Tuesday, April 6, 2010

eHow Pulls the Plug on the WCP


In my previous post, I included the dramatic announcement by eHow to end the WCP (Writer Compensation Program). After perusing many different writer forums, I've gotten a nice overview of what these changes mean.

Future eHow Articles

All future eHow articles will now be written by Demand Studio writers. This means that each article must go through an editorial process before being published on the site. Writers can opt for revenue share on these articles like they had at eHow, or they can take advantage of the flat fee payment of $15.

A good lot of eHow writers were automatically selected to become writers at DS. Others received emails informing them they would need to apply separately with DS to continue to write for eHow. Those that were automatically selected will only be able to write How-to's on DS. If a writer already had a DS account and was selected to continue writing there at the close of the WCP, they will have two separate DS accounts.

Current eHow Articles

Articles published under the WCP will remain on eHow, and they will continue to earn as they have in the past. Writers will still be able to edit their articles as well as access their eHow profiles as usual. They will not, however, be able to write new articles. It is worth noting that the current eHow articles are not immune to a future sweep.

What This Means for DS Writers

Those who write for DS have expressed mixed feelings about the eHow merger. Some are afraid it will slow down the editorial process while others are concerned about the availability of titles now that there is an influx of new writers. However, since the eHow writers automatically accepted at DS will only have access to how-to's, this is not likely to be much of a problem since there are many different formats such as About, List, Strategy and so forth.

What This Means for eHow Writers

For those eHow writers automatically selected to write how-to's at DS, there are many changes. Unless already writing for DS, eHow writers are likely to be shocked at the editorial process when they are used to instant publishing. They might not be able to meet the high standards that is expected of writers at DS. I've found that writing a DS how-to and an eHow how-to are completely different in terms of time spent researching, editing and adhering to style. Good references and resources are required, which can take a bit more time as well.

What This Means for eHow and Demand Studios

The decision to merge eHow and Demand Studios will have lasting implications on eHow as well as Demand Studios. For eHow, it's a good thing since the site will have less spammy and poorly written articles. For Demand Studios, only time will tell if this is a good step for them.

The Importance of Diversification

If there is anything a writer should learn from this event, it's the importance of diversification. Whether or not you wrote for eHow or Demand Studios, never put all your eggs in one basket be it a client or a website. Diversify your income streams with the anticipation that something like this may happen to one or more income source.

Since just about 50% of my residual income is from eHow, I will now have to branch out and try other forms of passive income. I was already contemplating doing this before the end of the WCP which just confirms it was a good hunch.

What are your thoughts on the end of the WCP? Will you continue to write for eHow through DS? What steps are you taking to diversify your writing income?

Monday, April 5, 2010

The end of eHow?

Just minutes ago, I received a pop-up message from eHow alerting me that eHow has now closed their Writer Compensation Program.

Demand Studios is now the exclusive platform for writing new articles for eHow.com

EFFECTIVE AS OF APRIL 5, 2010, THE WCP WILL BE CLOSED TO NEW PARTICIPANTS. Articles which were previously submitted under the WCP prior to April 5, 2010 will continue to be governed by the supplemental WCP terms available here.

Effective as of April 5, 2010, all users who desire to submit articles for syndication through eHow.com must join Demand Media's content creation platform, Demand Studios, including users who formerly participated in the WCP. As part of the application process, you will need to review and agree to a Contributors Agreement which will set forth the terms (including payment options) that apply to any contributions that you submit to Demand Studios.

You agree that from time to time we may, at our sole discretion, modify, suspend, add to, remove or discontinue all or any portion of the WCP or the Supplemental Terms, and that we will not be liable to you or to any third party for doing so.


Big changes are underway over at eHow. Stay tuned for more updates!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

March Earnings Update

March certainly was an eventful month. Not only did we move, but we moved twice. After discovering a major problem in the original apartment we moved into, we became nomads for 4 days, living at the Holiday Inn. Thankfully, everything was resolved and we managed to find another apartment fairly quickly. However, it was very stressful, and I'm just glad it's all over.

As a result of all this, I didn't write much. Here are the stats!

Suite 101 - I wrote a total of 6 new articles at Suite in March. I am finally getting my 10% bonus! It feels so good to reach this milestone, and it just gives me more momentum to continue writing. I earned $21.18 for the month of March, which was less than I was expecting, but not all of my articles were SEO friendly in the rush to get to 50.

eHow- I wrote 4 new articles at eHow in March. I also resubmitted all of my articles to google, since someone had mentioned they might have had trouble during the UK fiasco. I'm so glad I did, since I saw a tremendous increase in earnings! I earned $14.74 for the month of March, which is my highest since November. Another thing I did was delete articles that were duds.

Google Adsense- After killing my oldest blog, I was unsure how my adsense earnings would turn out this month. I was pleasantly surprised when my earnings totaled $5.04! I didn't work on promoting my blogs at all in March, so I am pleased with it. Still pretty far away from payout though!

Total March earnings: $40.96

April Goals:

-Write 8 articles for Demand Studios (for extra baby savings)

-Write 5 eHow articles

-Write 10 Suite 101 articles

-set up home office!

I'll be working on decorating our new apartment, but I should be able to meet these goals pretty easily. I'm also in my third trimester of pregnancy, so planning for the baby will keep my busy too!

How did you do in March? Did you see an increase or decrease in earnings? Did you meet your goals?

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