A regular girl trying to make money online

Lesson I have learned while trying to make money online

2011-11-01T10:31:00.001-07:00

As you know if you have been reading this blog for a while, my project of trying to figure out how to make money online worked out pretty well for me. Not at all like I expected (a lot of the earning sites others swear by were just too much work for me, and some sites even turned out to be scams!), but I did succeed in the end.

And since I did, I want to share an important lesson I learned in the process: Don’t listen to those who tell you it cannot be done!

You see, when I told people I wanted to start to earn money online, people told me it was impossible, that it would not be worth the time it would take, and many other negative things. I thought they might be right, to be honest, but still wanted to try it out for myself anyway. And now I am so glad I did that! Because it was possible, and I never would have known that if I had just listened to others.

So one of the most important lessons I personally learned was not to listen to what others have to say. If you believe you can do something, you can! Just be patient and smart about any project you take on, and you will get there in the end!

What I am up to myself

2011-10-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

I also thought it might be good to share what I am doing lately, in order to earn some cash online myself. Well, this month, I have set a goal for myself to start several new websites and blogs. I have realized having several blogs is great for a lot of reasons. The main being that your Adsense earnings add up so much faster than if you just try to promote one blog or website.

Most of the websites and blogs I set up are rather niched, since those are the easiest to work with for me.

I have set monthly goals regarding how many sites I should start every month, but since I did not quite reach that goal last month, I will have to work extra hard at it this month! So far it's going according to plan!

How to translate your website or blog into other languages

2011-10-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

If you have a website or a blog in English or your native language, it might be an excellent idea to have it translated, in order to reach a wider audience. I have done this myself, with excellent results.

But there are some things you should keep in mind if you decide to do this:

Always use a professional translator or translation agency, or a translator who comes with recommendations from someone you trust. Sadly, there are some bad translators out there too, who don't actually translate but use some kind of automated translation service instead.
I tried The Native Translator the first times I did this, and they worked great. Plus, you can pay them with Paypal too!

Make sure the translator or translation agency you go for actually has experience with website translations, since not every translator has translated websites before, even if they might have other kinds of translation experience.

If your blog or website is a particular subject that not everyone masters, you might also want to consider getting a translator who specializes in that particular field, be it marketing, technical translations or something else. I also try to look for translators who know a little bit about SEO when I can.

Reasons you could get banned from Google Adsense

2011-07-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

Google Adsense is, like I have mentioned before, one of the most popular ways for people to start making money online through their blogs and websites, since Google Adsense is generally easy to install and easy to understand.

The most common complaint against Google Adsense, however, is that people say they got banned from the service for no reason. This is why I thought I would list a few common reasons that could get you banned from Google Adsense, since I believe a Google Adsense ban is really not as unfair as most people think.

Common reasons people get banned from Google Adsense include:

Clicking on your own ads.
This is strictly forbidden and Google is really good at noticing if you do. So even if you think you can do this in a way you can’t get caught: Don’t do it! They will know.

Asking others to click on your ads.
This is also another big no-no, no matter if you write something on the site encouraging people to do it, or ask your friends to do it for you. Also when it comes to this, Google has very good ways of seeing when you ask people to click for you, so don’t even try!

Misleading people so they click on your ads by mistake.
Also not allowed, and even if it was, you shouldn’t do it. It is highly annoying after all!

Buying traffic.
Also strictly forbidden, and seriously, not very hard to discover. Buying traffic is generally very stupid too, so why anyone would willingly do this is beyond me.

Using some kind of automated software that automatically clicks on the ads.
Also very easy for Google to notice, so a very, very bad idea indeed.

Autoblogging.
It may seem like a very convenient way to get a nice blog, but it’s really not.

Making changes to the Adsense code.
This is not allowed, because Google does not want you to manipulate it anyhow. And since they made the code, they WILL notice if you do!

Placing too many ads on your site/blog.
More than 3 ad blocks is not allowed, so stick to the rules.

Blogging about topics that are not allowed.
These include scams, illegal drugs, weapons, PTCs and gambling, just to mention a few examples. Stick to the good topics instead!

Stealing other people’s content.
This is bad, not only because of Adsense, but because of other things too. So never copy anyone else’s content, take the time to write your own instead. Please!

For more information about what is and what isn’t allowed on Adsense, the best thing is to check the user agreement. You will find all the information you need in there!

Worth knowing about Google Adsense/Google Adsense review

2011-07-13T12:17:00.001-07:00

Like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I have Google Adsense on a few of my blogs, and I manage to make a bit of money with it. I've heard many people say that it is impossible to earn anything with Google Adsense, but I don't agree. This is why I thought I would share some of the things I have learned with my readers, in case you are thinking about adding Google Adsense to your blog or website as well.

How to succeed with Google Adsense:

First of all, make sure you understand how Google Adsense works. Not everyone who signs up for Google Adsense is familiar with the rules and what your obligations are. Knowing how Google Adsense works means you should be fully aware of the topics you should avoid, as well as of the fact that it is absolutely forbidden to click on your own ads.

I have always been a stickler for the rules, and I think this has explains why I never had any problems with Google Adsense of any kind. I never clicked on my own ads or tried anything else that was against the rules, for that matter, since I read about how good they are at figuring those things out, no matter how smart you think you are.

