Showing posts with label make money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label make money. Show all posts

No matter what kind of website you have, you should put a “donate” button on it! I find myself reading blogs every day that I wish had a simple way to donate to. You never know when you might write a post that really strikes a chord with someone, leaving them wanting to compensate you financially! Here’s how to get the money flowing into your bank account.

Using PayPal
  • Get a PayPal account and select the “Business” type.
  • If you already have a PayPal account, convert your account to a business account.
  • Go to Merchant Services and click “Donate” under Create Buttons.
  • Fill out your organization (just use your name or your blog’s name) and customize the button all you want. You can uncheck “Do you need your customer’s shipping address?”
  • Click “Create Button” and copy the provided code.
Paypal provides two bits of code: one to embed the button on your site, and one to link text like this (click the “Email” tab), so you can make a hyperlink instead of using their button.

On Tumblr
  • Go to your site, then click “customize”.
  • Click “Theme” then “Use custom HTML”. Copy and paste the code there into a plain text document in case you screw up when pasting in your code!
  • Find a place to paste in your code, somewhere after the </body> tag. I put mine right after the </header> tag. You can also paste the hyperlink code into an individual post.
On self-hosted WordPress
  • Go to your “Widgets”, which adds things to your sidebar.
  • Drag a new “text” widget into the widget area, then paste in your PayPal button code. Click save and you’re done!
On WordPress.com

Sadly they won’t let you paste in PayPal buttons! If you like WordPress and want donations, your best bet is to get self-hosted! ETA: I just realized you can use the donation button hyperlink (example here) provided under the “Email” tab, you could even make your own button and link it!

On Blogger.com

Blogger lets you do this easily! You can either embed the code in a post (HTML view) or go to “Design”, then “Add Gadget”, then add “HTML/Javascript” and paste it on in! Your button will show up in your sidebar (see my example here).

Don’t forget to write a little something before or after your pasted in code to encourage donations! Something sweet and simple should do the trick, like “If you like this site, please consider a small donation!” Get creative and see what people respond to best!

If you’d like to know how to put a donate button on a different kind of website, just ask in the comments!
Pro tip!

To get the donations flowing, start “practicing the feeling” of receiving donations. What will it feel like when you check your email and find a donation from a loving reader? Visualize the moment and really feel the thrill. The more you practice, the more you will attract experiences that produce the same feeling, and the more abundance you will receive!

Google adsense is one of the most reliable source of online income. The income may vary according to the type of content and location of visitors. We can’t control the location of visitor much but can control the type of content we write. The cost per click (CPC) of adsense vary of keywords. If you write on Highest paying Keyword then the chance of your earning may go high. So here I have listed top 30 Highest paying keyword for Google Adsense.

Highest paying Keywords
  •     MESOTHELIOMA LAW FIRM ($ 179.01)
  •     Mesothelioma is always ranked no 1 in highest paying keywods since long ago.
  •     Mesothelioma (or, more precisely, malignant mesothelioma) is a rare form of cancer that develops from cells of themesothelium, the protective lining that covers many of the internal organs of the body. Mesothelioma is most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos.
  •     ALSO READ: Download Windows 8.1 (Windows Blue) with Activator
  •     DONATE CAR TO CHARITY CALIFORNIA ($130.25)
  •     DONATE CAR FOR TAX CREDIT ($126.65)
  •     DONATE CARS IN MA ($125.58)
  •     DONATE YOUR CAR SACRAMENTO ($118.20)
  •     HOW TO DONATE A CAR IN CALIFORNIA ($111.21)
  •     SELL ANNUITY PAYMENT ( $ 107.46 )
  •     DONATE YOUR CAR FOR KIDS ($106.01)
  •     ASBESTOS LAWYERS ( $ 105.84 )
  •     STRUCTURED ANNUITY SETTLEMENT ($100.8)
  •     ANNUITY SETTLEMENTS ($ 100.72 )
  •     CAR INSURANCE QUOTES COLORADO ($100.93)
  •     NUNAVUT CULTURE ($99.52)
  •     DAYTON FREIGHT LINES ($99.39)
  •     HARDDRIVE DATA RECOVERY SERVICES ($98.59)
  •     DONATE A CAR IN MARYLAND ($98.51)
  •     MOTOR REPLACEMENTS ($98.43)
  •     CHEAP DOMAIN REGISTRATION HOSTING ($98.39)
  •     DONATING A CAR IN MARYLAND ($98.20)
  •     DONATE CARS ILLINOIS ($98.13)
  •     CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS FLORIDA ($98.07)
  •     BEST CRIMINAL LAWYER IN ARIZONA ($97.93)
  •     CAR INSURANCE QUOTES UTAH ($97.92)
  •     LIFE INSURANCE CO LINCOLN ($97.07)
  •     HOLLAND MICHIGAN COLLEGE ($95.74)
  •     ONLINE MOTOR INSURANCE QUOTES ($95.73)
  •     ONLINE COLLEDGES ($95.65)
  •     PAPERPORT PROMOTIONAL CODE ($95.13)
  •     ONLINECLASSES ($95.06)
  •     WORLD TRADE CENTER FOOTAGE ($95.02)
  •     MASSAGE SCHOOL DALLAS TEXAS ($94.90)
  •     PSYCHIC FOR FREE ($94.61)
  •     DONATE OLD CARS TO CHARITY ($94.55)
  •     LOW CREDIT LINE CREDIT CARDS ($94.49)
  •     DALLAS MESOTHELIOMA ATTORNEYS ($94.33)

