Who’s Your Audience? The Follower Who Is Following
Who’s Your Audience? The Follower Who Is Following
This is about my 18th month on Hub Pages. It is rather shocking I have lasted this long. When I began I thought I would not make it a month. Apparently there is something quite addictive about writing for Hub Pages. Over the eighteen months I have been on Hub Pages I have not won one contest or award. I did not earn a hub nugget but we are not all Shakespeare on here. Who would want to be anyways? During the course of working on Hub Pages I have had a lot to learn and the format of Hub Pages is constantly changing. Perhaps the most difficult part of internet writing for me is the technical aspect. Some people have writer’s block. I have technical issues. And in 18 months I have not perfected my craft. I still have a lot to learn which is very humbling. This is due to the fact I took time off to do research and also it is due to the constant changing format of Hub Pages.
But it has improved significantly. When I began we did not have summaries. Our profile pages were less than dynamic and we could not tell who was following us. All of that is changed now. We also have technical advantages on our statistical page which let us know when we need to scrub our hubs. Scrubbing your hub is simply proofing and improving it to make it better. This is an important part of your work on Hub Pages. I hate it because I can reread my own work and still not catch my mistakes. I am a horrible proof reader.
Now from your profile page you can actually access who is following you and who you are following. I did this the other night. As stated before I have been working on research and I have not been working on Hub Pages for the last year. I might have published an article here and there but I am not working like I was working on Hub Pages. In the beginning there were days I would write six hubs a day. Then I would read at least five other people’s hub’s by helping out and “Hopping Hubs” and then I would research and write outlines for the next day of hub writing. And as hard as I worked I could not tell who was following me because that feature was not available. I should also point out that when you are starting out it is important to try and learn from people who are more experienced then yourself. For me, that was everyone so I followed everyone.
So again I looked at who was following me the other night and for the most part I was following everyone that was following me with the exception of a few key people. I quickly wrote them fan letters and followed them. These people who have followed me were my reason to write and I adore them. Then I looked at who I was following and who was not following me. I have to say my feelings were a bit hurt. A lot of people who I had very positive interactions with did not like my work. There are only so many hours in the day and so I guess my work was not a priority for those people. So I doubled back and went and read more of my followers’ hubs. I want to patronize those who patronize my work. That is important to me in the Hub Pages community. But I also realize I have a lot of work to perfect my craft. It is not about those who are not following me. It is about me trying to at least put out the best product I can for my audience. I have improved since I started. If you haven’t read my other work I started after the death of a family member. My first six months of writing for Hub Pages I was going through grief. Those hubs represent my recovery through grief. For me they will always be a reminder of how to find my way back through hardship. When I started writing I felt like I was dying with my family member. I thought I would never smile again or laugh or even be able to have a conversation. For the first month after this family member’s passing I did not speak to anyone unless I absolutely had to. I spoke to my son of course but no one else. Those unscrubbed hubs represent my passage out of darkness and into light. My followers were so critical to my recovery and I will forever be grateful to them. So I have a reason why I don’t scrub my hubs. Things are much better in my life now. I have many opportunities. I am starting a non-profit to conducted research and development for interventions for children with Autism. I have a lot of friends now which I didn’t have while caring for my family member with cancer. I probably was poor company to my friends. But now I am reborn and that rebirth took place here and every single person who followed me pulled me through.
It is only an assumption but I would rather guess that all the people writing on Hub Pages need an audience to support them. I know I need one. We also need positive feedback and comments. What is a writer without their audience but unappreciated. The entire metaphysical accounting of seeing who is following was quite surprising to me. I must also add I was quite shocked at how many people I was still following that had pulled their hubs from Hub Pages. There must have been some kind of falling out I missed while I was doing my research. I am often lucky like that in life. When things get bad I am usually not around.
So if I may be so bold as to offer some advice to those who maybe new. Know your audience because they support your work. For those of you who have followed me I can never repay your generosity. You have seen me through the worst time of my life and helped me to a more positive place—Thank You!
Related Links
- Missing My Mom; One Year Anniversary of Her Death
A tribute to the one yeat anniversary of my Mother's death. - My First Year on Hubpages Anniversary
My first year anniversary on hubpages. What I have learned and how to make the HP experience easier for those who follow me. - How Will You Spend Your First Paycheck?
An article about how the reader will spend their first paycheck. - My Top Ten Most Popular Hubs
A review of the last 4 months of of my experience publishing on hubpages and an analysis of the top ten most popular hubs. - In Commemoration of My 200 Followers
Commemoration of my 200 followers by maiing creative suggestions how to obtain followers and then reccomendation of some of the followers who I truly enjoy and follow. - Celebrating 50,000 Page Views
A celebration of one hub authors journey to 50,000 hits on hubpages. - Commemorating My 100 Followers
A commemortive Hub paying homage to the wonderful 100 souls who have followed me on my journey of hubbing. - 400th Hub in 6 Months
A analsysi of how I reached 400 hubs in 6 months and this article illustrates how writing can heal your soul after a catastrophic event. - My Six Month Anniversary on HubPages
A sunmary of one author's experiences writing for hubpages for the past 6 months. - The 100 Hubs Challenge in 30 Days
One author's journey to successfully complete a challnege of a 100 hubs in 30 days which includes tip for others who wish to also take the challenge. - Were You Born to Write?
An article about one writers journey in the world. - 3 Years of Hubpages Work in 6 months
An article about on author's experience publishing three years of articles on Hubpages in six months. - My 200 Hundredth Hub
A history of one author's experience up to 200 hubs on hubpages. - Hubpages: Patrons of the Arts Contests
A summary of JT Walters Patron of the Arts contest enteries for Hubpages contest in November of 2011. - 157 Hubs in 3 months
A summary of one's author's experience on HubPages. - The A's on Hubs
Instructions how to write a hub summary. - A Hub About A Hub
A writer's perspective after completing 21 hubs on HubPages.