Squidoo! Not the Final Post yet!

I didn't post a new entry before now, simply because I was waiting for at least one comment. But seeing people visit the blog but don't comment, and considering it would get stale, I decided to post again. You could comment, though.

Last time, I covered Squidoo.com. Today, I'll round up my review on Squidoo, taking into account how you earn money with it. Because, that's what it's all about, right?

There are 2 ways to earn money: you either rank well enough in Squidoo's rankings or you sell through Squidoo. As I'm not feeling really well right now, I just figured I'd leave a few links for you to check, and I'll examine them more indepth tomorrow. Promise!

How to Do Squidoo
I'm a Lensmaster, now What?

These lenses are some sort of "encyclopedia's", with links to other lenses. Just follow the links of anything you find worth checking!

And, on the original topic of this post, check this one out!

Payrank How Squidoo calculates earnings.

My Squidooing experience, Part 2

Last time, I showed that Squidoo lenses are much like a normal blog, in that you have to build traffic and make sure the content is appealing to the audience. I think that, after about 2 weeks of investigation, I finally managed to do this: My lens is both getting SOME traffic AND is appealing to the audience.

How do I know? Well, after 2 weeks of it's creation, it is ranking around 3500 on Squidoo's OVERALL ranking. That's pretty good, don't you think? Here, check out my PTC lens!

I am no money making guru, just an average guy like you that likes to make money online. As such, I hate when I am scammed, or when I simply can't get the surreal results these "gurus" promise. And, my blog is based on this, so I won't lie to you, I still have earned no money with Squidoo.

However, take into account that I have joined the site 2 weeks ago.

Getting Traffic

Last time, I went into plenty of detail on how to make your lens appealing to the audience (that's what I hope! If you think you still need more information, leave a comment, and I'll be sure to answer!) So, now, lets focus on how to get traffic!

First and foremost remember this, the key to succeeding: with the Web 2.0, social networking is king. That means you will earn a lot more traffic and most importantly, quality traffic, by being kind to people. If someone comments on your blog or lens, you could spend a few minutes and comment back. Use the Squidoo forums to make people notice your lens!

Speaking of which, you can do a lot of interesting stuff with the forums to get more traffic; for instance, post your lens in the Critique me forum. It's a foolproof way of getting traffic, I can tell you.

On a personal note, I had just edited my lens from a not-so-good one to something I feel proud of. I posted it on the forums to check if I was lacking something, and got 13 visits within the following 2 days! Not bad...

Have fun submitting your lens to lens directories!

Yeah. They exist. The lens directories are real, pretty much like blogs directories. And they are there to help you, if you can get the best out of them! To name a few, we have Lensroll; Isle of Squid.

Don't forget to StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, Digg, and add to any forums or whatelse you find on the internet! Don't forget to explore, it will get you far.

Tomorrow, check out my blog again to read about the roundup on Squidoo, and maybe something extra I could possibly add!

My Squidooing Experience

Hi, I'm online, and this time, I'd like to tell you all about my Squidooing experiences so far. When I joined about one week ago, I was planning to just post a lens to promote my blog (yes, I admit it) and leave. Luckily, I realized that would be a mistake on time!

First, Squidoo is a way to earn money and promote your website (or blog, in my case), as I stated in my last article on why to join Squidoo. However, there's a lot more it can offer! You get loads of information, mainly if you are new to making money online...Or you could just relax a bit and read about Britney Spear's whereabouts!

The information I collected helped me in 2 ways:

1) I learned (and actually am learning, since as I write this I'm surfing Squidoo) how to build a better lens. Mainly, it's just like having a blog, but you also have to take into account which modules you want to include, how you arrange them to make your lens more appealing, etc. More on this later

2) I found out a lot of interesting sites where I can submit my lens (and blog) to get more traffic!

The key here is looking up information; because if you search, you will eventually find something valuable. And I can assure that with Squidoo, it'll be rather soon. Investigate: look for advise from experts on lensmaking, or where to post your lens to get it noticed... I'm sure you'll find out something (and you could leave a comment here with a link to it (; )

How can I make my lens more interesting?

