Almost two years ago, in February 2010, we ran a story on JCMayer777 and all the success he was having with InfoBarrel.  InfoBarrel has changed since then, we’ve launched InfoBarrel 2.0 and we’ve survived through a number of Google Algorithm changes.  What matters is that we’ve come out on top and we’re happy with what we’ve accomplished.

Not only has InfoBarrel grown since February 2010, but so has JCMayer777 and his success with InfoBarrel.  Back in early 2010, Jason was striving to hit $1000 per month.  Two years later and he has made that look like child’s play.  In this interview not only will Jason tell you how far he has come since we last spoke, he will also share some of his valuable knowledge which I can only hope will help take other InfoBarrel writers to the next level.

It has been a little bit since our last interview, how have things been since?

Everything has been going pretty well.  I have my health, as do my kids.  Probably cannot ask for much more than that.  I do have a few planned changes that I’m checking out right now.

I’m looking at buying a new house this winter or early spring.  Right now, that’s one of my main focuses.  I’m pretty picky about what I want, so it’s tough to say how long it will take to find the right one.  I have a general location where I want to be within my hometown, so it’s just a matter of the right one popping up on the market.

I still work a fulltime job as a jail guard, primarily because of health insurance, but I actually make more online now than I do offline, even when I work overtime.  Plus, I’ve kind of become accustomed to the level of income I’m making now between both sources, so I’ll probably hold off on quitting my “regular” job even when the income goes up enough to support my lifestyle and pay for health insurance.  I only write on the side now and although I love it, I don’t know if I’d want to commit to doing it fulltime.

We know you’ve been having a lot of success here on IB, what is the most you’ve made?

My best month so far was right around $2,800, which happened in November, 2011.  The vast majority of my earnings come from AdSense, but Chitika and Amazon earnings are starting to pick up.

As odd as it may sound, I actually left a lot of money on the table.  It wasn’t until the beginning of that month that I actually got around to creating some Amazon links for affiliate income.  Granted, many of my articles aren’t really conducive to Amazon, but there’s no doubt that I could have made more.  I have to suspect I could have made over $3,000 on InfoBarrel if I had taken the time.

Even just now, as I’m thinking about it, I just cannot believe it.  Just a few years back I would have loved to make $2,800 per month and now I’m making that on InfoBarrel in my spare time.  There was a time, early on in my InfoBarrel career, that I wrote a lot and spent tons of time on it, but now, it’s blossoming on its own, without me doing much to help.  I guess that’s what passive income is really about.

When you break that total down, it works out to about $6 per article, per month.  In a year, that’s $72 and after 4 years it’s $288 from each article.  The old cliché applies – it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Have you changed any of your strategies since the last interview? If so, what are you doing differently?

I haven’t made giant changes, but I have made some.  I’ve stated in the past, both on my earning reports and on the InfoBarrel forums, that I feel a writer needs to focus on SEO.  Not the SEO of today, but what’s coming down the road.  If you can stay one step ahead of the game, I don’t think you have to work nearly as hard to get the results you desire.

One of the main changes I’ve made is the way I optimize my articles on the page.  In the past, on-page SEO was mostly about density and repetition in the proper quantity.  I wrote the bulk of my articles with this philosophy.  I actually used a smaller density percentage than recommended by most gurus and used synonyms and LSI words liberally throughout the article.  I’ve altered that a little.  I think this helped me survive and flourish after the Panda updates that killed the earnings of so many authors.

These days, I don’t worry about the density nearly as much as I do about synonyms and LSI.  It seems to be paying off, so I cannot complain too much.  My earnings reports of the last few months have had some tips in them that state what I’ve been doing to earn money on InfoBarrel.

How do you decide what to write?

I love keywords.  I really feel choosing the right keyword for an article is one of the easiest ways to succeed with online writing.  While there are probably fewer untapped niches today than there were three years ago when I started making money online, there are still plenty, if you can find them.  I’m not going to give away all my secrets, but I’ll give you a little background insight into how I select the right keywords.

When I started out about 3 years back, I wanted to find a way to determine what keywords were the best to use.  I used a free keyword tool at that time and started to record and track scores for them, whenever I found one that appealed to me.  It became pretty apparent to me that I could take a somewhat scientific approach to the selection.

I designed a sliding scale ratio over time.  I would record the score from each set of keywords onto paper and then check Google search results for the same keywords.  I kept the keywords separated by length and gave preference to longer strings of keywords.  In other words, I had a list of keywords that were 3 words long, 4 words long, 5 words long, etc.  I would take the keyword tool score and the Google search results and turn them into a ratio.  If the Google search results were 300,000 and the keyword tool score was 300 for that string of keywords, I’d divide them out and it would be 1,000 to 1.    I’d write on the lower ratios and skip the higher ones, after applying some additional filters.  Eventually, I came up with ratio guidelines that had the best potential.

Now, I mentioned that I gave preference to longer strings of keywords.  I would add about 50% to the acceptable ratio for the addition of each keyword in the string.  So, if a 3 keyword string needed a ratio of 1,000 to 1 to have proper potential, a 4 word string could be 1,500 to 1, and a 5 word string could be 2,250 to 1, etc.  I played around with other keyword tools and found that as long as I compared ratios always using the same keyword tool and only those from Google results, I could quickly come up with what would be acceptable ratios.  The ratios of course changed, since different keyword tools gave different scores to keywords, but the point was that the lower the ratio, the better potential.  The key is to always use the same tool and always use the same search engine results.  After that, it’s easy to develop the ratios.

I also mentioned that I had a few filters.  I’d check Google results and see if the first page had any plain-jane blogs listed or other revenue sharing sites.  If there were eHow, HubPages, or other revenue sharing sites there, I tried to beat them.  I’d also use the allintitle: command on Google.  If there were a ton of results that showed up, but very few on the front page, I’d generally skip it.  Sometimes I’d get a little full of myself and decide I could beat out everyone, but……

While I use paid keywords tools now, I know for a fact this method still works.  I’m putting all this out there in hopes that some people will give it a try and see some results.  I’d like to also suggest that people explore keyword tools that don’t generate their results from Google’s keyword tool, which everyone else uses.  I think you’ll be surprised by the results.  My best earning article made well over $350 just in November, but it shows a zero for search results in their keyword tool.  This is far from the only one that earns well for that shows nothing or almost nothing on their tool.

