Since I am already approved as a Demand Studios (DS) writer, I can continue to add eHow articles with a revenue share payment through DS. Other eHow writers will have to apply for the ability to do that. I don't know at this time if that is something I will do with any regularity.For me it will depend on the following:
- What is the publishing experience like at DS, especially as it relates to copy editors and having articles approved?
- Is the DS revenue share payment algorithm as lucrative as the WCP has been? (On the forums, Julie the Community Manager, assured me that the DS algorithm was based on the WCP one, but I'm not sure exactly what that means.)
- I won't be removing my current articles that are up at eHow, as others have suggested they are doing. In fact, I'll continue to drive traffic to them in an effort to keep their earnings rising.
- I'm especially glad that I undertook the Xomba experiment as it helped me with the point listed above and also gave me some experience writing extensively for a new platform. (Here's a quick update: my Xomba earnings now stand at $16+ plus, primarily from creating bookmarks to my eHow articles.)
- I will continue to explore other methods of building residual income, like the Mr. Rebates passive income stream I posted about earlier today.
19 comments:
I agree that this is not suprising but somehow I just assumed it wouldn't happen.
I feel kind of like you; I'm not sure I'll write much for DS but will probably continue to backlink current articles at eHow from Xomba, InfoBarrel, and other online properties.
I really don't like the non-ownership model of the articles submitted to DS. The only reason I've submitted articles without retaining ownership is when I get a dofollow backlink out of it. This of course will not occur with DS. We'll see if the revenue is worth it.
I really expect InfoBarrel to continue to be the next best place to publish at though.
...ohh yeah, too bad about your blog title now. :/
LOL Brian. It's okay. I think there will still be people interested in writing for eHow. I have some other blog ideas working too.
I received the email today from eHow advising that I have been automatically accepted as a DS writer. I'll continue to follow your blog and others before I make my decision to write there.
I sorta felt like this was coming as well. With the whole UK fiasco and other publishing issues, it makes sense for eHow as a business to take this step. I am already a writer at DS, and I don't have too many complaints. The only issue I have with writing there is not being able to choose your own titles and messing with picky copy-editors.
I saw Julie post in response to your question that earnings are on the same Algorithm. Later she said it was actually a different calculation. Than Lex said it was different but the same or better. Your guess is as good as mine, but my guess is it is different.
I'm with Brian - no backlinks on the new model sucks. Add in crappy pay, widely reported to be worse earnings on residual income articles. There are other options out there.
You'll need to retitle your blog now. RIP eHow.
Hey,
You will still be able to pick your own titles at Demand Studios. Those will be straight revshare pieces, and will work exactly like other eHow articles do today.
The rev share algorithm is the same with both systems.
We certainly hope you'll keep on writing with DS. The changes announced today are entirely focused on continuing to improve the overall quality on the site, and we certainly would love for you to be a part of that.
So what's the deal, will we be able to backlink future eHow articles we write under the old system, or not? Jade Dragon says no, and then Lex didn't answer the question?
I was accepted today under the new system; I'll continue to write. If I make more $$ great, if not, I'll wait until I go elsewhere. Thanks for this blog! Joyce
Joyce, I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you mean will we be able to create backlinks to our new, DS articles? I don't see why not.
Lex, Thanks for the comment and for clarifying a couple of points. Writers can only make good decisions about how they want to proceed if they have accurate information.
Julie -- Thanks, you answered my question about creating backlinks. Sorry my last comment was confusing -- I should know better than to write after taking all my bedtime meds! Joyce
Yep, I have received 2 emails regarding the change with eHow and Demand Studios and a third one sweeping my articles.
I hate the inconsistancies and hope I can find another great way to generate passive income by writing.
It might be time to look at another serious contender.
I haven't quite decided yet what I'm going to do. I'd already been doing a little writing on Xomba and Infobarrel, but eHow had been my focus, although I only had about 40 articles when the change hit.
I'll probably take a bit of a 'watch and see' attitude. Maybe write some through the DS system to see how it works for me and what it earns.
As with Moon, I received an email that one additional article of mine was being removed that had originally been marked as SPAM. I guess I wonder why it took them this long to remove it (over 3 months). It just leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.
I'm holding my breath to see if I get any articles taken down. You kind of have to question the wisdom of taking away the WCP and doing a mini article sweep at the same time. More wait and see I guess.
I will give it a try too, but I had already started venturing out to other arenas. I had a thread in the forums with a poll on which site others preferred and Suite 101 and Examiner came up high on the list.
I am trying to learn the new writing style before putting anything at Demand.
Brian, are you saying we can't backlink to our DS articles? I don't like that idea~
Hi, just read your post about eHow... I figured something was up, even with all of their protesting, him hawing, ect... I am disappointed and feel a little used! lol I guess I will have to look into Demand and apply. That was one good thing about eHow, you didn't have to apply! I am a scientist by trade and the style of writing is so different!
Here's an article about Demand Studios "dark side."
http://hubpages.com/hub/Demand-Studios-4-Reasons-Why-It-Sucks
The truth of the Rev Share program through Demand Studios is very grim.
The CEs are not trained in CEO style writing and delete the majority of traffic driving keywords. They also import their own take on the topic and typically it is damning for the article. They have no dog in the fight so to speak and therefore could care less that they are killing any possible residual income for the writer.
Some Rev share writers for Demand report earning as much as $10 a year off of articles submitted. Most report earning less than a dollar.
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