A Simple Start-up Guide to SocialSpark at Monday, July 28, 2008

*This was originally posted on Boink

I finally gave in. After so many invites sent in all my email addresses, I finally signed up for SocialSpark, one of IZEA's innovations aside from PayPerPost. I was pretty hesitant at first because I noticed how different the site is and how it may be too complicated for me. I usually just sign up and get a blog approved but there are a few steps a greenhorn must do before starting to enjoy this website.

First, why should you join SocialSpark? My answer is, it does add more to your blogging experience. It offers opportunities for bloggers who want to earn more money through their blogs, it has some forums where bloggers can interact, and most importantly, it works as a social networking site for bloggers, where you can add friends, give them props, and drive traffic to your blog.

You get all these in just one site that is SocialSpark. They also feature:

-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
-100% Transparency
-100% Real Opinions
-100% Search Engine Friendly

However, before you jump right into the bandwagon, I'd like to offer some help in understanding how their approval process works. First is a given: you have to have a blog which preferably has been online for more than 3 months and has updated posts. Here are the steps:

l1. CLaim your blog: This would require you to copy and paste a code onto your blog. This should detect and verify ownership of your blog.

2. Add ITK: I had difficulty understanding what this step required me to do. Basically, you also copy and paste a javascript code onto your blog. This is what they call the Izea Tool kit. This is different from the first code when claiming because an ITK detects the Izea ranks, number of visitors and hits of your blog. In short, it serves another purpose.

3. Verify: This is the part where all you need to do is wait. I am guessing that a lot of people are joining SocialSpark everyday so my verification took almost two weeks.

The long wait for verification shouldn't be a problem though. This is important only for accepting opportunities as you may not take any without being verified.

However, you may start adding friends, accepting invites, as well as giving them props while the verification is yet to be done. This way, you get to know which advertisers have the most number of opportunities and you can drive other bloggers to your blog/s.

SocialSpark is an excellent site for bloggers who want to monetize their blogs and have fun while doing it.

Great Day at Monday, July 21, 2008

What is a great day for Pika? It's when you see all your opportunities approved and some earnings just came into your PayPal Account. It's a great day! What makes you smile and say, it's a great day?

My First PayPal Withdrawal: SUCCESS at Friday, July 18, 2008

I am happy to report that my first PayPal withdrawal to my UnionBank EON card was a success! I withdrew the amount of 204USD on Friday, 11 July. PayPal took out their 5USD withdrawal fee. I was hoping that the money would come in Tuesday or Wednesday because I've read from other blogs that they received their withdrawals after only two business days. Sad for me, it took 5 business days for it to be transferred to my EON account.



I was checking my online account every single day, waiting for the amount to come in. I even checked through the ATM this afternoon and it still wasn't there. As per PayPal's website, the standard withdrawal timeframs is 5-7 business day which means you cannot report a missing withdrawal until after the 7th working day. I was starting to worry but again, it was a success.


Some things I learned from this:

1. You can withdraw the amount even if you have not finished the Expanded Use Process. I did this and what happened was they just deducted the amount I withdrew from my daily withdrawal limit. I do, however, recommend immediate confirmation of your card after you add them to your PayPal account.

2. Stick to the timeframe. The other bloggers might have just been lucky.

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PayPal and Phishing: You're account is Limited? NOT at Friday, July 18, 2008

Have you received an email saying your PayPal account has been restricted or is limited? Are you being asked by that email to log in and confirm your information? Did they ask you for your credit card information as well as your bank account?

If your answer is YES to all of the above then I suggest you contact PayPal ASAP, like NOW. (Call: +1-402-935-2050) You have been a victim of an internet scam called PHISHING.


From Wikipedia:

Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from PayPal, eBay, Youtube or online banks are commonly used to lure the unsuspecting. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging,^[1] and it often directs users to enter details at a website. Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users.^[2] Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical security measures.

