RedGage

I signed up at RedGage finally and I should have done it much sooner.  RedGage is a combination of writing site and social networking.  You can upload videos and photos or write an article.  Transferring videos from YouTube is a snap and you can create links to just about anything on the internet.
The good part is that you get paid for all this by unique views to your content.  You don't need a Google AdSense account or a PayPal account.  RedGage issues a debit card and your earnings are put on the card.  How easy is that?  
They have a contest where you earn 'raffle tickets' that get put into a drawing to win $25.00.  That's done every 24 hours.  Earn points by submitting Knowledge Based content, inviting friends to join RedGage and by mentioning RedGage on another website.
I'm still navigating the site trying to learn the ropes.  Thumbs up to RedGage.
You can sign up too, just click RedGage.

Don't Overthink!

The best way that I can describe overthinking is; your brain freezes.  You want to write an article about a subject that you are quite knowledgeable, but the words won't come and the fingers can't type.  I published an article on Xomba (one of my favorite writing sites by the way).  Take a look at my Overthinking Your Writing article and maybe the words will come easy for you too.
If you would like to earn a residual income by writing online, join Xomba now!

'Red' Adair

 I submitted an article to Bukisa and it was published just a few hours later.  I was quite surprised.  Usually the editorial review takes 24 - 48 hours.  That was a pleasant surprise.  The article profiles the life of Red Adair; oil well capper and firefighter.  You can join Bukisa to earn residual income.

Demand Studios Bio

Three weeks have passed but I finally received my email from Demand Studios advising that my bio has been approved and I can start writing.  Woohoo!  I'm apprehensive though because their requirements are so demanding.  I'm going to do it anyway.  You know, give it a shot.  So what if my article gets rejected or returned for a rewrite.

Demand Studios Bio

I took the plunge and submitted a bio for Demand Studios.  I did that 4 days ago and still haven't heard back from them.  I'm not surprised tho.  DS requires a bio written in the third person.  OK, I did that.  But they want your journalistic credentials and education.  Hah!  I don't have any!  So now I'm waiting for the email rejecting my bio.  I hope they include suggestions and perhaps a rewrite.  I know I'm in good company though.  One eHow turned DS member asked, tongue in cheek, should I include the year that I got my GED!

Demand Studios

I received my follow-up email from Demand Studios with my transition info.  I haven't logged in yet but I've been following comments written by eHow members who made the switch.  It seems that Demand Studios' practices are the same as eHow.  As one eHow member (RossTheBoss) so eloquently put it when comparing both sites, and I quote:  "It's hard to tell which pile of crap is higher, and both smell the same when you're standing on them."  If you would like to read more by RossTheBoss, here is one of my favorite articles...How To Bring Back Happiness.  I'll post again after I get set up on Demand Studios.

The Big Bang

As you probably know by now, there have been some big changes on eHow.  The parent company, Demand Media, has instituted a new writing platform for eHow.  It isn't actually new, DM has always had another writing site called Demand Studios.  To write for DS you have to be accepted.  They want accomplished writers, they want a resume, they want to see examples of your work.  It's like applying for a writing job.  DM has now adopted those same requirements for eHow.  If you don't meet those requirements, you can't write for eHow anymore.  Some eHow members were automatically accepted to write for DS, some were not but they can apply.  I was automatically accepted.  I haven't received my transition info yet, the email that I received told me that I was accepted and that I should wait for a follow-up email.
I need to brush up on sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and all that sort of thing.  DS only accepts articles that are written in AP style.  (Associated Press).  The AP Stylebook is the bible for this type of writing.
I'm going to miss all my eHow forum friends.  They helped me so much, and made me laugh out loud!
If you are looking for new places to write to earn money, here is a referral link for BUKISA.
And here is a referral for XOMBA.   
I hope to see you there!!!
 

Who's In Control?

eHow is now completely out of control.  They're taking members copyrighted photos, resizing them then linking them to another members' article.  The worst part is when they resize they're cropping off the copyright watermark.  It's gotten so bad that Julie (the Community Manager) posted the name and address of eHow's legal team and suggested that we contact them directly.  Maybe eHow should have contacted their legal team before they started messing around with removing copyright information. 

