Make Money Easily Online

How to Use Landing Pages Effectively

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:51:00 +0000

Putting landing pages to work effectively on your site can be a great benefit to you, especially if you are targeting search engine traffic, and who isn't? While landing pages aren't any different from other content on your site, they are typically more defined, and typically act as though they are a single part of your site - you don't really want visitors going away from this page until they convert into a sale, a visitor to another site, or have accomplished what you wanted them to. It's that simple when you break it down.

However, there are a few basics to working with landing pages that can make all the difference. Many of these tips hold true for other areas that you work on when you build your site(s) to generate profit. You have to continually test to see what works, so the advice below is simply a basis that you should modify and tweak as you work on each site/project.

Provide something useful to your visitors. This may be as little as answering one of their questions or giving away a few chapters of an e-book for free. They don't want to see a blank page.
Tell your visitors what they should be doing. Often, this is placed in a video, but you come off as a scam extremely quickly when you have it automatically play, pop-up, or in a format that isn't integrated into the site well.
Headlines and transitions throughout the page should be clear and definitive. They need to flow. Don't overdo the amount of headlines or text – balance everything out.
Following up from number three, use bullets and other forms of separation to ensure that the page is easy to read.
Write like a book, but much shorter. The introduction should grab the person's attention, the middle should include the meat of what the article is about, and the ends should tie everything together. If you can't do all this within a "screen length," you'll have to work on writing condensed, more effective copy.
Look at what your competition is doing to ensure that you are in line with what visitors are expecting when they visit your site.
Choose a hosting company or services that are able to deliver your site quickly and clean manner.
Cut the cord to external navigation, other than anything that may be related to what you are trying to accomplish. Remember, they came to this page for a reason – keep them here until they have fulfilled what you are both looking for.
Useless 'stuff' - take it off the page as soon as possible. This goes in line with number eight, but is extremely important. You don't have to associate a picture of yourself with the product unless you have done studies that it gives the visitors a better idea of who they are really helping and not someone they are simply supporting.
Add visual elements, but keep them simple and only place them on the page if they are really effective. If anything, choose a default CSS, blog, or WordPress template and customize it thoroughly to your liking and in a manner that helps attain your goals.
See what works. Continually test the page against other versions to see which one(s) work the best.
The purpose of landing pages is to separate what may appear to be an "ad" from your site and focus all the energy and purpose into a single page. You don't have to promote your product or services through every post, just this single page. That's what makes them more effective.
Create an experience for your visitors. Like larger companies, you can create campaigns around products and ensure that your visitors return from the site (even if they didn't purchase or "convert") with a better experience than they were expecting.
Have some confidence statement, such as testimonials (and real ones at that), which will help you better promote your product.

Landing pages can be a great solution to the traditional post that gets buried on your blog in a matter of days. They can be updated frequently, and when using WordPress or more complete solutions, can take a few minutes to launch. Using custom page templates, you can remove much of what exists on the page to ensure that your visitors remain on your page.

Spending Money Properly Online

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:34:00 +0000

Most of us were brought up with the proper ways to spend money and how to save money for the future. You have to apply the same principle to your efforts online. Starting for free is definitely an option, but for most people, it isn't the preferred method, because they expect costs to be involved in everything they do.

If you happen to be one of these people, you have to realize there are are a few rules to making money online first:

– You don't have to be rich, just have access to a computer and Internet to begin making money online.
– The main key to making money online, of course, is bringing in more money than you are spending to create that money. While most people online don't have to maintain inventories of products, it is a good idea to ensure that you are able to maintain an edge over you competitors.
– Don't let anyone take advantage of you and ensure that you aren't being ripped off. Know what you should be expecting to pay for various items, ranging form hosting to website design.
– Just because you are telling people to purchase your product, this doesn't mean that you should fall for the bribes of others. You don't have to purchase e-books from others that might never be read.

By the time you begin adding up the costs of some of the gimmicks that beginners purchase when they start their first blogs or website, it becomes harder for them to begin advertising their site and making money on their own. After all, your main goal should be to make money, not spend money.

Making Money with Amazon.com

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:32:00 +0000

As the ninth most popular Internet destination, Amazon.com can certainly appear as a daunting place to try to make money, but it certainly isn't. Through their Amazon Associates program, you can review and sell any of their products on your site. Although they are moving away from PPC traffic as a way of generating sales, you can still try your luck at using the links in honest reviews. After all, you can buy nearly anything from Amazon today.

We'll assume that you don't have any type of site setup yet. While many people are able to create a simple site within a few minutes, for this experiment, you don't have anything setup and no background knowledge. The main problem here is time. As previously stated, it may only take a few minutes to create a website, but until you are able to draw in links, traffic, and create a useful website, it will be days, if not weeks, until everything is setup.

The First Step: Choose a Niche or Topic

Think about a category that you want to write about or are able to create a wide array of posts/descriptions for based on previous knowledge. Although you could simply copy the editorial reviews (putting some of it into your own words), you have to appeal to the people visiting your site or blog. They need to be aware that you have some background and know what you are talking about.

Second Step: Learning What it Takes

Setting up a site can be a hard task for some to do. You'll need to research how to insert images, text, and links into a typical site (HTML) and how to style them using CSS. Using a pre-built template may be your best option, but you have less control if you go this course.

Next, you should do some research on what works in terms of marketing products to others and promoting your blog. It is best to get started now, versus later, as it gives you more options when you write your content and are optimizing it for search engines.

Third Step: Purchasing a Site and Starting Out

I'd suggest that you purchase a hosting account and domain of your own. Even though you still have the ability to earn with Blogger and other free services, when it comes to managing your files and ensuring that your site remains "yours," it is best that you use a paid plan.

Choose a domain name that really works for you. Don't use your name in it, unless you are promoting your own products that you sell through Amazon, and this is less likely, unless you are a larger publisher/merchant.

If you go the most affordable route, you could be investing as little as $100/year into your site, more expensive plans can cost into the thousands, but you are just starting out, so you don't need thousands of megabytes of transfer or storage.

Fourth Step: Begin Creating Content

The next step is to install the blog or some type of software onto your site that allows you to manage all of your content. Once you have accomplished this (the first time can be confusing, but still remain fairly easy if you follow the instructions), start creating the content. Take a product that you have used – that may be a book, movie, or music album that you enjoyed – and post images, links, and your own review of it.

This may be a great way to get started making money online, especially if you enjoy reviewing your favorite products. Keep in mind that publishing negative reviews won't always harm your sales numbers, as it informs your readers to what they can expect, and may send them to another one of your products.

Fifth Step: Finalization

Each day (or at a fairly frequent interval), create a new piece of content for your site. They don't have to all be reviews, as you should mix it up between reviews and tips/advice on using the products in real life.

Other options from Amazon include the aStore, which handles all of your sales and your hosting. However, there may be costs involved at some point, so you should probably continue working on your own project and sites rather than going the "easy" way.

Conclusion

While I covered many of the basics, you need to be aware that a lot of additional factors go into play when it comes to traffic versus sales figures. Although you can certainly make a lot of money selling others' products, you have to realize that it doesn't come easy and without effort on your part.

