Self-Publishing: How to Publish On The Internet

I am a relatively new writer and publisher on the Internet, but what I'm not new at is writing, marketing and networking. Being in a visual communications business for over 14 years has helped me to break out of the gate with a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in business. The same rules that apply to business in the "outside" world apply to writing and publishing here on the Internet.

I joined the Hubpages community 4 months ago, and after trying several other writing sites, I decided that HubPages was the platform for me to write. I love being able to assemble my articles (hubs) with text to match my words, products to match my articles, and the necessary tools to get traffic. I have also found the HubPage community to be extremely gifted and kind people whom I love being in community with!

So since I decided that Hubpages was the place for me to write, the next step in learning how to publish on the Internet was understanding what things I needed to learn in order to be a successful writer and publisher.

No easy task.

With much to learn and a "regular" life to conduct outside of Hubpages. these are some of the key things I have learned so far about publishing on the Internet:

1. Writing good articles is key. I have written 35 hubs in 4 months, and they have been on a wide variety of topics, mostly things that I already have a great deal of knowledge on. Writing on things that I already knew about was - and is - much easier than trying to struggle through writing about things that I don't know a lick about ( although writing about unfamiliar topics does help us writers to "think outside that box" we sometimes put ourselves in) Giving readers truly helpful information or uplifting words will gain you readers and friends. Kind words can go a long way!

2. Traffic- how do I get it? With over 11,000 page views in 4 months you might be wondering how to get that traffic: My traffic is coming from various places- social bookmarking sites, forums where I post relevant links for my hubs without spamming, e-mails to my friends and family about the latest articles I've written, blogs on wordpress and blogger with links to my hub articles, and linking with sites like Digg, Mixx, MySpace and Yuwie.

3. I am constantly reviewing and updating my hubs. I go through and make sure I link my hubs in groups, so that when I do get a reader they also have another hub to read that's right there for them to click on if they so desire. Putting your hubs in groups takes time but is well worth the effort. It also helps you see what type of writing you are leaning towards, and what type of topics you write most about. I also add better key words, and relevant information to my hubs as needed. (isn't that great that we can "virtually" change and make our articles better?)

4. Using keywords and tags correctly. One thing that has helped my hubs do better with their Google ranking is to make sure that the title and the first and last paragraph includes the key words I am writing about. My hub titled on "how to get skunk smell out of your dog" has become one of my better hubs, and I believe it's because of the intentional use of the key words in the title and throughout the hub, especially at the beginning and at the end. Also having very relevant tags has made my hubs rank much higher. (It's tempting sometimes to put in too many tags that really aren't the "meat" of your hub)

5. Posting in the forums and reading others hubs and making comments. I have made over 230 fans in 4 months, which I believe is a direct result of participating in the forums, getting to know the other hubbers here, reading other hubbers hubs as much as possible and being part of the hubpage community through sharing and listening to advice.

6. Taking advantage of the publishers affiliate programs. I have signed up with Ebay, Google, Kontera and Amazon. My earnings are somewhat meager so far but because I want to make a living publishing on the Internet, I realized early on it was imperative to make those connections and start learning about how to earn through affiliate programs.

7. Being consistent. Although there are days that I get caught up with having to do that hands-on stuff in the outside world, I always make it a point to contribute something to my writing and publishing career on the Internet. If I don't have alot of time to write that day, I at least check my social bookmarking sites and link some hubs, make some comments or read a little bit about more ways to bring in more traffic ( the forums here at Hubpages are a great way to learn just about everything you need to know on how to publish, write and bring in traffic)

These are just a few of the key things that I have done so far in my writing and publishing career here at the Internet, but there is alot more that I have learned in these last few months. There is a big learning curve if you want to seriously write for the masses, but the tools are here if you want to seriously write and make a living writing on the Internet.

So still being a relative newbie as a writer on the Internet, I feel rather good about the fact that I have managed to drive over 11,000 views to my hubs (with the help of Hubpages of course!), earned enough money to now pay for a couple new web-start-ups ( that is my goal: to have a couple domains that I can build up) - made over 230 new friends and fans here at Hubpages - and - definitely learned alot about publishing and writing on the Internet.

My advice to those that are just starting out writing and publishing on the internet could be summed up in these 2 sentences: Understand that if you want to make writing your career here at the Internet, you need to treat it like a business, which means time, time and more time. And allow yourself to always be in a learning mode- there is always something new to learn - everyday!

(Dorsi Diaz is a freelance writer and blogger on the Internet)