My Great Backlinking Experiment AKA What the Heck is Backlinking?

Have you seen the term backlinks bandied about in writing forums, especially where web content is concerned?  Have you wondered what they are and why they’re important?

Quite simply, backlinks are links that point back to your online web content from outside the domain of that content.  For example, I will often create directory lenses at Squidoo that point to other articles I’ve written on a niche topic at different sites.

The reason they’re important is that Google seems to be more impressed by sites that have other sites linking to them.  When Google likes your work, it’s ranked higher in search engines and more easily found by the web audience and drives more traffic your way.

There are differing opinions on whether these backlinks are more useful if they are part of content webs or not.  A content web is the interlinking of articles at different sites such as when I post links to HubPages on a Squidoo lens and vice versa.

There is the theory that Google recognizes that it’s you linking to yourself.  I’m not sure I buy that.  But I’ve started to experiment with sites you can get backlinks from while earning with Google AdSense, and I’m doing this without creating content webs to see how this works out.  I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

In the meantime, here are the sites I’ve started experimenting with or plan on starting soon.  I’m throwing you to the wolves here as this is a bit of a link roundup where you’ll have to browse around each site and see what you think.  I’ll do individual reviews of each one as I gain more experience with each.

Basically, you can post links to your web content with a short blurb.  You don’t have to have a Google AdSense account and can just use it strictly for backlinking (but why not sign up with Google and earn a few bucks?).  With most of them, you also have the opportunity to earn referral fees.  Some of them you can actually write content for just as you would elsewhere.

I’ve already started posting article links with these two, so these links will have my referral info.  If you are uncomfortable with that, then by all means just do a Google search for the company names and check them out that way.

• Xomba

• SheToldMe

Here are a few I plan on starting sometime after the holidays (so no referral links yet).

• Snipsly

• RedGage

• Tagfoot

Disclaimer: As I said, this is a new experiment for me.  I’ve heard good things about these sites mainly from other HubPage authors.  But I can’t vouch for whether you will have a good experience with them (or me for that matter).  Enter at your own risk.

 

Demand Studios Offers Health Insurance to Freelancers

In a recent post, I reviewed Demand Studios as an opportunity for freelancers.  I don’t write for them now but do occasional title QA work.  They recently announced they will be providing health insurance benefits to freelance writers, copy editors and filmmakers who meet certain work requirements.

It looks like there are three monthly payment options to choose from.  Any freelancer including writers and artists know that it can be difficult to explain to some insurance companies that yes, freelancing is a “real job.”  They can of course shop around, but it’s good that Demand Studios has stepped up and is filling this need within the freelance community.

I stated in my previous post why I don’t write for them.  But I’ll reiterate that if I lost my job, Demand Studios would be the first place I would go to find immediate work with timely pay.  If my husband lost his job and we subsequently lost our health insurance, Demand Studios would be all the more an attractive option for me because of this development.

If you want to know more about this new benefit, visit the Demand Studios Options for Health Insurance page.

Here is my full review of Demand Studios.

 

The Do’s and Don’ts of Using Twitter to Promote Your Content

Twitter, the social networking firestorm, has become one of the most popular ways to connect with people instantly.  Because of this, it has also become an excellent resource to spread the word about your writing.  Unfortunately, this post will be tinged with an attitude of “do as I say and not as I’ve done.”  Twitter is good for writers if they use it well.  I haven’t, but I’m trying to change that.  In this post, I’ll share what I’ve learned using Twitter so far.

What is Twitter?

Those of you familiar with texting will be halfway there to understanding it.  Twitter allows you to post messages of up to 140 characters in length.  You follow people and they follow you much like the friending function works on sites like MySpace.  Once you post your message, or tweet as it’s called, the world can see what you’ve posted immediately, and people can respond to you.  You can make your account private so that only your followers see it, but that defeats the purpose of promoting your work.  Twitter also allows you to have more than one account, but you will need a new email for each one.

My Experience with Twitter

As I mentioned, I’ve learned there is a wrong way and right way to use Twitter to promote your writing or business.  I initially started an account when I was the Pagan editor at BellaOnline and mainly posted my articles as I published them.  When I left BellaOnline, my main Twitter account became a sort of clearinghouse of posts about all my writing, politics and personal things.  I’m not convinced this was the best combination.

