Make Money Online

I still have one of the “old” TVs. You know, the kind that are really heavy, aren’t flat and sometimes make a wierd humming noise when you turn them on. I am probably also one of the last people to still have a VHS deck hooked up to my TV. Along with my DVD player, DishNetwork DVR, PlayStation 2 and GameCube.

I had to get a switcher to be able to hook all my gadgets up, and know that when I upgrade to an HDTV (any day now, right?), I’ll need to get a switcher for that as well as more and more devices come with HDMI outputs. When that day comes, I’ll go over and visit the Technical Cable Applications website for my HDMI Switch and HDMI Cable needs.

Located in Auburn, Washington, TCA also has a great selection of other other products ranging from other cable and networking equipment to iPod accessories. Check them out!

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Here’s a blog that covers free stuff that you can find on the Internet, ranging from Free CD-ripping software to free Guitar tuning software. The site used to just be one page of free stuff you can find on the Internet, but was then turned into a full-fledged blog in January. The blog is a good example of working to create good content and generate backlinks to your site - it was able generate a page rank of 3 after only 4 months in existence.

The blog is maintained by Adam Mutum, who lives in Malaysia. He also runs ah ok lah, who has a bit of a cynical view on making money through blogging. It’s a great (and funny) read!

**Update** I just got a note from Adam that he is now in the UK, and probably will be for some time.  Thanks Adam!

Category BlogNuts | 1 Comment »

Starting your own business is always a challenge. You need to stay motivated, prioritize your business activities on a daily basis, take care of your marketing, and handle all the back-office bookkeeping needs.

You also need to make decisions about how to structure your business in a way that makes sense for you and your business goals. If your business is a side-venture and you have a full-time job, then a sole-proprietorship will probably suit you fine. But if you are looking to build a bigger business and hire employees, then creating a real corporation may be more in order.

There are three basic types of Corporations that you can form. Choosing the right structure depends a bit on where you live, who you are in business with, and how large your business may grow. In general:

You want to form an S Corporation when:

• the owners live in a state with no personal state income tax.
• one or two individuals own the company (can be as many as 100).
• you have sales less than $250,000.

You want to form a C Corporation when:

• the owners live outside the country.
• the owners live in a state with a state income tax.
• several individuals are involved in the ownership.
• other entities are involved in the ownership.
• you have sales greater than $60,000.

You want to form a Limited Liability Company (LLC) when:

• you have any partnership.
• you own real estate for investment purposes.
• you have several entities that own the business.
• you are looking for complete protection of the owners’ personal liability.

You can start the process of incorporating your business with an online service such as IncParadise.com. There prices are reasonable, as they only charge $89 plus the applicable state fees to get started. For example, if you wanted to start a Nevada LLC, you could do this for only $283, which also includes them serving as your Registered Agent for 12 months.

Category Online Business, Sponsored Reviews | No Comments »

My Musings and Stuff is the primary blog home for Sharon, a fellow PPP blogger that hails from Texas.  She is a mom of two boys, and works at a telemarketing company processing credit card applications. Her blog is a mix of personal stories centered around her family, stories about her workplace, and her new dog Porthos (who will shortly be attending potty training classes at PetSmart — good luck with that!). Sharon is hoping to be going to college next year, in which case her blogging income should come in handy.

Sharon has launched a few other niche sites as she expands her blogging commitment.  With these other sites, she will have the opportunity to do more of what she finds to be fun and therapeutic - blogging!

Making Money Online with Sharon, appears to be just-launched site where she will be tracking her online money-making efforts.  Be sure to check it out as she gets it built out… it has a very clean design and should be a good site for people who are looking to generate some side-income through blogging. 

Technically Challenged will be a review site for everyday family gadgets ranging from video games to cameras, mp3 players and computer stuff.  Usually gadget reviews can be pretty technical or dry, so I’m looking forward to getting her point-of-view on new gadgets that she runs across.

Be sure to check out her sites and throw some comments her way!

Category BlogNuts | No Comments »

I travel a lot on business, and hate to not be working while I’m on a plane or in a car (provided someone else is driving, of course. I’m not that talented!). Unfortunately, the battery that came with my IBM Thinkpad T43 only lasts about 2 hours at best. So I am always one of those people you see around the airport walking aimlessly around, looking this way and that to find some unused electrical outlets. Trust me, they can be hard to find. Invariably, I don’t find one about half the time, and am forced to use precious battery time while waiting for the plane to board.