Thumbs Up for Xomba

Once again Xomba takes first place in my opinion.  (neck and neck with Bukisa).  Submitting an article is easy and glitch free, same goes for uploading photos.  This week they made a change that quite frankly I'm indifferent about.  Bytes are now called Articles and Blurbs are now called Bookmarks.  The powers that be at Xomba say the new names sound more professional.
The new change that put Xomba in the forefront is that when you submit an article it will automatically get listed on your Google Adsense account.  It saves time and you can track the performance of each article.  That's fantastic!  The feature isn't implemented yet but I'll let you know.
Speaking of glitches, I encountered one when attempting to enter code for a banner.  I contacted Xomba through their feedback forum.  The glitch was fixed the same day and I received an email notification of the fix.
Thumbs up!!  If you would like to write to earn money, join Xomba now.

Whitesnake and the Queen of England

I just submitted a new article on Xomba.  It's about my experience with the rock band Whitesnake.  I met them several years ago while working in a hotel in Las Vegas.  Here is the article; Whitesnake and the Queen of England.
As usual, submitting an article on Xomba is flawless.  If you would like to write to earn money, join Xomba now.

eHow.......CEASE AND DESIST

Our photos are still missing from articles.  An eHow member did a Google Image search for one of her photos.  She clicked on the result and it directed her to an eHow article, NOT HER ARTICLE BUT SOMEONE ELSE'S!  I then did an image search for my own photos and found two results of the same photo, one larger than the other.  The small photo directed me to my eHow article, the larger photo took me to another member's article.  eHow cannot take copyrighted photos and use them in a picture bank.  That is illegal.  I hope eHow is prepared for the influx of Cease and Desist letters they'll be receiving.

eHow.....Stop Shoveling

A new eHow member posted a question for the staff.  The member wants to know what criteria eHow uses to determine how an article earns money.  This question has been asked many times but never answered.  This time Julie, eHow's Community Manager, replied with what you see below:

Your earnings are based on an algorithm that calculates a variety of factors:

1. quality of text
2. photos
3. topic - is it s hot topic or seasonal

This is a residual income module rather than a flat fee module.  If you give you articles some time, you will start seeing an increase.

Thanks,

Julie
Of course I can argue each of the 3 points.  But lets take a look at #2; Photos.  Are you joking Julie?  It's been 3 weeks since we have had our photos disappear from our articles.  What did eHow do with them?  If we take Julie's response seriously, then eHow owes us money for lost earnings......PHOTOS = EARNINGS. Will we be compensated?  My advice to eHow is:  When you feel the dirt falling on your head, stop shoveling!   

Moving From eHow

Little by little I'll be removing articles from eHow and publishing them elsewhere.  eHow still hasn't fixed the publishing or missing photos issues.  Here is an article that I removed and put on Bukisa;  Being in a Relationship With a Blues Guitarist.  I hope you like it.  It's a pleasure writing for Bukisa, so if you would like to try writing to earn residual income, join Bukisa now. 
Bukisa has a referral program where you can earn money when someone becomes a member using your link.  Bukisa gets a thumbs up!

3 Cheers and a Booya for Google

On December 20, 2009 (see post) I sent a Cease and Desist letter to Google for an article of mine that had been stolen by a website in India.  Today I received an email from Google advising that the article has been removed.  Woohoo!!

eHow.....The Thrill is Gone

I spoke too soon about the publishing issue being fixed.  Members are getting the 'unavailable' status again.  Photos are still missing from our articles.  But, the technical staff made some cosmetic changes on the home page; moved the search box, uncluttered the header and I don't know what else.  They're even running a contest with prizes for those of us who can spot all the changes.  I get the feeling that they aren't listening to the complaints about important issues (publishing and pictures) or they're trying to camouflage their inaction by distracting us with prizes.

eHow Glitches....Live Long and Prosper

Okay, in addition to the numerous glitches on eHow we now have another really big one.  Many how-to articles have photos along with the instructions.  These photos usually are necessary in order to complete the project.  Well, these photos are disappearing at an alarming rate.  Leaving just text where a visual is needed.  The first complaint was posted on the forums on 2/25.  As of this writing there are over 100 complaints added to that thread.  The first response from eHow staff came on 3/1, not exactly a timely response for such an important issue.  To make matters worse, here is the response:

                 Hi everyone,

For those of you guys that are missing photos, do you mind posting the links to your articles and explain which photo(s) are missing?