I’ve created a niche Twitter account for my writing that pertains to Michigan, which is  mostly on my MichiganLover ID at HubPages and a few lenses on Squidoo.  I don’t have a lot of followers on that yet, but at this stage I consider niche writing and tweeting an experiment.  A niche blog on Michigan is on the back burner right now.  An advantage of having a niche Twitter account already in place is that I’ll have a ready-made traffic source if I choose to go ahead with that.

I also created an account in which I posted daily inspirational quotes.  That account very quickly started to gain a following.  Unfortunately, I found that I couldn’t keep up with the daily quotes even with using TweetLater, a web application that allowed me to program tweets to be posted at a later date and so deleted that account.

Twitter Do’s and Don’ts

Here are some tips to get you started based on my experience:

• Do create two accounts, one for business and one for yourself (but only if you need a personal one).
• Don’t just post links to your work but interact at least a little.  People want to know your personality, but they don’t need to know what you had for lunch.
• Do post a bio and a link to your website.  I personally never follow back anyone who doesn’t take the time to do this.  Many times the people who don’t have bios are spammers.
• Do post an avatar or photo.  It helps convey your personality and encourages trust that you’re who you say you are.
• Do think about what image or “brand” you want to portray on Twitter.
• Don’t grouse about your personal relationships in between posting links to your web content.
• Don’t mix politics and religion unless that is your forte.  (I’m admittedly guilty of doing this, and it’s not my forte).

I’ve decided to try to either tone down political tweets or retweets (reposting someone else’s tweet) or create another account.  Right now, my “brand” if I dare call it that is that of your average Jane who is working at making web writing a supplemental income and sometimes lets her emotions get the better of her on Twitter.

How to Sign Up for Twitter

If you’d like to sign up for Twitter, visit the website here.  And feel free to follow one or both of my two accounts:  pjdeneen or Michigan_Lover.

 

Web Content Site Comparisons and Updates

I’ve been out of my blog writing groove, but starting to return to normal.  While I’m still tweaking a post about Twitter and reviews of Squidoo and Suite 101, I thought I would link to a recent hubpage.  On my author profile over there I state that I’m a Suite 101 writer, and I’ve been getting emails and tweets at Twitter asking me how it compares to HubPages.  I decided rather than answering each email separately that I would put my thoughts into a hub.  Eventually, I will be posting full reviews of all sites I write for here, but this is a good way to build up more content at HubPages.   Many thanks to those other hubbers who contacted me about this.  Here is the link:

A Comparison of Squidoo, Hubpages and Suite 101:  Why I Write for All Three

On Revenue and Traffic

On a different note, I’m also happy to report that I will be passing the threshold of my first AdSense payout soon through HubPages.  My earnings at Squidoo and Suite 101 are also slowly increasing.  I’m more geared up lately to learn more about affiliate programs and possibly writing for Ezinearticles.com.

That’s it for the updates for now.  Up soon is that Twitter post I promised.

 

Demand Studios Review – Opportunities for Freelance Writers, Copy Editors and Titlers

Demand Studios is a growing online media content provider of written articles and videos.  The company hires people from home to work as freelance writers, filmmakers as well as copy editors and titlers.  Some of the sites that content ends up on are YouTube, eHow and Livestrong.com among many others.  As of this writing, they only hire US citizens.

Demand Studios Compensation

DS pays a flat rate per article or writers can choose to create content for their revenue-share program.  The fees range from $5 to $20 for several article styles including how-to, travel guides, lists, general info and more.  At this time, copy editors make $3.50 per article.  Titling positions range from 2 to 8 cents (I believe) per title depending on the position – proofer, editor or QA.

Subjects Available for Writers

Some of the topics you can write about at DS include health, technology, beauty, culture, religion, home and garden, automotive, business, finance, education and careers.  They’re strict as far as style, and you need to abide by their editing guidelines.  Below is a brief look at what an article goes through before it’s published (after it has gone through the titling process):

• Writers claim available titles from a list.  New writers are usually allowed to claim 10 titles at a time.
• They submit their finished work according to the guidelines for the particular article style, i.e. how-to or list.
• A copy editor checks the piece and lets it through for publication or makes suggestions for revision.  Once the article is cleared for publishing, the writer can claim more assignments.

What on Earth is Titling?

Titling positions have to do with proofing and editing titles that will eventually be turned into articles.  Some of these titles are taken from web searches.  My job doing title QA requires that I accept or reject these titles based on the specifications of Demand Studios.

