Easy (Kinda) Money

Today is the last day to register for the eHow writing challenge contest. If you are not familiar with this contest, take a look at the eHow writing challenge.

I was actually quite pleased with the number of people that decided to register for the contest. At this point, there are six people registered. That may not sound like much, but for a new blog, I am really happy with the results. Think of it this way, 6 people times 300 articles each; with an average of $1 per article per month… this means combined we will be generating an additional $1800 per month! I also think it will be a great exercise in trying to come up with new ideas for topics. I believe that most of us can agree that this is the most daunting part of writing articles for eHow.

I certainly hope that in this last day more of you will register for this challenge. I know that the more of you register the harder I am going to work to try to keep my 50 bucks!

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• Why I Love Publishing On Ehow (realfreelancelife.com)

Firstly, I would like to apologize for not updating the blog for the past few days. I had a family emergency I needed to take care of. So, please forgive me if I was away from my computer for the past five days.

Here are the things that I want to do for the rest of August and into September:

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There are two blogs that I regularly read, and I want to begin to comment on them at least twice a week. These blogs are well worthwhile in reading, and commenting. I just need to make in my priority. This will do two things; first, it will stimulate discussion on passive income and blogging. Secondly, I hope it will bring more traffic to my site, as well as entice you to read their sites. These two blogs are pro-blogger and smart passive income.

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It is obvious said I must hone my website. At times my blog looks clumsy. So I will spend some time streamlining things. I have gotten some great suggestions by e-mail on how to do this. I do not agree with all of the suggestions, but there were several that I plan to implement. I also want to thank those of you that sent continue reading…

You must register by 31AUG09… you can do this by email to cory@easykindamoney.com . Simply email your Ehow profile name, and a valid return email address.

You cannot pay others to write articles for you. This may be difficult to discern, but if your articles are written in several different “voices” you may be disqualified… ( this will be decided by the subjective judgment of the host of this contest, me.)

As much  as I abhor it, to qualify for the prize must provide the login information to your account. This is to prove that it is YOUR account that I am reading. Your information will not be used for any other purpose, and will be destroyed after verification.

 By registering, you agree to all of the rules.

Main Ehow contest post

I have been reading some of my friend’s blogs, and I have noticed a number of eHow article writing challenges. These challenges range anywhere from writing 100 to 150 articles per month. I think I would like to raise the stakes.

  The truth be told, I need motivation to write these articles also. I thought I might spice things up a bit. Instead of the one-month challenge, I will propose a sustained challenge. 100 articles per month, for three months. 

One difference between the challenges that have been offered, and my challenge, is that I am offering a couple of small prizes. 

Here are the rules.  continue reading…

I realize I have been blathering on a bit much about eHow in my last few posts. I promise I will give the eHow subject a rest in the next few posts. However, I thought that it might be of  interest to you to think about your work in a way that you does not cause you to repeat the same effort.

A few weeks ago, I was reading one of Pat’s posts  from The Smart Passive Income Blog, and it made me begin to think. Pat said that he was going to try to write 150 eHow articles per month for the next three months. Midstream he decided it may not be as fruitful as he thought. There were several comments on how it might be better to post these articles on his blog because his blog following was larger than the eHow following. I suggested continue reading…

 If you read my posts are regularly, you know that I am a big of fan of eHow. I would say is that the vast majority of my passive income comes from eHow. I would like to take a little time to teach you how to use eHow to increase your passive income.

First of all you need to understand that eHow pays you with a certain percentage of ad revenue. Ads will be placed within your article and you get paid when somebody clicks on the ad. The nice thing is that you do not have to place ads; eHow does this for you. In addition, eHow automatically submits your article to the Google search engine; so, now you do not have to worry about search engines submissions.

The first thing you need to do is get in the eHow account. Go to www.eHow.com and sign up for an account. Now that you have an account, make sure that you understand the terms and conditions. eHow is a great way to make extra passive income,  but you must be careful; they are strict about plagiarism, repeat articles, and as spam type articles.

Now that you have an eHow account, it is time to write your articles. You may be worried that you do not have enough ideas to produce in inventory of eHow articles. You would be surprised at the breadth of articles that are written on eHow. You can write an article about anything from the” theory of relativity”… to “how continue reading…

I have received a few emails from people that want to develop passive income streams NOW because their home is being foreclosed, or they have accounts in debt collections. Of course, passive income is not an answer to these problems because it takes to long to develop. However because of the number of emails I received on the subject, I thought I would reprint one of my eHow articles.

You cannot pay all your bills… and now the incessant calls from the debt collector start. You do not want to answer the phone, but the calls keep coming. It is not the end of the world. Many debt collectors can actually help you, if you give them a chance.

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Answer the phone, or better yet call the debt collections company. Keep calm, collectors have personalities, some can come off as ruthless , while others come off as sweet. If you honestly owe the bill to the collector, try to pay it. continue reading…

Image via CrunchBase

I am finally getting my head wrapped around the things I need to do in order to build my passive income. I think that it was overwhelming at the outset. There were just so many ideas and so much information to sift through. I was hard pressed to prioritize these ideas, but I think I have a better clue now.

The List

• Finish moving this blog to http://www.easykindamoney.com/
• Write at least two articles per day at eHow.com
• Read and comment on an one article from each of my eHow friends every other week.
• Mid-month, begin going through 31 days to building a better blog at Pro Blogger

  Moving the blog
  
  It is simply a matter learning a little more about WordPress. I have chosen the theme, etc. I am just trying to figure out the widgets at this point. Other than that I really do like the simplistic power of WordPress. As I mentioned in my previous post I Need to Move My Blog, I went with Bluehost as suggessted by Pat at The Smart Passive Income Blog .

  Writing more on Ehow

  I know that Ehow will never make me rich, however it is a good source of steady and predictable passive income. I have been slacking a bit with it lately, so I am resolving to write 2 articles per day. This should increase my monthly income by about 70-80 dollars.

  Commenting on eHow articles

  I tried an experiment by religiously commenting on my eHow friends’ articles for two months and then I stopped commenting for two months. I am fairly certain that by commenting, I can increase my eHow income by about 12-15%. I think this is due to three things: First, these friends rate and comment on the articles. Secondly, these comments are posted on their home pages. Lastly, I think that these friends click on some of the ads on my pages as a favor. Although I do not condone this, I think it is just a fact of life.

  31 days to build a better blog
  
  This is a great project that every blogger should try. Each day contains a fairly easy project to improve your blog. I am actually really excited to embark on this.

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.

Image via CrunchBase

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