Second of all: it takes time to make money with Google Adsense. It probably took me like 6 months before I saw any significant earnings, so if I had given up before that, I would never have gotten anywhere. So even if you don't seem to make money with Google Adsense to begin with, don't give up! You will get there in the end!

These are really the two most important Google Adsense tips I have to share. I haven't tried anything more elaborate than that, I just worked on my blogs, making sure they were optimized (meaning I learned SEO - Search Engine Optimization) and had good content and regular posts. People continued reading them, and some of them did end up clicking on the ads, so it really can be as simple as that!

So despite the fact that there are some bad Google Adsense reviews out there, I highly recommend them. Just remember to be patient and not cheat!

On my “to do”-list: Write a Mechanical Turk review

2011-07-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Even though my current projects are going pretty well, to keep things interesting, I thought I would still review some online earning methods every once in a while, because I totally get that not everyone who reads this blog would be happy with the earning methods I’ve chosen.

And the first online earning method I thought I would review is Mechanical Turk, since I’ve heard a lot of contradicting things about this site. Some people swear by it and love it, while others think it pays way too little to be worth anything.

So of course, I want to find out: Is Mechanical Turk worth it? Is it possible to make money with Mechanical Turk? And what separates them from other sites like Mechanical Turk?
So if you’ve ever wanted to know more about Amazon Mechanical Turk, stay tuned! A Mechanical Turk review is coming up soon!

What is Mechanical Turk?
Amazon Mechanical Turk is actually a market place, where anyone in need of help, can ask others to help them with it. Common tasks on Mechanical Turk are writing gigs, translations and such, but there really are quite a lot of other tasks there as well. Mechanical Turk is owned by Amazon, and you join it in the same way you join their affiliate program (which I am already a part of, and pleased with).

(pic from Vator)

So how is it going for me?

2011-07-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while, but just in case someone is still reading this blog regardless: I have actually managed to make a lot of money online, so again, I have been busy making money, not just writing about it!

And that's quite thrilling, when I started out all I really wanted to do was to find out if making money online was possible or not. And now I know it is!

I still can't quit my job and just work online, but I am not far from it. My own goal for quitting my job is when I make $3000 online every month, and at the moment, I am making close to $2000. So if I just keep doing what I am doing, I should get there in the end.

What makes up most of my income at the moment is content writing and translation for clients, all of which I found through different online forums. So finding some clients to work for, would be my main tip for those who want to earn online.

I also still post on MyLot, which doesn't pay that much, but the little that it does pay, adds up too.

I've also managed to sell several posts on Sponsored Reviews, which also really helps out, and I have several successful blogs that I manage as well. I've placed Google Adsense as well as some affiliate ads on those blogs, and believe it or not: People click on them!

Besides that, I have honestly dropped all other earning methods I've written about in the past, either because they were not profitable enough, or because they bored me.

So if you are also interested in making money online: Believe me when I say you can do it! I did it, and you can too!

All you need to do is to not give up. It took me a really long time to get here (I started this journey a little over a year ago), so if I had not been very patient, I might never have gotten here.

I will still keep writing here, if I can inspire anyone else to give this a try, I would be happy to, but since I am not really trying out new earning methods anymore, I find it hard to think of things to write about. So if you have any specific topics you would like me to write about, please let me know!

Good luck to everyone else with your online earnings! I am going to take a nice vacation in South America with my online earnings later this year. Can it get any better than that?

Long time, no see

2011-04-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't blogged for ages. But the fact is, I have been earning money online, just not in any new ways, just those that I have already told you guys about. So nothing to tell really, more than that I am still earning online, making some progress and keeping rather busy.

But today I actually tried something new: writing a review for Sponsored Reviews. This is a site that connects bloggers to advertisers, and is basically a market place that helps bloggers find advertisers, who typically buy a blog post from them.

I wrote my first blog post for a client today (quite a while after I joined, so don't get depressed if you do end up joining Sponsored Reviews and do not hear anything for a while), and made a nice amount for just a few minutes work!

(And they pay through Paypal, my preferred payment method too!)

So if you have a blog and would like to make some money through it, join Sponsored Reviews now! I highly recommend it!

(I have to say I did not get the payment yet though, since they pay bi-weekly, but the site does seem legit, so I decided to recommend it already anyway)

Earn more money online by knowing SEO

2011-03-05T08:35:00.000-08:00

Knowing SEO (short for Search Engine Optimization) can help anyone who has a blog, website or articles on sites such as Bukisa or Triond earn more simply by making small changes.

Learning SEO can seem like a really big project though, so in case you also want to learn the basics of SEO, and do not know where to start, I just want to recommend this article by Sunset SEO, it explains it all in a pretty good and basic way.

(pic from Motionsfloden)

Getting some more time to work on my own projects

2011-03-05T00:47:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been so busy with my clients that I have barely had any time to work on my own projects (blogs, websites etc.). But I did manage to buy one brand new domain, and make some Google Adsense-cash, as well as reach payout on MyLot last month.

During March, I will have much more time to work on my own projects though, so I have a feeling I will be sharing many new ideas here during March. So stay tuned!

(I will also try to set some goals for myself for March, but more about that in a separate post)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Another great quote to keep in mind when you want to give making money online a try

2011-02-26T12:53:00.001-08:00

"It's impossible." said pride.
"It's risky." said experience.
"It's pointless." said reason.
"Give it a try." whispered the heart.

