In Case You Haven't Been Paying Attention--Ehow's WCP Has Ended

I just wanted to post this notice for those that have moved on from ehow and may not have logged in to their accounts in awhile or have not received any emails from ehow regarding some recent changes. In case you haven't heard, ehow has abolished the Writer's Compensation Program as of May 5th 2011.  Some of us  have gotten offers from ehow to buy out our article libraries for a flat fee. If you haven't received an email (just as I have not--AGAIN!) sign in here and check to see if a buyout offer has been made to you.  You have until May 31st to accept any offers.

We all knew this would eventually happen. I've decided to accept the offer I received and leave my ehow worries behind me. I certainly will miss my small monthly ehow payments. With only 30 articles left in my library the payout was a welcome boost to my Paypal balance even if it wasn't enough to cover any monthly expenses. I was thrilled to be consistently making more than the minimum payout for the past 8 consecutive months and viewed that money as a small stash to fall back on in urgent situations like car repairs or other unexpected expenses.  For those of you that depended on your ehow income to meet monthly obligations I sincerely hope you were offered a fair amount that will allow you to meet those obligations for months to come. If you chose not to accept the buyout I hope you find another home for your work and will continue to earn from your efforts.

Since this may be my last post on this blog I'd like to thank everyone who visited, commented, vented, subscribed and contributed in any way to the ehow discussions posted here. It's been great to know you all, read your articles and learn from your shared experiences in the world of ehow and freelance online writing.

Ehow was just one of my ventures in earning money online. I'm involved with other sites and opportunities that I've posted about on my other blog. Hop over to Mom's Online MoneyMakers, if you'd like to investigate other income producing alternatives. I'm sure I will see many of you on ListMyFive, Twitter and other places in the future. Best wishes to all!

Beware of Ehow Member Offering to Buy Your Account (or take for free)

I received a bizarre ehow message today and wanted to share it with you. Be on the lookout for similar messages and please report them to ehow. The username of this person is relicon but it sounds like he may have other aliases. Here's the message in red below. The comments in black is what was going through my mind as I was reading it.  


Unfortunately, according the responses I got in the forum regarding this message, I'm not the only one he's contacted about doing this. Have you had any contact with this person or anyone else making a similar request? If so, did you respond or report it to ehow? 

"As you already know, ehow.com is no longer accepting new articles. Good intro...stating the obvious when you don't know what else to say.

I was wondering if I could have your ehow account for free. BAM! That's the sound of my jaw hitting the keyboard.

If not, I can buy it from you with a satisfying price. Hmmm....how satisfying?



I'm doing this because I would like to own your account and promote your ehow articles for residual income. Of course you would.



I'll just try to promote your articles and hope it'll make some views. Wow, now I'm really impressed. I'd never thought of doing that before!



If you don't use your ehow account anymore or you've given up already, you can give me your account for free or I can buy them from you. Given up? Does he not understand the concept of passive income?



If you do decide to give it to me or sell it to me, don't forget to change your personal stuff like your paypal and social security in your ehow account details. Of course, how dumb do you think I am?

I bought ehow accounts in the past 3 months and some people don't change their personal stuff in their ehow. Just 2 let u know. I really hope this is not true. Why would anyone leave their personal info on the account if they did sell it to him?


I'm really good at promoting articles, I hope you'll make the decision. I'll buy your ehow account even if it costs me $100. Hey, big spender...where've you been all my life? 

please let me know your decision. thank you." Oh no, kind sir, thank you! Thank you for this ridiculous proposal that gave me quite a chuckle. So who's the prankster? Anyone want to confess?

I Finally Made Payout! How About You?

When ehow shut down the WCP I was left with 30 articles and very discouraging earnings and not much to say about ehow, so this blog sat neglected since.....WOW....June 11th?....has it really been 4 months?

Time flies when you're not obsessing over ehow, I guess  = )

Anyway, I thought I would add some positive comments here about my earnings. I hope to hear more of the same from you so please go ahead and brag about you're Sept. earnings or feel free to vent if you're discouraged.