Thanks!

Julie

eHow expects every member, that would be thousands, to go through their article library and copy and paste the link to each article that has missing photos into the forum.  Many members have hundreds of articles.  It's a ridiculous request.  Obviously, this response sparked a whole new complaint, and rightly so.  Even if every member devoted that much time to comply with this request, the earth would have to stand still for ten years to get this glitch fixed.  If it's a site wide problem, it should be a site wide fix.

I'll close with this thought; if any of you reading this has the slightest amount of computer knowledge, go to eHow headquarters and apply for a job.  They need help!  But please get there BEFORE Fred Flintstone.

Published Article on eHow

Well it worked!  I wrote a recipe for eHow, How to Bake Shepherd's Pie.  I submitted it at 7:06 pm and I got an email at 7:15 pm that the article has been published.  As Martha Stewart would say, 'that's a good thing'!

eHow Articles Availabe Again

Drum roll please!  According to the chatter at eHow, articles that have been in limbo for weeks have now been published.  The writers are practically dancing in the streets over there.  I'm happy for them.  I still think that what eHow did was wrong.  Here's the short version;  a writer submits an article to eHow.... EHow doesn't publish it but places it in 'unavailable' status.... they don't tell the writer if the article will be published or rejected,  they simply hold on to it with no indication for how long.  In 'unavailable' status the writer cannot access the article, not to edit it or, to delete it from eHow and perhaps take it to another writing site.   At Bukisa for instance, when you submit an article it is placed in 'Editorial Review' for 24 to 48 hours.  During that time you do have access to the article.  You can't edit it during that time but you can remove it if you wish.  As you should!
EHow says it was a glitch.  I think that eHow's mission statement should read "We have more glitches than any website in the history of the internet and we propose to keep those same glitches as long as possible and continue to add new ones".
So, with this new revelation of articles getting published again, I'm going to write one for eHow tonight.  It'll just be a recipe that I like.  I'll let you know what happens.

Another Article at Xomba

I just published a new article at Xomba.  That site is really growing on me.  It's so easy!  It doesn't pay as well as Bukisa but I like it for publishing short articles.  The minimum word count for an article is 150 and for a 'blurb' it's 50 words.  And of course, I really like those 'blurbs' as I explained in a previous post.
Anyway, the article is about senior citizen housing options. Here is the article:  Senior Citizens Housing Options

I'll Have Gertie's Brunswick Stew.....Or Not

I wrote a short article and put it on Xomba.  It was a toss up between Xomba and Bukisa, I like both sites.  I put it on Xomba because the article is just a short human interest story and I didn't want to wait the 24 to 48 hour editorial review waiting period on Bukisa.  Here is a link to the article:  I'll Have Gertie's Brunswick Stew.....Or Not

Ehow's "Generous Estimate" Compensation

Well I told you this would open a new can of worms.  Didn't I? 
First let me explain eHow's payment structure.  Oh wait, I can't because they don't tell their writers what it is.  They just say several factors go into the algorithm.  This is nothing new, we've always known that they refuse to tell us.  Funny, the other sites that I write for tell their writers exactly what the payment structure is.  Well the 'generous estimation' payments have arrived for the 6 months that our articles were on the UK site.  I have 21 articles and received nothing, that's right..... $0.00.  Generous would have been something like; 'okay here's 25 cents'.  But no!  I don't feel too badly, after all I only have 21 articles and they're all fairly new.  But let me show you some other writers compensation:

• $1.47 - 48 articles
• $9.19 - 43 articles
• $8.13 - 119 articles
• $.80  - 107 articles (that's right, 80 cents)
• $8.00 - 300 articles                                                                         

The chatter is how unfair this is, and I agree.  Some writer's have already refused to accept payment by returning it through Paypal.  I wonder what's coming next.  I will keep you informed.   