Here are the steps to prevent yourself from being a victim:

Sample of a Phishing email I received

1. Check if the email is coming from SERVICE@paypal or SERVICEINTL@paypal.com. These are the only official PayPal service email addresses.

2. The email should address you by your FULL NAME as it appears on your PayPal account. Most phishing emails would start by saying 'Dear PayPal member, Dear eBay member' That should automatically raise a red flag.

3. The only time that you should be entering your information on PayPal is a) upon sign up and b) if you are changing or adding that piece of information. They won't ask you to add it just for any reason.

4. Don't be fooled by the overall look of the site. Most of these sites really look like the original but they're not. There should be visible imprints of fraud like sentences that don't make sense or typographical errors. Make sure you keep an eye on this.

5. Make sure you call or email PayPal or the financial institution before proceeding with the so-called verification process online. Verify and confirm if you indeed have to do what is indicated on the site.

Hope this helps. For questions, post a comment.

Socialize and Get Paid Online! at Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The internet is full of endless possibilities. I've written about getting paid by writing sponsored content. You can also click ads and get paid for it. Getting paid after reading emails has also been proven by a lot of bloggers. I was chatting with my friend Irene earlier and she mentioned that there are really hundreds of sites out there which offer good deals. You just need to have the patience in understanding how each promo works.

Today, I've decided to write about two of my other favorite sites where you can earn money just by socializing online. Yes, they'll pay you for killing time on their site.

MyLOT

I recently revived my account with MyLot. I was referred by another blogger last year. Unfortunately, their site was too cluttered then and I didn't have the patience to go through each links (dayum!) so I [temporarily] abandoned my account.

When I read through other blogs that they are earning through this site, I tried to remember my password and username. Fortunately, I have a list so I was able to access my account. Here's how it works, there are dozens of forums on the site. All you need to do is participate, start your own discussions, upload photos and get paid for it.

This isn't going to be a major money-making engine but you can earn as much as 5USD a day. That's not bad at all. You can earn more through referrals. Try it now! You can sign up here.

YUWIE

Simply put: This is the Myspace and Friendster where you get to earn. You get paid for posting comments, greeting people on their birthday, sending messages, adding more people to your friends' list, even just by viewing other people's profiles and asking them to view yours. Here's a video on how you get paid on Yuwie:



*Both sites pay through PayPal. Will post the payment proof once I've gathered my earnings.

Basic Requirements in Making Money through Blogs at Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Wow! I'm surprised that a lot of people have tried to contact me regarding my blog. The most popular question I've got so far is, 'Is this site for real? Can you really make money just by blogging?' The clear and obvious answer is a big YES! Thanks for visiting my blog by the way. I will be posting more payment proof from several affiliate programs very soon. I have a lot of articles lined up. Didn't find something interesting? You might want to visit the archives too.

Some friends of mine have congratulated me for doing it. And I told them, actually I just started doing this. Like I said in my disclaimer, I am not yet an expert and I have yet to reach that point where advertisers come to me and not the other way around. Still, making a small amount of money is good. Who knew that a blog can pay for a telephone bill, buy you a PSP, or pay for your little sister's tuition?

Yes, these things have happened. There are dozens of bloggers who've written about their first purchases using the money they earned from blogging. When I read them, I got so ecstatic. I signed up for tons of affiliate, PTC and sponsored content sites. This is something I do not recommend to other bloggers who are new to this. Why? You have to meet some basic requirements before you start blogging your way to that first buck. Here's my own list:

1. Aged blog - You don't just have to have a blog. Your site has to be at least 3 months old. Sites do require their members to age their blog before joining.

2. Decent traffic - Later, I will be writing about driving a decent amount of traffic to your blog, the PikaBucks way. I am no expert when it comes to SEO or internet marketing but there are tons of easy ways to drive people to your site. Why is this a requirement? Your advertisers need an audience! Period.

3. PayPal account - The most common question for someone who hasn't heard about monetizing blogs is 'How do I get my Money?' The answer is PayPal. Most affiliate programs send earnings through your PayPal account. That is why it is best to get one and verify it right away.

