ehow.com

[Maiden]

I was wondering how many use ehow?

I just started there today so I haven't added much content. This is actually my first time doing anything like this.

If anyone wants to add me here is a link:
http://www.ehow.com/members/maiden77.html?view=3rd

[JenNipps]

Hi, Maiden.

Welcome to AW. I've added you as a friend on eHow.

Out of curiosity, where in Oklahoma are you? I'm down in Ada. :)

[Maiden]

I am in Norman. Nice to see another Okie around. :)

[JenNipps]

There are quite a few of us around.

Ritinrider in the Freelance forum is an Okie. So are AstonWest (I think he hangs out in novels or short stories) and Ol' Fashion Girl (Office Party and Authors Roundtable). There are quite a few others, too, but I can't remember their user names off the top of my head. :)

[Maiden]

That's awesome! I seem to rarely run into other Oklahoma writers. It is always great when I do.

Of course I am the new guy (err well girl) so I haven't been about that long yet.

[stldenise]

I'm sure some of us write for eHow. I gave it a spin, but gave up because my articles weren't getting any money. More of us AW people write for DemandStudios.com, which is the parent company for eHow. DS hires freelancers to write on topics that DS hands out - often rather weird subjects, like how to build a robot out of old socks, or something equally stupid. BUT they pay upfront, from $5 to $15. They pay every Friday, with Paypal, no matter how much you write.

Some people feel more comfortable writing for eHow directly, because you have more control of the material and have full ownership. And a few people have lots of success writing there. But you have to promote it to get any hits. If you write for DS you give them full rights for the $5-$15 fee.

Give DS a shot. You'll need a simple resume and a writing sample. Feel free to use a good eHow article as your sample.

[SouthernFriedJulie]

I have a few old things on eHow which brings me the minimum almost every month. I have a bad experience with DS, they still owe me money. Others have good experiences, so it's really up to you which to try.

LOL@robot of socks. Too funny.

[JenNipps]

Perhaps a bit oddly, I write for both eHow and DS. I haven't reached the minimum payout with eHow yet, but I'm getting close. :)

[Maiden]

I have been looking into DS but with me being new to this type of writing I didn't want to get in over my head. With a toddler and an infant in the house (along with a preteen) I tend to get overwhelmed with the outside stuff lol

[blueobsidian]

I have been looking into DS but with me being new to this type of writing I didn't want to get in over my head. With a toddler and an infant in the house (along with a preteen) I tend to get overwhelmed with the outside stuff lol

One of the best things about DS is that there are no minimums or output requirements. You can write or not write as much as you like. When I first signed up, I didn't write a single article for several months. So if you have a busy week, you won't lose anything by not writing.

[stldenise]

Yep - I used to write every day for DS, then I got bored. I go over there and pick up stuff when I'm in the mood.

You can also suggest you own topics at DS, but they seem to only pay $5 a piece. Used to be better. I did an experiment where I suggested a DS article so I could link it to something I wrote on Examiner. No idea if it is doing me any good or not! But I figured it was an easy $5, since I already did the leg work for my Examiner post. I just had to reslant/reformat it for an eHow article.

(If you're curious, I wrote a post for Examiner telling how to get cheap tickets to attractions in town, then did a couple DS how-tos on getting cheap tickets & free admission to places in St. Louis. I used my Examiner as a resource for the DS how-tos, plus some other sites not mine.)

[inkkognito]

Perhaps a bit oddly, I write for both eHow and DS. I haven't reached the minimum payout with eHow yet, but I'm getting close. :)
Do you see any advantage to that over doing rev shares at DS? I don't bother with eHow directly but I've been doing more rev. share due to the contest. I'm not impressed with the earnings so far, but I think that's because some of the topics they choose as rev. share are not good ones. Credit-related ones perform the best for me, and one of 'em that I did through DS even got chosen as an article of the day at eHow.

[JenNipps]

I haven't done any rev share assignments from DS, so I really don't have anything to compare it to. I wondered, though, how the rev share program was any different from eHow.

[Button]

I have both.

If I have an idea for a How To, I do not submit it to DS. I post it on eHow. I only do the flat fee DS articles and I try to only do the other ones (list or about), not the how to ones there.

