Recently I came across a site called Cloud Crowd, which actually works through Facebook, that allows users to complete fairly mindless tasks like website reviews for just a few cents. However, these tasks add up. Some of the folks on the ehow forums make $8-$12 an hour over there!
The work at Cloud Crowd involves finding non-US websites with bad English, re-writing English paragraphs and grading other people’s accuracy. The best thing about Cloud Crowd is that there is no minimum payout. They pay every night (or next morning sometimes) for work approved by 5 pm. This is what sets Cloud Crowd apart from similar websites like Mechanical Turk.
I have earned only a few dollars on Cloud Crowd, as there isn’t much work right now. The company has been very good at explaining everything in regular letters to the workers. They are trying to attract new clients and make the system easier to use and more conducive to good-quality work. For such a new company, they are making great strides. I hope Cloud Crowd is here to stay and I will keep people posted on new developments.
There is a referral system in place, so if you want sign up, feel free to sign up under me! I don’t have any referrals yet 
Here is the link: Cloud Crowd. Or if you want, you can put my referral code in at sign-up. It is dfle3a.
I know alot of people out there make money from Twitter, but I was never really convinced by all the hype surrounding these make-money-quickly schemes. These types of scams are age-old, and simply adapt as the world changes. However, after reading from a reputable source (John Chow) about a twitter-based business that connects advertisers with tweeters, I am ready to try my hand at tweeting for cash.
I like this company’s approach especially, as they you write your own tweets for the products. This lends more authenticity and a less “spammy” feel to the tweets. I will let everyone know how my venture goes!
UPDATE: 10/10
No money as of yet… I probably have far too few followers to actually make any money.
This month my Ehow earnings increased by 22% from last month’s earnings. And I published one article in the first week of the month. Since I started school again this month, I have found little time to write, but I still continue to earn on my Ehow articles. Though it isn’t alot, I am happy to know that the earning potential is there. The beauty of it is that I don’t have to do anything, but neither will the articles suddenly stop earning. Timeless topics with good key-wording will continue to earn for years. I have some articles that are almost a year old and earn a little bit more everyday.
I will never stop writing for Ehow, and since I have more than quadrupled my earnings since my first month, I know that one day Ehow will become a major earner for me. I hope you don’t give up on your passive income goals!
“Dear authors, please keep in mind that Textbroker cannot guarantee that there will always be orders available for each of our quality levels. We are currently putting all efforts towards attracting new clients, and it wont be long until we can provide you with all your writing demands again.”
OUCH.
Is Textbroker failing? Maybe I’m paranoid.
With the help of my Ehow forum friends, I have compiled a list of the most useful Ehow articles about online writing. I hope these articles become resources for you to day-to-day. I know they have helped me. The Ehow community is interested in everything, and therefore these articles cover many diverse topics about writing online for money.
Enjoy!
How to Motivate Yourself to Revise
Revising can save your butt and generate more passive income. It’s something we often overlook!
How to Come Up With Ehow Article Ideas
Everyone experiences the dreaded “writer’s block.” Here are some ways to overcome it
For those of us with 9-5 jobs and/or a family, writing can easily get pushed to the side.
How to Evaluate Your Website’s Keyword Density
Good keyword density is something that will bring more traffic and more money to your site and articles .
How to Target Adwords Keywords to Increase Your Ehow Earnings
Targeting keywords keeps you from getting off-topic and makes you more money in the end!
How to Choose Search Engine Keywords for Your Title
Choosing SE-friendly keywords can make or break your article.
How to Use Google Adwords Keyword Tool-Step-by-Step Guide
For those of you new to this tool: it is VERY useful!
How to Make Keyword Kool-Aid-A Recipe for Using Keywords
Clever article that breaks down keywording in an easy-to-understand way.
How to Run Out of Article Ideas
I liked this article for its sarcasm and humor. Don’t actually follow the steps!
How to Spot A Phishing Emails Scam
Protect yourself as a writer and internet user. We writers give out so much information! It’s much easier for us to get scammed. Be smart please.
How to Avoid Accidental Plagiarism in Articles
Plagiarism is a huge writing crime, but it’s even worse when you didn’t realize you were committing it.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. Feel free to post any articles, ehow or otherwise, that you feel are useful to writers. I plan to make a resources section to include these articles and others!
A big thanks to Diane Cass for writing many great Ehow articles on online writing and for mentioning that I include them in this list. I recommend taking a look at her Ehow articles (the link is in her name), and reading up on all sorts of useful writing topics.
With the recent drought of Textbroker orders, I thought I should mention some sites that are similar to Textbroker in that they offer upfront payment and little or no client to writer contact.
Demand Studios- They are harder to get accepted to than Textbroker but pay better ($15 per article). Alot of writers make a nice chunk of online income from Demand Studios.
Constant-Content- The pay is MUCH better here but there is no guarantee that a client will accept the article. Unlike Textbroker, you don’t claim the article. You, and other writers can simultaneously submit articles for a request, which the client can review and decide from among. After 3 days, they become available to the general public for purchase.
