Monday, December 29, 2008

A Tale of Three eHow Ebooks: Which One Is Right for You?


NOTE TO READERS: A fourth ebook review has been added at the bottom of this post.

In the sidebar of this blog you will find links to three ebooks about writing and making money with eHow. You will also find talk of these books on the eHow community forums, where all three authors are active.

So you may be wondering which of these ebooks is right for you?

First let me say that the reason I have all three books and link to them from my blog is because I have had the opportunity to meet all three authors and found them to be sincere people who are committed to making the most of eHow. I can also vouch for the fact that all three have earned significant income from their eHow articles.

I do realize, however, that it’s not possible for everyone to invest in all three ebooks. With that in mind I thought it might be helpful to write a compare and contrast ebook review so that readers might know which of these books would be the best fit for them.

How to eHow: The Ultimate Guide to Writing on eHow by Janet Ford

Length: 82 pages

Price:$27 $15

Summary: The titles promises an “ultimate” guide to writing on eHow and you can see from the number of pages that this book definitely delivers. With comprehensive sections on creating a profile, navigating eHow, and using the forums, etc. this is the ideal guide for beginners.

More experienced writers will be interested in the sections on brainstorming ideas and earning affiliate commissions with eHow articles.

What makes it stand out: Easily the most valuable part of this ebook is the section on article promotion. Twenty different methods of promotion are covered.

Moneyback Guarantee? Yes, within 60 days, no questions asked.



How to Earn Passive Income at eHow.com: Residual Income for Web Content Writers by WriterGig

Length: 34 pages

Price: $25

Summary: This ebook approaches eHow from a passive income potential perspective. While basics are touched on, this focus of this book is maximizing income. The author shares how eHow differs from traditional freelance writing and shares her passion for creating residual income

What makes it stand out: The section on eHow Income Potential paints a picture of what is possible with eHow. Information on specific writers’ earnings are included.

Moneyback Guarantee? Yes, after trying method for 30 days.



Need Extra Cash? Write Articles That Pay by Anthony Delgado

Length: 25 pages

Price: $19.99

Summary: This book is probably the least eHow-specific. Rather, it’s a primer on SEO (search engine optimization) which you can use to choose profitable eHow topics. If you’re an experienced eHow writer, you won’t have to wade through sections on choosing an avatar, etc. You’ll get right to the meat of choosing profitable keywords and using them in your articles.

What makes it stand out: Anthony includes a section on Finding the Balance Between Traffic and Revenue that takes the basic SEO information most experts offer and takes it a step further. The sections on titles and writing an article also worth a read.

Moneyback Guarantee? Yes, with conditions.


Writing Online: Making Money and Residual Income with Online Content by Annalise Kaylor

Length: 27 pages

Price: $25 (currently $15 with the discount code NEWYEAR)

Summary: Annalise is a web editor, SEO specialist, and freelance writer so she approaches this book with a wide array of experience. The book is geared toward those who want to make money writing for established sites (like eHow) that pay (or revenue share) for content. She also focuses on increasing earnings by maximizing content and affiliate marketing, etc .

What makes it stand out: The section on 'Websites That Pay You to Write for Them' is definitely unique to this book. There are also some techniques in the SEO and keyword sections that I hadn't seen before.

Moneyback guarantee? Yes, if your earnings don't increase in 30 days.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great job at giving a breakdown on each eHow ebook. I have yet to go through any of the books yet, but from what I hear they are quite resourceful.

-Rich
eHow, Community Manager

Julie @ Creating This Life said...

Thanks for the comment, Rich. I think all three are valuable books.

Anonymous said...

Julie, this is an awesome post on the three different books. It is true that all have a wealth to offer. I really want to see people do well on eHow so I will be putting a link to this post in my profile so that people can see the differences. Great job!

Julie @ Creating This Life said...

Anthony, I'm glad you liked the article. It's a little dicey writing reviews when you've actually met the authors but I wanted potential readers to have an idea of what each book offered.

Thanks for commenting!

Anonymous said...

