Entries Tagged 'general' ↓
June 10th, 2007 — general
5 Web Distractions that may prevent you from getting your online work done. However, these very five distractions can improve your productivity if used well. That’s their main purpose to increase productivity but addiction to these online distractions can lead to the opposite effect.
Shai Coggins wrote an interesting piece on how to Make Money Online with Lulu. No it’s not a girl with a sweet name, it’s a self-publishing online service. E-books, tutorials and software developers might want to take a look at this service.
Take a peek at the workflow of a traveling mom that gets paid to blog by Melissa Petri, a prolific travel blogger. It’s always fun to know how one who’s doing a coveted job spends her day. I’m now psyched to write about my own workflow!
May 24th, 2007 — general, online tools
How much is your time worth? The never-ending question personal finance experts AND freelancers keep on trying to answer. Now how about using a calculator to determine how much your time is worth really.
FreelanceSwitch have developed a fun calculator that aims to guide freelancers on coming up with a good estimate of their hourly rate. This calculator depends on the expenses, number of billable hours, and desired profit of a freelancer.
Here is the FreelanceSwitch Hourly Rate Calculator.
I tried it and guess what’s my ideal hourly rate? $28.13!
Tell me yours? 
Tags: freelance hourly rate, calculate hourly rate
May 23rd, 2007 — general
If you want to make the most out of the blogosphere and earn the most participative readers, you might want to take a look at the list of 15 Must-Read Blogs for Blog Writers from FreelanceSwitch.
The list includes the following blogs which I, myself, have in my Bloglines already.
1. FreelanceSwitch - of course!
2. Lifehacker - productivity tips collected by Gina Trapani, et al.
3. Web Worker Daily - hacks and tips galore for remote workers.
4. Get Rich Slowly - a personal finance blog with well-written tips on what else but money matters.
5. Simple Dollar - straightforward tips on personal finance, too.
Check out the other 10 straight from FreelanceSwitch.
May 12th, 2007 — general, get paid tos, blog promotion
If you are looking for another blog that’s featuring a wide variety of methods to earn using a computer and the Internet, PCMoneyMaker is another great source.
It points to a number of sites paying contributors to submit content, sites that shares revenue to its users, get paid to play opportunities, and more.
Thanks to PCMoneyMaker, I got reminded about Amazon Mechanical Turk, which pays people to do tasks that computers can’t carry out.
May 1st, 2007 — general
7. Pets.com
I think everyone remembers the stupid talking sock puppet that Pets.com foisted on the world in a million dollar Super Bowl ad (and as a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade), but the puppet wasn’t enough to save the company from shipping costs on 40 pound bags of dog food. Pets.com blew through $85 million in just nine months, which is pretty damn impressive.
6. eToys.com
In 1999 it seemed like every site had the letter e in front of it, which I never really understood. It actually seems like a strategy for someone who doesn’t have the money to purchase the proper domain name for their company (which in this case would have been toys.com), but that wasn’t a problem for eToys. They raised $166 million in a May, 1999 IPO which you’d think would have been plenty of money to buy a real domain. That means the geniuses behind this site actually preferred the e, which probably helps to explain why their stock was trading at nine cents a share just two years after that IPO.
5. Go.com
It’s tough to understand how a website backed by Disney could fail so badly, especially when it included ESPN, but Disney was never able to make up the millions it spent on promotion. Weird restrictions on content (had to be family friendly to please the Mouse I guess) didn’t help, and Disney ended up writing off almost $800 million in losses.
4. Flooz.com
One of the stupidest names of the dot bom era, flooz wanted to become the currency of the internet. It’s really hard to figure out why anyone would want to use virtual currency as opposed to just whipping out the credit card, but flooz.com wasn’t even the only company pushing the idea. I’m sure many will also remember Beenz.com, which was basically the same thing. PayPal destroyed both of them, by, you know, actually letting people use cash money.
3. Kozmo.com
I can’t hate too much on this idea, but kozmo.com still lost so much money that it has to be on this list. Kozmo promised to deliver absolutely anything to your doorstep, from gum to groceries to DVD’s, but the margins just weren’t high enough to make the deal successful. They eventually expanded to seven cities, and had 1,100 employees at their peak. Kozmo ran through $280 million, but couldn’t ever make the idea work.
