Writing 100 Articles in 30 Days HubPages Challenge: Lessons from Week One

I started a different challenge on my first day on HubPages, although I didn't know it at the time. I successfully finished 30 hubs in less than 30 days. Even though I didn't officially join the challenge of 30 hubs in 30 days, because I wasn't sure I could do it, I did manage to meet it.

To increase the challenge, and to get well established quickly on HubPages, I decided to join the 100 Hubs in 30 Days Challenge. This will be difficult challenge, since I have been writing one or two hubs a day, but I think the additional challenge will be worth it. Writing three quality hubs a day, every day, is no easy task.

[Edited to add: This challenge is now finished.] This hub describes my progress during the first week. I've learned a great deal about writing hubs, making money online, and about myself.

Today I managed to write four hubs. I learned that it is possible to write that many quality hubs in one day. I became more efficient in making decisions. I learned how to reject a mediocre picture or a video quickly instead of allowing it to remain as a possible candidate. I also became quicker at creating capsules, and moving around the site. I think this means that I can write a greater quantity of hubs without sacrificing quality.

I also shared a couple of links through Facebook. I haven't been doing that, but now that I know how easy it is, I will be doing it every time I finish a hub.

I found that it helps to have a dog who requires a daily walk, and who makes me get up from time to time so I am not staring at the computer screen all day. It is important to take breaks and take care of yourself. Sitting all day staring at the computer is not good for you.

I didn't miss watching television. I also found the time to read comments, read some hubs about writing hubs, and visit the answers and forum sections of HubPages. They provide me with ideas for topics and motivation to write.

I wrote four hubs today, which means I only need to write three hubs a day for the rest of the month.

I have some visitors from Google and Yahoo. I am glad I have finally been found by the search engines. My income has doubled. Although a few pennies doubled don't amount to much, it is still exciting for me to see the potential. My daily income is now in the double digits, not pennies. My total is over a dollar.

I also learned that I didn't have as many useful articles I could transfer over here from my blogs as I thought I did. I am going to have to write many more original articles than I thought.

I noticed that each hub has a stats link, and when I click on it, I can see the statistics for that hub. It is nice to see how lucrative each hub is, and how popular it is, and where the visitors are coming from. When I have time, I will have to review them to see what kinds of topics I should focus on. For now, I am just going to write about whatever I want.

Today, I find myself more nervous to hit the publish button, trying to produce quality hubs. How embarrassing - I only finished one hub, although I did work on several. So much for my head start.

I was reading some hubs today, and found out how to add referral links. I have gone back through my older hubs and added some, but I did not get through them all. I want to create a document that includes the URLs to all of my hubs. I had already edited my pages once to have links open in a new window. I think I will create a spreadsheet, so that I can keep track of what changes have been made, and which ones still need to be made. Who knows what other things I will learn over time that will require more changes to my older hubs?

I did manage to finish three hubs today. At least I am keeping up with my daily quota.

I am feeling burnt out. Already. Last week, while I was in London, I saw a marathon. The winner started off very quickly, trying to beat a record, but he slowed down. Even though he won, the reporter asked him whether he was disappointed that he started so quickly. Even though he had won, the interview sounded like one you would have with someone who lost.

I know I am supposed to pace myself, and take breaks. I know that life has to keep going, and I need to keep up with the laundry and the grocery shopping.

I only wrote two hubs today. 10 hubs done. Only 90 left to go. I don't feel like writing about any of the topics that are on my list of ideas. To be fair, I also wrote an article on another site, one that pays money up front. Part of the time was also spent finishing reading the book I was reviewing. Sometimes I think it might be better not to finish a book when reviewing it, especially for a fiction book, because I tend to want to talk about the end, but I don't want to give away the ending. But I'm not sure I can give an accurate review without having read the whole thing. Besides, I wanted to know how it ends.

I guess I wasn't thinking very well when I divided the 100 hubs I need into 30 days, because that means that I need to also write hubs on the weekends. Unless I change it so the 30 days are business days and not actual days. I'll have to see how it goes, but since I am running behind, I think I will use the weekends as a way to catch up. Hopefully, I will be able to write additional hubs on the week days so I can take next weekend off.

I finished some hubs I started earlier in the week and started some new ones. I did see one of my book review articles is in the top five on Google, which makes me happy. It is not a very popular or lucrative one though. I didn't look up any of the others. I need to spend my time writing more articles!

I woke up early this morning brimming with ideas for new hubs. I am excited about them, and hope that these topics will give me the energy to get a lot of hubs written.

Weekends tend to be more difficult for me, because I feel like I should be resting, and because the hubs stats do not update as quickly. It is especially disheartening to see my daily earnings are lower than the day before. I know they will fluctuate, but I want them to grow bigger each day.

I realized that November has Thanksgiving in it. This means I will need to ramp up my hubs not only for the weekends, but also for the holiday. Yikes!

I have published 15 hubs so far. Since I should be doing three a day, I should have 19 done to keep pace. At least I published three hubs today so I didn't get farther behind.

Is it cheating to include a hub about your experience in the challenge? I hope not, because I am including it. I started this hub on day one and have been adding to it every day, so I can keep track of my feelings and lessons each day.

It doesn't feel like a Monday, probably because I was busy writing hubs on the weekend. It is rainy and dreary out, and my dog Zeus kept me up last night because he is afraid of thunderstorms. He is lucky that I started a positive hub about him yesterday. I think today I will focus on finishing the hubs I have started during the week.

On my statistics page, many of my hubs have the blue arrows showing that readership is down. I have no red arrows showing that readership is up. It is strange since I am earning my cents every day, and the hub scores are going up. I've been adding links to each of the hubs to connect them to other hubs. I need to do more advertising, besides Facebook.

I should have 21 or 22 hubs finished in order to keep pace with the 100 hubs in 30 days challenge. I am at 19. I would even like to have more done, so I can take some time off for weekends or holidays.

{Edited to add: 100 hubs divided by 30 days is 3 1/3 hubs a day times seven days is 23 1/3. I should have completed 23 1/3.]

I learned that writing 100 hubs in 30 days is going to be a difficult challenge for me, even more difficult than I originally thought. I am finding that it is easier for me to write about a topic that is foremost on my mind instead of picking from a list of topics I created earlier.

I have learned that it is possible to produce quality hubs even when increasing the quantity. I am getting more efficient in taking pictures, setting up the hub, and making decisions quickly. I am especially proud of my Ugandan Africans hub from Tuesday and my Power of Compounding hub from Sunday.

I have plenty of ideas for other hubs, and look forward to continuing the 100 Hubs in 30 Days challenge.

Edited to add: Here is the information about Week Two in the 100 Hubs in 30 Days challenge.

© 2011-2012 Millionaire Tips