My biggest problem with making money online

2011-02-26T05:31:00.000-08:00

Is not a lack of opportunities, not scammers or anything like that. By now, I have learned to see through most "too good to be true" opportunities, so I don't waste any time at all on that kind of stuff.
Instead, it is time. I never ever seem to have enough time to do all the online earning related things I wanted to do each day. This is probably because I work full time, have several private clients who I work for, and so on. But it is still annoying that my own projects get much less attention than I would hope. So I have decided to make a schedule of the things that need to be done, every week.

This is the only way to make sure I make progress, and do not just continue in the same tracks I already know are working.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend, by the way! For me, the weekend has been quite filled with online earning related tasks so far... But remember, that's a GOOD thing!

Great quote!

2011-02-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.- Albert Schweitzer

My best tips for succeeding when it comes to making money online

2011-02-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

(according to my own experiences so far)

1. Always listen more to yourself than to others. The others, no matter who they are, be it your family or your friends or "experts" or anyone else, do not know what you know, they do not need to do what you do and so on.This is why you always know best, believe it or not! Go with your gut feeling, and if your gut feeling has betrayed you in the past, work on making it better. But never let yourself be talked into things you do not believe in!

2. Have big dreams.

3. Set big goals. Such big goals that they almost scare you. Because big goals are inspirational.

4. Dare to be different. Following the footsteps of others can only take you so far. Do your own thing and you will get further.

5. When everything seems to be going wrong, you feel exhausted and you want to quit: pull yourself together and try again! This might be your big break!

6. Start straight away. Not tomorrow. Not when you have more time. NOW!

(pic from Work from home coach)

Why thinking like a drug dealer will help you make money online

2011-02-15T09:12:00.001-08:00

Drug dealers. Most people hate them. But the fact is, if you are into trying to earn money online, you actually have a thing or two to learn from drug dealers. Here is why:

- Drug dealers are very territorial. They keep track of their competition at all times, and fight for their territory if necessary. This is what you need to do as well. You need to know who else is doing what you do, and what you can do to get rid of them or to do things better than them.

- Drug dealers sell products that give users what they want. If you are selling anything, you need to do the same. Sell only what is wanted. It is the best and most lucrative way to do business, and the only way that lasts in the long run.

- Drug dealers make it easy for new customers to try their stuff. You need an influx of new customers all the time. And the best way to get them is to make your stuff look appealing and easy to to try. Do not charge money for every little thing in the beginning, give people free tries and make everything as easy as you can for them. New customers are hard to get, so get rid of anything that might scare them.

(pic from Cartoonstock)

Don't work too hard at making money online today...

2011-02-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

Because today is Valentine's Day, and some things really are more important than making money!

Your loved ones, for instance!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

(pic from Alice)

How did it go with my goals for January?

2011-02-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I was supposed to start 3 new blogs. I started 2. And the one I am most proud of is this one.
I did some directory submissions, but not nearly enough.
I did do all the rest though.

So I guess I passed, but not with honors or anything. I really failed at setting goals for February however, it is already the 7th and I haven't even thought about it yet! Will try to set some new goals for February in the coming days though!

One of the most important tips for those with a website or a blog

2011-02-02T09:27:00.001-08:00

When I am online, I quite often see a lot of websites or blogs that do not have any contact information.

And it kind of puzzles me, because I think one of the most important things if you are serious about your site is to be able to communicate with both readers, advertisers and other people who might have questions, offers or suggestions.

So if you have a website: Make sure you put your email address or a contact form on it! How else are people who want to help you develop your going to reach you?

(If you do not want to use your real email address for this, you can create a separate email for your blog. And if you are scared of spam, learn how to "mask" your email on the site itself. This will get rid of automated spam but real users will still be able to figure out what your email is)

(pic from Annahallen)

Why I am not reviewing so many new online earning methods at the moment

2011-01-28T00:57:00.000-08:00

You might have noticed that I am mostly focusing on things I have already been doing for a while now, instead of trying to find new online earning opportunities at the moment. I am not entirely happy with this, but to tell you the truth... it is all due to lack of time. My life is very hectic at the moment, and I find it hard to find enough time to earn online at all, let alone find new online earning methods.

So don't think I have given up on making money online, because I haven't. I am just struggling with having enough time!

Some goals accomplished

2011-01-28T00:19:00.000-08:00

Do you remember how I set some goals for myself for January? I have achieved some of them already. such as writing 4 new posts for my handbag related blog:

and joining a new affiliate network (click2sell, seems really good!), but I still have tons of goals left, so I need to get busy now, in order to reach them all!

(the pic is from Blogtrepreneur)

The real reason most people fail when they try to make money online

2011-01-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

It's obviously that they give up too easily. They are not willing to work, work, work for as long as it is required to earn decent amounts of money online. And for most people it actually takes a long time before the big earnings take off.

So never forget that! Do not even think of quitting, that is the only way to know for sure you will NEVER make money online!

New goals for January 2011

2011-01-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

Like I told you guys last month, I have decided to start setting goals for myself, in order to make sure I make enough progress each month to reach my online earning goals.
These are the goals I set for myself for January:

- First of all, I want to try to post a new post on each of my blogs (I have quite a few...) this weekend. Quite a big task, but I work hard at updating all my blogs on a regular basis, so it is important to me to do this, and I think it is doable.
- I have also planned to make 3 new blogs (I already have topics in mind), so I want to start those during January as well.
- I want to add 4 of my blogs that do not have so many links into at least 20 different directories for some backlinks.
- I want to write at least 4 new posts for this blog during January.
- I also want to write at least 4 new posts for my handbag related blog during January.
- I want to join one new affiliate network.
- I need to sign up for Google alerts. I can't believe I haven't done it until now!

