Showing posts with label make extra cash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label make extra cash. Show all posts

Saturday, August 25, 2012

So how's the Norwex? And how about that writing?

I know it's been a long time since I talked about what I've been doing with Norwex. I started selling in February of this year, and yes I'm still doing it. I've hesitated talking much about it, since I really wanted this site to remain personal, and not too sales-pitchy. That's just me :)

Anyway, I started out strong and had a great couple of months of lining up parties, making sales and have had some decent commissions come in. I also had some dud parties that cost me more than I made, but thankfully those were few and far between. I learned some lessons fast the hard way and I came to the conclusion that I'm a terrible sales person! Haha. 

I still LOVE Norwex, and I believe in it 100%. I use it everywhere in my home and find it superior to anything else I've tried that's similar. That said, I just am not motivated enough to talk people into throwing parties for me. I can do it. I have done it. I just psych myself out that my friends, family and their friends and family are going to start screening their calls and avoiding me! Haha. Why do I fear that? Because I over-analyze EVERYTHING. And yes, I do mean everything.

Anyway, when I've put myself out there, I've done pretty well. I find that the more motivated I am, the better I explain things and the better my hostesses do. There is the occasional exception to this, but for the most part that's held true. I think I'll continue to do it, but to what degree, I'm not sure. I could see myself being successful with it and doing quite well financially, but that does have some drawbacks for me. The first drawback is that I'm definitely out of my comfort zone! Another is that I am less available to the kids and they hate that. It doesn't kill them though, much as they think so. And then there is that fact that I'm worried about the other dream I have going unfulfilled. Not that I've done much with that anyway. Okay, I'll admit it now, I'm a coward and have done little to nothing with that dream.

I'm filled constantly with all of these story ideas. They even keep me awake at times as I plot them out in my head. I should be running downstairs when that happens and start pounding away at the keys here. But I don't. Usually I'll just go take a Benedryl to knock myself out so I can sleep (hah!). It took me a while to admit why. I've said in the past that it's because don't have enough free time and I get cranky when I'm interrupted while writing (and that's certainly true), but I could still do it and just try harder to be patient to overcome those things. I've come to accept, as I've made myself think about it, that what the real issue here is that I'm afraid to fail. What if I'm not as good as I think I am? Or rather, as good as others have told me I am (and I so want to believe them)? 

If I take the time to write those stories, and flesh them out into novels and nothing happens, then I feel like I've taken that time away from my family for nothing. I hate that idea. And I so don't want to let anyone down either. But then I keep telling myself that I'm letting them down by not following through with my dream. If you don't try, you already failed, right?

So now comes the question of which road to focus on, and how much time should be dedicated to each pursuit? Is it possible to balance family, writing and sales? Or does one of those things have to go? Obviously the family part is non-negotiable and I wouldn't want to lose that part of my life anyway (it's the best part!). For me, this isn't an easy decision. Any thoughts, ideas or motivating phrases for me? I can certainly use all I can get right now!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Big Things Are Happening!

Many of you know I've been been exploring money-making opportunities over the last few years. I've also talked about ways to save money and "Go Green." I've been wanting to talk about my latest endeavor for weeks, but made myself wait to see how things panned out first. I tend to be skeptical (though I prefer the term "realistic") about a lot of things, especially when it comes to making money. I don't believe in "Get Rich Quick" schemes and I tend to believe that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Well, a few weeks ago a friend of mine invited me to a party. Actually, she invited me to 3 parties total. I really didn't want to go. It was a home sales type thing and I just don't get into that. I've tried Avon and ended up spending more than I made (that and I had a really hard time pushing the cosmetics because I felt like I was telling people they needed those products because they weren't attractive they way they looked now! Hah!) Anyway, I avoided things like pampered chef, tupperware, the jewelry parties and all of that. I felt that people could easily get by without these things and couldn't bring myself to convince them they needed them, though I do believe that many of these companies do make good products overall.