Advertising Your Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 24 May 2009 05:07:00 +0000

Getting started, it might be difficult for you to get word out about your website. Even if you don't plan on ever monetizing your site, it would always be nice if you had an audience to fall back on if you would want to generate some form of revenue.

Traffic, by definition, means a constant stream of people coming to your website, which can also be broken down into specific periods of time. The more you have (as a general rule), the more profit you can make, at least compared to if you didn't have any traffic.

In order to attain traffic, there are several ways that you can do this, although one of the most popular method is by "purchasing" traffic, or advertising your blog. There are several ways that you can pursue this, too.

Through Sponsorships - Contacting another blogger or website owner can lead to a sponsorship, in which you may return favors (links in the sidebar or banners), and you will receive traffic from this. While this can be free, most likely, it isn't, due to the nature of "sponsorships."

Traditional Advertising - Purchasing advertising on another site will help you get word out about your site. Depending on how much cash you want to devote to this, you could purchase several monthly ads on sites.

Search Engine Advertising - Through AdWords and competing programs, you can market your site, although you have to know what you are doing, whether this is really a good value for you.

Word of Mouth - Tell other people (including through email, commenting on other sites, etc.) about your site and what purpose it has being on the Internet.

Releasing a Product/Promotion - Running a contest, having a promotion, or giving something out for free are all forms of advertising, and each can be quite beneficial for your blog, especially in the long-term, in terms of providing value to your readers.

Conclusion

Although there are other ways, both free and paid, to promote your blog, I wanted to stick with the basics, the formats that nearly everyone is familiar with. Without saying, it is a difficult struggle advertising your blog, while trying to remain relevant and not spamming people.

Have you ever practiced advertising on other sites - was it successful?

Overcome Any Struggles you May be Having

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:48:00 +0000

When you work online, there are more times than you might want to acknowledge where you wanted to call it quits. This is a struggle that everyone faces and we all need to learn how to deal with, especially as making ends meet is now more important than ever.

Calling it quits generally stems from mistakes and challenges that we all have a hard time dealing with and overcoming as marketers, bloggers, and online publishers. We all want to be perfect, but this isn't achievable, no matter how you look at it. You will have to make mistakes in order to gain success. However, many of us don't want to admit the mistakes we make, no matter how small or large.

To overcome our struggles, we must first make "deals" and compromises with ourselves, telling ourselves that we don't have to be left behind, hindered by something that won't help us excel in the long-term. This can be the most difficult part of the whole event, and this is what leads to even more struggles, being able to cope with your own mishaps.

Online, you have to think in a much broader sense. If you find yourself looking at stats for why people left your site (on a person-by-person basis), there is certainly something wrong. Doing this will permit you to further relax and prevent yourself from returning to your site for updating, adding features, or working on promoting your company/website.

Setting out and working on goals, making sure you don't fall behind, at least in terms of where your competition is heading, you will be able to begin making sure your struggles are diminished.

It might not be easy at all times, but you have to remember, at least in the back of your mind, that with each struggle, there will be benefits that come along down the road, at a time where you least expect them.

New Opportunities from the "Recession"

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:21:00 +0000

I placed "recession" in quotes for a reason. While some are being hit hard by it, there are some that are actually making more money than ever. They are the people that have been able to change and adapt to the current market to rediscover what really works and what really doesn't.

As in most economic downturns, this recession is not unlike any other in the sense that unemployment rates are rising, there are less "traditional" methods of making money, and people are trying to save as much money as they can, cutting out extra spending wherever they can. Take a look at what you can find online: deals. This may be just one of the many areas that you can start in to make money – finding deals and sharing them with your visitors (on a site).

You may have to more split A/B testing in the current economy to ensure that what you are doing to promote your business will still work, and whenever you go about a huge change, you have to have a few months of funding (at least in respect to that single site) just incase something does happen to go in the opposite, negative direction.

Another niche that there are more opportunities in is the "support" field. More people are turning to making money online, which has proven to be able to withstand some of the economic implications, but they don't know how to go about it. Like this site, you could advise people on a number of fields, which will help them better navigate the web and churn out some profit.

There are some negative effects of the economy for people making money online, but the benefits still outweigh some of the negative, especially due to how you can easily adapt to changing conditions.

Separating Legitimate Opportunities from the Scams

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:34:00 +0000

After you have looked around at the marketplace for "make money online" products and opportunities, or are simply looking for legitimate work-at-home opportunities, you'll find that there are a lot of scams that people are falling for day in and day out. Once you realize that these people will probably never actually use the product, for one, because it is too hard/complicated to use, it tells them something they already know, or it just tells them to purchase additional products, go to seminars and meetings – not worthy of the $97 price tag.

The one place to look for legitimate opportunities are sites and blogs that contain proof that they have paid, and aren't in the thousands of dollars. Even though there are certainly programs that will pay you thousands per month, you probably shouldn't be signing up for them at this moment. They are too good to be true, and will require more work and experience than you currently have (at this stage).

You want to seek out honest opinions from others. If there are more negative than positive opinion polls and people complaining that they weren't paid, you probably shouldn't even think about joining it, unless you want to lose money (both time and capital). Get in contact with people that have had experience with it, who aren't necessarily looking to sell it to you as part of an affiliate "deal." Use their opinions and insight and make an informed decision, not one based on what another marketer you've never met has said.

In reality, all products sold for $97 are scams unless they reveal the secrets of others that no one else has. Unless you can make back the money you paid for the product by the time you have carried out all the steps in the book/movie/etc., you are being scammed and ripped off. You have to realize that many of these tips and ideas are already available for free online, but you have to search.

Back to the programs. There are many legitimate programs that you can use to make money online. A majority are associated with placing ads on your site, getting sales for products that you are promoting, while others are in an associated field. Honestly, the best way to make money by far is selling your own product, as you are in control of all the channels of income, and you generally don't have anyone working over you, who will be telling you when and where you can sell it.

Scam programs always have some warning signs that you have to be aware of. They include (this is a brief list):

Key words that inform you that you don't have to do any work, such as "post links to Google," "make money overnight," or "this program helped my purchase my $10 million home." Most likely, these people had to do some work to get there, making money 24/7.
Screenshots. If you see screenshots of payments that appear similar on other sites, or have large portions of information (other than the name or bank identification details), it is likely a "fake" check or payment proof. Sales figures (listed in a table, usually) are also "fake" as they indicate that you are doing direct selling to someone and need to have inventory/a website/experience in the field.
Other words that tell you that "this program is NOT as SCAM" should present you a flag, as a legitimate opportunity will be able to get to its position not by informing users that they won't be scammed, but will simply do a favor for its members and participants and PAY them for what they are due.

With these core ideas in mind, keep your eyes open for scams and opportunities that are too good to be true, specifically dealing with the amount you have to pay in order to earn the money. Usually, you want to keep that number as close to $0/free as possible, unless you are paying for hosting or other services that will help you grow.

Great SERP Rankings Aren't Always Necessary

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:50:00 +0000

People have unnecessarily believed that it is necessary to get top search engine rankings, while I find this only partially true. As you create content on your site, you will find that more people are returning and visiting multiple pages per visit. Through search engines, it is almost always difficult to get people to visit multiple sites, unless they are clicking the relevant links under your title (and, this would mean that you have a well-indexed site).