A couple other little tips I’d give to people about keywords:  You are only measuring potential.  A keyword can look like the greatest thing ever, but still never produce.  The 80/20 rule still applies.  You also have to use strong SEO to ensure you rank well.  Take the time to study up on SEO.

You talk a lot about LSI on the forums, do you have any pointers you’d like to share?

As you know, I wrote and ebook course with x3xsolxdierx3x (Howie) called InfoBarrel Success.  One of the courses deals specifically with Latent Semantic Indexing and Analysis (LSI, LSA).  In my opinion, this is the future of the online writing world.  Before too long, things like keyword density will mean absolutely nothing.

I wrote about this as a tip to authors one my InfoBarrel earning reports.  It’s actually much more involved than what I wrote, but it gives out the basics.  I’ll just copy and paste that here, since it’s pretty straightforward and I really don’t want to write it all over again.

How to LSI’ify

LSI isn’t really an internet term.  It’s been around for decades and predates the internet.  It all boils down to mathematics called singular value decomposition (SVD).  In written text, you are more likely to see certain words that correlate with each other. This is especially important since some words are spelled the same, but have different meanings.  Is an apple a fruit or a brand of computer?  If you use LSI words in your articles, the search engines will know the difference (and the ads will match more appropriately).

If you were to give all the information you knew about a topic you were knowledgeable in, there would be certain things you would be likely to type out for the reader.  In this example, we are going to assume you are writing an article about some type of charity.

LSI words are words that are somewhat related to the main topic.  They are not synonyms.  Think about “charity” carefully.  If you were well-versed on charity and were to sit down and tell someone everything you know about them, what types of words would likely be uttered?  Let’s make a list for illustration purposes.

•         Charitable organization

•         Nonprofit organization

•         Tax deductible

•         Contribution

•         Donate

•         Donation

•         Foundation

•         Fund

•         Fundraising

•         Relief

•         Worthy cause

•         Assistance

•         Financial help

•         Less fortunate

This is quite literally what just entered my mind as I typed.  All of these words are related to the basic theme of “charity.”

LSI’ified (yes, I’m just making that word up) articles will generally have most of these words in them, because they all relate to the basic theme of charity.  If you include several of these in your articles and make it pretty natural for the reader, there’s a good chance you’ll rank much better.

Now, you are not likely just to title an article “charity” and you should think about what you’re writing.  Some other possible words, depending on what type of charity article you were writing would include: hunger, starving, Africa, third world, etc.  Take the title and the basic theme of the article and come up with your lists accordingly.

Personally, I would suggest you type out a quick list, just as I did above for the first several articles you write like this.  It will help you find ways to include them in your articles.  Once you do it a few times, you should be able to think of most of them on the fly.

What other tips do you have for other writers on the site?

The most important step in writing online for money is studying.  I have to suspect it’s the most commonly skipped step.  Study search engine optimization, latent semantic indexing, and keyword selection.  It might make you feel like you’re not being productive, but from experience, I can assure you, it’s the most productive time you will spend during your entire InfoBarrel writing endeavors.  I’ve gotten to the point, through studying and analyzing, where applying SEO/LSI to my articles are second nature and take no more time, yet yield much better results.  I have a choice now; I can write 5 articles without regard to SEO and LSI, or I can write 1 and get the same results.  That’s productivity.

There are awesome threads on the InfoBarrel forum.  The consolidated one tip thread, the free keyword tools thread, and a bunch of others are all great to read.  Read through them and you’re bound to learn a great deal.  Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help on the forums.  The InfoBarrel community is somewhat smaller than other sites, but it’s the most friendly, helpful forum I’ve ever seen.  Ask questions and you’ll find a lot of us willing and able to help.

I’d also suggest people work to accomplish their goals on InfoBarrel. If the idea is to make money, go for it.  If the money isn’t a primary concern and you just want to share your knowledge, this is a great place to do it.  If you are looking for nothing more than a place to write a little and meet some new efriends, you’ll find them here.  Whatever the goals are, it’s up to you to make them.

I’m getting awfully long-winded here, so I’ll finish up by suggesting writers emulate some of the others on the site.

For money:  Some other active members of InfoBarrel that I know are doing well are Travis_Aitch, thehigherstandard, and Chezfat.  I’m sure I’m leaving out some, but these are the first to come to mind.

For Productivity:  Sookie and Ernie are the first two that come to mind.  I don’t know how those two find the time to write so much.  Although I haven’t heard much from either lately, I have to suspect they are both taking a well-deserved break.

Quality Writing:  The first two that come to mind are Classicalgeek and a newer member, Vicdillinger.  Classicalgeek’s work is always error-free and full of accurate, relevant information.  Vicdillinger’s articles are among the most entertaining and unique you’ll ever read.  Both of them are absolutely outstanding.

For Giving Back:  X3xsolxdierx3X is the most generous and committed of all the writers here, in my opinion.  He’s incredibly active on the forum boards and is more than willing to help out anyone.  He’s currently in Afghanistan, but finds a little time to hit the boards.  Another few are mommymommymommy (I don’t know how she finds the time), Deborah-Diane, DPeach, and JadeDragon, who gives out great advice on the threads. A newcomer that always seems willing to help is Skeffling.

What is your long term goal for IB and how long do you think it will take to achieve?

It’s winter, I live in Wisconsin and I hate the cold, so I pretty much hunker down and turn into a hermit for about 5 months.  This is when I’ll work to achieve my long term goals.

Goal #1 is simply to crack the $3,000 barrier for a single month.  I don’t know if it’s going to happen in December or not and things slow down a little the following months, so I’m not sure exactly how long it will take.  If I can stay committed to writing during the cold winter months, I’ll have a shot to make it.  As you can see through my profile, I pretty much took the summer months off.  This truly is a spare time thing for me, despite the fulltime income, and I intend to keep it that way during the summer.  There’s only so much time to spend out on the four wheelers with the kids, so IB has to take a backseat.  Then again, that’s the beauty of this type of site; it can take a backseat and I can continue to earn.

