Online Writing One Step At A Time: Don't Get Caught Up With "Vanity Views"

By Zach3000, 28th Jan 2012 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/hlbt__xu/
Posted in Wikinut>Writing>Tips

Do you manage several online writing portfolios on different websites? If so, then you can understand how challenging it can be to successfully manage all of these portfolios at once. This article shares why not to get caught up with vane page views when managing online writing portfolios.

The Real Treasure is Found After Skills Are Developed
Do Vanity Views Really Matter?
Page Views Are Only a Measuring Stick
Take Writing One Step At A Time
More Resources For the Online Writer

The Real Treasure is Found After Skills Are Developed

Gold treasure chest

Online writers, have you been in search of that elusive pot of gold hidden at the end of the rainbow?

This money is not made overnight, as done with "Get Rich Quick" schemes.

The reality is that until you build your knowledge, improve your skills, and perfect your system of online portfolio management - you will not come across the treasure that you seek.

Once you have developed and fine-tuned your online writing portfolios, then you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. Yes, I am talking about a paycheck.

Do Vanity Views Really Matter?

Thick glasses view pages

As a freelance writer, I maintain several online writing portfolios, and as I have advised in past Wikinut articles, it is recommended that you focus on niche-writing on different websites.

For example, on Yahoo! Voices, my most successful articles have been on celebrities, movies, and entertainment. Profile viewable here. I have had a Yahoo! Voices account since Nov. 2010, and have received 58,668 page views across 71 articles.

On Wikinut, I have focused on the category of Religion, and Writing Tips. Profile viewable here. I have added content to Wikinut since Fall of 2011, and I have received 17,000 page views across 58 articles.

On my personal blog at Blogspot, I have further discussed contemporary celebrities, movies and entertainment. Blog viewable here. I started adding content to the blog in 2011, and it has received 2,005 page views across 39 posts.

Total these page views up and I have roughly received 75,000 page views on these three platforms.

This is not including the articles I have ghost written for private companies, blog entries I have written professionally for businesses, and other published material online in which I cannot track the page views easily.

Do page views determine success?

Only if you are concerned with the numbers, then they matter.

But if you are more interested in becoming a successful writer, then you should be less concerned with the vanity numbers, and more concerned with producing content that people enjoy reading.

In 2005, one of the first things I ever published online, was a personal testimony of how God delivered me from an addiction. The platform on which I published this, does not pay a revenue share, but did count the page views.

I remember seeing the counter go above 70,000 page views on this article and I was shocked, and thrilled. However, several site redesigns and revamps later, the counter was reset. Since starting back at zero, the original essay I wrote is now above 4,000 page views. I was originally upset, but what does it really matter how many vanity views I have received?

The only thing I could really do with knowing the original and true page views is to stroke my ego, which is not very becoming.

The more satisfying quality that I can hold on to is that people actually read my piece and it reached an audience of interested readers.

If you wish to see my 2005 essay, it can be viewed here.

Page Views Are Only a Measuring Stick

Dominos falling in place

While page views can be a good measuring stick for what is working with your online writing portfolios, don't let them rule you.

Instead, get honest opinions from your readers, and ask their opinions on what they like or didn't like about your writing. This is why Wikinut is a great community to write for - you get honest feedback from a diverse group of writers.

If you can get a clear consensus on how to improve your writing, then you have just received the best free advice that money didn't buy.

Tips and advice to improve your writing skills are the treasure that you are looking for. Once you have established yourself as a consistent writer, then the paychecks will fall in place.

Take Writing One Step At A Time

Stepping Stones

To sum up, don't let page views rule your existence on writing websites. I know that many of us would like a paycheck, but you must understand that it takes time to develop writing skills that will propel you into the big leagues.

Take my advice, and move one step at a time, learning how to find your voice and communicate it in a way that others can hear it.

If you would like to get started as an online writer, consider opening a free Wikinut account, which can be done here.

More Resources For the Online Writer

If you are a freelance writer, and wish to learn more about online writing, continue reading on the subject.

Provided below are six more Wikinut articles that will boost your knowledge and give you the confidence to succeed: