These are similar to the Mechanical Turk and Short Task but pay a little more.
Cloud Crowd pays you to complete on line tasks and You Data pays you to watch advertisements. Your paid each week in your Paypal account.
If your interested in working outside the house in a mystery shopping or merchandising type of situation try Standee Jobs where your paid $20 to $30 to set up movie standees in your hometown theater.
There is much controversy in the writing community on whether or not Demand Studios is the place to work or if it is a cesspool of bullshit articles for bullshit pay. It isnt so bad really. I registered with Demand in 2008 and wrote for them sporadically. They pay on time but it isnt an easy place to work. The constant differences in what editors tell you is ridiculous. I have had one editor tell me to do something one way and then another ask for a rewrite for doing it that way. Im not the only one that has noticed this. Look around at other mom blogs and on WAHM forums and you’ll see.
The pay is considerably lower than what Im used to as well. Freelancing at magazines and newspapers will bring in quite a bit more but for web content it could be worse. So for now, I’ll keep my two private clients and use Demand Studios to hit the low spots in between. They do try to be consistent, fail as they may. They also take themselves and their writers seriously. That is important for a web content provider. Writers hate to be treated as expendable- even if they are. We like to know that what we have created for you is something of value that you appreciate.
So, as I said, I shall plod on for the time being…
Ive been reading Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz.
Ive seen her other book, Writer Mama but Im already doing fairly well as a writer raising a family (I do an inordinate amount of screaming and yelling and ordering people out of the room but Im paying the bills…lol) so I didnt see the need to buy that book. Of course that might change.
But I saw a tweet of hers about the Get Known book and thought… What the hell…
I write about crime, inmates, and women on death row. Its important to me for many personal reasons but also because the death penalty is just plain wrong. Ive been doing it for over five years. I planned to write a book about my experiences with the women on death row but then three things happened to me that stopped me dead in the water-
My mother died of lung cancer and I sat and watched it. Its a heartbreaking, earth shattering thing. Not long afterthat I had a person I thought of as a dear friend try to ruin my life after she used me incessantly for years and then my father died of lung cancer.
I was emotionally drained and it was all I could do to just make enough money to pay my living expenses. It seemed life kept firmly sticking its celestial finger in my solar plexus and giving it a good jab just for the hell of it.
Any way- back to Christina. My book was a dream I let go a long time ago. Life had taught me the lesson that I was no one to have any dreams. Just give it up Kelly and do the 9-5 thing and realize your just another writer out there. No one special. I bought Get Known Before the Book Deal because I wondered if my work Id done so long ago could be revised at all. If it was still valid platform building work. I wondered if it had been working for me all the while I was giving up on it.
I read the first few chapters and realized I did have a platform for my book. I have the website that gets 1000 hits or more a day, my blog gets several hundred a day and my articles at Ehow and Associated Content on the subject are hit on every single day. Hmmmm…
In Chapter 6 Christina talks about crafting your niche. I almost skipped over that part. I have my niche crafted for me. Its the women on death row right? Wrong. I read on and discovered I didnt REALLY have a niche. While women on death row is a fairly small area of capital punishment it isnt a real niche. I went back and made a few changes to my blog. On page 38 she talks about condensing things to make yourself more accessible to the public. I took that advice (or I have started to.I think this will be a process) and then I updated my contact information and changed things around a little.
The very next day I received an email from a lady in Australia who said shed found me through my Ehow articles and then my site and blog. She had questions about how to find an inmate she was interested in writing about and how to go about it. I thought, Holy Shit. I think I have a platform. I think I have the beginnings of a platform, at the very least I am doing on or two things right.
So just for shits and giggles, why dont you follow me while I follow her advice and see if this thing really works out for me! Oh, and wishing me a little luck would be cool too.
I found a wonderful post on this very subject. It is from a woman who owns her own firm and apparently employs others. She talks of meeting at coffee houses and such. She gives some wonderful organization tips and tips for keeping your sanity when working at home with kids.
Check it out here.
Im a firm believer in down time. I mean it. Im not saying that so I can take five and watch General Hospital either. (Although I occassionally do that).
If your serious about working at home then you have to schedule a little down time in your day. The time you sleep during the night doesnt count, either. If you dont stop and smell the roses every once in a while you will literally stroke out.
Little story for you:
Back in April my husband was working out of town. I was home alone with six children and a new puppy. My car broke down, I had two late pay checks and rent was over due.