These parties I was trying to avoid were for Norwex. I finally went to one after my friend called me several times on the day of the 3rd party. I told her that even if I went, not to expect anything because I just don't get into things like this. She said that was fine, and just hoped I would come and see what it was all about. Well, I did, and it changed my mind in a big way!

Norwex is all about earth-friendly, chemical free and effective products. They have a micro-fiber cloth infused with micro-silver (which never launders out of the cloth) that does incredible things. I had to see it with my own eyes to believe it. It does these things using the cloth and water. I watched butter being wiped off a mirror and within seconds that mirror was more streak-free than anything I've ever seen using various cleaners and many paper towels. I watched it wipe up all trace of a raw chicken breast in seconds and it doesn't transfer that nastiness over when you take that same cloth and clean another area. Incredible!

Anyway, I don't want to sound like an infomercial. Needless to say I was impressed. I saw myself getting rid of my sanitizing cleaners, using much fewer paper towels and getting my cleaning done much faster with less headache. I also saw myself being able to talk about these products with friends without feeling like I was pushing something unnecessary on them. I felt so good about what I learned of this company, that a few weeks after that party, I signed up to be a consultant with them.

This is a great opportunity for those looking to make extra money to supplement lost income, or even to become their main income. It's not without effort though. You have to put yourself out there to be successful. You have to be comfortable talking with people, or at least seem like you're comfortable ;-)

Norwex talks about honesty and integrity in their core values--something that impressed me. They're generous to work for, they're generous to their party hostesses too! They also back up what they sell, which is a huge deal for me.

So how has this worked out for me? Well, so far I've done very well and am already coming out ahead in the expense/profit aspect. I've got several avenues I can explore to take this further and I'm getting more and more excited the more I use the products I'm now selling. Win-win!

If you want more information on Norwex and their products, feel free to check out my website: nelliebutler.norwex.biz.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Shadow Of a Man


First of all, Happy Veteran's Day! I'd like to thank all the men and woman who have and are serving our country and protecting our rights. May God be with you always!

I decided some time in the middle of the night last night that I wasn't going to let my short stories sit in a drawer, gathering dust anymore. So I decided to put them on HubPages to share them, along with a little bit of the history behind them. There's even a chance that I can make money from doing something else that I love! So if you want to read some short fiction, the link for the first one is below here. It's an appropriate read for this holiday :)

Shadow Of a Man
*The picture here is of the war veteran this story was written for*

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Want More Money-Saving Tips?


There's another blogging mama out there who's got her system down when it comes to saving money. She's got her own website called The Savings Geek and I promise you that it's one you want to check out. If you do, I promise you'll learn how to save big bucks on things you already buy!

I also highly recommend checking out Swag Bucks. I use them for my search engine (the results are comparable to google) and I earn points for doing what I already do: researching on the internet. I recently acquired enough points to trade in for $25 transferred to my paypal account. Not bad for doing nothing. And that's not all they offer, by any means.

I'm still earning money on Youdata, too. It's not a lot, but it's so easy, and it's totally worth the few moments it takes to do it.

Those are my savings/earnings tips for now. Now go check it out!

Monday, April 13, 2009

A Check Came in Today!

I don't know if you remember or not, but I took part in an hour long panel for SurveySpot about a month ago. I had some trouble with the links, but finally got it to go through. All I had to do was shop at a smaller Walmart, rather than the larger one I usually go to. The payout? $50--and the check came today!

That's the most money I've made from a survey site so far, since I started checking them out last August, and it was pretty easy. They don't offer a referral program, like some of the others, but they are backed by the Better Business Bureau. I don't see the higher paying opportunities from them all that often, but I've received invites for a few of them. This was the first time I decided to do it though. The downside of SurveySpot is that you can end up wasting your time if you start a paying survey and then are found ineligible a few minutes into it. When this happens, all you get for your time is a sweepstakes entry.

