NOTICE Of Change

Squidoo sold its content holdings to Hubpages. Since August of 2014 all of "Ilona1" content was transferred to Hubpages under the user name "ilonagarden".

When the transfer of Squidoo hosted content was made, those who already had Hubpages accounts had to make new ones for their Squidoo content. Sometimes their user names were available, sometimes not. In my case I needed to revert to one of the other names by which I am known online: "ilonagarden". I don't have straightforward branding which keeps the identities inline, and wish that these choices had been made in a linear style... but that is the breaks.

All the lenses have a new place as hubs if they were acceptable in the new format and rules, otherwise I had to move them to one of my websites or delete them.

Most made the cut, however everyone's lenses had huge updating changes to make. Hubs are very different in look, purpose, and restricted in amounts of products allowed on the page.

As of this writing in 2015 I still have not completely updated all the old lenses. It has taken tremendous hours of time, efforts in rewriting and learning to adapt to a new system.

It is successful in tightening up the writing, in reducing the amount of ads, in keeping steady with online income. It is less successful in terms of community. Squidoo had the superior community system, feel and interaction.

Over all the move was a good one, and I am happy with the present results of it. Whether there will be a future for Hubpages or any online opportunity like it is still to be decided by future events, including the decisions that Google makes. Google has been the deciding factor in the success or fall of these writing sites.

Lesson

I've learned to devote the lionshare of my time to developing my own sites instead of that of others, no matter how tempting the opportunities appear.

Often the chance to promotes one's work inside others sites is increasingly limited. The old internet which was based on sharing is dead. The new internet is strongly proprietary, so it is important to develop all one's own resources, graphics, video, writing, and webspace, as much as is possible.

See you on Hubpages, as ilonagarden

...or ilona1 ( the first account I started only months before the move.

Don't Forget To Visit Ilona1Hubber for all the new updates.

Back In The Zazzle and Squidoo Work Groove

Vintage Hungarian Embroidery on Black iPad Mini Covers by caseNpoint
Browse Hungarian Cases online at Zazzle.com

I had to take time off of my usual projects to post every single day in my Advent blog, and of course, get ready for Christmas. We had a nice one, thanks, and I didn't even go through the usual utter exhaustion.

Now I am producing lots of new stuff on Zazzle and playing around with different styles and designs. I sure hope I find my "voice" sometime this year. One of the things that fascinated me was the vintage Hungarian embroidery and folk art style. So I worked on that along with some chevron designs.

 I had to step away from Hubpages and Squidoo for awhile. They require so much concentration just to keep up this past year and I needed a break. But I recently made a few new pages.

For Squidoo, the classic format:
 Perennial Garden Book List as a review of really helpful, well-written garden books on the topic of perennials. A subject close to my heart.


 For Hubpages, garden writing, also:
 Everything You Need To Know To Build A Rock Garden. An ambitious title, I know, and the first time I have tackled that subject in garden writing.

 Save Money With An Arboretum. A different perspective on visiting public gardens.

 Lemony Kossuth Cookies. This was my first attempt at a recipe hub. I went with my mothers favorite Hungarian cookie.

 So those are some of the newest things... and I have been trying to get ilona1.com and myreflectingpool.com up and running, too. I think I might transfer this blog to one of them.

Another new creation from my Zazzle endeavors:

Orchid And Extras Wedding Binder by ilonagarden
Look at more Orchid Binders at zazzle

I used the new Pantone colors for 2014. This one is Radiant Orchid, although I may have brightened it up a bit. The contrasting color is the Violet Tulip, which almost looks like blue violet here. 

WRITING HUBS

It is quite different to write for Hubpages than for any other type of online writing I've tried so far.  Very Different from the direction Squidoo is taking.

Squidoo has decidedly changed their emphasis and the type of articles they reward with attention. Hubpages seems to also have refined the focus of what they encourage in their articles. Hubpages look for nonfiction, information oriented topics. They have modules which are recommended to hold short portions of a long page the delves deeply into a subject. They also want the information to be on topic and honed in focus.

 In comparison, Squidoo likes personal stories; Hubs want the anecdotes cut. Shorter format especially when using the new style of lenses (article forms comparable to the "hubs").


  My recent Hubs

•  Garden Furniture I Wouldn't Be Without 
• Kentucky Artisan Center  
• An Arboretum San Save You Money  
• The Christianity You Have Been Searching For

In both place the number of articles written makes a big difference in the traffic and espeically in money earned. Although both thrive on community interaction, Hubpages success seems to require it.

I like both sites for different reasons, but I have been working in Squidoo for far longer, and actually like the changes, although the new formats are not earning anything for me, while my older lenses are the workhorses for making money.

Hubs income builds slowly through each days earnings. Their site is reputed to be a better source of earning, but I don't see that yet. It is too soon to tell.