Writing for Bright Hub

I was hired to write for Bright Hub back in November. It has taken me until February to figure out how the site works. It is a confusing place to write and they've been doing some restructuring in addition.

Bright Hub offers $10 per article for writers in community managed channels. Community managed channel means that you have an editor and have to have all titles approved before writing them. In addition to the upfront payment writers are given ad sharing revenue. The website claims it is 60%, but sixty percent of what? It seems to be a very closely guarded secret. Some of my first articles have over 500 page views and I haven't seen a penny from revenue sharing. I've seen other writers claim to be earning $70 a month from previously written articles. I plan to keep writing and see how that works out, but I have other sites, such as eHow and Suite where I can earn a lot more per article. From what I have read, I estimate that most writers earn approximately 10 cents a month in revenue sharing per article at Bright Hub.

For those that want upfront payment, it is a good option. However, in the long run I think you could earn more elsewhere. I earn $1 per month/per article at eHow and 50 cents per month/per article at Suite. Here's the math for a three year period. (Three years isn't unreasonable because all my articles are still earning after 2 years.)

Amount Earned per Article
Bright Hub Editor Managed Channel - $10 + $3.60(10 cents a month X 36 months) = $13.60
eHow - $36 (1 dollar a month X 36 months)
Suite - $18 (50 cents a month X 36 months)

For writers in self-managed channels, there is no editor and no title approval. However, writers earn strictly revenue sharing. As Bright Hub says on it's website, the reason you might want to write for a self-managed channel is because it probably pays better than writing for your own blog.

I currently write for the Google and Green Living editor managed channels. Yesterday, I applied to the Special Ed channel also. The Special Ed channel is editor managed, as well. Once hired for Special Ed, I am planning to write for a self-managed channel (parenting), to compliment and link back to my writing at the special ed channel. So, you can do both and use them to draw traffic to one another.

Article Content Provider

Today, I applied to Article Content Provider. The web form asks you to provide a homepage and a blog. As a writer, it is always a good idea to have a professional webpage. Your webpage is like your portfolio, listing each of the websites where you write and lists your blogs too. A professional webpage makes quick and easy work of apply for new freelance writing jobs by submitting your website.

Back to Article Content Provider, the positions they are currently accepting application for are:
Article Writer
Blogger
Webpage Content Writer
Coder/Programmer
Web Designer
Virtual Assistant / Odd Jobs
Other (please explain under comments

After filling out the web form, I got a auto response in my email telling me my application had been submitted. For those that are considering applying... it went to my spam box. Check your spam folder if you apply and do not hear back.

Update:
After waiting 3 days, as the initial email indicated, I didn't hear anything from Article Content Provider. In addition, their website looked a little unprofessional. I have other writer friends that work for this website, so I am not going to dismiss this opportunity yet, but beware if you decide to apply.

Work at Home To Do List

1. Write the Mahalo rush How-to that I accepted.
2. Print my CAHSEE schedule for ETS.
   
3. Apply to Demand Studios
4. Apply to About.com
5. Write the article I accepted from eCopywriters that is due at 1:30 today.
   
6. Return the favor for all my eHow and Squidoo friends that comments.
   
7. Fix my Squidoo Lens 101 Best Websites for the Freelance Writer. The plexo voting tool went haywire and I lost half my links.
   
8. Set up links in this Squidoo lens: 9 Questions Every Freelance Writer Should Know Before Writing for a Website
9. Edit rejected Info Barrel article to be at least 400 words.
   
10. Finish 12 3 Squidoo lenses to become a Giant Squid:

• lens roll them
• add more content
• check the health stats and edit as needed
• link them all to my other lenses through the Discovery Tool.
  

Writing for Bright Hub

Bright Hub is a new website hiring writers. The pay is enticing offering $10.00 up front payment + $1.00 payment per backlink to the article, and on top of all that residuals on the article too! You really can't beat that. The residuals can add up to a decent amount of earnings as well.

When initially publishing with Bright Hub, the title selection process was confusing. After being there several months, I have finally learned the ropes. Titles are available at the beginning of the month. Some "channels" simply give keyword phrases, rather than titles. At this time, the location of the available titles vary between channels. Some have them published under the channels writer community. Other channels have the titles available on a Google docs spreadsheet. However, in April 2010, Bright Hub is going to streamline it's article title selection process, so that may change.

If you sign up mid-month, or do not request a title at the beginning of the month, you may submit your own writing ideas to the managing editor of the channel. After your title is approved, you have until the latter part of the month to publish it. Bright Hub writing deadlines are usually a few days before the end of the month.

When you start you will have a lot of feedback from the editors about how to improve you writing according to Bright Hub's standards. I've written for other websites with editors, but I have never had so much interaction with them. Bright Hub has very specific criteria for it's writers.

According to the Bright Hub contract, writers must have a predetermined number of views by the end of their first year to remain a writer. Bright Hub articles rank well with search engines and get good exposure, so that shouldn't be a difficult task, however, new writers are limited to only 5 articles per month between all channels until they have reached proficiency. This level of proficiency is determined by a "score" that isn't clearly defined. Many Bright Hub writers have reached this proficiency level and are not capped at 5 articles a month.