Changes at eHow: the WCP and Demand Studios

By now you are probably aware of the changes taking place at eHow as it relates to the Writers Compensation Program and Demand Studios. If not, you can get up to date by reading this blog entry. As I expressed in my thoughts on the future of the WCP program, I'm not surprised at these developments. And as I speculated in that post, they are grandfathering in the articles that already exist on eHow as part of the WCP. We will continue to receive revenue share payments on them as we always have; we just can't add any more except through Demand Studios.

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:

1. What is the publishing experience like at DS, especially as it relates to copy editors and having articles approved?
2. 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.)

As Oprah would say, here is what I know for sure:

• 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.

What are your thoughts on what is going down at eHow? What are you plans for moving forward?

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.

Using the eHow Widget

I'm not going to lie. I'm in love with the eHow widget. It's such a professional way for us to feature up to five of our eHow articles. In fact, someone on the eHow forums said she started a blog just so she could use the widget. How cool is that?

So which five articles should a writer feature? In my opinion, you should go one of two directions:

1. Feature articles that have been performing well for you. Play to your strengths. Don't try to prop up articles that aren't doing well; help the high performers do even better!

2. Feature new articles. Help your new articles get views (and hopefully earnings) by getting them seen in the widget.

This is also a good time to mention that when at all possible, use a photo with your article. That widget looks so much better (and clickable) with those photos featured along with the articles.

eHow Article Widget is Live!

See that cool eHow list of five of my articles below and in the sidebar of this blog? That's the new eHow widget and any eHow author can get on to put on their blog or other sites.

The eHow artaicle widget features the five featured articles that each eHow author can choose from their list of articles.

To get yours go to your eHow profile and look on the left sidebar. There you'll see 'Custom Widget' and you can grab yours and start promoting your eHow articles today.


How to Videos & Articles: eHow.com

November eHow Earnings Update

I was excited to finally break the $100 ceiling on eHow this month. My eHow income increased almost 33% to $101.26.

I added 15 ehow articles for a total of 142.

My total earned at eHow to date is $320.62.

It's been a rocky week at eHow with all the site changes coming right before the Thanksgiving holiday. It seems to be settling down, however, and the bugs are getting ironed out.

Big Site Changes Underway at eHow

Yesterday eHow began rolling out some new and exciting changes to the site. Perhaps one of this biggest changes is the addition of eHow Groups, which will allow more social networking within the site.

The site is a little (understandably) buggy right now while the changes are being implemented but that situation seems to be improving rapidly.

A great way to keep up with all that is going on at eHow is with the new eHow Blog. The blog even includes a video which will give you a peek at the eHow offices.