4. Good Content - Like I said I've signed up for a lot of programs online and let me tell you that I've been rejected more than 5 times now. This is because my blogs where just full of blogorrhea, a common disease bloggers have once in a while. Don't just write about how great your day was when you sat beside your crush at work. Write good content, form an opinion, elicit opinion from readers. After all, in blogging you're not just the writer, you're the Editor-in-chief! You have full control over your content.

5. Find Your Niche - This is something I'm still working on believe it or not. I guess I found the niche for Pikabucks (duh!) and BoobooStrider (entertainment). I still haven't decided what niche Boink should have. It is important to find a niche because this will be the basis for the advertisers if they want their product to be reviewed in your blog.

For example, there was this advertiser who was looking for bloggers to write about a speed-dating site. I grabbed the opportunity despite seeing on the basic requirements that they require women-bloggers only. When it came to having the post approved, it was declined by the advertiser because the post was obviously testosterone driven.

These are the only ones I could think of right now. Will get back to you if something comes up.

Matched.co.uk -- Is Permanent Income possible? at Monday, July 14, 2008

I first heard about Matched.co.uk here. The post said she got paid again just by the site. You know me, show a payment proof and I'm all for it. I signed up that same day and added my three blogs.

Here's what you have to do: first, sign up here. Then, you can add up to 5 blogs or websites. For each blog, you have to upload 5 webpages (meaning your blog entries). You will be asked to choose a category for the advertiser and that's it! Matched.co.uk will start looking for advertisers which will be appropriate for your webpage.

I initially added about 12 webpages. I didn't get any luck until last week when they emailed me saying they have some ads allocated to two of the pages I added. I was ecstatic! You know how much that costs? 3GBP per month/per page! 1GBP is roughly twice a dollar. Let's do some simple math. If I add 3 blogs with 5 approved ads for each page added, that's 3 x 5 x 6USD (estimate) equals about 90USD in one month! They'll pay you after a month of posting that ad.

I don't have a payment proof from my PayPal account right now but click here to see the payment proof that convinced me to join.

Don't forget to sign up HERE.

BlogToProfit: Simple. Fast. Sweet. at Monday, July 14, 2008

There is something different about BlogToProfit. But before we go to that, let me just say that I first thought the site was a scam. For one, the website isn't anything like PPP or those complicated sites. Later I discovered that the reason for this is because they just want to make it simple for us bloggers, so why am I complaining?


BlogToProfit was introduced to me by another blogger-friend. She earned some cash through it though this is not her milking cow on the net just like me. They give you opportunities and you grab them. All you need to do is write something about the advertiser/client and you'll get paid after 2 weeks. I wrote three posts from 19-21 June and was lucky enough to get the payment on the 27 June.



The GOOD: Fast and efficient payment process! They have very lenient rules for posts too.

The not-so-good: Price per link is way too low but this would probably change if the page rank is higher. Also, I got three opportunities and that's it. I haven't received new ones lately.

What is PayPal's Expanded Use Number? at Saturday, July 12, 2008

After getting your Unionbank EON card, you have to add it to your PayPal account. Some people think that just by adding this, they can now access their PayPal balance and make withdrawals. Truth is there is one final step before getting your blog's earnings. It's called the Expanded Use Process.

Simply put, it's a way for PayPal to verify ownership of the card added onto the system. We all know there are tons of people out there who use other people's credit card information online. As a precaution, PayPal does this verification.

Here are the steps to complete this:

1. Add your Credit card

2. PayPal will prompt you to verify your card through the Expanded Use Process

3. PayPal will charge your card $1.95 as authorization. This will be refunded to your PayPal balance within 24 hours from the time you confirm the card.

4. The $1.95 charge will appear on your card as well as a 4-digit Expanded Use Number which would appear as EXPUSE*XXXX. Normally, it takes 3-5 business days for this to appear on the card statement but those who have access online may be able to see it right away.

