Project 1432

Making Time for Revenue Share

2011-01-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

I'm as guilty as anyone else when it comes to putting off revenue share work and paying more attention to upfront fee work. It's hard to make long-term wealth a priority over immediate income. So how can we change our frame of mind and start putting that long-term money as more of a priority?

We have to start seeing that it is possible. Are we ever going to hit our goals? Will I actually be able to make $1,432 per month (The goal of this blog). I know it is possible! But it's not going to happen by magic. I have to set aside the time to write in this genre. I have to do the research on SEO and incorporate my keywords into my writing. If I don't do the work I will never hit my goal.

So how have I done this last year?

Mediocre, is probably the best word to describe my progress. Here's a simple breakdown of my earnings to date with this project:

Updated Numbers! 01/12/2012

2009 Ending Totals- $2.25

2010 Ending Totals - $116.33

Currently I only have 28 active revenue share articles.

So it's now 2011 and my big goals for completing 5 revenue share articles each week are again going by the wayside. Now I have to make a plan. You can make your plan too. It's only a few days into 2011 so we have the whole year to make progress on these goals.

Step 1

Make a list of articles you want to write. 100 titles is a good first start. Use your SEO knowledge to choose your titles. I own "Search Engine Optimization in One Hour a Day". I like how it makes the SEO concepts easy to understand. But I really love the idea of spending minimal time working on SEO.

Step 2

Set your daily or weekly Revenue Share writing goal. Do you want to write one article per day? Keep your goal reasonable and in line with how much other writing you are doing each day.

Step 3

Write one revenue share article right now. Don't wait! Do it now. Get yourself ready for a great year of revenue share writing!

Step 4

Keep track of your progress. I'm printing my article list out so I can draw a satisfying line through each article as I finish them. Do what works for you to stay motivated this year.

Step 5

Find your carrot! What can you dangle in front of yourself to keep you motivated to write your revenue share articles? Obviously the long-term passive income is important, but for many of us that is not going to be the best motivator. We need a more immediate reward that we can work towards each week or month.

Good luck everyone on your year of revenue share writing and building your passive income to fit all your hopes and dreams!

Search Engine Optimization

2010-12-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

We hear about search engine optimization often when writing for online clients. Use keywords, repeat the keywords in every paragraph are all common search engine optimization tips. But I want to do more! My goal is to be earning $1,432 every month from these articles. I need the search engines to find my writing and I don't want to wait a year for this to happen.

I've done a lot of research on this topic, but admittedly I am no expert. I always use a small set of keywords, always have the keywords from the title in at least three places throughout the article and I use the keywords in any pictures I use with the article.

Another important aspect of search engine optimization is when outside webpages link back to your article. External links to your article help drive Google and Yahoo to see your page as a useful source of information. If you write a lot of articles in the same genre it may be possible to link to your other articles on the topic. Some writing service will not allow this though, like Demand Studios. At Demand, where I write, I cannot link to other eHow articles as a source of my information.

When adding the keywords to your article do not over do it. A useful informative article is much more useful to you than a keyword packed article that does not make sense and is not useful to the readers.

I'll keep experimenting with my optimization and keep you all updated as I learn new tips and tricks.

New Start

2010-12-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

Well a year has come and gone, and the Project 1432 continues on. The website eHow stopped their writer's program and now goes through Demand Media for their web content. This change was disruptive to my project.

The new guidelines for writing revenue share articles through Demand Media are not much different from the old eHow. The main difference is that each article you write is viewed by an editor before being submitted to the eHow site. I have to have references for every article and I cannot make changes to my articles once they are submitted.

Changes to your revenue share articles are helpful because you can add links to similar articles you have written and make updates to the information in the article. Both of these things are useful in making your content fresh to the search engines.

I have decided to continue with project 1432 in the coming 2011 writing year. I feel more comfortable with the revenue share program through Demand Media and I have also seen some initial earnings in the first article I wrote through they revenue share program.

