Update for the Ongoing Survey Review

A few months ago I decided to join a number of survey websites and revisit a few that I’d signed up for in the past but didn’t do much with or never hit the thresh hold. I got sidetracked with other things… Anyway like I said a few months ago I decided to give these survey companies a though review and I’m happy I did for two reasons. First that’s what pennyroll.com is all about providing quality information regarding earning money online and offline and sharing it.

So here are some of the first results from some of the survey companies I’ve reviewed. I chose these because I’ve received my first check from them.

1. Opinion Outpost
First the biggest check I’ve received so far is from Opinion Outpost. This was is the biggest at 174.00

A lot of this was earned through the referral program so once you’ve joined I recommend you sign-up for the referral program. I recommend joining Opinion Outpost.

2. Global Test Market
The second check by size is from Global Test Market. This is one I joined a while ago and made some money but then kind of left it and came back to it later. In fact it I believe 2 years or 1-2 years anyway. When I came back my account had been deactivate so all the money I’d earned was gone. I contacted them and let them know I would like my account reactivated and it was done rather quickly. The good news is they activated my account with all the funds I had already earned. I think it was 35.00 at that point. This money was earned by completing surveys.

I know, not the highest quality picture. I made the mistake of taking it against the window. Again I recommend joining Global Test Market.

I enjoy taking survey with them but there is one small draw back in my opinion. They don’t have an affiliate program or at least they are not currently accepting new affiliates. I’ve contacted them 3 times regarding this but have not received an answer as of yet.

3. Cashcrate
Although my Cashcrate check isn’t the biggest in the list I can’t say enough about them. The reason I recommend you sign up for Cashcrate is simple. you’ll earn the most money in the long run from Cashcrate. Cashcrate is another company I joined back in 2009 so a few months ago when I started signing up and honestly reviewing survey companies and other way to earn money online. I once again came across Cashcrate. I first tried to log in just in case I was already a member and I was. So I started exploring and testing and trying it out. At the same time I wrote an initial review and was pleased so I added my referral link. Well that was the month before last and I just received my check for the following month. The total of the check is 38.66 but to be clear I didn’t really do all that many offers in this genre of making money online I personally prefer doing surveys. First here’s the check.

To continue I’ve been pretty busy lately enhancing this website (if you have any ideas you’d like the share how I might make it better for you let me know in the comments I appreciate any input) and exploring new ways to earn money and share them with you.

The point is I’ve not really had a chance to get back to Cashcrate but it doesn’t seem to matter because so far this month my account is already at; hold on I have to go check… $28.60 So you can see why I recommend joining Cashcrate.

Two things to note, You’ll become active after completing your first offer and two because the referral program is so powerful people have a tendency to spam Cashcrate so once you’ve joined make sure your email is set to allow email from them if if doesn’t already.

When you join and I recommend you get active right away because like I said I joined in 2009 and didn’t do anything with it until the month before last. I can only imagine where my earning would be if I’d not have put it off. I know of one guy who has posted check upward of $2000.00 dollars. Join Cashcrate (and get started)

A few others worth mentioning.

SurveySavvy
At the point that I joined SurveySavvy I completed one survey for 3.00 and because the minimum payout is only 1.00 I requested my check right away. Basically to find out how long it would take to receive a check and to confirm they are a paying site.

Well the check took a while to get here I think 30 days but they do let you know it will take 4-6 weeks to arrive so as long as you understand that it’s not a problem. The check came and I was going to take a picture but somehow some coffee spilled on it and I didn’t really want to take a picture of a coffee stained check.

I requested another one for 4.00 dollars that was a 1.00 survey I completed and 3.00 for referral surveys. It should be here in about  two weeks.

I mention SurveySavvy because of all the survey panels I’ve worked with they seem to offer the highest payout for each survey you complete usually 2.00-5.00 each. They have a referral program as well that I recommend but again of all the referral programs I’ve joined it’s been one is the slowest to generate money but to be honest I’ve not spent nearly enough time with them and if you were to focus on taking surveys and participating in there referral program it would probably build up pretty quickly. Of my referrals 7 have completed a survey and from that the referral bonus was 3.00. Like I said it’s worth mentioning because it has the potential to bring in a good amount of extra money.
If you’d like to join her’s the link to SurveySavvy.

Inbox Dollars
Inbox Dollars is worthy of mentioning as well and the reason I mention them is because my first payment is currently being processed. And the check will be send out soon. The amount of the first check will be 28.49 and was earned from both completing offers, the referral program and checking emails. I always though the idea of earning money from checking emails was BS but it turns out it’s true. Really it’s not much you end up earning a few cents from each but I just wait till they add up and there is maybe 50 or 60 to check all at once then it’s worth it because it really doesn’t take that long and it adds a few dollars to your account balance. Here’s a screenshot of the earnings being processed.

