Easy (Kinda) Money

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The idea of creating income streams that continue to pay is actually at odds with the mindsets of many people. I have heard the comments of; “If you have that much time on your hands, you could be working some overtime.” Or “Why don’t you get a real job?” (by the way, I do have a “real” job as a debt collector).

I think that much of this attitude comes from the idea of getting something for nothing. It is obvious that if you have tried to get something from creating passive income streams, you realize that you will work many hundreds of hours with very little reward before you start seeing the returns on your investment of time. It may be just as obvious that there are many money-making “scams” and unrewarding wastes of time out there. I think that is the true purpose of this blog; to sift through the river sand and find a small nugget of gold or two.

An ongoing passive income gives the freedom of working when you want and where you want. I also know that by diversifying your income into “streams”, you can beat the “lay-off” reaper. If a website closes or an online experiment you tried goes bust, you still have these other income streams available to pay your bills.

It all makes sense on paper; let’s see how it works in the real world.

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As much as I like theBlogger.com format. I can see the limitations. If I really want to expand, I need to leave the nest. It is too difficult for a non-techie like me to customize things the way I want . In addition, it is obvious that having my domain name would be beneficial.

I had looked into several web hosting companies that offered “WordPress” ready hosting, and I decided to go with “Bluehost”. This decision was not made lightly, but I trust the opinion of “Pat” from http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/ . So I will be spending most of July bringing that blog to fruition.

But don’t worry (he said, as if you lived and breathed for this blog), I will continue to post here, and I will archive all of my posts on the new site; as well as leaving a link here to the new-and-improved-blog.

Please try to bear with me through these first growing pains. I am discovering this journey into passive income just as you are. (we can do this, he said as he put on his sweater and outdoor shoes. “Can you say “passive income”"? he said as he fed the fish and strolled out the door).

I realize that blogging is not exactly passive income. Although, the archives should still produce ad revenue. Blogging reached it theoretical peak last year, so a new blog is not that inticing. However, a properly placed blog with good content and muti-media should still do well. I read a very good report on blogging at http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/06/23/get-your-free-roadmap-to-become-a-blogger/ they are not paying me, nor do I have any affilition with them. But this report really opened my eyes to the thought process to writing a blog. I think I must include this into my online income streams. It seems that it will requre a concerted effort, but with good long term results. With the added cash from the adsense program, and the exposure to my other projects, I think even this blog might be a little profitable.

Blogging may not be the end all and be all of my internet income plan, however, I think it can become an intergal part of the machine. One more cog that fits into my passive income stream

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As I have become more excited about this idea of passive income, I am exploring many of the the blogs out there relating to the subject. I ran across something that gave me a new paradigm for some of my thoughts. Saving money can be considered passive income.

Look at it this way, If I reduced my expenses to zero dollars, then all of my income would be disposable income. Therefore every dollar I save is one more dollar of disposable income. Perhaps ol‘ Ben Franklin had it right; “A penny saved is a penny earned.”

I do not believe it would be helpful to include money saved in my passive income statistics. In addition the one drawback to this income stream is that it is finite. Once I reach zero expenses (yeah, that will happen), The stream is capped.

However, I can certainly do some things in my life to save in this manner. I am terrible at paying things on time, I could easily save fifty dollars a month in late fees. I also should consider getting a roommate. I live alone in a two bedroom apartment, and saving half of my rent could sure help. Just these two changes would increase my monthly disposable income by $450.

I know this is not some revelation in income generation, but some food for thought.

I have been using CashCrate for about a month now. From everything I hear it is a good source of passive income. However, for me I have not seen the revenue and referral generation that I would like to see.

CashCrate is a free referral site. You can generate direct income by responding to offers such as surveys, or trial offers. but the intriguing part is the referral system. This should be able to create a good stream of passive income. The payout plan is fairly generous, and the program is simple enough. I have received my first check from Cash Crate (yes, the only payout option at this point is by check), so I know they are legit.

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My problem seems to be getting the referral. I have 4 articles published on ehow. These articles are also cross-posted on Associated Content. I just cant seem to build the referral base that I want. I may be too impatient, so I will keep pushing the program and see where it leads. I may just need to be patient and mix up my advertising a bit.

 

 

 

From time to time I will post one of my ehow articles in full for you to read, this may give you ideas, and will show you a type of ehow article format.