How did it go? A summary of my goals for December 2010

2011-01-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

As you might remember, I set some goals for myself for December 2010, and now I thought I would tell you how it went.

The goals were:
- Write at least 20 articles for Bukisa.
- Make some more friends on Bukisa (it helps you earn more since those friends will hopefully read your articles)
- Join Clickbank
- Make one minisite (Google the term if you do not know what it is)
- Finish 2 lenses I have reserved at Squidoo, and make 1 new one
- Submit all my blogs to several directories
- Come up with 2 new ideas regarding how I can make money in ways I have not tried yet

Bukisa changed their payment rules, so I have decided to focus less on Bukisa and trying to earn there. This made the first two goals unnecessary. I did join Clickbank, however, but did not like it. So that was kind of useless.

I did make a minisite however, but did not finish the Squidoo lenses, I am afraid.

I did do some directory submitting though, and I did think of 2 new earning ideas.

So I am pretty satisfied with my results, and will set a goal for January 2011 too. I do think it helped me achieve more.

Happy 2011 to all my readers by the way! May you have an extremely profitable 2011!

The importance of focusing on one thing when you make money online

2010-12-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

A lot of people I know are really proud of how much they can multi task, and are constantly doing several things at one time. I used to be like this as well, until I realized that made me do a lot of things, sure, but none of the things I was doing were made very well.

This is why I try to focus on one thing at a time these days, and this goes for my attempts to make money online as well. Sure, I do several different things in order to make money online, but I have a set schedule for each of them. This way, I know everything gets done, on time.

If you would also like to focus on one thing at a time, I suggest you do the following, for each of your online earning projects:
- Make a plan. How much do you want to make? How will you do that?
- Detail everything you need to do in order to reach your goal, including small and silly things!
- Make a schedule for when everything should be done, and stick to this schedule.

Repeat as necessary until you have reached your goal!

It does not sound so hard, does it? Well, the truth is that it isn't! You just need to focus on the right things, when they need to be done!

Get free luxury items on Luuux

2010-12-21T06:57:00.001-08:00

Okay, so this is really not a way to make money online, but it might get you some free luxury items, so I thought I would mention it anyway.

I recently found the site Luuux, where you can blog, post blog comments and take part in other things going on in the community, and earn points. You can then use these points to buy things in the Luuux store.

The site is pretty focused on fashion and travel, but also deals with gadgets etc. So check Luuux and see if this site could work for you too. I am loving it so far!

New opportunities due to Page Rank update

2010-12-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

I noticed that the Page Rank on some of my blogs (I have more than this one) has been updated recently (which surprised me a bit, since I thought Google did not update Page Rank anymore), so now I have some blogs with really good Page Rank!

Not only is this nice, because it shows that I am doing something right, but it could also mean new ways to monetize them, since it will be easier to get people to advertise on the blogs now.

So if any of you are blogging to make money online, you should know that it is possible, but getting results in form of really good Page Rank takes time (one of my blogs went from being Page Rank n/a to Page Rank 4). So do not give up on your blogs too soon!

Now I just need to get a better Page Rank on this blog too...

A bit dissapointed with Bukisa

2010-12-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

Bukisa, a site that I was previously pretty happy with, emailed me yesterday to tell me that they have switched over to Adsense revenue share as their payment model. This is a bit dissapointing to me, since I actually preferred the old model, where you got paid based on how many people viewed your article.

The reason I'm dissapointed is that I prefer to diversify my online income, and I already have some Adsense income. Also, it is nicer to get paid directly to your Paypal account and not through checks (Adsense pays through checks they send you in the mail only), especially considering that the banks where I live charge money when you cash in foreign checks. But oh well, I guess there isn't really much to do.

I am just kind of bummed that these sites change their rules so often. I still haven't decided if I should continue writing for Bukisa or not. I guess I should wait and see how much my Adsense earnings are first...

Are any of my readers active on Bukisa? If so, what do you think of the change?

Information about Clickbank

2010-12-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, so a few of my goals for December 2010 can be crossed off the list already. For instance, I did join Clickbank, but though I had heard good things about Clickbank, they mostly offer digital products, so it is not the affiliate network for me, I am afraid. (I prefer "real" products, to be honest)
I need to look into other options if I want to get into affiliate marketing (any suggestions you guys might have would be more than welcome!).

My goals that will help me make (more) money online for December 2010

2010-12-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not blogging much, but I have had so much work for my private clients (content writing, translations) that I simply have not had the time to look into other ways to make money online. (But hey, I still manage to make money online by having these clients, so that's actually a good thing!)

But in order not to forget to learn new things as well, I have decided that I need to start making "to do"-lists regarding my online earning projects every month.