There are more publishing options for writers today than ever. Traditional publishing avenues are often hard to come by for beginning writers, and using an alternate publishing option is a good way for new writers to get their work on the market. One of the newest advances on the publishing front is Amazon's Kindle. Kindle is a reader for electronic books. Amazon has developed a huge library of books available in the Kindle format, and they are continually expanding this library. One of the ways they do this is by allowing authors to self publish Kindle versions of their books and sell them on Amazon for a percentage of the take. Amazon keeps track of all sales and makes payments to the authors on a bi-monthly basis. Learn how you can publish your book on Kindle and get in on the ground floor of this quickly growing publishing venture.
 
Steps :
  1. Create an Amazon account. Go to the Amazon site; on the left side of the page under "Features and Services" you'll find "Publish on Kindle." If you do not already have an account, you'll be instructed to create one. If you have an Amazon account, you will already be eligible to publish through Amazon's Digital Text Platform. 
  2. Thoroughly edit the book you want to publish through Kindle. They don't edit, so it's up to you to make sure the work you publish represents you in the best light. Don't just run a spell check. Read your work all the way through and look for anything a spell check might not catch. It'[s a good idea to have at least one other person look over your manuscript before you upload it. 
  3. Format your book. Amazon Kindle allows you to upload your book as an Adobe PDF, Word file, plain text file or HTML document. Avoid using the Adobe format if you can, since PDF is hard to format and might make your book appear different once Amazon formats it for Kindle.
  4. Upload your book to the Digital Text Platform. Amazon provides a built-in dashboard that allows writers to easily upload their books and publish them to Amazon. You don't have to publish right away. You can upload a book and it will remain on your bookshelf in draft form until you are ready to publish. Use Amazon's template for writing a blurb for your book and other information that might entice Kindle owners to purchase your book. This is also where you will enter author information and book pricing.
  5. Publish your book with the click of a button when you've uploaded your book and filled out all of the information pertaining to the publication. Your book will appear on Amazon within 72 hours. You'll be able to use the dashboard to keep track of sales and to add more books as they become available. Amazon will pay your royalties on a bi-monthly basis. You get to keep 35 percent of the profits. Amazon does discount products, but the discount does not affect your share of the profits.

