Who is Armywriter? He is honest, sometimes too honest, with a strong sense for telling the truth in his own words. He is a soldier, a combat veteran of multiple foreign conflicts and a leader in the ranks. He is a single father, a brother and a son, among various other blessings. He shares all of that with the people he sees by day and by night but he is also something more; a writer.

God Bless Triond. I was merely browsing different topics online back in July of 2006, mainly looking for advice on how to raise my Alaskan Husky. I accidentally stumbled across a website called Triond. Since I was bored I looked into it, shrugged at the thought of committing time to it and went on to playing Fantasy Baseball on Yahoo! Sports.

A few days later I began thinking about that website again. Finally I convinced myself to just give it a try. Knowing full well that I never wanted my work (the Army) to find out I was writing (it is none of their business) I decided to find a pen name that would conceal my identity whilst still revealing a very important aspect of who I am. Thus, merely by accident, Armywriter was born. Now if you Google the word Armywriter  I am all over the screen.

Since I have extensive experience in construction (I was a combat engineer once upon a time) I decided to try writing a few home improvement articles. Since I was also learning so much about Alaskan Husky’s I decided to write one about that. They did well actually and that first Husky article has earned well over a thousand views and several dollars. Not bad for a guy who knew absolutely (And I admit still doesn’t.) know anything about computers or social networking.

The love of writing became my source of escape. When I cleared over one hundred dollars in a year I decided that my hobby might just be a decent savings plan. So I implemented that and I simply look at my earnings as free money or a reward for having fun with my hobby. Once a year I take all revenues earned and move them into my retirement savings account. Then those earnings earn interest.

I also found that I have a voice. Since I am an expert in knowledge of military oriented things I have written articles as an outlet for my PTSD and my contempt for the wrongs I witness in this lifestyle. It works. I also love to write how to articles about home improvement to share knowledge with others. I worked as a journeyman plumber for a while during a brief break in service and I witnessed several fellow plumbers ripping off their customers. To help end this I provide tutorials. As a reward I earn $8 a month from one, $4 from another, $.40 from another and so on. I’ve never begged for their views or kissed any ass (don’t be offended if you do that, like I said, I’m just too honest) and will never do anything of the sort. It’s just not me. I don’t write for that reason; I already make enough for my daughter and I to live comfortably.

Don’t get me wrong though, I would love nothing more than to write for a living. Who on here wouldn’t? I just don’t have the time that others do to research (yes, I tend to do a lot of research for many of my articles) and sit there and go over the words I have written. I’m not a great writer, that is for sure.

Triond in itself has evolved along with me. I can remember only two websites that they had back when I signed up: Quazen and Picable. Now they have Webupon, Sportales, Scienceray, Healthmad and many, many others. They didn’t have the profile page or the view tools or the discussion forums like they do now. I’m glad that they continue to strive to provide a better environment for the writers to network and succeed. They are innovative and resourceful. I am proud to say I am an elder writer for them.

How do you earn on Triond? Honestly? Try reading Athlyn Green’s tutorials. Look at how Beatrice Adams or Darlene McFarlane or hjf or gaffneygirl have succeeded over the years. Learn from them; learn from their expert advice or just their general writing. I can vouch that they are successful at not only writing but just being good human beings as well.

Some people bash Triond.  Oh well, they don’t deserve this great company. Triond offers you the chance to succeed. If you fail it is not their fault. They split the earnings with you 50/50. They want you to succeed, trust me.

Finally I would like to say don’t get discouraged if your article doesn’t take off. Look at it closely, ask a friend on the site or there at home to read it and give an honest assessment of your work. Ignore spammers and jerks who write ignorant comments. Relook over your title, description and your keywords, and then try to edit it. (I can remember when there wasn’t an option to edit.) Read other related articles to pick up ideas from successful authors. Or simply just write because you love to. I am sure you will do great if you choose to put in the time and effort.

In the next three years I will be looking for Triond to be even better. I look forward to publishing more articles and making new friends. I look forward to reading and learning as I go. I look forward to adding more into my savings, hopefully, a lot more.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to thank Judy Sheldon. I will never forget her kindness toward me during my last deployment to Iraq. She posted comments about me to others, really kind comments about my service. That may have been the brightest spot in all the time I have had here at Triond. Thank you Judy.