Although only a few of my 30 articles are making money consistently every month, I've been sooooo close to breaking that $10 minimum several times in the past. Well, last month I finally did it! I closed out September with $11.30.  I had only made payout one other time and that was in June of '09.

I would be very pleased if this became the norm going forward. Although 11 bucks won't even pay the internet bill, it would serve as a monthly reminder that the time I put into ehow was a good investment in my future. I'm going to think of any future payments I receive as interest on a savings account that I opened last year and forgot about.  I haven't been making any deposits to it but the amount I've already put in is slowly paying off.  

My earnings so far for October are $3.35 so it looks like a good possibility that I'm on track for another payout in November.  We all know it's too soon to make that assumption so I'll let you know how things turn out at the end of the month.

How are you doing with your articles that remain on ehow? Was September a good month for you too?


Note: If you'd like to be added to my friend list in the left sidebar, just leave a comment and follow or subscribe to this blog. Then send a note on ehow to bestmommy asking me to add your ehow profile link to the list. Hope to hear from you! There's always room for one more!

Redgage $25 Visa Card Arrives Quickly

Just a quick post to let you all know that my Redgage Visa Card arrived in the mail a few days ago. My balance at Redgage had grown to over $37 so I decided to request the minimum payment of $25 to see how long it would take to receive the card. I asked for my withdrawal on 5/21 and it arrived on 6/5, so that's about 2 weeks time for processing and mailing. I immediately followed the activation instructions that came with the card and verified the balance to be $25 to spend anywhere Visa is accepted. 

One thing I'm confused on is that the FAQ section of the Redgage site states that a $5 one time fee will be deducted from your first withdrawal to cover the cost of the card, so I'm not sure why I received the entire $25 on my card instead of $20. Maybe someone goofed and I'll get that deducted from my account at a later date. Either way, it's awesome to get paid this quickly for doing something fun and interesting from home.

My Redgage balance as of today is $12.98, so when I reach the $25 mark again I'll add it to my card electronically and instantly the next time.  Redgage also states that future withdrawals added to an existing Visa card will have a 5% fee deducted so I'll just have to wait and see if that is true. Has anyone requested the Visa card from Redgage and if so, have you noticed any fees taken out of the balance?

Note: If you'd like to be added to my friend list in the left sidebar, just leave a comment and follow or subscribe to this blog. Then send a note on ehow to bestmommy asking me to add your ehow profile link to the list. Hope to hear from you! There's always room for one more!

Redgage is Treating Me Right - Ehow Earnings Improve This Month

I know I've posted about Redgage recently, however, I feel they deserve another recommendation since I am having such a positive experience on the site.

Since joining Redgage 4 weeks ago I've earned 3 feature bonuses totalling $10.55 and another $2.27 for page views and to my surprise I woke up this morning to find out that I had won their DAILY CONTEST and my account was $25 richer for a combined total of $37.82, which qualifies me for a withdrawal to a REDGAGE VISA debit card.

To put this in perspective, I've made more money on Redgage in one month than I've made with ehow since the beginning of this year. However, I am seeing improved ehow earnings for the current month of May.

With only 30 articles on ehow I wasn't expecting much of an income but I have noticed that my current months ehow earnings, as of today 5/19, have already surpassed my month end total for April. I'm inclined to believe that this increase is at least partly due to the exposure that my ehow article links are getting on Redgage.

How are your articles doing so far this month? Have you noticed any increase in earnings over last month? Are you using Redgage or any other bookmarking sites to promote your ehow articles? Do any of them stand out above the rest for generating traffic and earnings on your articles?

Note: If you'd like to be added to my friend list in the left sidebar, just leave a comment and follow or subscribe to this blog. Then send a note on ehow to bestmommy asking me to add your ehow profile link to the list. Hope to hear from you! There's always room for one more!

I Won an Ezine Articles Caption Contest!

Hope you all are doing well in your writing efforts with or without ehow/demand studios. I just wanted to share some exciting news.

I found out last night that a cartoon caption I submitted to an Ezine Articles contest was chosen as the winner. I'm told I will be receiving a mug with the cartoon and my caption printed on it. Check it out at Give this Cartoon a Caption.