alternative-path 




  • Alexa Ranking Today: 553
  • Ad Revenue / Income: $1.50 – $2.00 per 1000 Pageviews (PPM). 
  • US Only: No, but: “Apparently non-US writers must apply to join a group writing on a specific topic and fill in a US tax form to be paid. They then state that they will retain a portion of money earned in case tax is payable.” 
  • My Thoughts: I know quite a few people who write for AC and are happy with it, but most are long time established AC writers who already have high ranking articles. For newcomers, $1.50 per 1000 Pageviews seems a bit low, at least to me, especially considering that one Adsense click could potentially earn you that much on your own website, depending on the niche you’re in or what ads are generated.
associatedcontent
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 128,321
  • Ad Revenue / Income: 50-75% (50% for new users)
  • US Only: no
  • My Thoughts: The Alexa ranking is not all that impressive, and a higher one could be achieved simply by creating your own blog and writing content for it every day. The potential Ad Revenue is attractive (up to 75%), but for newcomers you’re going to start at the baseline 50% ad share. Personally, I’d look for another website to invest my time into, one that has seen more growth as of late.
articleincome
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 5,232
  • Ad Revenue / Income: “Bukisa Index” per 1000 visitors. (i.e. if Bukisa Index is 4, then you get $4.00 for every 1000 Unique Human Visitors). Today, the Bukisa Index is 3.22, which means you’ll get $3.22 per 1000 visitors, for today.
  • US Only: no
  • My Thoughts: I first heard of Bukisa as an alternative to eHow back in 2009 when there were some issues regarding eHow deleting people’s articles without warning. There are a ton of related forum threads on eHow.com about it, and it seems like some people are happy switching over, while others are not. The unique ad sharing model which utilizes the “Busika Index” is, well, interesting to say the least. The exact process about how the index number is decided is unknown, which makes me a little hesitant because at any moment it could change and drastically impact your earnings (one way or another). Check out the crazy growth in the first half of 2009.
bukisa
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 1,462,872
  • Ad Revenue / Income: undisclosed
  • US Only: undisclosed
  • My Thoughts: This is a WordPress site using a WooTheme to create a how-to article site. Great idea, however it doesn’t seem like there is much activity, and nothing to really make it stand out amongst the rest of the listed sites.
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 23,762
  • Ad Revenue / Income: undisclosed
  • US Only: no
  • My Thoughts: Although Factoidz is relatively new, it already has a reputation online as a decent space to write content online. It’s known for it’s rigorous editing and article reviewing process, which is good for the overall content of the site. As far as ad revenue, I couldn’t find any information about this, but it seems like most people are happy and don’t complain about it. There is potential here, I think.
factoids
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 90,536
  • Ad Revenue / Income: undisclosed
  • US Only: yes
  • My Thoughts: With a clean looking website, Firehow looks promising, however I couldn’t find any information about their ad revenue model, which I know people are interested about. The Alexa ranking isn’t anything to be excited about, but there is a lot of room for growth in the future. It will be interesting to see where Firehow ends up.
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 1,742
  • Ad Revenue / Income: Based on level of activity and value you bring as a writer signified with “Stars”. See their Terms of Service (#5) for more information.
  • US Only: no
  • My Thoughts: This is the first time I’ve heard of helium, but the Alexa ranking and consistent growth of the site is definitely attractive. However, the revenue structure is a bit confusing and I know (based on eHow history) that people want to know exactly how their income is earned.
helium
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 464,469
  • Ad Revenue / Income: undisclosed
  • US Only: undisclosed
  • My Thoughts: Doesn’t seem like it would be worth investing your time and articles into. Looking at the homepage, it doesn’t look like there’s a ton of activity going on. It highlights 6,798 authors and 9,785 articles, which is less than 2 articles per author. This shows me that people aren’t sticking around (and probably not earning much either).
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 230
  • Ad Revenue / Income: 60%
  • US Only: no
  • My Thoughts: Hubpages is one of the sites listed that is most similar to eHow, although it mixes in a little bit of Squidoo too. It has an amazing Alexa ranking and a great community of writers. A 60% ad revenue share is decent (better than the 50% average), but there are other sites that payout better. The page ranking of the site, however, might mean that your articles would get ranked higher (and faster) in the search engines, which could ultimately mean more income.
hubpages
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 10,466
  • Ad Revenue / Income: 75%+
  • US Only: no
  • My Thoughts: Immediately, the ad sharing model sticks out to me at 75%, which looks to be the highest of the bunch. Although the Alexa ranking isn’t quite as high as the others, the rapid growth of this relatively new content site really catches my eye, and I imagine the ranking will climb even further still. I can definitely see InfoBarrel.com joining the ranks of some of the more popular content writing sites mentioned here, such as Hubpages and Associated Content. Lots of potential here as well.
infobarrel 
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 242
  • Ad Revenue / Income: Multiple methods. Unsure of Adsense revenue split.
  • US Only: no
  • My Thoughts: I’ve published a number of “Squidoo Lenses” in the past myself (which is their fancy term for each particular site/article you create on Squidoo), and I have to say it’s a really interesting and fun process. You can add a number of different and cool “widget-style” features to your lens, including Amazon store, eBay, video, photo and other media Modules – which enhance each “article” or lens and make it more informative than a normal text-only article (and also gives you more opportunity for an affiliate commission. I know there are a lot of people making bank with Squidoo, but it’s a little tougher to understand exactly how to maximize revenue here, since it is so dynamic. I have yet to see any income from the few articles I’ve written, but I know I haven’t really tried to maximize the potential here.
squidoo
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 17,197
  • Ad Revenue / Income: 50%
  • US Only: no
  • My Thoughts: This Israeli-based site is a little different than the rest, because as you generate content for it, they blast it out to their own content network, which includes niche websites related to your topic. Popular for non-US folk, this is the first time I heard of Triond before, and it seems promising. A 50% revenue share is pretty standard, so nothing too impressive there. Lastly, the home page lacks as far as getting your content seen, but again their syndication model is a bit different than the rest.
triond
  • Alexa Ranking Today: 2,287
  • Ad Revenue / Income: 50%
  • US Only: no
  • My Thoughts: In the game for a while (since 2006), Xomba is definitely a contender when it comes to which sites we should be writing for, however the ad revenue (as of today) is only 50%, which is again the average. The fairly steady Alexa ranking tells me the site is very healthy and getting decent traffic, however there was no growth in 2009 which is something to take notice of.
xomba
There are a lot of things to consider when choosing what platform to write on, but probably the most important thing to understand is user experience. So, if you have experience writing for any of these sites (or other content ), I’m sure everyone here (including myself) would love to know what you think and if you’re happy.
Freelance Writing is one of the best way to make money writing articles from home and you don’t even require a website to get started. But it gives much more exposure if you own a blog or if you have a website to show your work/portfolio.