Goal #2 is to eventually hit $5,000 per month on InfoBarrel.  Three years ago, I would have thought it an unrealistic dream.  Of course, now I know it’s perfectly attainable.  Since it’s a spare time deal for me, I think it’s about two years away.

Those are my financial goals.  Beyond that, I’d simply like to make some new friends and enjoy myself.

The Holiday season is quickly approaching and what better way to get everybody inspired than another InfoBarrel Success Story?

Our success stories give you a glimpse into the personalities behind the most successful people on InfoBarrel. We publish these success stories to give you an idea of what you are capable of if you put your mind to it.  In this particular case, we have one of our long term members who has been around since April of 2009.  She is not only a great support on the forum, but she creates tons of great content and has had a pretty successful ‘career’ as an online writer.

If you participate in the forums, chances are you know her by DKRunner, but she formally goes as Kelli.

Hey DKRunner, Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself ?

My real name is Kelli. I am a twenty something who is determined not to spend her entire life in a cubicle slaving away for someone else. I am entrepreneurial, adventurous, and I can’t sit still for more than 60 seconds. I have bachelor’s degrees in both psychology and sociology and a few years of experience in education and career counseling with both youth and adults. I have a husband who I adore, a very loving family, and one exceptionally fat cat. I have dreams of living on a large piece of land with a view where I will have a garden and a fruit tree collection that is plentiful enough to feed me all year around.

How did you choose your user name?

I put very little thought into choosing the username DKRunner (about 3 years ago, originally on another writing site), because I had no idea that I would be “stuck” with it for so long! The D is for my husband’s first name, mine starts with a K, and I really love running. The name is as simple as that but it ended up really growing on me.

How did you get started as an online writer?

In early 2009, we stumbled on a site that paid a passive income structure for submissions on any subject. I wrote two articles and checked on it the next day to find that I had made a dime. Others might laugh at such a feat, but I saw the potential and I kept writing, usually for an hour or two each day. In my first two months, I elatedly shared my small successes with friends and family who kind of laughed and gave me the “ok, but don’t quit your day job” sort of look. Roughly six months later I had built up a library of revenue share articles and was making enough money each month to pay my mortgage and then some. There were months where my passive online income was actually earning more than my full time job as a counselor.

The funny thing is, I never spent any of that money- except once, for an all inclusive ten day trip to Cozumel. I didn’t trust the company that I was writing for, or their promises of never ending the revenue share system, and so I saved nearly every penny that I earned from them. In the end, I was happy that I didn’t depend on that income coming in every month!

How did you come across InfoBarrel?

I found InfoBarrel shortly after delving into the online passive income world. I liked the site but was seeing so much success at the place I originally started at that I didn’t spend a lot of time writing here at first. Over time, it became clear to me that this was a much friendlier and more ethical place to write. When I had questions regarding the site or my account, I could get prompt answers directly back from admin – that would have never, ever happened at the other site.

InfoBarrel also had a community of people who were not abrasive or hostile, as I had seen with some other writing sites. They were welcoming, helpful, and put a great deal of time and genuine effort into answering questions for both new members and veterans. Due to work on other projects, I haven’t written much on InfoBarrel recently. Even so, when I had questions regarding that unrelated online project a few months back, I came to this forum and got a wealth of support and good advice from IB members. There are a lot of great people here.

What do you attribute to your success on IB?

I would contribute my success partially to being diligent and consistent with creating content, partially to the support of my husband because he believes in me and supports me whole heartedly in anything that I feel excited or passionate about, and partially to my being just plain stubborn – I want a “real” job to be an option and not a necessity.

I know you run a web site, how is that going for you? Did anything you learn here carry over to your other online endeavours?

FitnessBlender.com is doing very well. We are really excited because we just added a new feature for our users; full length home workout videos. They are anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour in length and range from Pilates to boot camps, and everything in between.

I feel very fortunate to have stumbled into my online earning endeavors because if I hadn’t, I would have never found a venue through which I could take something that I feel so strongly about; working out, staying healthy, clean eating, etc, and share it with the world in a manner that creates income for me and my family.

My husband and I have good intentions with Fitness Blender (it’s cost & gimmick free, the way that health ought to be) and we want it to thrive so that we can spend more time together. Life is short and I don’t want to spend 40 or more hours a week at a job that I hate, away from the people I love the most. Online writing sites are what made me aware that there are less conventional and more rewarding options out there for earning a living.

What is your favourite article you’ve written and your favourite you’ve read on InfoBarrel?

An article of mine that I like is about how to write CNA resumes.  In one of my last jobs I was counseling recent nursing graduates (CNAs, LPNs and RNs) on how to find jobs after they were done with school. Often times people finish college courses and are still unsure of how to get a job in their field. Having experience in job coaching and resume building, I was excited to be able to share that information on the web so that others could possibly benefit from it and land their first jobs.

I like AJ Walton’s “How to Come up with Unlimited Article Ideas” . I like his simple and effective approach to beating writer’s block, and it’s the same principle that worked best for me when I was really cranking out a large quantity of articles everyday.

What do you do in your free time?

I am always picking up new hobbies and interests to keep myself engaged. I spend a lot of time gardening, hiking, painting, cooking, working out, reading, writing, watching movies, playing guitar (trying anyways), and traveling. Aside from all the hobbies, I value the days where I get avoid doing anything constructive whatsoever and be completely lazy.

What advice do you have for existing IB members and new and upcoming members?

I believe that consistency is key. Anything worth doing takes time and effort and online writing is no different. I also believe that making small goals is paramount to tackling the big ones; everything can be subdivided into attainable goals that are less intimidating and more approachable, which makes it more likely that you actually pursue them.

Something that I wish I had known from the beginning is regarding keywords. When I started I had no idea about how keywording worked. When I learned about how they functioned and could be beneficial I went through a stage where I unintentionally went completely overboard, which I think is evident in some of my older articles. There is a careful balance that you have to strive for that is keyword-aware, but not so keyword dense or obvious that the reader feels like you are trying to sell them on something as they read your writing.

I also recommend writing about things that you either know well, or feel passionate about as then the articles just spill out of you and it doesn’t feel as much like work.