The mug won't pay any bills but I'll enjoy using it knowing that my writing was recognized and appreciated and I think that's pretty cool!

I've never submitted anything to them other than this caption and from what I understand they do not pay writers for their articles. So basically writer's submit content for FREE in order to get more traffic to their other businesses, blogs, products etc. Can anyone comment on Ezine Articles? Have you used this site and if so have you seen any benefits to publishing there?

Moms Making Money Online Needs You Join our network of SAHM's and WAHM's using the internet to generate income. Give and get advice, share strategies and money making tips with other Moms Making Money Online!

Make More Money by Linking to Your Ehow Articles from Redgage

Although the WCP has been cancelled and we can no longer submit new articles to ehow, I'm still interested in driving traffic to my article library and getting the most out of what I've already published. I've joined Redgage to help me do that.

Some of you may already use Redgage and I'd love to get some feedback on your experience with the site. So far it's been really fun and easy to work with. A little slow at times but no major bugs or frustrations like we were dealing with at ehow.  Let me know if you're already there and send me a friend request so we can view each other's content.

Anyway, if you're not using Redgage yet, you might want to check it out to see how it could benefit your articles that remain on ehow and new things you publish to DS or other sites. They allow you to post photos, links to your own content or any other site, videos, documents and blogs.

Since DS will not accept our photos anymore this would be a good place to post them. I've posted links to my ehow, triond and infobarrel articles, photos and videos too. I need to work on my Xomba links next.

Here's my profile page if you're curious to see how it works. They also pay you for page views and if any of your content is chosen to be featured on their homepage you get a bonus. Payment is made by Visa Debit Card when you reach the minimum of $25 so there's no need for an Adsense account if you don't already have one.

I've run into many ehow friends at Redgage and hope to see you there as well. If you'd like to try Redgage please mention that you were referred by "bestmommy" when you create your account. Best of luck with DS or wherever you find yourself writing.

Note: If you'd like to be added to my friend list in the left sidebar, just leave a comment and follow or subscribe to this blog. Then send a note on ehow to bestmommy asking me to add your ehow profile link to the list. Hope to hear from you! There's always room for one more!

The End of The Writer's Compensation Program

After months of UK related controversy and various publishing bugs, Ehow has announced that it has ended the Writer's Compensation Program as of today, April 5th 2010. If you sign into your account you will notice that you cannot write any new articles but your old articles still exist and can be edited. You will now be required to apply to Demand Studios if you wish to continue to write for ehow. However, there is no guarantee that you will be accepted. If accepted, you will have the option of choosing either an upfront payment or recurring monthly compensation as you've been receiving all along. For all the details go to their most recent blog and video post.

I can't say that I am surprised by this since many ehow writers and bloggers had been predicting these changes for months. According to ehow's blogpost:

The biggest benefits of this transition are 1) a better publishing system for our writers, 2) writer empowerment to make more money, and 3) that we are all able to raise eHow's article quality, benefitting writers and consumers alike.

After reading the Migration FAQ's, it sounds like some writers will be automatically approved and some will have to apply to Demand Studios. I looked at the application but have not decided if I will bother to apply. I'm not a professional writer and have no resume to submit. My ehow articles and my 2 blogs are the extent of my current writing experience, unless I could dig up some "A" papers from college to throw in for good luck. I'm a stay at home mom who likes to write about her interests and experiences and learn new things. I was hoping to use ehow to supplement my monthly household income whenever I had some free time to put my thoughts into words. Is there a place at Demand Studios for someone like me? Is there a place at Demand Studios for someone like you? Will you submit the application if you haven't been preapproved yet and if accepted what payment option would you choose? What do you think about these changes and your future with ehow/Demand Studios? Will you stick around and keep writing or move on?

Note: If you'd like to be added to my friend list in the left sidebar, just leave a comment and follow or subscribe to this blog. Then send a note on ehow to bestmommy asking me to add your ehow profile link to the list. Hope to hear from you! There's always room for one more!