If you check any of the Freelance sites (eLance, oDesk, Freelancer etc.) then you can see that Content Writing (Article Writing, Blog Writing, Copywriting, Ghostwriting, Technical Writing, Web Content Writing etc.) is one of the top skill in demand. Freelance Writers are always in great demand. Why? Content is King. Period. But one problem with those Freelance sites is “Competition” as there are hundreds of thousands of other Freelance writers out there.

Now, How To Make Money Writing Articles Online?

If you want to make money writing then you can either contribute your content to other websites or sell your content via an article marketplace and get paid almost instantly so that you don’t have to spend your time on those freelance sites looking for clients. I’m going to introduce you the top 10 websites that pay upfront for your articles. Just contribute articles to the following sites and get paid for that. It’s that simple! If your article is rejected then you can try the article marketplaces and get paid instantly.

Top 10 Sites That Pay Upfront For Your Articles

Make Money Writing

1. Yahoo! Voices (Pays Upfront)

Yahoo! Voices
Alexa Rank: 1
Google PageRank: 8
Unique Visitors (per month): 8.2 Million
Page Views (per month): 28 Million
The Yahoo! Contributor Network allows writers, photographers, and videographers to share their knowledge and passion with hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Find your audience and earn money by publishing your unique perspectives on Voices and other Yahoo! sites. You can choose your own topics and can earn money through up-front payments, exclusive assignments, and performance bonuses based on the traffic your work receives.

2. About (Pays Upfront)

About
Alexa Rank: 83
Google PageRank: 8
Unique Visitors (per month): 55 Million
Page Views (per month): 540 Million
With over 55 millions visitors per month About.com is one of the most popular content network with millions of articles. If you’re an experienced writer then you can apply to become a topic writer. About.com offers the highest payout to its writers.

3. Break Studios (Pays Upfront)

Break Studios
Alexa Rank: 1,000
Google PageRank: 6
Unique Visitors (per month): 5.6 Million
Page Views (per month): 97 Million
You can contribute content to Break Studios and make money writing. They provide you the titles for each article and you write the content. Once your article is approved & published you will be notified and will be paid via PayPal at the end of every month. Your articles will be published on highly trafficked Break Studios’ websites including Break.com, MadeMan.com, HolyTaco.com, CagePotato.com, ScreenJunkies.com & Chickipedia.com.

4. wiseGEEK (Pays Upfront)

wiseGEEK
Alexa Rank: 2,444
Google PageRank: 6
Unique Visitors (per month): 4.2 Million
Page Views (per month): 20 Million
wiseGEEK is a offers free and clear answers to common questions in almost all niches (500+ topics). They pay writers per article. Currently wiseGEEK pay $10 to $14 depending on the article. You get paid via PayPal and there is no fee as they cover the PayPal fees.

5. eCopywriters (Pays Upfront)

eCopywriters
eCopywriters hires copywriters to assist their clients in creating quality content. They’re looking for only professional copywriters only. You can earn up to $25 per hour for basic writing projects. They have different levels of writers and top level writers earn as much as $0.30 per word. eCopywriters’ projects include TV & Radio Commercials, SEO Content, Blogs, Press Releases, Ads, Sales Letters, Business Letters & Plans and more.

6. Love To Know (Pays Upfront)

LoveToKnow
Alexa Rank: 4,942
Google PageRank: 5
Unique Visitors (per month): 1.9 Million
Page Views (per month): 13 Million
If you’re from US then you can contribute high quality articles in the niche Money & Finance, Shopping, Fashion, Beauty, Technology, Home Improvement etc. to LoveToKnow and they pays an upfront payment for your article. LoveToKnow offers the most useful information on the topics you want to know more about.