I've also been earning money with Youdata weekly. It's not a lot, but it's consistent and literally only takes seconds of my time. I've earned about $10 each for Inbox Dollars and Send Earnings, which isn't a lot, but I haven't done much with them, to be honest. So those were for minimal effort. Cash out is $30 for those, so I've got a ways to go, haha! Anyway, these survey companies are not a get rich quick avenue by any means, but they can be good for some extra spending money.

In other news, I tried out the free redbox promo code for today and it worked! If you haven't checked this out for free DVD rentals, do it now! The code is good until midnight tonight and the DVD has to be returned to Redbox by 9:00 p.m. tomorrow or the charge is $1 per day.

I just thought I'd share these tidbits with you! I'm still looking for legitimate ways to make money from home, and of course, how to save it. Best of luck to you all!

Friday, April 10, 2009

My Very Own Domain

I played around with the idea for the past two months, but wasn't quite convinced that I needed to drop the "blogspot" from my web address. Finally, with some prompting and convincing information from my new friend and website owner: Mom on the Random, I did it!

All the same content is here, and I'll continue to work to make it better. Only the address has changed. I've discovered that I love doing this and plan to do it for a long time to come. So it was definitely worth the paltry $7.69 I paid GoDaddy for one year. It was going to cost $10.19 total, but I used my new Swag Bucks search tool for GoDaddy promo codes and saved over $2 (I also earned some Swag Bucks for doing the search).

It took some time to get the domain working here (I'm not very technically advanced--haha), but I did find some good instructions on this website. I hear it's much faster, though a few dollars more, to buy your domain directly from Blogger--and they'll even set it up for you automatically. I didn't know about this until after the fact, but I figured out how to do it anyway and saved money, so it's all good :)

In other news, I also found a link that tells me supposedly how much my blog is worth. According to this site it's worth $495. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but it was sure cool to see it. Haha! It just takes a moment, if you want to check out your own website on there for fun, too.

I also joined the NetworkedBlogs on Facebook to help promote my site. If you're on Facebook, feel free to follow me there:)

So, all in all, I've had a pretty productive couple of days. Maybe things are looking up? Stay strong and take care of yourselves! Happy Good Friday!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Scams and more scams

As cautious as I am, I suppose even I miss things. I decided to look further into the company I mentioned to you all not too long ago. It was called My-Data-Team. When I read the review, it said that there was another company by the same name who had a bad reputation, so I didn't focus too much on the name, but the detailed review I found on them.

Since then, I've continued to look into it and found another report on them on Reviewopedia. One part of that review says:

"I wouldn't call My-Data-Team.com a scam as they do provide some links to freelance resources and show you how to get jobs doing things for webmasters and bloggers such as getting paid to write articles.

They are different enough from the common data entry programs to not be called a scam but their main section on global data entry is still a training system that deals with affiliate marketing."


So while it may not be a scam, perhaps they aren't all they claim to be. I took their link off my "Make Money" listings and am going to modify my posting about them. I'm doing this because I'm not going to refer anyone to what I myself am not willing to try. That would be bad business on my part.

I found several sites that you can look up scams on. I'm going to give you the links here, so you can do your own homework too. I advise you to always check things out for yourself. Don't just take anyone's word for it, no matter how convincing they sound. I'm going to continue looking for legitimate work at home opportunities, as I know there are some good ones out there.

Reviewopedia
ScamXposer
Ripoff Report
Better Business Bureau

If ever you're being asked to pay money for something, I would advise you to go to any or all of those sites to find out more about the company you're thinking of paying. If it turns out to be legit, it will only make you feel better in the end. If they aren't, then you won't be out that money and will be patting yourself on the back.

Best of luck to you! I'm going to keep on looking for us all:)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Shopping for Money

I can't believe I didn't know about this before now. I mean, I'm always looking for ways to make some money, and I've tried my hand at many things, but it seems there's always something else out there. Well, I'm no longer in ignorance of this particular avenue.