For those of you who think that the only way to get a good source of income from search engines is to "dominate" the rankings, this might be a wake-up call: search engines aren't everything. Looking at income sources, yes, they do account for between a quarter to half or more of your traffic, but just because it is an easy way to get traffic, you have to realize that the visitors aren't necessarily looking to stay on your site.

Going elsewhere, the best place by far to get traffic is through links within other sites. By targeting sites that may be of interest to your visitors will provide a continuous stream of fresh traffic, from people who wouldn't have normally found your site.

Having high search engine rankings can do you well in the beginning, but over the long-term, you want to focus on the traffic that has the lowest bounce rate, highest return rate (low number of "new" visitors), and traffic/people who stay on your site for more than a few seconds.

Google has a system in place that rewards sites that might not do as well, and gives them a better ranking on the SERPs than sites that "game" the system, injecting a large number of keywords throughout their site. Using this to your advantage is key, as you won't be able to see the traffic until you are able to get at least a few of your pages indexed and ranking well.

The key in all this is to focus first on search engines, targeting keywords that will bring in the most traffic, then later focus on building links and traffic sources that won't go away, no matter what type of content you publish.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this and how you build traffic through search engines or other natural sources.

Why Not Start Your Own Website or Blog?

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Starting a blog or website is absolutely free. Why haven't you created yours yet?

There are many people who don't know how to create a website, market it, or transform it into a viable space for selling their products or services, and this is what ultimately leads them to just continue putting off creating their first website. Honestly, it's much easier than you think.

Unless you have huge plans of creating a social network or website that requires an advanced back-end area or features beyond what is included with many hosting providers, there will be a solution out there for you.

As long as you are able to copy and paste image links (when embedding images and video into your content) and have the desire to create unique content, you can get started today. It might only take three minutes to sign up for a Blogger or WordPress (more limitations) account, but you'll be able to begin marketing your blog within a few days of posting content.

Even if you need more resources (you want to be sure you don't have to transfer after a brief period of time), you can go with a paid service, which will dramatically increase what you can do and may even give you a free .com name. Many "value" hosts are between $5 and $15 per month, coming out to between $60 and $180 per year, again depending on what you are looking for.

As soon as you have ensured that your blog is being indexed, you'll probably begin noticing traffic coming in. You can, at this point begin monetizing your blog, as you will have potential customers and people who will be clicking on ads.

After that, it is ultimately up to you as to how you market and promote your blog. Every blog and website is different, so I couldn't present generalizations within a few lines at this point. Given all the opportunities and options out there, why not start a blog today?!

Is Really Long Content Beneficial?

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:33:00 +0000

There are often people that get into disputes about what type of content is the best for their site. For some, brief content is the best, while for others, the best content is the lengthy content, that contains "multiple posts" by other standards.

Now, it may be impossible for me to analyze your site and determine what type of content works best for you within a minute of stumbling upon your site, but over the course of several weeks, you will have to analyze which type of content works best for you, and this can also depend on the amount of time that you put into your site.

For someone that doesn't have much time to put into their site (less than half an hour per day), you will typically find a single post per week or less, especially if they plan on writing a single long post, or at least one extremely short, but well thought out post per day.

People with more time to put into their blog will undoubtedly have more content within each post, sometimes spanning multiple pages.

One of the mains reasons that you want to focus on building posts with a lot of content is that you will be able to increase the number of keywords and phrases that are pointing into your site. You want them to appear in there, but not appear obvious to your readers. It is easy if you write a post with three sentences to be "obvious" about your keywords, while it is very discrete when you are able to disperse them throughout two thousand words.

Secondly, readers often take more time to read longer content. Now, you could also say that they don't have the time to read it, but when you write longer content, it makes it apparent that you are serious about what you are doing, and your subscribers will be, too. A second point on the same subject is that your readers will probably click through to your products or services or advertisements if you have them placed in a strategic position. Otherwise, you won't have much to look forward to - if you are in it for the money.

Finally longer content can help you reap more benefits down the road, including the ability to work for larger blogs, become more knowledgeable about certain topics, and connect with your readers - these are all indirect, but quite noteworthy.

No matter how you feel about lengthy content, be certain that you employ it properly on your site, or you will see undesired results and will have the exact opposite effects your were looking for. Split your sentences/paragraphs so your content isn't in a single block, make sure you add headings, and involve your readers into your content.

Survey 4 Cash

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:34:00 +0000

Notice: This Site For Real has changed names to Survey4Cash.com, thus some changes have been made on this post to reflect them. The site remains under the same ownership and all previous accounts remain intact.

Survey4Cash.com is a relatively new GPT site offering many features that set it head of other sites, including promotions and contests to win extra cash!

Survey 4 Cash - Screenshot
Traffic Trends
This chart shows the amount of visitors the site receives on a month-to-month basis.

History
Despite the fact that the site is a little under a year old, the site has received a massive growth, with many features being added.

Taking free surveys is a perfect way for students, stay at home moms or anyone looking to make easy money in the comfort of home. Companies need information to help improve the marketing of their products. They are willing to pay for surveys on advertising campaigns. They use this information in designing future advertising campaigns...

Quick Look
How to Get Paid - Simply complete offers, trials, and surveys for cash. Referring members also helps you maximize your monthly earnings.
Payment Method - Check
When Paid - $10 minimum payout. Payments are sent approximately twenty days after the clsoe of each month. In other words, if you earn $100 in August, the check will be sent from their offices on or around September 20th.

Offers
In total, there are approximately 350-400 offers available on an everyday basis, offering unique offers that many other GPT sites do not offer. By completing trials, you can also receive free installations for DISH Network or Blockbuster Online offers, which can add up to an even better value.

Each offer ranges in value from $0.10 to $32.50, so there is quite a range of offer values available for completion.

Offers Available
To Complete Offers
To complete an offer, go to the "Offers" page, then select an offer that you want to complete. You can also find new offers, as they are located on the page immediately when you sign into your account. You must follow the directions provided, whether it tells you to fill out three pages or simply input your zip code.

Once you submit an offer, it will be placed within the "Potential Earnings" page, until Survey4Cash gets word that you have legitimately completed the offer, at which point it is placed in "Completed Offers."

Site Design and Layout
Overall, the site is rather clean and organized, although some important links are not placed on every page, limiting some aspects of the navigation structure. It is rather easy to find offers, bonus offers, referral links, and more, so it is fairly functional in this sense.

Offers can be organized by All, Trial, Free, and New, as well as Recommended, Name, Payout, and Cost. A "VISA" logo/credit card image is diaplyed next to each offer, indicating that you need to submit your credit card information in order to complete the offer.

Forums
The forums is your one-stop-shop location for finding information, announcements, and payment proof from other members. This can be beneficial if you are looking to learn more about the service.

How to Earn
You will need to complete offers and surveys in order to earn with the site. Many take just three to five minutes, so it is suggested that you are able to complete up to twelve per hour (easily earn $10 or more per hour).