2. Webvan
Similar to Kozmo, Webvan wasn’t a bad idea, but it simply grew too huge too fast. Delivering groceries via an online order seems like it would be handy, but it’s tough to imagine many people (beyond the elderly and … shut ins?) using the service. Grocery stores operate on thin margins as it is, and when you add in massive infrastructure and labor costs you’re just not going to be successful. Plus I think many people actually like going to the grocery. I only go a couple of times a month, and I can’t say I really mind.
1. Digg.com
Digg was going to revolutionize the way news was presented to people, and pretty much singlehandedly created the niche of “social news”. They attracted a tech crowd who hated things like DRM, the RIAA, and the MPAA, and then completely and utterly sold out to the MPAA, removing submissions that contained an HD-DVD decryption code after the MPAA leaned on them. The sky was the limit for Digg, but no site can survive that pisses all over it’s most faithful users.
April 17th, 2007 — general, online money makers
In almost all things that men can do nowadays, women could as well, even better. Making money online is now one of them. The site founded by Ponn M. Sabra, EmpowerWomenNow.com’s, tells on how women could make money online and tips on how she could make things happen as she starts her online business.
- Free Special eReport entitled, “Make Money Online - How You Can Too! ~ A Woman Entrepreneur’s Top 10 Things To Do to Assure Money in Your Pocket ~ (Even if you’re offline for one-year)”.
- Free sample of Ponn Sabra’s best-selling “Empowering Women to Power Network”’s most popular chapter: The Empowerment Equation for Success.
- Free Women Entrepreneurs’ Link Exchange Directory.
For women who want to start up their own online business, this is something to look into.
Read full press release.
March 16th, 2007 — general
If you are looking for a make money online magazine, PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success has published its second e-business issue. This Canadian business magazine featured some of the most useful online tools that one with an entrepreneurial spirit would definitely have a great time using such as Skype and Google products and many of the Web 2.0 online services sites, which are generally websites that offer content that is user-generated.
PROFIT March 2007 issue also gave more information about new online business phenomena such as crowdsourcing, a term for making a large group of people do the job usually in the form of an open call over the Internet in stead of a designated employee.
You might want to grab your copy now if these business terms excite you.
via Canadian Business
March 2nd, 2007 — general
1. Internet marketing is darn easy.
If you are an expert in lead generation, opt-in lists, and distinguishing profitable products to market with the help of the Internet, then, probably, yes, Internet marketing can be easy. But unfortunately, not many people are that much of an expert in Internet marketing. So, whoever says that Internet marketing is a piece of cake, all hail thee! However, even if Internet marketing can’t be breezed through, it definitely is doable just like any task that a person puts his heart and mind to.
2. You’ll never earn from Internet marketing if you don’t invest a big amount of money.
No way Jose! Sure, there maybe a host of Internet marketing programs that are profitable if you invest some moolah. But there are definitely some Internet marketing methods that can make you earn a decent amount of dough even if you don’t invest a dime, except for the Internet service provider and electricity fee, of course.
3. Internet marketing is nothing but just a big rotten scam.
Internet marketing scams are innumerable. But you can lose count of all the really good profitable Internet marketing methods and programs out there. What you need is to improve that eagle eye on spotting which will actually make you go broke and which will help you not just put food on the table but also afford other luxuries.
This is to just say that Internet marketing is not all lie. But it doesn’t mean that you have to be gullible and say amen to any con-Internet marketers who are only planning to take advantage of your ignorance. Learn more to make Internet marketing a truly rewarding venture for you.
[image from Flickr uploaded by ink_river]
February 28th, 2007 — general
Making money with the use of the Internet is such a lazyass way of earning money.
Ever heard of this statement from your Internet-illiterate friends who might have become your enemies right after they kept on telling you that?
