Apprenticeship Program at Hubpages: I'm Going To School!

I submitted my application

Well, I don't know if I mentioned it not, but I am going to school! I love it and love it and love it!  What kind of school, you ask? I am going to writing school.

It is an apprenticeship program put on through Hubpages.com. I started at the beginning of July and am happy to report that it is all that I expected and more.

Hubpages started the program a few months ago, and then issued an open invitation for applicants. I submitted an application in April, and was accepted two monthes later in June. So, it does take a while to get in, but it's worth the wait!

I like the program because it really lays out all the information in a systemic fashion. I have read a lot on my own, but it's always been ad hoc. It's just so nice to hear it in a very organized fashion, and have the opportunity to ask questions as we go. When I first started out, I had no one to ask anything, except the Hubpages forum and I have had a lot of questions about the best way to do things.

If you are a hubber who has thought about applying to the program, I would recommend it. It is challenging, though, so expect some heavy effort and a fair time commitment. I say "fair" because the time needed to do everything will really depend on your knowledge base and your speed of reading and writing.

An amazing thing about the apprenticeship is that each group gets its own private forum. This is very helpful because it's like a classroom discussion: you learn from others in the class and you never know what will come up.

 I have a very good group and some of them are very skilled in areas that are pretty new to me (i.e. SEO -- search engine optimization.) I recently asked for feedback on some potential titles and I got invaluable feedback from other group members.

The first month, I was given eight titles from my mentor and it was hard to do. I am used to choosing my own hub subjects. But the titles she gave me were good, and showed me some good subject areas that I had not thought of. Getting assigned titles is very much like working for an editor, with certain expectations and it's very good training for freelance writing.

This month, we choose our own, but with a special emphasis on good keyword statistics. Basically, we have to choose titles that people might be looking for, but the process of finding those topics is the challenge.

I give the Apprenticeship program an A!

So, I give good reviews to this program. I still don't know if I am going to be teaching again this year, but I want to keep up the apprenticeship, no matter what I else I end up doing. The lessons are invaluable and I forgot to mention that we get paid!

Yes, each member in the program receives a bonus of around $6.00 for each hub, up to a total of 24 hubs a month. This is in addition to the residual income we already receive on our hubs. Through the program, I am getting a payout from Hubpages two months in a row. It is a blessing!


Here are some of the titles I wrote recently while in the Apprenticeship, along with my thoughts about writing them. If you are not a hubber but would like to write somewhere online, I do recommend Hubpages.

Banff Springs Hotel: Castle of the Rockies: This is a research-based hub that is all about this hotel. I chose this because I am from Alberta, and have always had a soft spot for this hotel. I am impressed at all the interesting facts there were about this place. I thought it would be a fairly easy write, but it took me a long time to compile everything!

Double--M, via CC BY-2.0, via Flickr, modified

Teaching English With Songs: This hub was one given to me by my mentor. At first, I struggled with this a bit because I had used songs in my classes a little bit, but did not consider myself an expert. I put my teacher hat on, though, and thought about different approaches one could use. The result: a solid hub that has keywords that a lot of people are searching for!

How To Plan A Weight Loss Menu was another one that I wrote for my mentor that really made me think. Yes, I knew how to plan a weight loss menu; I just was lax on doing it at the moment. Writing that article, though, gave me hope that I did know how ... and that I would start again. Sometimes we can teach others things and it points back so that we re-teach ourselves.

Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page.