Referral Program
Taking advantage of the referral program opens you up to a nearly unlimited earning potential. They have a unique, tiered referral commission program, with an astounding 20% commission on your direct referral's combined total monthly income. You also earn 5% on the total combined earnings accumulated by their referrals', their referrals', and their referrals' referrals. There are a total of six referral levels, meaning you may not even need to complete a single offer to get paid!

Referral Breakdown
Your referral link is in the form of: http://www.survey4cash.com/start.php?rid=number

Additional Features
There are Bonus Offers available, which allow you to earn even more. You can earn even more with these offers. You can also get a free T-Shirt simply for joining the website and filling out your information so they can send it to you.

Inside the "Invite Friends" page, you can import friends from Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, or AOL, making it easy to contact people that may sign up as your referral.

Inside the "Messages" page, you will be able to contact your referrals and encourage them to complete offers, providing them tips and resources.

Testimonials - Testimonials are available for viewing, from people who have successfully used the site to earn real cash.

Cash Shopping - In the "Cash Back Shopping" page, you'll find dozens of retailers, many online, including StubHub.com, Buy.com, and others, where you can earn up to 12.5% and more cash back simply for shopping at stores. The earnings will appear in your account. This is a great way to save money throguh a site that rewards you!

Payment Information
When you reach the minimum payout of just $10, you will be paid around the 20th of the folllowing month. For example, if you reach the minimum payout by the end of July, payments will be sent out around August 20th. You are only able to get paid through checks. Until the site offers membership for international members, you won't be able to get paid if you live outside the US (PayPal or gift cards would be introduced at that point).

Payment Proof
You can find payment proof from other members by visiting the dedicated Payment Proof area of the forum.

September 2008 Payment
Letter from the Co-Founder

Hi Everyone, as per request, here I am, the co-founder of Survey4Cash.com! It has been quite a busy month for me, we've been working fervently to launch our site, advertise, maintain, and strategize our growth and expansion. There are lots of exciting things happening here every day, I want to personally thank all of our members for signing up, you are doing a great job!- we had more than thirty thousand members sign up for our site in our first month live, today we have a significant amount more, only in our second month. Yes, we are fairly recent- but among the best if the not the best on the internet. How? Its quite simple actually, we decided to make a site that we ourselves wanted to see exist. I got sick and tired of being burned from companies that just don't pay, so we came out with a new site and a edgy new name that declares from the moment you hear about us; that ThisSiteisForReal!!! And by all means we are sticking to the name. We are loving the fact that so many of you qualify for checks, we are eager to pay you- because the more checks we send out, the more proof is out there in your hands that we are ForReal. And although your research may help you gain confidence- why rely on someone else's experience? Test us out for yourself! Let your first check from us be your proof, what better proof exists other than the result your own experience?

This post has gotten kind of long, People wanted to get to know the founders a little bit, I hope this post helps and keep in mind you are still among the first, the internet is VAST you should get the word out and use your unique link, there's a HUGE amount of potential income if you use our referral system. Its 6 levels deep! Residual passive income is what gives all of us financial freedom, and financial freedom will give so much more... For me, financial freedom means more time with family and friends.

Its been great so far, I look forward to see what the future brings, take care friends and of course, a humble Thank You to our raving fans!

All the best,

Aviv N.
Co-Founder of www.Survey4Cash.com

Requirements and Limitations

Members must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to join.
You must agree to the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy.
All offers should be completed truthfully and as completely as possible.
The service is currently only available for people who are residents of the United States. International membership will be available shortly.
Only one account per household.

Helpful Links
These links are provided to make signing up and becoming acquainted with the service easier.

Latest News and Information
- September 18, 2008 - Send a picture in holding your check, wearing your T-Shirt, or why you love TSIFR, and they'll credit your account for $2.
- September 18 - Spead the word about the site and make $0.50 for each post about TSIFR and $0.25 for each additional post thereafter. Send them the links to let them know about your postings.
- August 15 - One-year anniversary coming up, voice your opinion in the forum thread as to what the prizes should be.
- August - Offer contest announced. Complete the most offers to win up to $800, with 20 additional prizes ranging from $10 to $300 apiece.
- July 27 - Monthly contest announced - now a regular occurrence.
- June 30 - New feature added, displaying your check's status; whether it was sent or not.
- May 22 - Daily email with new offers has been reinstated.
- March 28 - New banners have been added.
- Approx. October 15, 2007 - Site is launched to the public.

Recap and Overview
Although the site doesn't offer nearly as strong of a backing from members like the established Treasure Trooper and Cash Crate GPT sites, it does, however provide a combination of helpful support, high paying and quick-approving offers, and a well organized site, adding up to a good overall experience for users. There are very few caveats to using the site - the cash you earn takes little to no work, just a little time and devotion.

What are you waiting for? Join Survey 4 Cash today!

Problems with Most Traffic

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:39:00 +0000

The average traffic that you get from referring sites is usually not that good. For one, it isn't necessarily targeted. Just because someone clicks on one of your links, this does not mean that the person is interested in reading or subscribing to your site – it simply means that they have traveled to your site from another blog/site. This leads to a lot of problems, as too many inbound links could cause an influx of too much "non-targeted' traffic.

As you grow your blog, you will find that traffic is nearly proportional to content. For example, if you are able to get ten posts to become popular, you should (ideally) see ten times the amount of traffic as a single post with the same amount of traffic as each of these ten posts received. Yes, it's simple math but I'll get into further reasons why all traffic isn't equal later on and in upcoming posts. When you have more content, there is a greater number of links pointing into your site from search engines, particularly for high-ranking keywords.

The biggest problems with traffic is that there is too much content online for all people to read. Think about it: there is more content - videos, text, etc. posted to the Internet every single minute than most people will read in a lifetime. When someone visits your site, they expect to find what they are looking for, then leave. Now, ten years ago this was even more popular, as there were very few options as to how visitors "subscribed" to the blog. RSS was new, and wasn't even really popular or developed by any means. Email wasn't thought of as a way to stay updated to "blogs."

Secondly, along withe the fact of appeal that your site has to have, you have to have a content base that is strong. Otherwise, you will find that people will leave, because they don't feel you have a good foundation and could stop posting any day. There are so many other factors that go into getting quality traffic that it could take you months before you realize the difference between "good" and "better" traffic.

The problems addressed above help form the idea that you need traffic from quality referring sites and from people who are willing to share word about your site. If you don't, your blog won't grow the way you want it to.

Even though there are thousands of ways to grow traffic, I like to think of the quality traffic much like conversions - even though you might get a hundred visitors, only one of them will convert for you, and you will get a subscriber/daily reader when you are able to appeal to that one person. If you sell products on your blog, your ratio could be higher, as this is just a figure that I put out. You'll probably receive a much higher ratio of subscribers to sales, but it all depends on what you are aiming for.

Traffic is a critical part of every blog that determines how successful you are in the long-term. With less than a hundred visitors per day, you don't have additional visitors, who will help "share" your site across the web, linking to it on their own blogs, sharing it with friends, and continuing to support your pursuits.

Why You Should Start with a Premium Service

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 05:32:00 +0000

When you think about starting an online business, a common misconception today is that you have to give "stuff" away for free, then hope to make income from sponsors, partnerships, and affiliate income. This couldn't be further from the truth, as there are proven examples in which this doesn't always work.