Why I Don’t Write for DS More Often

Some DS writers say then can kick out quality $15 articles at the rate of 2 or 3 an hour.  I can do 1, possibly 2 if I’m organized.  But most articles require a lot of research and can be quite tedious to write.  I already work at home doing somewhat tedious work and can make as much as I would for 1 to 1-1/2 articles without as much effort.  Now that I’m an employee rather than an independent contractor, I have even more incentive to stay at my day job.  But I enjoy doing titling for extra cash and will stick with that.

Why Write for Demand Studios?

So why would I write for Demand Studios again?  DS would be the first place I’d turn to if I lost my job or needed quick cash right now.  The company has always paid on time as long as I’ve been with them (about a year), and now they offer twice-weekly payments through PayPal which is the only way they pay except in rare instances.  I’ve never had a problem receiving payments from them.

I haven’t tried their revenue-share program, so I have no insights to share about that.

Forums at Demand Studios

There are forums for all positions at DS.  Writers can talk to each other or ask management questions.  Same for editors and titlers.  It’s a supportive environment to get answers and just to vent.

Advice for New Web Writers

DS hires people from different walks of life.  They like to know you’re capable of writing about what you love, but you can branch out and write for different topics.  I’m not part of the hiring team and don’t have any secret formula to give you for getting hired.  But here are a few tips to consider for those new to web writing:

• Create content on free sites like HubPages, Squidoo or Ezine Articles.
• Start with one or two topics you love and know well and write on different aspects of those topics.
• Make sure at least a few of those articles are in third person and in the active voice since DS prefers this style.
• After you have a few writing samples online, go ahead and apply at DS.

You can apply now for any of the positions, but having a few writing samples online won’t hurt.  You will have work to show potential employers all the while you are learning online publishing tools and techniques.

Demand Studios Buffet

Some experienced print writers scoff at sites like DS, many times rightly so.  Some of the content is bland (often because of the content), and the pay is abysmal compared to the old days of freelance writing.  But the times are changing.  Ambitious writers without previous experience can make money at Demand Studios, et. al.  I personally believe the cream will rise to the top as the internet public becomes savvy in recognizing what is trash and what isn’t.

Even if that isn’t the case, you can do your best and take that experience with you wherever you go.  Demand Studios is an excellent work-at-home opportunity that can provide a solid background of experience.  Visit their site for more information.

 

Suite 101 Writing Challenge Update

During my HubPages 30 in 30 days challenge in August, I was inspired to challenge myself to try to hit the 50-article mark at Suite 101 which would have been 17 articles in 30 days.  There is a revenue increase that happens at 50 articles, so I’ve been anxious to get to that point.  But I’m sorry to say I’ve failed that challenge.

Life has gotten in the way.  My real focus in the last few months has been to find another medical transcription job which took up a lot of time in applying and taking employment tests.  After some misses, I have acquired a new job and will start tomorrow.  It will be more hours and a night shift, so I don’t see myself completing any writing challenges anytime soon.

I’ll be keeping up with my quota at Suite as well as periodically publishing on HubPages and Squidoo.  I’m happy with my consistently increasing revenue at all of those sites.  Even if I keep a slow and steady pace rather than engaging in challenges, I’m confident that revenue will continue to grow.

Below are my newest articles at Suite 101 which I put towards the challenge:

1.  The Earth Mother in Goddess Worship:  Pagans Respect Balance by Honoring the Sacred Feminine

2.  Pagan Origins of Modern Mistletoe Traditions:  The Role of Druids, Celts and Norse Mythology

3.  How to Make Your Own Flower Essence:  Natural Healing with Vibrational Medicine

4.  Ten Top Flower Essences:  Popular Plants Used in Vibrational Medicine

I’ll be busy training for my new job next week but hope to make a couple of posts, one a review of Demand Studios and one on the pros and cons of using Twitter to promote your writing.

 

My New Purple Star Lens at Squidoo

My Conservative Pagans – We Exist lens at Squidoo has received a purple star.  The purple star program is available to giant squids.  If this all seems like a foreign language to you, relax, I will be posting a review of Squidoo, another free publishing platform where you can earn affiliate revenue and promote your business or causes.

A purple star will help my page rank for a while and enter me into a lottery for prizes.  Squidoo says that giving a purple star to lensmasters is a way of rewarding them for hard work and encouraging them to keep creating lenses.  I admit that I’ve been lagging with Squidoo but hope to remedy that soon.

Thanks to the powers that be at Squidoo for bestowing this honor.  I’m proud to be part of the Squidoo community.

