06/30/09 Update

Time for another update on my online earnings!

What I've gotten, what I've learned, and what's planned next...

1. Helium
I'll admit, I've been a lot less active in writing than I should have been. A LOT less active, as in not having written an article in two weeks. Payments will hopefully be calculated today, however! I'll request payment and I'll have my last month's Helium writing money in my Paypal account by July 10th.

I participated in a chat about managing time and it was a whack over the head given my laziness over the last couple of weeks! This is my only reliable source of income for the next couple of months.

2. Swagbucks
This is going really, really well!

I'm up to four $5 Amazon.ca gift certificates already, and I've been using Swagbucks for about a month.

I've received two certificates and added them to my account already. The third was ordered on June 24th, the fourth on June 28th, and they take 7-10 business days to process, so it shouldn't be too long now.

(Note: I spent all my Swagbucks buying the third, which means I got 45 Swagbucks in four days. Niiice.)

3. TNS Interactive
This morning, I got an email from them with a $5 Amazon.ca gift certificate. Gotta say, I love those emails!

It was for doing a survey on June 3rd, so the turnaround time of 20 business days isn't exactly brilliant, but a $5 free Amazon gift certificate is certainly nothing to complain about.

I also did another survey for them on June 23rd. Given the last turnaround time, it'll probably be mid-July before I get the $5 reward, but again, no complaints here!

4. Constant Content
I was looking into an opportunity for a long-term writing relationship with a wholesaling website on this site. It seemed very positive, and the article audience and subjects would be very similar to my interests. Seemed perfect, but they took it to private requests with a few better-known authors instead. This was a disappointment, but at the same time, I've wised up a little more. I have to revise some of my 120+ Helium articles to fit Constant Content guidelines and then submit them there to build up my Constant Content portfolio.

Anything published elsewhere (like Helium) can only be sold for usage rights on Constant Content, however, so that will hinder me a little. I think Constant Content buyers seem to prefer buying unique or full rights. The important thing is getting my articles out there, though, and making people realize that I've actually written a lot more than the ~5 articles currently on Constant Content, so I'll do a few a day.

5. BookMooch
I discovered this site pretty recently. I listed ten books for trade that I either have multiple copies of, hate, or just don't really care about.

Within a few days, I'd sent out two (both to the USA), garnering myself three points for each international send.

I now have another four of them ready to send out internationally (three to the USA, one to Ireland!), for another twelve points. I also get points for listing them.

I've spent $15 shipping them out, and anticipate $35 shipping costs for the next four.

Which means I have enough points to request seventeen books completely free from Canada (or about eight from other countries, since you pay double points for international requests). You pay shipping for books you're sending, but not receiving.

Read that again. Seventeen books free. Not bad for a $50 expenditure, given that many books cost $15-$25.

6. Web Perspectives
Interesting survey site. It asks you to complete different surveys so you can be placed into appropriate categories for future surveys. I've barely done these, yet I've had two surveys worth points already, one worth 300 and the other (which I did yesterday) worth 400.

When you get 1,000 points, you can trade them in for (taken from Web Perspectives site):

• $10 into your PayPal account.
• $10 gift certificate to Chapters/Indigo
• $10 worth of Sympatico MSN Music Store music downloads.
• A free movie ticket valid at any Cineplex Entertainment theatre.
• $10 gift certificate to Golf Town
• Donate it to Canadian Cancer Society and get tax receipt.

Sounds cool, huh?

I filled out my profile and we'll see how it goes.

--------------------------

I've Earned:
Money: $122.50
Amazon Gift Certificates: $25 ($15 from TNS; $10 from Swagbucks)

Pending:
Money: At least $170 from Helium; $26 from Constant Content
Amazon Gift Certificates: $15 ($10 from Swagbucks; $5 from TNS)

--------------------------

June Goal: $500
Actual: $200 (not counting gift certificates)
Conclusion:
I know I could do a LOT better! I only have a few months left, so I'll be kicking it into gear in July.

Swagbucks FAQ

Here is a quick index of frequently asked questions about Swagbucks, currently in no particular order. If this post helped you, let me know!