I put more time into my eHow articles, and will add pictures and references and add more material when I think on it. I work on this when I've met my money quota for the week and have extra time.

The amounts I have made vary with different articles, but some articles have produced more in income than if I would have submitted it to eHow. I feel happy with working this way. It's less work to write one article that will continue to add up over time.

Clearly the more articles you have, the more income you'll make on there, but if you can find a good set of keywords, there's no reason your articles can't pull in a couple hundred a month extra income.

I have been slowly pulling up the revenue share articles that DS has been putting out. I did want to do a comparison. I don't have a comparison yet, but I am watching those.

[SouthernFriedJulie]

I have both.

If I have an idea for a How To, I do not submit it to DS. I post it on eHow. I only do the flat fee DS articles and I try to only do the other ones (list or about), not the how to ones there.

I put more time into my eHow articles, and will add pictures and references and add more material when I think on it. I work on this when I've met my money quota for the week and have extra time.

The amounts I have made vary with different articles, but some articles have produced more in income than if I would have submitted it to eHow. I feel happy with working this way. It's less work to write one article that will continue to add up over time.

Clearly the more articles you have, the more income you'll make on there, but if you can find a good set of keywords, there's no reason your articles can't pull in a couple hundred a month extra income.

I have been slowly pulling up the revenue share articles that DS has been putting out. I did want to do a comparison. I don't have a comparison yet, but I am watching those.

I like your method. Would say more, but baby on arm.

[inkkognito]

Yowza! Just checked my updated earnings at eHow, and my article that was selected as Article of the Day made crazy good earnings. That front page exposure is awesome. Now I have my fingers crossed that another of my pieces gets chosen at some point.

[Maiden]

Are there certain keywords that do better then others on ehow? SO far I ahve only put in two articles but I just started ;) Had to attend a book signing today so my free time this week has been limited.

[Button]

Yes, there are certain keywords that do better. I've experimented with a variety of different ones, I wanted to see myself which ones people prefer. Anything with health and relationships seems to do very well, followed by technical, car things, and some business topics. My best ones are my relationships (how to flirt with a guy/girl) and how to lose weight articles.

I don't have a wide variety of knowledge on much else, I tend to write eHow articles on things I think I could actually help people with.

[Maiden]

ya I have only done the two. Anyone who wants feel free to add me as friend on there.

So far I haven't had a whole lot of success but then again I also haven't even been at it a week yet so I am not in shock or anything ;)

[WriterintheWind]

I just signed up for eHow as a supplement to the Demand Studios gig (loving this!). I'm not sure if this is the correct link to add me as a friend, but I will reciprocate.

http://www.ehow.com/members/smahaffey.html

Appreciatively,

[Gretad08]

I have kind of a dumb question but here I go anyway:

If you're published online through ehow or DS do you list that in any of your query letters?

[WriterintheWind]

I have yet another question . . .

I've discovered I have two different accounts on eHow! One is where I signed up myself and I've written five articles to start out with.

I was doing a search for some Demand articles I've sold and see them listed on my account name I use there!

Is there a way (or should I) to consolidate the two accounts?

The Demand account has me as an eHow Editor/Authority, while the other is eHow Member/Enthusiast.

[MrsHannigan]

I write for both eHow and DS

with eHow, I have about 100 articles up and for the past 2 months I've made about $100- I only write for DS because I need the cash this summer.

The DS revshare program only pays for 5 years, as opposed to the eHow WCP which pays forever.

With the current $50/10revshare bonus plan, the smaller articles are actually a good idea- fact sheets & abouts are always $5 so to get the $5 plus revshare isn't a bad plan.

Someone here said "you have to promote" and I totally disagree- the SEO draws visitors, you don't need to promote.

I also make a few hundred each month from affiliate links in both my ehow and my DS resources section- plus I use that section to direct readers to my articles on other sites (like Suite101)

I think the whole "friends" thing is really a distraction

[WriterintheWind]

Thank you for your helpful insight into eHow!
Sheryl


I write for both eHow and DS

with eHow, I have about 100 articles up and for the past 2 months I've made about $100- I only write for DS because I need the cash this summer.

