How to Create Hubs on HubPages & Make Money... Really

Observations from a New Hubber:

A HUBPAGES CRASH COURSE:

"Can You Really Make Money on HubPages..?"

ANSWER: 100% Yes!

"Is HubPages some kind of Scam..?"

ANSWER: 100% No!

I admit, I had my doubt a quick year ago when I stumbled upon this glorious realm we call 'HubPages'.

"What is this..." I Exclaimed!

I've wanted to find a way to get back into writing in my free time, find a way to share my travels, life experiences, photos and videos of my journeys, and simply find a way to let my mind wander as I opened my creative spirit.

Making money online is just an added benefit here at HubPages.

And today, with shy over 130 hubs while approaching my 12th month, I've jumped right in and began experimenting with the world of HubPages...

I'm hooked for sure... I'm seeing it..!

There is actual money showing up in my account, and not some hopeless online revenue stream opportunity, but real money - and it's connected to the internet's safest transfer of money, Paypal!

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"Yeah, but I bet it has Ridiculous Payout Schedules"

ANSWER: Nope!

Every time your account reaches $50 or more in any given month (not super hard to do either), HubPages does an automatic transfer to your Paypal account on a monthly payout schedule and then you'll have physical access to your hard earned cash...

"Hard Earned... I'm sure..!"

ANSWER: Well Yes & No.

I'm not one to try and turn this into my daily job or spend hours trying to find a way to get all kinds of traffic, I simply don't have the time. For me, as a newbie, I find it hard to draw traffic, but I'm willing to give this thing time to find out.

Right Now, I'm a independent Field Producer & Reporter for a major TV Network and Online Collaborative Sports Resource, so I was just looking for a way to build some secondary Passive Income Online by writing about: What I wanted to, When I wanted to - and HubPages has allowed the opportunity.

And Who's to Say..?

The Hubs that have spent the most time on, gathered extensive research, displayed my own photos and videos; the ones I've been most proud of - they are my least performing, while other hubs - the ones I have chosen to write about off-beat topics or neo popular current interests - they are my best performing... I'm still learning what the people want.

"What do you want People..?"

For example, I LOVE this Low Traffic Hub --> Wild Donkey of Iron Mountain Pass

The irony and tactics of getting traffic may never be understood, but as long as I keep writing, keep building new Hubs, and give these articles time to ferment, I'll begin to see my online income increase week by week.

Listening to other HubPages members, I've learned that some hubbers haven't seen some pages perform well until well into their second year.

"So it is Hard Earned..?"

Well, Hard Earned in the fact that you have to put in some time creating solid articles that people will want to visit. Then keep at it until you have a number of successful campaigns. LISTEN: You could publish hundreds of hubs before you see an effect - or you could publish one good one and it could take right away.

That, my friend, is up to you..!

Mostly, Not so Hard Earned because once you got this ball rollin', it may never stop, and as long as our friend Google keeps internet searchers, groups & forums, and relevant search traffic keep coming our way, then your good Hubs will make you money every single day.

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TIME & DILIGENCE, it seems, Is the ANSWER:

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http://hubpages.com/_WelcomeFriend

OK - so this is my own personal view on the whole HP revenue from my account's standing.

(Repeat - these are My own observations, but I wanted share it for those who want in on this 'one of a kind opportunity' for 'Real' writer's to unite - Go Writers...)

Although I'm not able to share the actual numbers with you (I don't want to take any chances of risking this golden egg experience by disclosing the actuals), I can give you an idea of how much traffic brings in a buck here on HubPages.com.

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MY HUBPAGES RULE of THUMB:

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This works for me:

---> Every 400 views (between all Hubs in your account) = $1 US

400:1 ----> Ratio: ----> Views:$

For me, this has kind of been a Rule of Thumb I've been using so I can get an idea of what I need to attract and continue working on developing one-of-a-kind hubs that draw social interest or pertain to a popular high traffic topic.

"Whoa!" I can hear you thinking out loud Right Now!

"I already have 400 people I can send an email to," you say. "Plus with my savvy social media skills, I can get a whole bunch of traffic my way - sweet!" and then you get all excited like I did.

