Have You Any Hubs?

I had a bit of a Hubpages moment last week. I am now fully recovered, although I could have another attack any minute!

Hubpages is an article site which offers revenue sharing, mainly through Amazon and Ebay although there is Kontera too. Although I have been on Hubpages for about 10 months, I have not done a lot with it and have consequently not earned a lot either. Usually I ignore the weekly emails, but this week for some reason I chose to read it and found myself taking part in the Hubmob activity.

Hubmob chooses a subject about which Hubbers can choose to write about. The resulting Hubs are brought together on rss feed which hopefully raises your exposure a little and brings people to your hubs.

I wrote four on the Hubmob topic which was on the subject of top ten gift lists and added an extra one for good measure which was all linked in nicely. I also did some work on my existing Hubs, finding that some of the ads had not been working on them properly! No wonder I made no money from them! So I've decided to keep an eye out for the Hubmob activity this week and see if I fancy taking part in them again.

The Hubpages writing tools are relatively easy to use and you can add pictures, rss feed, comments and the ads as you wish. They send you regular emails on your stats and there are some very interesting people writing on there. There are people who use Hubpages regularly as a source of passive income. I am not one of them, but I may be writing a little more for them over the next few weeks if work continues to be slow.

My Job Is...

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The most recent post was a challenge and it has got a huge response. In her post, What Do YOU Do - The Reductive Meme Redux, Naomi suggested that small business owners need to make it clear on their websites what they actually do.

Here are my responses below:

What’s your game? What do you do?

I am a copywriter, editor and proof reader. I have written short stories, two unpublished novels, blog posts for four websites, articles for local magazines, web content articles and product descriptions.

Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have one of those creepy knacks?

I love to write! I enjoy researching a new product, I love to plan out what I’m going to write and I enjoy the actual process of writing. I have no problem writing to a certain length and I even enjoy proof-reading afterwards and paring down the language so that it makes sense and does the job that you want it to.

Oh - and my deep dark secret is that I have a creepy knack with spelling and grammar - I can tell if a word looks right or not!

Who are your customers? What kind of people would need or want what you offer?

My customers are people who appreciate well-written articles, which are interesting to the reader. I prefer to write content that draws readers in; articles that they want to read. My work adds value to a website, not just filler. My customers also appreciate my professional approach, the fact that I keep contact with them during a project and that I turn my work in on time or even before the deadline.

What’s your marketing USP? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers?

I take pride in my work. I enjoy each new challenge when it is presented to me. Buy from me because you appreciate the power of good writing and what it can do for your business.

What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?

I would love to move into ghostwriting because listening to people’s stories intrigues me. I don’t need a byline to get satisfaction from my work. I want this business to expand and grow and I want to be in a position to help other people fulfil their dreams too.

Are You Planning to do NaNoWriMo?

Just one month to go until NaNoWriMo...

I'm starting to think about ideas. My mind is thinking fiction and it won't stop! Improbable plot lines are flitting through my head like wind through leaves. Characters are waving at me and appearing in my dreams.

I'd like to be more prepared this year. I'd like to have an idea of what I'm going to write about, the audience I'm aiming for and a rough idea of period.

I first took part in NaNoWriMo in 2008. I chose to write a story that had been roaming around my head for a few years. I was surprised how easily the words came to me.

For NaNoWriMo you have to write a 50 000 word novel during the 30 days of November. It's a great discipline and in order to achieve it, you need to write 1,666 words a day. I found 2000 words to be well within my capacity and could achieve 4000 if I needed a day off.

The good folks at NaNoWriMo cheer you on with emails and guest posts from authors. There are forums to chat in and even local moderators who sometimes organise get-togethers or 'write-ins' local to you. It is by no means a solitary writing experience and if you are a young person, then they run a Young Person's programme just for you.

So many people feel they have a novel in them and never get it down on paper. Why not take some time out of this November, turn off the TV and write your novel?

At worst you'll have a first draft. Some people have gone on from NaNoWriMo, entered their November novel and won prizes!

What have you got to lose?