One Week Marketing Review Redux II and Hubpages
It has been about a month since I started testing PotPieGirl’s One Week Marketing product. I briefly mentioned first at the end of my internet marketing with Clickbank (since PotpieGirl’s method primarily deals with ClickBank Products) and then gave it a full review 2 weeks later (which I list some of the flaws to the system). You can check them out here:
- Clickbank and internet marketing
- One Week marketing Review- testing the waters (my criteria when I started to experiment)
- One Week Marketing Full Review
I all but abandoned her Squidoo strategy as literally ALL of the traffic is coming from my EZA. I just am not convinced that Squidoo has as much ranking power as some of the other parasitic properties out there. PotPieGirl did mention a possible reason which I didn’t really think of at the time of my original review….if you are in a niche that is saturated on Squidoo then chances could be good your site could be discounted by Google coming out of the gate. In other words, since google likes variety, too many squidoo lenses on the same topic could be a strike against you.
However, in the original article I did mention that here strategy on the whole is a good one and I can certainly see how she is making money with it. You have to understand that what she is saying makes total sense BUT chances are great that if you are relatively new to making money online, there are some things that she kind of takes for granted that you know(understanding how to use search operators to drill down data for instance).
So, after 2 weeks of not getting the results using Squidoo, I simply applied the same method to hubpages. The result has been remarkable. I threw out 20 hubs on three different accounts to test as “bait” to see what would happen. In a matter of hours without the typical prodding like linking articles to the hubs, my hubs were indexed. They almost immediately started getting organic traffic.
It has been a little over 2 weeks now and I have roughly 50-something quality hubs out. These hubs collectively bring in roughly 600 page views a day with a little over half being from organic traffic. A couple of my hub themes I have scaled based on ad interaction.
Now, let me make it clear that I DO NOT like mixing 2 advertising mediums together. I think that every page should have just one directive. If you are monetizing with adsense, then you should monetize with adsense. If you are selling products, you should just sell products. Unfortunately, Hubpages and Squidoo don’t afford you with that luxery. The good news is that both have adsense sharing programs.
What I have noticed is that Squidoo lenses for one reason or another don’t garner the same CTR when it comes to ad revenue compared to hubpages. The reasoning behind this is crystal clear to me. Squidoo lenses are easier on the eyes but also have way too many distractions and gives the visitor too many options to choose.
Hubpages, on the other hand, is much plainer and the ads are carefully placed within the content.
So, overall in the past month here is the rundown:
In adsense, I am averaging between $5-$7 per day. This number is really on the low end of possibilities since I didn’t focus so heavily on adsense CPC but was more concerned with selling products.
In 2 1/2 weeks, I have made 5 sales totally $111.87. Obviously, it ain’t a living but is probably more than most people make with affiliate marketing. Plus, I have just begun scaling my profitable campaigns and reorganizing the unprofitable ones by testing link placement, call to action and other things.
I should note that this is using PotPieGirl’s one week marketing methods WITHOUT an external link campaign as she suggests (she gives places to do it). I am also using Hubpages, not Squidoo. Finally, although I began testing a month ago, I have really only been using hubpages for a couple weeks.
This is all good news for those who are struggling to make money online who have issues following a system or plan. I believe that it could work for literally anyone who has even a remote idea of keyword research techniques or that have an inkling of knowledge of how to build backlinks
Hubpages…the flavor of the week?
The reason why I moved this one week marketing test to hubpages is because it is very clear to me that Google prefers Hubpages over Squidoo. That is not to say that Hubpages is better…it is just better for now. And this is something that I should address for those of you who haven’t been doing this for a long time. You can rank a site with virtually any property eventually provided that the page, site or network isn’t blacklisted. However, you should always search out the properties that are really making waves in the listings right now because it simply makes better business sense. Hubpages may or may not fall out of favour with google. ?But right now, they are hot.
If you are using the One Week Marketing Plan, I suggest you move to hubpages if Squidoo isn’t working for you.
I should also note that I have changed all my EZA links that were pointing to my Squidoo lenses directly to the sales page through a redirect. There is a reason for this. Squidoo lenses have way too many distractions in my opinion and I felt like I was leaving money on the table. Plus, directly linking to a sales page helps me test the sales page itself.
Anyway, those are my results. If you are struggling, you should give PotPie Girls One Week Marketing product a go. Just bear in mind that if it doesn’t work on Squidoo, like she suggests, you can easily take the system and apply it to other properties. Just my 2 cents.
13 Responses to “One Week Marketing Review Redux II and Hubpages”
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Leo -
Very impressive results! Thank you for sharing this!
One Week Marketing does work with other sites (and your own sites). It’s not about the site you use, it’s about the process you use (and that you KEEP using it…lol).
Here’s the thing about HubPages…
First off, I like them and I appreciate their setup. I’ve been watching them since they first opened to the public. However, I could not responsibly send folks to HubPages to use the OWM action plan.
HubPages does not welcome marketers. They allow others to make pages on their site in order for HubPages to make money (which yes, they do share with the Hub creators).
I do not believe that HubPages would’ve welcomed the new accounts and all the new Hubs being made due to One Week Marketing users the same way Squidoo has.
Seth Godin is so much more than just Squidoo. He is a marketer – he understands our needs. I’m not saying he appreciates cr@p on his site – I am simply saying that those that are trying to make money online are welcome at Squidoo and you don’t have to jump thru hoops – or hide things- to be able to use your affiliate links there.