Ehow Responds to UK Website Concerns With First Ever Video Blog

If you haven't been active on the ehow site lately, you may have missed the latest communication tool they've implemented. Ehow posted their first Video Blog on January 29th where Rich (Community Manager) and Greg (General Manager) discussed what is being done to address the concerns of the community regarding the UK site and the drop in earnings that many writers have been complaining about on the message boards. 

Since my earnings are minimal I hadn't noticed a drastic change but apparently some long time successful ehow writers had noticed a decline in their monthly incomes which they attributed to their articles being published on the UK beta site without being compensated for the ad revenue generated by that site. I've not spent much time on ehow lately and only added one new article since last posting to this blog. According to the video we should see some compensation from the UK site included in January's earnings. Does this mean our earnings will be separated into US earnings and UK earnings? I've not seen any differentiation made in my articles earnings, have you? I'm curious to see if/how they will show the actual compensation from the UK site once they close out the month of January.

Please comment on what else you may have observed or gathered regarding this subject.

Happy February! We've enjoyed a rare snowfall over the weekend and a day off from school due to icy roads. Hope you're staying warm and safe this winter!

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow---How Many Articles Did You Lose This Time?

After posting several new articles without any major glitches I was starting to feel positive again about the prospect of making money with ehow. My outlook had improved and I actually felt productive on the site again.  Things were running quite smoothly when I posted my newest articles

How to Claim a Title for Your Next eHow Article
How to Finance Medical and Dental Procedure Interest Free
How to Make Easy Rotisserie Chicken Soup
How to Peel a Tomato Easily


and I was inspired to make notes of new ideas for articles and get the titles claimed in my article library to complete in the future.

Then a few days later I come to find my inventory of 26 articles had diminished to 23. I've yet to receive an email telling me which ones were axed and why, (just as I have never received prior notice from the October sweep) but thanks to another clever ehow writer I was able to locate the information on my deleted articles through a URL. This is what I found regarding my deleted articles.

- Title: How to Find or Make Inexpensive Halloween Costumes for Your Kids, Reason: Common Sense


- Title: How to Subscribe to Specific Categories on Ehow, Reason: Common Sense


- Title: How to Use Vinefire to Promote Your eHow Articles, Reason: SPAM

Here's my take on it.....
The first article on Halloween costumes received over 400 views and earned $1.67.  Deleted for Common Sense--There are other similar "how tos" still alive and well on the site so I am perplexed by this one. I can understand if they felt the info was outdated, since Halloween has passed but as far as common sense goes, that's a very gray area.  What is common sense to some may be enlightenment to others so this reason is very hard to justify, in my opinion.  I do enjoy reading about how others come up with creative ideas on how to make things fun for their kids and save money as well, so I did feel this article provided helpful ideas and useful information. Anyway, what's done is done and this article has been edited slightly and now has a new home on infobarrel. 

If you're interested in trying infobarrel as another source of online income and a place to post your ehow rejects you can sign-up here. They share adsense revenue as well as Chitika ad revenue with their writers.  

The second one on subscribing to categories was also deleted for Common Sense. Well, I guess I have no common sense, because it took me months before I realized you could subscribe by category and not just by choosing individual writers.  LOL!! I wrote the article because I wish I had known how to do this a long time ago and thought there might be others who, like me, did not know that this was a feature of the site. I'm curious to know how many ehowers do know how to subscribe to categories.......Maybe I'm just slow.....

The last one on vinefire was deleted as Spam. So what classifies an article as spam? My definition of spam would be linking to sites that do not relate to the subject matter of the article, just to drive traffic. Ehow's definition is apparently something else I have not figured out yet. The link in the resources was a link to the vinefire website, which is what the entire article was about.  In order to use vinefire to promote your ehow articles you must first sign-up at the vinefire website. It was not a link to amazon, ebay, or any other affiliate site not related to the content of the article.  So, if we write an article about how to do what the article is explaining which includes using another website to accomplish the "how to" are we not allowed to put the link in resources?  All of the guides and blogs I've read on how to use ehow to make money say that you can and should be using the resources link for promoting other money makers as long as the links pertain to the subject matter of the article.

