Which is Better for Earnings, HubPages vs. InfoBarrel?
Comparing Hubpages and InfoBarrel
I always find it interesting to compare different online writing sites. For instance, I have a hub on a Comparison of Earnings from HubPages and WebAnswers. Normally, this is just a straightline comparison of how much I'm earning on each site in an effort to determine which is probably better for generating income. Here, I take a look at Hubpages and InfoBarrel.com.
And just FYI: the figures being presented here are not my entire online income. You can find more detail on my monthly earnings total at the Passive Pursuit of Income Blog.
November 2011 Earnings Comparison
For those who are unfamiliar with InfoBarrel, it is an article-writing site with 75% revenue-sharing. Needless to say, that's not too shabby. (In fact, I believe the top earner on InfoBarrel makes roughly $2800 per month.)
I started all of my efforts at earning passive income online around the same time - basically, mid- to late-October 2011. That being the case, my earnings for HubPages and InfoBarrel really began in November 2011:
Hubpages: $0.01
InfoBarrel: $1.58
When you consider the fact that I had only built one hub during this time, earning a penny probably shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing. More surprising was the fact that I actually had 16 articles on InfoBarrel by the end of November. In truth, I was more focused on developing my niche sites at the time, so the fact that I actually had this many articles is a bit of a jolt. In retrospect, however, I do recall that initially I was trying to write three articles per day, but I lost that battle rather quickly.
December 2011 Earnings Comparison
Not a whole lot of action took place in December, as evidenced by the earnings below:
Hubpages: $0.19
InfoBarrel: $0.00
I still didn't have anything more than one hub on HubPages, so $0.19 is like striking gold. I added one article on InfoBarrel, but it didn't do me much good. However, my lack of productivity on these fronts was again the result of spending the majority of my time developing niche sites.
January 2012 Earnings Comparison
Finally, I decided to show some love to something other than my niche sites, and the numbers started to change:
Hubpages: $2.66
InfoBarrel: $0.99
I started slowly building more hubs in January. In fact, I joined the 30-hubs-in-30-days challenge towards the end of the month. ( I had 6 hubs when I began the challenge, meaning that I would end the challenge with 36.) With a steady increase in hubs, the income started to increase. As for InfoBarrel, I tacked on 3 more articles in January, giving me a total of 20.
InfoBarrel Poll
Have you joined InfoBarrel?
February 2012 Earnings Comparison
It was draining, but I was able to complete the 30-hubs-in-30-days challenge. Again, the HubPages income showed that my labor was not in vain:
Hubpages: $8.15
InfoBarrel: $0.00
While the numbers aren't setting the world on fire, the continual increase in my HubPages earnings is very encouraging. I only added one new article to InfoBarrel, so I knew the earnings would leave something to be desired (although I had hoped for more than a goose egg). Still, the HubChallenge has shown me that continuing to produce content will be rewarded, so I think I simply need to turn that philosophy towards InfoBarrel.
(Poster available at AllPosters.com.)
March 2012 Earnings Comparison
March turned out to be a very good month on HubPages. Just looking at the numbers, we have the following:
Hubpages: $61.42
InfoBarrel: $0.35
I feel blessed to have experienced an incredibe increase in HubPages revenue during March. However, as I've mentioned before, this pace of growth is not sustainable, so I anticipate that it will level off in the near future. InfoBarrel has been my redheaded stepchild of late, and I really need to do more there. (As previously noted, I think InfoBarrel really is a great site, and I need to find more ways to take advantage of it.)
April 2012 Earnings
April was another good month, as evidenced by the following:
Hubpages: $44.49
InfoBarrel: $0.00
For the first time since I started pursuing passive income about 6 months ago, my HubPages earnings have decreased. I'm a little disappointed, but I knew the party couldn't go on indefinitely - especially after the increase I had last month. Still, as always, I'm encouraged by the potential I see on HubPages. I still haven't stepped up the way I should have for InfoBarrel, so the numbers there are more reflective of my lack of effort as opposed to anything else. Simply put, I need to do more with respect to InfoBarrel in order to fully maximized my passive income.
Not Familiar with InfoBarrel?
If you're unacquainted with InfoBarrel, please feel free to visit the site and learn more at InfoBarrel.com.
May 2012 Earnings
My earnings for May are as follows:
Hubpages: $43.78
InfoBarrel: $0.00
I had to go out of town a couple of times in May, but it appears that the effect on my HubPages earnings was fairly negligible. That's clearly a good thing, and bodes well for my ability to earn income passively on HP. I still haven't done as much with InfoBarrel as I should have (or as much as I had originally planned to have done at this juncture). That said, I have a couple of ideas that I will firmly implement in June that will, hopefully, see me get back on the board in terms of InfoBarrel earnings.
Leaderboard
HubPages
| InfoBarrel
| |
---|---|---|
November 2011
| $0.01
| $1.58
|
December 2011
| $0.19
| $0.00
|
January 2012
| $2.66
| $0.99
|
February 2012
| $8.15
| $0.00
|
March 2012
| $61.42
| $0.35
|
April 2012
| $44.49
| $0.00
|
May 2012
| $43.78
| $0.00
|
Total
| $160.70
| $2.92
|
Summary
So far, in comparing earnings, HubPages seems to have taken a nice lead. Moreover, I had significantly more articles on InfoBarrel for at least two months, so the expectation is that there would have been more earnings from InfoBarrel early on.
However, in InfoBarrel's defense, I've seen in numerous places that you probably shouldn't expect consistent earnings from most article-submission sites until you have about 100 articles published. Moreover, I think that with a minimum of 325 words it is easier to publish on InfoBarrel, as I've yet to get a "substandard" or similar classification on my articles there.
In short, as I've mentioned in other articles, I don't think you should put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to online income. In other words, you should diversify and publish on a number of sites rather than just one. Because I still like InfoBarrel's business model and have faith in the site, I will continue - and probably ramp up - my publishing efforts there.