by Jennifer Eblin

Created on: April 20, 2009

Looking to earn a little extra money? Do you want income that keeps coming in month after month even though you never do anything with it? If you answered yes, then you might want to look at eHow. This website pays people for content that takes a how to slant and they bill themselves as the how to do everything site. When I first started writing, eHow was one of the first places I bookmarked.

The unusual thing about eHow is that they have a secret formula on how writers are paid and they keep that a close secret. All we know is that it's a combination of page views and clicks on advertising placed on your articles. As long as eHow exists, you'll keep earning money off your work. Since the site has been around for a long time, you don't have to worry about the page disappearing one night.

If you're interested in starting at eHow, start by simply registering for an account with them. All you need is an email address, user name and password, which you pick yourself. You can also upload a brief bio about yourself and a picture. The picture doesn't have to be of yourself or your face, many people use a pet's picture or a picture of their favorite thing.

Before you start writing though, do a little research. You might notice that there are several articles listed with the same title, but never write an article with the same name. The site only advertises one article under that title and that's usually the first article published. Let's say that you see the article How to Peel a Banana and decide to write the same thing. When someone searches for that title on one of the popular search engines, they're directed to the first article and not your article.

You should also build up your page views by making friends in the community. Just start reading other articles and requesting friends. The more friends you make, the more often you'll be recommended and the more people find your articles. That equals more money in your pocket.

If you find yourself pressed for ideas on what kind of how to articles to write, just look at your own life. Nearly every day I find another article I can write and I tuck those ideas away until I have time to write them up. I've done articles about living near my ex, taking classes online and even meeting NASCAR drivers. As long as I keep busy, I'll keep coming up with ideas.

When you decide to start writing with eHow, just do it! You can always fix any problems and edit your articles later. By putting it off until tomorrow, you're just taking money out of your own pocket.

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