From the complaints on the forums I can see I'm not the only one still trying to figure out what ehow really wants from us so I would like to recommend toogie2's blogposts on Surviving the Sweeps at ehow.  Spend some time on this blog. I was very impressed with the information provided here. I felt like I had found the "hidden secrets" to ehow success. There's some very valuable points made here that should help you understand how and why your aticles were cut for the reasons stated. You may not agree with ehow's reasons and logic, but consider applying this info to future articles and you may find it reduces your losses in the long run. Thanks toogie2, for your insight into the article sweep process and what ehow expects from its writers.

Care to share your losses, vent your frustrations, ask questions, offer advice, etc? Looking forward to your comments and insight.

An Ehow Friend Needs Your Help!

I'm posting this request in order to help one of my ehow friends prepare for a job interview.  I wanted to help her get the word out about an incredible opportunity that has presented itself.  Please help Janice get to 1000 subscribers! See below for explanation.

Here's YOUR challenge: I have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity knocking at my door and REALLY need your help and support! I may have the opportunity to land a spot in t.v. land with a local network to my area WOTV Channel 4. I want to see how many of my eHow friends can SUBSCRIBE to my channel on eHow. Remember, I'm loaded with information about consignment, personal styles in clothing, putting outfits together, and general clothing knowledge that eHow has given me the chance to share with you. PLEASE SUPPORT ME IN SUBSCRIBING TO ME! My goal is to have over 1000 subscribers in 2 days, just in time for the interview process. I'm already getting a FREEBIE 2 minute spot in radio tomorrow morning to plead my case on why I should be picked for the job. I WOULD LOVE YOUR SUPPORT! Click on the link below to go to my profile page, read about me, maybe rate an article, but most importantly, if you haven't SUBSCRIBE to me Consignmentchic!!!!


http://www.ehow.com/members/consignmentchic.html?view=3rd


I truly appreciate all your support! THANKS in advance for your help!


Sincerely,

Janice Penny a.k.a. CONSIGNMENTCHIC

Let's all help Janice reach her goal. Feel free to tweet this post, forward to your other ehow friends, post the link on your own blogs, social networks, etc.  Thank you everyone!

eHow's "I Did This" Feature: Have You Used It?

While studying my ehow account and trying to come up with more article ideas I came across an "I Did This" post I made back in May 2009.  I completely forgot about this feature of the site and noticed that now they want you to post at least 5 photos (mine only has 1--which at the time was sufficient, I guess) and explain in at least 300 words how you've done something that has already been explained in a previously posted eHow article. Are we compensated in any way for posting these? I noticed a group of "related ads" on my page but I've never seen any earnings reports or page views for my lone "I Did This," so my guess is no. I'm not sure if I would spend the time again, now that the pic and wordcount requirements have increased. What are your thoughts on this feature? Have you used it before and do you think it's worth investing the time? Or is this the first time you're hearing about it?

eHow Back From the Dead?

I hate to speak too soon but the technical issues at ehow seem to be resolved. I was able to publish 2 drafts, one last night and one this morning.

How to Get Your Big Fat Ebates Payment | eHow.com
How to Earn Amazon Rewards and Gift Codes | eHow.com

You will notice some changes on the site. In the article library there is a new column "Expiration Date" where they give you 30 days to publish the title you've selected. New articles now need to be reviewed and approved before they will publish them. They send you an email when this is done. Both of my articles were approved and published within 10-14 minutes. I certainly don't mind waiting a few minutes for approval if in fact this new procedure will eliminate or at least minimize the article sweeps we all dread. I can't imagine that a living breathing person is reading and approving/rejecting them. Has anyone else published recently? Let's hear about your experience with the latest changes. I'm curious to know what happens if an article is rejected...do they just delete it or explain why and give you a chance to correct the problem?

The eHow Broom Strikes Again: The Latest Article Sweep

I know it's October and Halloween is fast approaching but I was not expecting to be visited by the Wicked Witch of eHow so soon.  These so-called "article sweeps" conjure up visions of a menacing green-faced, black cloaked evil sorceress swinging her broom at our pages while she diabolically throws her head back and cackles at our misfortune.

"Spelling errors?  Be gone! Too spammy! To the dungeon with you!" She screeches wildly as she sweeps our dreams into online purgatory.

