Info Barrel

Info Barrel is another great article writing website that I have found.  I have heard many people on the eHow forums talking about Info Barrel.  I just started writing for Info Barrel on Oct. 5, 2009.  Since that time I have published five articles there.  The great thing about Info Barrel is that they offer more than just the "How-To" format, although they offer it as well.  They offer four different article templates for you to choose from.

• Blank Article Template - This gives you complete control over how your article will look.
• Video Article Template - This template is obviously for adding videos to go with your article.
• How-To Article Template - This template is set up in steps so that you can easily fill in each step in the process.  You can also add pictures to each step to show your readers how to do the project.
• Review Article Template - Use this template to write reviews for products, services, movies, CDs, etc.  You can give your overall review about your topic along with the pros and cons of it.

No matter which format you choose, it is a very simple process to get your articles up and running on Info Barrel.  In order to make money on Info Barrel you will need a Google AdSense Account.  You can sign up for one here.  For information on how to get a Google AdSense Publisher ID see this article.  Now that you have your AdSense ID it is time to begin writing articles.

Some of the guidelines for writing an Info Barrel article are:

• The article should be at least 250 words, with an ideal length of 400 words or more.  Note that articles under 400 words will most likely not appear in their index meaning that people will most likely not find your article.  If people can't find your article then it's not really worth writing.
• Your articles MUST be your original work, and not posted anywhere else on the web.  Articles that are not yours, and/or are posted elsewhere on the web will be rejected.
• Your articles cannot be advertisements or promotional for any products or services.  
• They must be written in proper English with correct grammar and spelling.
• You cannot write articles that are hateful, derogatory, or pornographic.
• You cannot link outside of Info Barrel within the first paragraph.  You can however, link to other Info Barrel content.

Each article that you submit is reviewed by a person so note that it will take some time before your article "goes live".  This usually happens within 24 hours.  Also note that if you edit an article after it is published that the edited article will have to go back under review before the edited article is published.  My most recently published article on Info Barrel has received over 200 views within 48 hours of being published.  I have earned $0.74 so far on Info Barrel.  Again, I am just starting with them and only have 5 articles published so far.  As with anything, the more time and effort that I put into it the better the return I should see out of it.  Since they offer more freedom of article writing than eHow I should be able to produce articles there more easily than I can on eHow, since I won't be limited to the How-To format for every article.

As I publish more articles with Info Barrel I will be sure to update the progress so that you can get a better idea of what to expect from them.  To sign up simply click here and get started writing and earning today.

eHow.com - Do you know how to do something? Then you can earn easy money.

eHow is the go-to site on the web if you need to know how to do something.  It was by chance that I found them.  I have never been great at tying a tie, and I had to attend a funeral a couple of years ago.  I of course needed to know how to tie a tie.  I Googled it and found an eHow article on the subject.  It was a step-by-step how to article complete with pictures.  Within five minutes I was trying a tie.  That was it for eHow for me.  After learning what I needed to I forgot about the site.  About a year later I popped the K key off of my wife's laptop while she was at work.  In a panic I Googled how to replace a laptop key.  The first result was another eHow article.  Unfortunately the clip on the K key had broken, but at least I learned how to replace a laptop key.

This time I browsed around the site and saw that they actually pay people to write articles.  Out of curiosity I signed up for their Writer’s Compensation Program (WCP) so that I could write how to articles and get paid.  They pay through PayPal when you reach the $10.00 payout.  I wrote my first article on 08/28/08, and my second on the next day.  Since that time my first article has earned me $4.08, and my second article, which has been my highest earning article, has earned me $62.11.  This may not sound like a lot, however, since joining I have earned $395.11.  Some of the top earning people on eHow make over $1,000.00 per month.  At least one writer has topped the $2,000.00 per month mark.  Yes, you read that right.  This is in no way a get rich quick deal.  Those people have been writing articles for a long time, and have hundreds if not thousands of articles. 

