If you are interested in picking up some extra cash writing short articles based on your interests, check out my article about Associated Content, on my freelance writing blog. It explains everything you need to know about writing for Associated Content. Alternatively, you could just jump over the the AC site and sign up to start submitting immediately. Click here to sign up now and start earning.
Can You Write Tips? Saturday, Apr 7 2007
Earn Money 4:33 pm
If you have some quick tips to share on just about any topic, be it finance or parenting, you can earn some money! This won’t make you rich, but every little bit helps, right?
DayTipper sounds like a stock trading venture, but it is actually a tipster site where you can find advice on everything from fitting baby shoes to making your steak more tender. The best part? They pay you $3 for every tip that they publish of yours. All you have to do is sign up for their free newsletter to get great new tips in your email every day. Then you can start submitting your very own ideas.
Now, I have to warn you that payment is not immediate. DayTipper pays when they publish your tip and they currently have over 5,000 tips waiting to be published. As stated in their agreement, they publish some tips almost immediately, while others are put on hold for up to a few months. However, once they do publish, you will receive your money in your PayPal account immediately.
Here is my thinking on this one, it’s extra money and it takes literally less than a minute to write a tip. So, if you send in a couple each day, you will waste maybe a couple of minutes per day for big rewards down the road. I try to submit about 5-7 per day, of which an average of 3 are accepted. That means nearly $10 a day! At some point, all of these will be published and I ought to be rolling in the dough!
So, if you feel like sharing your special roast ingredient or your secret for polishing silver, pop on over to DayTipper and start submitting. You can learn some interesting stuff on their website as well.
Earning Money with Your Blog Saturday, Apr 7 2007
Earn Money 12:22 am
There are quite a few ways to earn with a blog, so we are just going to touch on a few of them today. If you have had success with any of the methods given here, or have another way to earn, please add your comment to the end of this post and we can turn it into a great informative post for everyone!
1. Affiliate marketing is pretty big thing these days. Basically, with affiliate marketing, you sign up to become an affiliate for a service or product that you want to sell and you promote it by talking about it or including a link on your blog. You earn a percentage of every sale that results from your efforts. If you want to learn more about this method of earning online, I highly recommend taking some time to read through the Associate Programs website. It is packed with great information and has a good sized affiliate directory as well.
Clickbank is an affiliate network that offers a wide range of products to promote with anywhere from 1%-75% commissions. All products on this site are info products, like ebooks, so they are perfect for selling online.
2. Write reviews. There are a variety of websites available now that offer review opportunities. Basically, what you do is go to the website, select an offer and follow the directions, writing a 200-400 word review on a product or service. You will need to leave it up for at least 30 days in order to get paid, the advertiser will be checking. These range in pay from a few dollars all the way up to hundreds of dollars.
The trick with paid reviews is not to go overboard. You will quickly lose readers if you fill your posts with ads, so it is best to keep at least three regular posts between paid ones. Some paid review sites require a certain ratio such as 3:1 regular posts to paid posts. Also, most of these sites require that your blog be at least 90 days old, and you will get paid better for higher Page Rank and Alexa scores.
Here are a few paid review sites to check out:
Sponsored Reviews
Review Me
LinkShare
3. Sell links to advertisers on your blog. This is similar to the review posting above, but you only need to include links. In some cases, the link goes next to your blog in the sidebar, but some sites, such as Blogvertise only require that you link a word or phrase within your blog.
For example, if you use Blogvertise
you will be required to place three links to the advertising site within any given blog post. That means you don´t have to disrupt your regular blog to advertise.
Payment varies from $2-$125 per link. Here are a handful of paid link sites, apart from Blogvertise:
4. Sell your own products. If you have something that you have created, be it an ebook or handicraft, why not advertise it on your own blog? Provided it fits your theme, you are the best person to review your own product and sell it.
So, with the ideas above, you should be able to start earning some cash with that blog! Let me know of any other ways that you monetize and I will keep you posted on further investigations!
Paid Forum Posting Sunday, Apr 1 2007
Earn Money 4:48 pm
Once again, I have found a way to earn a bit of cash doing what we all love to do . . . chat with other people of like minds! I did a post a while back on paid to post forums like MyLot but did you know that there are actually companies that will hire you to work as a forum poster?
Forum posting is a great way to earn some extra money in your spare time. It fits neatly in between washing dishes and folding laundry or writing a business report. While the pay isn´t astounding, you can earn around $0.10-0.20 per post. Multiply that by however many posts you think you can do in a day and you have a semi-decent wage for something that you enjoy doing!
