! LOL! Anyway, I am using some of my own advice today and using some of that extra time for writing. I dropped the kids at gymnastics practice and rather than drive 40 minutes home and 40 minutes back, I went to a nearby Panera, paid $1.73 for my drink and use of their internet connection for 2.5 hours. So far, I have written 2 articles and published them. I am taking a break now and writing this post. After this, I will start a third article and publish it later tonight.
My plan is to be able to get at least 8 articles done this weekend, bringing my total to 10. It would be nice to get more done, but I would like to be realistic. I have a softball game tomorrow night.
Despite all the hard work, I am excited to be participating. First, it forces me to be accountable to a group of others and get the writing done. Second, I am especially eager to follow what we will be doing when it comes to the promotion phase of the challenge. I am sure that I will learn a lot during those 30 days. I expect that I will see big dividends down the road. I have already seen a bump in traffic to my Hubs. Granted, it is likely mostly fellow challenge members, but that is OK. It will be hard to measure the longer term impact but I doubt that it hurt at all.
You can follow my progress on the 60 Day Challenge log that is part of the project. I will also periodically update this blog as well especially next month as I learn more about promotion. I am trying to use what I have learned about keyword research with some of the Hubs and target phrases that have a decent amount of search traffic (about 2,000-3,000 monthly searches), a reasonable CPC (over $1) and beatable competition. For some of the Hubs, this has been applied. Others I have written for fun. Anyway, I need to quick taking a break and get back to being a writing fool.
It turns out that I was able to participate. The opportunity was available to a limited number, and I just happened to be on the forums at the right time. Well, now I am in the process of writing my 30 Hubs in 30 days. I will have until the first few days of May. The problem is that I got behind since I didn't have my laptop back yet and went a week without being able to get on the internet on a consistent basis. I had it back for this past week, but life has been incredibly busy with work and April 15 and a ton of other stuff.
Now here it is the 17th, and I only had 2 Hubs done. That is better than I thought since I only thought I had one done! LOL! Anyway, I am using some of my own advice today and using some of that extra time for writing. I dropped the kids at gymnastics practice and rather than drive 40 minutes home and 40 minutes back, I went to a nearby Panera, paid $1.73 for my drink and use of their internet connection for 2.5 hours. So far, I have written 2 articles and published them. I am taking a break now and writing this post. After this, I will start a third article and publish it later tonight.
My plan is to be able to get at least 8 articles done this weekend, bringing my total to 10. It would be nice to get more done, but I would like to be realistic. I have a softball game tomorrow night.
Despite all the hard work, I am excited to be participating. First, it forces me to be accountable to a group of others and get the writing done. Second, I am especially eager to follow what we will be doing when it comes to the promotion phase of the challenge. I am sure that I will learn a lot during those 30 days. I expect that I will see big dividends down the road. I have already seen a bump in traffic to my Hubs. Granted, it is likely mostly fellow challenge members, but that is OK. It will be hard to measure the longer term impact but I doubt that it hurt at all.
You can follow my progress on the 60 Day Challenge log that is part of the project. I will also periodically update this blog as well especially next month as I learn more about promotion. I am trying to use what I have learned about keyword research with some of the Hubs and target phrases that have a decent amount of search traffic (about 2,000-3,000 monthly searches), a reasonable CPC (over $1) and beatable competition. For some of the Hubs, this has been applied. Others I have written for fun. Anyway, I need to quick taking a break and get back to being a writing fool.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Slow Earnings in April
I am surprised by how slow earnings have been this month so far. At this pace, I will not make enough to get paid by Google and will have to wait for another month. I find it interesting that eHow earnings are currently 50% higher than my AdSense earnings. My CTR is less than half what it has been running.
I am not exactly sure what the cause of it all could be. It could be simply seasonal variations that I have not been exposed to yet. I know the weather here in central Indiana is getting nice and I would rather be enjoying the longer, sunnier, warmer days than on a computer writing or searching. Maybe that is true for others as well.
I am pleased that my HubPages traffic seems to be picking up. The traffic has been gradually improving over the past few months. In the future, that will only be a good thing. I am constantly amazed by anyone who is able to make any money online since it seems like a lot of effort for so little payout. I have to constantly remind myself that I planting the seeds for future earnings by what I do today and that it will take me another year or two to really figure out what the potential might be.
Clearly, we are talking marathon and not sprint. I am determined to keep at it for at least 2 years and see what happens. I am sure some days, weeks, and months will be better than others. I like the challenge and appreciate the opportunity to learn something new. I am amazed at the amount that I have been able to write so far. I would never have guessed that I could have written so much. A little bit here and a little bit there really adds up. All I can do is keep writing and linking the best that I know how. Things will happen when they happen. Hopefully, everyone else is having a better earnings month at least. If not, keep writing because it can all change at internet speed.
