The Great eHow Debate

eHow has recently had quite a mess on it's hands. The infamous eHow UK debacle has left many writers angry and feeling cheated. I've kept up on the eHow forums on related threads, and really do feel for people affected. I, however, do not feel my earnings were impacted to the level others were. I had some of my best earning months in that time, so I have no personal complaint.

In trying to not blame the victim or make excuses for eHow, I'm wondering exactly how many factors there actually were for the earnings slump many suffered recently. Many people a year ago reported a holiday slump on earnings. Google changes it's ranking formula on a regular basis. Perhaps having cloned content did hurt the US content. I don't think the slump was an intentional cheat on eHow's part, but that's only my opinion.

The UK Compensation-- many people were extremely disappointed, and I suppose rightfully so. I received about 10% of my monthly average, but again I feel I wasn't that affected so I'm happy with that. It was like a nice little bonus *for me.* I fully admit, if my earnings were impacted to the level other member's were I would not feel the same way.

I've heard others say they will not write further for eHow, or they will be removing their articles from the site. I do still plan on writing for eHow, my momentary break stems more from site glitches at the moment than anything else. eHow has still given me the opportunity to earn passive income I would not have otherwise had. The page ranking eHow pulls in far exceeds anything I could manage on my own. For me, I'm still pleased with my interactions with the site.

I will continue to write and keep articles on my computer to upload at a time the publishing platform seems a little more stable. Even if it's only a little bit, it's still a hundred bucks (or more!) a month I didn't have before. I'm happy with my results thus far, and hopeful for the future.

Been a Little Busy

I've been a little busy lately, and haven't had much time to update. I can't believe I ever found time to go to work before! Although it's looking like I'm going to have to go back to work, working online just isn't cutting it for me. Maybe if I had a little more time, or would get off my butt and write more eHow articles...

November earnings on eHow have been tallied, and it was my best month ever, by far. I made just shy of $150, and managed to write four more articles. Of course, I lost four in the latest sweep, so I'm still at 160 articles posted. 

Still chipping away at MTurk, and I made around $80 this month there. My earnings have totalled $616 there since starting. I have been trying some different techniques to make more money with MTurk--I filter the results to show most recently posted and just refresh away until something comes up. I check first off for my favorite requesters, of course. But if there's nothing else going on with them, the most recent is a decent way to add a few bucks here and there to the pot.

I'm kind of irritated that I'm going to have to go back to work. I really thought I could swing it, but it's just too soon. I've got to get a couple more bills paid down, and then it's SAHM time. Keeping up with cleaning and cooking, spending time with the family, etc, just doesn't leave any time. I don't know how I ever pulled it off before! But if I find a part time job in town, I think I'll be able to get ahead a little.

I'm still scouting around for different ways to make money online, but not finding a lot of luck just yet. I signed up with LiveWork, and applied for a couple jobs there, but didn't hear anything back. According to the WAHM.com forum, I need to fill out my profile there a little more. I scored great on all the job skills tests I took, so I'm hoping if I get that filled out it will lead to something. 

I tried shetoldme.com, using my Adsense ID and Chitika, and I'm just not seeing a whole lot of money come out of it at all. 

For now, I'm browsing the help wanted section in the local newspaper, and religiously reading WAHM.com forums to get that one lead that will make it all work out. I think my #1 enemy is TIME. There's just never enough of that when you're a SAHM!

 

eHow update, I've made a thousand bucks!

I finally did it! Today I broke a thousand dollars on eHow, that's total overall earnings. I started with one article in late July 08, so in 16 months with 158 articles (after sweeps) I've finally hit a big milestone, yay!

My earnings per month just keep going up, even though I haven't written very many  new articles in the past several months. This month I'm projecting I'll make around $140, my best month yet.

Now if I could only get the creative juices flowing and churn out 158 more articles, I'd be sitting pretty. I keep saying I'm going to, and I have a huge list of article ideas I'd like to dig in on. But really, I think I'm going to write some recipes before diving in bigger topics.

