Daily Two Cents - Are They Spread Too Thin?

When I signed up at Daily Two Cents in 2014, I was looking forward to writing short articles (100 words). At that time the owners of DTC also owned another writing platform, WritEdge. Okay, so they owned 2 sites, one with a 100 word minimum and the other a 400 word minimum. 

But shortly after I joined they began setting up more writing sites, one right after another. They have one that is for reviews of anything (movies, products, TV shows, etc.) that site is HonestReviewz. Then there's Listofied (top 5, top 10 of anything), another is Trendzic, that site is all about selling any product. I was beginning to think that maybe they're spreading to thin. They continued starting up more and more sites...poetry & fiction, crafts, news and current events, and more, lots more. Some sites are pending completion.

What do you suppose began to happen? That's right, the writers at DTC stopped publishing there and went to the niche sites to write. Here it is November 2015 and the two owners of all these sites are telling the few remaining at DTC that we need to publish more articles or they will have to shut the site down. Well, who didn't see that coming? I guess Michelle and Danielle didn't.

Lost in a Sweep

eHow closed their Writer's Compensation Program (WCP) and in the process they lost or removed some of my articles.  Then to complicate things, Xomba revamped their website and misplaced 9 of my articles.  Fortunately, I have everything saved on my computer's hard drive. I put some of the lost articles on Bukisa  and for the remaining homeless articles I made a Squidoo lens. I call it 'Articles Lost in a Sweep'.

Featured on RedGage

RedGage featured my Cats On A Plane story.  I got a nice bonus for it too!!  $4.90.  It's really easy to earn money on RedGage with links, photos and blogs.  You can start earning money on RedGage, click here to join.

eHow Finally Did It

eHow finally did the unthinkable.  They are discontinuing the Writer's Compensation Program (WCP).  This means they will be removing all articles from their site by May 31, 2011.  They're giving us the opportunity to sell our articles to Demand Studios (eHow's parent company).  If we accept their one-time, lump sum offer, Demand Studios will own all the rights, and we forfeit use of the article.  What a mess!   I want to retain my articles, I'll simply publish them elsewhere.  NO DEAL!

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.