So I present to you... my first "to do" list, this is what I want to achieve during December 2010:
- Write at least 20 articles for Bukisa.
- Make some more friends on Bukisa (it helps you earn more since those friends will hopefully read your articles)
- Join Clickbank
- Make one minisite (Google the term if you do not know what it is)
- Finish 2 lenses I have reserved at Squidoo, and make 1 new one
- Submit all my blogs to several directories
- Come up with 2 new ideas regarding how I can make money in ways I have not tried yet

We will see how it goes! I will share my success or my failure with you guys of course!
(And if I really do not well, at least I will be motivated to get 2011 off to a great start!)

I wish all my readers the best of luck with their online earning projects!

A new site I am trying: IntTimes

2010-11-28T02:22:00.000-08:00

As you know, I love MyLot (if you are not a MyLot member yet, you seriously need to join a.s.a.p! The site is awesome! Join here...) and now I have found a site that seems similar to MyLot.

It is called IntTimes and I joined today. It seems legit, and the payout limit is really low ($0.25) so I am trying it to see if I get paid or not (what's the harm? It will not take me very long to make $0.25, after all, so it is worth a try!). Will keep you updated, of course.

If you would like to join IntTimes too, you can do it here.

Info about Linkbucks.com, make money online by posting links

2010-11-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this is actually an online earning opportunity I decided to pass up on, since it seems like it takes a while to make money with this method, but I still wanted to share it with you guys, since someone else might be interested in it:
Linkbucks.com pays you for posting links. To anything! If people click on your links, that you can post on your blog for instance, you get paid.

Seems easy enough right? Especially if you post links somewhere on a regular basis anyway.

So this might be worth trying for those who are more patient than me.

A great read

2010-11-12T05:38:00.000-08:00

If you hate your job and would rather be working online or for yourself, you really need to read Tyler Tervooren's e-book Take This Job and Shove It. The e-book is completely free to get (do it here) and I am currently reading AND LOVING it!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! I do not plan to earn a single cent online this weekend (I already wrote three articles for Bukisa though and did some MyLotting), I am just going to relax. I hope you guys have the time to do the same! (maybe even with Take This Job and Shove it?)

My experience of Tech Doctor Deals - TDD

2010-10-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

As you know, I am quite active on MyLot, and I saw that a lot of members there were really excited about a new paid to post forum called Tech Doctor Deals, so last week I decided to see what the fuss was all about, and joined.

In my opinion:
- this site is easy to earn with, the pay for each post is good, much better than on MyLot for instance.
- the forum is very heavily moderated, which means you might not get your posts published, so it is rather easy to waste time here
- A lot of discussions are locked, so there are a lot of discussions you cannot really participate in, which I personally found to be quite frustrating.

After I was a member for a few days, the owners of the forum also changed the rules so that you basically have to be a Premium member on Tech Doctor Deals to get paid. That kind of annoyed me, since that was not the case when I joined.

Now, the cost of the Premium membership on Tech Doctor Deals is not very expensive, it costs $11.99, and I do think it is pretty easy to make more than that there, so a lot of people are still joining, but I personally do not like to pay in order to make money online, so I will not get this Premium Membership on Tech Doctor Deals. I am also still struggling to get my first payout (which I should be able to get from them, according to their rules).

So I cannot really recommend this site. I know a lot of people adore it, but it seems a bit unprofessional to me that they change the rules so much, and I can easily imagine a scenario where they do so again, so that it will be impossible to earn enough for a payout there. So this site did have potential when I found it, but I think it has the potential to turn into something really not profitable very soon.

So if you are an overly cautious person like me, I think it is better to stay away from Tech Doctor Deals (or TDD as they are also known as) for now, just in case. If it turns out to be a very serious site in the future, you can still join of course, but at least there will be more payment proofs and reviews available then!

What sites am I still active on?

2010-10-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

So, as some of you know, I have been trying out quite a few things lately, and I thought I would summarize them before I start telling you about new methods.

The methods that I am still using are:
MyLot (which I love! Highly recommended!)
Squidoo (not huge earnings so far, but I think the site has a lot of potential)
The Amazon Affiliate program (see above)
Google Adsense (going well for now, you can check out some of my blogs which can be found through the footer of this blog for examples of ads being shown)
Bukisa (very happy with it! Highly recommended!)

Sites I am not using anymore:
Triond (turned out to be quite the scam, planning on writing about that later, so if you are interested in knowing why I think Triond is a scam, look out for this post soon!)
Linkstoxx. (It seemed great and I even got a payment from them but the whole site is in French so it was a bit hard for me to use)
Kooday (I know people love it, but I never pay to earn, so I never really got started even)
PickyDomains (I still have no idea if this is a scam or not, but it did not give me any results, so I am staying away)

I joined Bidvertiser

2010-09-28T05:06:00.000-07:00

I love Google Adsense, but I have to say my earnings there are still pretty modest. So I have decided to join Bidvertiser (but still keep Adsense on some blogs, in order to be able to compare the two). They only require you to make $10 (instead of Google Adsense's $100) in order to get paid, which is great for smaller sites and blogs who want to get started.

They also have a referral program. (see the right side bar to join through me)

Bidvertiser really seems great so far!

I'm on Squidoo!

2010-09-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

So, I have heard that Squidoo is a great way to make money online too. I joined the site more than a month ago, but I find the site slightly hard to understand (it could just be that I am being impatient though). I have still managed to get a lense (this is what pages are called over there) up, which I am fairly satisfied with.

So I will keep an eye on how that goes, and I will also try to create more lenses when I have the time...