Recipe articles don't earn that great on eHow, but they're pretty consistent. Especially around the holidays. But if you have enough written, it does add up to a nice little profit each month. 

That's the greatest part about residual income. You write it once, and it just keeps on earning. I need to tweak some of the lower earning articles, most of those were from when I was still new to online writing, and didn't have a great keyword or SEO strategy.

I just had to share my milestone, I'm so happy!

eHow update!

I figured it's probably a good time to throw in an eHow update, too. Earnings for October have been calculated, and I made $119.91 on 158 articles. Around 76 cents each! It keeps going up, last month it was around 74 cents, and the month before 67. 

I finally wrote another eHow article, finally! It had been six months since I actually wrote anything there! I've got to put some time and effort into eHow, the residual income can't be beat. 

I enjoy writing eHow articles, and really they don't take long to do well. A half hour to an hour, depending on how familiar I am with the subject matter is about all it takes.

One word of advice. eHow's site is often buggy. I strongly suggest writing articles first in a Word Processor document, then cutting and pasting into the site submission form. This way you have a back-up should it not go through, or if an article is deleted. 

I have been writing for eHow since July 08, and in that time I have made almost $900. If you divide that by the time I have spent writing there, it comes out to about $11.32 per hour. Not bad! Even if I never write there again, that hourly wage will just go up as the residual income trickles in. 

This is one of my favorite ways to make money being a stay at home mom! Now if I could just buckle down and write a bunch more....

Taking a Leap of Faith

Yesterday, I had enough. I couldn't balance working outside the home and all the work in the home any longer. I turned in my two week notice! It's a giant leap of faith, I would have rather paid down my bills a little more before becoming a stay at home mom. But no more talking, it's time to just do it.

This will force me to start treating working at home as a real job. A "work" schedule will become very necessary in this quest. I think it is within reach, I just have to get off my tooshie and make it happen!

The plan for now is to work 10am to 2pm, about half of that time Gracie naps. The rest she's winding down for her nap and it should be easy enough to work from home during that time. Housework can come afterward. Then once Gracie is in bed at night, I can probably crank out another hour or two. Doing this five days a week should give about 15 hours per week.

The first month I will need to step up the residual income work, mostly eHow and Infobarrel. I still don't have my first article up at IB yet, but there's no time like the present! I need to clean up the two I wrote for my Suite 101 application and submit them. I hope to write more during the day, and use MTurk and CloudCrowd at night.

It's a huge relief to quit that job. HUGE!

Updating eHow articles to make more money

Now that I've really gotten my feet good and wet writing for eHow, I like to take a little time now and then to update articles. How so, you may ask? After giving a new article a couple months, I check in on them with page views and earnings. To do this, I go to my list of articles and click the views tab once. This will sort them, starting with the lowest views at the top. 

These are the articles that need attention. Perhaps I chose a keyword with too much competition, or not enough search traffic. I will pull each up, studying the keywords used, and use the Google Keyword Tool to find similar, but better, keywords. 

I try to shoot for 2 or 3 keywords per article, any more than that seems to water them down and give strange ads. By playing around with these, I've seen dud articles suddenly take off and add an increase to my residual income. I haven't added any new articles in a few months now, but I have seen my income rise each month using this process. 

Also, I focus on articles with low views but decent earnings considering. I try not to veer off the keywords too much on these, because something is right. It's just the page rank that is suffering. Promotion of those articles, via social book marks, seem to help with that. Anything to get those articles out there!

eHow is a fantastic tool for my journey to become a stay at home mom. The residual income comes in super handy each month. The sky is the limit, the more you put into eHow, the more you will get out of it. 

Writing more articles is key to making more money, but at times it's best to take a step back, and fix the ones that aren't doing so well. A few minutes work doing this can reap huge rewards in the long run.

eHow Sweeps

eHow has been a godsend for me for extra money. Any US citizen can sign up, write articles, and generate residual income. Simple, right? Well, not necessarily so. I've been a member since July 08, and I've only lost a few eHow articles in sweeps. And honestly, those should have went. They came across as spammy, didn't meet the how-to criteria, or were poorly written. All we can do is learn from our mistakes.