Xomba 1 - Bukisa 0.....Subject to Change

I just wrote a new article about my visit to the Martin Guitar factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.  I wrote it on Xomba and the process was flawless.  Not only is it easy to insert text, but they practically hold your hand and walk you through uploading photos.  It doesn't get any easier!  Actually I wanted to put that article on Bukisa and, in fact, I did enter all the text.  Then I tried to upload photos from my computer.  Well, the 'Browse' button seems to have mysteriously disappeared, or maybe it's browsing around someplace else.  Now don't get me wrong, Bukisa is quick to fix glitches but after dealing with eHow I just wasn't in the mood for a glitch from anybody.  So I deleted the article from Bukisa, took it to Xomba and voila it was published in a matter of minutes.  I should also mention that at Bukisa I found a thread on their forum regarding the 'browse button' problem so I added to it.  The original thread was started 4 months ago.  If you would like to be a Xombie and earn money writing Xombytes and Xomblurbs, join Xomba now.

Earnings from the UK site

I just painstakingly watched a video that lasted 3 minutes and 50 seconds, it seemed more like 3 hours.  It was poorly done and practically inaudible.  But all that aside, the video was Greg (General Manager of eHow) and Rich (Community Manager of eHow) and I think I heard Greg say that the writers will be paid for the time that our articles were on the UK site.  He said the payments would be a "generous estimate" payable in February.  This should open a whole new can of worms!  Generous estimate???  We'll see.  Oh, if you would like to watch the video yourself, here it is. 

eHow Earnings

Wow!  Since my last post I have made more money on eHow than I did in all the time that our articles were on the UK site.  Obviously that slip-up (ahem) by eHow of putting our articles on their UK site really did cost us money.  I don't know if they're going to reimburse us for lost earnings.  There has been some community chatter about that but not a word from management.  I'm on the edge of my seat with anticipation.

eHow and the United Kingdom

Lo and behold!  eHow fixed the UK problem.  They usually move really slow to fix things, but I guess certain words or phrases prompt them to expedite matters.  Words and phrases such as:  legal/illegal, civil action suit, attorney, you get the idea.
They have removed all of our articles from their sister UK site and, if the UK site comes up in a search result, it is redirected to the US site.  WooHoo!!  Maybe we'll start making money again.  Dare to dream.

SEO Book

I've been asked about the SEO book, which I haven't read yet by the way.  It is an ebook by Google and it's free to all.  So, here is a link to the book.

eHow........An Endangered Species?

I've stopped writing articles for eHow except for a recipe that I wrote a few weeks ago.  Many of the more seasoned writers have removed their articles from eHow and transferred them to Bukisa or Xomba and/or other sites that pay for content.
The ongoing technical problems at eHow are too numerous to mention.  But the BIG problem, and the reason that so many people are leaving the site, is the new eHow in the United Kingdom.  eHow management, in their infinite wisdom, decided to start a sister website in the UK. (rather than fixing the problems that they're having with the site in the US).  Since they needed articles to get the site going, they used all, or at least most, of OUR articles.  That would be fine if we were getting paid for our articles on the UK site, but we are not.  Our articles are showing up on Google searches as eHow.com/uk.  So if someone wants to search.....How to Boil Water, the top search on Google will be the UK site instead of the US site.  That person will read the article and learn how to boil water and the author of the article doesn't make any money.  Our earnings at eHow have plummeted as a result of this debacle.
Everyday there are complaints from eHow members.  Some have contacted eHow's legal department, some have consulted an attorney of their own.  eHow hasn't actually admitted that they've done anything wrong but they did assure us that our articles will be removed from the UK site.  I don't think that it's just some computer tech making that statement (he's just the messenger), my guess is eHow's legal department issued that assurance.  We were told that it will take a few weeks to take the articles off the UK site, that means a few more weeks of plummeting earnings to look forward to.

Google Does Not Like Plagiarists!!

As you know I reported two plagiarized articles to Google.  The article that was on the Chinese website has been removed.  It's good to know that Google takes plagiarism seriously, and actually does something about it!  The other article is on a website that originates in India, still waiting to hear from Google on that one.

The Plagiarism Saga

Well there has been no response yet from Google regarding either plagiarizing website.  I've been told that it takes a few weeks to get results.  I had posted a public comment on the website that took my Rare Book Conservator article.  That website originates in China, so a nice person who I don't even know, translated my comment into Mandarin Chinese just to be sure that they get the message.  Click here to meet that person.