Thank you for thinking of me for this acknowledgement, I really appreciate it and I’m flattered.

Looking for a little motivation to get your butt in gear and start sharing all the amazing information you have stored inside your head?  Read the following interview with one of our long term InfoBarrel writers.  The following writer is not only an amazing person, but she radiates the qualities writers should strive for.  She is an amazing success story, because she proves that if you just do a little each day you will amount to big things over the long run.  Sookie proves that consistency is king (or possibly queen in this case) and to achieve success you just need to follow in her foot steps.

Hey Sookie, Tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well, my real name is Diane, and I live in the rural countryside north of Toronto, Ontario. I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 32 years now and we have 2 great kids, a son 29 and a daughter 27 that we are very proud of. We also have 2 large dogs, and 2 cats that keep me busy.

I love arts and crafts, and I also love to write. As the kids were growing up, I ran a small daycare, and then later, I would sell crafts and paintings so that I could stay home with them, first at craft shows, then later on Ebay. That is how I got started on the internet to make money.

How did you choose the name Sookie? Did it have anything to do with Sookie Stackhouse from HBO’s True Blood?

No, actually my husband picked the name Sookie for our Dog from a Peter Gabriel Song “Games without Frontiers” We have two dogs, called Sookie and Sasha. (Sookie is the dog seated on the floor, Sasha on the couch in the picture) Both names are in the song. But I just love the name Sookie.  I know you see a picture of my cat in my avatar, that is Muffin, she sits with me every time I write articles!

How did you get started with InfoBarrel?

For a good couple of years I did well selling my arts and crafts on Ebay. It really was my introduction to the internet. It was also very frustrating at the time as all we could get was Dial up internet!

I had also sold some of my paintings at craft shows, but it was a lot of work. I realized, that if I created smaller items that could be mailed easily, I would do well. I also found a source for older craft patterns that I sold too.

But after awhile the fees started to eat away at my profits, and I found myself reading ebooks on article writing and realized that I could make money talking about crafts instead of trying to sell them. I was hooked!

The idea of passive income worked for me!

I realized just how much I enjoyed writing and ventured onto other subjects. I also figured out how to create a website, and although it seems a bit jumbled! (my very first website!) it makes me money every month as well as IB.

I decided to do more writing and direct traffic to my new website. I then stumbled across Infobarrel while writing on Xomba. I absolutely love Infobarrel and decided to write and put all my efforts into this site.

What do you feel has been the major factor contributing to your success on IB?

I feel my success here on Infobarrel is due to the fact that I try very hard to do something each day. I treat it as a real business, and try to write at least an article a day if not more. If I am not writing then I will spend the time on keyword research or researching new subjects.

I really do believe you have to carve out some time to work on the business of article writing, even if it is just 30 minutes. Once you get into the habit, your article library will grow before you know it.

You also have to firmly believe in it, as I didn’t see money right away, but I kept on writing. That is why it is also important to check in at the forums and connect with others. I learned so much in the beginning from the FAQs and the forums.

What is your favourite article you’ve written? What is your favourite article written by another member?

My favourite article I have written has to Side Dishes for Lobster it has had over 11,000 views and still is going strong.

My favourite article written by another member has to be jcmayer777′s Sears Online Employement Application article.

When I was first starting out and saw the traffic he got to that article I was really excited. It felt like a “ahaaaa moment” and it got me inspired to learn keyword research and branch out to other subjects.

In the beginning I was writing away and not really paying as close attention to keyword research as I should have been, but that is the best part about this process, is you keep writing and learn from others and you get better at it.

What was your best month on IB?

December 2010 I made over $600.00 in adsense. Once I got over the $500.00 dollar mark it got me excited enough to keep heading to my goal of $1000.00 per month. I have also done well with Amazon on IB as I make $100 dollars per month with them, and I make other affiliate sales as well.

I remember when I first made payout for adsense ($100.00) how excited I was, and it was not that long ago. Now I am always over the 500 dollar mark each month. Plus with Amazon and other affiliate income I am usually in the $800.00 range, which is really exciting for me!.

I don’t do any backlinking. It is just one of the parts of this business that I don’t like and find tedious. Maybe I would be making more money if I did, but I think it depends on the article. Many of my earlier articles were not high paying subjects, but it all adds up. I tried to spend time on backlinking, only to have the backlinking sites fail or disappear! So, I decided to experiment. In later articles I found that if I use longer tailed keywords with less searches,

I do well without backlinking, some articles I see money right away. This works for me.

What advice do you have for InfoBarrel writers just starting out?

Schedule in some time each day for your writing business. Even if it is just some keyword research or idea research. Once you get into the habit of working on your IB business every day, the articles will grow.

If you only did one article a day that would grow to 365 articles a year, and if you write about subjects you are passionate about, it should come easy to you and you can end up with more articles. I don’t believe in working for hour after hour trying to write. I think you get exhausted and the quality is not there, work on it a bit each day.

Have a notepad with you or write in your iphone when a subject comes to mind, then you can research it later. This way you have some subject ideas. One great way to come up with subjects is to ask your friends and family what was the last thing they “googled” on the internet. Maybe it is something worth writing an article about.

Just keep at it, the money will come.

You have to believe the money will come and not give up. Some people see money right away, others, like me took a few months to see it. It will happen!

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love to get together with family. My husband and I are both one of four kids, so there are plenty of relatives to see. I especially like it when our kids and their partners visit and we have meals together and catch up.

I still love to paint, and am in the process of updating my website ‘Make Crafts for Cash‘ to be a bit more user friendly, and of course I love writing for IB!

It has been awhile since we’ve done an InfoBarrel success story.  Lots of adjustments have been taking place here over the last few months that have kind of taken precedence.  Moving forward we will continue to showcase members who heavily contribute to InfoBarrel and have experienced some success.

This month, I’d like to congratulate Ernie, one of our long time members for being the InfoBarrel Success Story or July 2011!

Ernie, tell us a little bit about yourself

I am 34 years old and live in Idaho. My real name is Daniel, but I go by the nickname of Ernie. I graduated from Highland High school in Pocatello and currently live in Twin falls, Idaho. I love riding bicycles. I have been writing full time for about a year now.