My first instinct was to go into work overload. I worked day and night. 16 hours a day for three days straight. On my sons 8th birthday I was up at 5 am to work before jetting to town to pick up his bouncy house and cake. Headed home to set things up and wait for guests. I was about 3 miles from my house, driving with 4 children in the car and thats all I remember.
I passed out. Driving.
I woke up in the hospital about 24 hours later.
I had a nervous breakdown and never saw it coming.
I kept telling myself, you can do this, just keep going, keep going. When in fact I needed to stop.
I spent two days in the hospital.
Now, I make downtime no matter what. I cant afford another two days in the hospital.
My down time usually comes in the form of stopping for about an hour after the kids get off the bus and discussing their day. Ill start working again and then about an hour before bed time Ill stop. Socialize with thr fam and spend at least thirty minutes reading or watching tv.
It works.
Also I make sure to take at least one day off a week. I cant stress the importance of that day off. It helps keep the husband and kids from having a nervous breakdown along with me.
Schedule a little down time. Its the most important time on the daily planner.
Some helpful tips for this week come in the form of job leads and an article about the future of Telecommuting.
I have two data entry job leads.
1. Convergys– this is a data entry system with a sophisticated website. It is informative and has many answers tot he mo st asked questions.
2.Service800– another data entry. They require that you have some experience. Both require DSL or two phone lines and a computer.
The third tidbit is an article I found in Entrprentuer magazine; Solo but Not Alone. It tell of the big boom in working at home and how some people are more productive in a stable, structured environment but still want to work at home. These people are congregating in Co-work spaces all over the country to do thier job with other like minded folks. Cool, huh?
How many of us made New Years resolutions that are now defunct? Stagnating in your mind somewhere between loosing weight and reorganizing the bedroom closet are those goals you had for your home business. Autumn is most often a busy season for entreprenuers and being organized and in controll has a direct result on the money you bring in. It isnt to late to take rotten resolutions and turn them into September solutions with a few tips from Mother Nature.
Begin with your home office or work space. What happens in your yard and the world around you each year in the Autumn? Old scenery changes and new colors take its place. Your suroundings are different which spurns new thought, new ideas and new creativity. Go through your deask or workspace and clear out all the clutter. Throw away the note pads, crumpled paper and nubby pencils. Gather all your post-it notes, highlighters, pens and pencils and put them in a convenient spot. Move your desk a little to the left and add a new rug. Put a big bouquet of Mums and Black Eyed Susans on the side table and keep a little pumpkin spice candle burning near by. Its Fall! Enjoy the season and revel in all it brings, mind- body and soul.
Reorganize your goals next. Give yourself a good hour to go over all the goals you had planned to reach this year and determine how far you are from reaching them. Some you may have made some progress toward and others may not seem so important anymore because of life changes and environmental circumstances. Decide which are still relevant and worth your time then rearrange them by which you are closest to obtaining and which still need considerable work. Make note of any new contacts or ideas you have to progress yourself forward.
Harvest time isnt just a prelude to the cold months of winter but a respite from the frantic heat of summer. Take this time to rejuvenate. Put your priorities back in order and get ready to take the long winter months by storm.
Here is a great article on Fung Shui Fall Organizing tips from Care2.com.
Now more than ever before people are turning to the Internet for the answers to their educational questions. What once took hours of research to find out can now be discovered in minuets. Every topic imaginable is made available. Niche websites that offer hard to find and rare classes and syllabus choices are in a good position to make a large amount of money. Education websites garner thousands of visitors a month and that translates into big bucks. If your looking for a way to cash in on the many hits your educational web site is getting check below for the top five educational affiliate offers.
Vienova
http://www.vienova.com
Vienova offers superior online education services to customers all over the world at competitive rates. They have one-on-one online tuitions for a assortment of subjects like Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English. They also have test prep courses achievement tests like the GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, SAT and IELTS. Affiliates earn $50 for every student registering for a monthly package.
Excom Education
http://www.excom.com
Excom has an IT Program that offers instructor-lead technical classes. They guarantee their graduates to obtain a job within four months of completing all modules. Affiliates earn $10 per lead, which is paid monthly by check, wire or paypal. There is a minimum payout of $100.
Training Link Education
http://www.traininglink-education.com
Training Link Education is a top Internet provider of accredited correspondence courses and distance learning programs. They pride themselves on their ability to provide accredited, recognized education for those who cannot access it otherwise. Affiliates earn five to ten percent commission on sales. They pay monthly by paypal with a $100 minimum payout available.
