Yes, my eHow articles earn money.

Several months ago, the online content company I worked for as an independent contractor announced there would be a month off between contracts. Since I depended on the contract for a large portion of my freelance writing income, I had to start looking for a replacement quickly.

I knew about eHow already, but had never written for them directly. They recently launched a Writer's Compensation Program, which offers writers a share of the ad revenue earned from the pages they write.

Many are reluctant to sign up with eHow because the site is secretive about how earnings are calculated and what share of the ad revenue writers receive. I decided to give it a whirl with an article I had been planning to write for the content company. I figured I had almost nothing to lose. I would have been paid $11 for the article otherwise, and was curious what it would earn on eHow.

So far, my first eHow article has earned $35.28 in 2.5 months. If it continues at the same rate for the rest of the year, it will earn $169.34 in 12 months.

Shortly after I wrote my first article and saw my earnings begin to pick up, I started writing more short how-to articles. Money was part of the motivation; as a freelance writer, money is important.

I also enjoyed sharing my knowledge on the Web for others to come accross and hopefully benefit from. I chose topics I knew about and could research easily from my home library, so the writing process was pretty smooth.

Another reason I kept writing was knowing that I was writing "for myself" now. My rights to my work were mine. I retained control over my article, and could edit or remove it at any time. I could also use my real name if I chose, and have a byline to show others.

I also liked the fact that I didn't simply receive a one-time payment. With eHow, I would keep earning money for the articles I wrote months ago.

I have over 140 articles in my eHow library. I'd like to create a large enough collection that I can keep earning substantial passive income from eHow even if I quit writing altogether. I figured, if my articles earn an average of $5 a month, all I need to do is divide my passive income goal (say $2,000 a month) by 5 and that's the number of quality articles I need to have online (400 ... yikes, that's a lot of writing.)

I enjoy freelance writing, so writing "for myself" at places like Hub Pages and eHow makes sense as it allows me to create streams of somewhat residual income that continue long after I've published the articles.

HubPages is great for longer articles and essays; eHow only works for short how-to style pieces. It's good, as a writer, to have both platforms for my creativity.

As far as I know, the share of ad revenue from eHow is the only stream of income from the site, although you can also link your eHow articles to your website, Hub pages or other things you'd like to promote. They do not have an affiliate program for referring new writers, as Hub Pages does.

If you're interested in another stream of income from your online writing, check out eHow. You might be surprised ... I was.

(Bukisa ID #115888)

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