So to start of the next stage of Project 1432 I am submitting my updated numbers:

In November I made        $22.90 (eHow) 1.29 (Demand)
Total earnings Dec. 09 to Oct. 10 $72.21 (eHow) 1.38 (Demand)

Days left in the Project:      New start
Total Articles Written:       25 (24 on eHow and 1 on Demand)
Articles left to write:          1407 Article
Earnings to date: 2009         $ 2.25
                          2010         $ 95.53
Grand Total on eHow          $ 97.78

Ok. The first thing you will notice with these updated numbers is.... WOW my eHow articles have been earning some cash this year! The month of November my 24 article on eHow almost earned $1 each. Now I know what your thinking, $1 for an article is crazy. Why would I think that is good.

Well because that is actually my goal with this Project 1432. To earn $1 per article PER MONTH in passive income. Think about that for a second.... Wouldn't it be nice to get $1,432 every month from work you have long since completed?

So I have a renewed excitement for this project and I'm happy to be doing it through Demand Media. I am eager to learn what types of articles work best. I am excited to write some topics I am an expert in. I am also excited to write more product oriented topics and see if that helps my revenue share numbers.

I'll keep you all updated as this project continues!

Update on Changes with eHow

2010-06-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

Ok so I have not written any more articles for eHow. I know it is so disappointing! eHow has gone through some major changes and you can no longer write articles directly on their website. Instead, you have to write them through DemandStudios.com. I am a registered writer with Demand Studios and will work to figure out how to write the eHow articles with their revenue share program. I will then add those article numbers to the ones I have already done through eHow's website.

One interesting note I'd like to share is the continued money I have been making through eHow even though I have not written and article for them since January!!!

In February I made         $4.45
In March it was               $4.48
For April it was               $5.81
May was a total of    $7.91

Days left in the Project:      189
Total Articles Written:    21
Average Articles per day is like ZERO..lol
Articles left to write:          1412
Article Earnings to date: 2009 $2.25
                                     2010 $26.91
Grand Total on eHow          $29.16

In some other interesting, exciting, terrifying news.... I am no longer working as a counselor :( This saddens me because I have spent so many years working towards being a counselor and dedicating my time to my patients. But I do have to admit I have felt wonderful since leaving my job. I love spending my days with my children. I love writing and all the freedom that it offers. I love that my constant stomach pains from stress are no longer here. It will be a transition but I'm excited to see what is ahead of me.

It was memorial day last weekend and we took the whole family up to visit Army. We still haven't picked out a headstone for him :( This is distressing to me. My husband has such a difficult time talking about the loss of Armstrong that anytime I want to discuss what will go on the headstone he quickly distracts himself with something and just refuses to participate. It is getting to the point that I may just take the kids to pick one out with me. I know they all have some grandiose ideas of what Army's headstone should look like. I've heard it should be shaped like giant french fries, a Diego the Explorer head, and even just a life size statue of Armstrong...lol. They are all so creative!

Well that's it for now. I'll keep you all updated on the progress through Demand Studios as I learn how to post the eHow articles with them.

Update

2010-01-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

Well it has been 2 weeks since I updated you all on Project 1432 progress. I've been really wrapped up in the disaster in Haiti and just totally forgot to update. Here are my numbers as of today:

Days left of project: 318
Total Articles Written: 21
Average Articles per day: WAY...LESS THAN 1 per day :(
Articles left to write: 1412
Article views: 2,335
Article earnings: 2009 End of year (Dec. 9th -31st) $2.25
January $3.64

So I'm still not up to the minimum of $10 to have a payment sent out. But I am very optamistic considering the low number of articles I have actually written so far.

Here we go again

2010-01-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

Well I've completed a whoping 1 article to add to last weeks totals. But on the positive side I have finished the 106 page rough draft for my clients workbook. So with that done I can now get back to working on Articles on a more regular basis.