I received an invitation last week to join a company called Shoppers Hotline. I tend to be cautious by nature, so before I even looked further into what the company was offering me, I did a search about it online. They checked out!

So I went to their website and filled out their questionnaire. I thought I was done for when they asked me if my phone was a land line or digital. Well, as of a few weeks ago, it's digital. When I clicked on that option, it asked me if I was sure, because that could possibly exclude me from being eligible to participate. It turns out, since I was willing to use my computer to run their software, I was again included.

What software? What is all this about? Well, I'm going to get paid for doing my shopping. No, I'm not teasing. They sent me a scanner, I installed the software on my computer, and so from now on when I make my shopping trips I will scan my purchases when I get them home. I will answer a few simple questions when they come up, let them know where I shopped, and consequently I will be awarded points that will be redeemed for cash on a debit card. I also signed up for the opportunities they offered for more points by telling them when I do or don't get a prescription and let them see how I use my internet (much like the Nielson Netratings Panel only this pays a bit more). Since I'm not doing anything fishy with my internet, I have no problems with this.

Anyway, I guess that if you have a land line phone then you don't have to install anything on your computer (unless you were going for the extra points), you would plug the scanner into your phone line instead. Easy, easy! And if you decide for whatever reason it's not for you, they include a free shipping return label.

Did I mention that this program is entirely free? I didn't pay a cent. This isn't a get rich quick (or anytime) scheme. This is just a way for you to make some extra money in this bad economy. It's not difficult, it's free and I don't really have to change my habits--only add the scanning step to them. They give you 40 points each week you participate in just the scanning portion.

So, I'm going to give this a shot. I got the scanner today, installed it (easy!) and completed my registration. I then clicked on their "Get More Rewards" tab and Viola! I'm ready to go!

So if any of you are interested, go fill out their questionnaire to see if you qualify (you can find the option to email them about your interest to join). Or for an even faster response, you can call this special number: 1-877-999-2949, ask for operator 10 and tell them member #041119255 referred you (They pay for referrals, so you can tell your family and friends). There's nothing special about my family (well, not to them anyway), and we qualified. Give it a shot and make some extra money from home!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Making Money from Home

Well, folks, making money from home isn't easy, and don't let anyone ever tell you it is. There are a lot of scams out there, and you have to weed through those to find the good opportunities. A lot of the working at home jobs are in sales, and I'm not much of a sales person (though I could be, I suppose, if I had the time and wanted to put the effort into it).

Some of the work-at-home opportunities I've been alerted to just aren't feasible for me with four very noisy little ones at home. But I'll pass on the information to you. These are call center jobs you do from home. They used to be sent overseas, but these companies realized they could still save money by letting people do these jobs from home.

The time is dedicated, so you can't have a lot of background noise going on while you do it (exactly the reason why I can't do it). Apparently you can set your own hours, so that's a real plus. I guess if I wanted to go to bed later, or get up earlier, I could do this, but I really value the little sleep I get with a baby in our home! Haha

Here's the links to those sites (thank you to Jody Connolly, for sending them my way):

Alpine Access
LiveOps
Arise
West at Home


On another note, I've made a few bucks off the survey sites (you can find the links to the ones I use on this site), and I also made a bit from youdata (which they transferred right into my paypal account at the end of the week.

My most promising opportunity ($50 from surveyspot for shopping at a location I've never been to before) has hit a glitch, in that I had problem with the links, but finally got through to participate in the 60 minute panel. There was an issue in the end where the link took me back to surveyspot and mistakenly said I didn't qualify for the survey (which obviously I did, and had already completed it), so I've emailed their member services and hopefully it will be taken care of. They are backed by the Better Business Bureau, so I have high hopes.