I am not exactly sure what the cause of it all could be. It could be simply seasonal variations that I have not been exposed to yet. I know the weather here in central Indiana is getting nice and I would rather be enjoying the longer, sunnier, warmer days than on a computer writing or searching. Maybe that is true for others as well.
I am pleased that my HubPages traffic seems to be picking up. The traffic has been gradually improving over the past few months. In the future, that will only be a good thing. I am constantly amazed by anyone who is able to make any money online since it seems like a lot of effort for so little payout. I have to constantly remind myself that I planting the seeds for future earnings by what I do today and that it will take me another year or two to really figure out what the potential might be.
Clearly, we are talking marathon and not sprint. I am determined to keep at it for at least 2 years and see what happens. I am sure some days, weeks, and months will be better than others. I like the challenge and appreciate the opportunity to learn something new. I am amazed at the amount that I have been able to write so far. I would never have guessed that I could have written so much. A little bit here and a little bit there really adds up. All I can do is keep writing and linking the best that I know how. Things will happen when they happen. Hopefully, everyone else is having a better earnings month at least. If not, keep writing because it can all change at internet speed.
Monday, April 12, 2010
HubPages Earnings and Disappointed by Google
Bristolboy asked about my HubPages earnings from AdSense so I thought I would look it up. Imagine my disappointment when going to my AdSense account, and Google doesn't even have data available since last June when I started writing. The earliest data that they could provide was from December of 2009. I am shocked! I simply can't believe that a fabulous Web company supposedly purposed with organizing the world's data can't provide me with such simple information. My bank can do better than that.
Anyway, here is the information that I was able to obtain. These earnings are strictly from HubPages and are for AdSense.
December 2009: $10.73
January 2010: $14.42
February 2010: $26.53
March 2010: $16.55
April 2010 (so far): $5.72
I haven't typically split up the information since I figured it all came into the same pot whether it came from HubPages, Xomba, Infobarrel, Triond, or my two blogger blogs. The majority has come from HubPages and Xomba so I just mentally kept track of which site was working out better. As more search engine traffic started appearing at HubPages, the CTR started improving such that HubPages is actually performing better than Xomba.
My plan is to continue working on Hubs and develop those a little more now that I have a better idea regarding the process. I have even elected to participate in a 60 day writing and marketing challenge that I trust will allow me to learn a lot more about the process. Once I have a little more of the challenge under my belt, I will share. In the meantime, I need to get writing some Hubs. I only have one completed out of 30. I lost a lot of time this past week without my laptop. I plan on having 5 done by this weekend and writing 5 on the weekend also in order to start to catch up. Wish me luck and hope it isn't too busy this week.
Anyway, here is the information that I was able to obtain. These earnings are strictly from HubPages and are for AdSense.
December 2009: $10.73
January 2010: $14.42
February 2010: $26.53
March 2010: $16.55
April 2010 (so far): $5.72
I haven't typically split up the information since I figured it all came into the same pot whether it came from HubPages, Xomba, Infobarrel, Triond, or my two blogger blogs. The majority has come from HubPages and Xomba so I just mentally kept track of which site was working out better. As more search engine traffic started appearing at HubPages, the CTR started improving such that HubPages is actually performing better than Xomba.
My plan is to continue working on Hubs and develop those a little more now that I have a better idea regarding the process. I have even elected to participate in a 60 day writing and marketing challenge that I trust will allow me to learn a lot more about the process. Once I have a little more of the challenge under my belt, I will share. In the meantime, I need to get writing some Hubs. I only have one completed out of 30. I lost a lot of time this past week without my laptop. I plan on having 5 done by this weekend and writing 5 on the weekend also in order to start to catch up. Wish me luck and hope it isn't too busy this week.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Earnings Report for First Quarter 2010
I got my laptops back and may talk about that later. Now it is time for the long awaited earnings report for the first quarter of 2010. I can say that it is the best quarter ever, but that is due to a one-time payment from Life123. I had anticipated some of those earnings occurring over time, but I won't complain except for the fact that I can no longer write for them.
So, let's get right into the numbers. Then I will comment some more.
January
AdSense $32.47
eHow $5.75
Life123 $20
Total $58.40
February
AdSense $34.79
eHow $5.51
Life123 $400
Total $440.30
March
AdSense $29.33
eHow $18.16
Total $47.49
Grand Total for the quarter: $546.19
Obviously, the impact of the Life123 payment was substantial. If it weren't for that payment, my income would have been less than the 4th quarter of 2009. It makes sense since I was much less active in the past 3 months. Furthermore, my AdSense impressions were down 20% on average when compared to the last 3 months of 2009.
February actually turned out fairly well because I had a fairly high CTR and CPC. Those numbers degraded somewhat in March. Now at the beginning of April, they are absolutely hideous. I am pleased with this month's traffic so far, but my CTR is abysmal.