How did you get started on InfoBarrel, and how did you hear about it?

I have always been interested in writing. I had begun to write for a website that paid for pageviews. I was having a lot of success with this site but I did not fully trust them. The revenue paid to the writers kept dropping and I looked for additional places to write for. I attempted to write for another writing site that was extremely popular at the time, but I continued to get errors when I wanted to publish an article. Their publishing tool was horrendous as it kept failing. I only put 4 articles up with them and gave up. It was good I gave up this popular site as they ended up changing their terms and ending the royalty program.

I kept writing for the original website I was writing for but I wanted to find a company that was fair and not out to rip off the writers. I checked back on the website where I had only published 4 articles after a couple of months and was surprised to find I had earned over $30.00 even though I had done nothing with the website for a long while. I was instantly hooked on building up my passive income through writing.

I dabbled with a handful of other websites and experienced some minor earnings but none of these websites felt right to me. I discovered InfoBarrel from reading a forum. I believe it was the EHow forum, but am not sure. I came to InfoBarrel and was initially not impressed with the look of the website. This was before InfoBarrel 2.0 was introduced.

I did more research on content sharing websites and I kept coming back to InfoBarrel. I spent some time on InfoBarrel and realized it was exactly what I was looking for.

What is your writing strategy, how do you decide what to write about?

I don’t like to backlink and I rarely use keyword research, even though it would drastically add to my earnings. I like to write about a wide variety of topics. If a certain niche earns consistently then I will write more articles within that niche. I have a lot of articles dealing with Las Vegas. I like to write about Las Vegas because that topic has proven to be a valuable topic to earn money with.

Not all of my Las Vegas articles earn money consistently each month, but the ones that do earn are “Cherry” and earn a few dollars each month.

My overall goal with InfoBarrel is to get 4,000 articles published. I like to write and hate to backlink so I will focus most of my attention on simply writing articles.

My monthly earnings per article average is much lower than the average here on IB. A lot of this has to do with the lack of backlinking and keyword research on my part. I know if I was to focus more on backlinking I would earn more, but I instead choose to simply write more articles.

I write a lot of articles for clients each month and I must write to their specifications. InfoBarrel is my release where I can write freely and not have to follow a client’s direction. The more I earn with InfoBarrel then the less I have to write for up-front payment for clients. Q- What do you like to do in your free time?

I love to ride bikes, go camping, swimming at in lakes, photography, playing cards, reading and of course writing. Q- Of all the articles on InfoBarrel, what article are you most proud of?

Top 25 Most Visited Tourist Destinations in America

What advice can you give new writers just starting out on InfoBarrel?

Stick with your writing. At times it can seem like your efforts are not paying off, but they will. Keep writing and adding new articles to InfoBarrel on a regular basis. If you want to learn about keyword research and how to maximize your earnings per article then take a look at an InfoBarrel member such as JCMayer777. He maximizes his earnings per article by using great keyword usage as well as backlinking.

In the beginning I would simply recommend to begin writing and adding articles on a regular basis. Once you have a larger portfolio of articles you can see which article topics tend to earn the most for you and then focus on writing more articles within those topics.

Don’t get bogged down trying to follow the exact methods that any established authors use on here. Each writer will develop their own system and methods of doing things that work for them. You can however learn a great deal from many of the members here. The InfoBarrel forums are a great place to ask questions and learn new tips and techniques. I am constantly learning new things in the InfoBarrel forums.

As a new writer it is imperative that you connect your Adsense and Analytics account together. You can use Adsense channels, but you are limited to only 200 channels which will quickly run out once you get serious about writing for InfoBarrel.

Connect your Adsense and Analytics account. Create a custom channel for InfoBarrel in Analytics. Create a channel for InfoBarrel.com/media. Add your Amazon and Chitika information to InfoBarrel. Once you have done this simply write a lot of articles and see what works well for you.

I emphasize the steps above as I use Analytics as a primary motivator to continue writing for InfoBarrel. I look at the overall pageviews on my InfoBarrel articles and try to improve them. I can see when old articles are suddenly trending and find out why they are suddenly popular. I also use Analytics to find what search terms people use to find my articles, and then I write more articles around those terms.

You can never be sure as to what articles will consistently earn money. I have written well researched articles using keyword research and backlinked the article and earned a few cents while on the other hand I have written a short article using no keyword research and threw it together in less than 20 minutes and it earns consistently each month.

When you publish an article on InfoBarrel then interlink it with related articles that you already have written on InfoBarrel. Internal linking of your InfoBarrel articles can increase your pageviews.

I also suggest you use images with as many articles as you can. An image helps to break up the monotony of static text and also gives you gives you the potential for additional revenue.

What was your best month on InfoBarrel?

It was December 2010. I earned $142.64 with InfoBarrel. For 9 of the last 10 months I have earned over $100.00 each month with InfoBarrel.

If I was to quit writing for InfoBarrel I would still earn around $100 each month. I have built up over $1,200 a year in passive income using InfoBarrel. I will continue to receive my InfoBarrel earnings check from Google and Chitika each month regardless of if I continue to write or not. I could quit writing for InfoBarrel today and over the next 5 years continue to earn around $6,000. The power of passive income is truly awesome! Q- What are your plans/goals with InfoBarrel in the future?

My long term goal with InfoBarrel is to eventually get 4,000 articles published. I really enjoy the flexibility in being able to choose to write what I want to write about.

As promised we are going to try and push out at least one InfoBarrel success story each month. This month, we’d like to recognize a member who has been with us since January of this year.

She is a frequent poster on the forums and has racked up nearly 650 forum posts while stringing together 233 articles.

Everybody congratulate MommyMommyMommy!

First of all, we’d love to hear a little bit about you, give us an overview of who MommyMommyMommy is and what she is all about.

Before I begin, I want to thank you for asking me to be an Info
Barrel success story! I honestly did not think of myself as one
until you asked me. It is truly an honor.

As for me, I am a minivan driving suburban mom who has been
married to my college sweetheart for twenty-three years. We
have three great kids-a fifteen year old daughter and eight year
old boy/girl twins.