Along the free service, there are often large expenses - hosting, paying people to design your site, getting compensation for your time, and so on. There are many hidden costs that you might not realize, especially when first starting.

There are several options when it comes to how you want to make money with your service(s), whether that be helping people do offline tasks, or an extreme example of online services, such as creating websites or blogs. I have tried to compile a list of some of the best ways to begin generating an income through your services, which should help you get an idea of the method that will work best for you.

Premium/Paid Service Only - This method is probably the most rare, but used to be more prevalent when there was less competition. People don't have any option if they want to try your product/service before they buy.
Premium Services with a Trial/Demo - This option allows your potential clients or customers to try your product before they buy it. Also not quite as popular today as it used to be, as there are still loopholes that people can get through, and the demo/trial might be "good enough" for many users.
Free Services with Upgrade Options - Similar to the above method, there are plans that are free, while there are others that are paid/more expensive and contain more features than the free plans. For example, there would be a free plan, a plan around $10, and another plan at a higher increment, such as $20. Now, all services vary and you cannot base your price off any other service - you have to judge the competition, see what they are charging, and then compare what you are providing.
All Free Plans - When you chose to go through with all free plans, you will have to have quite a lot of capital to get you through at least one year of operation, assuming your service continues to grow at a decent rate and you assume there may be times where you need to purchase more supplies/servers/employees. After the first year of gaining potential customers, advertisers, and partners, you can place ads on the "free" content, and you will be able to generate money this way.

Following some of these examples, you will be able to prosper no matter what the economic climate. There are tough decisions that you have to make, no matter which plan you choose to follow.

How Working as a Freelancer Will Benefit You in the Long-Term

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:03:00 +0000

As covered in a previous post, I am a huge supporter of people that try to make a living by working for themselves. Not only are they breaking the mold of people who work a set number of hours per day and get little benefits, but they are setting a trend that is continuing to strengthen.

By definition, being a freelancer means that you are working for yourself or working independently and on temporary contracts rather than for a long-term employer.

It becomes almost apparent at first sight why you should pursue working online as a freelancer. Even working offline could merit yourself as a freelancer, primarily in the creative fields of photography, writing, or some other form of art. You don't have nearly as many restrictions as to what you can and can't do, but you sometimes have more responsibilities from the standpoint that someone, or even a company, is relying on you to produce something for them or provide a service.

Time

Being a freelancer doesn't necessarily mean that you have more time to spend with your friends and family, even though some will say this. You are in control of when you work, as long as you are meeting deadlines (unless you have set reasonable timeframes for completion). Choosing when to work is convenient for many, as a 9-to-5 position can often lead to added stress, a some people don't want to work for a constant period or even during the peak hours.

Flexibility

In combination with some of the time freedoms, if you are able to become more flexible with where you work and how you work, you also become more productive and willing to work on certain projects. Often, you will need this flexibility to get work done, even if it does benefit you - having internet access and a computer is fairly common now, and presents few limitations from your standpoint.

Cash/Income

Because you are essentially eliminating the middle man, who sets your prices, you can contact the people who are hiring you for your services/products. This gives you a more one-on-one communication with the person that is paying you. There are and always will be risks, but you have to be aware of them and position yourself accordingly. Start a blog and make money selling ads there if a client decides not to pay you after completing hours of work. Better yet, diversify yourself so you aren't centered in one exact area.

Creativity and Variety

Without being constrained to a business' needs and demands, you can focus on what your client wants - a more vague answer is probably preferred, allowing you to express even more creativity and invite some variety into your content/creations.

Now, freelancing doesn't just stop with writing and creating "art," but you can extend it into other areas, depending on how you feel about working for yourself and being "free" from the burdens of having to travel to a job location everyday and doing something that you could care less about.

Bux.to

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:41:00 +0000

Bux.to is a great GPT site that has been around for nearly two years, paying out thousands of dollars each month to its members.

Bux.to Screenshot
Traffic Trends
This chart shows the amount of visitors the site receives on a month-to-month basis.

As you can tell, it stacks up fairly well against sites that have claimed to be the number one site like this.

For each ad that you click through the site, you will either earn $0.01 or $0.0125, depending on whether you are a free or paid member.

History
Bux.to didn’t start off as smooth as the owners may have wanted. There was a lot of controversy, as it was positioning itself against the largest GPT sites at the time. As time progressed, it became apparent that some members wouldn’t be paid, because they had to crack down on people who didn’t comply with their terms of service, resulting in long times between payments.

Now, much of the problems that were originally facing the members of the system have been resolved and it is now possible to earn thousands every month with the site, especially if you have a large number of referrals (which can be earned for free or by purchasing them.

At Bux.to, you get paid to click on ads and visit websites. The process is easy! You simply click a link and view a website for 30 seconds to earn money. You can earn even more by referring friends. You'll get paid $0.01 for each website you personally view and $0.01 for each website your referrals view. Payment requests can be made every day and are processed through AlertPay or YourBuxCard.

Quick Look
How to Get Paid - Click on paid/sponsored ads.
Payment Method - Standard members are paid with AlertPay, and they also have a debit card that you can be paid through.
When Paid - Standard members are paid when they have at least $50.00 accumulated in their account, while a premium member only needs to have $10 accumulated.

Ads
The basic “Surf Ads” page will display all ads that are currently available for you. It will greatly vary each day, but generally, there are twenty or so ads available each day for you to click on. Now, that might not appear like a lot of cash, but over time, it ads up (spending five minutes clicking per day will add up to the equivalent of a “free” meal or drink at a restaurant - between $5 and $10. Multiply those earnings by each referral that you are able to convert to doing this small task and it’ll add up.

Advertisement Page
To Get Paid
You get paid to click on ads and visit websites. The process is quite easy and doesn’t involve a tremendous amount of time or work. On the main advertisements page, find an ad that may interest you or go down the entire list. View it for thirty seconds, and then go the next, as long as it had “confirmed.”

The ads have been broken down into category and basic statistics about each can be viewed to the right of the ad. At the top of the page, the current ad count is displayed, the number of new ads today (higher as a result of ads that advertisers don’t pay a large sum of money to keep going), as well as the total ads served.

Site Design and Layout
Even though the site design hasn’t changed much since it was originally launched, its format is simple and straightforward. For one, it is easy to find where the ads are located, how the site works, and all the other common areas. Perhaps the site could see a slight visual facelift, but for the time being, it works for the site.

How to Earn
Like previously mentioned, clicking on ads for the set period will earn you, decreasing the amount required to reach payout. In all realities, it isn’t necessary that you click a single ad – referring other members or purchasing an upgrade option will dramatically increase your earnings, even though you will ultimately be investing in the site/program.

Referral Program
To gain new members, the site offers a referral program, which is fairly basic and simple to become a part of. Under the “My Stats” page, located on the main links bar, you will find a link that you can use to refer to others.

Referral Packages
For every click, you will receive 100% of what your referrals earn. In other words, for every click, they will earn you $0.01, which is $0.0125 if you happen to be a paid/premium member.

