Saturday, May 21, 2011

Free Digital Photos.Net

I came across Free Digital Photos this morning when I was looking for some royalty-free and non copyrighted material to post on my blogs and articles. It is really handy if you need some small and simple photos for looks on your site. The wonderful part is that the photos are free if all you need is a small basic photo, about 400 megapixels or so. This size is perfect for blog and article purposes.
The next best thing is that, unlike most free photos, the pictures are taken by professionals and look amazing. They look like you paid big bucks for them. If you do need larger pictures, you can pay $1, $2, or $3 for bigger ones. Also, these photos, paid and free, cannot be used for commercial purposes. This means you can’t put them on greeting cards, mugs, T-shirts, anything you can sell basically. Also, NO SIGN UP IS NEEDED! So you can download ASAP without the hassle of signing up.
The only catch is that you need to give credit to the person who took the picture. This really isn’t that hard to do. They will supply you with the name of the user who uploaded the photo. What works for me is having a folder specifically for non copyrighted photos. When I’m downloading the photo, I make sure to put the person’s name that should get the credit so that it is easy to keep up with when posting the picture. Here is an example of what I put in the file name: (Credit Ealisa Adams) Flowers Blooming. This way, I can search by subject, and won’t have to dig through pages of photos to see who took it. Simple is best.
Photos always make your blog or articles look more professional. It is something about attracting the eye to your site. So, if you can, always try to link pictures to your site! It will increase traffic and look so much better.
Adventure on Money Makers

AdSense and PayPal

These are two places you will want to sign up if you want to be a freelance writer. PayPal is the way that most companies and sites will pay through. This is good for you because it is a safe way to exchange money. Even people who only use the money for shopping should use PayPal for purchases and not link their bank accounts directly. It is a scamy-scam world out there and you never know who you can trust online. Use your most used e-mail address when signing up for PayPal so that you will get e-mail notices when someone withdraws or makes a deposit into the account. This way, it is easy to monitor what is going in and out of the account. If you notice wrongful activity, simply inform PayPal and they will take it from there.

Now, on to AdSense. You may be thinking, why would I need Google AdSense to make money online? Well, blogs and article revenue sites will allow you to set up your AdSense account to post ads on these sites and you will earn revenue from it every time someone clicks on the ads. This isn’t a get rich fast scheme. It’s more of a get some extra cash in your pocket slow scheme. It takes time to build up your blog and get enough content on revenue sites before you see any big dent in your financial situation. However, the lovely part about this is that it is a write-and-leave situation. You write an article for a revenue site, and you let it sit. It may only make you a dollar or two a month, but that will be for every month for potentially the rest of your life. At least until the revenue site shuts down, if it ever does. Think of it this way, say you have two hundred articles on the web that makes about a dollar each with AdSense. That is $200. And the next month, you may make that much again without even writing an article. Why? Because you do the work once and reap the earnings over and over and over again. Now, it sounds too good to be true right? Well, everything takes a little work. It takes gaining exposure so that people will even visit your articles so they may see the ads to click on.

I’ve had PayPal for a year and I love it. I use it for every business transaction that I make. Plus, it is easy to use. AdSense, however, is something I just signed up for today. I’ve read reviews on it thoroughly. Some people hate it, some people love it. I also joined HubPages today so I can start writing and see if I earn anything on revenue share articles. I will make sure to update soon on my earnings (or lack of!)

Adventure on my money-making followers!

Break Studios

Application Process: Easy
Pay: $8
Flexibility: 10 out of 10

Break Studios is great for new writers. The sign up project is easy. You fill out the simple form, confirm your email, and BOOM! You’re in and ready to get started. There is no rigorous application process like other sites. You get paid $8 for every article that you publish. It is less than Demand Studios, but the articles can be as few as 250 words and are very easy to write. Your claim limit is also 10, like Demand Studios. You don’t even have to have a reference for the article like you do with Demand Studios. It sounds great right?

However, all good things must have some down sides. The main problem I have had with them is that sometimes there are zero articles available for claim. Sometimes there may be as many as one hundred articles or so, but this is usually the max. When they add new articles, they often go fast because of how easy they are to write. I’ve had articles that are as easy as “How to Break up With My Girlfriend” and can be written with just general knowledge. Also, unlike Demand Studios, you can only claim 10 and not claim more until your articles get approved. This is a big downside because they often take a week to get back to you.