People who diss people who make money online or who believe that money can be made through the Internet are either too scared of the Internet technology or are too skeptic of almost anything that they unknowingly let go of some precious opportunities in their lives. Or, ok, their only idea of working is sweating it out like slave. Really, if you’re one of those people, you might opt to stop wandering the realms of this blog. But you have to give it a chance, you will never know what wondrous thing you’d ever discover if you give things a chance.
Contrary to the concept that making money online is only for the lazy, this way of earning is actually one for the workaholics. Those with workaholic minds, that is. Why? You can’t profit off the Internet if you despise being creative and making your brain do some acrobats. So aside from being creative, open-minded but no to the point of being gullible, what skills do you need to acquire that will make your money-making via the Internet endeavor a success?
1. Computer and Internet Skills
It’s the most obvious skill. How will you ever hear those cha-chings if you don’t even know how to use the cash register, er, computer? This is one of the most workable requirements, too. Computer schools abound. You can even just buy a book and do self-study to get those fat fingers slimmer. Now I know you won’t even miraculously get to this blog if you don’t know how to use a computer and the Internet. But maybe you have some friends that you want to get enlightened. Here are some helpful sites on getting a grip of the Computer and Internet technology:
2. Typing Skills
Many may know how to use the computer and Internet but can type like they only have one finger on each hand. If you want to hasten or better your chances in grabbing that opportunity that can either give you a steady flow of income of just some source of extra dough, you will need to brush up on your typing skills. Transcribing or typing various types of audio records is one online gig that will make use of this skill greatly. Here are some sources of typing lessons if you want to start getting jiggy with your keyboard:
It would be more fun if you learn through typing games. So, go ahead check out which of the typing games thrill you most and start making those fingers work for you.
3. Writing Skills
Even if you are not a professional writer, if you are always articulate enough and it shows in your writing, you can find a host of online money making opportunities. Copywriting, blogging on your own or paid blogging for blog networks and writing web content for website owners. You might want to try some basic writing lessons from About.com.
4. Research Skills
Together with writing skills, a person’s research prowess can land him or her real work opportunities such as those mentioned under the writing skills and other profitable research job opportunities that can be found online such as working as a guide or an answer-provider for various online services that offer paid researched answers to those post questions. Taking note of reliable online resources and making them easy to access can make it easy for someone to improve on this skill.
5. Customer Service Skills
This communication skill will be very beneficial to those who prefer customer-service-based online opportunities. Large and small business owners who provide online customer service are getting more and more comfy with the idea of hiring customer service representatives who can work through taking client calls through VoIP technology or even through live chats. With the boom of the call center industry, call center training schools are now starting to mushroom almost anywhere. Take advantage of this trend. It’s one of the most in-demand skills nowadays.
6. Programming Skills
Programming is one in-demand skill that you can benefit from if you want to work either as a contract programmer or you want to build an online business offering programming services. Mostly, people who can do programming are good in website development. Web development or designing is another online opportunity that is gaining more and more popularity nowadays. If you can understand this CSS cheat sheet, congratulations!
7. Photography Skills
Expertise in photography combined with the use of different software that can enhance images such as Photoshop will get you jobs like creating headers for websites and other related stints. Stock photography is also another viable online opportunity since many companies are now paying stock photography services for their image needs.
8. Marketing Skills
After you have satisfied your first few clients and making sure that there’s this one online money making opportunity that you have become an expert in, you can enjoy more success if you have your marketing skills spiffed up so you sell your services.
Maximize the benefits of the Internet and learn Internet marketing. Although it’s starting to get over-hyped, it would be wise to learn the ropes of Internet marketing to improve your chances of getting more customers or clients if you choose to offer services or products online and know all your online money making options.
Combining many of these skills will make it a lot easier for you to get more fun online jobs such as working as a virtual assistant, which can become one source of online income or a proud owner of a Web 2.0 site offering cool services.
In summary, if you would like to make money online, knowing a lot of technical skills will get you to places. Too bad if you’re not techie enough, right? NOT! Learning those skills won’t be too hard if you are determined enough. Also, there are still a wide array of money making opportunities using the Internet that you can do even if you don’t have many of those technical skills. Just stay tuned and wait for the spilling more of the beans of money making online even for the technically-challenged.
[image from Flickr as uploaded by prozac74]