Forex Business School
http://www.forexfff.com
FOREX Business School is an Internet learning service dedicated to educating currency traders and helping them achieve success by giving them the specialized knowledge and understanding necessary to be successful. They pay a 5 percent commission per sale. It is paid monthly by paypal after a $50 payment threshold is obtained.
Be A Better Writer
http://www.beawriteraffiliates.comrm
They sell ebooks on how to write better term papers, reports and letters. The traffic you send them will have instant access to complete downloadable chapters and hundreds of writing tips, activities and exercises. Earn 15% commission on all sales of Be a Writer (316 pages/$16.95). Be a Better Writer (286 pages/$16.95). 2-book bundle ($33.90) . Monthly payments are made through Paypal with a $25 minimum.
Understanding Audio Book Affiliate Programs
They key to understanding audio book affiliate programs is to understand the terminology used. Misinterpretation of one word in a paragraph can lead to a misunderstanding of the entire idea. Understanding audio book affiliate programs is easy and fun once you gain that basic knowledge.
An audio book is a book that is recorded on tape or CD. People who have trouble reading due to eye problems or blindness use them. Avid travelers and people on the go also use them.
Audio book affiliates are people who promote merchants audio books on their websites. Audio book affiliate websites are usually full of informational content or entertaining by nature. They enter into an agreement with the merchant to place a affiliate link on their website in exchange for a fee.
Merchants are those who offer an audio book for sale and will allow an affiliate a cash amount for each sale generated from the affiliates website.
Sometimes a merchant will require certain policies to be followed by the audio book affiliate. These requirements and rules should be reviewed carefully before deciding on an audio affiliate program. Some of these requirements may be to receive a certain amount of visitors a month, to have a Google page rank of a certain number or to own your own domain name. Go over and make sure that you can accommodate each rule. If not, it may cause your commission checks to be delayed or even stopped.
Audio book affiliates are most successful when the audio book they choose is closely related to the content of their website. Choosing to promote an audio book that is about house training a dog on a website dedicated to health and beauty secrets is not going to sell. Careful consideration and comparisons can be a great investment in your success as an audio book affiliate.
Another big help is to utilize the tools provided by the audio book affiliate program. Many will make available exceptional marketing tools like banners, buttons and other codes. They may also provide some sales and commission reports that make it easy to track your progress.
One big challenge of running a business out of your home is balancing work and family. If you’re serious about succeeding, then it’s up to you to set up ground rules for your family to abide by.
Here are 10 tips for setting the ground rules that will allow you to run a successful home-based business and keep a happy home.
Establish a routine and stick with it. Families, and especially children, thrive on routines. If you set up specific times for both work and family, you’ll be more productive.
Carve out a workspace. Establishing a bona fide home office sets clear boundaries for family members. Keeping your work confined to your office will keep your business from intruding on your personal life. It will also protect important business information from falling prey to children’s spills, negligence, or well-inteneded but inappropriate participation.
Keep separate quarters. If possible, locate your office in a detached section of your home: garage, attic, furnished basement, or another location away from the main house. At the very least, make sure you have an office door that can be closed to give you some privacy.
Soundproof your office. Do what you can to keep your office quiet. Make sure that the family noises from the houses — dog barking, kids yelling — don’t distract you or intrude on your business phone calls.
Schedule quality family time. Make sure your children and significant other are an integral part of your daily routine. Set up sacred rituals — bedtime, family dinner together — and devote yourself entirely to your family during these times.
Explain flex time. One of the great perks of running a home-based business is it allows you a certain amount of flexible work hours. You can run midday errands and attend the occasional school function in the middle of the day. But explain to your family members that you may not always be in a position to be with them during the workday, that projects and clients might be the priority at a particular time in the day. Otherwise you risk disappointing them when you can’t make it to a school function or take care of a family issue.
Hire help. Hiring a housekeeper or a nanny to take up some of the slack can allow you to focus on your business and be more productive. Consider this part of the cost of doing business effectively.
Assign household chores. Negotiate ahead of time what chores need to be done and by whom. Let your family members know that you are depending on them to help you out, and that you expect and appreciate their help in making your business a success.
Establish telephone protocol. If possible, establish separate work and family phone lines and email addresses. It is also important to teach your children and your spouse that, if they happen to pick up your work phone, they should answer it professionally. They should identify the business and take a detailed message so you can return the call.
Create signals. Create a signal that makes it clear when you do not want to be disturbed. This could be something as simple as closing your office door when you are hard at work or even holding up a “Do Not Disturb” sign when on the phone.
Telcommuting Truths 