First, you should have, as if it were a blog or website, something interesting to tell people about. This is extremely easy, since no matter what you are writing about, there will be someone out there ready to read about it. Even if you write about how much your socks smell (well, that was disgusting, but hey, you get the point!).

So, you have a topic you are ready to write about. Now, you have to actually get down to doing it! Remember to involve the reader, make it appealing to him, and in order to accomplish this, remember: pictures are your best friend. No matter how good your lens is, not seeing any pictures will turn most people off (just don't include a picture of your socks, please!).

Play with modules, experiment different combinations and see what works best for you. Remember, no one is born knowing, you have to fail before succeeding, unless you are a genius (but you most probably aren't).

On a site like this, if you don't show who you are, you are literally dead. So edit your profile, upload a photo or avatar, you know, don't act as if you were superior, because you aren't! Regarding this, if there's no means of communication between the writer and the readers, they won't like your lens. So, try to include a few "interactive" modules, like the "Duel" one, or the "plexo" modules.

On a last note, make sure to include an index! That way, people know what the lens includes before actually looking at it. Remember, if you read a web page, you most probably look for interesting titles before deciding to actually "read" it. So, why not make this easier by putting the titles right at the top?

Getting your lens noticed

Go search places to submit your lens, join groups related to your lense's topic, leave comments linking to your lens (don't spam though, people hate it and your comment will most probably be deleted), post it in forums, leave a link to it in your signature, everywhere!


That's it for today, please check back tomorrow, when I'll continue my analysis on Squidoo!

Make Money using Squidoo

Hi, today I want to discuss this wonderful site called Squidoo. I mentioned it yesterday, but didn't go into much detail about it. It has many pros, but what I consider the best one is the fact that you can actually promote your blog and earn money at the same time! So, what is Squidoo?

Welcome to lens-making!

First off, Squidoo.com is a site where you can write lenses (some sort of articles where you can add a lot of additional features to make them more appealing to the public) and get paid for it. Not good enough? Well, let me tell you this, then. You can also promote your site! And, if you like giving stuff to charity, you can.

The site offers the possibility of giving out all the money you earn for charity, giving just a small percentage or just keeping it all. And even if you choose to keep all the money, you are still helping, since squidoo.com distributes it´s earnings the following way: 50% for you, the lens maker, 45% for the site and 5% for charity. So don´t feel bad for keeping your money!

Now, where does that money come from? Squidoo.com places ads in your lenses, and you get paid per click. They also make an income from affiliate programs, like amazon.com.

Your lenses are ranked in two different ways: the overall ranking, and the ranking corresponding to your lense's particular category. If your lens has a very low ranking, it is considered to be WiP (Work in Progress) and isn't displayed in the search results within the site. However, don´t panic! It´s rather easy to get found on Squidoo.com, and I´ll show you proof: My first lens.

My own experience

My lens was created on May, the 19th and was ranked 600,000+ (1 being the best, 1,000,000 being the worst); the following day it ranked 300,000+; after that 67,000; yesterday 32,000 and finally today, 27,968 quite good, right? On top of that, it ranks 944 on my specific category and shows up on the first page when looking for the keywords "PTC sites".

All of this without having the most minimum idea of how Squidoo.com worked. My lens was considered "WiP" for the first 2 days, but after editing it a bit, I managed to get it "indexed" by Squidoo. And I linked to here from my lens, too! So that´s one backlink more, and Squidoo has a PR (Google´s Page Rank) of 5, so that´s a really valuable link to have! My blog got indexed by Google this way, even though that is not enough, since I´m still on Google´s bottom pages.

Until now, I have received 5 people on my lens, but Im positive that will increase in next few days! Just remember to apply everything I've taught you until now on blogging ( what isn´t much, but it´s something to start off with) and don´t go mad if your lens isn't published the first day! Take into account that Squidoo has a delay to update your lense's information, so your rank gets updated once a day, not real-time. Be patient!

How to get your lens noticed faster!

First off, tell your friends, family, etc. Post it in forums, directories and just about anywhere you know of! MySpace, MyLot, your personal blog, anywhere! There are 2 keys to this: be patient and persevere.

