Persevering: Lessons from HubPages
Lessons in building HubPages: Perseverence
It was November of 2006 when HubPages had its first breakthrough with traffic. I remember getting a call from my wife saying she had traffic.
We had spent nearly eleven months building the site and had been live for over three months before there was that first step up in traffic. There is a belief that products should be built quickly, tested quickly in market and then iterated on or scrapped. The problem with this is that products like ours requires a fair amount of time to know if authors will be successful with them. Had we not kept going, conventional wisdom would say pivot. Do something else. We didn't.
We've learned lots about the effort and time it takes for a community of authors to become successful. That in turn helps us decided what to build, what to scrap, and what to fix.
Each day there are over a thousand new people that sign up for HubPages. Each one has to go through this learning process of putting in the work and the time to becoming successful much like we did.
The lesson I've learned from starting HubPages from an idea to the number four blogging (comscore defines this) platform (#1 Blogger, #2 Wordpress, #3 Tumblr, #4 HubPages). Lots of people will try, most will fail. Persevering over time is the key to this business. For us and for authors.
Comments
I can't understand the success of either Tumblr or Wordpress AT ALL.
I'm finding that .....some folks who are interested in writing online - just don't seem to want any sort of income from that.
I see those same folks sometimes complaining about being broke.
Hubpages is great. I did not see a lot of success in the beginning, but stuck with HP for over a year and now see quite a lot of success, in terms of traffic and part-time income.
I have not been here long, but i intend to be here for the long haul. I spend every spare moment working on some aspect of writing or learning how to write. I love the site. Thanks for sticking with it.
All your guys at Hubpages central have done a superior job for all us Hubbers. Thanks for all your efforts, It has been a good three years for me writing and learning.
HubPages is an exceedingly interesting place to learn from people with different backgrounds, aspirations, and skills.
I definitely appreciate what Hubpages has accomplished and I'm proud to be involved in writing here. Congratulations!
Love the writing community here and the excellent earning potential. It does take time and hard work to finally start to earn a decent income but it is so worth it!
I love writing and now because of joining HubPages I am earning a part time income.
I just joined and find the community here to be great, fun and interesting. i have learned a great deal about how to not only build a hub, but to improve my blogs on blogger. Thanks, in my book hubpages is number one!
Very inspirational indeed. =)
Thank you for hanging in there. Because you are reaching your goals, I can learn how to reach mine.
I do hope HubPages continues to succeed. (Although the seas do seem pretty stormy at times!)
I'm really glad you took the risk and followed through.
I was going to flag this post as being short-- but for several reasons I thought better of it.
1.Brevity is the soul of wit.
2. "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White.
3.paraphrase: ' Articles should be like skirts.. short enough to be interesting and long enough to cover the subject.'--- reference to be looked up.
Great hub Paul, and thank you for hubpages, it's a great site. One day when i accomplish my mission of being a professional sportswriter I'll loo back and remember that it all started here. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to start something that people can notice.
Well, I'm only six months in, but I plan on sticking it out.
HubPages has a range of writers that can not be matched. From the newest newbie to the polished experience generally found only within the pages of the Masters. It would be difficult to find a more creative place to land!
Thanks for hanging in there Paul!
Cheers~
K9
I was introduced to Hubpages about 8 months ago, but I did not add any content to the site for 5 or so of those months.
For the last 3 months I have written 12 hubs. I am still learning from all the amazing, talented and helpful Hubbers on the site! Thank you Paul for creating such an amazing site for writers!
Perseverance and the willingness to learn is the key to success here for sure.
I have learned a lot as a writer here, and have met many wonderful people. Thank you Paul and your team for all the hard work you have done to make this place a special place to be and for bringing so many different people together. Perseverance does pay off.
Well perseverance is the key to success.Thank you for creating such an amazing site !!!
I have seen from an authors perspective with my own and speaking over time with others that perseverance is a key indicator. There are other reasons why some of us have seen some success (thats a subjective word as success mans different things for different people) here on HubPages.