Okay, enough drama, but seriously it's frustrating and confusing and for those of us who don't have hundreds of articles posted, a few casualties here and there can mean whether or not we make the $10 minimum payout each month.  I know the answer to this is to keep adding to our article inventory so if a few get the axe it won't be so damaging. However, in the meantime, I would really love to know what in particular is causing each article to be deemed unworthy of remaining on the site. I'm willing to listen and learn from my mistakes if given the chance. I've had 2 articles deleted this time and have yet to get an email explaining why. How about you?  How many have you lost and have you been told what your violation was?

I've updated my article list above to reflect the loss of 2 articles and shifted a few that have gained in value.  The top three best performing articles remained the same and a few others have moved up the ladder.  I now have 5 at the bottom of the list that have not made any money yet.

On a positive note, my list of eHow friends in the left sidebar has grown to 27! This includes people who've either posted a comment, subscribed via email or clicked the follow button. Whenever I gain a new eHow friend I invite them to this blog and link to their profile page. If you're new to eHow and want to have your profile linked here just comment, subscribe or follow and add me as a friend on eHow.

The Awesome, Helpful, Knowledgable eHow Community

After I published the first post on this blog last Wednesday I sent messages to my 300 or so eHow friends announcing the birth of yet another eHow blog, this blog. I've come across many blogs about eHow and I appreciate the perspectives of different writers and try to absorb some valuable tid-bits of knowledge from each and every one I read.  Since there are quite a few eHow blogs already, I really didn't expect the enthusiasm I received from my announcement and request for support on this blog. Within a few minutes of hitting the send button I had my first response from Edieness, then as the day went on I received 10 more comments and follows from other eHow friends.  On Thursday and Friday, several more arrived.  Anthony Zerrer was kind enough to link my blog to his eHow Field Guide which, by the way, is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the inner workings of eHow and how to make the most out of the site.

As I acquire new eHow friends I'll be introducing them to this blog and asking them to be a part of it too. By offering them a link to their profile in exchange for comments and follows I'm optimistic that the positive responses will continue. Had I not offered anything in return when I made my request for comments on this blog.....I bet I would have gotten a good amount of sincere and enthusiastic responses anyway by those eager to help out a fellow ehow pal. Most people I've met on eHow are very supportive of each other and are happy to answer newbies questions or reciprocate with comments and recommendations. The success of both the site and the individual writers, hinge on the team effort we all put forth in promoting our articles and strengthening the community. Thanks to everyone who so kindly responded to my request and contributed to the kick-off of this blog! Looking forward to meeting here again and of course at eHow.com.   

First Post- Casting Your Lines in All Directions

I've been submitting articles to ehow since March 2009 and wanted to create a page to document those articles and their earnings and also ponder and discuss the entire ehow experience with others.  Currently, as of today 9/23/09 I have 20 live articles on the site and a few brainstormed titles that I need to finish and publish.

The articles I've listed above are in order of top money maker to zero money makers.  The first article was published on eHow on 5/12/09 and has earned $5.92 with 585 page views.  The bottom 7 articles, which have yet to earn any money, consist of 3 being less than 10 days old and the other 4 being published during 3/30/09 thru 08/11/09 with much fewer page views than my top earners and obviously less popular topics. 

Although, those unlucky 7 articles remain penniless, any one of them may have been responsible for attracting some views and ad clicks on my other more lucrative articles so I do not feel that writing any of them was a waste of time. Here's why.....If a web surfer finds the eHow site while searching for "How to Find or Make Inexpensive Halloween Costumes for Your Kids" they may also be intrigued by my other articles and stay awhile to read more and click some ads.  So, that one article may have been the bait and another one could become the line that actually hooks the fish.

I know I can increase my earnings by posting more articles on a regular basis. I envy those writers who set goals for themselves, like 100 articles a month or 5 new articles a week and actually meet those goals. I'm sorry to say I'm not one of them.....yet! For now, I'm happy to just continue writing when I'm inspired to do so. What about you? Do you set article writing goals? Do you have so many eHow articles that you can just sit back and relax and collect your Paypal payment every month without a care?