I have personally been a forum poster for the past month and so far it is going pretty well. Since I am currently trying to get a half dozen projects off the ground, I really haven´t dedicated as much time as I ought to, but I have still managed to earn just about $50 posting in forums on internet business, parenting and money-making! Forums that I will probably frequent even after the job ends.
Here are a few companies that you might want to sign up with. I am currently working with Paid Posting Tools and have just signed up to test several others, so I will let you know how that goes in the near future!
There are quite a few other forum boosters out there, but these are among the top rated ones and they are also the easiest to apply for. Good luck and have fun!
Waste Time and Earn $$$ Saturday, Mar 31 2007
Earn Money 6:52 pm
If you are at all like me, you probably find yourself procrastinating a lot, playing games and such. Well, I have figured out a way to make procrastination and time wasting pay! Keep reading for more details.
My pet weakness is playing stupid games like Cake Mania and Dropheads when I get a chance. But now that can actually earn me some money, so I don´t feel quite as guilty. You can earn by fooling around on your computer, too.
The way you get paid to play is by writing reviews on the software you are working with. For example, if you have been playing a little too much Fish Tycoon, you can now write a 200 word review and get paid. There are several places to submit your reviews:
Constant Content: You can submit your reviews here and set your own price. When an interested content buyer purchases, you receive 65% of the purchase price. I recommend setting to “Use” rights only so you can resell as often as you wish, this lets you earn repeatedly on the same review.
Epinions: Write a review for Epinions and get a share of their income. There are details on the website, but if you join up right now they have a special going on where you write 10 reviews and get $10. Payment is monthly.
Software Judge: This is a site that lets you review software, but it has to be software that they have on their site. They pay between $1-50, but so far I have only earned $1 for my reviews, although supposedly the average is around $10. It´s worth a try anyway, since you are going to be playing! They pay out at $200 through Western Union, which at a buck a pop is going to take forever, but if you make the $50 per review, you can do it in just 2 days!
Your Own Site: Why not build your own site and post reviews of the products you have tested, along with an affiliate link to buy the game or software on Amazon?
I find that the best way to do these reviews without wasting a lot of money is to download the free trial versions and play them for the allotted time (usually 60 min.). This also keeps you from spending all day running around little mazes and baking virtual cakes!
Weird Ways to Earn Cash Friday, Mar 23 2007
Earn Money 5:31 pm
Sick of the same old business ideas popping up all over the web? While, I am trying to cover both old and new ideas, so I have been surfing around and discovered some very interesting blogs on some very interesting ways to earn money! Some are online ideas, others are offline, but all are unusual and fascinating. Why not check them out and see what you think?
Uncommon Business Blog is an interesting blog on weird ways to earn a living. Who knows, you might actually find an idea that you can work with here!
Niche Geek offers this great article on earning money by writing in some very unique areas. If you enjoy writing and would like to pick up some extra cash, this is the perfect article for you. Check out some of their other information while you are at it!
Paid Opportunities has a great article here on earning money by simply accepting packages! There are a few other interesting business articles as well. Check it out and find out how you can be getting paid to get free stuff, who wouldn’t want that?!
Online Payment Options Thursday, Mar 22 2007
Earn Money 2:51 pm
Online Payment Options
If you are working online at all, whether through paid posting sites like Mylot.com or for paid to click sites like Treasure Trooper, or actual online jobs, you will need to get paid somehow. There are several different options these days for receiving your money and many of them are aimed at US citizens, but some are available internationally as well.
PayPal has become the industry standard for payment. If you get a small writing job or try to sell anything online, chances are, people will want to pay you via PayPal. While this site has many redeeming factors, it has one major pitfall . . . it is not international. For people living in one of just a handful of countries, full accounts with bank access is available. A few more countries are offered specialized accounts, with checks only, no bank accounts, and a large number are “send only” which means although they can accept money through PayPal, they can only use it online.
While PayPal boasts that it serves over 130 countries, it really only offers full service to a few, so make sure you are on that list before accepting a job that pays only through PayPal.
Now, if you are in one of those countries, you are fine. You can accept US dollars or your own local currency into your account and sending and receiving money is as simple as the click of a mouse. PayPal is accepted at many large retailers online and if you want cash in hand, they will send it to your bank. You can also upgrade your personal account to business and receive many merchant options like an easy to use shopping cart to put on your site. They charge higher fees for this, though.
e-Gold is another emerging payment site. Its cash is actually backed up with real gold. The site is a bit confusing for the average user, but many people still like to use it. E-Gold has the advantage of being fully international, you can withdraw your money anywhere in the world. However, you need to find people and sites that are willing to pay this way. E-gold is widely accepted around the world.
