New Examiner.com thread

MacAllister · May 10, 2009

We'll give this one more try.

Let's remember that AW forum discussions inevitably show up on the front page of Google, okay? Don't say anything here you wouldn't say to your channel manager.

Let's also try to get along a bit better, okay? I don't care if people agree with each other's definitions or explanations - it's always fine to simply agree to disagree.

veinglory · May 10, 2009

The main reason I am cooling on Examiner is that my channel Google group and other forums are very negative. It seems like traffic is slipping and so is the mood?

herdon · May 10, 2009

The overall traffic isn't slipping, but the average per Examiner may very well be slipping. There does seem to be a decent amount of turnover -- at least in my channel.

I like writing for Examiner.com. The pay is not bad compared to other places that pay on page views and the people at the HQ are generally nice.

I am a bit disappointed at the route they have taken. I think it was the right idea at the right time with the wrong strategy. The Internet is ripe for a localized content portal with expert views. Examiner.com's mistake was using a long tail strategy. They could have really been something special if they hadn't gone down that route.

But it can be a good place to write and a good source of income if you understand the basics of writing for a place that pays on page views and have a topic that lends itself to evergreen content. And like I said, the people are generally nice.

I've tried to step back from the discussion groups and such.

KEllis · May 10, 2009

I think to make a decent amount of money there, you really have to put a lot of time into it. I didn't have the time necessary, so I quit recently. If they provided a flat base pay plus traffic incentives, then they'd probably fare better. But I understand why they don't offer base pay with their business model (with the enormous amount of writers). I would think it would make more sense to have a small number of good writers for each city and pay them more, rather than 100s of writers for each city. But we'll see how it ends up. Good luck to everyone writing there; I hope it's very successful.

herdon · May 10, 2009

Web writing based on revenue sharing is definitely something with long term results in mind. It can be a great job, but it is one of those where you have to put in a lot of time for little pay at the beginning. They pay off is that -- if you work hard -- you can build up to a full time salary and only need to put in part time hours.

I do agree that Examiner.com would be better off with fewer examiners. You could take 1/10th of the number of writers Examiner has and get more overall page views if you make sure you get quality writers, train them on how to write for the web, and build a solid site.

SouthernFriedJulie · May 10, 2009

veinglory said:
The main reason I am cooling on Examinber is that my channel Google group and other forums are very negative. It seems like traffic is slipping and so is the mood?

I've never participated in the communities-AC, eHow, or Examiner. I like the tips here. Because, I really do not mean to sound high and mighty with this, many of the writers on the first two I mentioned are not writers at all. They have no idea about writing for a living, what it is to write a query, or any of what we talk about here.

Now, I said I wasn't being high and mighty...I just find the level of ignorance in those communities unbearable. You can try to educate the ignorant-in some cases it works. I am a prime example of someone who thought that I would learn a heck of a lot from other writers at AC several years ago.

I did...I learned that if I followed a link to Absolute Write Water Cooler I would no longer be ignorant of how freelancing works.

You can blame Tsu Do Nihm for that, though I doubt he/she knows it at all. In fact, I need to thank them, I wouldn't be published now!

Anyway- writing for revenue share shouldn't be your only source of income. When you have the time, write the articles and try to build a library of content that will stream passive income. But, don't stop looking for your dream gig!

herdon · May 10, 2009

About.com has an excellent community. Now, the software the runs their internal forums is absolutely horrible. But the community of guides and the participation of staff is awesome.

princessvessna · May 10, 2009

herdon said:
About.com has an excellent community. Now, the software the runs their internal forums is absolutely horrible. But the community of guides and the participation of staff is awesome.

One thing alone that would improve the forum would be, say, topics with new posts rising to the top?

But yes, everyone is SO helpful.

Oh and for Examiner - it's tough. I have 2 sites. It's nice to have my own Urban gardening site...but I find myself thinking that the time would be better spent on About. Not sure about it all.

herdon · May 11, 2009

princessvessna said:
One thing alone that would improve the forum would be, say, topics with new posts rising to the top?

Yeah, that is real annoying. But really, the whole thing needs to be rewritten.

Robin Bayne · May 11, 2009

I resigned from Examiner.com yesterday. I considered everything, and I don't make enough for it to be worthwhile. Maybe if I had time to go out on all the promo sites and dig up more page views, but I don't.

Plus, I was getting messages quite often from the channel manager to do things differently. And being the book and blog examiner. I was mainly doing promo for other writers, bloggers and bookstores, and that was nice, but only worth it if my pay was consistent.

inkkognito · May 11, 2009

You don't have to do the social networking thing to be successful on Examiner. I'm a good case in point. I have no time for Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and the like. But I think a lot of it has to do with your subject. Mine is one that people associate with Orlando and actively search out, so as long as I consistently provide good-quality articles, I can maintain good traffic.

etrader · May 12, 2009

I wonder why my page view is always below the average; is it something usual ? or just because I am new there, and it will be improved in the course of time ?

blueobsidian · May 12, 2009

If you are new, that would explain it. Someone with a large collection of articles is going to get more hits than someone who has only posted a few already. The more you have, the more you can interlink them and the more traffic will come from search engines.

stldenise · May 12, 2009

Geez, get busy for a few days and you really miss stuff around here. I read some of the bad reviews that Examiner was given...people really miss the boat don't they?