The other big goal I'm working on right now is running a marathon on May 2nd. Yesterday was my BIG run for the week. Normally I would try and go slow and steady on this run but I really just wanted to see how hard I could work yesterday. So I ran faster than normal, but still took walking breaks in between. My knees are really sore and it is just impossible for me to run a long distance without walking breaks. But we will see how that progresses as I continue my workouts in the coming months. Super sore today though :(

Here's the Stats for this week :)

Days left of project: 332

Total Articles Written: 16
Average Articles per day: WAY...LESS THAN 1 per day :(
Articles left to write: 1416
Article views: 1764
Article earnings: 2009 End of year (Dec. 9th -31st) $2.25
January $.85

Here's my latest article addition on Social Networking :)

How to Use Social Networking

I wrote it to go along with my application for a job at about.com :) I'll let you know if anything comes from that opportunity!

Happy Monday,

Lindsay

Snowed in but still no progress...

2010-01-07T22:13:00.000-08:00

You would think being snowed in would give me the perfect opportunity to finally get caught up on my eHow articles. But nope! I'm still working on this darn workbook project for a client. The good news is the workbook pays $850, so it is well worth my distraction. But all I keep thinking about is how far behind I'm getting on my articles per day :(

A sunny picture of Armstrong at the beach to warm us up :)

So my procrastination wasn't all that bad today and I actually got about 3 workbook chapters completed. There was a definate time where my productively lapsed and I started playing on Facebook etc.

Tomorrow is another snowed in day...so maybe I'll be able to get this whole workbook done and move on to normal article life! 8 chapters left of the workbook!

Go go go!

Off to a normal start...

2010-01-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

Well it is the New Year and a Monday ... so I'll get right down to the statistics :)

Surprising news came from a couple of newer articles

How to French Kiss Good - Had over 400 views!

How to Lose Weight Ultra Fast - 60 vies in the first day!

Days into project: 26

Days left of project: 339
Total Articles Written: 15 (The Article on Roy Disney was removed...I knew it didn't really fit well but just really wanted to write and article about him after he died)
Average Articles per day: WAY...LESS THAN 1 per day :(
Articles left to write: 1417
Article views: 1281
Article earnings: 2009 End of year (Dec. 9th -31st) $2.25
January $.06

So as you can see there was a HUGE jump (relatively speaking) in earnings at the end of last week. I'm excited to see progress on these articles and their earnings.

Currently I'm finished a project for a client on Elance and as soon as that project is done I'll be able to concentrate more on my eHow articles (and Demand Studios). But I have only finished 8 out of 20 chapters for this client so I have to get his work done!

What was your New Year's Resolution?

I don't really set Ney Year's Resolutions because I always have so much going on in my life. And I'm always adding new and interesting things that I would like to do. I think my project 1432 and the marathon I'm training for in May are probably enough things for me to be working towards in this new year...I'm not going to bog myself down with something else.

But I was really thinking of going the year without television. I just thought WOW that would be a fun experiment. But no way my other half is going to agree to that. I've asked to go a month without T.V. before and he threatened divorce..haha!

Happy Monday
Happy New Year too!

Happy New Year!!!!

2009-12-31T18:53:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to write a quick note to say happy New Year :) I hope you have a wonderful evening.

Monday update and daily denial

2009-12-28T10:55:00.000-08:00

I just knew last week that by this weeks Monday Update I was going to really have kicked butt! ha! Ok. Well I am falling way behind on that butt kicking as you will see from my lovely statistics for this week. But hey...they don't call me the procrasnination QUEEN for nothing :)

I love throwing kids parties so I just wrote this one on
How to Throw a Kids New Year's Eve Party

I will try to find some pictures from the huge costume party I threw with all four kids and 16 of their friends a couple years ago. Baby Armstrong was about a year and a half old and just loved the party so much!

Here's the Monday Statistics:

Days into project: 19

Days left of project: 346
Total Articles Written: 16
Average Articles per day: LESS THAN 1 per day :(
Articles left to write: 1416
Article views: 759
Article earnings: $1.02

So this is my big insight for this week... I am indead a procrastinator and there is no way I can write 1,000 the night before the project is over, so I best get my booty moving! ...lol...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

It's 3:30am on Christmas Day!

2009-12-25T01:48:00.000-08:00

Yes I am writing a blog in the middle of the night on Christmas Day.. Please go ahead and post the "your crazy" comments..lol

Christmas last year :( Man I miss you Armstrong!