The DS revshare program only pays for 5 years, as opposed to the eHow WCP which pays forever.

With the current $50/10revshare bonus plan, the smaller articles are actually a good idea- fact sheets & abouts are always $5 so to get the $5 plus revshare isn't a bad plan.

Someone here said "you have to promote" and I totally disagree- the SEO draws visitors, you don't need to promote.

I also make a few hundred each month from affiliate links in both my ehow and my DS resources section- plus I use that section to direct readers to my articles on other sites (like Suite101)

I think the whole "friends" thing is really a distraction

[inkkognito]

If you're published online through ehow or DS do you list that in any of your query letters?

I would never list eHow. They take anything from anybody, and the quality of many of the articles there reflect that policy. I don't personally use DS, but I don't really need to. If I really needed to list some experience, then I might. The difference to me is that you have to go through an application process there and your work gets edited, so it has more legitimacy as a reference (at least in my mind).

[Gretad08]

I would never list eHow. They take anything from anybody, and the quality of many of the articles there reflect that policy. I don't personally use DS, but I don't really need to. If I really needed to list some experience, then I might. The difference to me is that you have to go through an application process there and your work gets edited, so it has more legitimacy as a reference (at least in my mind).

That's kind of what I was thinking about ehow...it reminded me of a PA author bragging to me about being published, and my first thought was "They take anything from anyone!" I've just applied to DS so maybe if I get to work with them, I'll use that experience in my queries. I don't have any professional credits yet, so I'll take what I can get.

[WriterintheWind]

I've been researching how to optimize my content with keywords. I've read that the "robots" do not read the keywords listed below the article.
How about the captions below a photo? I usually don't write a caption, but when I do, I want to consider keywords if I should.

Thanks

[Gretad08]

Does anyone know exactly how ehow pays? I just started and have only written 6 articles. After about 30 page views I had earned .08. Now I'm up to about 85 page views and I've earned .08 still. How does it work?

[SouthernFriedJulie]

Does anyone know exactly how ehow pays? I just started and have only written 6 articles. After about 30 page views I had earned .08. Now I'm up to about 85 page views and I've earned .08 still. How does it work?

Not sure. I have 7 and get the payout pretty regular. Only one of the 7 is really pulling in the money though. It's weird because the others have views, too. The one bringing the cash has over 40k hits. It's about a controversial practice. I had no idea how popular it would be or that it would spark debate.

Just don't do someone else's idea. If you do something close to theirs, cite and link. They might do it for you, too.

One person tried to do the same sort of thing and posted a dangerous at home abortion with a title almost identical to mine. It was very poorly written and an obvious attempt to steal my traffic. I flagged it, for one-what she had written could very well kill someone if done wrong. For two-the how to was not at all related to the title.

[Gretad08]

Not sure. I have 7 and get the payout pretty regular. Only one of the 7 is really pulling in the money though. It's weird because the others have views, too. The one bringing the cash has over 40k hits. It's about a controversial practice. I had no idea how popular it would be or that it would spark debate.

Just don't do someone else's idea. If you do something close to theirs, cite and link. They might do it for you, too.

One person tried to do the same sort of thing and posted a dangerous at home abortion with a title almost identical to mine. It was very poorly written and an obvious attempt to steal my traffic. I flagged it, for one-what she had written could very well kill someone if done wrong. For two-the how to was not at all related to the title.

Wow! 40K hits?! Good for you Julie, that's awesome.

Like I said, this is my first venture into writing on a site like this but I was so excited about 80 hits...yeah 80 not 80K. Guess I've gotta start somewhere though right?

So far the articles I've written aren't very exciting...How to get your baby to sleep through the night...How to deal with a shedding pet...How to pack for a trip to the maternity ward etc. Nothing earth shattering.

Maybe I need to start focusing on topics that aren't too overdone. I think baby and pregnancy stuff is a bit saturated, although I really like to write about it.

The whole learning experience is really fun though. Thanks for the advice and please feel free to pass along any more that you may have.

[SouthernFriedJulie]

Wow! 40K hits?! Good for you Julie, that's awesome.