Your referral link is in the form of: http://bux.to/?=USERNAME

Referral Packages
I’d like to show all the packages, for reference if you are interested in seeing earning potential. Most are available for payment through PayPal, AlertPay, or credit card.

– 15 Members: $16.98, up to $45 per month. Takes 2-5 days for processing, is based on a first come, first serve basis.
– 35 Members: $34.95, save 10%, up to $105 per month. Takes 2-5 working days for processing, based on a first come, first serve basis.
– 100 Members: $98, with $5 cash back bonus, up to $300 per month. Takes 2-5 days for processing, based on a first come, first serve basis.
– 150 Members: $136.95, plus free t-shirt, up to $450 earnings per month. Takes 2-5 days for processing. Available through AlertPay only.
– 500 Members: $459, up to $1,500 earnings per month. Takes 2-5 working days for processing, based on a first come, first serve basis. Replacement guarantee for inactive referrals.
– Premium Membership + 250 Referrals: $199.00, regularly $287.25. This package includes a decent sum of referrals plus a membership, a great package only available through PayPal and credit card order.

The Bux.to Card
You can get paid through a dedicated Bux.to credit/debit card, which allows you to be paid nearly instantly after processing, rather than through AlertPay, to this card.

Membership Packages
Using the Upgrade link located at the top of the page, next to your username, you can upgrade to a “better” package to earn even more.

Here’s what you receive:
– Guaranteed to see at least 40 ads per day.
– Earn $0.0125 for each click and $0.0125 for each referral click.
– Potential earnings with $2,340.00.
– The package will take up to two working days to be processed.
– Cost is $59.00 for one year. Assuming that you will receive nearly double per click and double the number of ads,

Payment Information
The site is open to members of nearly any country, as long as you comply with their terms (which might limit some areas).

Standard Members - If you have at least $50.000 accumulated, you can click on your account balance within your stats area to make a request. You will be paid via AlertPay and YourBuxCard.

Premium Members - If you have at least $10.00 accumulated in your account, you can request payment via AlertPay or YourBuxCard. You need to have a minimum of $20 if you want to be paid through the debit card system.

Additional Terms - They will try to send payments out through AlertPay or the debit card systems within 30 business days for Premium Members and 60 business days for Standard Members. They cannot guarantee that you will be paid as quickly as this, due to the large number of payments. Amounts over $1,000.00 may warrant it necessary to do an additional verification process. One payment can be requested at a time.

Payment Proof
Thousands of members have already been paid. The service is completely free to join and members are making real money from the system.

You can explore payment proof from other members or success stories and payment proof.

Requirements and Limitations

No specific age requirement, as far as we know.
You must agree to the terms and conditions, as well as the privacy policy.
You may only have one account. Attempting to create more than one account will result in a suspension or deletion of all of your accounts.
If you want to refer other people in your household, they must use a valid unique email address and valid AlertPay address/account to register with their program.
Other Details: using auto-click/software that is used or promoted is unauthorized and will result in the immediate termination of your account without notice. Sending unsolicited emails is illegal and action will be taken to avoid it. They also have the right to suspend your account at any time.

Helpful Links
These links are provided to make signing up and becoming acquainted with the service easier.

Latest News and Information
- April 11, 2009 - Bux.to has made the Bux.to card, previously only available to Premium Members, available to ALL members. Anew package is being introduced, which will allow all members to benefit from this. It can be found here, although the total cost is $49.95.
- March 26 - Minimum payout amount increased for Standard Members.
- March 22 - Site announced long-term plans, and why it will be around in the long-run.

Recap and Overview
While there may be other sites and opportunities elsewhere for earning, nothing beats the flexibility and options that Bux.to has, ranging from the upgrade options to the large number of ads. And, no matter what, the site will still be around for longer than others, providing a sure-fire way to increase your income for without spending a whole lot of time or effort.

The best way to start earning is by signing up for Bux.to today and get clicking!

Getting More Referrals

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Sometimes, it can feel like your earnings aren't as high as they should be for the amount of time that you are devoting to a particular service or product that you may be promoting. Everyone wins when you promote a service. You just have to do it in the correct way so that your readers/visitors don't feel "scammed" into signing up for a service.

There are a few key ways to garnering more referrals, and these tips are quite general, as you can apply your own methods to the act in order to increase your earnings or percentage of sales. One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that your primary, direct referrals are generally the people who you have developed the closest relationship with, the people, you may have emailed or talked to directly.

Because this blog primarily mentions online services and generating an income from them, I will be associating many of the concepts of this post with making money online.

Step 1: Have a Plan

Nothing successful has ever really started without a plan, or at least an idea of what you are expecting. Get an idea of your goals - how many new referrals or the income bracket that you want to enter as a result of making money from those you have referred. Remember, referrals don't really deal with getting people to purchase products, but rather getting them to sign up for a service.

Step 2: Promote Yourself

The best way, honestly, to build up the number of people you've referred is to get your name out there. Create a website, a blog, or form some type of service that helps promote the product(s) or service(s) that you feel will help you grow in the long-term.

Idea 1: Reward Your Referrals

Because you will probably be getting something out of promoting a service, take a percent of that and give it back to the person you have referred, letting them know that you've appreciated their act.

Idea 2: Provide Testimonials and Customer Feedback

Many of the products that we purchase are based on the thoughts of other people and how they felt about that particular product. Ideally, the testimonials should be yours, but if you can, get the opinions of other people and ask them if you can feature them on your product/service page. It'll help increase the number of people that convert and sign up for the service/site.

Idea 3: Don't Be Rude

People who are rude trying to get referrals, ranging from forcing a banner onto their visitors to not answering questions isn't a good way to get new sign-ups. View your site/what you are doing as a real business, and try to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction. If someone emails you with a question, please respond back within a few days.

Idea 4: Network with Others

There are many communities online that help each other out. By increasing the number of people who share a similar interest in something, you will be able to succeed. The key here is not coming off as a spammer or scammer, depending on how you look at the situation.

Idea 5: Be Straight-Forward

Most people don't like the idea that they may be helping someone by using a service that has been mentioned to them. However, a vast majority of products/services are used as a result of word-of-mouth, and some people want to hear about interesting services. Tell them that you are referring them to the service, provide a URL (or such) and ask them to sign up.

Idea 6: Become Friends with Those You Have Referred

A good relationship with someone never truly dies. For this reason, these people will likely ask others to sign up, and depending on the structure of the referral program, you could earn even more through this method. Ask the people you have referred whether they want to join a mailing list or newsletter, in which you present ideas. Keep in mind that a more close, personal relationship will have better results.

Idea 7: Be Really, Really Reliable

Going hand in hand with building a network, when you are reliable and present facts correctly a majority of the time, answer questions in a timely manner, etc. you develop a sense of consistency for those visiting your site/blog, or those who may be interested in something you offer.

Idea 8: Provide Something for Free

If you are part of a business and need to get referrals as part of your everyday duties, a good idea would be to provide a service or consultations for free. This way, you are given the opportunity to inform your potential clients as well as giving them a scope of what you do and the quality level.

