Munny4Hunny

Another slow month..

2009-07-13T19:32:00.000Z

I am not the only one to comment on the slow-down of paid post and associated earnings recently, this on top of the drop off in paid post earnings over the last year or so in general. We seem to be hitting a real dry-patch lately and getting opps is seemingly becoming more difficult.
This could be a result of a number of factors, the first of which is the ongoing effects of Google's reaction to paid posts which has been to lower the PageRank of posters and advertisers alike. Another reason could be the general down-turn in the economy which has left many companies looking for ways to cut costs dramatically. For those with several 'strings to their bow' it just means a shift in emphasis to other sources of income. I have been lucky in that another of my online activities has been much busier this month, and I have been actvely pursuing other income avenues anyway. I have always been interested in passive earnings through adsense and will continue to pursue ways of building income with a combination of SEO and Adsense and affiliates.

Fat Burners

2009-07-11T19:15:00.000Z

Whilst products such as Stimerex ES make all sorts of claims that include both fat-burning and energy boosting abilities, it should be noted that if the claim of the strength of this product are true, then professional medical advice should be sought before embarking on a course.
This product contains both Ephedra and Synephrine this is because there are restrictions on how much Ephedra can be included in a dose. This information alone should serve as a warning that if indeed you decide that this product is worth trying, that it should be treated seriously and the best medical advice should be sought before-hand.

Making a mark

2009-07-10T18:18:00.000Z

We all like to put our personal stamp on the things that we have whether they be our houses, our cars or our clothing.
We view a new home with an eye for all the changes we are going to introduce to make it our own, and even if we don't realise it, we usually buy the same sort of clothes from the same sort of shops establishing our own style.
I remember when I got my first car, I got busy painting all parts of the car and adding a set of fog lights, moving the number plate around and generally making it look unique. I think nowadays people are less inclined to paint their cars and will, instead fit a high-end music system, a DVD player or hid lights, those high-definition lights that appear blue rather than white.
There was a trend to have lights beneath the car which seems rather superfluous and hopefully this trend is now subsiding.
Whatever it is we choose, it is important that we are able to express our individuality, of course, bloggers are able to do this via the internet...

What do you care about?

2009-07-07T09:30:00.002Z

Click on the widget below to take part in the latest dNeero survey. Turns out that I don't care too much about the specific items in this survey as they are not things close to my heart - you get the chance to say whst you care about too...

Earnings June 2009

2009-07-02T13:22:00.005Z

Not a bad month in June, steady earnings from a few different sources giving a total of around $90 from blogs. The last few days offered up a few dollars from Adsense, and this has continued today. I should actually be getting a payment from Adsense about now anyway... I have said this before, but it bears repeating, that the majority of my Adsense earnings do NOT come from blogs, but increasingly, my blogs are adding to the overall earnings. This month has seen a bit of an upturn in non-blog earnings too, plus someone has pointed me in the direction of a ludicrously good deal for web hosting which I may well be posting about soon. In essence this hosting deal allows you to host multiple domains for one payment which is equivalent to what I am paying for each of my hosted domains - This certainly bears investigation although it may mean having to go off-line for a day or two to get 'A records' pointing in the right place etc... With this deal I could even switch all my blogs over to Wordpress for no extra charge - a claim again which bears investigating!
OK, back to the earnings then... Good result from sponsored reviews once more, this is turning into one of my favourite sources of paid blogging opps. Some revival of earnings from Blogsvertise - some time since they had any opps for me... PayU2blog continue to provide decent revenue, and a good few dollars from contextual advertising adds nicely to the pot. Before you start to believe I have done a one-dollar post for PPP, this was a correction from an amount I had wrongly declared previously....

Finding the right supplier

2009-06-27T23:16:00.002Z

Having a good industrial equipment supplier is the key to making a good job both in the workplace and in the home. I spend a lot of time in the 'off-line' world sourcing all sorts of equipment for different purposes, and I extensively use the internet to find suppliers.
I have found that there is a distinct knack to using Google to find what you need and have built up some good working relationships with suppliers originally found via search engines.
Often a little research is needed to find the equipment that you need, then the ideal scenario is to locate a local supplier and establish a working relationship.

New Survey from dNeero

2009-06-19T14:49:00.003Z

Another survey to keep the cents trickling in...
This one is on endurance athletics and the possibilities of long-term benefits or long-term dangers. I think it is possible to go too far, but for the majority, any exercise has to be a good thing.

