Due to life's circumstances I've only been able to write four articles at eHow this month. To date none of those four articles has earned anything, which means all of my earnings are coming from work I did prior to this month.
This is my first chance to see how eHow will perform as a source of truly passive income. So far I'm pleased with the results.
I'll post an update of my income at the end of the month as usual.
You “meet” the most interesting people on the eHow forums! I want to introduce you to Annalise Kaylor. Annalise is relatively new to eHow, but she is not new to writing online. In addition to doing freelance work, she is the managing editor and a SEO specialist for a major online university.
Her background is important because, like several other successful eHow authors, Annalise has written an ebook designed to help others make money by writing online.
I recently finished reading her book, Writing Online: Making Money and Residual Income with Online Content, and wanted to share my thoughts with you in this review. I have also added Annalise’s ebook to the compare and contrast review I did of the other three eHow ebooks. That post has proven to be very popular with eHow writers overwhelmed by the decision of which eHow ebook(s) in purchase.
Now for the review. Annalise’s book covers eight topics, in addition to an introduction and summary:
· The difference between passive income and residual income
· Understanding keywords, keyword phrases, and SEO
· Writing content to suit keywords
· Other online writing tips
· Websites that pay you to write for them
· Adding to your passive income with affiliate programs
· Other options for earning passive income
· Marketing your content and your site
The following sections are the ones that I thought were especially worth highlighting:
Understanding Keywords, Keyword Phrases, and SEO
If you’ve spent any time on the eHow forums or invested in any of the other eHow ebooks, you no doubt know a thing or two about keywords and SEO. It’s not hard to educate yourself on the basics of this topic and as I began reading this section I found myself a little bored with the basics being covered again. (Of course if you’re a beginner in this area and don’t know much about these topics, you won’t be bored at all; the book does a great job covering the basics.)
As I continued reading, however, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about one keyword technique that I hadn’t seen covered anywhere else. And Annalise also lays out a system of analyzing keyword results that is unique. In a later section she shows you how to use this system when writing your articles.
Other Online Writing Tips
This section is short, but sweet so don’t skip it. It’s a bullet list of information written by someone who knows her way around writing for the web.
In re-reading the book for this review, I was surprised to see an issue addressed that recently received a great deal of attention on the eHow forums. I also like her ideas for getting more articles (and therefore more money) from your content.
Websites that Pay You to Write for Them
This section will be especially valuable for anyone looking to branch out beyond eHow (and really everyone should plan to do this at some point to avoid the “eggs in one basket” syndrome).
Annalise has had some good success writing for another website and her section on this site and the section on eHow are the most detailed. Two other sites are covered with a little less detail, and the section ends with a bullet list of other sites to look into.
Adding to Your Passive Income with Affiliate Programs
If you’re currently using affiliate marketing you aren’t going to find anything new in this section. If, however, you’re an affiliate marketing beginner (or you’re wondering ‘what is affiliate marketing?’) then you’ll find this section will give you a great overview and answer a lot of your questions.
The book even explains how to add an affiliate marketing link to you articles, which is one of the basic questions many web writers have but are afraid to ask on message boards or forums for fear of looking foolish.
Do I think the ebook is worth purchasing?
Yes, I do. I’m a big believer in these ebooks because, the fact is, if you even pick up one suggestion that you begin using you will likely recoup the cost of the book a much more. I’ve written 160+ articles on eHow and I’m still learning.
I can even handle a little repetition. Obviously with each eHow ebook I read I get less and less new information because I’m getting the basics again. But I find that even though I may have read something before, reading it from a different author or source causes me to “hear” it a little differently.
If you’re a beginner, this book is full of great tools that will help you earn more with your eHow articles or other online writing. If you’re already writing or have read other eHow ebooks, you’re likely to pick up enough new stuff to make it worth your while. Either way, there is a money-back guarantee if your earnings don’t increase within 30 days so there’s no risk.
So what’s the bottom line?
The book sells for $25 but is being offered now at $15 with the discount code NEWYEAR. When you go to the site and add the book to your shopping cart, you can enter the discount code and see the discount taken before you complete the purchase process. I mention that because I know I always appreciate seeing the discounted amount before I have to enter any payment information.
I have a folder in my favorites called 'eHow Article Ideas'. Anytime I run across something online that has ideas for articles, I bookmark it and put it in this folder.
Today something landed in my email inbox that will definitely go into the folder. It's Amazon's Top Ten List for New Year's Resolutions
The list includes everything from losing weight (of course) to starting a new hobby. Each resolution is accompanied by Amazon products that fit with that resolution. So not only can this list spark some article ideas, if you're an Amazon affiliate there are products you can put in the eHow article resources box using your affiliate link.
Where do you get your eHow article ideas?
December was a roller-coaster ride as far as eHow earnings are concerned. I started out the month with some $6, $7, and even $8+ days. Then right around Christmas, earnings tanked. I guess that's to be expected as people are with the friends and family celebrating and not in front of their computers.
A few days after Christmas earnings rebounded nicely and I even had a $9.13 day - my second highest ever. I ended the month at $130.30, which is a 29% increase over November's earnings. That brings my total eHow earnings to date to $450.92.
All of this is being tracked in my sidebar.
I added 23 articles this month. Probably not bad with all the busy-ness of December.
I hope your December earnings were all you wanted them to be. On to 2009!
©Ehow Blog. Template byDLL Incorporation.