A few key points. It does take quite a long time to finally receive a check, although I’m confident it will come it was one of the first checks I requested, you can see requested July 17 and will be sent out on Spetember 1st that’s a long processing time if you ask me. But again it’s 28.49 that I’ll have in September that I wouldn’t have otherwise had, right?

Another interesting thing I noticed with InboxDollars is they charge a 3.00 processing fee to receive a check at the 30.00 dollar level but not at the 40.00 level. I decided to request the check at the 30.00 level and pay the 3.00 processing fee. But what was weird about this was they instantly put the 3.00 fee back into my account as a “Payment Bonus. That’s what the payment bonus is at the bottom of the screenshot.

Now that I look a little closer it says on the screenshot that by receiving my first check I’ll be upgraded to the “Gold Membership” That’s exciting! Perhaps it’s only the first check that takes so long.

By the way remember how I mentioned I hadn’t had time to get back to Cashcrate very often this month, well the same is true for InboxDollars and the current balance is… 20.38 same story here.

Anyway, I recommend InboxDollars as well.

In summery
Opinion Outpost Biggest check  - decent referral program

Global Test Market – Second biggest check –  no referral program

Cashcrate - Check that will keep growing – the best referral program

SurveySavvy – Small but easy check – could be a powerful referral program – Surveys pay well

Inbox Dollars - Haven’t received the check yet -It take some time to get it – but maybe only the first time. (I’ll let you know) and the referral program isn’t bad in fact it might be the third if not second best.

Decorative Window Painting Small business for Artists

Window painting is done all year to attract customers and bring in business. Window painting is a form of advertising most often use to promote special prices and sales. You’ll notice this at car dealerships on an almost constant basis.

Large window displays grab potential customers attention. They are in essence an effective way for store owners to advertise.

Some business owners use the service of window artists to create the feel of the store, design permanent logos and display feature prices. Once you’ve realized it you’ll see window paintings just about everywhere. Just think about furniture stores? They always have a big display most often done by professional window painters.

The Benifits of a window painting business
You’ll be working for yourself enjoying your own schedule, you can work as much or as little as you like. As a window painter you can work full time or part time and you’ll have the freedom of creative expression.

As a skilled window painter once you’ve gained some experience and become efficient you can make as much as 50.00 per hour.

During the Holiday Season you’ll notice a big spike in business.
The holidays will be here before you know it and if you’re creative and want to earn some extra money this year, you just might want to get started now painting decorations and designs on store front windows.

In keeping in line with the scope of pennyroll.com of course this business can be started with a small investment.

What do you need to get started?

Paint (acrylic craft paint)

Brushes

Sponges

Ladders (for large store front windows)

Window Cleaning Supplies

Scrapers

Stencils and Patterns

Getting Started as a Professional Window Painter

When you’re just starting out and if you’ve not painted a window decoration or advertisement in the past I recommend practicing first on your own windows or contact a few business owners in your area and offer you’re service for free to gain a bit of experience. Let them know you’re goal is to gain experience in your new business. Most small business owners will be happy to help out a fellow small business owner and if you do a great job for them you’ll not only have a new paying client the next time they need an advertisement done but will most likely pay you for your first work in the form of a tip.

Be patient this is a skill and will take some time to become efficiant and get the hang of it but as you learn you’ll be earning money. It’s a win win situation.

Take pictures of your work. A quality portfolio will do wonders when offering your services to new clients.

Don’t be intimidated talk to business owners every day and before you know it you’ll be well on your way to painting your first window.

Ask for referrals. Business owners know business owners. Simply asking for referrals will result in new clients.

Create flyer and business cards to leave with everyone you contact but don’t let this be your only approach. Many people getting started with a small businesses of this nature get nervous when approaching and selling their service and as a result simply rely on leaving a flyer and business card. A flyer and business card are good second and third level approaches but not without talking face to face or at least on the telephone first.

More business to start for less than $100.00

How can I start a blog and actually make money?
I think the first inclinations a person has when coming online to earn money is creating a website and or blogging. It’s simple they say, just start writing about something you’re passionate about then profits will roll in. Many read stories about individuals who created a blog, placed Adsense on the blog then became millionaires or started earning a substantial income. It’s just that simple. Right?

So what does everyone do? They pick a topic, many times a broad topic, start writing content add a few adsense units and expect to earn big money, retire and move to the Bahamas.

The money starts to trickle in .20 cents .50 cents a dollar on occasion. I just have to write more content and bam I’ll buy my plane ticket and some sun screen.