Idea 9: Give a Guarantee

When someone looks at a service, they typically want to hear how they will be able to earn or profit directly from it. This doesn't necessarily mean that it is associated with a money-making scheme online, but guarantees of any kind can certainly help. Let's say that the service costs money - offer them a money-back guarantee yourself, putting yourself at loss if they are not personally satisfied with the service. This works best if the service isn't overly expensive and doesn't have "upgrade" options.

Conclusion

The key to getting more referrals for any service, whether GPT sites online, or offline in the real world is to be referable - good at what you do, reliable, and liked. Without these three key principles, you will never be able to grow and gain new referred customers.

It can be difficult at times to gain new referrals, so you have to learn how to change, adapt, and grow as time progresses.

If you have any further thoughts or input, please provide them below.

Selling Digital Products Online

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:20:00 +0000

There is a huge market for digital products, and will only grow over time. Ask nearly anyone online and you will find that their incomes have not been affected that much by the current recession and downturn of the world's economy. People continue to spend heavily online, on things that they believe will help them out in the long-term, whether that is to make money or "better" their website/blog.

Some of the products include website templates, blog themes, eBooks, or scripts and software. There is little cost involved, especially if you use a payment processor that includes credit card fees included in each sale's percentage/rates.

And, despite contrary belief, you don't even have to create the products yourself. Think about it: there are thousands of products out there within each niche that has to be sold. Often, you can find affiliate or referral links on the page, tempting you to join and begin selling (or even using) the product yourself. Just be sure that you promote products that you would actually be comfortable using and that work.

One area that is not tapped quite as often is digital photography, as people think that it is extremely difficult to setup and costly. However, as long as you already have a decent camera, all you need to do is setup a blog or website, place "scaled" images of the photography on your site, a "buy now" link, and you can sell items (albeit solely in digital format) right from your home. There is little cost involved, other than setting up initially and paying any fees or taxes along the way.

Don't hesitate to get into a niche or market where you can expand over time and not be constricted to doing one certain thing. The worst case scenario is that people don't like your product - you can expand with new offerings each month to entice new people and get the return visitors to purchase one of the new items.

On the other hand, create real testimonial videos displaying how you feel about a certain product that you have used. Again, it doesn't have to be anything special, just something that tells your visitors you feel about something, and be sure that it has some way to "make money" along with it.

Your Thoughts - Have you ever tried selling one of your own products online or through affiliate programs as a side job? Were you successful?

Managing your Online Pursuits

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:38:00 +0000

Over time, it can become difficult to manage all the campaigns that you do to make money online. Some of them will be failures, while others will be successful. When you look at the overall picture of where you are going, you need a good way to track what works and what doesn't.

Working online is like running a business, as you are in control of many of the aspects that can either make or break your business. If you don't know how to manage them, you will probably not know how to grow or expand properly.

Here are some quick tips to help you master the task of managing and controlling your online pursuits:

Use spreadsheets and charts to track all of your campaigns, from affiliate networks to the ads that you are running on your site. Make sure that you don't leave out details or track too much.
Experiment with different options as part of your campaigns, then track these to see how variations will impact the results of your goals (to see if you can achieve them more quickly).
Use tracking codes and redirection if you place affiliate links in your content to make sure that you know how many visitors are clicking through each ad.
Make sure that all your earnings have been recorded for tax purposes.

Just because you are working online doesn't mean that you have to take shortcuts with anything you do. You will still be held responsible if you are unable to fulfill what you are told - as in, what your readers want. The more organized that you become, the more likely it is that you will have more successes than failures.

What are PTC Sites and How Can You Earn with Them?

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:35:00 +0000

PTC sites have been around for a while. There have been thousands that have come and gone, and some that continue to remain in operation after years of service. If you have a full-time job, they probably aren't the direction that you should be looking to generate extra income each month, but if you need extra cash, they can be an easy way to earn some cash without much work (just a little time).

Essentially, PTC (Paid to Click) sites are advertising networks that connect advertisers with members that are being paid to view their ads. Look at it as an exchange. Advertisers are able to purchase affordable advertising and their members are able to earn from the cash that the advertisers have spent.

One of the underlying problems with sites like this is legitimacy. Owners of these sites often get a cheap or even free script that is able to power their site, they don't do much work to optimize the system and main template of the website, so the overall look isn't that good, which doesn't appeal to advertisers and new members. The whole key is enticing the right level of members, the right number of advertisers, and balancing all aspects of the site to generate a profit.

Sites that don't generate a profit or don't have the dedicated and devoted administrators will fail. They won't be able to pay out their members due to hosting and server costs, their members will become outraged, leave, and go elsewhere or leave the whole "make money online" scheme due to their bad experience(s).

There are legitimate, paying GPT sites out there, but they aren't as focused on as the ones that pop up each day, offering the opportunity to earn, although they may never pay out a single cent. People often focus on the things that are current, the trends in the market, the things that could get them rich, but they ignore the long-term prospects that are freely available, those that will work, the sites that have been around for more than two weeks, those owned by larger, established companies.

The main goal of this site is to help you separate the legitimate and not-so-legitimate sites by connecting you, the potential money maker, to the companies and websites that are honest and do pay their members.

When you are informed, you are the winner. When you don't look through facts and separate what may be lies, you ultimately come out with less than you entered with.

Keeping these phrases in mind, when you look through and for GPT sites of whatever kind, be sure that you know that they do pay, are legitimate, and are not run by people who have a tendency or a tradition of whittling away their members' and advertisers' earnings and payments.

Why GPT Sites Will Continue to Grow

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:34:00 +0000

Through trying times, it becomes more important than ever to make money, and many are turning to other sources other than part-time jobs. For this reason, GPT sites have continued to grow, as shown in the graph below.

There was some decline in the past month, but this chart may not offer the best overview of what is really happening.

The main reason for this growth is the fact that GPT sites have been able offer a proven method for earning online. While many people are instinctively "forced" to take surveys through telemarketers or other promotion methods, taking these surveys online is generally free and can offer an opportunity to earn quite a decent amount of cash each month. While it might not be the easiest thing to do in terms of what you are doing, you are still earning for your time, and that is what matters.

Recently, GPT sites have been faced with many scammers and people who are trying to fraud the system, but once these people have been filtered out, what is left may be a stronger network of offers and promotions that can help you earn real cash or save money on things that you would normally purchase. The man benefit form all this is that you, the company offering the promotion, and the GPT site earns from these efforts in some ways.

When choosing a GPT site, be sure that is has been in operation for quite some time. It takes a lot of background to run a GPT legitimately and not pay out too much or too little to members as per the offer amounts from the advertisers. Look for recent payment proof and you'll be on your way to earn from that site.

Look into referral or affiliate programs associated with the GPT site to earn even more cash. There are some members of these sites that are able to add a few thousand dollars to their yearly incomes simply by promoting the service - writing a review, adding tips, and placing their link/banner to the site on a personal site or through another method.

The best way to earn through these sites is to spend some time browsing through the offers, talking to other members, and getting to know how the system works.

Why You Have to Work Independently

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:49:00 +0000

A problem with a lot of people who start working online is that they feel that they have to work "under" someone else. This couldn't be further from the truth. When you work online, you are essentially working for yourself as long as you aren't paying someone else to do the work. You have (for the most part) eliminated the large overhead company, allowing you to work on your time, unless you have strict deadlines that prevent you from being in the least bit flexible (largely unlikely).