Update

2009-06-17T10:46:00.004Z

I am happy with my new (secret) SEO project so far, I still have quite a lot of content to put on the site, but is getting search results already and a couple of ad clicks have been generated. I have monetised with eBay partnership and some affiliates, this will hopefully yield something in the long-term. I will also try registering some of the URLs with fixed advert providers to see if I can get some regular income from that direction. Right now, I would be happy if I could show that the site will break even - if I can reach that goal, I will invest in another similar site and see if I can use the good results from the first project to generate some PageRank for the scond project and so on... I think I can repeat this about four or five times from slightly different angles. Just getting the site accepted for some fixed adverts would be enough to show a decent profit.
This month I have been lucky enough to pick up another sponsored review for one of my sites and this time I should get paid $26, which is a pretty good rate for a single review. There are a few other opps coming in from blogsvertise and PayU2blog, so this month should be reasonable although in this climate, you can never be sure where your next opp is coming from...

Preparing for the Sun...

2009-06-16T12:21:00.000Z

It is this time of year in the UK when we start to look at the sorry state of the garden furniture and wonder if there is enough money in the kitty to start afresh with a new patio set.
So far this year, I have already put some new planters around the patio, repaired some broken patio slabs, attempted to repair our 'spare' patio table (the 'best' one got damaged and I chopped it up for firewood in the Winter...) and even refurbished our outside toilet. The next job on the list is to fix the broken security light which provides some light on the patio for warmer evenings...
When all the repairs have been effected, I would really like to look around for a new table, the 'old' chairs are OK and may just need some treatment although I have been tempted by outdoor chaise lounges and some more exotic plants and planters. Our parasol also falls apart on a regular basis so I am hoping to find a bargain set including a decent sized table and parasol.

Car Insurance

2009-06-15T12:24:00.003Z

Everyone surely knows by now that Comparison sites can take a lot of the leg-work out of searching for comparative quotes for insurance. I heard someone say recently 'Where do we go to compare the best comparison sites?' so maybe the next phase of web sites to come along will include sites that can compare the comparison sites, and the next phase can compare the.... well you get the idea...
Comparison sites can of course get us the best auto insurance quotes or home insurance quotes or travel insurance quotes. My strategy is to find the best deal from the comparison sites and then double-check by trying some insurers direct. The comparison sites have often worked out a deal so that they can offer at least the same rate as if you go direct, but it's always worth checking. In these financially sensitive times, the best deals need to be hunted down...

New Survey

2009-06-13T11:23:00.000Z

I am losing interest in surveys as a way of earning, however dNeero surveys are fun to complete and you can post them in your blog, like this one...
The latest survey is another music one, click the widget to join up and take part:

Software Solutions

2009-06-12T11:19:00.006Z

Once a small company has outgrown the limitations of MS Outlook and Excel/Access as tools for keeping track of business, they will need to focus on some serious software not only for datafile financial systems, but also for customer tracking and enquiry-tracking. I recently spoke to a retailer who was selling CRM software and he told me a story which admittedly was designed to put his product in a good light, but even so is probably true.. He was looking for a specific item and emailed three suppliers whilst browsing the internet. Two of the three did not even acknowledge his email, the third (and successful) supplier whilst in conversation revealed that he used one of the more professional CRM tools such as 'Goldmine' or act 6. This is the tool which enabled him to successfully keep track of incoming enquiries.

One of the most required functions of CRM & financial system nowadays is intergration between packages. For instance ACT is now marketed by 'SAGE' who are most well-known for their accounting software, Goldmine and other CRM's can also be cajoled into interfacing with SAGE through SQL database queries. Some programs are designed to work together or can liaise via a third-party software interface.
Interestingly, Microsoft have also come up with a microsoft crm which of course integrates with MS Office products. There are a host of soultions out there and it is worth sitting down with a retailer who knows a lot about their products. I have seen CRMs come and go in my place of work - we had three in about five years, and the best advice I can give is try and get it right first time by working out exactly what your existing and future requirements are likley to be...then talk to a company that can offer you the perfect solution.