Another great quote

2010-09-17T08:33:00.001-07:00

... that really illustrates how important it is to be patient, and give your online earning ventures some time:

“If you’re willing to do for a year what others WON’T,

you can spend a life time doing what others CAN’T”?

(from: PotPieGirl, which is a blog well worth reading by the way!)

I just got two new customers who need their websites translated by the the way. They're both paying 5 British pounds per page, and need 200 pages or more translated, so this should take quite a lot of my time in the upcoming weeks. But oh well, it means a steadier income too!

Online investments

2010-09-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

I found this great quote on Mommysavers today:

The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket. ~Frank Hubbard

So true!

I have actually been trying to look for some safe investment methods (in order to invest my online earnings somehow), but they seem very hard to find. Almost everything I have found so far is so scammy I don't even want to mention any of these methods.

Does anyone else have any good advice on when it comes to investing online? (preferably using Paypal)

Taking a short break

2010-09-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am going to take a short break from my attempts to make money online for a while. But no, I am not giving up or anything, I am simply going on vacation and I have made the decision not to work on any online stuff during that time.
I will however, read something that will make me better prepared though:
Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.

It seems very promising so far!

A productive week: Making money with Bukisa

2010-09-02T15:01:00.001-07:00

So, like I mentioned before, I have been trying out quite a few different projects lately. Since I have been so happy with Triond I decided to try another similar site: Bukisa, that is supposed to pay better than Triond. So far I am not making much, but having two passive incomes could be really great in the long run, so I will stick with this.

So if any of you readers like writing articles, I seriously recommend trying Triond for sure, and maybe Bukisa as well. I will keep you updated on how the Bukisa stuff goes, of course, but so far it looks promising!

PS: As you can see, a new Triond-widget has also been added to the blog, so you readers can see my latest articles easily.

Twitter update!

2010-09-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I admit. I've always kind of thought that Twitter was totally lame, but people have told me about how good it is for backlinks, so now I have a Twitter account. We'll see how that works.

Updates on more earning methods coming up soon!

New site I am trying: Linkstoxx

2010-08-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, so sorry for not posting for a while. But I have actually been trying out several different things. First of all, I've added more articles to Triond, and second of all, I have been trying to find new sites to join.

I have actually found a few, but let me tell you about them one at a time. I want to give as much information as I can, so that people out there who read this can figure out if to go for a money making method or not for themselves.

The site that I joined a couple of days ago, after having heard good things about them is Linkstoxx.
Linkstoxx is fairly similar to Facebook, even though I guess you are not going to invite your real friends to Linkstoxx (if you have friends like mine anyway, they are not even remotely interested in making money online. They think it is not even possible to make money online and make fun of me for trying), so you might want to find some new money making friends once you are there instead.

You basically get points, that then turn into cash, when you add a friend, join a group or do any of those other Facebooky things.

So far I like Linkstoxx, but it has a big disadvantage, and that is that it is in French. So if you really know no French and don't know how to use Google translate, this might not be for you. But otherwise you should be fine, a lot of the people on Linkstoxx do not seem to know French at all.
It doesn't seem like you can make huge amounts though, but I guess it depends on how active you are as well.

More about the other methods I am trying later, I want to try each thing for a while so I don't recommend something fishy.

A tip for article writers

2010-08-27T04:34:00.000-07:00

As you know, I have been writing for Triond a while, and while I am pretty happy with the results, you can always improve them, right?
Triond pays you per page view, so the more people read your articles, the more you get paid. So I had the idea of submitting my articles to some social networks, and that really worked like a charm for me!

The page views increased a lot, so now I will make it a habit to submit all my articles and all my sites to sites such as Stumbleupon (the one that gave me the best results by far) and Delicious. It really makes it so much easier to earn!

So if anyone else is writing articles, I really recommend checking social networks out. I will try to find some more as well, as soon as I have the time. And of course I will report on the ones worth submitting to.

Have a wonderful and profitable weekend, all earners!

Another thing that didn't work for me

2010-08-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

So since the point of this blog is not only to brag about stuff that works for me, I also want to share the sites I joined, but wasn't too pleased with, with you. Today that happened. I joined a site called Kooday, which I had heard good things about, but I did not know that you are required to pay them money to get started.

Out of principle, I don't want to pay any site any money to start earning with them, so I think I will forget about Kooday for now. But if anyone else is interested in Kooday, you can read more about them here. It is supposed to be a legitimate earning program, it just did not suit me!

Book review: The 4 hour workweek

2010-08-21T00:17:00.001-07:00

I recently got the book The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content.
because I thoght it might be an interesting and useful read for me, now that I am trying to make money online and work less. I was a bit dissappointed with the book though, it was very inspirational, but I didn't think that I got enough concrete advice from it. I know a lot of other people love this book though, but it wasn't really for me. So now I have moved on to read books about online marketing instead, even though I do plan to read some inspirational books on the side too.

Besides that, both my Triond projects and MyLot is going well. I am also getting some more clicks on my ads on my different blogs, which is great!

Making progress!

2010-08-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to tell you guys that I checked my AdSense account recently, and while I have been kinda anti-AdSense for a while, I was pretty surprised to see how much my blogs alone had made in just a few months. And I was even more surprised to see that people who read my articles on Triond actually click on ads there too!

So Triond is really looking good for me at the moment.