I have other reviews in the works first before I do the Squidoo post including Demand Studios and Suite 101.  In the meantime, here are links to my purple star lens and related info:

Conservative Pagans – We Exist

The Squidoo Purple Star Program

Squidoo Giant Squids Program

 

What is HubPages? – The Bad and the Ugly

In a recent post, I covered an introduction to HubPages and what I felt are some of its positive aspects.  In this post, I share my opinions on the worst aspects of HP.

Let me start by saying (once again) that this is purely subjective, and what I dislike may be exactly what draws others to write for HP.

The Comments Feature

I’m not a big fan of article sites that allow comments.  I blame MySpace and other sites like them that have created a culture with an almost insatiable appetite to instantly comment on someone’s work without even digesting it fully.

I understand this feature in a blog.  The writer creates an opinion piece and puts it out there in the blogosphere to be commented upon.  I still don’t quite get it on content sites.  There are people who also write such long (and many times rude) comments that they could turn into hubs and earn cash.  Maybe I’m just a big mean capitalist, but if I have the time to refute someone’s hub, I’m going to do it in my own hub and try to earn money.  But I’m also not big on the “community” aspect of HubPages.  Some people just like to hang out and comment on hubs.

Luckily, HP allows writers to delete comments and report spam as well as not use the feature at all.  My complaint is more along the lines of “eh, it’s not my bag, but maybe it’s yours.”

“Artists and Commentators” vs. Article Writers

I see HP as a content writing platform.  Others see it as a place to put their art or political or religious commentary on the web.  The problem is that these artists can have an attitude against writers who are there for what they see as purely for monetary gain.  It’s my understanding that  HP was actually intended from the onset to be for articles but morphed into something else.

Recently, I participated in a 30 hubs in 30 days challenge.  Apparently, these challenges  upset people who claim they cause an influx of poor quality hubs.  Quite frankly, I think these people need to pull the sticks out of their rears.  There are a lot of poor quality hubs, but that may or may not have anything to do with the writing challenges.

My goal is to become better at writing short, tightly focused, content rich, evergreen articles for HP.  I may sometimes publish opinion pieces, but I will always try to monetize them the best I can.

In fact, many topics lend themselves to sharing personal experiences.  For example, I recently published a hub on medical transcription based on my experience in the field.

I don’t have a personal problem with hubs that are basically opinions and commentary.  My complaint is more with the “us vs. them” mentality.  I don’t think a hub on someone’s opinion about the most current political issue is necessarily any better than a hub on trees of the northeast USA for instance.

HubPages and Creative Writing

I don’t think HP is the best outlet for creative writing.  If I want to publish a story or poetry, I would try outlets online and in print that targeted the correct audience for the genre of my story or poems.

Hub Quality

This is where I will start sounding like the artists.  HP prides itself on only allowing quality content.  Yet, they allow hubs that are sometimes barely readable written by non-native English speakers or are simply a collection of soft porn pictures.

I can tune these hubs out, but if writers want to point potential employers to their work, they may want to consider if they want their work seen just a few clicks away from “My Hot Indian Aunties, Part 6.”  There is a page ranking system that is supposed to help put crap at the bottom of searches, but I’m not sure if that really works as well as it should.

The HubPages Forums

This is the worst part of HP.  I don’t know how the forums were in the beginning, but they seem to have been taken over by people who were never taught about those two things you don’t bring up in polite conversation – politics and religion.

I write about religion at HP, so this may seem hypocritical.  But if you glance in the forums, decorum is thrown out the window.  It seems these threads are populated by the following extremes:

• Right wingers who just think everyone should get back to “gawd.”
• Left wingers and atheists who think that anyone who disagrees with them is an uneducated, mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, racist, homophobic moron.

There are attempts at civil discourse, but on the internet, that rarely is the status quo for long.  Again, I just try to stay clear of these threads, but it’s unfortunate that HP allows this type of behavior.

I’ve even seen hubs where hubbers personally attacked each other.  It makes me appreciate Suite 101 that much more as the forums there are geared towards writing and how we can further our craft and web writing skills.

The Good Forums at HubPages

I recommend avoiding the general forums for your sanity.  But the Knowledge Exchange and Need Help? Ask Here sections are excellent places to learn more about HP by experienced and usually very helpful hubbers.

My Future With HubPages

I still plan on publishing more hubs, but I will never put all my eggs in that basket.  That’s partly because I’ve been self-employed for ages, and counting on one source for your daily bread isn’t very smart.  But I admit that I don’t completely trust a company that allows some of the crap that goes on in the forums.