5. After obtaining the 4-digit code, log in to your PayPal account. Go to PROFILE --> ADD/EDIT CREDIT CARD.


5. Click on ENTER PAYPAL CODE. Then enter the Expanded Use Number. You will receive a confirmation message if the code is correct.

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

DO NOT attempt to guess or put an incorrect Expanded Use Number as it will completely block your card in the PayPal system.

Hope this helps. For questions, post a comment.

PTC: Click and Earn easily at Friday, July 11, 2008

It was my friend Rafols who introduced me to the Paid-To-Click (PTC) phenomenon online. It's easy and you really get paid! Unfortunately, I cannot show you my own payment proof since I still have to hit the minimum withdrawal. Here are two of the PTC programs I trust because they really pay their members.

HOW DOES IT WORK?


Basically, you need to sign up for an account. Each day, they ask you to view several ads by clicking on links. The ad will open up a browser showing the advertiser's website. The ad page needs to be open for 30 seconds. After that, $0.01 will be credited to your account. Easy!

You'll earn more when you refer members. Aside from a referral bonus, you also get a portion of their earnings. The more referrals, the more bucks!

Here are some of the PTC programs I trust because people have proven that they do pay:

THINKBUX

My current favorite! They have a low payout of $5.00 and they pay through PayPal.

CLIXSENSE

My very first PTC program. They pay for referrals but they don't take PayPal. Check will be sent when you hit the minimum payout requirement.

BUX.TO

Great program! There are so many payment proofs (real ones if I may add) online. The only downside is they don't accept PayPal. They only take AlertPay which does not have a Philippine site. They will send you a check through Alertpay.

Finally - My EON Card has arrived! at Thursday, July 10, 2008

For those who want to know more about PayPal, please google them or go to their site. A lot has been said about PayPal. All I can say is, it's safe and it works! I can't tell you how happy I was when I found out that PayPal would be launching a Philippine site. I didn't sign up right away when it was launched. I just found out from my editor at the Inquirer (through her personal blog) that PayPal has indeed reached Philippine shores.

Bank accounts/debit/credit cards from major bank accounts can now be added to your PayPal account. I will list the bank codes of most Philippine banks. What most bloggers recommend is the Unionbank cyberaccount called EON. Everything is done online (except the application) and I heard that transferring money to the EON account is faster than most banks. I will have to put that to the test though.

Getting an EON card is supposed to be VERY easy. They used to allow online application but recently, they stopped doing that. So I had to go to the nearest Unionbank branch. I filled out a form, gave a photocopy of two government-issued IDs and was asked to wait for 3-5 business days.

Tick tock. Three weeks have passed but still no EON card. I called them each week and the bitch who always answers the phone said there seems to be a delay and so I really have to wait. Fine. I'm okay with waiting. I understand that there might be a lot of people who are also trying to get one. I was pissed when I received a letter in the mail (dated June 26) saying 'Welcome and Thank you for being a new patron" -something like that. If their system prompted them to send me a letter, then definitely my cyberaccount is already existent.

I called them up to follow-up and it was again the same bitch who, not only was not helpful, she also talked over me and almost hung up on me. I called their head office to file a ticket for this missing EON card. Within 24 hours, the card mysteriously appeared on the phase of the Earth. I was asked to go to the same branch to get the card.

I paid 350Pesos for the annual fee. The card is finally here:

I've signed up for the online cyber account. Now all I need to do is to wait for confirmation (which will take 2 business days) and I can finally withdraw my first batch of earnings. YES! my first PayPal withdrawal! I can't wait!

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PayPal Earnings Report 8 July 2008 at Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Since this is my online journal about making money online, I figured I should have an honest and accurate report on my earnings. Hence, I will start this PayPal Earnings Report this month. To track my earnings, I keep an excel sheet so I will know who paid me, when I'm going to get paid, who hasn't paid yet and how much I've earned from each program I signed up for.