Well Santa was here to visit out house this evening. After I spent the whole night working on a freelance project that had a deadline I procrastinated right up to. So here I am at 3:30am on Christmas morning hoping to get at least 3 or 4 hours of sleep before my munchkins come shake me awake with their excitement.

I have happy eHow news to share! The technical difficulties have been straightened out and my 5 eating disorder articles have been officially posted. Please visit them, rate them, leave comments :) I would love your feedback on these.

How to Fight Eating Disorder Urges
How to Identify Compulsive Overeating in Your Loved One
How to Identify Bulimia Nervosa
How to Identify Binge Eating Disorder
How to Identify Anorexia Nervosa

I'm going to refrain from getting into daily updates of my article views, earnings, comments, etc. But I will say I am happy with the growth and popularity of these two articles especially!

How to Make it Through the Christmas Season
How to Divorce the Man you Love (Like Elin Nordegren)

Ok, I'm off to bed for a few little zzzz's...

Merry Christmas!

Stupid eHow...grrrr

2009-12-23T06:21:00.000-08:00

Well as much as I would like to blame it totally on them, I am just as upset at myself....grrrr!

I wrote a set of 5 eating disorder articles and submitted them a few days ago. Then yesterday, while they were in the midst of some obvious technical difficulties I went in and edited those articles to include links to each other :(

Now all 5 articles have disappeared. Which in a normal world wouldn't be that big of an issue. But in my world where I constantly forget to save copies of articles and instead just type them right into the eHow website :( That means they are officially gone forever!

I emailed the tech support people at eHow, but I'm pretty sure the articles are gone. And I will either have to stop pouting about it and rewrite the darn things. Or move onto the next articles on my list of things to write.

Jackson, Isabella, and Armstrong after sleding down a huge hill in 2007.

Either way, not the coolest way to start a Wednesday... and that means I'm STILL only at 7 articles out of my 1,432 goal....ahhh.... But no defeat here! I will get caught back up on my daily average! After I enjoy my day at work... spend some quality time with the kids... play in the snow... and have a Merry Christmas...lol...

There has to be a better way

2009-12-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

So as many of you know I work as a counselor for my "day job". I have always loved helping others and really enjoy my job. But it is definitely not a profession you can get rich at and I knew that as I racked up year after year of student loans.

Last week I went to a great meeting for my work. It was our annual Christmas meeting and we were told of an awesome Christmas Bonus and a raise! Wahoo is what I thought. Super duper a raise :) But as with all money... nothing is never enough ..lol

So again I am back to thinking of better ways to make a living in this world. My first thought is I should investigate my ancestry for a long lost connection to a rich uncle...lol. Or maybe buy a lotto ticket? But then I think about the men and women I know that are truly making good money and enjoying their lifestyle.

They are not working for anyone else!

Money is of course not the means to happiness, and I know that I truly understand that after losing Armstrong. I also know that money does give the means to having more time with my family, which in turn will bring me happiness. So I must figure out this balance of work and money to equal my happiness.

As for project 1432, it is moving forward slowly but surely. My official start day was December 9th (8 months after Armstrong passed away). My goal was to write 4 articles a day, which would add up to more than my goal of 1432 in a year. But here are my stats to date:

Days into project:         12
Days left of project:      353
Total Articles Written:   12
Average Articles per day: 1 :( wow that is really putting it into perspective!
Articles left to write:      1420
Article views:                 348
Article earnings:              $0.22

Statistics are always a sobering fact :)

Now I need to get my but back on track to meeting my goals :) I'll try to give a full breakdown of stats every Monday to keep you all updated (and to keep me motivated!).

Here's your caffeine for Monday and a Daily Armstrong Pic!

This Time Last Year

2009-12-20T17:32:00.000-08:00

Well as most of you know last year at this time my little guy Armstrong had just been diagnosed with his brain tumor and finished 2 brain surgeries. Today while at church I suddenly could not stop thinking about this time last year when I had been sitting in the same church with Armstrong on my lap, at the same yearly christmas service.