Slow start

2009-06-11T21:26:00.000Z

Last month started at breakneck speed with lots of opps completed in the first week, but opps have been few and far between so far in June, early days admittedly...
Other projects have been more successful and I have another 'keyword' success to report. The success in getting my new site (sorry still a 'hush hush' project) a decent SERP for it's main search term was compounded by another success, this time for my much older Beckham News blog.
I was checking Google analytics for visitor stats by search term and noticed the term 'Beckham News' had sent me some visitors. I googled and sure enough, my blog comes up as fifth position at the moment. I don't know how long I have been ranked for this phrase, but it came as a big surprise to me.. I must be doing something right! I am not sure if I can improve on the SERP thatI am getting for my new project, but if the longevity of my Beckham blog is the reason for my high position, then it could take me about two years to get higher than position six...
This has been a good reminder to keep checking the analytics on sites that you don't expect to perform well just in case Google suddenly decides that you are OK after all..

Keeping active

2009-06-10T13:45:00.004Z

Even though I am some way past what might be considered my physical prime, I do keep fairly active playing sports. I play football (soccer) twice a week with friends and the action is usually fairly frenetic and often reasonably painful.
Despite the negative effects, I am banking on the positive effects outweighing them, although I have to acknowledge that at some point, the balance will be tipped and I will have to pack it in and find something less painful to keep fitness levels up. I am fairly competitive and do not respond to gym-related exercise or jogging/running, I am more interested in team sports or one-on-one sports that help to bring out my competitive nature. My long term plan is to think about taking golf lessons when I am too old for football and though I don't expect to be winning any golf trophies, I think I will be competitive especially if my wife also joins in as she has threatened to do... When we are retired or at least semi-retired, we have this plan to join a golf-club and get some lessons. Whether we will ever get round to it is an entirely different matter.

Weight loss ideas

2009-06-05T21:41:00.000Z

If you want to look your best on the beach this Summer, you may be thinking about starting a new fitness regime popping some diet pills or having some surgery...
Of those choices, I think the one with the most beneficial side effects is the one to go for, and without a doubt the side effects of getting fit are far and away the most desirable.
Fitness breeds self-confidence and gives you a healthy glow and releases natural feel-good chemicals into the brain. Whereas surgery and medication can have some pretty unpleasant unexpected results if proper research is not done beforehand. There is a recklessness which drives us towards 'quick-fix' solutions rather than the hard graft of push ups, bench presses and running hard miles.
If the quick fix is your chosen route, then make sure you get as much information about the process via an independent review of surgeons or a weight loss pills review before you embark on a idealistic solution that may turn out to be less than ideal.

Results for May 2009

2009-06-02T13:06:00.005Z

This month has been a truly puzzling month for me. I had plenty of PU2Blog bonus opps at the start of the month, but they have quickly dried up - when that happens you think you are in for a good month, then nothing comes in for a few weeks and the average earnings start to drop. A few opps have dropped into my lap from other sources and I thought I had some link sales, but nothing came of it. All-in-all a month of expectations more than actual results. On the 'up' side, I enjoyed doing the 'intenet money makers' feature and have been fairly successful in getting a new website ranked for it's main keyword - all I need to do now is sort out how I am going to monetise it...
This new project is hopefully going to be a site that I can set up and leave - I am hoping that a combination of Adsense and eBay affiliate ads will provide enough to justify it's upkeep - If it works out I may well be building several other sites on the same model. The last thing I need is a host of extra sites that need constant updating though...
Earnings for May 2009 have been just over $65 with about $136 being paid into my Paypal account from previous months. The drop in blogging earnings seems set to continue which is why other projects are becoming more important - I hope I have opened up a new stream of revenue, but the monetisation is the key, and it remains to be seen whether I can convert SERP into traffic, and then traffic into revenue.

Money Maker Interviews...Overview..

2009-05-27T13:04:00.000Z

I hope you were able to get something from the Internet Money makers Interview feature that has been running here for the last week or so. There has been three very different interviewees giving some great advice on the different ways that people are using the internet to boost their income.
We started with Rachel who is a real inspiration to those who are looking to make a living whilst looking after youngsters at home. I hesitate to use the term 'Mummy blogger' as that maybe implies an air of happy amateurism. Rachel is not blogging for pin-money, she makes some serious dough through hard work and determination.
Next we saw Greg who is a real live internet entrepreneur in the making - I have always used that expression in a slightly jokey way about Greg, but in a very short time he has shown how vision and bravado can bring you a real income from the internet. Greg is a visionary and has used the tools that he has to carve out some real income - one of his greatest skills is to get people on board who can help him to bring his dreams to reality.
Finally we met Linky Love who always strikes me as an enigma, a mystery you never know quite what Linky is going to get into next, but you do know that it is going to be clever and well-done. Linky very kindly attributes some inspiration to me, but to be fair Linky has ploughed furrows that I would never even have thought of.