I am proud to say that I am a teacher. Ever since I was a little
girl, I wanted to be one. I have been teaching in some capacity
for my entire life. For twelve years I taught second and third
grade, then I taught parent/child classes and preschool at my
synagogue, and I have been teaching Hebrew School to first and
second graders on Sundays for the past eight years.

I am also a published author. Although I sold my first magazine
article to Instructor Magazine in 1988, it would be another sixteen
years before I tried writing again. A story request in Twins
Magazine about miracle twins led me to write about my children.
Stories about my son and daughter have been published in three
books- It’s Twins!, Twice the Love, and Chicken Soup for the
Soul, Twins and More, all edited by Susan Heim.

How did you originally wind up writing on InfoBarrel?

I needed to find a way to make money at home so I am available
to my kids and my mom. I saw a story on my local television

news about ways for moms to make money at home, and writing
online content was one way these women earned an income.

I found out about Info Barrel on another online writing forum. I
liked what I saw and decided to give it a try. I am so glad that I
did! One of my favorite quotes is “Bloom where you are planted.”
It took a year, and my patience has paid off! I hope that other
writers can read my story and give it time…plant yourself at IB
and see what happens!

When you aren’t writing for InfoBarrel what do you do
with yourself?

Taking care of my family is my number one priority. I love to
be with my kids and we do crafts, play games, go bike riding,
and love to snuggle and watch movies together. We eat dinner
as a family every night of the week. It can get noisy, but it is
important that we all touch base every day.

I am an exercise fanatic and work out five days a week. I get up
at 5:30 in the morning just to make sure I get it in. In fact, I do
my best writing when I am exercising! Ideas just pop into my
head.

I love to read all kinds of books when I get the chance.

When my twins started elementary school, I was able to ramp up
my volunteer efforts. I became my younger daughter’s Girl Scout
leader and love to be with my troop. Our school’s PTA is always
needing volunteers, so I joined some committees and have made
new friends by doing so. I have also recently joined a committee
at my synagogue.

Was InfoBarrel your first attempt at building a passive
income stream?

Info Barrel was my first serious attempt at building a passive
income stream. For 2011, I plan on learning how to do more

online to earn passive income and diversify my writing portfolio.
I wrote about my goals in this article.

I also have a Girl Scout blog that is a pet project of mine. Many
moms who volunteer to be leaders have a hard time starting
out. Creating a successful troop meeting is much like creating a
successful lesson plan for the classroom. I am using my teaching
skills on many levels with my blog.

What do you like about InfoBarrel?

I love the freedom to write about any topic in a variety of styles.
In particular, I like the other writers and how helpful they have
been to me. If they weren’t, I would not be writing this now! I
knew absolutely nothing about earning money online by writing
before coming here.

The great revenue share and the ability to earn more money
with contests and is a major plus for all the writers here on Info
Barrel.

I also like how the administrators respond quickly to the
questions and concerns of the writers. It means you listen, which
is a rare thing in business.

What features would you like to see in InfoBarrel 2.0?

I would love to see a private messaging system, as well as a way
to search for my own articles and the forums in a much easier
manner. I would also like a way to save my favorite articles.

At what point did you realize that you could make a
serious income on InfoBarrel?

Thanks to carrying my twins around all the time, I injured my
left rotator cuff. After being in pain for six-and-a-half years, I
was finally able to have much-needed surgery. I wrote very few

articles while recovering this summer, but over July and August,
I earned more than enough to make payout! This proved to me
that Info Barrel was a very real way for me to earn an income at
home.

How much are you currently making and what are your
goals for the future?

Since August, I have made payout every month. I went from
earning $4.78 cents in February to earning $176.93 in November.
I am even earning about twelve dollars at Chitika each month.
To date, I have made no Amazon sales!

My goal for the future is to optimize everything I have written
so I am earning at least $1,000 a month or even better by the
end of 2011. I learn so much from the IB community, I want to
do it all and make enough money to pay our mortgage and my
daughter’s college tuition, which is only two years away

I am planning a year-long series of articles about my goals and
sharing what happens. It is my intention to make the most of all
of the online opportunities available to me.

What is your favorite article that you’ve published and
your favorite article from another IB writer?

It’s hard to pick a favorite article of mine. My article on
Overcoming Adoption Fears speaks from my heart. I am a
mother through biology and adoption, and I love all of my kids
more than anything in this world. I know many people who have
only children who never considered adoption to grow their family.
I wrote my article to address the adoption fears that people have,
and hopefully provide them with some answers.

My favorite IB article has to be jcmayer777’s entitled Sears
Online Employment Application – Get Hired Today! The reason

for that is I remember reading it and finally figuring out what SEO was! It was my light bulb moment!

What would you do if you won the lottery ?

Hmmm… that is a tough one, because there is so much I would
love to do! Besides permitting my husband to quit his job and
securing fully funded college educations for our three children, I
would love to help some special people in my life who could use
it.

I would gut my house and redo my kitchen, put in an awesome
underground pool with all of the extras, and put in a media room.
I would also love to travel first class anywhere and hire a cleaning
company so I would never have to clean my house again!

There are organizations that I would love to donate to on a large
scale, like my synagogue, my children’s schools, and the adoption
agency from where we grew our family. I would also want to start
my own non-profit organization. I would make sure that children
have lots of books to read, because reading is a pathway to
dreams, as well as and plenty of food to eat and clothing to wear.

I want to thank you for giving me an opportunity for sharing my
Info Barrel experience.

It has been a few months since we last featured a member for their successes on InfoBarrel.  It is something we’d like to do a little more frequently, so if you think you’d be a good candidate for a success story feel free to send us an email!

In this edition of InfoBarrel success stories we are featuring long time member Travis_Aitch.

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well, I’m 24 years old, and I have a 5-year-old son who’s about to turn 6 in August. He is my little buddy and he looks just like me. Smart little guy too, he has an amazing vocabulary for his age. I work in a factory 6-7 days a week where we produce welding wire. It’s a pretty laid back job, but the inside temperature in the summer is usually at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit and we are required to wear full-body suits and big full-face powered respirators. I enjoy working there because the company is world-renown and over the last 90 years they pretty much built the city I live in. Plus the pay is nice

In my spare time I love to skateboard. I have been skateboarding for 10 years and I don’t have any plans to stop until my legs can’t take it anymore. It’s my favorite hobby and I love how it combines fear, concentration and skill all in one sport. In my opinion it’s the most difficult and most fun sport at the same time.