I was overcome with saddness. As much as the day to day world has gone on. My arms still remember Armstrong as if it was yesterday I held him in them. My lips still remember the touch of his cheek as I would kiss him goodnight. But most of all my heart still remembers the loss of not having him in my life anymore.

On some days I feel absolutely energized to change the world, make a difference in Armstrongs name. But on other days I feel like the loss is too overwhelming and curling up in my bed is the best solution. I'm struggling to find a balance that is for sure. I have a list a mile long of things I would love to do in Armstrongs name, but not nearly a mile of money to follow the list.

Today was a day of sitting in the saddness. Of missing Army so much my body hurt. Today was one of those days I hope not to repeat anytime soon :(

On a Roll Now

2009-12-19T12:57:00.000-08:00

Well my eHow articles (a whopping 7 so far) have had a total of 269 views and have earned me a total of $.022 so far :) It's fun to actually see people looking at the articles and awesome to finally see a dollar amount in the earnings section. Even if it isn't actually a whole dollar yet..lol

Today my other half and I have been rearranging our work/sleeping space to make it more conducive for writing the remaining 1,425 articles. I always feel better with a nice new clean work area. But the other thing is I like the fresh start feeling of having my desk in a new location. With a new view (although my view is still just a white wall..lol.

A little blurry, but here's Army in his bed. We still have this blanket and stuffed Dinosaur.

Go Diego Go Self-Stick Wall Applique

My body is exhausted though. My part of the move was to go through a bunch of Armstrong's things I had in the corner of the room :( Made me miss him a whole lot! I can't bear to take down his toddler bed, which we had in our room after he got sick. And now it sits there with some of his favorite stuffed animals, blankets, and old cloths on it. But my favorite part of that area is the Diego clings that are on the wall. Army loved those when we put them up for him and they will probably stay there long after I decide to put the bed into storage and the stuffed animals into a memory chest.

So now here I sit... pondering the benefits of a good nap compared to powering through some articles this afternoon.

I think the nap is going to win out!

Christmas Shopping and eHow

2009-12-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

Sugar plums and residual income have been swirling in my head today. I like the idea of writing with eHow and getting a continual payout. Today while looking for the kids Christmas presents I found myself day dreaming about the day when we had enough money not to have to worry if something was on sale. Some day ... some day...

I know I shouldn't do this, but everyday I log into my eHow account hoping to have made some more money, had some more comments on my articles, or at least some more views. But alas, today was a big let down in that department. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Let's Get This Party Started!

2009-12-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll admit it. I come up with crazy ideas that even I wonder.... WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING! And admittedly trying to write 1,432 eHow articles is going to be lumped into that crazy category. But I'm ok with that.

I think I could add to the crazy factor by saying I want to do these articles in ONE YEAR! Yes I said 1...as in Numero Uno :) I'm not sure if anyone else on eHow has written that many articles and if you know of someone please send me their names so I can look them up and say hi! But really it is only about 4 articles a day. I use to write up to 10 articles a day while going through grad school, so I know it's possible. But I think my need for superior articles has increased a lot since my college days, so it might be more difficult for me to write 1,432 GOOD articles..lol. But that's my goal!

This pictures is of Armstrong at the top of a slide at McDonalds. Now any normal 3 year old you know can easily climb one of those slides. But this picture was taken 1 month after Armstrong was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme, he had 2 brain surgeries within that month and could only use one side of his body. But yet HERE HE IS! Right there at the top of that slide :) How amazing is that! This is the picture I will think of any time I start feeling like I have made an impossible goal.

I'll try to come back here often and tell you of my ups and downs in this process. And maybe share some links to my articles. Please join my blog, visit me often, and leave comments here and on my eHow articles. I can't wait to get moving on this.... So here are a couple links to my first few eHow articles:

How to Make it Through Christmas Season

How to Successfully Run a Drug and Alcohol Therapy Group

How to Tell if Your Spouse is a Text-a-holic

How to Get to Know Roy Disney

How to Identify Antisocial Behavior