I like the site because it is easy. Even though you can only do about 10 articles or so a week, that is $80 a week. Plus, it is easy to get started, and FREE! Never, ever, ever pay a single dime to make money. Many sites that ask for money, I have learned, will help you make money. However, this is often money you could have made in the first place without paying the money.

Click here to sign up for Break Studios

Examples of Break Studios Articles:

Demand Studios

Application Process: Moderate
Pay: $3 - $15
Flexibility: 10 out of 10

Demand Studios was one of the first freelance writing sites I came across during my first adventures of looking to make money online a couple years ago. I was skeptical at first, but when I ended up signing up for the site June of 2010 I was happy I did.

I hear that their application process can be tough because they turn away a lot of people. I applied on a whim without much research or experience and got in within a day. My husband, the English major of the family, had to apply three times before getting accepted. Before signing up, make sure you have a resume that looks professional and is concise because they will ask for one. You will also need a writing sample. Once you have these two items, you can get started filling out the application.  

I’ve enjoyed my time at Demand Studios. At Demand Studios you write for various sites, eHow being the largest. I’ve seen several other sites on their needing articles written, but eHow is the only one I’ve written for so far.  Average pay for a full article is $15, while shorter articles are $7.50. You can also do tips for $3. I mainly focus on doing How-To articles because I find them easier. My niches have turned out to be health and pet topics. They also offer revenue share articles. Payment is twice a week, which is wonderful! I get mine through PayPal, but there may be other payment options.

There are currently 80,000+ articles that are waiting to be written on the site, meaning you will always have something to write about. Your claim limit is 10. However, starting out I think it is 3. The wonderful thing about the claim limit is that, unlike some other sites, when you submit an article, it is removed from your claim limit. Some sites will keep it in your claim limit until it is approved, making it possible to only write 10 articles until they get accepted. With Demand Studios, you can write as many articles as your little heart desires.

Rewrites are common with Demand Studios. When you submit your article, it goes to Copy Editors (which you can also apply to be at Demand Studios). They will edit your site and may send it back for some clarification. Usually, 1 out of 5 of my articles comes back for something to change. Many times, it is something small like changing a sentence or two.

When I can’t find a good article to write, I use the “Create a Title” option. This allows you to create a title of your choice in a How-To format. I love this option because it allows me to change it up once in a while. The title needs to be original, which can be tough to come up with sometimes. However, a little rewording is a wonder thing! Once you create the title, it is added to your claim limit to write. You are paid for these articles through the revenue share program. I am on the fence about revenue share programs, but I gave it a shot. I have written 20 articles or so for this program and make approximately $10 a month. It’s not much, but its $10 a month I’ll make as long as the program is still running. Also, it gains you a lot of exposure and traffic because eHow is such a popular site.

My experience has been wonderful, although I’ve heard some people who have claimed it’s a scam. However, trust me, it is no scam. I can see people getting upset at being rejected to join the site or getting hired only to not like it due to all the rewrites. But realistically, in income sense, you can make some serious money here. At $15 an article, 10 articles a day is $150 a day, that’s not chump change! Starting out, a single article took me almost two hours to do (I was scared to death of rewrites). Now, I can finish two articles in about an hour. Sometimes I can do more, it really just depends on the complexity of the article.

I hope you guys try this site out. If you have problems getting hired on, contact me and I may be able to help you. It seems they can be a stickler on the resumes, so maybe I’ll to a post soon on professional resumes to help everyone out.

Click here to sign up for Demand Studios

Examples of Demand Studios Articles:
How-To Articles
How to Treat Canine Flea Infestations
How to Take Care of an Abandoned Baby Rabbit
How to Treat a Minor Cut on a Dog

Short Answer Articles
Can Guppies Live in a Fish Bowl

Revenue Share Articles
How to Treat Flea Infestations in Canines

Money Making and Saving Adventures

Money’s tight. Boy, can you say that again. Money is REALLY tight. Pennies are being pinched extra hard and jobs are long and far between. For me, my adventures of saving and making a little extra money stems from several factors. First of all, I am nineteen years old and married. No, no children. Actually, I guess I should take that back. We have a rambunctious puppy named Luna that is a hand full. She might as well be a child, she loves being babied. Second of all, I am a full time college student. This puts a tight string on how much I can work, and make. Third of all, we just bought our first house. We are so excited, but it’s a little scary too! So I thought that I would try to make a little extra money on that side, and learn to save a little too! I’ll keep everyone updated on how much I’m making and whether or not I run into any scams. Please send me any feedback or questions you have. I would love to hear them!
Adventure on my friends!