Promise Promise You'll Never Sell Out to HubPages!

There I feel better now. It was just a panicked plea I had to get out. 

Digby_Adams: 08/15/2014 - 09:43 PM

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There I feel better now. It was just a panicked plea I had to get out. 

Seconded.

I just created a Hubpages account yesterday after Squidoo encouraged us to set up one early -- now I'm worried.  I know some of you here on Wizzley have had bad experiences with HP.      

I don't mind HP, but that doesn't mean I want to see Wizzley close down. So, I'll third the request...

I have had a terrible experience at HubPages. I joined and wrote several Hubs and was even invited to be part of their apprentice program within days by Simone, who said I showed potential. I was then nominated for five consecutive weeks to be a HubNugget or Rising Star and won my categories

This sort of lead me to believe I was writing pretty decent content and precisely the content they wanted.

Noooooo. Within three months ALL of my hubs were unfeatured for quality. I edited them as instructed. They were featured. Within six months they were unfeatured and I was told I had to "improve" them again. I complied.

Finally they were unfeatured for a lack of engagement AGAIN. That was it I deleted them. 

They constantly removed my work from the eyes of Google when it was brand spanking new and then complained it wasn't any getting traction. 

That sounds depressingly like the way Squidoo worked, Digby. And which writer has time these days to work on any but the most recent article or the ones which NEED updating for content such as changed prices or updated information following a repeat visit?

I suppose the way to do it would be to have the luxury of being able to build a large enough portfolio that only a handful were out of commission at any given time, awaiting review. But only someone with the productivity levels of our own Jo Harrington would be able to do that! Certainly not me with several other clients plus a full time job.

I'm staying here and writing for love whilst still writing at Bubblews and very occasionally other places too.

Hope you don't mind that, Chef? Dontcha go changing now, will you?

I actually had 200 Hubs. I thought I would diversify 200 of each Wizzley, Hubs and Squidoo. 

I also have had a bad experience with HubPages; I felt like the site was outright deceptive in how they presented it to new users.  I deleted all my pages there, and my account.

I've had bad experiences with Squidoo too...but in that case I don't think it's deliberate deception, it just seemed like incompetence.  Squidoo was really lax on the quality control for months and months...and they cracked down too little too late on spam...but then...they instituted these draconian measures, automated content filters.  I've had many of my best pages unpublished again and again and I'm at the whim of the site admins.

I've completely stopped publishing new material at Squidoo.  I would not recommend either site...and I hope Wizzley stays completely separate from them.  I think Wizzley has so much going for it...the site admins are more responsive, and I also like the interface better.

I also think that the quality controls are stricter here.

Both Squidoo and HubPages seem to handle quality control the wrong way...they enable spammers to sign up, have too low standards for initial stuff...but then they have all these automated systems that work by algorithms, and they end up punishing and harming some of the best users of the site.

The problem with those huge platforms is they can't keep up with quality control. And once infested, the problem gets bigger every day. Nobody can sort through thousands of daily new articles.

In terms of quality control, Wizzley is much easier to handle. Every morning we kick out 5-10 spammers, crappy writers, old-time article marketers, and the like. And we scrutinize new authors with regard to true identity, track record on the web, etc. That way, we nip the spam problem in the bud and build a site with mostly top-quality content.

We've been growing consistently over the years, but we never 'exploded' like those other two behemoths.

From the beginning on, we've focused on good customer service and what's important to our authors. We knew that when our members are happy, all of us will make money as good as it is possible in this rather difficult business.

As a result, we now have a community of very fine writers who keep producing excellent content.

Which gives me an opportunity to say a heartfelt Thank You to you guys. Y'all are the best! 

chefkeem: 08/16/2014 - 03:36 PM

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We've been growing consistently over the years, but we never 'exploded' like those other two behemoths.

.......

"Slow and steady wins the race."   It's a good way to proceed.  

That's actually how I've proceeded with my own small business (yoga studio -- not getting rich, but I'm not making myself crazy either).

That's actually how I've proceeded with my own small business (yoga studio -- not getting rich, but I'm not making myself crazy either).

I've been doing the same with my writing, building clients and portfolios slowly and steadily and one page/article/review at a time. My brain still outstrips my typing speed and I always have a list of half done projects that I really need to finish. But I'm getting there making the extra pennies slowly and steadily, as you say, opening new avenues of earning as I go. Once the extra pennies are making themselves a bit more elsewhere, I can write more often here and watch the pennies grow here too.

Meantime, I'm here because I like it here and I need somewhere to put my article length thoughts.

As a result, we now have a community of very fine writers who keep producing excellent content.

Which gives me an opportunity to say a heartfelt Thank You to you guys. Y'all are the best! 

Thnk you too, Achim. I appreciate the efforts of everyone in the team here.

WordChazer: 08/16/2014 - 05:04 PM

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As a result, we now have a community of very fine writers who keep producing excellent content.

Which gives me an opportunity to say a heartfelt Thank You to you guys. Y'all are the best! 

Thnk you too, Achim. I appreciate the efforts of everyone in the team here.

I may not post here often and am currently busy with securing a new role (offline) but can I echo that many times over

The writing on Wizzley is of high quality.  I have made no money here, but who cares? I am enjoying every word that I write. I like the people who read and respond. 

frankbeswick: 08/16/2014 - 06:35 PM

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The writing on Wizzley is of high quality.  I have made no money here, but who cares? I am enjoying every word that I write. I like the people who read and respond. 

In one Frank.

I've never had an issue with keeping my articles featured. The odd one or two get unfeatured now and again but then go back to being featured after a bit of promoting them. But I've seen in the forums that being unfeatured a lot is a problem.

As for Wizzley, I love the small community of quality writers. That is certainly what makes a site. But I'm sure there are going to be more who come by with the Squidoo/HubPages merger. Good to know you're on the quality checking, Achim et al! Thank you for setting up this place for those of us who really care about quality rather than just money. I've always said that if I did this for the money, I would have been doing people's homework but that would eat into my morals ;)

Add my name to the list of those saying nice things and begging not to be Hubpages.

A little late to the party... :p

No! I did not hit that green transfer button! I spent four days in save/delete/de-index mode, then hit the opt out link and deleted my account for the SQ Sea of Slime! And here I am at Wizzley, hooray!

Welcome! :D

Hello RuthCox and welcome to the best writing site anywhere.