As long as you put quality content on the site and do something that improves the Squidoo site, you’re all good to link out with affiliate links OR as many links as needed.
For me, it wasn’t a matter of “flavor of the week” – both sites are powerful. In fact, there are lots of free-to-use sites out there that are powerful, too. But I could not (and WOULD not) send One Week Marketing followers to a site where they wouldn’t be welcomed and could run into issues with their content.
That would be highly irresponsible of me.
The vast majority of OWM users do NOT have their own sites (yet) and really need these free-to-use sites to get started generating some revenue online. That is exactly how I started – and I owe Squidoo BIG time for their part in the growth of my online marketing success.
I joined Squidoo and HubPages in early 2007 or so, and I had great success with Squidoo (and have ever since).
It’s no secret that I am a BIG fan, supporter, and believer of the Squidoo site and community. They have welcomed 1,000’s of OWM’rs to their site…and I can’t even begin to imagine how many new lenses.
I may very well be wrong, but I just don’t feel HubPages would’ve been as receptive and as accommodating.
But…. I have NO doubt that the One Week Marketing Action Plan works with HubPages, too
I am thrilled for your results using OWM with HubPages – and even more thrilled with your transparency in reporting those results.
I like your style =)
Thank you for inviting me back – it is greatly appreciated!
Jennifer
~PotPieGirl
PotPieGirl’s last blog post..RedGage – Money-Making Social BookMarking
Leo,
I have been building hubs hard for a month and have had very spotty results but I think the majority of it has been because of keyword selection. Nobody to blame but myself on that one.
I am hesitant to put too much more time in because hubpages seem to be all over the internet right now and I am wondering if Google will decide that isn’t a great idea for them.
I also heard that Squidoo was starting to come back from the slaps so maybe they had their own kind of sandbox.
Thanks for sharing your results.
@ Andy Yeah, it is a bit like spinning the roulette wheel, right? In regards to Google Slapping Hubpages, I don’t really see it happening. The problem with Squidoo was the fact that so many lenses were simply poorly written. Hubpages is more moderated to try to prevent it.
Even then, you are only guessing into what google will decide to do. Just imagine if they suddenly cut the umbilical cord for ezine articles….I can’t even imagine the fallout.
I’ve been on hubpages for 2 years and have recently started some new “personas” to follow along with Court’s 100 hubs challenge. PPG is wrong – hubpages is absolutely fine with marketers – so long as you produce unqiue good unique content. -I’ve not heard of anyone getting banned at hubpages for particpating in the 100hubs /30 days challenge. You can also put direct affiilate links in your hubs (no more than 2) so long as the content is unique
lissie’s last blog post..Site Build It Scam Review Redux!
@ Lissie I have to agree with you in regards to hubpages. I think the reason PPG doesn’t advocate it is that her peeps that are following her are traditional marketers and use the typical stuff traditional (in-your-face) marketers use. Hubpages doesn’t want that. They want good content. If you look at most squidoo lenses built by marketers, they are pretty thin, content wise.
HubPages has worked well for me and i have already published 293 articles so far using my 2 ID’s. I joined Squidoo too but it looked too complicated to me.
Hey Anamika,
Squidoo doesn’t rank as well as hubpages, at least for now and for that reason, I see no benefit to using it. Of course, this could change tomorrow or whenever Google decides. The thing I was really trying to drive home is PotpieGirl’s product could be used for any web2.0 property that is ranking. The reason why we use web2.0 properties is because of the trust rank that google has warranted it.
Hi Leo,
Thanks for this honest review. So..bottomline…would you recommend OWM for someone aiming to hit $2k+/month in the next 6-8 months? Are there other products that you would recommend before OWM? I’m not a newbie and have some of my own products which are starting to do well on clickbank, but I just havent been able to get an organized gameplan going with affiliate marketing and niche sites.
Matt?
Hi Matt,
I believe that OWM is a good product yeah, but not for the reason that it is intended for…..with that I mean Squidoo. However, you can use other web 2.0 properties in conjunction with her system and I have gotten pretty good results. Since you aren’t a newbie, I have to wonder if this will just be rehash for you though. The system isn’t new but the good part is that she gives an A-B-C kind of plan to help those who don’t have the discipline to incorporate it which is invaluable to someone new to marketing. The process is the same as most processes, man. You do a little research, pick a niche and then match keywords to whatever you are offering. Sounds familiar, right?
Thanks for responding Leo. I wouldn’t need help on the keyword research part of things. I pretty much know how to target a niche and slect my keywords. It’s more about the organization of it all. I’d like to add $200-$300 each month in income. Do you think that’s doable with this system? My goal is to have a handful of sites or less making me $3k+/month.
Matt
Yeah, OWM should earn you that fairly easily. I am currently making roughly $400 a month with the sites I have in place in relation to OWM. This could easily be scalable but really relies on the trustrank of the web2.0 properties to stay the same.
Thanks Leo,
How many sites do you have up and how long did it take you to do it? Are the sites complex with lots of articles and banners?
Matt
I actually have no sites up in relation to OWM because it focuses on web 2.0 properties like squidoo (which I don’t use)….just pages. That said, I probably have around 60 or so pages up but nothing any more complex that an occasional link from one to another. You know the drill…research a keyword…write an article…rank it..get traffic….rinse and repeat.