Moneybookers is another well-known payment system online, but it is still not as widely used as PayPal and E-gold. It is an international service, offering withdrawals to bank accounts or a credit card.
Earn By Writing Short Articles Saturday, Mar 17 2007
Earn Money 9:32 pm
Can you write an article that is 400-600 words long? If you have a good grasp of English grammar and at least one interest, you could be earning extra money online by writing short, informative articles.
The website Constant Content is looking for writers to submit articles on any topic. The way it works is, you submit an article or two and within a day or so the editors on the site will either approve or deny your writing. The majority of articles are accepted, as long as they don´t contain links.
You set your own prices on Constant Content and the site takes a cut when you sell an article. In the end, you get 65% of the sale price, which is usually between $10-30. You also get to set your usage licenses. If you want someone to be able to buy the article outright, you can do that, or you can allow as many people as possible to pay a low price and use your article.
To start off with, it is usually a good idea to do cheaper articles and see how well your topics sell. A good way to check out what topics are popular is to go to the Recently Sold Content area. There, you can see all the recently sold articles, their prices and topics. You can also check the Requested Content area to find out what editors are looking for.
Payment is by PayPal or check and as mentioned before, your cut is 65%. Considering that a short article doesn´t take more than 15-30 minutes to write, you can certainly earn a bit of extra cash this way!
Why not go ahead and sign up for your own account at Constant Content today? They also have an affiliate and a referral program so you can earn extra money by bringing in new authors. So apart from being a good site to showcase your writing work, Constant Contentoffers other methods of earning as well.
If you want to learn more about online writing, please check out my other blog Online Freelance.
Chatting for Cents Friday, Mar 16 2007
Earn Money 10:22 pm
Are you constantly posting on message boards? They can be a great way to meet up with other moms online, but you can really waste a lot of time, too! So, I have found the perfect option. 
Writing on message boards that pay for each and every post is the perfect way to connect without feeling like you are completely wasting your time! These forums pay you to keep their websites full of fresh, new content. Although they certainly won´t make you rich, if you are going to be online and posting, you might as well earn some money at it.
Here is a good site for the average chatterbox:
MyLot - this site pays around 3 cents a post averaged out. The community is really great as well, and very responsive.
I will be posting others as I find them, please feel free to let me know of any.
Gift Baskets for Cash Monday, Mar 12 2007
Earn Money 10:20 pm
Do you like making gift baskets for your friends and family? They aren´t difficult to put together and you can actually turn this hobby into a great business. Gift baskets are a popular gift item, so you shouldn´t have any troubles selling them.
To get started, you need a few ideas. You could start with the most popular special occasions, like Christmas, birthdays, new baby, get well, etc. Sit down and write out a list of ideas and then write a list of gift items for each of these. For example, you might want to develop a new baby basket, so you would write down all the gifts that could possibly be included.
These would include bottles, diapers, soothers, gripe water, baby paracetamol, a flannel blanket, a hat or complete layette, a stuffed animal, etc. This will give you an idea of the cost of your gift basket.
You could also develop two or three separate gift baskets in each category. A Basic New Baby basket would include just five or six items, while a Super New Baby basket might be stuffed with up to a dozen gifts. You can charge more for the upgraded versions.
Another good idea is to offer custom baskets. This is a lot of fun. Someone could call you with an order for a Computer Lover´s basket and you get to put together something completely new and unique! Custom baskets can be a good way to earn, too, since you can charge more.
When offering gift baskets for sale, remember that imagination counts. You could invent a new sort of gift basket. Think of all the times you might want to give a gift to someone and create a set of gifts for it. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Pregnancy Basket: Tums for heartburn, anti-nausea suckers, massage lotion, etc.
- Car Lover´s Basket: bottle of ArmorAll, cleaning cloths, wax, car calendar, etc.
- Coffee Lover´s Basket: mug, sample packs of coffee, creamers, mini bottles of flavoring.
- Shutterbug Basket: disposible camera, photo album, stickers, fancy scissors, etc.
Selling your baskets shouldn´t be too difficult. You could offer them online on Ebay or in your own webstore. Craft fairs are another good place to sell them, as well as consignment shops.
If you are interested in more information on the gift basket business, you can check out the Rockhill Cottage website where you will find plenty of information to get you started. http://www.rockhillcottage.com/page/page/2931181.htm