7. Demand Media Studios (Pays Upfront)

Demand Media Studios
If you’re a professional writer who lives in US, Canada or UK then try Demand Media Studios. Once you’re approved as a Writer then you can earn $15 to $25 or even more per article depending upon the quality of the article. Your articles are distributed to a network of premium publishers with a combined audience of over 100 million viewers. Example publishers include eHow.com, LIVESTRONG.COM, and USAToday.com.

8. Seed (Pays Upfront)

Seed
Seed by AOL is an open content submission platform that is looking for content writers from US. AOL Network with over 100 million monthly visitors & billions of page views covers 80+ topics and you will be paid a flat fee if they acquire an exclusive license to your work or they will share the revenue with you for all the approved articles.

9. QualityGal (Pays Upfront)

QualityGal
QualityGal is a content creation service dedicated to providing their clients with the highest quality SEO content. QualityGal accepts writers from all over the world and pays at least $12 per article (average of $12 and a maximum of $30) depending upon the quality of content. Payment for completed and accepted articles is made via PayPal or Check every week.

10.Words of Worth (Pays Upfront)

Words of Worth
Words of Worth is content delivery company offering work to freelance writers in the US, UK and Canada. The payments for articles vary according to the length of the content and depends on other requirements as well. But they tell you what the payment is for every article before you accept it.

BONUS: 5 Content Revenue Sharing Sites

11. Squidoo (Revenue Sharing)

Squidoo
Alexa Rank: 217
Google PageRank: 7
Unique Visitors (per month): 12 Million
Page Views (per month): 100 Million
You can contribute articles to Squidoo and they place ads and split the revenue with you. You can make even more money by using affiliate links on products you recommend. Squidoo keeps 50% of the revenue and pays the rest to you via PayPal.

12. HubPages (Revenue Sharing)

HubPages
Alexa Rank: 299
Google PageRank: 6
Unique Visitors (per month): 11 Million
Page Views (per month): 55 Million
Just like Squidoo, you can contribute articles to HubPages and can earn money though advertising (Google AdSense, In-house Ad Program, Amazon,eBay). Every time someone views one of your article they display your ads 60% of the time.

13. Helium (Revenue Sharing)

Helium
Alexa Rank: 5,308
Google PageRank: 5
Unique Visitors (per month): 1.5 Million
Page Views (per month): 8.9 Million
Helium is home to writers who benefit from the valuable insight and support of our vast editorial community. Find your audience and earn money by publishing your knowledge-based articles on Helium. You can earn money through incentive payments, exclusive assignments and performance bonuses based on the traffic your work receives.

14. Bukisa (Revenue Sharing)

Bukisa
Alexa Rank: 7,623
Google PageRank: 5
Unique Visitors (per month): 460,000
Page Views (per month): 2.2 Million
Bukisa is a one stop shop for how-to, informational & educational content. It allows you to share your knowledge (by submitting articles) and earn money via Google AdSense when people engage with your content.

15. Triond (Revenue Sharing)

Triond
Alexa Rank: 9,934
Google PageRank: 5
Write original and unique content and submit to Triond. They publish your content on a website within their publishing network according to the target audience. When your content starts making money from ads they share 50% of the generated revenue with you.

I would like to share my knowledge and experience of real estate investment and also invite your comments, judgments, and experiences of the same.

1. Real estate prices are cyclical in nature, demand and supply based so park your money in reoccurring deposits and wait for right time to enter.

2. Land and Built up (constructed) properties have different dynamics.

3. House is a need and investment both. When you are young you can rent a house and invest your money in Land, Bonds or Fixed deposits for higher returns. When you are ageing owning a house becomes a must; to avoid shifting, emotional value and feeling of security.

4. When renting a house lookout for longer time frames, leave license can be done in multiples of 11 months, you pay less commissions and fees.

5. When buying a house calculate your requirement for future (family size) and a thought on city you would like to retire. Older citizens require more security and protection hence a gated community is a must.

6. When buying a house (or building one) following is the checklist:

a) Infrastructure of Location; Roads, Water, Electricity, Schools, Market, Drainage, domestic help etc…
b) Reputation of Builder; history, plan approvals, amenities, specifications, visit to past projects…
c) Verification of documents by your lawyer and pre approval of banks for loans.
d) Compensation clauses for delay in possession.
e) Carpet area and loading for built up.