I purchased WriterGig's ebook several days ago on the advice of another eHow member. I have to say I'm a little disappointed. I appreciate the advice on choosing keywords, but I didn't feel like the book was worth the money. I've been writing on eHow since November, and I'm an avid forum reader. Between reading eHow articles on how to manke money with the site and reading others' comments on the forums, I had already learned most of the information presented in WriterGig's book on my own. I wish I'd seen this blog post before I shelled out the $25.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for taking the time to do this comparison review, Julie. I also offer a free ehow tips newsletter that may also give people a feel for my writing and what types of ehow advice they can expect from me. (click my name)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the informative post! I've been struggling with which eBook to buy, but now I think I've got it narrowed down.

Unknown said...

You said, "you can see from the number of pages that this book definitely delivers".

You really can't say it delivers just because it has a lot of pages. I would be more inclined to think that it was a lot of fluff and filler when I saw that it had three times the content of the others if I knew nothing about any of them.

You read the book, so I would rather have specific examples of why it is the ultimate over the others.

Otherwise, nicely written. You hinted at just enough details in each to make me want to read them.

Julie @ Creating This Life said...

Good point, Macpug; the number of pages alone is not an indication of quality content. Let me take the time to make the point that, in this case, the number of pages is indicative of how well the author covers the subject.

How to eHow covers all aspects of writing for eHow, from the beginner stuff to more advanced topics like choosing profitable topics and adding affiliate links to articles.

In my opinion, I would agree with the author's claim that it is the 'ulitmate' guide to eHow.

Thanks for your comment!

Anonymous said...

I wish I read this post before I made a purchase. I would have spent my money on Janet's book instead. I bought writer gig's and at 20-some pages, it was basically $1 a page. That would have been alright if the last 5 or so pages were information and not screenshots of her ehow earnings. The book offered good information but I think she didn't have enough meat to offer as an ebook. One or two ehow articles would have covered all the information in the book. She did include a free report about affliate programs as a bonus and obviously to compensate for an inadequate ehow ebook. Somehow, even with the freebie, I don't feel consoled. I still feel kind of cheated. Writergig has a reputation as one of ehow's high earners that's why she sells lots of her books but she definitely did not share enough in her ehow ebook. I am sorry, but after reading it, I don't think I'll buy it again for even 5 bucks. Just keeping it real.

Gayle said...

I also have all three books and really believe they all write about different aspects of ehow. Excellent summaries of all three books, Julie! I think we really need the info of all three ehow books! It just depends on what aspect of ehowing one needs to improve!

Anonymous said...

Great post Julie. I was getting ready to buy all three and do something similar. I will definitely try to remember to put this article on my twitwall.

My feeling is that with each there is money back guarantee. The way I work things start with the least expensive and work my way up! LOL

Seriously like you, I am impressed with each author for different reasons and they all have something to offer when reading their articles. The main reason I would buy a book is to save printing out and gathering information. Sometimes it is nice to have things all together, in a well laid out format. I have no doubt that Janet and ANthony and WG all have things laid out well. :) THEY ROCK.

I am trying not to play favorites because they are special friends, that have helped me a lot. :)

I am linking to my twitwall
http://twitwall.com/view/?who=alrady40
so that if you remind me I'll do a blurb on this great blog!

A!

Anonymous said...

Great blog post! I just wanted to step in and defend WriterGig's book real quick.
It was the first I bought, and I also bought Janet's. I don't want my money back for WriterGig's because didn't do any stuffing or fluffing. I felt that she gave a completely honest picture of just what to do (step by step) with links to valuable resources.

I felt like Janet's book told me too much, would have been much better if I was an absolute beginner, and tending to just show off a huge number of items which no writer can work with each. I also found some of the advice unrealistic or at least very hard to follow.

The vision in WriterGig's book, however, was inspiring for me and helps me further my passion for residual income with not just eHow but many other sites as well.

I respect the opinions others have, but I just wanted mine to be heard as well.

Miragi said...