1. So what is Swagbucks, anyway?
Q: "I've heard a lot about Swagbucks. What is it and how does it work?"

A: For a short answer: it's a site that you use to search, instead of Google or another search engine. The results are pulled from Google and Ask, which makes them pretty good, and ads are put in here and there, just like Google and other major search engines. The big difference? You earn Swagbucks for random searches. You can also get Swagbucks in many other ways. And you can trade in those Swagbucks for prizes like Amazon gift cards, iPhones, electronics, books, and more.

2. Is Swagbucks a scam?
Q: "That sounds too good to be true. Is it trustworthy?"

A: Yep! They make their money from advertising, just like other search engines. The only difference is that they funnel that ad money back to the users, instead of keeping it for themselves.

They don't send spam or junk mail, thye don't sell your email address, and they don't send teams of monkeys to raid your house at night. ;)

There are videos on Youtube and photos on Flickr of many people unboxing their prizes that they just received. I've earned several gift cards now. It's definitely for real.

3. Does Swagbucks cost money?
Q: "Is Swagbucks free or does it cost me money? Are there any hidden fees?"

A: It's totally free, or I wouldn't be using it! There are no hidden fees of any kind, you don't even have to pay shipping on items from the Swag Store.

If you do any shopping online, though, do it through the Swagbucks links and you'll earn 1 Swagbuck for every $5 spent. That's totally optional, though -- I haven't tested it out yet myself and don't intend to until I have cash to burn and online stores are no longer banished from my self-restraining measures. :P (Read: not for a long while.)

4. Searching on Swagbucks takes you to the rules.
Q: "Every time I try to search, it brings me to the rules page! What happened?!"

A: This happens when you've been "spam-searching"; that is, searching too many things too fast. Don't search for a few hours and then try again and all should be fine. To avoid this, make sure your searches are all genuine searches. It's nearly impossible to win twice very quickly, in my experience, anyway.

5. You've made multiple accounts.
Q: "I accidentally made more than one account!" or "A family member in my house made an account and now I see that only one account per household is allowed. What do I do?"

A: As you probably know, you're only allowed one account per household. If you've made more than one, or recruited a family member, the Swagbucks team is usually pretty understanding, though. Here's what to do:
--Stop using the account, if you haven't already.
--Email support@swagbucks.com and let them know what happened. Tell them that you made a mistake and would like the other account deactivated.
--Wait patiently for a response.

6. You can't figure out how to add friends on Swagbucks.
Q: "I don't want to invite friends, I want to add people who are already signed up. How do I do this?"

A: The short answer? You can't, and there's no such thing as "adding friends".
Basically, the only way you can "add people as friends" is by referring them, and you can only do that before they register (make sure they click on your referral link!). If it's too late, it's too late, unfortunately.

If you think you did refer them, but after 48 hours, they aren't showing up in your Friends list, email support@swagbucks.com and they might be able to help you out.

7. You need Swag Codes right now!
Q: "Can I pleeease have Swag Codes?"

A: No, no, no! And don't ask, because they'll find out and deactivate you...!

It's not worth the risk to you for asking or to me for giving them to you.

Instead, I can show you how I get them!

--Become a fan of their Facebook page and check it regularly. If there's a code out anywhere, there WILL be people going, "Yay, code!" and "Thanks!" and providing hints as to where to find it and what it is.

--Follow them on Twitter, they sometimes post codes there. Actually, every day, there's a code posted on Twitter that's active for only 5 minutes.

--Subscribe to the Swagbucks blog and check back regularly. Sometimes, they put codes in new blog entries.

Free or Cheap Books

Do you want to read books for free or cheap? There are a couple different ways you can do this. You can find free paperback books, or download free ebooks.

Free Books (Physical books, not ebooks!)

You can find and trade "real" copies of books a few ways.

--The library. Obvious, but underused in many communities. Some sell used books periodically, so ask the (possibly cute!) librarian. ;)

--You can "release" old books and pick up new-to-you reads with Book Crossing. Fascinating concept, really fun. http://www.bookcrossing.com

--Swap books with PaperbackSwap for Americans, and BookMooch for everyone.

Free Ebooks to Download

You can get ebooks from a whole bunch of different sources.

(Some are less legal than others. Any law-breaking is your own responsibility. Basically, don't sue me, kthnx. ^^ End boring legal stuff.)