I wonder how long it will take me to earn almost $550 in a quarter again. I am hoping by the end of this year to be at about $100 monthly in AdSense so I am quessing that it may take about a year or better. Maybe I can hit it the 2nd quarter of 2011. It will be interesting. I have yet to complete a full year of online activity so I don't know what the seasonal variations and patterns might be. I can say that June of this year will be better than last, and that's how I will start measuring my progress soon.
Well, it is good to have the computer back and working. I may make a larger update on that in the next post. As always, thanks for reading. Hope you like this post, BB!
So, let's get right into the numbers. Then I will comment some more.
January
AdSense $32.47
eHow $5.75
Life123 $20
Total $58.40
February
AdSense $34.79
eHow $5.51
Life123 $400
Total $440.30
March
AdSense $29.33
eHow $18.16
Total $47.49
Grand Total for the quarter: $546.19
Obviously, the impact of the Life123 payment was substantial. If it weren't for that payment, my income would have been less than the 4th quarter of 2009. It makes sense since I was much less active in the past 3 months. Furthermore, my AdSense impressions were down 20% on average when compared to the last 3 months of 2009.
February actually turned out fairly well because I had a fairly high CTR and CPC. Those numbers degraded somewhat in March. Now at the beginning of April, they are absolutely hideous. I am pleased with this month's traffic so far, but my CTR is abysmal.
I wonder how long it will take me to earn almost $550 in a quarter again. I am hoping by the end of this year to be at about $100 monthly in AdSense so I am quessing that it may take about a year or better. Maybe I can hit it the 2nd quarter of 2011. It will be interesting. I have yet to complete a full year of online activity so I don't know what the seasonal variations and patterns might be. I can say that June of this year will be better than last, and that's how I will start measuring my progress soon.
Well, it is good to have the computer back and working. I may make a larger update on that in the next post. As always, thanks for reading. Hope you like this post, BB!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Dead Laptops
It has been difficult to keep up with the online activities. Last Friday, the kids' laptop that I was using just suddenly froze and would not reboot. Since mine had done something similar about a month prior, I figured it was time to get them checked by a professional.
I got the report yesterday. It turns out they were both stricken by a virus and would not boot up. It will cost me $230 ($115 each) to wipe out the hard drives and reload. Fortunately, when mine went down, I was able to get on under "Safe" mode and get all of my data including pictures, articles, and spreadsheets. I will also be getting 3 years of virus protection for $105 for both computers as well. A bummer for sure but at least cheaper than replacement.
I hope to be able to pick them up tomorrow. That will certainly allow me to start getting more work done. It is difficult to write and blog when you only have limited access to a computer. I ended up with a lot of down time. Once I get my computer back, I will post my first quarter earnings for 2010.
In the meantime, I will simply get done what I can when I wake up early before going to work. I don't think I will be getting up early tomorrow, however. I can feel that it is starting to take its toll this week. I can't wait to get my computer back. It is amazing how that device has become such an integral part of life. As always, thanks for reading.
I got the report yesterday. It turns out they were both stricken by a virus and would not boot up. It will cost me $230 ($115 each) to wipe out the hard drives and reload. Fortunately, when mine went down, I was able to get on under "Safe" mode and get all of my data including pictures, articles, and spreadsheets. I will also be getting 3 years of virus protection for $105 for both computers as well. A bummer for sure but at least cheaper than replacement.
I hope to be able to pick them up tomorrow. That will certainly allow me to start getting more work done. It is difficult to write and blog when you only have limited access to a computer. I ended up with a lot of down time. Once I get my computer back, I will post my first quarter earnings for 2010.
In the meantime, I will simply get done what I can when I wake up early before going to work. I don't think I will be getting up early tomorrow, however. I can feel that it is starting to take its toll this week. I can't wait to get my computer back. It is amazing how that device has become such an integral part of life. As always, thanks for reading.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Goals for April 2010
I have to say that I have been awfully lax when it comes to the concept of goal setting, putting them in writing, and publishing them in order to provide a measure of accountability. As a result, I really haven't accomplished all that much in the first quarter of 2010. Granted, I could blame the kids' gymnastics season occupying all of my weekends and claim other reasons for being busy. But those would simply be excuses. The bottom line is that I have been LAZY and unfocused!
Well, that is going to change starting now. I am going to resume my habit of posting goals for the month and updating my progress about halfway through the month. This has to occur if I am going to continue to accomplish anything especially when it comes to writing content, building links, and having an impact on earnings.
I especially noticed this last month in regards to earnings at Xomba. I did very little for the month and the results spoke for themselves. That is why for the month of April 2010, my goal will be to post at one link at a minimum each and every day on Xomba. I will also plan on writing more content for some of the other sites as well as content for Xomba itself. Even if I don't manage to accomplish everything, I know that I will get more done than if I hadn't taken the time to establish goals.
- Publish something on Xomba each day of April
- Write 5 articles for Xomba
- Write 5 articles for HubPages
- Write the 2 eHows that I had an idea for this morning
- Post here 3 times per week
Sounds like I have my work cut out for me this month and next. What are your goals for April? Feel free to share.
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