29 Jul 2009

Make Money Bookmarking: Update With Two New Paying Websites

In a previous article I somewhat lamented that I could only find two active websites that had revenue sharing systems for bookmarking: Xomba and Infopirate. There are many old lists that drift around the net like flotsam claiming hundreds of adsense revenue sharing sites but one look and most of them have either died or have dropped the money-making side. However, there are two new ones I've found to add to your list of money-making bookmarking sites: Tagfoot and SheToldMe.

Tagfoot is primarily a social bookmarking website that shares its revenue 50-50 with its members. This is the same split as Xomba, with Infopirate's share being 80-20 in favour of its members. But Tagfoot has a very healthy referral commission with 25% of your affiliate earnings going to you. Tagfoot is comparatively new compared to the others but has lots of nice features that make bookmarking a very fast and painless process. SheToldMe sells itself as 100% adsense revenue share but this is not quite true. Yes, one Adsense unit on your pages is yours but the other two belong to the admin and your referrer. So your ad gets shown on 100% of your page views but you only get a third of the advertising space.

Now, I don't like cluttering my browser with too many toolbars but Tagfoot's 'Sidefoot' bookmarklet is just one small icon and works like a dream. Once installed just go to any website you wish to bookmark, highlight a piece of relevant text and click on the Sidefoot icon. You have various options as to which category to place your bookmark, such as under news, videos, images etc. The URL, page title and highlighted text are all automatically copied, leaving you to just write a few appropriate tags. In just a few seconds your bookmark has been added to Tagfoot! Compared to some other bookmarklets I have found this to be the fastest. SheToldMe also has a bookmarklet that works fine but doesn't pick up as much information from your bookmarked page and the server sometimes goes AWOL.

Comparing the four sites, Xomba is both an article directory and a bookmarking website, Infopirate has the potential to have full articles in their blog section but that seems currently under-used and is primarily a bookmarking site. In contrast, Tagfoot and SheToldMe are wholly devoted to bookmarking and the description field is limited to 500 characters. You can. of course, use it to promote your writing on other sites or, as I've suggested before, to make some money bookmarking the websites you are using in your research.

One major difference between Tagfoot and the other three is that there is a 'trial period' between you joining Tagfoot and having your Google Adsense code activated. This is no doubt to avoid spammers and other undesirables and also gives you a chance to know your way around the site and how to use the various features. The minimum requirement is to bookmark at least 10 pages in each category and to achieve a 'footness' of 1000. The latter is a kind of sociability index and it shouldn't take more than a few days to qualify, after which you'll need to request from support to activate your Adsense code. Once done, then all your bookmarks will be earning money, even those added during your trial period.

Although traffic to Tagfoot is not as yet as high as to the other sites, the ease of bookmarking and the overall site design means this is an attractive addition to the paid to bookmark sector. SheToldme is very new so has good potential to gain referral income as well as having increased visibility of your own bookmarks.

How to Write Something Unpopular

Now, everyone wants to be popular. We want admiration, we want comments, we want fame and fortune. So online writers try to write popular pieces. Unfortunately, trying too hard just doesn't work. Today I came across an article "Five Things You Should Avoid Writing About". It was worthless rubbish, but it was popular rubbish. However, it was popular precisely because it was unpopular with a large number of commenters. It's a really difficult trick to pull off consciously. The writer thought he was obviously being sensible but people who've been writing online for far longer just thought it laughably juvenile. Writing something offensive is not the idea - that will just lead to flames and possibly deletion. But to write something so banal that people feel the urge to respond and tell you how you've wasted a few minutes of their lives is pure genius.

Try it and see if you can pull it off.

28 Jul 2009

Get Paid to Blog at Weblogs

Step right up and apply to blog for one of our 90 fine blogs -- or suggest a blog topic and maybe we'll start a new blog! WIN bloggers are paid to blog as little or as much as they like, are unfiltered, and can shift from blog to blog within the network. Our only requirements are that you be totally honest with your audience and passionate about the subjects you cover. Talk to our editorial team if you're interested!

