I Almost Gave Up Until.... at Saturday, February 28, 2009

I started this money-making journey in June last year thinking I would make it big on the internet. I did earn a lot but I experienced a 3-month slump. First, the opportunities for advertisements have stopped. Advertisers have also lowered their payouts. There are some money-making avenues that just disappeared and of course, the saddest part, is that there are a lot out there who are scamming people.

These are the reasons why I've temporarily left my blogs. I realized it was not worth it. A lot of time was wasted just by waiting for opportunities to turn up online.

In short, I almost gave up... until I got an email which really made my day. Blogsvertise gave me not one - but five opportunities in one week! My blog was alive again! I visited Reviewme and I was surprised to have even more. This means I have a big payout waiting for me in March! What a great way to revive my blogs!

Sadly, my promotion has affected the way I manage my blogging time. But it's alright. It's still what I wanted right? Ha ha. What I am planning to do now is to just manage two blogs: Boink and Pikabucks. Goodbye for now Wikipika.

Bloggerwave FINALLY sent the payment at Sunday, August 17, 2008

I took a lot of crap from Bloggerwave. First, they only gave me three opportunities. Then they did not pay me on time. The blog posts were true after all! I read some posts wherein some bloggers were given opportunities and when it was time to get paid, they got an email from Bloggerwave stating that their post did not qualify.

Luckily, that did not happen. They sent the first two payments to me more than a month after I wrote the post. Then when I asked about the last payment, they told me they were having trouble asking the advertiser for payment. So what I did was I went to my PayPal account and checked the notes attached to the two payments I got. Then I found out that the final post I haven't been paid for was about their site! They are THE advertiser!

So yesterday I was shocked --yes, shocked! -- to see that they've finally sent the final payment. But this doesn't change the way I think about their company. I DON'T recommend this to anyone. Read my other blog posts for the genuine money making sites.

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.

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.

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!

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:

BLOGVERTISE -- It PAYS to follow instructions! at Saturday, June 28, 2008

I think it would be very appropriate to only write about the sites which have actually paid me through my PayPal account. It sucks when sometimes you try a program and don't get opportunities. Worse, there are hundreds of scams out there that make you create buzz for an advertiser and when it comes to paying the dues, they simply disappear or just ignore you.

BLOGVERTISE is one of those genuine sites that actually pay bloggers for their posts. You can sign up here. Basically, this is how it works: You add a blog and they would look for advertisers who would pay for you to write something about their product. However, the page rank is a huge basis for assignments as well as the pricing for each post. A blog with no page rank would less likely to receive assignments than a blog with Page rank 3 and above.

A 'grab bag' will appear on your blog list. It contains a list of all the opportunities you can take. You may only take ONE opportunity per day. Since May 2008, I've started getting assignments on a regular basis. It helps to work on getting more hits and also writing good quality content on your blog.

Once you grab a task, you are given a specific amount of time to work on it. You can write about anything as long as it's 2-3 paragraphs long, you mention the required link words, unless the advertiser requires you to do something else. The instructions will always be emailed to you once a task is grabbed.

They pay after 30 days from the time the post is approved. This is to ensure that the post is not removed by the blogger.

Here's a screenshot of a payment they've sent me: