A New Review of Writergig's eHow Ebook

I've already reviewed Writergig's Ebook, How to Creative Passive Income on eHow.com on this blog and I have interviewed her as well. Recently I wrote a much longer, more detailed review of her book. Over 1000 words total. I hope you'll take a moment to check it out!

A Change at Xomba

If you're confused by Xombytes and Xomblurbs when writing at Xomba, you don't need to be confused any longer. Xomba is now simply referring to them as Articles and Bookmarks, which is a lot less confusing. To summarize:

Bookmarks (the old Xomblurbs) allow you to link to any other site or article on the web - including your eHow articles - by just copying the URL and writing a 50 word description. Articles (the old Xombytes) are full-blown articles, but are still very easy to write with only 150 words required. I can usually create a Bookmark of one of my eHow articles in under a minute.

I am still in the process of bookmarking all of my eHow articles on Xomba. I like the idea of backlinking all of my eHow articles and creating an additional residual income stream for me at the same time. To date I have written eight articles and entered 161 bookmarks at Xomba and have earned $10.92 in the process.

Read an Ebook Week: My eHow Ebook Recommendations

I love ebooks. I first took a chance on one before I really even knew what they were - back in 2001 - when I bought a 'how to sell your home by owner' ebook. I bought it, read it, and sold our house in six days for almost full asking price. That ebook gave me the information I needed to do that and I've been an ebook believer ever since.

So I was excited to learn that this week is Read an Ebook Week. I'm a little late to the party since today is the last day, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to share my favorite eHow ebook: Writergig's How to Earn Passive Income at Ehow.com. As I've mentioned before, Writergig was the first person who showed me what was possible with eHow. Here's how she puts it into perspective:

"You'd need $240,000 in the bank at 5% interest to earn $1000 a month in residuals...but I earn more than that each month from my "bank" of eHow articles." - Writergig

Powerful, isn't it? If you'd like to know more about Writergig, you can read my interview with her here.

Here are some other interviews by eHow ebook authors:

• Cyn Vela
• Anthony Delgado
• Annalise Kaylor
• Janet Ford

And, finally, my compare and contrast review of four top eHow ebooks.

Happy reading and happy Read an Ebook Week!

My Thoughts on the Future of the Writer's Compensation Program at eHow

There has been a lot of speculation on the eHow forums and on message boards and blogs all over the internet about eHow's plans for the Writer's Compensation Program (WCP). I'd like to share my thoughts on the issue, but want to point out that I have absolutely no inside knowledge of the issue and no real beef with eHow. This is only my opinion based on a year and a half of active participation in the site.

First some background:

Basically, there are two kinds of writers on eHow, although some of us fall into both of these categories:

1. Writers who signed up for free accounts through eHow and participate in the WCP. These writers put up articles on topics of their choice and are paid exclusively through a revenue share arrangement with eHow. Articles written by these writers are identified as 'User-Submitted Article' under the author's name on the eHow website.
2. Writers who have applied and been approved to write for Demand Studios and are paid by them. Demand Studios writers write articles by choosing titles generated by Demand Studios and are paid either a flat fee or a revenue share, depending on the article. Articles written by these writers are identified as 'eHow Contributing Writer' under the author's name on the eHow site.

I have spent the bulk of my time writing as a WCP writer because I much prefer the experience over writing pre-selected titles and I think the revenue potential is greater. Having said that, I think it's clear that eHow is focusing on the Demand Studios writer and that the DS writer is the future of the site as is evidenced by:

• Providing a health insurance option for them.
• Creating a beta group of DS writers to be paid $80/article.
• Focus on the DS model in comments by Demand Media CEO Richard Rosenblatt.

Additionally, there just doesn't seem to be much attempt to keep the WCP writers happy. Communication with these writers is poor and the bugs on the site are almost enough to drive anyone away. It's not that I think they don't care, I just don't get the sense that the WCP is the focus or priority it once was.

Having said all that, I will still continue to write at eHow. Why? Well, the search engine results and article compensation are great. Additionally, if they do decide to discontinue the WCP, I have no idea when that will be so I keep writing until it happens. It may be far enough down the road that I have time to generate some nice earnings in the meantime. Finally, if they decide to discontinue the WCP there is always the chance that they will choose to 1. keep it open to existing writers or 2. grandfather in the WCP articles that exist on the site and continue to pay revenue share on them. In any of these cases, it is worth my while to continue writing at eHow.

The bottom line is that we just don't know what will happen with eHow and, frankly, that is the case with any site we choose to write for. We are always at the mercy of those who own the site. That doesn't make it an inherently bad situation; it's just something to always keep in mind.

It is worth noting that the eHow community managers have said there are no plans to discontinue the WCP. I believe that they believe that to be the case so I take them at their word. What I am saying is that it is obvious to me the WCP doesn't seem to be the focus of the site and that could result in the WCP experience continuing to get more frustrating and less rewarding. Everyone has to make their own cost/benefit analysis when it comes to writing at eHow or any site.

I will always be grateful to eHow for introducing me to revenue share writing. I've learned a ton from the community and by writing there. I had almost no knowledge of SEO or keywords or affiliate marketing before eHow and now I do. And I've met some amazing people there (both online and in person). It's almost like eHow is my 'first love' when it comes to writing and internet marketing. :-)

Whether or not you continue to write for eHow (and, as I said, I plan to continue) it is to your benefit to diversify by writing on other revenue sharing sites and maybe even creating some sites of your own. I'm having a ton of fun (and some good results) writing for Xomba and I plan to expand to other sites as well. It just makes good sense.

The good news is that you can leverage the writing you've done at eHow to help you on other sites. Write on the topics that have proven to be winners for you at eHow. Create backlinks to your eHow articles and earn a revenue share in the process. Re-write your eHow articles in other formats and you have ready-made content for other sites. There are lots of possibilities and you may find yourself re-energized like you felt when you first discovered eHow.

So that is my opinion for what it is worth. I would love to hear what your thoughts are on the issue.

February Update: eHow and Xomba Earnings

eHow Earnings

eHow earnings seem to be getting back on track. My February earnings were $183.59, a 15%+ increase over January. They still haven't rebounded back to my October high of $205 but I do feel we're moving in the right direction. As I like to point out every month, almost all of this was residual income as I only wrote five eHow article in Feburary.

Xomba Earnings

While eHow was having publishing issues in February, I began an experiment using Xomba to build a residual income stream while creating backlinks to my eHow articles. I posted my first Xomblurb (a link to an eHow article with a 50 word description) on February 18. Since that time I have posted approximately 90 more Xomblurbs linking to my eHow articles, which I estimate has taken me only a couple of hours to do because these 50 word blurbs are so easy to write.

Last Friday I told you my Xomba earnings stood at $4.35. Today they're at $5.99 so they continue to grow.  I love this for two reasons:

1. Like eHow, Xomba is another source of residual income and I've become very passionate about residual income.
2. The income I earn at Xomba is primarily a result of creating links to my eHow articles, so it is win/win.

I'd love to hear how your February turned out, both at eHow and at other online sites. I hope you'll take a moment to share.