7. Buy a house in a project being just launched where rates are mostly lower, in projects where most of the houses are sold builders hike the price on last few. Resale houses in same locality which are little older are available at much lesser rates. Buying property nearing redevelopment can reap rich bonanzas. 

8. Returns are higher in Land than constructed property, higher in commercial than residential premises.

9.Investment in land calls for knowledge of Property card, 7/12 extracts, Mutation, History, Measurement survey, Demarcation, Zone, Subdivision, Sanctioned layouts, Regional Development plan, NA approvals, Set off and NOC from: highways, railways, high tension wires, monuments, rivers and valleys, Society byelaws, Municipal byelaws.(use google search for it).

10. Buy Land in Locations where infrastructure development is expected like bridges, roads, upcoming IT parks, Industrial developments etc…

11. Always Sell Land where appreciation has maxed out. Cities grow like ripples, keep buying on outer periphery. Hold on to good property like family silver.

12. Buy Shops, Offices and Flats and rent them out .They give you a productive return and appreciation as well. Returns are lowest in Flats. Buying in booking phase gives you deferred payment and lower rates.

13. Form groups and co-operatives to collectively invest. Collective purchase power enables you get properties at lower rates.

14. As a general rule SELL after 12 months into a boom period and BUY after 18 months into recession.

15. When in doubt always ask because it’s your hard money at stake.

real estate cycles typically have an average duration of six to nine years and they cycle through phases including: Recession, Recovery, Expansion and Contraction.

Recession

The Recession Phase follows a market opposition, when the availability of financing is tightened and property values fall greatly. Properties experience vacancies and owners cannot sell because financing has become unavailable to potential buyers. Prices fall far below the cost to construct the same building like new, resulting in many excellent buying posibilities for those with the cash on hand to take advantage of market weakness. Foreclosures increase and property owners become even more motivated to sell as investors sit on the sidelines. As the Recession phase lasts longer, the lower home prices usually go. This is the time to buy.

Recovery

In the Recovery Phase, all the leftovers have been cleared out and prices begin to recover, although most investors are still tentative to buy just yet. New tenants enter the market and property owners refinance as more affordable financing becomes available. Prices begin to move up. This is the time for owners to improve their property, maximize rental rates and wait for the next phase.

Expansion


At this point the real estate market is vastly improving and investors are currently investing in properties with a substantial return. Institutional financing is readily available and the price of updated real estate moves up well over the cost to construct the same property new. Vacancies are at their lowest, prices are at their peak and there is a general feeling of wellbeing, prosperity and abundance. This is the time to sell.

Contraction

It is in the Contraction Phase that reality sets in. The market has become overbuilt and vacancies begin to rise. Financing and equity investment decline from the market as foreclosure rates rise. Prices begin to fall from the peaks of the expansion phase. Investors rush to exit the market, causing prices to fall with rapid speed.

These phases always happen in the same order it just depends on the length of time each cycle has.

When to buy and when to sell

The biggest issue is what phase are we in? It's easy to see what phase you are in while you are in the middle of it, its the beginning and ending that are fuzzy.

To make money, "Buy Low and Sell High" universally applies. The best time to buy is when the cycle is in the Recession Phase, when the best deals become available.  In this phase the best prices and terms can be negotiated, well below the replacement cost to build the property new. The time to sell is during the peak of the Expansion Phase, when buyers can easily obtain financing and the market is on a high note. Another old saw applies here: "Buy when everyone is selling and sell when everyone is buying." This is the easiest determining factor.

The best thing about all this, is it is cycles. Things will always get better and things can always get worse. Finding the right time to invest is all about timing

Break These Rules and Say Goodbye to Your Future Earnings

Google AdSense is a very popular blog monetization tool because it's easy to join the Google AdSense program, easy to integrate a variety of ads into your blog, and ads don't have to take up a lot of space.  However, there are a few rules you must follow unless you want to get banned from the AdSense program and make no money at all.  Following are five of those rules:

1. Don't Boost Clicks Artificially
There are a number of ways that Google AdSense publishers (such as bloggers) can artificially boost the number of clicks on the Google AdSense ads that appear on their sites.  Following are a few methods that might be tempting but are considered spam and are a surefire way to get banned from the Google AdSense program:
  • Clicking on AdSense links on your blog yourself.
  • Asking other people to click on the AdSense links on your blog.
  • Using any kind of automated process to increase clicks (whether you create the process or a third  party does it for you).
  • Joining with a group of other people to click on AdSense ads on each other's blogs or websites.
2. Don't Display More than the Allowed Number of Ads on a Page
Make sure you read the current Google AdSense Program Policies and only display the number of ads allowed on a single web page at all times.