Make Money Online by Answering Surveys  This is not a get rich quick scheme. Most likely not a get rich scheme, period. However, you can make extra income from home if you know how to make money online by answering surveys. I have tried many different survey sites over the past few years, and I found what seems to be the best method for me to make extra money with online surveys.
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There are basically two steps in to make money online by answering surveys. The first is the actual act of going through the surveys and offers. The second step is to refer others to the survey site. Completing the online surveys is a good way of voicing your opinion on a number of issues, while being paid at the same time. However, to increase your income, you need to refer people to the website.
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Fine a good site. The key is to discover a website that pays well enough so that you can make money online by answering surveys. I have discovered two of them that seem to be worthwhile. SurveySavvy and CashCrate seem to have a good payout, and a good referral system.
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The first, SurveySavvy, is a Better Business Bureau accredited site that was recommended on the “Kim Kommando” radio show. The surveys are a little slow to begin, but the payouts are reasonable. CashCrate is not actually a survey site, but refers you to other survey sites and free online offers. The payouts are good and again, so is the referral system.
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I suggest using an alternate email address when signing up for these sites to reduce spam. Also, turn off the spam filter on the alternate email, as the filter will often mistake your survey offers as spam.
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Now it is time to boost your online income. Begin referring people to the website using your referral ID. You can do this in several ways. The most obvious is referring your friends and family. This is a good start but obviously limited. To expand your referrals, you need to advertise a little. Write about these online survey sites in your blog. Try writing an eHow article about your experience with online surveys, including your referral link. You can also advertise on Craigslist and other online classifieds. In either case, be honest about what you are doing. If either SurveySavvy or CashCrate receives complaints about spamming, your account may be terminated.
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Really, it is just a matter of persistence if you want to make money online by answering surveys. Simply answer all the survey offers that you can, and regularly advertise the sites. You may not get rich, but you can certainly increase your online income.

 

 

 

 

You can get the links to these sites at the tpo of the page in my “links” section

If you can write a how-to article, you can make some cash on ehow.com. It is a fairly steady and predictable passive income stream.

You can write just about any type of how-to article there. From “How to sharpen a knife” to ” How to make extra income from Cash Crate”. The articles needn’t be long. An average length would be 300-500 words. I will not go over all of the submission rules because they are well covered on the site.

You are are paid as a percentage of the ad revenue your article generates. Nobody seems to know this formula, but there is a consensus that each article will generate an average of $1 per month. Of late I am beating that average with $1.36 per per article per month. The payout is through paypal, and occurs around the 5th of each month.

I beleive that my higher than average per article payout is due to two things . First I stuff the first two paragraphs with as many relevant keywords as possible. Secondly, from time to time I look at which are my highest paying articles and then writh another article in the same vein. I have even gone to the extent of re-writing some of my top articles and then just changing a word or two in the title.

While Ehow is not going to make you rich, I do know some people that are making over $1000 per month. It is just a matter of builing your article inventory.

You can check it out at www.ehow.com

I was pushing my feeble cranium to decide how to turn my chaotic thoughts about passive income into something that the reader might understand. Therefore, I decided that instead of spewing forth words in a haphazard manner, I should get organized. I think in might be beneficial to give you a monthly report of my passive income streams. This way I can really begin to tweak things, and start to grow this business.

So today I am going to sit down, and find out what my starting position was at the beginning of the month, so to better prepare to report my passive income at the end of the month.This is going to take some time today, so forgive me if this particular post is not the most informative.

I think tomorrow, I am going to go into how I have been generating an above average pay level at Ehow.com. Until then however, it is time to start number –crunching.

The truth be told, I have made half- hearted attempt to discover ways to make an actual, sustainable income online for over two years. I have tried the scams, the semi-scams and the “it just doesn’t work”s. Finally I am seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Firstly I decided that passive income is the way to go. Passive income is money that keeps on coming, like royalties or residuals. I am a writer, so as an example, I can write a 500 word article and get paid a one time fee of say $15. However, if I find a site that pays well enough, I can instead receive residuals of maybe $1.30 per month. Not much money now, but it is continuing income … forever. That is the bare-bones idea of passive income. Work hard now, build several streams of income, relax and enjoy the fruits. I think I have found some sure-winners in this game, and I want to share them. Also, I would love to hear the ideas that you bring to the table. My goal with this blog is to create a win-win for all of us. I want to sit on the beach and collect my online passive income.