Suite101 for writers

Suite 101 is another website to write for when looking for a monthly residual income. Unlike eHow and Hubpages, you have to actually apply with suite101, supplying them with two sample articles that you have written. I got an approval letter from then within 24 hours of submitting my application. With suite101 you can choose to write about whatever you wish, however, they are a bit more strict about things. For instance, if you use a photo in your article you have to supply a photo credit. They also have a specific way they would like the articles to be written to improve key word optimization.

After you have submitted an article to suite101, an editor will read it within a few days (sometimes it may be a week, or so). They may give you suggestions for improving the article. These are only suggestions and do not have to be changed. I did have one article that I wrote and put in too much of my own opinion into it, therefore, they made the article inactive until I was able to re-write it better. As with demandstudios, most of the editors are helpful, but you may still come across one that comes off as being a bit rude or a “know it all”. Being a writer, you have to learn to just let things slide off of your back and not take them too personally.

Also, with suite101 you have to submit a minimum of 10 articles every 3 months. I thought this may be a bit difficult but it hasn’t been so far. I’ve even used some of my rejected demand articles for suite101 with no problems.

Now, I’m not quite sure how this happens, but my suite101 articles seem to get a lot more traffic than any of my articles on hubpages, or eHow. For instance, one of the first articles I wrote on suite was one for St. Patrick’s Day (it was about that time) and within a few days I had over a thousand hits. Last week I wrote one about Cedar Point (an amusement park in Ohio) and when I checked my status a few days ago, I had over 4,000 views!! In only a few days! Even though I’m not at payout yet, I have already accumulated more with suite101 than I have anywhere else, and I have less articles on suite. I’ve read the opposite on other blogs, where some writers earn more with hubpages or eHow than they do with suite. I can’t figure out why. Maybe it all depends on what subject you are writing on! Here are a few sample Suite101 articles that I have written so that you can see what sort of format they are looking for.

Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio


In my future posts, I’m going to talk about various ways for promoting your articles, and how to come up with subjects to write on, but don’t worry, even if you are not into writing, I have quite a few other money making tips to share, too.

If you have a facebook page, please do me a big favor and go to the new page I have made for this blog, “Like” it, and invite your friends! I can use all of the help I can get. Crazed Mama's Facebook Fan Page

Also, don’t forget to enter our contest in my previous post. Only 4 people have entered so far! What? Don’t you people like free stuff?? It’s free to enter, and you could win something that I think is really cool!!

Residual Income: Ehow

Ehow is one of the sites I use in my new writing adventure. Ehow and other residual income websites are different than pay per article sites because you do not get paid a set amount per article. Instead, you get paid based on different things like page views and ad clicks from your article. On eHow, you can write an article on any subject as long as it is explaining to someone HOW to do something. The platform is very simple to use, and the only complaint I have is that there seems to be a lot of glitches with the system. There have been quite a few times that I've started an article only to be told that it is under maintenance once I hit the "next" button. So, a word of advice on eHow is to make sure you save your article before putting it on their website. With the websites that focus on page views and ad clicks, you really want to focus on keyword optimization. Keywords are key! You want to come up with any and all words and phrases that you think someone may use to search for the subject you are writing about. Then you want to use those words within your article. I'm not claiming to be any sort of expert on keywords, or seo, this is just what I have learned so far.

The bad thing about these kind of websites is that you don't see any money for awhile. It could take months before you reach the payout minimum, but the good thing is that once your articles start earning money they normally earn that amount, or better every month. I've done some research and have heard of some people making $200 - $300 a month from any individual site, and I've even heard of people making around $1000 from it per month. Of course, these writers have been doing it for quite awhile and have written a lot of different articles, not just one, or two.

If you are not sure about what to write about, just give it time and make a list. Sometimes ideas will pop in my head at random times and I have made a list on my laptop so that I don't forget what they are. Whenever I get ready to write I just pull the list up and choose a topic from it to write about.

Just remember not to give up if you don't earn much the first few months, it takes time and patience. Use your key words, and promote each and every article on places like twitter, digg, stumbleupon, myspace, facebook, any kind of networking website. Promote them on your blogs, tell your friends about them, promote, promote, promote.

There are two other websites that I write for as well. I stick mainly with the pay per article sites during the week, but try to write at least one article per week for the residuals. I will be writing about the other two soon.

Here are some of the articles I have written on Ehow so that you can get an idea as to what your articles will look like and what ehow is about.

How to Videos & Articles: eHow.com

*If you already write for ehow, feel free to add me as a friend!*