Some of these blogs are already well-established, such as Engadget, but there are many niche themes to suit all tastes and interests. Not all are in English either, so if your native tongue is Chinese or Spanish, or a handful of others, then take a look at which blogs are available. If you're really passionate about a subject that doesn't yet have a blog then make your sales pitch, but make sure you already have your own personal blog which you update regularly and with a few killer posts. Good luck!

27 Jul 2009

How To Write Articles For Cracked.com and Get Paid

Now, you may, or may not, enjoy the scurrilous humour of Cracked.com. You may, indeed, have been blissfully unaware of what Cracked.com is. But if articles such as "5 Real Life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Pussy" or "7 Insane Ads That Have No Clue What They're Selling" sound hilarious then you too can ape this style and get yourself published on Cracked.

Cracked are always on the look-out for warped individuals who have not yet been institutionalized. So if you'd like to boost your online kudos or have nothing left to lose then take a look at how Cracked can give meaning to your life. There are a few hoops to jump over and lots of cracks to fall through but don't worry... just be yourself. Many on the forum try far too hard to be funny all the time, even when just logging in.

You may, or may not, have what it takes but... give it a crack!

26 Jul 2009

Backup Your Twitter Data and Blog with Bloggled

I have written before on the frustration and loss of work that comes from having one's Twitter account suspended. Since writing that piece have noticed numerous other people equally bemused and angry at Twitter's seeming disregard for fairness.

It isn't just the loss of the account - it's easy enough to open a new one - but all the accumulated data that goes with it. It takes time to grow organically and having hundreds of followers wiped from your network is just not funny. The loss of tweets is perhaps less serious but they could be a source of new links that you just never got round to bookmarking. Twitter itself has no backup feature. This in itself is an oversight but let's not forget that Blogger only recently introduced a backup facility to save blog contents.

Well, in steps Bloggled and its Twitter Backup utility. Now you can periodically save everything so that if your Twitter account is ever suspended it will only be half a disaster. Bloggled has a 30 day free trial for its Twitter Backup service, after which it costs $4.99 per month.

Alternatively, as Twitter sends out an email every time you have a new follower you should save those in a dedicated folder. This doesn't help you remember who you yourself are following. In this case you'll have to save each twitter page that lists your followers. I know, tedious, hence you may find the Twitter backup service useful. It will also automatically backup Blogger blogs, just in case you forget.

17 Jul 2009

Writers Wanted With a Background in the Auto Industry

Title: Looking For Writers Who Have a Background Within the Auto Industry

Description: Looking for writers who can assist with our aftermarket car parts online store, insixthgear.com or also known as ISG. We carry aftermarket parts for Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, and more. Our line
includes body kits, wheels, suspension kits, brakes, engine upgrades, and accessories.

Looking to pay .04 cents per word ($40 per 1,000 words) . This project is from the ground up so there is plenty of work to go around.

Subjects: Sample can be the the first body kit on our inventory list, which is the ABT Sportline.

URL: http://www.insixthgear.com/body-kits.htm

All content must be unique.

Other notes: Writer must be knowledgeable in what types of cars each body kit caters to. Some companies cater to Japanese, German or American cars.

-=0=-

To find out full details please click on one of the links above. This freelance job is being offered by a third party and is listed here On Writing Online for the benefit of writers wishing to earn an income from contract writing. Please do not contact me directly as I have no further details. Thanks and good luck!

7 Jul 2009

How to Blog Without Killing Yourself

The original title was “Scalable Blogging Behaviors: How to Grow from 1 to 1,000,000 Readers” and the content did not change.

In the presentation below, including detailed screenshots, Tim Ferriss covers…

- Why I blog
- How I blog and select best practices
- Frequency and tools — best times and days to post
- Blogging myths and how to harness data for better results
- Testing design and surprising findings that can be copied
- How I address comments and community building
- How I write and research for good social media response
- 20 minutes of audience Q&A on Twitter, branding, outsourcing, and much more

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed giving it.

From the Blog of Tim Ferriss.



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