Hub #100-Bitter Sweet

Well here I am . . . Hub #100!

It has taken me practically 16 months or 1-1/2 years to reach this milestone. Yet I find the timing bitter sweet in light of a devastating recent event in my personal life. Still, I know my 100th hub is something I have worked hard to obtain, so I should allow at least an inner smile or two to appear even if I am not as happy as I would have been about this achievement had it occurred a month or so ago.

So, putting personal drama aside let me celebrate the fact that I finally made it! YEAH!

Why didn't I enroll in one of the many Hub Challenges to reach my goal more quickly? It's a valid question, worthy of reasonable answer.

I couldn't commit. It is really that simple. Not that I didn't want to commit, just that I couldn't commit because of time restraints caused by poor health.

There is nothing worse than failing miserably at a goal you were fully aware was out of reach to begin with. I am not a glutton for self-punishment, I have long ago accepted the limitations MS puts on my wants and desires.

Since I only feel pressured to do my best, I accepted that participating in a challenge for 30 days in a row would be beyond my best. May I just add, being impatient by nature does not make honest self-evaluations easy to do. It is hard to pull in the reigns with a project you would enjoy but that wouldn't be in your best all-around interests. Saying, "no" never gets easier even if you've been practicing it for 17 years.

However, since slow and steady can also win the race, I made myself reach the 100 hubs mark the harder way. I remember when I finally made it to the half way point- 50 HUBS, seemed like a great half way point until it dawned on me I still had to do this 50 more times!

Why 100 Hubs?

So what made me reach out for the 100 hub mark? I learned that the more you publish the more you earn. Couple volume of work with high quality work and eventually you begin to receive a little reward in the way of Google AdSense revenue.

I have reached pay out twice now; once 6 months ago and again in May, 2010. With 100 hubs and counting, I hope that pay out in my niche area will come a little more quickly, in the future.

My eventual goal is a monthly pay out which I believe is very attainable.

With this posting, I will move in to my next 100 hubs with slightly altered plans.  I do not expect to publish new hubs as often since I will be working on other projects.

Branching Out

I have just enough built-up knowledge to take things to the next level; my own domain name and website. The domain name is registered with Godaddy, as has been recommended by hubbers.

Next comes my first website which will be hosted by HostGator, again as recommended by folks in the know here at HP.

Linking and social bookmarking will increase this coming year. Something I have only followed through a small percentage of the time. I know better, so will be doing better in this regard very soon.

Product Oriented Writing

I will be the first to admit this is not my most favorite kind of writing, but with the first 100 hubs under my belt, it is time to begin writing more for profit and less for enjoyment.

Having a well-defined niche market, I at least will have the satisfaction of offering goods and services I believe in and feel will be of value to people who share my circumstances.

My husband will have put in his 30 years by this time next year. We are looking forward to living simply and continuing to spend time together as we age ever so gracefully. A move to a more economically friendly state will be in order which is why Internet marketing is so appealing to me, as a part-time income source.

Still Plenty to Learn

When it comes to learning this trade and increasing my writing abilities, I still have plenty of learning to do. I look forward to it and enjoy reading and researching in an on-going manner.

For example, I just ran across this hubber while researching those who have written 100 hubs and I learned something new from him, in just the small amount of time I read his hub.

It is what makes the Hubpages community such a good resource. Thanks for the great information DanPowers!

One Goal Still Unachievable!

This brings me down to the one failure out of all my success. I guess it keeps me humble.

I am still waiting to get a hubscore of 100!

It seems out of my control, I don't know what I am doing wrong. I write to the best of my ability. I have been patiently bidding my time. I learn from my mistakes and from great writers that I follow, still the 100 score remains elusive.

Maybe my 100th hub will get a score of 100, now wouldn't that be way cool? But then again, maybe it won't.

Regardless of the outcome I will keep working toward that goal and if anyone happens to be awake in the wee hours of the morning and notices that a hub of mine hits 100, could you capture it for me, please? I'll owe you a big one for sure!

Until and unless that happens, I'm still holding at my highest hub score of . . . 99.