Sincere thanks to all three contributers, I may add to this feature but right now, I think these three have given enough ideas to encourage anyone to explore their internet earning potential.

Internet Money Makers #3

2009-05-25T12:54:00.003Z

Name: Linky Love

Main projects: French Swear Words, Linky Love, Asian Dating and new: Make fast money online

Start of Internet earnings: April 2007
Current rate of earnings: Above $400 (above $1000 before the global crisis and before starting my steady day job)

How did you start off your online earning capers: After reading how Jay earned money writing posts, I started linkylove.net. Idea was 'without spending a dime' attract as fast as possible:

a high PageRank
lots of inbound links
lots of unique visitors

Writing for money paid well until Google slapped PageRanks. Meanwhile I had met lots of other online money makers and learned from each of them.

What money making ideas have you tried:

Paid to blog (see Jay's list in his monthly earnings)
Contextual Advertisement (Kontera, Infolinks, Adsense, Bidvertiser, Adbrite, Local Malaysian Advertisers)
Paid in Advance Advertisement (TextLinkAds, Linkworth, Projectwonderful, Scratchback :-)
Affiliate Programs (Paydotcom, DealDotCom, Moreniche, Clickbank, CJ, Shareasale, LinkSynergy, Clixgalore, Friendfinder, VirtuaGirlHD)

The best way to make money for newbies

First read my Trade Secret Tips On SEO That Gurus Do Not Want You To Know.
Then start a blog and put Adsense on it:

a blog doesn't need any advanced planning
adsense is easy to setup, almost everybody can join
adsense contextual ads will show you which of the topics you write about make money: so you learn what to write about in future :-)

Make online friends: 2 know more than 1, 2 can do more than 1
Never invest more than 100$ on Ebooks, unless that's less than 10% of your revenue
Once you buy an Ebook: do what it says. Only when your Ebook didn't make as much money as you paid for it, ask your money back.

See what others are doing: learn, copy and improve their strategy. Personally I like to learn from people like Jay who show both their spending as their earnings.

The best way to make money for 'oldbies':

Plan your next move
Put your eggs in more than one basket
Improve:

climbing the make-money ladder (from Adsense being the lowest, selling ad space, being an affiliate to letting others sell your products)
your level on the ladder (many Adsense earners do make an easy 4 figures $$$$)
your Return On Investment where time is an issue (although I no more make 4 figures online, the time I gain making less I re-use for both a day and a parttime job)

What are you working on next?

Make fast money online where I will re-park all my make money posts from Linky Love
Look for more ways to earn money both offline and online. Online that will be:

try out new possible earnings at linkylove.net
make linkylove.net what people expect from reading its name: a site about love.

Thanks Jay !... for showing your way of making money online.

When you feel we should do any new project together, feel free to contact me...

Thanks Linky for helping me out with this feature and continuing to be both an inspiration and an encourager - I like the way you always come at things from unexpected angles... Jay

dNeero Surveys

2009-05-23T15:24:00.000Z

I have actually been paid out by dNeero surveys this month, I always said I would do a survey for charity once I had been paid... this is it a survey on Memorial Day - in the UK we call it 'Remembrance'...

Internet Money Makers #2

2009-05-21T13:29:00.004Z

Name: Greg Barnaby
Main projects: FreeCashMoneyGifts, SurveyTube, and long term project RewardKingdom

Start of internet earnings: January 2007 I believe was when I decided to put my foot forward.
Current rate of earnings: right now my company Barnaby Media is doing $6k USD a month in revenue.
How did you start off your online earning capers: I first started with Payperpost and other pay per post sites, as well trying with Adsense.
What money making ideas have you tried:
Well Adsense, Paid Posts, Plus now I am a GPT site owner, PayPerLead and Forum owner as well.
What would you say now is the best way to make money online for newbies and for those who have been around a bit? Tough to say. ..if you can refer people to sites then I would say that GPT sites can earn you a bit of money and win prizes. For newbies the fastest way to earn I would say is through GPT sites.. Otherwise making sites with content that would build up over time and earn Adsense one day. Never do the PTC sites. you earn pennies at a time and never worth it.

What are you working on next? I am working on surveytube which will be launched in the next couple of weeks. Once that is done and running I have planned a bigger project... RewardKingdom. That will be a bigger site with a more targeted audience, with hopefully bigger earnings. I wouldn't say I have arrived yet. Still not hit the 10k a month in revenue. 2009 looks to be on pace for a 60k in revenue year - the economy is definitely slowing my growth down. Though I do have plans once the 2 sites are up and running which would eventually become a full time gig if it plans out. Right now it looks like I am in the GetPaidTo field and here to stay for now. The competition is tough like in anything online now that you are trying to make money with.