What a great thing...for those who haven't already chosen to purchase one of these books. I did buy WriterGig's version, and as laine mentioned, there was a disappointing amount of screenshots, which did make me feel kind of peeved. I didn't pay for screenshots of someone else's account, I wanted information.

Now I'm leery of buying anything more on the subject, and just intend to continue reading forums, and learning from others without a book. As many stated, I wish I had read this before making a decision on which book to purchase. Thanks for the very informative post!

Anonymous said...

Re: WriterGig's screenshots,

While I personally didn't need to see them (I am more about words that visual elements), I thought they would be helpful, informative proof to many aspiring eHow writers.

I didn't pay $25, either. I paid $19.97.

I happen to feel sort of ripped on price whenever I buy just about any eBook, so this didn't factor much in either.

If you do decide to buy an eBook for eHow, good luck. Different ones work for different folks.

Julie @ Creating This Life said...

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Clearly, different people have different experiences. Fortunately, since each book has a money back guarantee of some sort its not a risk to check one out and see if its for you. I haven't asked for a refund for any of these books, but I have for other ebooks, and my money was refunded.

I guess if I had to sum it up, it would be like this:

If you're looking for a nuts and bolts book about all that eHow has to offer and how to make it work for you I recommend Janet's How to eHow book.

If you're looking for inspiration about what is possible with passive or residual income, with concrete examples, I recommend WriterGig's book.

If you're looking for some really solid info about Search Engine Optimization that you can apply to your eHow articles, I recommend Anthony's book.

If you get even one solid tip that you can employ from a book, you can probably recoup the cost of that book in pretty short order.

Again, thanks everyone for your comments. I welcome them and I'm sure the ebook authors do too.

Optoelectronic Center said...

I hadn't considered how significant the eHow community could be. Since reading this great guide, I've been able to start using my own eHow account more effectively. Thanks to the author!!!

Optoelectronic Center said...

I'm sold on eHow after reading "How to Write for eHow" by Janet Ford! I haven't participated in the eHow community before but after reading Janet's book, I don't know why I haven't. Thanks Janet

mommierose said...

Thanks for the info. Very informative. It reaffirmed my choice as to which author to get an ebook from.

Eboni said...

Thank you for posting the link to these books. It was exactly what I wanted to know. I am disappointed though that Anthony's book, the very one I need, is not at Amazon. However, I do understand the reason why.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to leave a quick comment about Writergig's ebook. I got her book before I wrote any articles and was very impressed so I decided to give it a try. Her book is very concise and easy to understand; I really liked that I did not have to read through pages and pages of material to learn her techniques. Writergig does a great job outlining her techniques and strategies for writing money earning articles. She gives great advice on how to choose and use key words effectively and explains SEO. I found the screen shots of her earnings very helpful. It really showed that her method does work and what kind of earnings are possible with hard work and quality articles. I found her book to be very well written and professionally done. I really do not like to write (which is why I am an accountant) but her book gave me the tools to easily write money making articles. I plan on slowly adding more articles as time allows and following her example of building up a residual income. I am pretty sure Writergig has the highest earnings on eHow so I am glad I was able to start out using her advice. I hope this helps!

Lauriehomebusiness said...

I have WriterGig's and Janet Ford's ebooks already. I can't wait to give that fourth ebook a try. I don't have Anthony's though but later on will get it.
I am still in the process of wanting to make money first and making more than what I am currently getting right now.
If you can, check out my blog at http://freelancemomjourney.blogspot.com Let me know what you think.

Anonymous said...

Great review. Thank you :) I read and enjoyed WriterGig's ebook. It was very encouraging and led to me finally giving eHow a try. I am trying to decide if I need Julie's book as well, or if I should wait for the new one coming out. This was a big encouragement to not wait. We shall see :)

makeithappen said...

wow What a useful blog post, even the comments are helpful. Thanks for breaking it all up and saving me a dime.

ratedKG said...

An informative blog post indeed!

I've recently visited http://www.words2riches.com. I decided to buy a copy and I'm happy because it's a great decision

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