maddie member for 1 year 29 weeks Send a message

Last Monday, a CNN article talked about user-generated content sites and the ever-blurring lines between professional and amateur writers. As a staff member at HubPages.com, I was disappointed we didn't get a mention, but the point of the article nevertheless hit home for me. The internet has become the great equalizer in many ways, and while we're very familiar with the dangers of web anonymity, it's important to notice the positives as well, and how we can use them to our advantage.

When I began my career as a freelance writer, I had not even an English-related BA to my name. At first, this seemed an almost insurmountable obstacle to success. These days, without a college diploma in hand, it's hard to get anyone to give your resume a second glance. I had enough confidence in my skills to know that I could knock the socks off of anyone who would give me a chance, but without that "golden ticket," it seemed impossible to get even a toe in the door.

So I took matters into my own hands. Knowing virtually nothing (no pun intended!) about web publishing or user-generated content sites, I signed up at HubPages (a site that allows users to easily publish their niche knowledge and earn AdSense revenue on their pages), more to give my work a platform and build my credentials than actually hoping to make money. Little did I know...

Within 4 or 5 months, I was making $10 a day from ads displayed on my articles, and I'd built my own following of hundreds of fans, simply by publishing an average of 15 500-word "hubs" each month. Now, almost a year after joining the site, and partly thanks to HubPages' new YieldBuild technology, developped to optimize ad click-throughs and earnings, I make about $1000 a month from AdSense alone (HubPages also supports the Amazon and EBay affiliate programs, where users can make commission from relevant products displayed on their pages). It's nice to know that my rent is paid every month without me having to lift a finger! And of course, the exposure I received on the site helped me land other gigs, online and off. When I made the transition to HubPages staff, I had more work than I could handle.

Given the success I was enjoying, I was hesitant to transition from freelancing to employment under an official corporation. But when an opening came up at HubPages, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to give back, and to help shape the future of a site that had done so much for me and my career.

It turned out to be a great decision. I love the start-up atmosphere, not to mention the satisfaction I enjoy from faciliatating a platform that has the potential to be launching pad for others' success, as it has been mine. The company's still small (only 12 people--all men, save myself!), but we're quickly gaining notoriety as the premier online publishing ecosystem, both for our quality content and high search engine rankings.

Quantcast ranks us in the top 400 sites in the world, with over 6 million unique visitors to the site every month. We've enjoyed flattering write-ups in TechCrunch and Mashable, and Google itself even made a case study of the site. Recent statistics show that HubPages gets over four times the traffic per page of content than our rival Squidoo. This obviously also makes the site extremely attractive for business owners and webmasters for search engine optimization (SEO) and publicity purposes.

If you're interested in writing, or have something to promote, feel free to drop by the site and take a tour. For your own sake, however, I'd recommend taking a look at my own hub on overly promotional content before publishing, just so you're clear on our rules. I'd hate to have to moderate you. *Wink wink!*

I guess the moral of this long-winded story is this: success isn't as untouchable as you may think. It's within reach, but you'll never know it if you don't extend your arm. Wishing you the best of success on all your own endeavors...

Keep it safe, ladies, and keep it sassy!