The best part is that once you write the article, you're done.  That's it.  It's what is known as residual income.  Residual income is money that you continue to earn after the initial work has been completed.  What better way to make money online?  You put in the time and effort now, and watch your income continue to grow as more time goes by, without having to put more effort into it.  Of course, the more articles you write and the better they are, the more money you will earn.  There are some tips that can help you to earn more per article.  Keywords are, well, the key to your articles.  You have to have the mindset of writing for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  You have to think how someone would when doing a Google search for something.  If you are writing an article about baseball for example, you wouldn't want your main keywords to be "America's favorite past time", instead you would prefer the keyword "baseball", since someone is more likely to use this keyword when searching for information about the game.  Google has a keyword tool that you can use to evaluate keywords.  Diane Cass has a great article (How to Use Google Adwords Keyword Tool - Step by Step Guide) about how to get the most out of your keywords.  It will help you get started in the wonderful world of SEO. 

Keep in mind that there are submission guidelines that your articles must adhere to.  If you do not follow these, your article will be deleted.  You can find the New eHow Article Submission Guidelines here.  It is generally best to write about what you know.  You can do research on how to do something and then write an article about it, however, the article will be much better and more clear if you are writing about something that you know how to do.  Being a mechanic I tend to write most of my articles about vehicle repair and maintenance.  By reading these articles you can tell that I have actually done these tasks rather than just reading about them and writing an article on the subject.  This is not to say that you can't write articles simply based on researching a topic and then writing an article about it.  People do this all of the time.  I just feel that an article that comes from experience will be a higher earning article for you simply because you will have an in-depth knowledge on the subject.  


Also, you can promote your articles on Facebook and Twitter automatically from eHow.  The more people that see your articles, the more earnings potential you will have.  This does not mean that you should spam your articles all over the internet.  Use these tools for what they are meant for and let them do their work.  If you want to get the word out that you write articles for eHow consider putting a signature on your emails with a link to your eHow profile.  Every one that you send an email to will be able to see it, and if they are interested they will check it out.  DO NOT start sending people PMs (Private Messages) on eHow with links to your articles hoping that they will read them.  This is considered spam and people will report you for it, and you can be banned from the site for doing this.  There is a daily post in the Community Chatter forum that you can post your article(s) in.  The thread will usually say something like "Post your [Today's Date] articles here", or "[Today's Date] articles".  


UPDATE: eHow has discontinued the Writer's Compensation Program (WCP). All content for eHow is now written through their parent company Demand Studios. You will need to apply to write for Demand Studios and submit a writing sample. If and when you are approved for writing at Demand Studios you are given the opportunity to write three articles. These articles will be carefully scrutinized for grammar, spelling and to be sure that they adhere to their guidelines. If your writing is to their liking you will be approved to write more articles. You will then be able to claim up to 10 articles to write at any given time. Most articles pay a flat rate of $15.00 per article. They also have some revenue share articles as eHow did. After submitting your work each article will be automatically checked to see if it has been plagiarized and then will go to a copy editor to be reviewed/edited. It will then either be published or sent back to you to be rewritten. If a rewrite is required then the article will have the editor's comments on it telling you what needs to be done to get the article to a satisfactory level to publish. Make sure that you read their guidelines carefully several times so that you have a clear understanding of what they are looking for. Failure to follow the guidelines can lead to your account being closed. I know this sounds scary at first, and I'll be honest, it took me a while to write my first article. However, once I got through my first three articles I had a clear understanding of what they were looking for in an article, and the process is a lot easier now. I definitely recommend giving them a shot. After all, writing just 7 articles will give you an extra $105.00 in the bank. That's only 1 article per day. They pay through PayPal twice weekly. Articles approved by 11:59 p.m. PST/PDT on Wednesdays are paid out on the following Friday. Articles approved by 11:59 p.m. PST/PDT on Sundays are paid out on the following Tuesday.