Quality Gal: I have read mixed reviews of Quality Gal regarding the difficulty of articles and communication with editors. I HAVE read that they pay on-time though! The application process is pretty rigorous here. I would like to hear some more thoughts about them before I join. I was just recently told that although there are sometimes not enough orders to go around, the site is consistent, especially regarding payment.
Content Divas: Felicia at No Job For Mom has a great review if this site on her blog (LINK HERE). I think I agree with her verdict: stay away! Also, I thought the website was extremely unprofessional in appearance, navigation, and information.
I know people on the Ehow forums have mentioned this before, but Ehow requested articles seem to pay alot more than regular articles! While not all of them have huge earnings soon after publishing, they seem to gain momentum and eventually earn more than my other articles. I have one that has earned over $3 and is not a topic that I would normally consider as high-paying or often searched.
The biggest downside to the requested articles is that they are often nonsensical, impossible, or poorly worded. I have trouble finding good ones, but when I do I pounce on them. After all, who doesn’t like free brainstorming?
Some topics that seem to pay well:
Job searches/interviewing
Skincare/beauty
Freelance writing/blogging
Anything without alot of Google competition! (Think long-tail keywords!)
High CPC ads are also a plus
Usually when I check Textbroker on a Monday morning there are TONS of new articles, but this week that wasn’t the case. I was disappointed to discover that there were only a handful of level 4 articles available, and none were particularly interesting. I know Textbroker is going strong as a company, but I think the number of articles and most certainly the article quality is decreasing. Here are some possible reasons:
1. All of us bloggers spreading the word about Textbroker have essentially shot ourselves in the foot by creating alot of healthy competition. It’s great to spread the word about a site, but you can definitely get rewarded in a nasty way. Apparently, they just don’t have enough orders to go around.
2. People just don’t want as many articles right now. That recession thing might be keeping the number of orders low, especially since Textbroker is a new site and therefore doesn’t have as good of a reputation as Constant Content or similar sites. This doesn’t explain the number of orders the rest of the year though…
3. People have been turned off of Textbroker because the quality standards for acceptance are pretty low. However, people do request orders at lower levels, so apparently they don’t mind bad grammar. But let’s face it, how much SEO work are you going to put into a $3 article, as opposed to a $30 article on CC? I don’t think the people buying Textbroker level 2 orders are going to turn them into SEO money-making machines.
I’m not sure what’s going on but I miss the days of logging into Textbroker and finding at least 50 good articles to choose from.
On the plus side, they have started a blog! We’ll see how that turns out…
Has anyone been having the same issues with Textbroker? When are the most open orders available? (If you don’t mind sharing of course )
I’m really happy with my Ehow earnings this month, since they are much more than I had been making in previous months, although this was the first month in a while that I consistently produced articles. I didn’t write a ton, but I focused on choosing good keywords and topics that have a high Cost Per Click, that is the ads are high paying. Even if the article doesn’t display ads that have a high CPC, I can still write articles that will be read by people who are more likely to be looking for a product. I wrote one article that has become a very good earner seemingly overnight. No, I can’t say what it is about but I can explain this:
An article about making apple pie is not read by people who want to buy apple pie. It is read by people looking to make apple pie at home. However, and article about laser hair removal is being read by people interested in laser hair removal services. They are already considering buying something, so they are much more likely to click on ads.
I know I have some articles on Redgage, and maybe this is helping my earnings. Somehow I don’t think it is having a very big impact. I don’t Twitter or Facebook, or Digg, or Stumble my articles. I pretty much let the key-wording work for itself.
By the way, alot of the people in the forums agree with me that earnings are better this month. Either we are all working extra hard, or ehow is doing something right, or both!
Redgage is a new site with the potential to be very valuable to writers and bloggers. People have flocked to the site in droves, hoping to drive traffic to their articles and increase their backlinks, in order to make Google like their articles better. Amateur photographers and bloggers have also joined, hoping to make a few bucks from their photos and create new readers for their blogs.
Redgage pays very little, and though the rate per 1000 page views varies, it is usually close to a dollar. Supposedly it is based on quality, though I am not sure how exactly it is reached, as quality is often subjective. The biggest draw that Redgage has is that it has a daily drawing for $50 based on points that members get for page views, posting comments, etc. There are bonuses of around $5 for featured articles, photos, documents, videos, and links, which are chosen by Redgage staff, I believe.
I have posted a handful of Ehow articles on Redgage and I will let you know whether the pageviews on these articles increase significantly as the site grows. I will definitely post more about my experiences with Redgage and some tips for users as I see more results from the site.
Here are some stats for you:
This article, on making chocolate-covered strawberries, is a well-matured Ehow article with 1,874 views. It is one of my linked articles on Redgage. The average number of views per day for this article is 8.5. If the views get to be 9.5 or higher in the next few months, I will say Redgage helped, and if they get even higher than that I would definitely consider Redgage worth the effort to obtain a backlink.