A highlight of my career so far online is finally getting freecashmoneygifts.com up and running. A low-light was screwing up an auction on sitepoint for MyLOL.net had agreed to Buy it now with seller for 5k but forgot to hit the 'buy-it-now' button instead I just bid.. so hours before we were to finish the deal some b@$tard doubled my bid and the guy screwed me over and sold it to him. Yes I am still bitter about it....

Thanks to Greg for participating in this feature and best wishes with your future projects, you are certainly developing into the entrepreneur that you always threatened to be...

Interview with a money maker #1

2009-05-18T08:24:00.002Z

Name: Rachel Henderson
Main projects: http://www.turnonepoundintoonemillion.com and http://www.losingweightandgettinghealthy.com and http://www.bowbridgepublishing.com and http://waterproofmemoboards.com
Start of internet earnings: January 2003
Current rate of earnings About £1500 ($2500) a month at best
How did you start off your online earning capers: selling books on eBay and my own website
What money making ideas have you tried:
paid forum posting, pay to click, doubling, blogging for money, selling links on my websites, selling links and blogposts for other people, blog post, ebook and short article writing, selling artists prints, publishing books
What would you say now is the best way to make money online for newbies and for those who have been around a bit? If you have some established websites then link sales are easy and quick writing sponsored blog posts is also good but you need to have a high page ranking blog.
What are you working on next? Article writing is bringing in a lot of money at the moment but I am always looking for new ways to make money
Comments : Do not invest too much money in projects, take the advice of others but do not be talked into expensive investments and advertising without thinking it through hard first. The worst investments I made were in advertising and trying to sell things which other people told me there was a market for but there was not.

Thanks Rachel for being so willing to share your experiences, you remain a great example of how a decent online income can be made with a bit of effort and drive.

Internet money makers..

2009-05-16T12:41:00.001Z

Starting on Monday, I am beginning a new feature about making money via the internet. I have contacts with some internet earners who I have watched build up their internet businesses for the last couple of years.
I have asked them a set of questions including the schemes they have tried, how much they are earning and what their current projects and plans are. My idea is to demonstrate how real earnings can be made using the internet if you are prepared to put the work in. Make no mistake, the people who will be featured here have a common trait, they have exceptional work ethics...
What will become clear is that to make good money online, you will need determination and a pioneering spirit. The first post in this feature will be published on Monday (18th May) and followed up with a second post on Thursday (21st) - make sure you read the posts to get an insight into how some regular folk have built up the sort of earnings that would justify leaving the rat-race and working for yourself at home.

New Ideas...

2009-05-13T12:16:00.003Z

In the world of internet earnings, one often discovers that something works well for a season and then over time, becomes less effective - such is the nature of the internet as the only true democracy...
New ideas are the life-force of an internet venture, and if you don't have them, you may as well give up now. I do get the occasional idea, however seeing them through to fruition is a whole different matter - I am stuck into a new project at the moment, but am finding it difficult to give it the attention it requires. On the other hand, the 'old' online money making ideas are making less than they used to so some fresh impetus is required.
I am forming another idea about how to open up some new possibilities for munny4hunny, so watch this space...

I am not a big fan of tattoos..

2009-05-11T07:36:00.002Z

The latest survey from dNeero is all about tattoos, and whether you think they are attractive. Personally I think that it is rare that a tattoo looks nice, and will never have one of my own. Sadly I believe that tattoos are largely a fashion item, and unless you want to be wearing the same fashion when you are seventy years old - I wouldn't recommend having one...
On the other hand henna tattoos can look attractive and can easily be removed (not that I plan to have any of those either).

Equestrian equipment

2009-05-09T23:45:00.000Z

I found the perfect site for a friend of mine, her husband has a penchant for riding breeches, and I must say the aforementioned clothing does look becoming on a shapely posterior... (I should say that he likes to observe than rather than wear them).
Horse-riding is of course popular all around the world, and the hobby requires a range of specialist equipment, not least a safety helmet. Most learners will rely on a stable or club to provide equipment, acquiring the proper kit as the interest deepens. We have a riding school surprisingly nearby even though I live in a busy city - if it's not too expensive, I would like to take my little one to try it out when she's old enough.