by Goozik Sun 17 May 2009, 10:31 pm
Adding this not as a brag or advertisement. But simply to explain how/what else I do (and have done) online to round out my income and avoid working a real job. But I have included how much I approx made from each type for reference for others. There are no referral links here or websites included, other then when necessary to explain.
Poker is the main source of my income right now, but as many of us know. The variance can leave you short on some months. Plus other steams of income are always good.
When I found poker online etc is skipped in this blog.
Starting when I was 18 and got my first own personal computer, I learned you could make money with lil or no investment other then time,skill, and knowledge.
I first started at the very bottom with Paid to Click sites. Trouble was to many of them turned out to be scams and those that aren't, did not offer much income unless you spent countless hours doing it all day,every day and even then, it was moderate at best. But it was a way to earn money w/out a investment.
Approx amount made:$15
I then tried Auto-Surfs, problem was they required a investment of some sort and eventually most sites shut down w/out paying out or were scams.
Approx amount lost:$15
Early in those days I saw the need for referrals and a personal website to gain them. So I created one that I still run today with "Freewebs". Great free way to create,operate and update a low traffic site btw.
Now seeing as how some sites offer referral rewards of some sort and some don't. I realized any site I am gonna join, I should probably try to find someone looking to get referrals in that site and see if I can negotiate a referral swap of some sort. This has worked more often then not, and I have pretty much always asked for them to join the same site under me so I can concentrate them all into one site that requires little work on my end and so the rewards add up. Which is still true to this day.
Approx referral rewards from ALL sites:$500
I've also joined a few "Get Paid to" sites, that offer a referral reward that is a percent they get from me joining threw their site. This is generally only used on sites that don't offer traditional referral rewards to it's basic members. These sites tend to also offer cash back deals on other things for using their links, I.E cash back shopping. and gaming.
Approx amount made:$500
Shortly after getting scammed out of the few dollars I made from Paid to click sites by the auto-surfs, I pretty much gave up finding new ways to make money online and just started playing games online for fun.
Well in the course of gaming online, I got introduced to Everquest (The largest MMORPG before World of Warcraft came out). I quickly became addicted to this game and ended up spending nearly every hour outside of my day job on this game. After about 4-5mths of 40-50hrs a week playing I reached the top levels of the game and started getting a little bored. At which time I found out people would buy in game items and in game currency for real dollars. I had a new addiction, instead of XPing and exploring I now focused on making currency to sell for money. I quickly became one of the biggest sellers of currency on my server and was making triple digits every month for about a year straight. The game took about 18mths of my life. When World of Warcraft came out the demand went down, I sold my account and now refuse to play any large MMORPG like that ever again.
Approx amount made:$3,000ish
I needed a new hobby/money maker.
I found Skill Gaming. Playing Arcade like games online for money. What a great way to have fun, use my new found clicky and mouse skills and make money. Because it's based on skill it was really easy to practice and dominate the lower rankings of the sites and make a few hundred here and there when I found a new site with games I was good in, since most sites have similar games to each other.
Approx amount made:$1,000 and counting
Well playing any game as we all know can become boring and tiresome no matter how much you make or lose or just for fun.
I started looking into other ways to make money online again since I had grown accustomed to getting money online outside of the day job.
I found sites and a few forums that pay for your written knowledge, like answering questions, blogging, and writing about certain topics I'm knowledgeable about where I get paid for ads on the page and stuff like that.
Approx amount made: $100 and counting
I found surveys hit and miss money makers around the same time I was investigating sites that pay for your written knowledge.
Many survey sites have "hidden" info for a reason. Many have nearly un-attainable cash out minimum's due to lack of payment per survey or lack of surveys in general.
Many allow users from all locations but only send out surveys that want responses from people in very specific locations.
Many don't pay cash but instead with sweepstakes or prizes that are not nearly worth the time/effort. While some only pay threw check in the mail or certain payment processors making getting your money difficult.
Now don't get me wrong, I've been paid from survey sites and personally won some sweepstakes threw them, as well as received prizes. I'm just saying that research is needed into each site before joining to find out if it's worth your time.
Approx amount made:$300, and another $100ish in prizes and counting
Paid to search, there are a few search engines that will pay you in some form for using their search engine. Some offer sweep stake entry's, others give points for prizes, some pay very small cash amount per search. But most limit the number of searches you can get credit for per day.
Amount made:$10 in prizes
Well I tried to keep this so a summary of things with out listing all the pros and cons to everything I've done, but listing a few of the major ones for them.
Hope it gave you a new insight into a possible way to make money, or avoid trying some things.
If you really need websites that I currently recommend you can find them all on my website.
If you have any questions about anything, you can feel free to contact me threw IM or PM.