Like I said, this is my first venture into writing on a site like this but I was so excited about 80 hits...yeah 80 not 80K. Guess I've gotta start somewhere though right?

So far the articles I've written aren't very exciting...How to get your baby to sleep through the night...How to deal with a shedding pet...How to pack for a trip to the maternity ward etc. Nothing earth shattering.

Maybe I need to start focusing on topics that aren't too overdone. I think baby and pregnancy stuff is a bit saturated, although I really like to write about it.

The whole learning experience is really fun though. Thanks for the advice and please feel free to pass along any more that you may have.

Let me clarify that's the most popular of anything I've written. In 3 years, k? Really...it took me by surprise.

I wrote on how to induce a delayed period. It's easy and cheap. The reason it gets hits is because what woman doesn't want to get that out of the way before a vacation or something? Not why I wrote it, but hey.

With pregnancy, try to think of things no one else talks about. Like...how to safely lose weight. It's possible...I was going to write that one, because I've done it...my baby and I were both much healthier for it. SAFE, too.

If you want to write that one, I'd be happy to give you the details and ideas on how to get the traffic.

[Gretad08]

Let me clarify that's the most popular of anything I've written. In 3 years, k? Really...it took me by surprise.

I wrote on how to induce a delayed period. It's easy and cheap. The reason it gets hits is because what woman doesn't want to get that out of the way before a vacation or something? Not why I wrote it, but hey.

With pregnancy, try to think of things no one else talks about. Like...how to safely lose weight. It's possible...I was going to write that one, because I've done it...my baby and I were both much healthier for it. SAFE, too.

If you want to write that one, I'd be happy to give you the details and ideas on how to get the traffic.

That would be really generous and I'll gladly take you up on any advice you have to give. ( I'm pregnant with baby #2 right now :D so sticking with pregnancy articles is fun for me if I can do it well)

Please don't feel obligated if you don't have the time. Thanks again.

[SouthernFriedJulie]

That would be really generous and I'll gladly take you up on any advice you have to give. ( I'm pregnant with baby #2 right now :D so sticking with pregnancy articles is fun for me if I can do it well)

Please don't feel obligated if you don't have the time. Thanks again.

Excuse me a sec.


[sticks out tounge, blows raspberry]

Time? I gots it. The way I see it, writers stick together. Shoot me an email anytime.

kahvella AT gmail

[WriterintheWind]

Julie, You hit a gold mine on the hits. You are right - this topic has mass appeal! Can you put a link here- I'd love to read it. Brilliant! Yes, maybe eHow isn't the most prestigious of credits, but I am having a lot of fun - in fact, I've been neglecting my Demand Studio gig lately as a result!
I had someone hijack one of my articles, and I didn't think to flag it - good advice!

When my points were updated for my newest article, the system wacked out and put me at Novice. I am an "Authority" though on all my articles. Just my profile says "novice". For some reason, my Demand Studio articles are not linked! I started writing eHow articles after getting accepted at Demand. I must have created a new account - so I have two! I'm an "eHow Editor" with the DS articles, which I am guessing is what all DS writers get. :) Now, that looks better for a resume!

Anyway, I have enough on my plate now, but may be looking into About.com or Suite 101 in a few months.

[SouthernFriedJulie]

http://www.ehow.com/how_2161140_vitamin-c-bring-delayed-period.html


There you go.

I made a mistake on the traffic, my traffic altogether is over 40k, this article has like 34k of it. At the time it was the only one like it, now there's a ton, but it is #1 on google if you search the term.

[joyce]

Interesting article, Julie. You can count me as another hit.:)

[WriterintheWind]

Thanks, Julie, very interesting article, indeed.

[caseyquinn]

I think the biggest thing with ehow is time. I submitted a bunch of articles last year and this year they are bringing in double. I just submitted a fresh round of articles again and dont really expect too much from them this year but next year... I think it just takes a little time for them to gain rank in search engines though some will go right to the top if you hit a weaker keyword topic

[notwriting4free]

I'm on DS (though I haven't been picking up articles there in awhile) and eHow. I noticed the other day that my eHow earnings haven't updated in 2 months; as in it's missing April and May. The last reported earnings for me was in March.