I have been considering dropping MyLot, because it is not passive income in the same way the money you make on Triond is, you really need to work for every cent, but to be honest... I enjoy posting there so much that I will stick to it for a while anyway. As long as you are having fun, why not?

And a message for those who believe making money online is impossible: I have managed to make a lot of progress during the short time I have been trying to earn a bit online, and I think it is definitely doable, as long as you are patient and are willing to work a bit for it. Many of the things online turn into passive incomes after a while. You just need a bit of inital work, and then some things run smoothly by themselves.

So I can definitely recommend a project like this to anyway. I have managed to buy several things online (mostly on Ebay) and withdraw a nice bundle of cash from my Paypal account to my regular account thanks to my little ideas, and I work full time and don't spend too much time on this, which means that anyone can do it.

Just don't expect miracles and for thousands of dollars to fall on you overnight. That doesn't happen!
But smaller amounts do...

Something that didn't work out

2010-08-13T01:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so to be fair, I can't just share things that worked for me with you. I also want to be as honest as possible, and share stuff that did not work.

I joined a site called PickyDomains a while ago, and while the idea seems like fun (you are supposed to suggest domain names for companies who have trouble with coming up with some of their own), nothing happens there. I spent quite some time on this site, but it does not seem like I will get paid for it.

Maybe my suggestions just weren't good enough, but it kind of bothers me that I am not getting any updates on what happens with my suggestions.
I am not saying PickyDomains is a scam in any way (I have heard good things about them after all), but this is not a way to make money online that suits me at least.

So this weekend I will try to look into some other new ideas I have instead.

Have a nice and profitable weekend, everyone!

I'm busy... making money online!

2010-08-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

No news during the past days, even though I do have some new ideas, that I might share with you as soon as I try them out. I have been working for my private clients during the past days, and I also published some more Triond articles, which was fun. (I haven't really made any money from Triond yet though, but people tell me it takes time, so I will be patient!)

So I'm doing pretty well, but these things keep me busy, so I don't really have much time to blog.

A great week!

2010-08-07T04:23:00.000-07:00

This week was pretty good for me. First of all, I managed to find another private client, who needed some articles written for his site, and thanks to that, I managed to make over $300 this week! (I already got paid, so even though this is a new client, I know he is reliable)
I found this client by accident, when I visited his site that said he was looking for writers to write new content for his site. I sent the guy an email, and that was it. A deal was made, and I managed to make over $300 in just a week!

So if you are also looking for private clients, just keep your eyes open when you visit other websites, and send an email to potential clients, and you might just get lucky.

Having a few regular clients has really been a good idea for me, since I don't have to spend a lot of time looking for new clients myself. If you manage to keep your clients happy, they will get back to you on a regular basis and you will have a constant stream of work, without actually doing that much.

I do freelance work as a writer, but this method works for people who are not writers as well. Whatever skill you have, someone might be willing to pay for it, so be creative, brave and learn to sell yourself, and you can do this too!

Besides my private clients, I have been active on MyLot this week as well. And I also joined Triond, and wrote my first article for this great site, that is said to share 50 % of any money they make off your articles with you, on a regular basis. I got the idea of joining Triond on MyLot, and while I haven't gotten paid yet, I did write one article that got accepted, so I am pleased. As soon as I get paid, I will report on it of course, to let you guys know it is a legit site.

Meanwhile, you are all welcome to visit my Triond profile here.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

What have I been up to lately?

2010-07-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

Even though I have not been writing much lately, I have been working hard at making money online, and it is going quite well, even though many more experienced online workers claim that the month of July is usually pretty uneventful.

My biggest income has been from two private clients, one who I write content for, and one who I do SEO work for. I've earned over $200 in just a week working for these guys, and while the tasks were pretty big, I am hoping to get some loyal, returning customers because of my competitive rates and great results. So I see the low prices I take in the beginning as a form of investment.

The Amazon ads still haven't made me any money, which is a bit dissapointing, but I suppose I need to do some more research on placements of the ads and so on before I give up on them entirely.

I've also managed to beef up my account balance on MyLot this month as well, so I am hoping I will get a pay out from there for this month as well.

Other than that, I am still trying to learn as much as possible about the online money making business, so I've purchased these three new books:
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
(the title says it all, don't you think?)

Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur

Online Marketing Heroes: Interviews with 25 Successful Online Marketing Gurus
(learning from the best is always a good idea!)

I still haven't recieved the books though, since I got them online, but as soon as I've read them, I will let you know if they are worth investing your time and money into!

I hope everyone is having fun and succeeding to make money online!

What I am doing right now...

2010-07-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

I recently got myself a private client who needs some basic SEO done for his sites, so I am about to make several hundred bucks from doing that. Private clients are really a great way to make money fast, as you can set your own prices, and work as fast or slow as you want (and agree to with the client!).

Besides that, I am reading two awesome books that I think will help me improve my online money making skills and my motivation in general: Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! and 50 Ways to Make Google Love Your Website

I am really enjoying them both, even though 50 Ways to Make Google Love Your Website is maybe a bit too basic for me, but it is great to be reminded of some of the things you know too every once in a while!
And Rich Dad Poor Dad is really extremely inspiring! If you feel the need to change your attitude towards money and wealth, you definitely need to read it!