I've been checking out some of the employment websites we got at the agency last week. One that is all for those who want to work from home is called Rat Race Rebellion. They try to check out all their opportunities before listing them, but wisely caution you to be careful and check things out for yourself before signing up for anything (especially jobs that you have to pay for).

That's all for today. More to come.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Free Samples and Advertising

So I found out about a really cool program last night. This program is beneficial for both those just looking for ways to save and make money and get stuff for free, and also for you blog/website owners looking to generate more income. I put all the ads down below here so you wouldn't have to search for them.

First, about the free stuff. You just follow the links to the sponsors and they will give you free samples of their products:

EatBetterAmerica
FamilyPlanning
Warm Delights




There were so many offers to choose from, I couldn't possibly list them all here. If you have any in particular deals you are looking for, let me know and I'll be happy to check for you.

Now for the money-making opportunities:

Ipsos



Now you site owners are probably all wondering where I got all these, and there were many to choose from. I got them all from Logical Media. I was approved as an affiliate for them and now have access to more offers for my readers and also more revenue for me! They also pay for referrals, if you sign up with them.

So get busy saving and making money!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Another Way to Make a Little Money

I found another way to make a little cash from home, using your computer. If you have an email account and a cell phone with text messaging service, then you qualify to take part. The company's name is YouData (youdata.com). When you sign up with them you are given ads to look at, and paid for each one. You don't have to follow through with any of the offers, just look at them and you get paid. They give you a referral link so you can make money off of others signing up under you, too. It's not a whole lot of money, but any little bit helps and it only takes minutes to make a couple dollars.

To make things even easier, they also offer an email template, with much of the information I have here, for you to send to your friends and family to sign up under you. There's nothing to lose here.

By creating a MeFile at YouData.com, I now control what ads I see and when I see them. I can even put their widget on my desktop so I don't have to login to their site to see the ads I'll be paid for looking at. I can use the funds to buy music and video online, donate to charities, give to my favorite blogs and websites, or keep the change myself and do whatever I want with it.

It's real. They pay. You should check it out.

Click this link to sign up. My MeFile ID, nell79, in the "Referral Code" will tell them I sent you.

http://www.youdata.com/join/nell79


You should also know that they have excellent customer service. When I had trouble receiving the activation code via text message, I let them know and they worked quickly and efficiently to set my account up. I'd say this one is definitely worth your time to check out.

Take care!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Let's Talk Video Games

Whoa! I can't believe how expensive these things are when you buy them new! My sister bought my son a $50 video game and within a week it was toast. My daughter, two at the time, thought it looked pretty tasty and tested her new chompers out on it. My son was devastated and I vowed I would tell everyone to only get used games from then on out (we were already doing this ourselves).

The cool thing about the used video game market is that most of the video game stores will give you cash or credit for the old games you're tired of playing. They also offer membership cards which will give you more credit on each item traded in, and also gives you a lower price on the used gaming products you buy in their stores. We've taken full advantage of this and saved mega bucks. Our kids don't care if the games they're getting once belonged to someone else, so long as they're getting one and it works--and all games are guaranteed by the stores.

Our favorite places to go when we have a little cash to burn, or if we want to unload our old games, are Game Crazy and Game Stop. They each offer a one year subscription (with membership) to a gaming magazine (different ones), so your kids--or even you--can see what's new and sometimes even get coupon offers inside them.

One nice thing that Game Crazy does is fix your scratched video games. If the scratches don't go too deep, they have a pretty good success rate. We've saved many a game this way, and we got it done for free with the membership. If you don't have a membership, last I checked it was only a dollar for them to fix each disc for you. They also will do CDs and DVDs, so that's pretty cool.

If you're not into trading for games, or you don't care about memberships, you can also find games for good prices on Video Gamesby clicking that link for Amazon. Ebay is also a great place to either sell your old games or buy some new-to-you games.

Don't forget that you can also save or make money on your video games or equipment by going to the pawn shop, too. If you go this route, don't necessarily take the first offer they give you. It doesn't hurt to ask for a better deal. What's the worst they can tell you? "No"?

