What is Your New Year's Resolution?

As the ball drops

and the seconds count down to the New Year,

do you know what you

New Year's Resolutions are?

It is said,

'how you prepare to ring

in the New Year,

sets the tone for the whole year'.

My resolution is

'to become better organized'

so that I can get

more done...

and thus..

make more money!

Here's a pretty good

article...that fits well with my

plans.

Weekly Update

I wanted to give a quick update on the projects I have

already started and let you know the latest results.

1. Odesk -- Still have yet to get an interview from the jobs I've applied and am well qualified to do. I have a feeling that, unless I lower my hourly wage, I probably won't get any interviews through this outlet. Since I don't want to commit to writing 100 articles for $25.00, (or something equally as obscene) I'm not going to lower my minimum hourly.

2. Surveys -- I have received about a survey a day from Vindale and have only made $2.00 in the past two weeks. Had I been willing to do surveys "credit card required" I had the opportunity, in that same time period, to do about $75.00 worth of surveys. I was just reluctant to get any charges that would have been difficult to reverse.

Merry Christmas

I think this is brilliant marketing

Niche Marketing

And...part 4 of my experiment...Niche Marketing.

Long Tailed Treasure

I am posting the only video I could find on Part 3, "Long Tailed Treasure", of my experiment.

Bum Marketing

Part 2 of my Experiment is

"Bum Marketing"

Here is a brief overview via

You Tube.

One Week Marketing

I don't know if any of you will find this

You Tube video for

"One Week Marketing'

of any help or not.

It is a program put together by

Pot Pie Girl

so I thought I'd share it

in the conclusion of

Part 1 of my Experiment.

How is Part 1 of the Experiment Going?

I've received several emails

to complete surveys, but only one

that was an actual cash offer, with no credit card required.

As I said...I personally steer clear of any that

require a credit card, because I don't want

to have to do an 'offer' that takes my

credit card information...that I have to cancel

within the trial period.

Something might come up...I might forget...

after the 'Project Payday' sign-up...

I just don't "go there".

The other offers were points toward cash and prizes...

again...I can't afford to give up 30 minutes

for points that just never seem to 'add' up.

To date....I have made $2.00 on Part 1 of my experiment.

I was supposed to get $2.00 for filling out my personal

information...but, that has never shown up.

I will continue to do the surveys...that meet my guidelines...

and we'll see if I ever meet the payout amount.

I have done a new Squidoo lens...I'll now do all

of the steps suggested to see how it goes.

I'll start on part 2 of my Experiment

after Christmas...I hope.

A few notes...

I am going for programs that

are free or very low cost...of which Micro Niche Finder is neither...

however...

while it is possible to find the

information on your own, that the Micro Niche Finder offers,

it really would take weeks, months and maybe longer,

depending on the time you have available for

the research.

This tool costs less than $100

but, I still chose to show it to you because,

I think the time it saves,

and the opportunities it presents,

will more than pay for itself

in a very short period of time.

Micro Niche Finder - Parts 4 and 5

Here are the last two videos in the 'Micro Niche Finder' series. If you haven't already seen the first three videos, go down to the two posts previous and watch them in order. They'll make more sense I think.

Micro Niche Finder - Parts 2 and 3

Here are the next two videos...in the Micro Niche Finder study.



LONG TAIL KEYWORDS

INTERNET MARKET RESEARCH

Micro Niche Marketing

It's difficult to know where to begin when first going

into any kind of work at home programs. What is real and what isn't.

The world of niche marketing is full of opportunity!
Choosing a carefully pinpointed niche market should be one of the first steps

that an internet business owner has to take.

A very common way of describing a niche market is,

a targeted group of individuals with very specific and similar needs or interests.

These people engage in similar activities and hence,

they would most probably demand the same goods or services to cater to their needs.

As I have shown in the picture at the beginning of this post,

there is a large circle...consider that the large department stores, magazine,

or whatever your area of interest lie...

it 'caters' to most of our needs...but usually not all...

that is where 'niche' marketing comes in.

You find that area that isn't being covered

and you cover it.

And, the little circles inside the larger circles...are gaps

in the market that can be covered yet again by smaller niche markets.

For instance...let's say you are really into herbs for healing.

You have the large chain stores that cater to the larger markets...

but you want to market 'the every herb cookbook'...

there's a niche....

now, within the cookbook niche...

you see that you might find a market for

consumers to 'grow their own herbs' for cooking...

so you come up with a

'herb gardening kit'.

Well...you get the picture...it's just an example and

I hope it served the purpose of explaining the niches that are

out there...and how they can be filled.

I have run across a tool that I want to share with you.

It is the

"Micro Niche Finder."

Micro Niche Finder is an indespensible tool to online marketing.

The program is simple and easy and comes with good training videos.

Micro Niche Finder is a great keyword research and keyword analysis tool, to find those all important keywords needed to perform optimization on your web pages.

While many marketing gurus recommend that you choose a topic

in which you have experience or interest in it is not really a requirement,

especially with the Micro Niche Finder.