Actually, there are some good places to get started, as Squidoo itself recommends: del.icio.us and StumbleUpon. Just register and download the malware-free add-ons they offer, to make it easier for you: with this, you can get your lens AND blog noticed easier. You may realize you get to promote both at the same time, and link from one to the other to improve your traffic on both of them!

Well, I guess that is enough for today´s review. Make sure to join these sites and start building traffic!

Make Money Blogging (Part 2)

Welcome to the second part of this "How to Make Money Blogging" column! If you just joined us today, here is the first part. Make sure to read it before coming back to read this. First, I want to clear up some key points.

Making money blogging is not "I put up some random stuff on my blog and earn money", you have to put a lot of effort into it to make some money, and even so you may not end up making as much as you would like to. So please, if you want to make "easy money", make me a favor and leave. Now!

So, only those of you who are serious about making money are left. Good. Why do I tell you won´t be making money easily? I mean, that alone (being much-less-than-optimistic) should be enough to scare most people away, so why do it if I want traffic, as I have been trying to teach all of you who are left?
Simply enough, this blog is a serious one, and if I want to be serious, I must tell you both the advantages and disadvantages of the stuff I show you, and let you decide. I could easily earn more money by telling you this is a fool proof way to make money, right? But I chose trustworthiness over money. It´s ethic.

Anyway, one last point to clear up. There are some sites online that offer a "fool proof" way to make money blogging. They show you the proof of payment, and they seem really trustworthy. And I'm not telling you they are lying. That would be lying. However, they don´t show you how much they expend to make that much money in a day. Lets see, Say I earn 500 dollars a day, and expend 450 to earn that. The real earnings would be 50 dollars a day. However, they never show you the 450 they expend, just the 500 they earn.


Back on the original topic, last time I told you how to set up a blog and told you to make a first post on it following some specific "clues". Today´s article aims to explain why I told you to do this.

Why is it so important to get indexed by Google?

Simply enough, you don´t want to pay for traffic, right? So, the best option left to you is getting indexed by Google and other main search engines. And, not only that, but you also have to reach the first, second or third page in Google´s results. No one ever reads beyond that point, so being indexed, but showing up in Google´s 100+ page is just as good as not being indexed.

First, let me show you how to know if you are indexed. go to Google´s main site and type your blog´s main URL. Simple as that. If nothing shows up, you aren´t indexed.

Now, why follow my instructions for the first post I told you to make? Mainly, because you want to make sure Google indexes you under the right category. If you are making a blog on cars, but you mention, for instance, pens too much, then Google may index you to appear when people search for pens, and that isn´t what you want.

Anyway, if you followed my instructions, when Google reaches your site it will have no problem figuring out your blog´s topic. However, you still have to make Google actually find it. So, how do we do that? Read on...

Keys to getting your site recognized by Google

Google regularly "crawls" popular sites to find new, smaller sites by following links leading to them. So, simply put, go to a site like GoArticles.com or Squidoo.com and put up a quality article on them.

Why quality? Can´t I just copy and paste something and link to my site? You could, but I wouldn´t recommend it. Google hates copy-paste like hell. If he finds your blog has duplicate content, you will never get indexed. Do as you please, however. So, just go into those sites (one is enough, but if you go to the 2 or find more by yourself, better for you. And more difficult, also) and make an article with interesting info on your chosen topic. Then link to your blog.

Linking to your blog is obviously the key to being found. So, how do I do that? Fist, you need to know how to make a link to some page:

<.a href="(URL of your blog)">(what you want people to read)<./a>

That is the code for putting a link. Just copy and paste it, replace with your info and remove the dots at the beginning and end. They are just there to make it readable, if they weren´t there it would look like this: what you want people to read. Now, some tips.

When posting your articles in any site, avoid duplicate content. Always. Also, make sure to include your link both at the beginning and ending of your article. If you did this right, in a few days your blog will be indexed by Google! That´s step one accomplished. And remember, the more work you put into your blog, the faster you will start making money.

I guess that´s enough for today... Meet you all tomorrow, on my next post about how to make money online!