Clues on who to contact about that?

[MRasey]

Yay! Yay! Yay! So glad to find this forum. I've been off AW since the baby started crawling.

I'm at ehow. This is my second full month. I have 38 articles up and have earned slightly over $20. Plus I won a contest which should pay $50.

Several people make $100-$500 a month on ehow. I'm hoping I can join that club with time and work. I think I need to write on hotter topics.

For those of you who are brand spankin' new, I highly recommend The Home Freelance Write (http://freelancehomewriter.blogspot.com/)r blog there are free tutorials there without spammy hype. You do NOT need to buy one of the ebooks on writing for ehow. The core of the info is free at the blog I linked to (it's not mine by the way).

I also write for DS and the one piece of advice I have is sometimes the editors go nuts. Delete weird rewrite requests and don't risk the rejection. Rejections count against you but walking away does not. For example, I did a piece on passive solar design and the editor wanted me to talk about solar panels and that's not the topic! Passive solar design is architecture and construction, not solar panels on the roof. I just deleted because the editor is on a completely different wavelength so I walked.

Although they were nice about it. I think there have been enough complaints about the editors that DS gave them a talking to. It seems like they've been extra polite lately. (If you google enough you'll find some interesting editor complaint threads, stuff I haven't seen for any other web content company.).

Anyway, glad to be here!

M

[MRasey]

I'm on DS (though I haven't been picking up articles there in awhile) and eHow. I noticed the other day that my eHow earnings haven't updated in 2 months; as in it's missing April and May. The last reported earnings for me was in March.

Clues on who to contact about that?

Go to the forum and report a bug. Ehow is the buggiest site I've ever been on!

TIP FOR NEWBIES: Write everything in word DO NOT trust Ehow's interface. It will eat more content than it will publish.
M

[moth]

For those of you who are brand spankin' new, I highly recommend The Home Freelance Write (http://freelancehomewriter.blogspot.com/)r blog there are free tutorials there without spammy hype.
Totally agree - I just started a thread about that blog yesterday after I discovered it. :Thumbs:

[SouthernFriedJulie]

Go to the forum and report a bug. Ehow is the buggiest site I've ever been on!

TIP FOR NEWBIES: Write everything in word DO NOT trust Ehow's interface. It will eat more content than it will publish.
M

Happened to me last month with a How To for herbs. Biting mad.

[IndianaJane]

TIP FOR NEWBIES: Write everything in word DO NOT trust Ehow's interface. It will eat more content than it will publish.
M

You speak the truth. Happened to me last week. Had to walk away from the computer and count to 145,687.

[Willowsidhe]

This is my first post as I just stumbled upon this forum by accident, but I had to chime in here. :)

I write for eHow (and DS) and I highly recommend it if you're interested in residual income. I've been there since January and I submit about 20-25 articles per month. Last month I made $132 and this month it looks like I'll make around $150-$160 if I don't submit anything else.

I'm really happy with my progress on the site thus far, especially for the small amount of time invested. It is possible to make a very significant income writing there, but it takes time and work. My goal is to be making at least $500 per month by the end of the year from eHow alone.

I don't write the DS rev share articles because of the 5 year earnings cap. Plus, I can come up with much better titles on my own with proper research.

Also, I agree with MrsHannigan 100%. You don't have to promote your eHow articles. I do zero promotion and I do just fine. When I first started writing there, I would bookmark and tweet my articles. I found out that it makes very little difference. As long as you know which keywords to choose and how to write well, your traffic will take care of itself.

Thanks for the link to my blog, MRasey. I'm glad that others find it helpful as I put a lot of work into it. Also, I'm going to be adding even more of my discoveries about writing for eHow in the coming days.

[MtgyWriter]

I'm another one who is signed up with DS and also has a personal eHow account. It's been a few months since I submitted anything to DS, mainly because I'm used to working with editors who are consistent, something that is hard to come by with Demand Studios. Still, I've been lucky - some DS writers have encountered editors who were snide, arrogant and appeared to have no more than a passing acquaintance with the style guide. While I've had a few wacky editor notes, none of them were what I would call unprofessional or uninformed.