Imagine, if you could make Just $1 a day with only 400 views. By Golly, after a year and $365 days of HubPages working for you, (of course after all your hard work up front) you've got a great head start on your Holiday Shopping Season.

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Stay True to Yourself:

Branch out and explore, but at the same time, Never lose interest in what brought you here in the first place, to write about the topics YOU are passionate about.

Trust me, others are to...

You'll see many Hubs on Pets, those are great reads. Many more authors write about travel and their experiences in far off places. This is one of my favorite topics. While others share humor & jokes, relationship & health advice, entertainment, politics & religion, and pretty much everything else under the sun - and then a little more under that...

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The HubPages Community... This, in the end, is really what kept me here.

I've given other Online Revenue Sharing sites an opportunity, but they were Cold! Here at HubPages, it is a bunch of 'Real People' like 'You & Me'.

I was excited about this...

There was Actual and Immediate response. I would write a question - a few hubbers would pounce on it. Some would even write their own Hub on the idea. I would write a new Hub and then I'd get some great comments by community members and HubPages Staff.

Thanks for those by the way, that's another major reason to keep writing, to realize that others really take time and become a part of your online article and take something away from your own personal experience...

"Oh, and here's a few cents in the meantime - Go get yourself a cup of Coffee..."

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The HubPages Contests and Challenges are an excellent way to not only improve your online writing, but practice and master the successful creation of an attractive hub, and most importantly, publish another new online article that can receive traffic, in turn earning you revenue - Bonus!

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Recently, a Photo Contest allowed me to share and write about some of my own favorite photos and places I've visited. I entered a number of new Hub into the recent 'Patron of the Arts' contest that ran for almost a month.

My hubs and photos were received very well here, and to know I was not only teaching others about new and exciting places of the world around us, I was earning a few pennies on the dollar at the same time.

Plus HubPages gives Cash Awards for winners of these Contest categories. Prizes vary from the intriguingly random $50 Daily Prizes, up to $500 Grand Prizes for winning your selected category in a particular HP contest.

Makes yet another reason to whip out your thinkin' cap and throw down some choice content in your next great Hub.

(Now, I personally haven't taken home the trophy for any of these competitions, but I know a few hubbers who have and someday we'll bring home the gold..!)

http://hubpages.com/_WelcomeFriend

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"Oh, Let me count the ways..."

Not only are you now the online guru of great things, you can generate revenue with HubPages from a variety of avenues. Hub Page Views, Adsense Ad Clicks, Amazon Sales, Ebay Sales, and the best ever HubPages Earning Program!

"Ahh Diggity..!"

HUBPAGE VIEWS:

Like the previously mentioned ability to simply generate revenue by folks like 'You and Me' visiting Hubs, Google is our friend, and with some creative and effectively well written titles on your HubPages, you'll be popping up pretty high in the search engines.

Use AdWord Keyword Tool to help make great Titles for your Hubs.

For me, it's been the 'ole 400:1 ratio thingamajig. That means I'm making ($1) a buck for every 400 visits (on average) throughout all my Hubs. These page views are combined with the HubPages Earnings Program - The secret recipe to online success.

ADSENSE AD CLICKS:

Many Revenue Sharing Sites are in cohorts with Adsense.

If you don't have yourself an Adsense account yet, get one. It's also one of the requirements, (Right Now) for making money with your HubPages Earnings Program that feeds directly into your Paypal account.

Every time a unique visitor clicks on one of the well placed adsense ads specifically tailored to the content of your hub, then you will see your Adsense account make some money as well. HubPages bonus again!

* Do Not Click on Your Own Ads and Do Not ask Others to Click On them *

AMAZON.com CAPSULE SALES:

Only two states can't be involved in the Amazon partnership, I live in one of them.... - Arggh! For the other 48 states and regions that can, here's a chance to get some 'commission money' in a sense. By directing buyers to items selling on Amazon.com that pertain to your Hub, or anything you choose, you can make some extra cash.

I hear of some hubbers are doing pretty well with these.