3. Don't Fill a Page with Ads but No Original Content
Any page on your blog that includes Google AdSense ads must include more original content than ads.  In fact, Google considers displaying a page full of ads with little or no original content a form of spam.

4. Don't Create More than One AdSense Account
It might be tempting to create completely separate Google AdSense accounts and publish ads from both accounts on the same blog in order to get around rule #3 above, but doing so is a violation of Google policies.  While you can add more than one blog or website to your Google AdSense account, you may not have more than one actual account.

5. Don't Try to Trick People into Thinking AdSense Ads are NOT Ads
Hiding text link ads within the content of your blog posts in an attempt to make people think they aren't ads is a violation of Google AdSense policies.  Bottom-line, don't try to disguise ads in an effort to increase clicks.

Earn a few hundred extra dollars a month for writing blog posts


If you're a writer looking for a paid blogging job, this list of the 10 websites where you can find blogger jobs is for you.
Most blogging jobs pay per post (often around 300-500 words), and have some kind of regular posting schedule. Typical rates are $5-$50 per post depending on how involved each post has to be. Some jobs also have ad revenue sharing.
Be wary of jobs that only pay based on revenue sharing, especially from very young sites. It's only worth it if the site is fairly large and has an established revenue stream.

1. Problogger.net

Problogger.net job board
Resource Type: blogging specific job board ($50 to post a job)
It makes sense that Problogger.net has the best marketplace for publishers and bloggers to connect. Darren Rowse -- problogging guru and cofounder of blog network b5media -- has been teaching bloggers how to make money for years. Darren not only shows novice bloggers how to get started, he also discusses advanced problogging topics to help you hone your blogging skills.
Because of this environment, the job board draws a knowledgeable audience of bloggers (great applications), which attracts the best job postings (highest paying / most prestigious opportunities).

2. Freelance Writing Jobs

FreelanceWritingGigs.com screenshot
Resource Type: blog for freelance writers with a category for job leads.
Where are the jobs? Click the Writing Gigs link for the list of blogger job openings. There are high quality blogging jobs posted here, because they don't accept low-paying jobs.
Freelance Writing Jobs is a blog whose aim is to help writers find writing jobs. Especially ones that pay a fair wage. Multiple posts daily, including job sightings and helpful articles about freelance writing.

3. Elance

Screenshot of Elance
Resource Type: freelance specific job board (free to post a job)
Where are the jobs? Click on the "Find Work" tab, then search for the term "blogger".
Elance is a large marketplace for freelancers of all types. From data entry to Web design to programming to writing, Elance is a global marketplace for freelance work. There are several blogging jobs posted every day.

4. Freelance Switch

Screenshot of Freelance Switch job board
Resource Type: freelance specific job board (free to post a job)
Where are the jobs? Click on the "Writing" tab to see the blogging jobs.
Freelance Switch is a popular blog for Web working freelancers of all stripes -- writers, programmers, Web designers, etc. The job board mostly has jobs for programmers and website developers, but there are decent blogging gigs posted in the Writing section too.

5. Performancing

Screenshot of Performancing
Resource Type: community of bloggers with a forum for blogging jobs (free to post a job)
Where are the jobs? In the "Blogger Jobs" forum. (Click "Forums" in the main menu, scroll down to find the "Blogger Jobs" forum.)
Performancing is a blog community of many bloggers. The jobs forum gets around 5 new listings a week. The Peformancing blog offers good tips for aspiring probloggers.

6. Authority Blogger Forums

Screenshot of Authority Blogger forums
Resource Type: forums for bloggers (free to post a job)
Where are the jobs? They're listed in the "Want, Need, Offer" forum.
Authority Blogger is a forum community founded by problogging guru Chris Garrett. There is a helpful community of bloggers here helping each other write better blogs.

7. Poe War

Screenshot of PoeWar.com
Resource Type: blog and resource site for freelance writers with a job board ($50 to post a job)
Where are the jobs? Click on the "Jobs by Category" link in the main menu. Blogging jobs are usually listed in the "Online/Web" or "Freelance" categories. A lot of the relevant jobs will say "Web content editor/writer" instead of "blogger", so read the descriptions carefully.
Poe War is a very popular resource site and blog for freelance writers. Check out the index of freelancing articles in the "Articles" section for thoughtful essays and tutorials.