Anyway, these are my tips on cheap video game entertainment. Make a buck or save a buck. Do with them what you will.


Friday, March 6, 2009

Working from Home

If any of you are like me, then this economy has probably put a big dent in your cash flow. We're lucky in that my husband still has a job though his hours, and therefore his paycheck have definitely been cut. I count ourselves lucky though--there are plenty of other people who weren't so lucky and lost their jobs.

I've been looking for more Work at Home opportunities, and it seems they're being advertised everywhere. Before I feel comfortable listing them though, I try to research them, because the last thing I want is to be responsible for referring someone to a scam, but I still caution you to do some homework of your own before signing up for anything.

I found a couple of sites that I'm willing to share here. One of them is OGC Work at Home Directory. The other site is called My-Data-Team (Not to be confused with My Data Team with no hyphens). I found a thorough, and more importantly, independent review on My-Data-Team on a site called Data Entry at Home, where you can also find other work from home jobs listed.

You can view the other job opportunities I've found so far by looking in my labels here, or scrolling down to my Make Money links on this site. I wish you all luck in your pursuits and welcome any input or knowledge you may have on this subject. In the meantime, I'll continue my research in this area:)

*After further investigation, while I won't say it's a scam, I wouldn't recommend My-Data-Team to my readers. While it may not be a scam, it may not be all it claims to be. If you have experience with this company, please feel free to share it here with us.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Blogging Shmogging

I have to say that I do enjoy writing here. However, there is a not so fun side--and that's working to get my blog on the radar--but it's not too tedious. I've spent a lot of time promoting my blog on Link Referral and I've signed up with Traffic Swarm, Technorati, Easy Hits4U, Traffic Splash, I Love Hits, Dragon Surf, Blog Top List, Blog Catalog, and Ongsono. I've also been promoting myself on eHow when it's relevant, and posting my link in my article resources there when my article has to do with something I've discussed here.

I found a new site for website/blog owners called The Website Owner Zone, where you can make connections with others and promote your blog. It looks interesting and I'm trying all I can to get the word out there, since I am hoping to eventually make money doing this.

My husband is talking about looking for a second job until his first one's hours pick back up. I really hate this idea, since it would mean we wouldn't see him much. My family is so important to me, they're all I have that really matters. When you grow up the way I did, you never take that for granted. They're what I've always wished for, and I still can't believe how lucky I am to have them.

But anyway, off the mushy stuff. I was just really hoping I could help him, and others too, by starting up my writing again and making a profit off the advertising and affiliate programs. I'm using Google Adsense, AdBrite, and Amazon. I've also applied for the Ebay affiliate program. I hesitated, but figured it couldn't hurt to put a paypal donate button here too. These are all places I found while researching how to get a blog off the ground.

I also found a useful website called Self Promotion. On there, the site owner gives you lots of useful tips, including a way to find out if you're listed yet with the big search engines. I found that I was with most of them, but not with Open Directory, so I submitted my site for approval there, too.

I also learned that I could submit my eHow articles to the search engines and to Pingomatic for driving traffic there, too. So I think I've been accomplishing quite a lot, and I'm happy to share these tips with all of you so that you don't have to do all the digging:)

One downside of all of this work is that I feel like I'm dropping those juggling balls when it comes to the homemaker side of things. I've told my family that I know I'm not quite as available as I was before, but once I've got this up and running, it will be mostly about maintaining. I hope that's right. I'm wondering how long it takes to get it up in the air though.

I'm enjoying writing again though. It's such a great release and even if this doesn't all go the way I'm hoping it will, I won't regret it. Plus, if I help anyone with what I'm doing here, that's payment in itself. If I can make money from home doing what I love that is a bonus!