There are several guides available to help somebody become a better eHow writer, to increase income, and to avoid getting articles deleted. This guide, by one of eHow's top earners, WriterGig, can help get the most money from each article. It has proven invaluable to my own time on eHow, what a fantastic investment!

This free guide, written by a well known presence in the eHow forums, shows how to not only write a good eHow article, but to make sure it is in the proper format to avoid deletion in eHow sweeps. I strongly suggest reading both to get the most out of your time on eHow.

So what is proper format, you may ask? It's actually fairly simple. It has to be a straight forward how-to article. The writing doesn't have to be fantabulous, but of course that helps! Each step should be in a logical, chronological order, and show a specific action. Many suggest starting each step with a verb.

Proper spelling and grammar are also of utmost importance. Using spell check should be done on every article. Once published, you should take another look and read aloud, to ensure grammar is used properly. You can go back and edit if necessary.

I'm getting ahead of myself. Using good keywords is also important for the value of your articles. There's several different theories on the best way to go about this, but using Google's Keyword Tool and clicking CPC (cost per click) can show you the best paying keywords. Really, anything above a dollar can be good. Plus the Google Keyword Tool will show the amount of searches per keyword. Going for keywords that are heavily searched, say above 10,000 searches per month, will probably have stiff competition. So a good approach is to go for keywords with less competition, to ensure you get a fair amount of traffic.

eHow can provide a nice little residual income in time, but it takes a while to build up a library to achieve success. Working at it a little bit every day will have big rewards in the end. If you lose some eHow articles in the sweeps, don't let it get you down or turn you off to eHow. It happens to some of the best authors. Learn from the mistakes and keep writing.

Expanding writing skills and trying Suite 101

After doing a little research, I'm finding people on WAHM.com are saying Suite 101 has higher residual income than eHow. There is an application process, and active editors involved. Eh, things could be worse. I like the idea of editors being involved, unlike eHow, to provide higher quality writing. I'm still somewhat new to writing online, but have learned a lot about SEO and article marketing along the way. I think the next logical step from eHow must be to Suite 101! 

Some of the WAHMs on the message board were posting their numbers of articles compared with the montly earning between the two sites. It was a huge difference, some of them three to four times as much residual income from Suite 101! Since there is no cost to apply, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. This could very well the the means to becoming a stay at home mom!

Straying from the how-to format is seriously going to stretch and improve my writing. It's ridiculously easy to put a how-to together into actionable steps. I've just ran somewhat dry on ideas I can do that with. I have "the list" but just have been having trouble adapting ideas I have into articles. Remove the how-to and actionable step issue, and voila, I have tons of articles ready to go for Suite 101. Problem solved!

They do have a set amount of articles they want written, but it's fairly small. I believe it's 10 articles per three months. When I was going strong with eHow, I was churning out 15 per week, so I know that won't be an issue. Obviously, it would not be wise to just copy the eHow articles to put over on Suite 101, as this hurts search engine ranking. Plus, I believe they frown on exact copies, as well. However, I plan to use the same byline, so I can modify existing articles for use on their site. 

I'm really excited about this opportunity. If I spend two hours each morning on writing, my odds of becoming a stay at home mom raise substantially. No more scrambling to find a babysitter for me, hopefully! Wish me luck!

Update on eHow earnings

I am taking a good hard look at eHow, and how much money I am currently making from my efforts there. To date, I have made almost $750 in just over a year writing for eHow. I estimate that I spent around 82 hours in my time writing there, which would make about $9.14 per hour for my work. Here's the catch, once the work is done, the earnings keep coming in, so even if I never write another article there my hourly wage is only going up. Not bad for passive income for a stay at home mom!

Obviously, the way to raise this even more is to churn out more articles. Easier said than done. I've mentioned before keeping a running log of article ideas to draw from in moments of writer's block, or to just keep on paper before I can forget. Then there's the issue of time. What stay at home mom has enough of that? There's always laundry that needs done, always dishes in the sink, always life in the way. I'm making it my goal to FIND time to write more articles, and up my passive income.