Why not all PTC sites are scams

First, let me tell you that I couldn´t post anything yesterday due to some personall issues. That out of the way, today I decided to dedicate today´s post to something I consider really important, that is, stating why I know why PTC sites can pay, as opposed to what some people say. Be sure to read! (And by the way, I´m not addicted to PTC sites, it´s just the first impression)

Now, back on the original topic of the post. People who can´t make money through PTC sites often call them scams. However, there is a huge difference between a scam site and someone who calls a trustworthy site a scam, thus reducing the site´s trustworthyness.

So, there are some people out there who call every PTC site a scam, simply because they "consider" the very scheme of these sites is economically unsustentable, and thus deduce that they are all scams. They are wrong, and I´ll tell all of you who care to read why they are wrong.


What "they" see

"They" obviously refers to the non-believers, those who call PTC a whole-grand-super-duper-scam! Now, this is what they see:

How these sites make money:

- Advertisers pay these sites to put up their ads, and pay them an average of 2 cents per view.
- Some sites offer referral packages, which are worth about 1 dollar each referral.
- Some sites offer premium membership, with a varying price, which enables members to earn more per click (usually from 1 cent to 1,25 cent - 0,25 cents more per view. 25% more earnings).

How they expend it:

- The sites pay 1 cent per view (average) to each member. Additionally, they pay members 1 cent per referral´s view. Total, they are paying a total of 2 cents average per ad, considering everyone has a referrer.
- Moreover, if the site offers a premium membership, they will end up paying an average of 2,5 cents per ad to every premium member. This puts them on the negative side, meaning they start losing money after the member earns back what he paid for the membership.


What "they" don´t see

How they don´t expent it:

A pretty confusing title, I guess, but it expresses exactly what I mean. There is one little word called "dessertion" (I guess it´s spelled like that), that these intelligent guys dont take into account.

Virtually, the money you earn from click is yours, but it actually is in the company´s hands until you request it. So, if you never request payment, your money is the company´s money. Get it? The profit these people failed to see is exactly this: the money the company earns both through people that never reach payment.

From my point of view, this alone is enough to convince me that these sites are no scam. Don´t get so confident though, as there ARE scam sites. I already reviewed the topic here, even though I recognize not with the deepness it deserves.



So, I guess this is enough to prove my point. See you tomorrow, when I will continue my lessons on "make money blogging".

How to make money blogging (Part 1): Setting up your blog

Ever thought you could make money by blogging? If you did, you were right! Even though it takes some time, you can get started today and earn money blogging.


So, tell me how to get started!

First things first, you need to understand how to make money blogging.

Take into account you will need a specific topic for your blog, simply because you want traffic (people checking your site), so that they click on ads you placed on your blog and companies pay you! And the best way to get free traffic is being recognized by Google (or other search engines, as a matter of fact) as a relevant site for your keywords.

As an example, if I want to make money through blogging:

* Bad example: I make a blog about everything I find interesting; like cars, sports and computers. I will never be recognized by Google as a good, reliable source of information.


* Good example: Following the past example, a good way to make money would be making 3 blogs: one about each topic I´m into. That way, I have a better chance of being recognized by Google, and getting free traffic.

After all you´ve read, you should already know that you need to think of a good blog topic. If you still haven't, I´ll wait for you... Now, before making your blog, make sure the name you choose for it expresses exactly what your blog is about. That will make it easier for search engines to recognize your site´s main topic, thus making it easier for you to get traffic.

One last warning before you get down to creating your blog: You will make money off any blog you create, but if your blog is about something you really like, you will make more money from it. Simply put, you will make a bigger effort for a blog you are into, than for one you are only expecting to earn money from.

Now that you know this basic stuff, go to Blogger and get your account set up. Create your blog and make a first post on it, carefully following these instructions:

1. Make sure to start your post with a phrase that contains your keyword (s)
2. Make sure to include your keyword (s) and other related words a few times in your post, which should not be very long.
3. Make sure to finish your post with a phrase related to your chosen keywords.
4. Before posting, check the top. You will see that it lets you introduce a title, which should be related to your keywords.



That´s it for today, with these simple tips your blog will be set up quickly and effectively. Tomorrow I will continue telling you how to get you blog indexed by Google and how to start getting traffic. In a matter of days you will start getting traffic.