New update

2010-07-02T01:53:00.000-07:00

So a new month has arrived, and a few weeks after I started this blog, I have actually managed to make money online! Not a lot of it, by any means, but any earnings is a step in the right direction right now.
All of it comes from MyLot, because while my Amazon ads have had some clicks, they have not resulted in any sales yet.
But at least I am making some progress!

The next step? Applying for a Google Adsense account, so I can start displaying Google links on this blog and my other blogs as well. I just filled out the application, and it is supposed to take 1-2 days before I get an answer regarding if my application has been approved or not. Can't wait!

Have a great and profitable weekend, everyone!

Update

2010-06-25T15:44:00.001-07:00

Just a short update for those who are interested in how I am doing:

I have continued posting on MyLot, so I think I will get paid by them as soon as this month ends. I have also looked into the Amazon affiliate program, and I have decided to start promoting some of Amazon's books, in order to see how that works out.

You can see some of the ads I am using on the right side bar in this blog, as well as on my two other blogs Things that make me go mmmm and Passion for handbags.

I will keep you updated on how I do with both MyLot and the Amazon products, of course!

Tips for those who want to make money on MyLot

2010-06-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

I've already mentioned my membership on MyLot, and the fact that I like it so far, so I thought I would share my best tips regarding earning money on MyLot for those interested in trying out this method in order to make money online:

You can make money on MyLot in several different ways
You can discuss stuff, by replying to excisting topics or starting your own discussions.
You can also submit photos to the site, in order to make a bit more.
You can also perform different tasks in order to make even more.
You can use the search engine on MyLot (instead of Google, for instance) to get some bonuses.

I have not uploaded pics to MyLot yet, but I have participated in discussions. If you take part in discussions, the best thing is to make as much sense as possible, because that might mean that you get chosen as the best reply in that particular discussion. I am pretty sure that means you also earn a bit more for your reply.

You should also try to write long replies, since these seem to pay you a bit more. Some users suggested over 6 lines or more, but I think that is a bit too much in most cases, my own goal is at least 4 lines per reply (I don't always manage to live up to that though, but at least I try!).

If you start a discussion it is also good if you reply to those who give you answers to your question. Not only because this is common sense (hihi!), but also because you get paid a bit more for it.

As for tasks, I tried completing one, but the task was rejected by the guy who wanted the task done. He claimed it was plagiarized (which it was not! And I would not be surprised to see my original article posted somewhere soon), so I did not get paid for the task. I also could not discuss it with the guy, so writing an article for him was really a waste of time. So personally, I will stay away from the tasks on MyLot and just focus on the discussions instead!

Make money online on MyLot.com

2010-06-19T01:38:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been trying out the online money making site MyLot for the past few days. I actually like MyLot, it is a fun site where you can discuss almost anything that pops into your head (except how much money you make on the site, apparently, that seems to be frowned upon), with other MyLotters from around the world.

I think it will be hard to make huge amounts on MyLot, but I have managed to make several bucks in just a few days, which I think is pretty good, especially since I did not actually work for it in a very serious way, all I did was to post replies to questions such as "How much do you donate to charity?" and "Do you like wearing jeans?", which really is fun and simple enough.

When you have made $10 on MyLot, your earnings will be transfered to your Paypal account. The transfers are made once a month, I think, so I will try to make the remaining amount that I am still lacking before the end of the month.

While you won't exactly get rich on MyLot, I think it is completely possible to make around $10-$20 every month by MyLotting (I joined in the middle of the month and I am pretty sure I will make the $10 limit by the end of the month), and possibly even more if you do the so called tasks that are available on the site, besides discussing in general. So I think I will keep discussing on MyLot for a while, $10 or $20 a month is still an income online, and it does not take too much time, so why not?

(A post with my best MyLot tips for those who want to make as much money as possible on MyLot coming up soon!)

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My first attempt to make money

2010-06-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Since making money online is something you need to plan and work on for quite some time before the money starts coming in, I have decided to get started right away, even though my plan is not fully developed yet. The first thing I decided to do was to join a site called MyLot, which is basically a forum (but with some extra features that most forums do not have) where you get paid to discuss different topics with other people.

That sounds easy enough, I have actually been a member of different forums before, but without getting paid for it, so I thought I would check it out.

Before joining MyLot, I googled the site, in order to make it was a real site, that actually has been around for a while, and not a scam. Most members seem pleased with the site, which is a good sign, and so far, I quite enjoy the forum myself too.

When you join MyLot, the first thing you do is to choose things you are interested in. This is because discussions related to the things you like will be highlighted in different ways on the MyLot forum, so choosing the stuff you are actually interested in will make it easier for you to find discussions that interest you.

I am not quite sure how everything on the site works yet, but I will start finding out, and of course, I will share the information I get with my readers!

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This is scary!

2010-06-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have gone and done it. I have published the idea I have had for quite some time now, online.

And that's kind of scary. What if I can't do it? What if I make a fool out of myself in the process? Well, that is a chance I must be willing to take now. Because here it is, my goal: I want to learn how to make money online, and I want to share my journey with you, my readers.

The reason I decided to blog about all of this is that I have been trying to find good, impartial information online about how you actually make money online. But there are so many scams out there, it is almost impossible to tell the scams from the real thing, and whoever offers to help you, will do it for their own reasons (usually in order to make money off you, instead of teaching you how to make money!), so where does one find serious, valuable information about this? I still have no idea, but I want to share everything I learn with others, so that my experiences can hopefully help someone else in my situation one day.