January 2nd, 2008
Do I have any readers left??? If there is anybody out there then HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
What started off as a couple of days away from the computer for Christmas ended up being a bit of an extended break due to illness, it’s OK though because I’m starting to feel a little bit better now, not bad considering I had Bird Flu no less.
The Best And Worst Of 2007
2007 was a good year for me in terms of making money online. As the year went on more and more money making schemes seemed to come into play so by December I was earning 300% more than I was in January. The biggest helps in achieving this increase were Kontera, WidgetBucks and TrialPay, Adsense was also good in the year but rather than improve my earnings with them tended to stay the same, no complaints though cos it’s still quite a large chunk of cash. A 300% increase is especially good when you consider that to date I’ve avoided any form of pay-per-post or paid reviews on any of my sites and that my income has been generated almost entirely from advertising and affiliate deals. One major goal I did achieve was to remove much of my reliance on Adsense. This all gives me great hope that there is much room for improvement in the future. The worst part of 2007 by far for me was seeing the exchange rate get to the point where I almost thought about packing it in (at one point Paypal were only giving me £0.45 per dollar), it is truly depressing to see so much of your income lost to bankers and fees. Other downsides included the changes in terms at WidgetBucks that hugely affected what I thought would soon by my number 1 earner and Clickbank continuing to not perform for me (other than the odd day). Overall though I’ve got to say that 2007 was a great year and I’m sure 2008 will be even better.
Things To Look Forward To In 2008
I suppose top of my list here is to see the small improvement in the exchange rate continue to improve into the new year, even $1.95 to £1 would make me feel much better. It’s also nice to see that the pay-per-impression ads over at WidgetBucks are slowly started to earn a little more, the return was truly awful to start off with but as advertisers begin to show more faith in the system then amounts are steadily increasing. I’m also really looking forward to all the new surprises that are bound to happen, nothing stays the same in this industry for long and so there will no doubt be lots of changes to be made and new opportunities to jump on. When something good crops up I’ll be sure to let you all know about it as soon as I know. Oh, forgot one last thing to look forward to this year, the Olympics, now that’s one huge money maker for anybody who can position themselves well 
December 7th, 2007
WidgetBucks are definitely the real deal, I got my first payment from them yesterday. Their terms state that they pay within 45 days of the end of the month so this payment covered the money I made from the week or so I had the WidgetBucks ads live in October.
45 days might seem like a long time but there are a couple of things that make that wait worth while.
1. They pay via Paypal so no need to worry about cashing USD cheques
2. There Paypal payment doesn’t incur any charges (unlike a lot of other services that pay via Payal)
What this means is that I earnt $783.18 and that’s what they paid me! It doesn’t sound a big deal but it’s just nice not to have any hidden charges in there.
November 30th, 2007
No, not another dodgy niche website but my list for Father Christmas this year.
Dear Santa,
This year I’ve been very good (my mum says so too), I’ve played fair and shared with all the other boys and girls and I’d really appreciate it if you could maybe help me out with some of the following:-
1. Could You Please “Fix” The Exchange Rates? – All because of some very naughty men in the US lending money to people who couldn’t afford it I’ve had to take an 18% pay cut. This is really bad because I’m doing the same amount of work and earning my friends the same amount of money but when I get paid I get a lot less. Either weakening the pound or strengthening the dollar would really help!
2. Can You Make Google Play Fair? – I don’t know what I’ve done to upset them but they’ve not only been spreading bad rumours to make me unpopular but they’ve also started to take money of me. It seems that they don’t want me to have any of my own money. I still like them (they’re almost my bestest friend) I’d just like it if they could be honest with me and let me know where I stand.
3. Can You Make WidgetBucks Like My Other Friends? – I made a new friend this year called WidgetBucks, we got on great but then they suddenly announced that they didn’t like me anymore just because of where most of my other friends live. It was really bad because I’d just told everybody how nice WidgetBucks were!
I only want 3 things for Christmas this year so if you could help me out I’d really appreciate it.
Merry Christmas,
Paul
ps Doesn’t Santa work fast, looks like WidgetBucks are going to start paying out something for non US visitors after all!
What’s on your list?
October 29th, 2007
Kontera is the ad network that provides those little double underlined links that you’ll see scattered around this blog. Quite a few people don’t like them because of the pop-up nature of the ads, personally I’ve never had a problem with them. Perhaps even more importantly as somebody who uses Kontera to make money I’ve found that they have had no impact on my Adsense earnings so it’s a pretty good partnership to go ahead with.
One issue I have had with Kontera though is the payment methods available, or should that be method. For many months they’ve been sending me Dollar checks, this is bad not any because of the horrific exchange rate (can’t blame Kontera for that though) but because I get stung every time I pay in a foreign cheque. The good news is that not only can you now get your Kontera earnings paid direct into your bank account, but they’ll also transfer it in your native currency. For anyone earning more than a few hundred dollars a month with Kontera the savings are going to stack up and besides you’ll also be getting payment earlier. No more waiting for a cheque to turn up.
The new service is available to Kontera publishers in Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom so if you are currently getting a dollar cheque I suggest you check it out. The bank transfer form is available for download from here.
August 17th, 2007
Unless you have had your head buried in the sand or are dead you’ve probably noticed that something is going on with the US property market. It seems that a lot of home owners stateside have got themselves into more than a bit of trouble by borrowing more than they could afford. A lot of the banks are also in deep crap as well as they find those debts having to be written off. It looks like credit checks went out the window. Anyone noticed how weak the US Dollar is against all the other major world currencies at the moment? A great big oops all around!
I was talking about this with my wife last night, the conversation started of about holidays. We’re planning a trip to Vegas next year and I mentioned about how much cheaper it would be if we could book with an American travel agent. A great idea as it turned out and one which I will no doubt post about sometime. But that got me thinking about the US property market as well. Relocation is always something I have at the back of my mind. At the moment my British pound will buy me about 2 US dollars. Houses in America are being auctioned left, right and centre in an attempt to recover some of the huge loses the banks are having to cover. The combination of cheap houses and a weak currency sounds like a perfect investment to me? The UK went through something similar, a market crash followed by a period of growth. When we bought our house it cost us £50,000, today it’s valued at £215,000. I’m no expert but it appears as though that’s what happens in the world of finance, it’s like one big roller coaster. As America recovers so will its currency and house prices, it might take some time but this could be one hell of an investment for the future. I know it’s not strictly an online way of making money, although it is possible to buy property online but I thought it was worth mentioning. Now if only I had a spare £40000 to play with, anybody want to spot me?