Check back tomorrow for more tips on making money online by blogging!

Online money making: Of Bux and other PTC sites

Hi, its me again! First of all, let me tell everyone who cares to read this blog that this is by no means a blog dedicated to "making a living off the internet". You wont make a lot of money, just enough to help with your home economy. So, if you were expecting a "get rich fast by sitting at home" blog, I'm sorry to disappoint you.


Bux: the best PTC opportunity:


Now that things are clear, lets get down to business, shall we? Yesterday, I showed newcomers what a PTC site is, and put Bux as the perfect example. Why? Well, firstly, people are really happy they are being paid, and that´s exactly what you want anyway right? Bux also lets you buy referrals, as I said yesterday, for about 1 dollar and pays you 1,25 cents if you pay for premium membership.

However, not everything is great, and I would be lying to you if I didn´t also tell Bux´s downsides, which is only one in my opinion: Bux pays, but they are so overflowed with work that payments take some time to arrive at your Alertpay´s account.


Bux´s pros and cons:

Pros:

• Pays 1 cent per add, or 1,25 cents if you are premium.
• Has around 15 daily ads for normal users and around 50 for premium.
• Lets you buy referrals.

Cons:

• Very slow payment.
  

All in all, Bux is a very reliable site, but it´ll take some time to get your money.


Other PTC sites:


So, you read about Bux and really didn´t like it? Its fine with me, after all, this blog is about different choices when it comes to making money online. The following list includes only PTC sites that are proven to pay: Clixsense, AdverBux, AdverCash, Xclix, TitanClicks, PaidClicks, 10Bux.net, and TurboBux. Most of these have not been tried personally, but they are proven to pay.

Some things to take into account when joining these sites. Always check the method of payment, minimum payout and most importantly, if people from you country are allowed. In PTC sites, there usually isn't any problem regarding your country, but some other sites only allow people from certain countries. So, just make sure.


Identifying scam PTC sites:


First off, what is a scam site? It is a site that tries to earn money by not paying you. Not clear enough? Lets say I decide to make a scam site. I will first set it up so that it seems a reliable site, and then start attracting people to it. People will start clicking on ads (if we take PTC scams) and I will start earning money. Then, I am supposed to give people some of that money, because, after all, they are the ones working.

But what if I decide to keep the money? That´s called a scam. So, how to identify PTC scam sites? There are some pretty obvious symptoms of scam sites:

• Have you ever heard the phrase "too good to be true"? Well, you shouldn't be surprised to hear it applies here. Simply put, if some site says it will pay you a ridiculously high amount of money (Personally, Ive seen site which offered up to 1 dollar per add. Pretty suspicious...) for something as easy as doing a few clicks, it most probably is a scam.
• 
  
• Be really careful with this point. I mean it, this does not always apply, but is a good reason to make you suspect. If a site does not have a forum, there is a possibility that it is a scam.
• 
  
• If the site has no recent news, it most probably is a scam. On a site with no recent news, how can you know it is not inactive?
  

That´s it for today, and please check back tomorrow for more info on making money online!

Online money making: Introduction of this blog

Hi everyone! Im a newcomer to making money online, and in this blog I expect to share my experiences with all of you out there who want to make money too. I will list some sites I find useful, but not right now. Rather than that, I will start off by listing different ways to make money online, so as to allow newcomers to understand something.

There are many ways of making money online, and today Ill cover:

PTC (paid to click): this kind of sites dont pay a lot if you intend to work on your own, but they real potential is revealed when you make other people join the site!
In these sites, you make money by clicking on adds and watching them for about 30 seconds. Pretty easy, right? Well, it IS easy, but they will only pay you about 1 cent per add you see, and you get to see about 10-15 adds per day. Thats about 15 cents a day, what equals 4,50 dollars a month... not really impressing.
So, why bother? Well... you can make a lot of money through these sites by referring other people to them. When they join, you will start earning not only for your clicks, but for your referral´s clicks too!
A great example of sites like these is Bux. It is a very reliable site, and offers referral packages for about 1 dollar each referral.




Check back tomorrow to see more ways of earning money on the internet! More specifically, I will list some good PTC sites, and some scam PTC sites.