As you can see, my biggest money-making engine is Blogvertise. In fact, I received three payments from them today alone. I am expecting more. To date, I've made almost 400USD and that from writing the first sponsored content in May. I earned my first payment through PayPal the following month.

SocialSpark is my second biggest money-making engine. The reason why I haven't written about it is because I decided to write about these money-making sites once they've paid me through PayPal. Until then, you can read my other post about SocialSpark and IZEA on Boink.

HITS4PAY: Read Emails, Get Paid! at Tuesday, July 08, 2008

When I first heard about getting paid to read emails, I thought it's ludicrous! Who pays to read emails! I looked at my [old] email account with tons of spam emails and said who would pay me to read all of these? Apparently, someone does.

Hits4Pay is one of the legit sites which pay us to read emails. They'll even give you a $10USD sign up bonus! They have a minimum payout requirement of $25USD and they pay through PayPal. The way it works is they'll send you a notification saying you've got mail. When you click on the link, it will redirect you to their site where you need to log into your account and click on some ads. It takes only 30 seconds before they credit $0.02 (US) to your account.

There you go again... Did I just hear you say 2 cents is too freaking small for you? Well, think of it this way: you get to do whatever you want in your life, blog about your life or about any of the opps displayed on PayPerPost, Blogvertise, ReviewMe, or SocialSpark AND you can still have this. It's still another way to earn a few bucks.

Sign up HERE.

INBOXDOLLARS: Money arrives in your Inbox at Tuesday, July 08, 2008

This came as a surprise. I was checking my mail and I was surprised to see that Inbox Dollars hasn't forgotten me yet! Haha! I signed up for InboxDollars last year, thanks to Mike's Money Making Mission blog. I love that blog! I learned a lot from it. He's earning a lot through Inbox Dollars and I thought I should take a piece of the pie.



Inbox Dollars gives a lot of opportunities to earn online. You can answer surveys, play games, shop online, and refer friends and be rewarded for doing so. Upon sign-up, they'll give you a $5 (US) sign-up bonus. Sweet! I first answered some profile surveys and got paid for them. (When I said I got paid, it means it's just in the current earnings portion. They have a 30USD-minimum payout requirement.) I believe these profiles would be the basis for the cash offers which will be emailed to you.

The good: I'm earning without doing anything! You might say, what's $015 blah blah. Just imagine 300 referrals giving me that amount. For now, I need to wait until those referrals come in.

The Bad: They only pay by check. No Paypal. Also, their cash offers are limited to certain countries and states.

Still a good way to earn if you're into referrals!

BLOGGERWAVE: A Wave of Disappointment and Headache at Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Now to be fair, I said I am going to write about the programs which have actually paid me -- meaning the money was not just displayed under the 'earnings' portion of their site, but has been successfully deposited to my PayPal account. I know most people will raise their eyebrows when they see this post but please, read the entire post first =)

I signed up for Bloggerwave last year. I was pretty excited because at that time, I've read a lot of good things about their service. I was surprised that I wasn't given any opportunities during the first few months I've been with them. I got my first two opportunities about three months ago. I was asked to write about their service and to write for some online beauty contest. (When you want to earn online, you'll write about anything! hehhe)

They said the payments will be posted after only 30 days. Understood. Advertisers want to maximize the exposure and they want to make sure people can access the sponsored content for a month. Unfortunately for me (and for most Bloggerwave members) their payments were delayed! I started going through some forums and got scared when I saw a post saying Bloggerwave 'declined' the task AFTER 30 days of posting. That's ridiculous!

I emailed them to follow-up on my payments. I have three pending payments then. I didn't get a reply. I tried again and FINALLY they credited two payments JUST recently. I think it's a case of 'Better late than never'. The problem is there is another pending payment. I have yet to contact them about that.

One of the payments from Bloggerwave

Want to hear something ridiculous? I got an email from them (aside from the payment confirmations from PayPal) saying they would like to apologise for the delay. The email also said they 'were having difficulty getting the payments from the advertisers which caused the delay'.