EBAY.com CAPSULE SALES:

Also included in the partner 'buy me' capsules are 'Ebay' items being currently auctioned. Here you can choose to show similar products as the topics of your hub, or choose specific items through item #i.d. or specific sellers store name fronts.

Additionally, you can sell items of your own that you have listed on your Ebay account, providing yet another stream of traffic to both Ebay and HubPages.

Now, you're looking smart..!

HUBPAGES EARNINGS PROGRAM:

Oh Adsense Beware..!

This, along with your visitor view count, is where you'll see the numbers show up in your account. Good enough already you're getting some small cash flow by people wanting to read your stuff in the first place, but now if they click on any of the attractive well placed HubPages Partner ads, you'll also begin to see a larger payout in your monthly balance.

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So you've got these great photos and videos and you want to show them off. You've tried YouTube, and Yes that is great, no knockin' YouTube, but you want something a little more.

HubPages to the Rescue!

PHOTOS: -----------------------------

For some, they're looking for a way to Sell Photos Online. I've tried, it's hard. The rejects, it's time consuming, and unrewarding.

Here, at HubPages, even a simple view of that photo has the potential of generating income. Write a story about it, and it has a greater chance. Add some maps, capsules, links, and more, and you're on you're way to Online Photography Success!

VIDEO: ---------------------------------

Video is a hit and there are a few ways to add videos to create a dynamic experience.

HubPages new Video capsule modules are combined with greater advertising opportunities. You can start off immediately with a video designed hub, uploading your videos directly to HubPages where they remain safe and warm.

Or you can add yours or your favorite videos in a Hub Pages Video Capsule with links from YouTube or Vimeo that shows up right in your Hub as a video player window with options.

Sweet!

Here's an example of a Cat & Dog that live together and love each other in this funny pet Video.

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One of the Great thing about creating a eye-catching hub page design is the ability to display a video in a smaller format so it can fit along the column of your page.

In the video to the right, you'll see a me jump my 1985 Jeep CJ7 outside of Miracle Rock, Colorado on an outdoor adventure of a lifetime. Plus, of course you can read more about this Jeep experience on HubPages as well.

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Using your Video & Photos hub effectively can lengthen the duration of your visitors on your page. Google seems to really like this and rewards you with higher placement in online searches.

The more visitors you're gettin', the more money you're gettin' (if I've done my math correctly)

Chance Buell Jumps Jeep

Take a group of photos and save some space by making them into clickable, Full-Sized thumbnail photos that can show off your favorites...

People want to test their knowledge from the privacy of their computers - they also want to see if what they think compares or differs to what others are thinking.

That's why these HubPages Quizzes and Polls are perfect.

POLLS:

For real stats, the HubPages Polls are perfect for gathering opinions and general consensus. Use your polls to see how people rate topics like entertainment, books, or video games on a scale of 1 to 10, rate a movie you wrote a review about, get opinion on the latest political poll, grab votes on people's favorite type of dog, or poll anyone about anything you want.

You also have the option to display the results of your Poll as a Colored Bar Graph or Pie Chart, depending on what you think is best.

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QUIZZES:

With a self created Quiz, you can ask as little or as many questions as you want. You can choose to have only one correct answer, or a variety of answers to see where people fit, or choose to display the answers to be worth a certain number of points, maybe to see where someone falls in on a scale.

(It'll all make more sense once you start fooling around with them in your own Hubs).

All these quizzes stats are recorded so you, and visitors after they have taken the quiz, can see the percentage average of the test results.

Then - This is cool - Visitors can grab the embedded code of these 'widgets' and use them on any site they want, thus driving MORE google traffic back toward your Hub page.

That's the great thing about HubPages...

Your world is your own.

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At First, write about the things that come to your mind. Create a new Hub of things you are passionate about or have a little know how. Y'know, how to clean clothes, how to take care of your dog, where to eat, places to stay - these are all great topics.

Share your personal experiences, your beliefs, your peeves, your desires. Show us your pictures and your videos.