I obviously knew the solution - buy another battery. And this time one of those long-lasting ones that make your computer look like a torpedo is coming off the backend. I just got mine after forking over a pretty penny (who knew laptop batteries cost that much?!).

And what happens just one week after I get it? I find another site online that sells low-cost Laptop Batteries where I could have saved $40 for my extended life battery for my IBM T43 laptop.  Frustration.  At least I now know about LowCostBatteries.com, so when I finally get tired of the 30 minutes of talk time I get on my cordless phone I can get a good deal on a cordless phone battery.

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Here’s my monthly rundown for my second month of Blogging for Money. Even with an unfortunate 12-day lapse in activity, I still managed to surpass my April Blogging Revenue. Here are the details.

$118.03 - PayPerPost
$26.00 - Bloggerwave
$10.00 - Blogsvertise
$7.51 - Google AdWords
$6.50 - SponsoredReviews

$168.04 - Total May Revenue

Now, of course there are some costs associated with all the activites as well:

$14.95 - TypePad Premium Blog Account (Monthly)

$14.95 - Total May Costs

So, with my May income surpassing my negative balance from April, I actually made some money (about $60) in my first two months of blogging. Certainly nothing to write home about, but it’s a start. I’d love to hear how your first two months went (or are going?) for you. Let me know!

**Update**

6/2 - InvestorBlogger.com just posted their May results.

Category Weblogs | No Comments »

I for one am a cheapskate when it comes to buying electronics. I don’t want to pay retail, and will seek out the cheapest online price I can find. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned, right?

So imagine my joy when I found an auction site last month where the lowest bid wins! Even better, it’s not even an auction site… It’s a prize site where you enter fake bids on merchandise you’d like to win, and if you win it, it is completely free (although I would imagine you would owe either income or sales/use tax depending on where you live).

Signing up is quick and easy. They do have a “premium” account for $9.99/month that allows you to bid via cell phone up to 20 times a day. I just bid on the PS3 and BMW, but need to wait another 5 days before finding out if I had the lowest bid.

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Here’s a new prepaid calling card affiliate program I ran across today through Pingo. Pingo pays you $15 for each customer you refer, and each new customer with Pingo receives four hours of free international calls just for signing up. And if any of your referrals sign up before June 18th, they can also take advantage of the Father’s Day special for a total of $10 in free international calls.

A quick look at their rates shows discount prepaid calling cards for India are only 7.3 cents/minute to land lines, which is quite reasonable. There are only two additional fees that you would pay as part of the Pingo program - a $0.98/month account maintenance fee, and a $0.65/call fee for any calls made from a pay phone. If you talk with friends or family for more than 10-15 minutes/month, this card is quite a steal.

So if your site has an international flavor to it, consider signing up for Pingo’s affiliate program and start earning money with a company you should feel comfortable standing behind.

Category Affiliate Programs | No Comments »

I recently travelled to Boston on a Business trip, and had received a warning from a long-time friend not to rent a car.  Having grown up in Malden, he had numerous stories of friends getting lost in the maze of one-way streets fashioned on top of old Dairy routes and Carriage paths.

As a result, I ended up staying at a hotel out-of-town, and spent well over $350 in cab fare over the course of my 2-day trip.  Ouch!

In hind-sight, I should have probably done a little more research and made use of the great Public Transit system developed by the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority).  I’ll confess, however, that I usually get lost using any transit system, and didn’t want to be finding my way around with a meeting less than 5 minutes away.

But there’s a new site available that makes getting good directions a breeze.  PublicRoutes.com has developed detailed maps and directions for travellers unfamiliar with Boston to be able to utilize the available public transit system.  They also have the service available in numerous other cities, including Seattle, my hometown. 

A quick search on directions for a well-frequented trip I used to make from my house to the University of Washington resulted in a very clear set of directions, complete with a clear iconic representation of which portions of the trip were on bus vs. on foot.

The next time I travel to Boston, I’ll definitely make use of PublicRoutes.com to plan my trip ahead of time and save the $350 in cab fare that literally went out the window.

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I’ll be on the road to Digital Hollywood in LA from June 11 through the 14th, as we will be exhibiting stashSpace.com’s high-quality in-network video-sharing solution for broadband providers.

Many of the cable & dsl partners we are exploring partnerships with will be speaking at the event, and we thought it would be a good time to expose more of the industry to our unique consumer offering in the personal video space.

If you happen to be attending the show, please stop by!  We will be in booth 11, and would love to talk with you!

Category Uncategorized | No Comments »