Micro Niche Finder is a software which helps you to uncover profitable niches

you would never even think of.

There is a pretty good set of videos that explains

this tool quite well. Five videos total and I'll share the first

video here, with the others to follow.

How To Make Money Online -- Part 4

Build a Lens.

Head on over to Squidoo

and build your first lens.

The link I provided above is to the lens

"What is Squidoo - And What Can Squidoo Do For You?"

by PotPieGirl.

Just a few of the topics covered in this lens...

1. Can You Make Money With Squidoo?

2. What Are the Benefits of Squidoo?

3. Can Squidoo Help My Online Business?

4. I don't know How to Squidoo!

5. Squidoo Lenses For Sale

I will be honest with you. I do have ten lenses

that I haven't paid nearly enough attention to...

it's my problem with my

"Internet Attention Deficit Disorder"

Now that I'm a little more focused, I will be

giving my lenses far more attention as well as,

building new lenses.

I had gotten one lens into the top 100 in the

Arts category...good for traffic...which translates into money.

It's since fallen completely out, but I know

with a little love and attention I can get most of my lenses

more attention.

I do like this site...I personally just need to do better by it!

How to Make Money Online - Part 3

Part 3...are some

'Do's and Don'ts'

1. Don't use your primary email address when signing up

for these programs, unless you don't mind your inbox

filling up with all kinds of ads and offers.

I've got an email address that I've set up JUST

for these kinds of programs.

I got it free through Yahoo.

2. Any offer that asks for "cellphone number only"...you

might want to avoid.

Sometimes they will put a monthly charge on your phone bill.

Easy to cancel, but I personally, don't want the aggrevation.

3. Don't 'Pay' Money to Make Money.

If it's not 100% free, then you might want

to avoid it.

4. Forums...If the sites have a forum...

visit it..daily if possible..

and participate.

You can find all kinds of

valuable sources and resources

on forums.

How To Make Money Online - Part 2

Part 2 does go

'hand in hand' with part 1.

It deals with referring other

people to the Survey Sites that I listed.

The Vindale Link I posted in Part 1

is actually a 'referral link'.

For every person that clicks on that link,

signs up at Vindale

and completes, at least, one survey...

I earn $5.00.

Take that times the number of people

who click the link, signs up, completes one survery

and I earn $5.00 for each one,

without really doing anything but,

1. signing up myself

2. including the link in this blog

I could sign up for all sorts of programs,

get my own referral code/link,

and receive money for everyone who

signed up through those links.

It sounds pretty easy...but, it will

take time.

But, that is Part 2...in a nutshell.

How To Make Money Online

In all of the research I've been doing, I've contracted

Internet Attention Deficit Disorder...

I'm going along, researching, reading, and all of that...

the material I'm reading refers to (yet another) program

and I click onto the link and find myself immersed

in still more information.

Information OVERLOAD!

I only mention this as a 'word of caution'...I know

I make more sales from my online shops

when I direct my attention toward them, instead of

searching the site to see what else is out there...thus forgetting to

tend to my own shops until long after the best hours

for listing and relisting have passed.

It's the same with other forms of

Work At Home Online Programs. It takes focus to make money.

With that said...

and what I've learned from all of the material

I've researched from PotPieGirl...I'll start with the basics.

"How To Make Money Online".

=================

Per her suggestion...I am going to sign up

with a couple of online survey groups...

they are

Vindale Research

This is the information I got from this group:

We will invite you to try a new product or visit a popular web site.

There are typically new opportunities every week.

If you are interested, you can request the product or visit the web site

and follow the evaluation steps. We will provide you with detailed steps on what to do

and what to evaluate.

After evaluating the product or web site,

we will invite you to fill out a simple online survey.

This is where you share your experience and tell us

how effective the product or web site was.

Your answers are completely anonymous.

We will add money to your Vindale account.

Every survey is worth real money, not points.

Typically, payment is between $5 and $75 per survey depending

on difficulty level and availability.

Every time your account reaches $50, we will send you payment.

When you sign up, you'll be able to earn $2.00 just for

filling in the information about yourself

and they have links to other

survey sites, if you think this is something you would

like to do.

The other survey site is

Survey Spot

Since I signed up with them by going

through Vindale, I was taken to a page

that I filled out and then a survey for prizes.

I won't do many surveys to enter into contest for prizes,

I just don't have the time. We'll see what each

site sends me

and I'll post updates as they do.

Before the Experiment Begins

Before I began this experiment, I knew I needed to

set up this blog...as a "landing page".

I need to note what it is I am doing

in order to monitor the results of the experiment.

Please note, I may end up continuing to work one...maybe even all

of the programs I've selected...I know I need

more income

and I suspect that if you are following this

blog, that you do to.

Now that this blog is up and operational,

I've joined

BlogCatalog,

started making friends and joined 7 groups.

Unlike the other blogs I've been

writing...some for several years now...