Another important thing. You can never know enough about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It's not good enough to just throw it out there and hope your writing just strikes it rich. If you are counting on this for another stream of income, make the most of it! Use Google's Keyword Analysis Tool and find the keywords that are searched for and have a decent pay per click. I was going about this wrong in the beginning, going for keywords with tens of thousands of searches AND a very high CPC. Those keywords often have very heavy competition, which means it will be hard to get on the front page of searches in search engines. 

Finding keywords with a couple thousand searches per month and a decent payout (between $1 and $5) means there is a demand for the subject, but not so much competition that your article gets buried in thousands of other search results. A little bit of homework in this area goes a very long way with passive income!

How does that work with "the list?" Finding which keywords to use for your subject is tricky. It may involve wording that you're not very comfortable with, which can show through in your writing. Take the time to MAKE it work, to make it sound natural and you will see much better rewards in your writing. Go through "The List" from time to time and do your homework, and take notes. If you think BBQ is going to provide better results than Barbeque, take note. It's the little differences like this that can make a huge difference in the long run in passive income. 

When using passive income and writing online as a means to becoming a stay at home mom, you've really got to stay on top of things. Read through everything you can get your hands on to ensure you are finding the best way to maximize your time, thus maxmizing your income.

Making time to make money.

I'm going over my list of articles to write on eHow today. My eHow income is steadily rising, but I sure would be happier if it was higher. The best way to increase this income is of course to write more! I have my list handy to start working on this today. Finding time is my biggest challenge. I have to make time for this if I am ever to become a stay at home mom! 

Today I am hoping to focus on writing recipe articles, as they are quick and easy. They are often not the best earners, but mostly steady. There's another website, Type-O Mom, who also pays for articles online, and I'm hoping to find time this evening to check it out as a possible income stream. The more streams coming in with income the better, in the online world. Well, if time was not a factor, I suppose the same could be true in the real world, too!

Passive income is a fantastic idea. Although there is nothing passive about getting it off the ground and running. It takes hours of work to go into the perfect article, researching to double check facts, keyword research, photo selections, etc. But for the amount of time you put in and the continual reward for it, it's the perfect fit for a stay at home mom. This is where taking notes and keeping a running list comes in handy. It can help save time overall. I often spend and hour or two just researching keywords on article ideas and jot the info down along with the list, so my "job" for that article is already started. So when I do have a free hour or two, I'm already half done.

So today my goal is to write at least three recipe articles. I will probably lean toward some holiday recipes to give them a little time to mature before the holidays arrive. I already covered a few last year, and they did perform well. Here's to hoping one will strike it rich in the long run with lots of passive income!

Life's been crazy!

It's been a little hectic around home the past couple of weeks, so I haven't had much time to focus on becoming a stay at home mom. Things have settled down, so I'm stepping up my efforts. Tackling the budget a couple things at a time is my goal for this month. Getting rid of the cigs and laying off soda are my first two big ones, they're huge drains on my grocery budget!

Up until now, my efforts to become a stay at home mom have been centered around eHow and MTurk. I would like to get some more articles up on eHow to build that residual income up a little higher. Heading into the holidays leaves a lot of room for seasonal articles, and I just want to expand the numbers a little, too. I keep a little log of article ideas handy, I'll often be in the middle of doing something and think "This would be a great idea for an article!" but when I sit at the computer later on I have no idea what to write. Keeping a list handy makes it much easier. I have a list of about a hundred articles I need to get back to work on.

MTurk is doing well, but I am still open to new opportunities. I just don't seem to have enough time on my hands! Even an hour a day, or a half hour twice a day, seems to add up with MTurk. It's actually been a stretch to find even that much time lately! I'm stepping up the efforts, I want to be a stay at home mom and it's up to me to make it happen. 