8. Writer's Weekly

Screenshot of Writer's Weekly
Resource Type: resource site for freelance writers with a weekly job listings roundup
Where are the jobs? They're linked from the main menu as "Markets". It's a weekly post with a roundup of (seemingly all) the newly available writing jobs around the Web.
Writer's Weekly is an old school site (published since 1997) for freelance writers. Don't let the 90's style design fool you. There's a ton of useful information here.

9. Craigslist

Screenshot of Craigslist
Resource Type: city specific online classifieds ($25 to post a job in one city)
Where are the jobs? You can find writing jobs under the "Writing/Editing" category of the job listings. Unfortunately, you'll have to browse to each city first. Blogging is often not locale specific, so it's worth it to look at the listings in all the major cities.
Craigslist is still (by far) the biggest online classifieds site and a good source of freelance writing jobs. To save some aggravation, you can just follow the freelance writing blogs since they will often post jobs listed on Craigslist.

10. Media Bistro

Media Bistro job board
Resource Type: portal for media industry with a job board ($279 to post a job)
Where are the jobs? Click on the "Jobs" link in the main menu to go to the job listings. Search for "blog" in the search box on the left. You can also visit the "Online / New Media" category for more interesting opportunities.
Media Bistro is a big portal for anyone who works in the content / creative industry. That includes online media, PR, writers, editors, producers, etc. This is where the big media players (magazines, newspapers) will post jobs.

Google Adsense LogoA lot of publishers from India and other Asian countries are puzzled on whether they can use AdSense Ads on new sites or not. Recently Google disabled a massive number of AdSense accounts from India and Pakistan which adds more to the confusion. To make it worse, Google does not mention anything in their policies for India about the minimum age requirement for blogs and websites to use AdSense Ads on the websites.

Requirement to get AdSense application approved

The AdSense approval depends a lot on the reviewer and the impression he get on the applicant and the site/blog. Google has a lot of published and unpublished rules for approval of an AdSene application, but those rules are flexible enough for the reviewer to come to his own on conclusion whether to approve or not.

There is no rule that says the blog has to have X number of visitors, Y number of pages views and so on. If you do a quick Google search, you can find a lot of confusion on the web defining the minimum number of page views and visitors a website must have to get AdSense application approved. Google looks at the quality of the content (uniqueness, well written and so on) and the nature of the website. If you have a website filled with scripts, ads, and other non-content stuff, you probably will fail to impress the reviewer. A clean site with easy navigation structure is sure to win.

If you are new to AdSense and want to apply for AdSense for your new website, I strongly suggest few things:

1. Wait several months until you have a lot of high quality articles. 6 months to 1 year is not a long wait for a life time AdSense account.

2. Wait until you have a lot of high quality article that really add value to the web. Re posting specification of latest gadgets is not really considered as high value content by Google. Rather, research on your topic of interest. If you are writing about gadgets, go to shops and take pictures comparing it with other similar products. Keep it side by side with other products and prepare comparison reports. If you are writing about tourist places, visit the place yourself and take pictures. If you are simply referring to another website and prepare an article in your own words, it is not going to be helpful.

3. Do not use a lot of scripts, ads and fancy images on your website. Visitor count, Feedburner subscriber count, List of your friends’ website etc all can wait until you get established and have your own AdSense account. (I do not mean you can have all unwanted stuff after you get the AdSense).

5. Keep the website clean and make it easy to navigate. Focus on the content. Make it easy for readers to reach various sections of the website. Provide a clean menu with limited links to your core categories.
Should a website or blog wait 6 months before using or applying for AdSense?

Google does not talk about the 6-months requirement anywhere in the policies. However, one of the help topics vaguely mention that publishers from India and China should wait for 6-months before they can apply [or, use ?] AdSense. There is no definite answer on which countries fall under this category. There is strong demand from top AdSense community to enforce this rule for all countries, which make perfect sense. No website can earn much traffic before it reach 6-months life in the web and the AdSense is not going to bring any reward for them in the site without traffic. So, why can’t webmasters wait for 6 months? Also, strictly enforcing the 6 months requirement will turn away a huge number of fraud applicants. Of course this will affect few big publishers who start new business, change domain name etc, but they always have the option to reach their AdSense account managers and get special approval. Google is not very clear on whether existing AdSense accounts can be used on new sites. I have used my AdSense on my new sites without knowing the new requirement but did not have any problems, but my friends have lost their AdSense accounts for doing the same. So, if you create a new site, just wait patiently for 6 months before you use AdSense there. After having burnt my fingers, I usually wait until my new site reach 6 months + minimum 1000 page views per day before I use my AdSense account on it.