I went back to my Bloggerwave account and checked: the pending payment is for a blog post which I wrote for their site! Meaning, THEY ARE THE ADVERTISER!

This only means one thing: I DO NOT recommend Bloggerwave to anyone. Thanks for the two payments but no thanks for all the hassle I got from them.

SMORTY: Small time or big time at Tuesday, July 08, 2008

I've heard a lot about Smorty and I know some bloggers have earned a lot from them. Sadly, I had a tiny bad experience with them. Here's what happened: I signed up for Smorty last year. I added BoobooStrider but later decided maybe I should change it to Boink because it has a better page rank.

Smorty has this policy which states you cannot add another blog unless you have 5 approved posts. That somehow escaped my mind so I just deleted BoobooStrider and tried to add Boink. Unfortunately, it won't let me saying I still have to get 5 approved posts. I asked myself (since I can't ask my laptop, can I?) how the heck am I supposed to get 5 approved posts if I can't change my blog?! I emailed them and they just reiterated their policy. This basically means my account is at a dead end.

However, after going through some forums and after some fellow bloggers have convinced me to try it again, I signed up for a totally new account. Luckily, after a month I got my very first opportunity. And they have a very fast payment policy! They pay on a weekly basis through PayPal. See the payment proof below.

The bad: They don't have a lot of advertisers unline PPP, SocialSpark and Blogvertise.

SponsoredReviews: Bid and Write at Tuesday, July 08, 2008

SponsoredReviews is different from most sponsored content sites I signed up for. For one, they won't give you an opportunity on a silver platter. You will be given a list of opportunities, with the list of requirements as given by the advertisers, and you have to bid for them. You can add up to 5 blogs (if I'm not mistaken) and you can bid for one opportunity per blog.

To date, I only had one approved post from Sponsored Reviews. I bid for new opportunities everyday but I am not getting approvals on a daily basis unlike other paid posts site. I can say this is not my bread and butter in the blogosphere but who knows? If you have a better page rank you might have more approvals than me.

Here's a proof of payment:

PayPerPost: The Giant has finally noticed the BoobooStrider at Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Well, this is great news for me. PayPerPost, the largest online marketplace for bloggers, has finally given me my first opportunity in almost one year. If memory serves me right, I got an opportunity asking me to write something about signing up for their service almost a year ago. I stopped using PPP because I thought it was too complicated. My blog was then with another hosting site and it was customizable. I wasn't into monetizing blogs yet.



I added BoobooStrider to my PPP account. It was verified and for some reason, it got declined. I decided to quit PPP. What convinced me to go back and revive my account is this post, which shows us how powerful PPP is in the sponsored content market. I swallowed my pride and look, things are starting to get better. I got two opportunities in one day. My page rank isn't nearly a Perez Hilton but if I work on this, I can probably get opportunities like this:

Courtesy of Preblogging

DISCLOSURE POLICY at Sunday, July 06, 2008

THIS SERVES AS THE OFFICIAL DISCLOSURE POLICY FOR ALL MY BLOGS (BoobooStrider / WikiPika/ PikaBucks)

This policy is valid from 06 July 2008.


The blogs mentioned above are personal blogs written and edited by me. For questions about these blogs, please contact Pika (contactpika@gmail.com).


These blogs accept forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner of these blogs is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner of these blogs receives compensation for posts or advertisements, we always give honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blogger's own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

These blogs do contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content may not always be identified. We have a financial interest in the following that are relevant to our blogging: travel, money-making, technology, electronics, entertainment, etc..


To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

REVIEWME - Earn U! at Friday, July 04, 2008

I signed up for a lot of paid posts site and one of them is ReviewMe. I first saw it on John Chow's website (I think he gets paid 500USD per post) so I figured they have to be legit. And they are! I got two offers for them on my first month and was surprised that they paid on time. REALLY. I think my posts got approved on the third week of the month yet I still made it to the cut-off.

So definitely a great site.