CLASSICS
--Classics, including what looks like the Inaugural Address of every president, The Scarlet Letter, Tom Sawyer, etc: http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/title.html

--More classics: http://authorama.com

--And yet more classics (my favourite of these three): http://readprint.com

GENERAL
--I haven't tried this, but you can apparently read any book that has previewing (Look Inside) enabled on Amazon with this method (YMMV): http://blog.tiltboys.com/2007/10/how-to-read-book-for-free-on-amazon.html

-- http://www.getfreeebooks.com

-- http://www.free-ebooks.net

--Badly-organized but legal... http://newfreebooks.com

--My personal favourite: http://ebook30.com

Cheap Books

-- A great business model that's helping the environment, charity, and helping you save on books too. Better yet, you can pay by credit card or Paypal! Free shipping within the US and cheap shipping everywhere else. Great selection. It gets an A+ from me! http://www.betterworldbooks.com

--Amazon's Used section.

--Ebay.com/Ebay for your region, or Half.com if you're in the USA.

06/18/09 Update

TNS Interactive Canada
Link for 18+
Link for 13-17

This survey site pays at least $5 in Amazon.ca for each survey you complete. I've done two so far, the first paying $10 in Amazon gift certificate form, and I'm waiting to get the reward for the second survey, which was a $5 Amazon certificate. It's the only survey site to have actually paid me so far.

Helium
For link, email zabrinaway (at) gmail.com to be my referral, please!

This month, I realized something very interesting. I've come up with a system for earning potentially $1,000+ each month with Helium, the writing site.

If you'd be interested in reading a guide on how to make money with Helium, leave a comment and let me know. I'm considering whether to make it free, by donation, or have a small charge (no more than $10 if anything) for it. Also let me know if you could/would be willing to/will pay.

I experimented with this system, and wrote ten articles a day for six days straight. It wasn't that hard, and each article took me 10-15 minutes with my new method.

I'm set up to earn $170 or more from just one week's writing. I'm pretty happy about that. :)

Constant Content
Link

I've been experimenting a little with this writing site. Very interesting, solid premise! Only write for this site if you're confident in your articles, as the editor is quite strict.

Writing for requests that webmasters place (ie if they want a blog post on a certain subject) seems to be the best way of selling articles.

I've submitted a few articles for practice, and I wrote a piece last weekend on "why to hire an architect to design your dental or medical space". It sold full rights (so I can't post it, because they have all rights to it) for $40, and authors get a 65% cut of the sale price, which means I'm up $26! The minimum amount before you get paid is $5, so I should be paid in the first week of July.

Currently on my plate:

--Looking for sites with Canadian coupons.

--Getting referrals for Swagbucks to earn more Amazon gift cards.

--Starting up an internet SEO business for small business owners.

I've Earned:
Money: $122.50
Amazon Gift Certificates: $15

Pending:
Money: At least $170 from Helium; $26 from Constant Content
Amazon Gift Certificates: $10

Swagbucks Review

Swagbucks: My Review
AKA: Is Swagbucks a scam?

First, let's get one question out of the way. Swagbucks is NOT a scam, I'm happy to announce! Now for the REAL dirt on Swagbucks...

Swagbucks is a fantastic site.

HOW IT WORKS

1. Earn Swagbucks by searching, shopping, redeeming codes, or doing several different things. The important thing is that you DON'T have to spend any money, or provide much personal info.

2. Trade Swagbucks in for prizes.

3. Wait for them to arrive in the mail or email.

It really is that simple.

EARNING SWAGBUCKS

Here are different methods for earning Swagbucks (you can use any or all of these methods!):

1. SEARCHING
Search the web with Swagbucks; you get results from Google.com and Ask.com. You can download a toolbar or use the Swagbucks search bar in Firefox to do this if you prefer.

2. TRADE IN STUFF
Trade in an old cell phone, video game, or iPod. The number of Swagbucks you get for it depends on its condition, age, etc.

3. USE THEIR LINKS WHEN SHOPPING ONLINE
Common stores like iTunes, Petco, Wal-Mart, etc have online websites, and if you use their links to go to those store's websites, you earn one Swagbuck for each $5 you spend online.

4. SWAG CODES
Finding Swag Codes is kind of like a treasure hunt or guessing game played every so often and strictly optional, but fun.