HP Does Have Potential

HP has income potential and some good writers.  It’s also free and easy to use without editors checking our work.  With things as they are now, HubPages will continue to attract more good writers and some really bad apples.

 

What is HubPages? – The Good

After recently completing the HubPages challenge, I realize that I now have to backtrack and tell readers a little bit more about HubPages in general.  I will divide this into two parts – the good and the bad/ugly of HubPages.  This is purely subjective, and things that I like others won’t care about and vice versa.

HubPages is many things to many people.  Most of all, it’s a free-to-use publishing tool that gives you the opportunity to earn passive income through Google AdSense, Kontera, and Amazon and eBay affiliate programs.

How Do You Start at HubPages?

All you need to set up an account with HP is an email and password.  However, if you want to add AdSense, Kontera (an in-text advertising tool) and affiliates, you’ll have to sign up for each of those programs separately.  Since you will be earning revenue as freelancer you will need to provide personal information such as name, address, SS# (in US) and any other tax information they ask for as these companies are required to report your earnings to the appropriate tax agencies.  To learn more about this, visit the section Before Creating Your First Hub over at HP.

But what about content you ask?  You can write on any topic you want to.  In my opinion, that doesn’t mean that you should, but that is for part 2 of my HP intro for later.

There are guidelines for the site, and it’s important you read these, but here are some basics:

• You need to own your content whether you create it yourself or pay another writer and now own it.  Don’t copy and paste another person’s work on HP.  (I know this should be self evident, but this happens all over the web, so I figured I would mention it).
• No porn, although HP does seem to allow a lot of “hot Indian auntie” crap (another point for part 2).
• No spam.
• No content that promotes racial hatred or otherwise bigoted speech.

There is more, but you can do more research at the links provided below.  For the most part, keep it clean, don’t spam you’re reader and make sure the content is yours.

Some positive aspects of HP are:

• You own your content and can edit or remove it.
• The publishing tool is incredibly easy to use.
• It’s relatively easy to sign up for the earning programs except eBay.  They tend to be very picky.
• There are knowledgeable hubbers willing to help out newbies on the forums.  However, the forums are also one of the worst things about HP which I will expand on in part 2.  Stay in the knowledge exchange and help sections and you should be fine.

As I stated, you can write about what you want.  Many people love the fact that they can get their creative writing out there for the world to see.  But most people at HP (as far as I can tell) want to earn cash, and there are efficient and not so efficient ways to do that.

I first learned of HP from fellow writers at BellaOnline.  Rae Schwarz, the Body Art editor for BellaOnline and veteran hubber, gives excellent advice on how to make HP work for you.  Her article, Fine-Tuning Your Hub Experience, is just one example.

AdSense Potential at HubPages

Web writing can be tricky to master, especially if you’re used to print writing.  I confess that I have a great deal to learn and am slow on the uptake sometimes.  I have yet to receive my first AdSense payout (which happens when you reach $100).  But the recent 30 in 30 days Hub Challenge has increased my revenue from a few cents every few days to a few cents to $2 every day, so I will reach that payout soon.  For the most part, I haven’t focused on niche marketing, keywords or SEO (search engine optimization), so I’m excited to see what I can earn when I do.

The challenge has inspired me to keep creating content for HP and learn more about writing for the web including keyword research and producing evergreen content.  There are people who actually earn a living from HP and others who earn pin money, and yet more fall somewhere in between.

Beginner’s Help at HubPages

In HubPages Help – A Reading List For New Hubbers, writer frogdropping (yes, that’s really his handle) provides a good starting point for new folks who want to try their hand at hubbing.

I know I’ve given you some homework to tackle.  That’s the thing about writing for the web.  You can take courses and learn all this stuff.  But it’s perfectly okay to dive right in.  Hopefully, the resources I’ve provided will help guide you in the right direction and make it easier for you to start earning at HubPages.

 

Update on About.com Situation

This is an update to my post titled “Statement Regarding About.com and My Article” from August 14th.  Read that post first if you want the full story.

I haven’t received any further communication from the editorial staff of About.com after asking them to remove an article from their Paganism/Wicca site posted by Patti Wigington which was incredibly similar to one I posted earlier at BellaOnline (again, see previous posting for full story).  I have however been keeping a close eye on the site to see if it has been removed.  Thankfully, the article has been taken down.

It’s unfortunate that I have received no apology from About.com or Patti Wigington, but I’m not at all surprised.  I’m grateful that the article was removed.  As long as Ms. Wigington or About.com do not use the article in any way, I’m happy to put this behind me without taking further action.