Massive Source of eHow Ideas

For anyone struggling to think of topics to write about on eHow, I have started using a new strategy when I have writer's block. This may not work for everyone, depending on what type of keywords or topics you generally go after on eHow, but I've found it helpful.

In the past, I've written on this blog about perusing forums about topics that you're interested in and searching for eHow ideas in there. Along that same path, I've recently started downloading user guides/manuals for various products and looking through those for How To's that are not common sense. Many modern electronic products as well as most pieces of software are so complex that there are many features that even regular users are not aware of. By essentially "mining" these user guides for tutorials, you are helping people discover features they never knew they had right at their fingertips.

Part of eHows terms of use involves making sure that articles aren't so obvious that they don't require a tutorial (how to open a door, for instance). So you certainly need to be sure that you aren't writing about something that is so basic it gets removed.

On a side note, my nice 5 day streak of relatively large eHow earnings has ended with things more back to normal now. It was a much needed boost though after a slow first half the September.

-Captain Iliketomakemoneyfrom eHow

Daily eHow Earnings Graph

Just a quick post for today showing my actual daily eHow earnings over the last ~2.5 months. In my eHow earnings tracking spreadsheet, I compute the actual daily earnings each day (unless of course I am unable to check for a given day or eHow doesn't update).

In case it is a little difficult to see, the dates on the bottom range from 7/09/09 to 8/17/09 and the dollar values on the y-axis range from $0 to $6. It's clear that there is a nice upward trend and you see less and less low earning days and more and more higher ones as time goes on.

There are definitely larger swings these days, as within the last week I have had a $6 day and a ~$1 day. But I will take that over consistent $.20 days anyday.

-Captain eHowius

Increased eHow Earnings - September

In the last few days I have noticed an increased amount of eHow earnings that I'm very happy with. I'm not sure if it is just my account or or an overall eHow community boost, but I hope it lasts.

As you can see in the earnings spreadsheet above (I'll do a post soon about how I created this for anyone interested), my earnings over the last three days have been $4.30, $6.02, and $4.42. The $6.02 was my highest single earning day ever which is awesome.

This has boosted my confidence that I'll be able to make $100 in eHow money this month, which is my new (although decreased) eHow goal.



-Captain eHowdy

Near Mid September eHow Earnings Update

Well 13 days into September and I'm at $27.00 even for my eHow earnings. While this is more money from eHow than I had 13 days into August (about $23), it's no where near on track for my $125 September earnings goal.

I'm really hoping the last half of this month picks up. The last several days have been more what they should be, with one of them falling into my top 5 earning days of all time ($4.30 came in today).

Nonetheless, I ended up with nearly $70 last month and I'm still ahead of that so realistically something like $80-$90 is within reason. A more realistic stretch goal for the money I plan to make from eHow this month is $100.

I also think that I need to spend a little more time researching my articles. Recently, I've found myself doing more of the "quick idea" type ones rather than ones I truly research. While sometimes those work, they are often hit and miss (good thing I write ~2/weekday). Anyways, I also plan to look more closely at existing successful articles (ones that have earned well and rank well in Google) and try to do related spinoffs.

Good luck to everyone out there.

-Captain "eHow" Crunch

Early September eHow Earnings - Work To Be Done

I wanted to give a first week of September eHow earnings update. My first week of September earnings is lower than I had expected at about $14. While $2/day is certainly not bad and I'm still a couple bucks ahead of where I was last month at this time, it's clear I have some work to do.

I read about a few other people in the eHow forums who were also having a slow start. Even if that is the case, I am going to increase my work on eHow and try to put out more than my 2 articles per weekday norm.

My $125 eHow earnings goal for this month may be unrealistic, especially if these slower than expected earnings continue but we'll see where it goes. At a minimum, I'd at least like to bring in $100 in September eHow compensation. For the time being though, I'll keep my goal at $125 and double down my efforts to get there.

How is everyone elses September going?

-Captain eHowitzer

eHow Adjusted August Earnings (Increased!)

So I just noticed today that eHow actually increased my final August earnings. Some of you may have been aware that there have been some reporting issues in the last week. For many eHow members the total dollars earned in August didn't match the payment pending amount.

Well it seems that this was finally corrected and when it was, my earnings for August actually jumped to $70.26 (they were $65.32 previously). I'll certainly take that.

I'm increasing my eHow earnings goal for September in light of this and doing a little more thinking. My July to August earnings increase was ~$40 ($30 to $70). So if I merely increase earnings by the same amount August to September, that'll put me at $110. I'd like to be a little bit more agressive than that and so I'm going to set my goal for $125 for September. Not unreasonable but it'll require a lot of effort and keep me motivated. Good luck to everyone this month!

-Captain Jean Luc eHow

Earnings Update- August eHow Earnings Goal Met!

I'm very happy to say that I've met my August 2009 eHow earnings goal of $60. In fact, I ended up at $67 and change after all was said and done. A few interesting stats:

• My average eHow earnings for the first 7 days of the month was $1.71. My average earnings for the last 7 days of the month was $2.90
• My highest single day of eHow earnings was $5.64 which I am very happy with. If/when I am able to average that amount daily, thats $2058.60 a year.
• I reached the $100 mark ($102.02) on the last day of August which is a nice milestone as well. But while it took 2.5 months to get to this $100 point, I expect to make more than that each month from here on out.

Since my average earnings per day increased by ~$1.20/day between the first and last weeks of the month, I expect that next month I can increase my average earnings by more than that over the course of September. I'd like to see a $2.00 average daily increase...so basically be at ~$4.90/day by the end of September. That would put me at $117 for the month of September, so I'll set my goal at $115 for September.

Hopefully this is motivating to anyone earlier on in their eHow work. The fact that after around 3 months of work I'll be bringing in $100/month without having to do any more work is awesome.

-Captain James eHow Kirk