I did have a company call me, I believe they said they were "Orange Soda." The guy was really nice and offered his company's services to promote my blog, though he said it would be easier to do with a website. When I asked him how much the services would cost though, there was no way I could do that. I'll just have to try this all on my own. So far, everything I've done here hasn't cost me a penny, and I like it that way! Saving money is definitely a plus!

Well, good luck to all you bloggers and siteowners who are working to promote your sites! I hope this has been helpful for you. I'll be looking for more ways to help us out here. Until then.....

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

List Items You Want to Sell for Free--(Discovered by Accident)

Did you know you can list stuff you want to sell for free? So you get to keep more of the money you make off of an item because you're not paying for an advertisement. I actually got an unplanned lesson in this, though I ended up being grateful for it later. I have to tell you how this all happened:

We have a purebred Black Lab. Her name is Shonie and she's nearing six years old now. When we bought her, we couldn't afford to pay full price for her, so the guy we bought her from made a deal with us. He really liked her bloodlines, so he asked that we let him breed her one time, and he would cut the price in half.

Since he was willing to work with us and seemed like a responsible breeder (he didn't even want to consider breeding her until she was at least two), we went for it. There was no way we could walk away from her after seeing her, so we were hooked. She's beautiful! So, long story short, we never got her spayed. She was pretty good about sticking around, and she's also an alpha female, so even when we did the agreed upon breeding, she had to be held in place since she thought she was supposed to...um...be the one on top--sorry for the visual folks. Haha!

Now, let's fastforward a few years. Since Shonie hadn't been very cooperative with the male, and we kept a pretty close watch on her when she was in heat, we hadn't rushed to get her spayed, mainly for financial reasons.

I admit though, I watched Oprah, and saw that show she did on dogs. So I was thinking maybe I should stop populating the earth with more puppies when there are so many dogs out there needing to be adopted. I had the plan that as soon as we had some extra cash (which wasn't looking like it would be soon with the bad economy starting), I would take her in and get her spayed.

God had other plans. Shonie went into heat again. I wasn't sure at first, but thought I noticed the signs. I let her out one afternoon, and then opened the windows so I could hear her. I sat by the window and started to nurse my baby. A few minutes later, I heard yelping and jumped up quickly, with my poor baby trying to figure out why her meal was interrupted.

I started yelling like a maniac when I saw she was....um....connected.....to another dog. "Why?!" I screamed. Why was this happening? What was I going to do now? I put down the baby, told my preschooler to stay there with her little sister for a moment, and ran outside. I was going to get that dog. I noticed he was wearing a collar and planned on giving his owner a call.

Turns out, the dog traveled three miles to get to our house, went around to our back yard and laid in wait for our dog to come out to greet him. I don't know how I missed him when I let her out. The good news was (yes, there was good news) he was a purebred Chocolate Lab with decent bloodlines.

We were able to sell every puppy without paying a cent in advertising. I did a search on free online classifieds. The popular one in my area that sold better for me is KSL Classifieds, but I also got calls from listings I made on: Go County, Kaango, Kijiji, Superads and Domestic Sale.

You can use these links I've given you, or you can do a search for free online classifieds in your area by typing in "free online classifieds" and your state. We sold all our pups in less than two weeks from the time we listed. We also made some much needed cash at a time when we definitely needed it. See? Even if we don't always understand God's plans for us, He knows what He's doing:)

So, the point of this post is: if you're looking to make some money from selling something you have at home, don't pay for that ad, list it for free!

Stay strong and have faith!

*I do have to add one caution and that's to watch out for scammers. There are some people who lurk in these sites and will tell you they're from out of state, working in some profession or other that will make you think they're honorable, and they'll offer you a deal that's too good to be true--because it is. They'll offer to give you more than your asking price, ask that you keep some for your trouble and ask you to send the rest back to them. It's a scam and you won't be making anything. In fact, you'll be losing whatever you send them, plus whatever the fees are for the bad check. So be leery of email-only inquiries, or Relay calls.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

In the Interest of Making Money

Today I've been mainly focusing my efforts on getting this blog off the ground. Why? Because done right, it can bring in a pretty decent income. The last few days I've been searching what seems like every inch of the internet on how to make a successful blog (meaning one that earns me some much needed cash).