Don't ask for active Swag Codes from anyone! This can get you deactivated! Instead, monitor the Swagbucks wall.

5. REFER FRIENDS
You earn 1 Swagbuck for each 1 Swagbuck they earn from searching!

6. HAVE IDEAS
Submit poll ideas to Swagbucks and if they're used, they pay you Swagbucks.

7. MEDIA
Send in photos and videos of you unboxing a prize.

Now isn't that cool, or what?!

WHAT YOU CAN GET
A very small sample of the prizes includes:

35 Swagbucks:
Star Trek: New Frontier, the comic

45 Swagbucks:
$5 Amazon gift card

65 Swagbucks:
Spiderman keychain

100 Swagbucks:
Bridget Jone's Diary, the book

350 Swagbucks:
Linkin Park Underground fan club pack

820 Swagbucks:
1 GB iPod Shuffle

3000 Swagbucks:
8 GB iPod Touch

The selection of stuff is AMAZING. Seriously.

HOW TO START

Go --> HERE <-- and create a new account, and then start searching!

HOW I DID

I have earned enough Swagbucks for five $5 Amazon gift cards in about five weeks of occasional searches, and the site is completely free. (They can afford to do it from their advertising income; ie, they place ads on some of the pages when you search, like Google does... except Swagbucks pays you to search and Google doesn't. Biiig plus. :P)

I'm all set up to earn another gift card every four days or so. :D

Let me know how it works out for you! I'm sure you'll find Swagbucks as awesome as I have!

If you haven't yet, sign up today by clicking HERE!

Helium Review

Helium: My Review
One of the best ways to earn money online is by writing articles. There is much debate on "how much is your writing worth?", and some refuse to write to certain sites, while others will write long articles for a dollar or less.

In my eyes, a site that doesn't require a huge commitment and gives me the chance to get more exposure is worth it! Besides, so far, the site that has paid me the most is Helium.

This writing site is fairly simple once you get the hang of it. Its slogan is "Learn what you need, share what you know".

How Helium Works
You write articles of at least 400 words to a variety of titles -- ones already on the site, or you can suggest your own. You also have to rate articles in order to get paid.

The better you write, the more stars you earn (max 5).
The better you rate, the more stars you earn (max 5).

Simple or what?

Payment works like this:

1. How many writing stars do you have? Add $0.50 in "upfront payments" for each star.
2. Is it an empty title (one that hasn't been written to before) in an eligible channel (most of them)? "Empty title bonus" of $1.

I have three writing stars at the moment, so I earn $1.50 for each article, or $2.50 if it's an empty title.

Here are the other ways to earn:

1. The more page-views you get (generally by being high-ranked and using popular keywords), the more pennies you earn from ad revenue. This can add up over a few months.
2. If you have five rating stars at the end of the month, add a $3 bonus.
3. You can write to contests or the Marketplace (a unique way of getting published) for as much as $60 or $100, if you writing is professional enough.
4. Invite writers and earn 10% of Helium's cut of their earnings.

While it isn't enough to retire on, I made over $100 from my first 60 articles! The proof is in the pudding:

Stats To Date

February:
$8.00 Upfront Payments
$3.00 Empty Title Bonus

March:
$7.00 Upfront Payments
$3.00 Empty Title Bonus

April:
$21.00 Upfront Payments
$6.00 Empty Title Bonus

May:
$46.50 Upfront Payments
$16.00 Empty Title Bonus

June:
$128.00 Upfront Payments
$58.00 Empty Title Bonus

Combined Ad Revenue:
$22.04 as of today.

Grand Total
$318.54

Not bad for a casual hobby! Even better, some writers make incomes of $300-$500 or more each month from Helium alone. I wrote an article (found here) on how to make $300 a month with enough time and hard work. Much better than the results you'd get for the same amount of time and no expense poured into a PTC or PTS site, in my experience.

What's more, I can keep the rights to my articles and publish them anywhere, as long as they don't require exclusive rights. Is that cool or what?

Here's the link to my profile.

HOW TO GET STARTED:

If you'd like an invitation, please email me at zabrinaway@gmail.com and I'll be happy to refer you! Thanks.

Please leave comments with your experiences, success stories, or questions. Have you written for Helium before? Let me know how it worked out for you. Want to write? Send me a message with the form above.