I also enjoy Mixed Martial Arts a lot and I am a huge UFC fan. From ages 8 to 18 I took a martial arts class that incorporated a lot of Taekwondo, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and Kickboxing. My friends call me a human encyclopedia when it comes to MMA. I would love to take the sport up again but it’s pretty expensive and time-consuming. Maybe if this writing thing works out, one day you’ll see me in the UFC…if they ever have a 135-pound division anyway.

I started searching for ways to make extra money online last summer when my girlfriend and I found out we were expecting. I wanted to save up a bunch of money before the baby was born so I wouldn’t be in a bad financial situation as I have been in the past. I started writing for eHow and Bukisa around October of 2009 I believe, but I didn’t like either of those sites for a laundry list of reasons. I started looking for a new place to write around December and eventually stumbled on an InfoBarrel vs. eHow type article and it convinced me to sign up.

Around Christmas, my girlfriend ended up having a miscarriage. My mom has always told me since I was a kid that my writing will take me somewhere. In the back of my head, I still know that the pregnancy is what lead me to this world of options to make something of myself using my writing skills. As they say, everything happens for a reason, and apparently it wasn’t time for another baby yet, but maybe it’s time for me to find success doing something I’ve always loved, and make mom proud in the process. (it’s working so far).

I have seen quite a bit of success on InfoBarrel in a wide variety of aspects. It’s not even just about the money, either. I was thinking about it the other day, and I realized I have had a lot of success on this website. As of the date of this interview, in the 7 months I’ve been a member here, I have:

- Earned $282 from AdSense
- Earned $35 from Chitika
- Earned $22 from Amazon
- Won 2 contests for $200 in Amazon Gift Cards
- Had 3 Featured Articles on the Front Page
- Currently #3 on the Top 100 list for Achievement Points
- Currently #2 on the Top 100 list for Forum Posts

My best month was in May where I made a total of $115 between AdSense, Chitika, and Amazon. This was also my least active month so far, so the earnings are that much more rewarding for me.

The best advice I can give a new writer is to not get discouraged. I think this is by far the most important thing new writers need to keep in mind. You can’t expect to get rich quick doing this kind of work. Sure, it does happen for some people, but that’s the exception, not the rule. You have to look at this as an investment. Each article you write is like a share of a hot stock. They may not make money today, but they can only get better with time. If you get discouraged, you’re likely to stop writing. If you stop writing, how can you expect to succeed? I have the skateboarding mentality when it comes to this. When I can’t land a skateboarding trick, I don’t quit skateboarding. I keep practicing it until I land it, even if I get hurt in the process. Basically, don’t give up on your goals, and don’t stress out about low earnings. Hard work always pays off in the end.

My ultimate goal is to be able to make about $1,000 per month consistently, but I would be ecstatic with even $300-$500 per month. I also plan on continuing to help out new members in the forum and answer as many questions as I can to help our community grow even more and make sure the newbies have an enjoyable experience on this site.

I have set a personal goal to get at least 500 articles published before the end of the year, and I still think it’s very attainable. The more articles I write, the more money I make. The more money I make, the less overtime I have to work. The less overtime I work, the more time I have to write; so it’s a pretty nice cycle I got going.

This is a hard one. I can’t decide between my article on the Origins of the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs, and my article on the Top 10 UFC Prospects of 2009 (1-10).

For the Easter one, I had a lot of fun writing it because I actually had no idea what the origins were beforehand. So it was an awesome learning experience for me. Plus, it was my first featured article, it got a ton of views, and it’s one of my highest rated articles.

The UFC article was the very first one I wrote for InfoBarrel. I like that one because I think I did a good job for the most part and so far the majority of my top picks are proving me right. I also spent a great deal of time and effort on that series, and I got a lot of positive comments on it here on InfoBarrel and also on a couple of MMA websites I shared the link to.

Oh wow, this one is really hard. Hmmm…I think it would have to be jcmayer777’s article entitled My InfoBarrel Experience. It was one of the first InfoBarrel articles I remember reading and it gave me a huge boost of motivation to take this seriously and really try to succeed. If that article didn’t exist, it’s very likely I wouldn’t even be considered for a Success Story right now.

This is going to be the first blog post in a new series we are going to release now and again that will chronicle the successes of our users.  We will be doing interviews with successful InfoBarrel writers which will hopefully inspire other writers to reach to the next level and achieve their writing goals.

The first edition of InfoBarrel Success Stories will be with one of our top writers, jcmayer777.  So with no further adieu, let me introduce Jason!

Ryan: Jason, the man behind the questions mark, before we get too deep into this I wanted to thank you for taking the time to do this interview.

Jason: No problem

—–

Ryan: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Jason: There’s not too much to tell about me, but I’ll give it a go. I’m a full time jail guard in Wisconsin. I dabble a little in dispatching, but mostly stick to working in the jail. I’ve been married for 15 years and have three sons. If you call me in the summer, I won’t be home. If you call me in the winter, unless I’m at work, I’ll be hunkered in my home whining about how much I hate winter.

—–

Ryan: I guess I’ll just jump in head first, so when did you start writing for InfoBarrel?

Jason: I wrote my first article on May 10th, 2009, so less than a year ago.

—–

Ryan: What Inspired you to start writing for InfoBarrel?

Jason: I was writing on another site and was really just looking to diversify a little. I happened on the site, in part from hearing other people talking about it, and the high revenue share offered. I decided to write a few articles, just to see what would happen. As you can see, it went well and I never really quit writing articles.

—–

Ryan: If you don’t mind me asking, what was the most you’ve made in a month?

Jason: I was stuck right around $500 per month for quite a while, but was able to final break free and finish up a little under $700. I’m really happy, especially considering we are just exiting the worst timeframe for earning money now. The sky is the limit!

—–

Ryan: What are your long term goals with Infobarrel?