In the beginning it was easier to accomplish this goal with Adsense alone. When Adsense was new and web surfers were clicking like wildfire links not realizing they were advertisements. In those days some publishers were earning big money from Adsense alone.

Adsense and other ad networks are still a good option in my opinion, I use them and you can still earn money but I recommend that not be you’re only form of monetization (Earning Money).

Blogging for Money
If you’re planning to earn money with blogging, avoid the mistake many new bloggers have made over and over again. The mistake? Don’t forget to monetize your blog.

How do you actually monetize a blog?
This is a big question, and there are many answers. You have to consider the topic of your website and if you’ve done any research about blogging then you’ve probably heard of niche blogs and websites.

Niche Blog
Before we get into how to monitizeing you blog make sure you know what a niche is and that you’re focused on choosing the right niche for you.

A niche is simply a sub category of a larger topic. For example, if  the topic “pets” is an  interest, if you want to blog about household pets, consider just how large a topic it is. Can you handle writing everything about every type of pet a person may have?

It’s large in scope. Generally speaking people have all sorts of pets from dogs, to cats, from gold fish to ferrets. A niche is to choose a smaller sub category of the broad topic. How to care for your ferrit would be a niche of the larger topic pets. So you can see it would be much easier for an individual blogger to cover the entire topic, caring for you ferret.

This can be taken to yet another level, consider a Micro Niche “The best diet for pet ferret”. This is even easier to handle and has a number of benefits of it’s own.

Creating a niche or even a micro niche is better for many reasons. First it’s easier for an individual to cover the topic. Second there is less competition. When a person visits a search engine and performs a search for “what should my ferret eat?” The odds of you ferret diet blog has a much better change of appearing higher in the results. As opposed to “Pets” where you’d be competing with the big player in the pet industry, such as Petsmart and Petco.

Now back to earning money (monetizing) your website/blog.
I’ll continue with the example from above, ferrets, and their diet. Of course at this point you’ve created content and you have 10-20 solid pages of useful information related to ferrets and their diet.  Now, how might you make money from this?I guarantee you can’t just write it, put Adsense on it, and make enough money to move to the Bahamas. Well actually there is a technique for doing this with Adsense alone. What you would do is create your micro niche promote it until it’s earning a dollar or so each day then duplicate the process on a number of small niches and you’ll have you online income. But that’s not what were talking about today.

Like I mentioned using ad networks such as Adsense or contextual ads in not a bad idea and can add to your online income as I discussed in multiple streams of income. But don’t stop there.

Now that you’re the foremost expert on providing useful information on the ferret diet you can now begin promoting ferret foods.  If you don’t have any ferret food to sell, don’t fret this is where you’ll partner with companies who do have the ferret food you seek (affiliate marketing).

For example you could join the Amazon affiliate network and provide links and reviews of ferret food products. And to further monetize you blog you can branch out to other ferret supplies as well.

Now as the expert I can say with authority (which I’m no authority on ferrets) This is the Best Ferret Food on the face of the planet and without it, your ferret will not be as healthy as he could be. So don’t hesitate click this link and help your ferret feel healthier then he ever has!

A visitor will be more likely to believe such a claim from a person who’s put this much effort into the topic.

Now you’ll have two streams of income. First Adsense income and now Amazon commissions.

Again  you shouldn’t stop there either because you can easily add another stream of income. You can now partner with an industry leader. PetSmart Affiliate Program Each time you generate a sale you’ll earn a commission. And you’ll have the opportunity to offer discounts on products and services as well.

Again this is an example and can be done with just about any topic under the sun. But remember keep the topic you choose manageable, don’t bite off more than you can chew.

A few tips and suggestions when getting started
Brain storm ideas that interest you then refine them down to a niche. But don’t go too far into a niche. This should be maximizing not limiting. If the topic were footwear refined to socks, you might want to stop at socks before you refine it to for example cotton socks – You don’t want to loose the customer who would rather have synthetic material socks.

Choose a niche with some competition (you want at least some interest in the topic) but not too much competition. You can use tools such as Adwords keyword tools to help refine a niche.

Finding individual affiliates can also present a problem so consider joining a network instead. It’s better to join a network of affiliates.

What is an affiliate network?
Share A Sale is respected in affiliate marketing circles and offers 3,000 different products from 2,600 merchants. An affiliate network is simply one stop shopping for affiliate programs you may be interested in promoting.

Finally if you’re interested in starting a blog or website I recommend owning it. What I mean by owning it, is simply that, register your own domain name, something you can promote, print on a business cards, leave links online etc. Don’t get a sub-domain as you’re primary website.

What is a sub domain?
A sub-domain is a unique web address through a larger website. mywebsite.blogger.com is an example of a sub-domain. You can have a sub-domain and blog just not as you’re primary.