I can only remember one rewrite request that struck me as completely ludicrous. Needless to say, I let it expire, changed the title and posted my content on eHow, where that particular piece has now earned me $29.00 and some odd cents last time I checked.

I'm also used to working with content companies where enough detail is included along with the title that both writer and editor have a clear picture of the intended focus. From what I read on other message boards, there have been situations where DS editors asked for rewrites because they wanted a different approach to the topic. I can see where a writer would soon tire of that sort of thing, since it essentially means writing two complete articles in the hopes of satisfying the arbitrary tastes of the editor in order to earn that $15.00.

My eHow articles are doing okay; about half of them have earned double the $15.00 DS rate, several more are bubbling just below that figure, and a few have surpassed the $50.00 mark. Probably if I spent more time choosing my keywords and keyword phrases, my earnings would be higher.

Personally, I don't use my DS or eHow articles as samples.

[SouthernFriedJulie]

The thing with eHow as samples and this is my own take on it, should be viewed as such only:

No matter where you write and publish, you should be willing to use it as a sample. Quality is just that: Quality- no matter where published. If an article has thousands of hits after a certain period of time that really speaks volumes.

Now, I know you'll cite articles that have been slammed with hits because of the sensitive nature of the topic. Or because they're so cruddy others had to show it to their friends. That's not what I mean at all.

You know exactly what I mean. The /good/ stuff you've written with tons of hits, comments thanking you for your good advice. That is quality and you should never be ashamed to show it as a sample. Editors are people, too and some of them have been in our shoes...writing to pay the bills and using any job they could to get it done.


In a nutshell...I don't care what anyone says, writing for a content mill is still writing. You're no less of a writer for it and your samples are no less samples.

[stldenise]

I have to agree with you Julie...and disagree just a bit. Maybe its a poor habit of mine, but I just don't put the extra polish on DS articles, since the pay rate per word is low compared to print. When I get a print job, I polish that sucker until it gleams. I can't help it - one place is giving me 3 cents a word, the other is a $1 a word. Ok, not all print jobs are a $1. My news stuff is like, 15 cents...

I think it would be interesting if DS made you use your real name. I noticed that I tend to give my Suite101 articles more attention, since any editor doing a search on me can find those!

If it's Smuckers, it has to be good! Sorry, that popped into my head.

BUT, before you chew my hinder out, :) I'd like to share an epiphany. I occured to me recently that if I spent all day writing for DS and only did one article per hour, but only selected $15 titles...I'd be making $15 an hour. Which is more than what I was getting when I worked at a print shop a few years back, slaving over a grumby Docutech and lugging heavy cases of paper (not to mention the years where I did pasteup and damaged my vision with a light table). Not to shabby, since I'm sitting here in my jammies! So maybe I'll give those DS jobs a little more credit.

[SouthernFriedJulie]

I have to agree with you Julie...and disagree just a bit. Maybe its a poor habit of mine, but I just don't put the extra polish on DS articles, since the pay rate per word is low compared to print. When I get a print job, I polish that sucker until it gleams. I can't help it - one place is giving me 3 cents a word, the other is a $1 a word. Ok, not all print jobs are a $1. My news stuff is like, 15 cents...

I think it would be interesting if DS made you use your real name. I noticed that I tend to give my Suite101 articles more attention, since any editor doing a search on me can find those!

If it's Smuckers, it has to be good! Sorry, that popped into my head.

BUT, before you chew my hinder out, :) I'd like to share an epiphany. I occured to me recently that if I spent all day writing for DS and only did one article per hour, but only selected $15 titles...I'd be making $15 an hour. Which is more than what I was getting when I worked at a print shop a few years back, slaving over a grumby Docutech and lugging heavy cases of paper (not to mention the years where I did pasteup and damaged my vision with a light table). Not to shabby, since I'm sitting here in my jammies! So maybe I'll give those DS jobs a little more credit.


Don't hide your behind, because I'm not going to chew on it. Ew. I /did/ have breakfast.

My view only applies to the writing you know is good. I certainly do not put extra effort into eHow, AC, or any other place like that.

But- yes there's always a but- I try to make sure anything that has my name on it is good enough that if my name is searched by a potential client, I'm not ashamed. We all have the 'early years' stuff [who doesn't?].