Jason: First up, I’d like to hit $1,000 per month. I haven’t had as much time to write lately, so I know I need to get moving. I know it won’t take too long to make it, especially with the high earning season just around the corner.

I would like to hit $2,000 per month by the end of the year. This is not an unrealistic goal at all. I’m sure any writer willing to put some time into it can achieve this level of earning. If a writer has the time to write and ability to drive traffic to their articles, there’s no reason they couldn’t make enough here to replace their full time job income. You can really impact your standard of living this way.

—–

Ryan: What do you like about InfoBarrel?

Jason: Everything, but I suppose that’s a little vague. I really like the open platform. You can write about just about anything, and in a format of your choice. Since you’re not stuck with a single format option, you can really get the creative juices flowing, if you choose to.

Beyond that, I really love the customer service. If I have a question, I know it will get answered in a timely fashion. I know you guys, the Info Barrel Admins, cruise the forum and contribute from time to time, too. This gives all the writers a chance to get any answers they are looking for, without having to wait weeks, or longer, for a simple response.

Oh yah…there’s the money, too!

—–

Ryan: Why don’t we get a little more personal here, what do you do in your spare time?

Jason: I live in northern Wisconsin, but I hate the cold. I know, it doesn’t make much sense, since it snows almost half the year. In the winter, I really just pick up as much overtime as I can and hunker down in my home. I’m really pretty much a hermit after Christmas.

Once summer rolls around, I’ll be on the lake fishing a lot. I may even use my Info Barrel earnings to pick up a new boat. When I’m not on the water, I’m on the trails, four wheeling with my family. We all have four wheelers and really enjoy riding them.

It may not be real manly, but I also love planting and growing flowers. It was never anything that appealed to me until about 5 years ago. Like so many things I do, once I started it, I just kept going. A good portion of our yard is covered each year with perennial and annual flowers.

I guess it’s kind of obvious that I like to write articles on Info Barrel, too. I always say this is a healthy addiction. Most things I like to do cost money, like fishing, four wheeling, and gardening, this hobby actually makes money. It’s really great. I make money for something I would most likely do free. It’s almost like I’m stealing.

—–

Ryan: What is your dream job?

Jason: I think I’m in it. I’m a jail guard and love it. I suppose I would like to make more money, just like anyone else, but I’m really quite happy professionally. It was something I always wanted to do, so I decided to go back to school almost 10 years ago. It was the best decision, short of writing for Info Barrel, I ever made. I love it. I love new challenges, so you never know what the future will bring.

I know I have sufficient, although certainly not professional, writing skills. I love writing articles with Info Barrel. This is really a great side job. I’m pretty much living the dream right now!

—–

Ryan: What would you do if you won the lottery?

Jason: Even though I’m working my dream job, I suspect I wouldn’t continue working at the jail if I had millions in the bank. I’m pretty sure I’d still write some articles.

I’m not that terribly materialistic, but I suspect I’d upgrade to a little bigger, although not huge, house…probably on a nice lake. I’m pretty sure there would be a new boat and some new four wheelers in the garage. Other than that, I’m really pretty happy with everything I have now. I would really just be happy to put away money for my three sons.

—–

Ryan: As I understand you’ve written an Infobarrel book with Howie(x3xsoldierx3x), would you like to tell me a little bit about it and what inspired you come up with it?

Jason: Yes, we are nearing completion of our eBook now. After almost 6 months, we are finally getting all the loose ends taken care of. It took us so much longer than we originally anticipated, but we really both wanted to make absolutely certain we were providing a topnotch product. We both started out wanting to simply provide the most detailed and complete eBook for any platform. I think we succeeded.

We aren’t up and running just yet, but we will be very soon. It won’t be too long before you can visit www.infobarrelsuccess.com. In the beginning, the site will simply serve as a landing page for sales conversions. In time, however, we would like to make the site more useful for all members. We are hoping to add free videos and tips for all of the Info Barrel community to use at some point down the road. With the site growing so rapidly, it’s only a matter of time until Info Barrel competes with the biggest online revenue sites. It’s going to happen. The growth trends with this site are mind blowing. Check them out for yourself.

Really, the inspiration for it was from Howie. Howie actually contacted me about writing the book with him. We found that we both really believed in the Info Barrel platform. Both of us were quite happy with the site. After we talked a little, we found out that we had completely different areas of expertise, which would allow us to really cover all the possible angles in our eBook. While most other money making eBooks are only about forty pages long, ours covers all angles, and the entire course is nearly 10 times that length, without fluff. This may actually sound a little intimidating, but we broke the course down into several sections, so it would be easier to follow. We wrote for beginners and those more advanced.

We’ve only shared the eBook with a few people so far. It has been received much better than we could have even dreamed. In fact, one person even went as far as to thank us for providing them with information about SEO in our course that they hadn’t learned in years of research. Pat Flynn of www.smartpassiveincome.com even went so far to say “out of all the “how to make money writing content” guides I’ve read, the Info Barrel Success eBook Course is by far the most detailed and comprehensive of them all.” Pat has made over $30,000 a month online, so for him to rave about the course like this is a big deal. Just so everyone knows, these comments weren’t made for referral sales or financial gain, since we are not offering any sort of referral program at this time. These are legitimate testimonials, unlike so many you read.

—–

Ryan: If you could tell up and coming InfoBarrel writers something, what would it be?

Jason: You don’t have to be a professional writer to make money on Info Barrel. If you can write coherent sentences, you can probably write a decent article and make some money. Even though the site is still in the infancy type stages, it’s easy to see really big things on the horizon. Those that get on board now, while still near the ground floor, are going to be the leaders of the site tomorrow, when all the writer’s income levels explode. The money I’m making now is really just the tip of the iceberg. As the site gains more favor with Google and other engines, articles will get more exposure, leading to more money for Info Barrel writers.

Here’s a good way to put it…If you could travel back in time about twenty years, what would you do from a financial standpoint? You could invest in WalMart or recreational land and make a killing. You could invest in tons of other stocks that were about to take off and have a lot of disposable income today. Info Barrel is pretty much the same way now. You can invest some time, not money, and have a lot of disposable income over the years. Ten years from now, you’ll wish you could travel back in time to get in on the Info Barrel ground floor.