There is online income, then there is online passive income. I like the idea of doing work once, then getting paid for it over and over. Last month I read about writing articles for eHow can be a source for passive income.
Today I completed two different surveys, which will pay me a combined $5.25. It took me about 30 minutes for the two. If I had taken the same amount of time and wrote an article for eHow, I could be making passive income from the article for as long as it can generate page views.
I am not a writer by any means, but I have written a total of 3 articles so far. The income comes when people read your article, then click on Adsense ads on the article page. This is hard work for me, but I am getting to enjoy it. I am an architectural restoration carpenter by trade, so I am going to be working on some articles in the home maintenance and repair genre. I also like to cook, so I will go there also.
There is an excellent ebook "How to earn Passive Income at eHow.com Residual Income for Web Content Writers" written by Writergig who is currently making over $1500.00 per month with her eHow articles! I bought this because it was recommended by a blogger I respect and it didn't dissapoint. It's $25.00, but I figure the tips and pointers in there will pay back that investment in no time. Maria really delivers a lot of information in short, quick read reference book.
Check out eHow.com and see if you get excited about the possibilities like I did. Click here to view more details
Passive Income- Writing for Ehow
SurveySavvy.com provides another income stream
I have belonged to SurveySavvy.com for about six months. They are another reputable survey company that pays regularly. It usually takes about three or four weeks to receive a check once you request one. I don't get a lot of invitations to complete surveys from this company, but when I do, they usually pay well. You can not only make money by completing surveys, but also by referring other people (just like I am doing here!). Registration is simple and straightforward-fill out a short profile form and you are ready to start receiving surveys.
A Review of Opinion Outpost for Surveys
Most of the paid survey sites you see out there are just rubbish sites that you need to sign up for a service or subscription in order to get paid. But over the course of the last year I have found a few reputable sites I'll share with you. For full disclosure, I do get a referral fee if you join through my link, but know that I regularly receive money from completing surveys through these guys, they are an honest straight-up operation.
Opinion Outpost is the one of the main sites I use for completing surveys. Surveys are not going to make you rich overnight, but they are a nice way to make some bucks while watching a football game, or when you are waking up. I love to tell my wife when she wakes up that I made $3.00 already that morning! This site pays by check when you have reached $5.00 in earnings, and they arrive within a couple of weeks.
We use these little checks only for paying off debt. We refer to them as "snowflakes" (referring to Dave Ramsey's snowball method of paying down debt. Snowflakes start to make a snowball....get it?) It's our head game we use to keep motivated. I'll share some more survey sites with you soon.
Mechanical Turk starts the flow of money
Needing to start somewhere, I began doing projects or "HITs" at Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk site. This is a good way to get your feet wet making some bucks online, but it is a lot of work for not a lot of money. The site allows you to accept projects that require human intelligence to catagorize, and describe, for instance.
I did it quite a bit over the last few months while I was drinking coffee and waking up at 4:30AM. Yes, I am a freak that has always gotten up at that time since I was a little kid.
The registration process is simple and straight forward, and within a half an hour you can be completing projects and banking some coin. You need to have earned a minimum of$10.00 before you can withdraw via Amazon Payments. The money goes straight into your bank account in just a couple of days. I have received two payments without a hitch.
Again, a good place to start, but be prepared to work. This is not a passive income stream by any means, but a good beginning income stream to start making some bucks online.
A new chapter begins...
It's December 4, 2008... the first day of my new blog. I want explore the various ways of making money online with the goal of being financially independent. I want to chronicle my journey from buying every program in the world and not doing anything, to making the baby steps toward making some money online.
I have been following a lot of personal finance blogs for five or six months now, and I finally have gotten up the courage to give it a go. So follow along and with the help of you readers, we can weed out the rubbish from the legit ways to be financially independent.