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!