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Humagaia - In nearly 40 years of being born and bred a Briton, I've never heard anyone begrudge the National Health Insurance stamps. Yes, we might whine about taxes in general, but not that. I think the British comments on this article so far are uniformly repeating that ethos. Thank you for adding your view too.

I agree that it seems a strange message for the US to send out to the world. This is why people always laugh, when we hear that rhetoric about 'land of the free' and 'democracy', while stuff like this is making international headlines.

ShersAndroid - As with brl, your take on the matter is doubly important. You have experience of both sides of the issue, which is why I'm scrutinising your comments. You've confirmed all that I was thinking. Thank you.

I have to keep reminding myself of that. Ok! Patience = victory! Maybe all new writiers like myself need to have that printed on the top of their monitors. :D

Good luck with your papers. Is that a dissertation that you're writing?

Agreed very useful stuff! Sheri I think you were the one who had trouble with Adsense because of abuse terminology being viewed as adult and inappropriate? I assume that means Chitika is more liberal? (sorry for the sideline Jo!)

CADoerr - Thank you very much!

Digby - That would be a great experiment, as you'd be running content of identical quality alongside the two biggest ad providers. I'd be fascinated to know which one worked best in the long term.

Sheri - I feel your pain. I spent days trying to decipher and implement the Adsense rules on my blog. Then had the cringe-worthy repetitive scenes of telling all of my family and friends not to click on the ads. I lasted a month before I got the highly impersonal and insulting form e-mail telling me that my account was 'in danger of invalid clicks'.

I was stunned! I searched the internet and found that this happens to 1000s of people every day. There have been unsuccessful attempts to prosecute Google over it. One person actually won his case, but Google appealed on the basis that it would cost them billions, if there was a precedent in law like that. The appeal judge reversed the ruling. (Search Aaron Greenspan for that story.)

I never did officially find out why I received that e-mail. I did appeal, but the form answer came back just saying 'no' and that they weren't at liberty to tell me why. It's all there in the terms and conditions. They don't have to give you any proof nor rationale.

I did go onto the Webmaster forum and asked there. The reason put forward by knowledgable users: it was probably because I was writing about the riots that were happening in my city. This brought too much traffic from Facebook, just when Google Plus was being launched. I was basically collateral damage in the war between those two internet giants.

It was pretty cold comfort, until I was directed to Chitika by someone already making money there. Now I feel like I dodged a bullet. Each time I've had a query, a real person e-mails me back! You always know where you are and the TOS is easy to understand.

I'm personally glad that I'm with Chitika now, though it was devastating at the time to be kicked off Adsense so early.

Patience is the key to victory! Well I am sitting over a 20-30 pages work about Wilhelm Dilthey and so no time to write anything else :)

Very interesting article :)

Thank you, Janet! I really need to take some lessons from you then, as that's the side of my writing which I need to concentrate on next.

It depends on the site about whether EC Awards make money. They do so indirectly here, because it's another publicity stream. On another site I was on, an Editor's Choice made direct money too - $10 each, plus front page publicity.

Thank you for your insight. <3

Thank you very much. :D

I have a mac Mini and absolutely love it! It is a little work horse and the best, in my opinion, is that I can take it easily with me when traveling. As long as there is a spare monitor at the end of my journey I am all set to work wherever I am ;-)

Excellent article! Really gave me some points to think about, especially the demographic bit about the Wizzley target audience as it is at the moment. It will be fun to see how the site develops ;-)

@humagaia,

As you well know, there are certainly more than five reasons. Also, there are many benefits to approaching this as if one is 'running a business, professionally'.

There is still a thought process, stigma or mythology that people who have not spent much time in these kinds of pursuits and beleive how one can achieve alot of money in a short time. Whilst achievable for some, its rare to see someone achieve an income equivalent to a 9-5 income they may have had formally. Doable bout usually not in a time frame less than 12 months.

