FYI ehow UK news (bad) and affiliate changes (also bad)

[WriterM]

FYI as I don't think very many people are aware of this...

eHow apparently did not fix the UK issue and content is still in the search engines on the UK site. Sadly, the fact that their fix did not work was a surprise to them and, once again, astute wcp writers brought the problem to their attention. So Google is still putting people on the UK site over the US site where we make our money. eHow is working to resolve the issue.

Also, we are no longer allowed to include any affiliate links in the resources box. Articles published previously are fine but no new articles with affiliate links. I am bummed about the loss of affiliate links.

M

[sugarloaf]

I agree it stinks not being able to use affiliate links anymore. I also figured something was still wrong with the UK thing, since my earnings haven't improved at all. I really hope they resolve this issue soon!

[Yuliya Mironova]

Please excuse me for interfering and don't shout at me too much or think me unsympathetic (I'm not, at all), but if you write on your own websites instead of on other people's, then you get to make up the rules, and you get to keep all the income derived from your work (and you get to build up an appreciating asset at the same time, too, if you learn how to go about it that way).

[WriterM]

The thing that concerns me...

We are savvy experienced businesswomen, right? I've done Fortune 500 management. We've seen situations like this behind the scenes, yes? And it usually means that there is poor management/leadership somewhere along the line. It never ends well.

When you see an organization like eHow that can't get it right even when they try, it is a concern. When glitches, errors, and miscommunications like this make it to the public, you can imagine how incredibly dysfunctional it must be internally at eHow's HQ. They can't even control their information and keep failures like this contained.

The key issue for me is that it's the outside writers telling eHow they have problems. Every time they are shocked and surprised which, really? You're running a multimillion dollar business and strangers not on your payroll can ferret out your problems and weak points? Not good.

I hope they get their act together, I really do but I am wary.

Look at how Life123 went *poof* in the dark of the night. eHow seems so well established, a market leader but with the weaknesses becoming apparent in their management and business procedures, they aren't immune from implosion.

M

[WriterM]

Originally Posted by Yuliya Mironova

Please excuse me for interfering and don't shout at me too much or think me unsympathetic (I'm not, at all), but if you write on your own websites instead of on other people's, then you get to make up the rules, and you get to keep all the income derived from your work (and you get to build up an appreciating asset at the same time, too, if you learn how to go about it that way).

Yep. BUT it's much harder to get going. I am doing my own websites too. 8 months in I'm just now seeing consistent adsense income, but from disparate sources so I still don't have a 'winning' website and am still not making as much money as I make on ehow. (Although I admit, I may not be the best niche blogger/internet marketer.)

There's something to be said for page rank. eHow is easy money but only if they have their act together.

M

[Hoping2]

I kind of figured there was a problem somewhere. My income from them is even lower than last month, and I've added new articles. I'm getting more than a little tired of the infrastructure problems, too. I don't mind not adding new affiliate links, I've always expected that, but it seems as if they should have emailed us about it. Did they put it on their forum somewhere? I can't stand it when companies do that.

[WritersJourney]

Thanks for letting us know..ive been interested in this.

[prosaic]

But what if it's not a failure?

What if what we're being fed is just a bunch of bs? What if they're testing out the UK site and are waiting for a reply from their lawyers on whether they can keep it up, with everyone's content on it?

What if the sweeps really are designed to take out higher performing articles and then feed that information into Demand Studios' machine of titles?

Sometimes what appears to be incompetence, on the surface, is really a cover for a clear plan. I'm not saying that's what is going on here, but I'm playing Devil's Advocate and wondering "what if".

[blakesmommy21]

Originally Posted by Hoping2

I don't mind not adding new affiliate links, I've always expected that, but it seems as if they should have emailed us about it. Did they put it on their forum somewhere? I can't stand it when companies do that.

I agree with not being able to add anymore affiliate links. I didn't do it all the time anyways and it does take money away from THEIR site. Plus some people add way too many and it looks terrible (as in spammy). The articles aren't supposed to be ad farms, they're supposed to be informative pieces of writing and I think some people just think about themselves first.

I kind of thought they might stop allowing affiliate links because DS has recently done that as well. The fact that it hasn't been emailed is pretty lame. People aren't always around in the forums so why do they only announce things there?! They need to work on communication for sure but I still love the site.

Just another reason to not put all of your eggs in one basket and to write for your own sites!

[WriterM]

Originally Posted by prosaic

But what if it's not a failure?

What if what we're being fed is just a bunch of bs? What if they're testing out the UK site and are waiting for a reply from their lawyers on whether they can keep it up, with everyone's content on it?

What if the sweeps really are designed to take out higher performing articles and then feed that information into Demand Studios' machine of titles?

Sometimes what appears to be incompetence, on the surface, is really a cover for a clear plan. I'm not saying that's what is going on here, but I'm playing Devil's Advocate and wondering "what if".

While companies do sneaky underhanded things to promote their business, they usually don't want to publicly taint their brand in the process. So I don't think this is intentional, if it is, well, I wouldn't expect them to be in business for long.

But I see what you're saying. I've often seen unpopular employees frozen out of the power structure and there are dynamics here that are similar, but again, the goal is not to make your brand look bad---because that costs you money. It's important for business partners to believe you are a company that acts in good faith, lose the good faith and everything goes south.

M