I have been more selective in the groups I'm joining

and the friends I am adding (I'm adding 6 a day).

In the beginning, I am looking for groups, in which the members are

active and serious about the networking they are doing..

the same with friends.

People and groups with like minded interests.

Because I am being so careful in these selections,

it's taking a lot longer,

but I think it will be well worth it

in the long run.

My 'Project PayDay' Mini Experiment

Originally, I was going to include Project Payday as one of the four programs in my main experiment.

I signed up, completed the 'offer', so I could get the Project Payday program for free. That ended up costing me $1.97 to pay for shipping for the 'offer', which I am still waiting to receive. Since, I had never completed any 'offers' before, I ended up signing up for two offers, instead of just the one, without even realizing it.

So then, I get two emails...one from each offer...stating that one of the 'offers' would be taking $39.95 every month out of my PayPal for their subscription. The other 'offer' would be taking $9.95 every month...oh my gosh...I signed up to have $50.00 a month to come out of my PayPal for programs I was only 1 to 10% interested in to begin with....I don't think so!

To be honest, I signed up for the PayDay program after reading a lot of great reviews, saying I would make anywhere from $50 to $250 within the first twenty four hours of signing up. And, I NEEDED the money!

Well....briefly speaking, to make the money I would have to sign up with traders who needed me to go out and complete 'offers'...just like the ones I'd completed to get into the program...when I completed so many, I would get paid from the traders ... provided I had done everything right. I needed to delete cookies, allow pop ups (and leave all pop ups open for at least five minutes), make sure I had all of my information correct (the slightest mistake would disqualify you and possibly get you banned.)

All I could see was my computer filling up with adware and spyware, slowing it up to the point that it wouldn't even run anymore.

Even then, I wasn't completely disuaded...but, I learned that in completely the offers, I had to use a credit card or a bank debit card...I could not use my PayPal card. To be honest, I find my PayPal card the safest form of payment I have.

If you don't take PayPal...then I don't do your program. That's my rule.

Oh yeah, I also called and cancelled those subscriptions...if they end up trying to get the money anyway, I will file a dispute with PayPal.

I wished I could find a "BBB" for internet businesses...maybe there is one, I'll have to research it!

About the experiment

My 30 day work at home programs experiment.
I am going to follow the FREE steps given for FOUR 'make money online' Programs.

A. PotPieGirl Programs

B. Bum Marketing

C. Long Tail Treasure

D. Niche Marketing Websites

Since I will be starting in mid December it will probably end up more like 45 days (because of the holidays), but I will be recording everything here on this blog, so you can read about it, or try it yourself if you like.
I decided to start now, instead of waiting until after the first of the year, because I need to make money from one, or all, of these programs...as soon as possible.

So, I'm keeping a positive attitude that these are viable programs that I can share with you all.

Don't Fall for the "Such and Such is A Scam" Sites

I'm sure you've seen them..."'Such and Such Work At Home Program is a Scam'"..."don't sign up until you read this". They're out there, all over the place. Literally every single program I investigated had several sites out there with pretty much this same wording...substituting the 'Such and Such Work At Home Program' with the name of the actual program, of course.

Perhaps there really are some sites that are 'uncovering such programs as scams'...I've yet to find one that doesn't end up redirecting you to, either the program itself, or their own site 'so you can sign up for that program from there'.

I'm not saying that this is a sign that these programs aren't legitimate or valid...in fact, many of them look like something I would even be interested in...I'm just saying that the site is put up by someone wanting an affiliate sale for this program. There's nothing wrong with it...I guess. It's just that I've been 'misled' more than once, by clicking into these sites.

In some cases, I might go with a 'back door approach'. But, for some reason, I would have a problem signing up with the program through one of these sites. I'm not sure why, but it just bothers me. Maybe it's that 'you told me my shoes were untied, when they weren't'...then you said, "ha, ha...I got you to look."

Is oDesk a real way to Work From Home?

I have signed up for oDesk, taken the tests, downloaded the monitoring software and applied for the jobs.

To date....no interviews, no bites, no favorites....nothing.

The jobs I have applied for...article writing (3), blog writing (2), fast turnaround content writer, graphic illustrator, and personal assistant (2).

All are jobs I am fully qualified to do and I think I'm a pretty fast and very thorough worker. But, I haven't gotten a nibble.

I decided to check the other candidates that had posted for the same jobs...a few were over qualified, some had similar qualifications, but most of the other candidates wanted far less money per hour than I listed (and I was using the median average of other jobs I have held and reducing that by 25%.)

I noticed there were quite a few providers, that had worked quite a bit, whose hourly rate was less than $1.50...some as low as 44 cents an hour. If you can work for that and make any kind of living, (though I think that only those workers who live in countries with lower costs of living would be able to make any kind of living at these wages), I know I can't pay many bills on those wages though.

Since I've yet to be hired, I can't honestly comment on what the work is like. I am going to keep trying to get a few jobs so that I can give an honest evaluation of this company.