I started out by writing about my own personal interests. I had a lot of pictures of my travels and adventures over the last few years and I found HubPages as a great way to perpetuate my memories. I started with writing some travel hubs. Then I tried humor and jokes. I continued with a couple how to's, cooking recipes, and dog parks and funny pet videos.

Experimenting, I found a topic I have never written about that did well for me. I decided to write of another love of mine, video games...

How 'bout that, I was getting more traffic in these current topic hubs than I was in my heart warmed travelogue hubs. Hmmmm? People really like MW3.

So now, I try to write about a variety of topics: Photography in the Mountains, indoor Skydiving, Modern Warfare 3, Tebows for Christmas, Star Wars, Poems, and more.

Not only is this helping build my Hub count up, but it keeps me actively writing in the pursuit of improving... Someday it'll catch.

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A long, Full Bodied hub is hard to read, just like that blonde across the way...

Seriously... Readers are easily drawn to short, concise breaks of thought. Use your hub space wisely and take advantage of the capsules and layouts they have to offer. With very 'User Friendly' features, creating a HubPage is really easy.

Simply arrange your fields by clicking the up, down, left or right on the arrows, and your entire section will move. Be it a photo, a video, poll, quiz, map, or any other number of HP capsules. Organizing a HubPage will be part of the fun.

At first, these options may be foreign and you may find yourself clumsy at the helm, but that quickly evolves into a savvy understanding that'll turn on the creative juices. Take a look around HubPages.com at some of the purely unique and creative Hub layouts a lot of the author's are using.

Kudos to you all..!

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Backlink, Backlink, Backlink...!

"Geeze... O.K. I hear ya..!"

So what they're saying here is you can grab yourself some free visits by backlinking, A.K.A, linking your text to some other revenue sharing pages that you've already created.

In this case (see below), the highlighted links are information on my other Hubs so if a reader finds interest in a particular words or topics, they'll click on that link which will essentially send them to another of your Hub Pages and You'll chalk up another visit.

So whether I'm writing about a Haunted Bridge in Colorado, the Best Pizza in Las Vegas, some awesome Rodeo Crashes and spills at the Cheyenne Frontier Days, a Modern warfare 3 Quiz for the gamers, Star Wars Parody Art for the Jedis, or fake reporting funny stuff about Squirrels, I'll be able to get an extra click or two.

Maybe I'm out capturing amazing images from the Roads of the western US, checking out the Fall Foliage in the Rocky Mountains, or cooking up a Asian Salad Dressing recipe just like Benihana. Any kind of way, I know I've got my readers covered.

Then, the more people that enjoy your efforts on HubPages will help gain you followers and loyal readers of your content...

Thanks... Peoples... :)

Readers want to see where they are learning about. When it's relevant to adding even more in-depth information to your already well written Hub, then use a Map.

These maps are Google based and are completely interactive. Readers can Pan, Zoom, and get more info on their own. Plus, it gives your Hub a well polished feel.

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For example, if I was sharing about the HubPage I wrote about my afternoon of watching Planes land behind Denver International Airport, then I may show the map of DIA and the vicinity of where these photos were taken.

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Or if I was sharing about one of the most beautiful lakes in america, Sylvan Lake, hidden in the Black Hills of South Dakota, I might include a map of this area which readers could also discover new places like Mount Rushmore or Crazy Horse Memorial, both of which would be a shame if you missed seeing these great places in your life!

Hey, if people like what they just read, or you want to include links to more of your Hubs you've written, or links to outside web pages, this is the place to do it.

Here, your readers can get More from their HubPages experience, and either click on over to some of your greatest pages, your friends pages, or relevant sites that give your visitors the complete experience...

Go You..!

http://hubpages.com/_WelcomeFriend

Please let us know if you do join - we'd Love to Read your Articles and help increase your Traffic!

Ask your readers to Vote you up or add some Fan Mail. Encourage them to leave comments below. Let them know you will be responsive and comment back.

Ask them to share with their friends. Shout out a "Follow would be nice..!"

Then read what great comments and response you get from this dynamic HubPages community that has slipped into my life less than a year ago.

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Thank you for your comments and your Follows! You guys Rock!

I don't care what Simone said about you, I think you're All Right..!

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