What is The Weekly Topic Inspiration, and Why Should You Take Part?

When I was new to Hubpages I noticed the title of a forum thread that read: “Weekly Topic Inspiration (Formerly HubMob)”.

I guessed that HubMob was similar to the Hub Elite – something you had to be invited to join and therefore not for the likes of me. So I didn’t even bother to read the thread.

Then, some weeks later on, I had another look the thread, which had now become simply:

“No,” I thought. “I don’t need inspiration. My problem isn’t finding ideas, but finding time to write all the hubs I’ve got ideas for!” So once again I left the thread alone.

I plodded on, writing hubs, getting a few followers (very few) and a few views. Months passed with me earning the occasional cent.

I began to wonder if writing a hub for the Weekly Topic Inspiration might just be worth a go. If nothing else, it was one of the few places on Hubpages where you are not only allowed, but encouraged, to post links to Hubs.

If you are now in the same position that I was then, or even if you are simply curious, here are the answers to a few questions you might have about the Weekly Topic Inspiration – or WTI as it is often known.

It is a topic that you can use as inspiration for Hubs. The topic usually changes weekly (hence the name.) Each week’s topic is chosen either by Simone Smith, HubPages friendly and fun-loving Community and Marketing Manager, or from suggestions made to her. So if you have an idea of a topic you think other Hubbers would find inspiring, then Simone is the person to tell.

Click the Forums Button on the black bar at the top of any page on Hubpages, and you will reach the forums. The screen shot below shows the first few Forum Topics, and all have a blue background. Those are “sticky” threads that stay at the top of the forums. In this shot the Weekly Topic Inspiration is right at the top. Even when it is not at the very top, it will be among the blue “stickies.

Here are some objections you may have (based on my own initial objections or ones I’ve heard from fellow Hubbers.)

I already have plenty of ideas of my own, and not enough time to write them, so I don’t need this.

Isn’t it just like going back to school and doing what the teacher tells you?

I can’t write something just because I’m told to. I need to feel inspired.

If the subjects on which you write work well for you and you have all the traffic and money you’d like for your hubs then you probably don’t need the WTI. Otherwise read on to see what the Weekly Topic Inspiration could do for you…

If however you would like to increase traffic, then I recommend you give it a go. I published my first Hub for the WTI on 25^th October 2011, and had exactly the same number of views that day that I’d had for the entire month till then. In the last week of October I earned over 3 times as much as I’d earned the previous weeks. My earnings are still low as almost all my traffic as yet comes from Hubpages itself. This is beginning to change now, probably partly because my early hubs are maturing, but also because of another key feature of the WTI.

That key feature is:

Even after 7 months of writing on Hubpages, I still don’t totally understand how to choose keywords, and at the beginning I was totally clueless. For the WTI, Simone takes the confusion out of keywords, by doing the research for us. She either lists frequently searched for keywords and keyword phrases to use in the body of a hub, or she lists titles search-engine friendly titles to consider.

The first couple of times I took part in the WTI, I ignored all this, and just wrote a hub and posted it, but after a while I began to see the folly of this. After all if Simone had done all the hard (not to mention boring) work to research keywords, and I was totally clueless, it was just ever so slightly silly of me not to make use of her expertise!

The last few WTI threads have all contained title suggestions, and since I find titles can be a challenge, I really like this. (Thank you Simone!) And do remember this is not like school, and it’s absolutely fine to add to or rearrange the titles, and to approach the subject from a direction that is way off the norm – I often do!

The Hub of The Day, as most Hubbers probably know, is the hub which features on the Home page for Hubbers who are signed-in, and the front page for any readers who are not signed in. It also remains featured on the signed out home page for nine days. This gives your hub a lot of exposure.

You might be wondering what the Hub of the Day has to do with the Weekly Topic Inspiration. I’ve had three Hubs of the Day, and two out of those three were written for the WTI, as were several Hubs of the Day by other writers. With thousands of hubs written every day, HubPages staff members have a lot to sift through to choose hubs to feature on the front page. By taking part in the WTI, your hub will be much more visible to staff, and therefore more likely to get picked.

And why would you want a Hub of the Day? Traffic again, is the main reason, but it also is a great boost to a writer’s confidence, which brings me to another reason for taking part in the WTI.

When I started on HubPages, I had been writing a long time, but most of my output was fiction. It took me a long time to write (and rewrite) and I didn’t think I could write quickly – this was another reason I initially avoided the WTI. While it wouldn’t be correct to put the change in my writing speed entirely down to WTI, it has definitely played a part. Last week, I extensively researched and wrote a 2500 word article on in less than a day. I would never have dreamed I could do that a few months ago. I would like to write for magazines and newspapers, and I now know I can write quality articles at speed, so feel far more confident now that I could carry out any assignment.

A final, and very important, reason for taking part in the WTI, is that

This is about more than just getting traffic. If you are new to HubPages, taking part in the Weekly Topic Inspiration will soon help you to feel part of the HubPages community and you will see which Hubbers are interested in the same topics as you are. That makes the experience of writing on HubPages all the more enjoyable.

Click on the WTI thread, read Simone’s explanation of what the topic is about.

Read the suggested titles or keywords.

Scroll down till you see this sentence:

Before you click, be sure to read through the instructions.

Clicking the button will lead you to the Questions section of HubPages, and more specifically to a question Simone has asked about the Weekly Topic. To start your hub, click on the green Answer this Question button. You will be given the option to make a Hub about it. Click that. You will see a page like this:

Notice that the category has already been filled out. You can continue with that category, but it is also possible to change it. Weekly topic inspiration is to inspire you, not to chain you! Nor is it compulsory to do it every week, just whenever suits you.

So if you are now inspired to try the Weekly Topic Inspiration, then follow this link:

Weekly Topic Inspiration

See you there!