How much are your hubs worth?

I have been a member of Hubpages for just under a year and so far have written just over 20 hubs. I felt the time was right to review my progress so far and try to measure the value of the hubs that I had created.

Many people write hubs as an outlet for their creativity, others purely for financial gain.

I wanted to find a way to measure the value of the hubs I had written in financial terms - how much are they actually worth? I think I have come up with a feasible way for myself and other hubbers to value their hubs in financial terms, and will talk about this later.

In the meantime, as I carried out my review of my hubs, I made some suprising discoveries. Not only was I able to give my hubs a financial value, their value to me could also be measured in other ways too.

A journey of Self Discovery and Personal Development

Being a member of Hubpages has been a journey of self discovery and personal development for me

When I review the hubs that I have written, I have discovered that there are subjects that I am genuinely interested in and passionate about and that other people seem to enjoy reading my hubs and sharing my enthusiasm.

I have discovered that I am brave! It takes courage to be a member of Hubpages. I recall the very first hub that I wrote and the feeling of fear and excitement as I pressed the Publish Button for the first time. I was putting something of myself out into cyberspace for all to see,and it was a scary moment. I am sure lots of other Hubbers have felt the same way.

Having taken that first step, I feel a door has opened now where anything is possible, if I have the courage to try new things.

Altruistic Value

Several of my hubs have been written purely with the aim of helping others by providing information and advice.

They were written on subjects where either I felt there wasn't enough information for people, or the information was scattered throughout the internet and I have pulled it all together into one hub. These hubs were also on subjects that I felt strongly and passionate about.

Hubs provide an opportunity to give something of yourself to the world. Examples of hubs that I have written wih the aim of helping others include:

Creative Value

From start to finish writing a new hub is an opportunity to be highly creative.

Although hubs are a good outlet for creative writing skills, the potential for creativity doesn't end there.

If you are interested in photography, you can add your own photos to hubs. For example, I went to Paris for a week on holiday recently and decided beforehand that I was going to write a hub on French fashion style. I had a great time taking lots of photographs in Paris and then deciding which ones to use on my latest Hub when I returned home.

You can also make your hubs more interesting by adding links and clips from other sites such as You Tube.

Here is an example of one of my hubs where I have used my own photographs.

Learning new skills and improving existing ones

Creating hubs requires learning new skills. For example, with a little help from my husband, I now know how to use a Digital camera, scan the photos that I have taken onto my computer and make them appear on my hubs!

Creative writing improves your mental agility. For example, when writing you utilise the speech areas of your brain that are connected with speech and language and you increase your vocabulary and improve your spelling.

Writing also maintains your manual dexterity.

I have improved my market research skills when trying to find out what people are looking for on the internet. For example, I frequently use tools such as Adsense's word search tool.

Who knows where these new found skills will lead - maybe a small business start-up or new career? I have already added writing for Hubpages as a hobby onto my CV!

An opportunity to make new friends and discover new interests.

Hub Pages has a thriving community and there are lots of opportunities to make new friends online. .

Writing with Hubpages also enables you to discover new interests. For example, I was writing a hub on relaxing music, and after doing some research on Amazon.com, stumbled across a singer called Amr Diab.

Amr is the number 1 singer in the Arabic world and is a superstar. His music is amazing and if I hadn't started writing with Hubpages I would never have discovered him. So thank you Hubpages.

Financial Value

Now for the important question - how much is a hub worth in financial terms?

I have calculated the value of my hubs based on how much income a year they are earning.

As a new writer with Hubpages, I am currently earning very little income from my hubs - about $1.00 a month or $12 a year.

This may not seem a lot until you start to look at your hubs and income in a different way.

To earn $12 a year in interest in the bank, at a 5% interest rate, you would need to have about $240 in savings in the bank.

So I have calculated that my 20 hubs are worth $240, or $12 each.

Now everytime I write a new hub, I know that I am creating something that is worth at least $12.

In conclusion, now when friends and colleagues ask me about hubpages and how much I earn, I can give them an amount that I believe each hub is worth. More importantly I can tell them l about all of the other advantages and opportunities that starting to write with Hubpages can provide.

To other Hubbers I would like to ask, apart from money, what additional benefits has writing with Hubpages brought into your life?