LinkWorth - Oh, I'm a Member? at Friday, September 12, 2008

It's fun when you log into your account and find numerous opportunities to tale. But IMHO, it's more fun when they contact you because an advertiser is interested in hiring your services! That's the kind of email I got from LinkWorth. I didn't even realize I was still a member until they emailed me last week about writing for an advertiser.

Luckily, this was what I would consider a high-dollar post. And it got approved only hours after I posted it!

(Click to enlarge)

LinkWorth is very much similar to PayPerPost or Blogvertise. The only difference is that they have a wider variety of money-making avenues - they have textlink ads, sponsored posts, and many more. You should check them out here. They pay through PayPal but there is a minimum payout amount. It's definitely another way for teens to make money.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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: