Who Pays the Fastest?

Sometimes you need money...quick. Unfortunately, many sites take several weeks before they send you your payment. So here's my list of programs through which I've received payments in under a week! All of them pay through Paypal (but most of them have other options as well.) Most of them also have low minimums (or no minimums at all!)

1.) IM Report Card (average of just 2 days!)

2.) Deal Barbie Pays Fast (1-4 days)

3.) Pinecone Research (about 3-5 days)

4.) YouData (pays EVERY Friday)

5.) Opinion Place (less than a week)

My Top 10 Squidoo Tips

As you've probably noticed, I'm in love with Squidoo. I think it's such a great way to earn extra cash and to get traffic, too. So here are a few tips to make sure your lenses are the best they can be, in order to increase both traffic and lensrank.

Note: If you've already taken these steps and are just looking to get your lens out there, check out Over 80 Ideas for Free Website Promotion (there's a whole section just for lens promotion!)

1.) Make sure you update your bio and upload an avatar. This makes you seem more personable and also gives you more authority.

2.) Make sure you change all the default module titles. Otherwise, your lens looks unfinished and sloppy.

3.) Write excellent, helpful lenses. Make them stand out among other lenses. If they have unique content, you are almost guaranteed to get good ratings and comments.

4.) Make your lens pretty. Use some HTML and CSS (you don't have to know how, there's plenty of short tutorials, such as this one.)

5.) Use nice pictures and graphics throughout your lenses.

6.) Double-check your grammar and spelling. It may sound self-evident, but so many people publish lenses with hundreds of errors. No one wants to try to decipher what you mean.

7.) Avoid long paragraphs. Instead, break them up into shorter modules. This makes it so much easier for readers to find what they're looking for.

8.) Use interactive modules in your lenses, such as the plexos, debate modules, and polls. People love to share their opinions.

9.) Stick to relevant modules. If you have a lens about movies, for example, don't add the module for Orbit travel.

10.) Add Amazon/eBay/Zazzle lenses. They are a great way to earn you even more money. It's a good idea to choose the products yourself, though, so you know what you're selling.

Media Curves Study Results

I am part of the HCD Survey Panel and have been participating in MediaCurves.com studies. MediaCurves.com conducts many surveys testing TV commercials. They just conducted a study with 300 viewers of a Public Service Announcement (PSA) from the U.K. illustrating the dangers of texting and driving. Results showed that majority of viewers (80%) reported that they are less likely to text while driving after watching the PSA. The study also found that 85% of American viewers reported that the PSA should be aired in the U.S. The majority of viewers (87%) believe that the PSA is appropriate in nature, and 86% also indicated that the PSA was extremely effective. More in-depth results can be viewed at http://www.mediacurves.com/NationalMediaFocus/J7508-PSA/Index.cfm

If you are interested in participating in future studies, you can join here: HCD Survey Panel

IM Report Card Tips

I got a comment on my last post from a user who was having some problems earning with IM Report Card. After thinking about it, I thought it would be a good idea to post some tips and tricks in case anyone else is having a hard time there.

1.) Check the site often for any new reviews. That way you're more likely to be able to comment on them and even get bonus points if you're one of the first.

2.) Write excellent, detailed comments. People will probably rate your comments as helpful, which gives you bonus points.

3.) If there is a program you use that isn't currently reviewed, suggest it to them! Not only for the ability to comment on it, but also for the 75 points you get just for having suggested it.

4.) If you haven't used any of the sites, it's not to late to start. It's a great place to find out about new programs. Plus, then you can comment on it once you've tried it.

5.) When looking at the lists of programs reviewed, pay special attention to the ones with a "*" next to them. This means that there's only been one (or fewer) comment so far, so you can get bonus points for adding one.

6.) Take advantage of all the other ways to earn points: rating reviews, rating comments, grading programs, etc.

7.) Referrals! For whatever they make, you will earn matching points! In other words, if they write a comment and get 50 points, you'll also get 50 points.

Need help with referrals? Check out my post with tips on How to Get Referrals.

And if you still haven't joined IM Report Card, what are you waiting for? Click here to join.

My Top Earners of the Moment

First of all, I can't believe I'm already writing my 50th post! It's really exciting, especially considering how much I've already discussed. But don't worry, there's a whole lot more still to come!

Anyway, I thought I'd use this post to reflect on my biggest triumphs so far. Here are my top 5 earners of the moment:

1.) IM Report Card is definitely my fastest earner. It's my favorite program that I've joined so far! And a pretty big portion of it I earn passively, both from referrals and people rating my reviews. I'm also getting a pretty good deal of traffic from them.

2.) Squidoo is another one of my faves. It's almost time for me to get my first payout. But I honestly wouldn't mind doing it for free. It's so much fun and gets me loads of targeted traffic. And I love being a part of the great community of "Squids" they've got going on.

By the way, my latest lens is about promoting websites for free online. There's over 80 different ideas listed to get you started! Check it out here: Over 80 Ideas for Free Website Promotion

3.) I'm still a loyal Cash Crate fan, as well! I just log in every once in a while, complete a few offers and earn a few bucks. I also love their referral program.

4.) HCD Surveys is, in my opinion, the easiest and most fun paid survey panel. The surveys are so short and different than those from other panels. It's great!

5.) Recently, My Survey has also climbed into my favorites! They were the ones to send me my first (and second) product tests. Not only did I get to keep the products, but I also got paid cash for answering questions about them. It's a great deal!

More Updates: Directories

I finished organizing the rest of the programs into directories. You can now find them all in the top right of the sidebar. As I said with the Paid Survey Directory, I will be frequently updating them with links whenever I write a new review. I think that this will make browsing much easier.

So now there is also a GPT Directory and a Misc. Money-Making Directory, which includes all the other ways to make money online that I've reviewed thus far.

In case you haven't noticed, I also did an overhaul of the contact form. I changed the format and gave it its own page. The link to this page is in the top right of the sidebar, as well.

And there's one last thing I wanted to share. I recently made my biggest purchase yet using solely from money I've made online. I bought a new Macbook! I'm so happy with it and it feels so good to have all my hard work pay off. Of course, I didn't make this money all at once. I've been saving up for a while. Still, I find it so amazing that I was able to make enough!

Update: Added Paid Survey Directory!

I've been working on this for a while and I finally finished. I decided to make browsing for paid survey panels easier by making a directory listing all of the ones I've discussed so far! Along with a link to join each panel, each listing also has a link to my review of it.

I will keep it updated as I review more survey panels in the future. I will also place a link to it on the top of the page for easy access.

My next project will be creating a directory of all the GPT sites and other money-making sites I've talked about.

But for now, here it is: Paid Survey Directory

Mindfield Paid Surveys

Another quality paid survey site is Mindfield Online. With a minimum payout of only $5, it's a pretty quick earner. It's very easy to reach since surveys are sent pretty frequently. And you have the option of getting paid either by check or through Paypal.

I should mention, though, that you need to be patient when you first sign-up. At first, it seems like most of the survey invitations are only for sweepstakes entries. However, if you hold in there, you will be getting plenty of surveys for cash within a week or two.

Overall, this is another reputable and well-paying paid survey panel that I highly recommend. In order to sign-up click here: Mindfield Online.