My First Year Here

I have been a stay-at-home mom since November, 2008. Up until then, my husband stayed home with our daughter and I worked. Then, out of the blue my husband was offered a job and decided to take it. It was my turn to stay home and I was truly excited about the prospect! I loved being home with my daughter. At the time she was in preschool but only in the afternoons. While she was in school I searched the Internet high and low for writing opportunities.

Some sites I founds seemed sort of scammy. There were a lot of sites for freelancers but that really wasn't what I was looking for. But what exactly was I looking for? I just wanted a place to write and maybe earn a bit of money in the process. But it also had to be a site that looked clean and professional. I was having a tough time finding the perfect ste.

In the spring, my search was interrupted by us moving. It was around May when my search continued and I finally found it! A place called HubPages. I knew right away it was something I wanted to try so I signed up. That was the easy part, the hard part was working up the nerve to actually write and publish an article.

I feel that one of my strengths is writing about personal experiences so that's exactly what I did. I had recently attended a Michael W. Smith/Steven Curtis Chapman concert. I combined that experience with my love for Christian music and just like that, my first hub was born.

After I published my first hub, my mind was whirling. What else could I write about? In what areas did I feel I had some expertise? I began to make a list of possible hubs. I would lie awake at night writing hubs in my head. For my second hub, I decided to write about something I knew well - having a special needs child.

It was this hub that I received my first comment from a sweet lady named Ellie Perry, who is no longer at HubPages. She wrote:

"I really enjoyed reading your hub ... diseminating this information is so important. People who have not experienced the blessing of a relationship with a disabled person may not be able to really understand the depth of exchange in such a relationship..."

I felt so encouraged by that comment. I was also encouraged by the fact that Ellie became my first fan. Others followed. I continued to write about things I cared about or things I had experienced. But I also read the hubs of others. I made comments, and followed other Hubbers.

I tried to learn techniques to increase my traffic such as backlinking which included posting my links on social networking sites such as Facebook and backlinking sites such as She Told Me. I tried to understand SEO, RSS, Adsense and incorporating Amazon into my hubs. There was so much to learn. And now a year later, I can honestly say that I have learned a lot and have made some wonderful friends along the way.

Whether it's giving advice or trying to promote one another's hubs, Hubbers are always willing to lend a helping hand. The following are a few hubs on which I have been featured:

 I have also written my own hub to help promote and pay tribute to other Hubbers:

And I even wrote a HubPages song:

Something else I found that is not only sort of fun but also helpful in getting traffic and getting hubs promoted is taking part in the HubMobs in which a new topic is given every Monday. I have also found that these hubs are some of my highest scoring hubs and also get good placement on Google. Hubs I have written for the HubMob include:

HubMob Topic: Toys

Adaptive Toys for Special Needs Children

HubMob Topic: Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Tradition: To Not Celebrate

HubMob Topic: St. Patrick's Day and All Things Irish

Robin Mark - Worship Music with Celtic Flavour

HubMob Topic: Having Babies

Can a Woman with a Congenital Heart Defect Still Have a Baby?

HubMob Topic: Victoria Day and All Things Canadian

Meet Toronto - One of Chicago's Sister Cities

HubMob Topic: Disabilities:

Family Retreats - A Ministry for Families Affected by Disability

HubMob Topic: Father's Day:

The Driver

All in all, my first year here has been an enjoyable learning experience. I find it amazing how I've gotten to know people all over the world from being a part of the HubPages online community. I have also learned so much from reading Hubs of the very knowledgeable Hubbers on this site.

Being a part of HubPages keeps me motivated to write. Through HubPages I can voice my beliefs and opinions about things I am passionate about including: being pro-life, having a relationship with Jesus, special needs children, congenital heart defects, conservative politics, the great state of North Dakota and Christian music.

Thanks HubPages, for a great first year!