Anyway, I just want to report that although the shine has worn off for me with Examiner, I'm still keeping it up at a slower rate. I looked at my reporting page and was happy to see that even with me doing fewer posts the last two weeks, my hits are still the same as the "average" for my channel for the month.

I'm stilling doing a wait and see with Examiner - since my city hasn't been online very long, I'm hoping that the hits will go up as people around here find me.

veinglory · May 12, 2009

I am also continuing at a relaxed rate. The cost:benefit works out best for me at a post a week or thereabouts.

MrAlex'sMommy · May 12, 2009

I'm ok with my Examiner experience so far. I know I'm definitely not going to get rich off it, but like I said in the other thread, I'm actually having fun doing it. Today is only the start of my second week, and I only got about 1,500 views in my first week, but I hope that increases as time goes on. I am noticing a daily increase in page views, so hopefully that will continue!

If not, well, I have kids so I'm used to talking to myself.

Health_Geek · May 12, 2009

MrAlex'sMommy said:
I'm ok with my Examiner experience so far. I know I'm definitely not going to get rich off it, but like I said in the other thread, I'm actually having fun doing it. Today is only the start of my second week, and I only got about 1,500 views in my first week, but I hope that increases as time goes on. I am noticing a daily increase in page views, so hopefully that will continue!

If not, well, I have kids so I'm used to talking to myself.

Same here

(and ditto on the kids LOL) My channel manager finally approved my first post last night, and this morning when I woke up I saw that my page views had doubled overnight. I've been working on a series of posts that I'll continue to post on "slow" days, and go for the editorial calendar or current events the rest of the time. I see that Friday is Bike to Work day, so I'm going to see what I can whip up for that as far as preparation, health & stress reduction benefits, etc.

etrader · May 12, 2009

blueobsidian said:
If you are new, that would explain it. Someone with a large collection of articles is going to get more hits than someone who has only posted a few already. The more you have, the more you can interlink them and the more traffic will come from search engines.

Thanks for this explanation! Yes I am new and do not expect much traffic from the beginning, but I feel the traffic is lesser than similar articles in suite101 or other competitors.

Am I right or it is just something related to my experience?

inkkognito · May 12, 2009

I think a lot has to do with your traffic. I don't have much to compare it to, other than my rev share articles at DS, but Examiner blows those away. Disney and the other theme parks are a hot topic anywhere tho' so I think that helps me a lot in terms of hits.

etrader · May 12, 2009

Thanks inkkognito,
I think my problem is that I do not understand the traffic system of Examiner (as there is no detailed traffic analysis).

Correct me if I am wrong, the average traffic for National Examiner is 200; this means that in average every article has a such traffic everyday (one article 0 views and another 400 views).

My pageviews are 20 (for 20 articles), which means each of my articles get one visit everyday. I wonder why my traffic for each article is 1 (in the range 0 - 400).

Or am I confused with the statistics?

veinglory · May 12, 2009

I assumed it meant the average hits a national examiner has received, so far that day, was 200. The count zeroes daily so it may not count a whole day. You can use the drop down to see the average for the curent or previous month, the current year etc.

etrader · May 12, 2009

veinglory said:
I assumed it meant the average hits a nationa examiner has received, so far that day, was 200. The count zeroes daily so it may not count a whole day. You can use the drop down to see the average for the curent or previous month, the current year etc.

wow thanks veinglory,
now I got the point, I did not think that the average is for an examiner (including all published articles). So now my traffic is reasonable

blueobsidian · May 12, 2009

etrader said:
Thanks for this explanation! Yes I am new and do not expect much traffic from the beginning, but I feel the traffic is lesser than similar articles in suite101 or other competitors.

Am I right or it is just something related to my experience?

I think it just depends on what you write for and how large of a network of articles you have. I get less hits on Examiner than Suite, but the $$/1000 is WAY higher than I get for writing about television. The money ends up being pretty close when all is said and done, although I have been trying to branch out and write in other subject areas on Suite to raise my average.

etrader · May 12, 2009

One interesting feature of Suite101 is that the articles make money forever, and indeed older articles make more money. Since Examiner is quite young and no statistics on articles, there is no discussion on this topic. As Examiner like other competitors get the most visitors from search engines, it should be the case for Examiner too; however, do you have any comment on this issue?

blueobsidian · May 13, 2009

I'm not quite sure what you are looking for. I suppose that my only comment is that I refuse to worry about the distant futures of any of the websites I write for. Suite could fold in a month and then my articles certainly would not be making money forever. I try to keep the majority of my Examiner posts evergreen so as long as the site remains viable, they will get hits. Plus, like with Suite, interlinking articles is a great way to give new interest to old pieces.

New Examiner.com thread

MacAllister

Tired and worried.

veinglory

volitare nequeo

herdon

What's up?

KEllis

herdon

What's up?

SouthernFriedJulie

Hidin' the bodies

herdon

What's up?

princessvessna

Garden Geek Extraordinaire

herdon

What's up?

Robin Bayne

~writes for Him~

inkkognito

Onlyifyouwanttowillyoufin daway-Enya

etrader

blueobsidian

stldenise

Scout Mom

veinglory

volitare nequeo

MrAlex'sMommy

Health_Geek

etrader

inkkognito

Onlyifyouwanttowillyoufin daway-Enya

etrader

veinglory

volitare nequeo

etrader

blueobsidian

etrader

blueobsidian