How to Use eHow, a newbie guide

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Computer
Time

Step 1

Sign into eHow every day. How much time you spend here is up to you but there are things to do. Check your profile. This is where you will see how your articles are doing, if you have any messages or if there are friends to add. If there are pending friends, go into their profile, read about them and look at their articles. I find at least one article that appeals to me, read it, rate it and leave a terse (see next step) comment.
Step 2

Find an article to read for your new friends. Some have many articles so scroll through the list, make mental notes on the ones you want to read. When you find one, read it and leave a comment. The comment could be what you liked about it, whether it's something you agree with or something that adds to your life. Comments can be anything you want. The point here is to acknowledge that person's article. Comments should be short and to the point. I can't stress this enough. We're all here to make money and don't have a lot of time to write epic comments.
Step 3

Rating articles is easy. There are 5 starts at the top. If you have not already rated the article, click on the stars and they will highlight yellow. Choose the one that you believe best suits the article and click on it. If the author has articles that really appeal to you, click on the recommend.
Step 4

Writing an article.

The next step is to go to your article list. I have several in draft form. This is where I decide if I want to work on them now or procrastinate. If I have any ideas, I start a new article, put in my rough draft opening and pick the difficulty. For this one I chose Moderate. If I have all the information I need, I will go ahead and write it. If not, I will add tidbits and save it for later.

1. Keywords are very important and I am still learning about them. As a new writer, there is so much information that it can be overwhelming. You want to make money so keep reading everything that you can find. Much of the information is already out there, especially in the forums. We'll get to forums in another step but start with keywords. If you type keywords into the search you will find 1440 articles. Staggering amount of information. In the resource section, I have added a site for keywords. Start with that. Read some of the more prolific writers articles on keywords.

2. Some of the best article information is in Tips and Warning. There is always something that doesn't require a full step but is important enough to be mentioned.

3. Categorize and keywords are the most important thing for an article. This is how traffic gets to your article.

4. Resources are a great thing to add if you have them. It gives viewers more information. I love resources.
Step 5

As you go through the article list, check the views. You will have some articles with lots of views and no money. You may need to go back and look at the keywords. Make a note of the those and then go back to your profile. Set aside a time to review these articles. I rewrote this one, even changed the title.
Step 6

Pick 5 friends a day. Go to their profile, find an article or two that you have not read. Read it, rate it and add a comment. I have a list of my friends so that I can keep track of who I need to visit. This may not work for others but I can't keep it in my head.
Step 7

I belong to several groups. I do the same thing there. If the group is small, pick one day a week to read their articles. If the group is large, note the last person you visited so that you can go on to the next. Participate in the discussions.
Step 8

Read the forums. They have started a thread on how to use eHow. I don't get involved in this since the people posting are the experts. I do however, read all the posts. Great place to learn. Get involved in threads that are of personal interest. There have been and will be bugs in the eHow system. It's up to you if you want to join in on the bug problems. Post any new articles in the article of the day. This is another place where I try to read the articles that are posted.
Step 9

"I did this" lets others know that this is something you've already done or did based on the article. Clicking on it adds to a list on your profile page.
Step 10

Save to Favorites - Nice feature to save the articles that appeal to you. Mine is full of things I want to cook, things I want to do and articles on how to use eHow. Instead of printing them, I spend time re-reading, making notes or in some cases reading again because they are just that - Favorites.
Step 11

Write this Article is a feature that scrolls to the right. Some are pretty vague but if you know how, write that article.
Step 12

It looks like reading, rating and commenting on articles is all I do but I have found that I need to share in this community. In return, I have truly enjoyed the articles I've read, had some great comments and found great tips. While I am doing all this, the other do the same for me. Works for everyone.