I am telling it how it is because these myths still need to be dispelled and certainly I see so many folk whom are on the cusp of something big give up because they will not wait for the bigger rewards to come. Conversely there are no easy, going to make a lot of money in less than 6 months and retire soon kind of programs or easy ways to achieve it. I also like dispelling the fact that passive income is ....well not as passive as one would like (not a lot of set and forget thats for sure)

I certainly agree that many should read before they write, get educated and learn as you earn.

I really appreciate your commentary as you offer insightful and very helpful insights.

@biztable,

Its like building a house I see this kind of effort for reward in earning an income using the internet. Spend alot of time building a valuable and rock solid foundation and in time, one shall reap immense benefits.

@WorkCustard

this is most likely my own biggest bubear and THE one myth I continually tell people doesnt exist, even if you can make money quickly, there still is no valid, reliable ongoing 'get-rich-quick' system.
Unless its illegal.

Thanks so much for sharing and spending time writing your commentary everyone!

You wrote a great article that hit me. I'm an American expat, married to a Czech, and live in the Czech Republic. People here are abashed when they learn about the healthcare situation in the US. They are also surprised to learn that most Americans do not want universal healthcare. They can't comprehend how a country of such wealth can do this to their own people.

I have to agree with brl. Living "across the pond" for several years, now, I've become adjusted to the healthcare in this country. My husband and I don't worry that we will lose everything we have if one of us becomes seriously ill, and we can see the doctor when necessary. For the most part, healthcare is as good here as it is back home. The Czech Republic has one of the best records, in the world, for the numbers of premature babies that survive each year. I've been treated very well by all medical staff here, even though I'm a foreigner.

I had to live without health insurance at one point in my life, and I ended up with a major surgery that I had to pay for. Fortunately I had the means to do that, but it took all my savings. Everyone should be entitled to health care and not have to lose their homes or die early because they can't afford a simple medical procedure that would save their lives.

"...........treatment then that means the burden of healthcare would be on those that work hard and don't depend on others to survive" just shows the uncaring, I'm all right Jo, attitude of the naysayers. I'm a Brit, proud to be in a society that took the idea of universal health care through to implementation. I worked hard, long hours, away from my family, for 30 years, paying around 50% of my income in taxes and NI - I had a good job! I did not mind (well a little bit) as I had peace of mind knowing that I, and ALL my family, would be aided should we require it. I paid insurance for medical assistance - National Insurance. Everyone that can afford it pays medical insurance in the UK - National Insurance. Insurance is that, to insure against the possibility of need. There is no small print. It does not run out when you most need it, or when it is deemed that you have used it up. That is the British way.
Americans that can afford to pay for private medical insurance do so with the knowledge that, should they need it, it may not be enough to cover their needs. The system is geared towards the rich. They, and only they, can live without fear or doubt that they will be catered for in their hour (or year, or decade) of need. Those that are below the 'rich' status should wake up, smell the air, and understand that this situation is tantamount to oppression. The US fights against oppression overseas. It is a part of their constitution to fight against religious persecution. Why cannot they see that their medical insurance system flies in the face of basic human rights; is medical oppression; and does not actually do what it says on the tin.
What message does it send out to the world? But then again, do they care?

Lovely article! You are oh so right! I haven't written that much, but have spent time over the past 2 years trying to understand SEO and back linking, etc. Yes, I have tried to use my knowledge to find keywords, find forums or articles I could back link to, but in the end, as you say, some of my best articles (and sometimes best paying) have been those created without a single thought about SEO or any of the other stuff we keep reading about.
Your advice to be free and JUST WRITE is good. It's wholesome, honest, and probably going to be most fruitful for those writers who don't immediately get in sinc with SEO. Try writing about what comes into your head naturally, without searching the net for a topic, looking at keywords to mold an article, etc. Hey, if it doesn't work, you can always go back to trying to figure out the quants. I vote this article up.