I feel that it is perseverance, and a great many other tasks that help those authors to stand out. Short term goals coupled with long term vision also helps over time.
With what you suggest in this hub and without the authors here, we would not do well on HubPages, consequently HubPages would not rank as well as it does. Its the synergy that works, and works really well. Even during those times that perseverance is required in abundance.
I'd never heard of HubPages--or any other writing site--prior to January of 2008. Heck, I didn't even know such things as Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter existed!
But I was spending money and time on an Internet Marketing course that did one very important thing for me: It introduced me to all of those sites and many more.
My first hub was published on January 31, 2008.
My 1,000th hub was published on November 9, 2011.
I use Facebook and Twitter to promote my Hubs, but for almost nothing else. I've abandoned the other dozen (or so) sites along the way: Squidoo, MySpace, Ezine Articles, LinkedIn, Digg, etc. etc.
All of which is my windy way of saying: You got it right, Paul...and it's to my everlasting credit that I sensed that early on, realized I'd found a "writing home", and settled in for the long haul.
Now, let's see, in order to knock of #3....
I have enjoyed being a part of hubpages and want to thank you for your perservance.
You have a done a great job Paul and continue to be an inspiration. Finding hubpages has fulfilled a lifelong desire to write. The nice part is here I get support and suggestions as well as learn from the talent of others. I hope hubpages is everlasting! Thanks for sharing "Jeff."
It's cool to see how far an idea can go. Love the site. Keep up the good work.
If you do research anywhere on the net you will see how much this site has spread and is considered one of the best authoritative sites rating 6/10 which is phenomenal. As I tell people where I do the majority of my writing, they check it out and agree how diverse and functional HubPages is. here's to your innovation!
I came across hubpages accidently and I am glad I did. I enjoy hubpages very much. I still haven't made a great deal of money, but I beleive that will change soon. thanks for the uplifting hub.
I feel I have been on that journey with you with its ups and downs. For me it's good to see traffic getting back to where it was 12 months ago...
good article and somewhat encouraging...
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. (T. A. Edison)
In my mind, at least, HubPages is #1. Always! I'm verymuch in favor of the way you handled Panda. You can't keep the good guys (US!) down.
I've been at it for 2 years now. I only have 57 hubs, but I have four blogs to feed. Alas I still haven't made my first AdSense payoff. I'm spending more time now trying to figure out what the problem is than I spend writing. But I'm not a quitter.
I tried everything else ezine articles, squidoo, blogging, facebook, linked in and it was all like sending it to a black hole until.........
HUBPAGES!
You are the best. Thank you for hanging in there.
Lela Bryan
Paul, thank you for sticking with it. I don't know what I would do without HubPages. I read the article by Simone in the newsletter this morning about the two bills they are trying to pass that would do away with HubPages. I hope that day never comes. That would be a really sad day.
Well it is getting a bit better again and I am glad. Still a long way to go to the top earner lol
Perseverence is the key. My income the first year was negligible but it has grown and continues to grow. I haven't read the article by Simone. I agree with Jamie Brock...that would be a sad day indeed if HubPages would ever cease to exist. It just can't happen!
I think Hubpages has a bright future.
Best Holiday wishes Paul and thank you for creating such a user-friendly blogging platform. I have been amazed at the generosity and talent of the HP writers and the energy of people like Simone on staff. I find I am writing in a blind spot of HP because every time I try to categorize my articles as personal improvement or life lessons etc., I have to shoehorn it into not quite accurate slots and still an audience finds me.
I was gratified to find that 4 of the people I used in my Murder by Chatroullette series were in the TechCrunch Disrupt event. It is a great time to build relationships and HP has been a superlative place to find them. =:)
When Google Panda hits HubPages, I know that you and your staff will find a solution....I know it was a steep learning curve and you have that Personal Qualities that leads the team to continue and you made it.....All the Best for 2012 !!!
thejeffriestube 6 months ago
Indeed it's true, in the same way you stuck with it, authors like us need to stick with it and just keep writing. Great Hub and an inspiration.