Being independent means that you have your own website and method of earning online, whether that is your own product or through the promotion of someone else's product on your website(s), through affiliate sales. Affiliate marketing can easily increase the amount you earn, but it is more difficult to sustain because you don't have to actively maintain your own product, just inform more people about what you are trying to promote.

The key in all of this is that you break free from the people who prevented you from getting to the top, those that you were previously working for or want to ditch at the next opportunity. The more you lead an independent path, the more benefits you will see down the road.

A Few Optimization Techniques

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:53:00 +0000

Thinking about optimizing your site and blog can be a quite daunting task for many - it involves more work than you might like but the rewards can be immense once you have established a set pattern of optimizing and maintaining an optimizing site.

What optimizing means may be different for one person compared to someone else. If you have a blog, it means that you need to remove many of the unnecessary sidebar widgets which add time to your loading speed, while for others, it means making sure your titles draw in both search engines and visitors.

In either case, they tie together, helping to make up what you might like to call a complete optimization package for your website.

Here are a few basics that you need to know:

– Minimize the number of scripts and off-site plugins you use, including widgets and the like. They add time, which isn’t good for visitors or search engines.
– Don’t focus on adding your site to search engines or paying someone to do so - it could take longer and lead to less desired results. Instead, focus on gaining inbound links from other sites first, then if this doesn’t work, try alternative methods.
– Try to develop a plan of promotion through social media and other networks which helps “optimize” your site, drawing visitors into your more popular content.
– Make it easier for readers to find content on your site by adding search boxes, links to internal pages, and more.
– Further your optimization technique by establishing a plan of promotion and goals that you want to meet.

Again, these were a few basics, covering a few topics that you might want to explore. We’ll be covering a few of them in future posts, so be sure that you subscribe in the near future, otherwise you’ll miss them!

Why You Should Start with Article Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:11:00 +0000

There are thousands of businesses that have to promote their businesses in a not-so-mainstream way: online. Now, I don't want to get into specifics here, but more people are online now than ever before, but people still don't look at "being online" as a completely efficient way to advertise, unless it is through massive marketing campaigns.

Smaller companies still have to advertise, likely through article marketing, in which they hire someone to write articles about the company and promote them (sometimes through sponsored posts). People at the company in mention may even write them, but it is more likely that the content writing and promotion will be done in an outsourced manner.

There is some dispute about how to properly go about article writing. You can do it as a "freelancer" who places contact information up on a website or blog and "invites" the companies in for potential hire, then there are sites that will pay you to write on their website, which is another type of article writing/marketing. Essentially, in either case, you are simply providing a service to a company or website in order to increase the amount of information that they have on their website or linked to their company.

Article marketing can help you start out making money online for a number of reasons:

You generally don't have to have a diverse background of information to start. As long as you are able to produce the articles with both quality and efficiency, you won't have any major problems. Most of the information you need to include is provided to you by the company or website.
Most articles don't take too long to write, so you are able to earn a decent income right from the start.
There is an infinite number of content writers/publishers available at any one time. Plus, there is always a demand for them - the better you are, the more opportunities you'll receive.

Getting started is fairly easy, so it is an avenue that you should look at if you want to earn more. Remember, you are looking at your long-term goals and how you can increase revenue over that period, not any short-term. Never look at this as a way to make "quick cash" or an easy way out of expanding your resume.

Recession-Proof Your Business

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 09:26:00 +0000

During tougher times, it becomes even more important for you to focus your efforts on areas that provide and generate the highest income, or greatest profit-over-loss margin (you don't want to lose more than you gain).

Many people that try to earning online fail at this step because they fail to realize that you don't have to purchase others' products in order to make money online. There are thousands of free articles online. This may be a point that I consistently try to get across. If you were to buy just a percentage of them, you'd be in debt further than you would ever be able to get out of. They are simply providing a product. Think of this market as a retailer - you wouldn't have the need to read all of their products, no matter how much desire or greed you may have.

Finding ways to recession-proof your business is quite easy, especially online.

Start at areas that actually cost you money - hosting, advertising, and other areas, in which you might be able to get discounts through promotional offers or by "shopping around" for better rates.
Be sure that you don't let any money slip through the cracks. In other words, track your financial information closely. Monitor where your transactions are going and don't spend what you don't have to or cash that you haven't made yet.
Find alternative areas that may generate and income.
Stop doing what doesn't make money online.
"Outsource" some of your efforts so you can get more done.
Don't panic if you aren't able to meet your goals. Down the road, there will be points where you exceed them. Unless you make drastic changes, you won't see any gains or losses.
Improve what displays yourself best against your portfolio. It is a good idea to make your content higher quality (if you are a blogger) or include benefits in your services.
Spend less time, but use it more effectively. At this time, we need to focus on what is important, and that might not be our businesses.

What other tips can you give readers and examples of how you have cut down to reduce business costs?

Why Many People Working Online are Undervalued

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:16:00 +0000

Many 9 to 5 jobs leave you with little additional experience and trade-in value after you leave the company. For example, you can't sell yourself as having created something new at the company, unless you really did. This would, in some cases, go on your resume, but you wouldn't see much out of it. Plus, you probably didn't come out with a tremendous amount of additional experience than when you first entered the company.

Now, when you trade this aspect into the online world, there is much more that you can earn and learn from starting a website or new project. Before you begin, I'd like to say that you will need to *in many cases* spend money in order to start your own blog or website, but it is much more affordable than starting a new job, even just looking at the transportation costs.

Assuming you've started your blog at the turn of the new year, January 1st, you are well on your way to developing your site as it is now mid-February. During the first few months, you probably won't make more (if any) profit, which is a severe disadvantage to working at a traditional job. And, this is likely where most people stop because they can't afford to lose money or be without an income source (the solution: start while you are employed).

Even in the first month, you are adding value to your blog through content production and setup. Even though it might not be obvious at first, you are earning about the same rate as someone who sets up blogs and writes for a living. And, depending on how your blog grows, this rate increases.

By the time a year is up, you've created between (hopefully) 100 to 1,000+ articles, depending on how often you publish (roughly every three days to three times a day). A blog writer is generally paid about $5 for every article (assuming it is quality and of good length, rates vary), so you could equate this to between $500 and $5,000 in extra value for your blog.

On the last day of the year, you sell your blog. Not only do you have the "raw" value of your blog - any factors that you had to pay for, such as hosting, theme design, advertisements elsewhere, etc., but you also have the value of income from traditional sources - advertisements placed on your blog, affiliate earnings, etc. Plus, you can add in the value of the time and effort you put into your blog.

A general rule is that you sell your blog at 10-12+ times the rate of your monthly income. This way, it will take an "investor" a year to earn what they have paid for your blog. Most people use this formula so the blog isn't purchased by someone who doesn't have the proper experience or dedication. The community and membership at the blog (along with the original owner's effort) would slowly diminish.

Don't forget to consider the following factors into the time that you put into your site. It isn't wasted - it will all pay off at some time in the future, even if you don't want to sell your blog after the first year.