There's other writing sites I am looking forward to checking out. Helium and Examiner are two I've heard a lot of good things about. I'm not too sure about Bukisa, I've heard good and bad, and I'm just not sure I want to devote the time to it just yet. They have an affiliate program, so it seems a little spammy to me. 


Oh yeah, affiliate programs! I hear this is a fantastic work at home opportunity. I gave it a shot with some of my eHow articles, and haven't seen much success with it just yet. It is probably next on my list to try out, though. It's worth a shot, it doens't cost anything but time to try it out. Maybe it will work, maybe not. Only time will tell!

I don't want to go to work!

So I feel like I'm making progress toward becoming a stay at home mom, but unfortunately I'm not there yet. I have to go to work tonight. I'm actually a little frightened that I would rather be home washing dishes and doing laundry instead of going in and bartending! But there's a few other writing sites I'd like to check out and just can't find the time.
 

eHow has been going okay, but I need to put some more time into it. They just had another round of article sweeps, and I lost two articles. Not big earners by any stretch and I'm not surprised I lost those two. I am averaging around $100 a month residual income on eHow on 158 articles. I would like to get back into the habit of writing a couple articles per day for eHow and up that residual income as much as possible. I will cover eHow in the near future, ways to use SEO in your articles, article exposure, choosing photos, and choosing the correct keywords to attract a larger audience. eHow is very satisfying work, I wish I had more time to devote to it. The eHow community and forum have been invaluable in learning the ropes and getting started with writing online. There are some fantastic and helpful people over there! Plus, it's rather addictive to log in each day and see what article is getting the most views and earning while I sleep. I really like that part!

There are writers at eHow making well over $1000 per month, some double or triple that amount. Several of them have written guides that outline how they have achieved their success. And the best part is that money is residual, meaning it just keeps on earning even if you never write another article. How cool is that?! The guide that I purchased and have greatly benefited from can be found here, it was written by eHow user WriterGig, and she is very helpful and friendly. She often answers questions via the eHow forum for free. WriterGig has a large library of quality articles and has mastered how to get the most income from each. For an investment of $25, you can almost guarantee to make that back the first month in income. It certainly made a difference to me!

This journey to become a stay at home mom certainly isn't going to happen overnight, but I do feel like I'm making small steps in that direction. As long as the direction is moving forward, it's a start. I feel like I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and finally feel certain it's not just an oncoming train!

Making money on the side

Given the hours I work, taking a second job or making money on the side can be a little challenging. Which seems ironic since being a bartender is often touted as a side job to supplement the income of a 9-5 job. I've already cut my hours so I am almost a stay at home mom, and focusing on earning some residual income and other ways to make money as a SAHM.

One way I've found to make extra money while being a stay at home mom is to do freelance writing on the internet. eHow.com is a great site to get your feet wet in the freelance writing community and earn some extra money. You won't get rich overnight, but building up a nice sized library of eHow articles brings in a decent amount of residual income, perfect for a stay at home mom. Plus it allows you to tweak your writing skills and earn as you learn. What could be better than that?

Of course, there's always yard sales to make extra money. Kid stuff sells really well in yard sales, as well as other mom stuff and household items. After a big yard sale, consider listing the remaining items as a yard sale lot on eBay, Craigslist, or other bulletin board type advertisement. I've seen small lots go for a hundred dollars or more. Getting rid of clutter and making a few bucks at the same time is always good!

Here's another thing I've done to save up for vacations or other expenses throughout the years. It's probably the easiest way for a bartender to save money, given all the change and one dollar bills we bring home. It's fun to watch the fund grow, too! Grab a big jar, and throw all your change into it at the end of every day. If you're feeling especially lucky, throw a few one dollar bills in there, too. You'd be surprised at how much money can add up over the year doing this!

One last thing is Plasma Donation to earn extra money. It helps save a life, too. The process is better described here, but can add upwards of $150 to your monthly income. It's really quite painless, and after the first appointment, it generally takes about a half hour or so, and you can go twice a week. Not bad!

I'm exploring other venues for freelance writing, but haven't gotten enough of a start to blog about just yet. I will keep you updated as I progress through those sites.