There's no simple answer on what makes a blog successful. You have to talk about something people want to read about. You have to know what you're talking about (or eventually people will find you out and lose interest), and I think you also have to enjoy doing it.

Once you have a topic and the knowledge to get going on it, you have to find where you want your blog. Obviously, I chose Blogger (http://www.blogger.com/) and so far I'm happy with my choice. There are plenty of free sites to publish on, and you get decent tools to build your page with.

Those first steps are certainly the easiest part. After you get going on your page, you can monetize your site with adsense. Google puts in ads that sponsor your site, and that's where you earn revenue. The only thing left is to get people to come. It's not as simple as sending out an email to all your friends and family, telling them to come see your site.

Before you get them to come though, you have to have something to keep them coming. It's a good idea to have your site ready before you open the floodgates to traffic. You have to have a friendly layout, good widgets and enough information to keep them reading. Here are some sites I found to help you on the gadgets needed for blogging http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com/ and the know-how to make it profitable http://easycashrake.blogspot.com/.

The next step is you have to list with search engines. Some sites will do multiple listings (such as http://www.submitexpress.com/, http://www.selfpromotion.com/ and http://www.addme.com/). I found a lot of useful information about web marketing on http://www.philiphumbert.com/WebMarketing.htm.

Be sure, once your site is ready and listed, that you don't leave it at that. You still need to network. Find forums to discuss your blog. You can connect with other bloggers and get your site known. Here is a site giving you ideas on how to do that: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1388889/how_to_boost_your_blogs_popularity_.html?cat=59

None of this is really difficult to do, but it does take time. I think the hardest part for me was the fact that I do still have to perform my mommy duties while working on this. But once it gets going off the ground, it should be much easier to maintain.

The best part of all of this is that I get to make money doing two things I already love doing: researching and writing.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

How to Make a Some Extra Cash at Home

There are quite a few things that you can do for some extra spending cash, and this post is going to focus on just a few of them. First, don't panic. You need to have a clear head so that you can consider your options. Honestly, when things started going south in my family, I had to fight the instinct to shut myself off from everyone.

There are so many things you can do at home. If you have writing skills you can generate income by doing freelance work. Here are some places to start:
http://www.ehow.com/
http://beaguide.about.com/applynow.htm
http://workathomedesk.com/directory/writing-editing-proofreading-work-at-home-jobs.htm
http://www.today.com/register-new/.

Aluminum cans can generate a little extra cash. You can just save what you use at home, or go out and collect them to get even more. If you want to know where you can cash them in, Earth911 is a good place to start (http://earth911.com/).

If you're not interested in going that route, try going through your old things. It's not quite yard sale season in my neck of the woods, but you can sell on ebay all year long. If you have a digital camera, a computer, and items you and your family aren't using anymore, set up an account on ebay and make some money off of them! I found a good article with some tips on selling for ebay on eHow by static404: http://www.ehow.com/how_4773666_sell-ebay-success-easy-steps.html.

You can also do surveys from home. This doesn't generate a lot of cash, but it can definitely help. I've found these legitimate companies:
Sendearnings
Inbox Dollars
Tiktik Cash
Surveyspot

The easiest $5 I ever made was from Nielson Netratings Panel. All you have to do is download their software (no malware included, I promise) and enter in the information for your household. Then, when you use your computer, a window comes up asking who's using it, you click your name and then go about your business as usual. Every three months I get a $5 check for doing practically nothing. Plus, they send me free entries into their weekly sweepstakes for my participation.

So, these are a few of my ideas to help you through this hard time. Feel free to let me know of any others you have learned. I wish you all the best!

!