Celebrating My 500th Triond Publication
This article is in celebration of my 500th article on this site.
I joined Triond in May 2007 when it was very different. Then it was a small, tight knit community where everyone supported everyone else and high standards of writing were expected. Now it has become large. Things have changed a great deal for the established members. Anyway, that’s my personal opinion.
During my time on Triond I have posted five hundred articles. In fact, this is my 500th. That’s certainly a lot of work and I have often read comments where writers say that they want to achieve 500 articles, then they will be earning a good monthly amount. I have to say that although I do earn a reasonably good monthly payout from Triond, it in no way compensates for the hours of writing, editing and marketing that I have done.
The truth is that you could write 500, or even 1000 articles on Triond but if you don’t spend time marketing them, you will still only earn pennies. At the start of my Triond membership I was told by successful members that the only way to succeed was to write good stuff and market it and not to stop, so that my income would grow. That has been good sound advice and I would certainly pass it on to others.
So, how do I work the system?
First I write my article and try to make it at least 350 words (preferably 400) so that search engines have something to work on when they index it. (Not every article reaches 350 words but a general rule it is what I aim for.) Then I edit my work a couple of times but there are still times when typos and other errors get through, so I am always pleased when friends point our errors which I promptly fix.
Articles can be on any subject but I have learned to use keywords carefully to help search engines find my work. Keywords…………
After publication I start marketing and add my article to search engines, then to the social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. I add a link to various forums and continually work on marketing where I see the opportunity. I have managed to automate much of this so that it doesn’t take quite so long to do.
This gives reads and earns me money from each article, every month. I might earn a few extra dollars when I publish an article and it generates lots of hits, but the important ones are those that earn me money every month, year after year.
So, that’s how I do it for anyone who wants to know. 500 posts later I am still learning about marketing and writing and I learn a lot from other people too.
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November 21st, 2009 at 11:34 am
congratulation
Enjoy !
November 21st, 2009 at 11:42 am
A well deserved CONGRATULATIONS! You deserve the praise Louie. We met here when it was a small site and I have never regretted our meeting. You are a good writer and supportive friend.
November 21st, 2009 at 11:48 am
thanks – always good advise. thanks
November 21st, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Congratulations, Louie. I really wish you the best.
We will be waiting for the next 500.
Good luck
November 21st, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Yay you!!
November 21st, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Congratulations. I’m one of those people aiming for 500 pieces. I still have 300 to go.
November 21st, 2009 at 2:03 pm
500, yeah… and now up to 1000! Congratulations!
November 21st, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Louie, I also joined in 2007 but have been no where near as busy. You’ve also published a couple of books and stay active on other sites and blogs. I have come to the conclusion that you don’t sleep.
With 23 grands, 2 great grands and a full time job my attention is often distracted. You have to love writing to put as much into it as we do. Good luck with your next 500 and congrats on these.
November 21st, 2009 at 3:08 pm
As an outsider, here’s what I’d like to know: does anyone ACTUALLY (in truth, in earnest) read these writings, outside the community of people who write for Triond themselves?
I am asking because I know two friends of mine are also writing for this site/company. They are A+ writers, NYT-material. But they tell me that the “views” apparently reflect very little actual (outside) viewing, if any at all.
They have – or at least one of them has – “shared” their all of their writings, individually, through various popular channels (StumbleUpon, Digg, etc.)
They write about very interesting stuff, and their titles are catchy. An yet nobody reads their stuff. I mean, NOBODY (or maybe up to 40 or 50 people in more than ten days).
Which leads me to believe nobody – or very few people – outside this site really reads these articles. (I came here through reaing my friends’ articles – and notice I am not mentioning their names or their articles.)
Unless you have a huge network of “friends”, of course. Mny of the articles I’ve read reflect this in the comments: “very nice” “thanks”, “very informative”… Yeah sure: that’s what “friends” usually say.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But not all people have the interest or the time to dedicate themselves to “networking”, especially to just earn a few bucks.
But what’s the point of writing articles for sites like this one, then?
Anyway: congratulations.
I mean it.
November 21st, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Well done Jan and thanks for the tip,. I always enjoy reading your works.
Kind regards and all the best for the next 500
Tim
November 21st, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Pretty Polly, I have articles with thousands of reads on them going back over more than two years. All it takes is work. Anyone who wants a quick buck is wasting their time. If your friends who write put the effort into marketing they would make more money. I earn a very nice passive income from articles that I have marketed. By the way, the number of comments does not equal the number of reads. I have regular reads from other sites that have picked up my articles.
The point is that it earns me a good monthly income, but to get that you have to be willing to work. Most of my reads are from search engines and networking sites.
I am proof that it can be done!!! I too am short of time because I run three businesses, study and run a house, so I have to make time to market my writing. If you really want to make a success of it, you find the time.
November 21st, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Congratulations on reaching 500 articles. Thank you for your very useful advice, it is very helpful to get advice from someone who has been using Triond for a long time.
November 21st, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Congratulations! Thank you for the tips. It is nice to know that someone has achieve what we all are striving for, and good to know that we have to put the effort and won’t happen in a flash. It inspires me not to look at cents and keep writing, thanks.
November 21st, 2009 at 7:34 pm
First an formost, congrats! Second, keep the lead, teach and carry the candle. You’ll never know who will take up your journey. Friend, fan, smile
November 21st, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Congratulations! Your articles are always a joy to read, I am looking forward to the 501st
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:22 am
Thank you for sharing your story and tips through this article. As a new member of Triond, I treasure this post as a guide to success in online writing. Congratulations to you! You have earned my respect and I’m sure of other writers here in Triond.
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:46 am
wow 500 thats gr8..keep it up
November 22nd, 2009 at 3:49 am
Congratulations to you on your 500th article at Triond!
I agree with you that articles should be something worthwhile to the readers. Even though I wrote fewer articles than some writers, I had 1,800+ views so far in that article published 9 days ago. This is 13 times the number of Likes and Comments made by Triond writers. And if you look at viewership of Triond at http://www.talkreviews.com/triond.com, you will notice that 500K unique visitors visited the site in October 2009.
So I would say our readers are not only Triond writers but a significant number come from outside of Triond.
I also agree that we should systematically market our articles in other sites. I tried at Booksie, which right away added page views to my article.Google Adsense is effective in monitoring those page views.
November 22nd, 2009 at 3:58 am
Wow! 500 articles..congratulations Louie..you’re already as a triond’s idol and ..few more steps to become gurus level..I mean ‘my guru’..lol..Keep it up..cheers
November 22nd, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Congratulations, thanks for the tips!
November 24th, 2009 at 8:56 am
nice one….
November 26th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I am in awe of your productivity! 500 articles over 18 months! Keep up the good work! I have read quite a few of your recent articles and they are easy to read. It is great to hear that an income can be earned on Triond. I guess it is about developiong a critical mass of good articles. I am aiming at 5-10 a week – I just hope I have your stamina and persistence!
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Congratulations!! I’m excited at having 28 articles published so far, knowing I still have a wonderful journey ahead of me. Thanks for the word length hint. I see I now need to learn about marketing.
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:29 am
Congratulations, Louie. You certainly are industrious! Thanx for the article and the tips.
December 18th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Congratulations! I celebrated when I published my 50th article with Triond. 500 articles – Wow!
I have now published about 250 and they generate very little income. I have been rather shy about marketing. I applaud the energy that you have invested in making writing into a ‘passive” career.
January 11th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
In the spirit of magicdarts you should have celebrated 501! – good work though thanks for all your support and help!!