I just don't want any writer to feel less of one because of where they sell their work, is all. My viewpoint is mainly for those who are just starting out or have found themselves in a rut of content mills.

Before anyone bites MY behind for that comment- content mills are great for revenue and passive income. I know this. But the feeling you get by holding that check from a print mag? The total high in cleaning out the magazine stand at the grocery store? Autographing your article page for a friend, family member, or the people asking WHY you're taking all the mags?

That's freaking priceless.

It doesn't pay the bills, I know. I just seriously don't want any one of you to feel as if your samples aren't good enough. I've been whacking every writer I meet in the head repeatedly with the 'We're in this together' speech for so long I'm sure it'll stick somewhere!

[sugarloaf10]

I've been writing for eHow for about 2 months now. With around 25 articles, I've made around $10. That's not much, but I am hoping for some residual income. I like the fact that I can write what I want.

I use my eHow articles as samples, because I always try to put out quality work. Also, I use my real name there to build credibility with my writing.

However, as much as I like eHow, I am not counting on it earning me much money. I don't spend too much time with any one article because of this. For me, it's more of an experiment to see if I can build up to $100 a month without writing anything. If I am not earning much a year from now, I will stop writing for them.

[CoffeeBound]

Anyone have multiple accounts on eHow?

I tried this as an experiment because there's a certain niche I especially like to write on, but I felt that these articles were getting "lost" with all the different article topics in my original account. After 6 months, 25 articles, and only $10 in earnings, I recently closed the 2nd account. I did all the right things ... keyword usage, article promotion, and (of course) sincere content. These are all the things I do for my original account and I earn over a $100 a month on that one. I'm miffed as to why the 2nd account never took off.

Anyone find that their earnings for additional accounts fare worse? Or am I the lone weirdo here? :D

[CoffeeBound]

I've been writing for eHow for about 2 months now. With around 25 articles, I've made around $10. That's not much, but I am hoping for some residual income. I like the fact that I can write what I want.

I use my eHow articles as samples, because I always try to put out quality work. Also, I use my real name there to build credibility with my writing.

However, as much as I like eHow, I am not counting on it earning me much money. I don't spend too much time with any one article because of this. For me, it's more of an experiment to see if I can build up to $100 a month without writing anything. If I am not earning much a year from now, I will stop writing for them.

Sugarloaf, the fact that you've earned $10 already is a good indicator that you'll reach the $100+/month milestone. I think I made about $7 my 1st two months on eHow and now, after 11 months, I'm earning a little over $100/month. And I hardly write articles on eHow anymore, just when the mood "hits" me.

[stldenise]

Anyone have multiple accounts on eHow?

I tried this as an experiment because there's a certain niche I especially like to write on, but I felt that these articles were getting "lost" with all the different article topics in my original account. After 6 months, 25 articles, and only $10 in earnings, I recently closed the 2nd account. I did all the right things ... keyword usage, article promotion, and (of course) sincere content. These are all the things I do for my original account and I earn over a $100 a month on that one. I'm miffed as to why the 2nd account never took off.

Anyone find that their earnings for additional accounts fare worse? Or am I the lone weirdo here? :D

I'm not sure that 2 accounts would do you any good...don't most of the views come from search engines, and not someone reading your entire library?

[CoffeeBound]

Denise, the logical part of my brain knows you're right, but I was hoping that eHow's mysterious algorithm for earnings would reward members producing articles within a niche. Guess not. So far, search engine traffic appears to be the key to making money on this site.

[Jacquelyn Hyde]

Agh!

All right, I joined ehow a few days ago. Things were going... decently. The form for submission is a real pain, but I could get through it. Unfortunately, today it's only ever taking me to an "error" page when I try to navigate anywhere from the first page of the form. I'm tried everything I can think of to fix the problem... I'm just... I'm baffled - oh, and incredibly annoyed. Let's not forget that.

[baltogardener]

Jacquelyn, eHow has been really buggy lately. Don't give up, but sometimes it is better to give the site a rest for a few days until they right it. The forums there are useful for finding out about what is going on with technical issues.