Mike's Making Money

Squidoo For Money Making

2009-05-14T17:26:00.004+01:00

Squidoo is a website where you can have your own pages - they call them lenses - and you can use these for any purpose that you wish.

You could use a Squidoo lens to promote any business, to sell stuff, to write about your favourite hobby etc. etc.

But the best part is that you can also make money as well because Squidoo shares their advertising revenue with members. The better your lenses the more money you make.

The lenses are easy to set up but it takes a little while to grasp the potential. If you like writing and want to make a bit of extra cash have a look at Squidoo.

Here's a few examples of some funny Squidoo lenses: Sidney Sock Goes Missing / Awful Jokes / Funny Humorous Letters / Tracy Tremble Virginity Shock

Make Money With Friends And Contacts

2008-09-01T17:30:00.006+01:00

FriendFinder Checks
If you have a blog or website an affiliate program that is reliable and makes money is the FriendFinder Group.

They pay out every two weeks and above are my last two checks, as received, as proof of earnings.

As the name suggests it's all about friends and contacts, but this is a massive company, owned by the Penthouse organisation, and they have over 20 million members. There is still massive potential.

Once you join as an affiliate, which is free, you can then promote any or all of their websites, of which there are 20+.

The websites cover most tastes from Christian and Jewish to Adult and Bondage! There are also different sites for different countries such as French, Korean, German, Filipiono and so on.

There is a vast amount of promotional material that, hopefully, can bring in the customers and make money.

For more information click on the banner below.

Just one of their hundreds of promotional ads

See also:
Money Making With Penfriends And Friends

Make Money Being A Mystery Shopper

2008-08-27T17:12:00.003+01:00

If you don't mind shopping, eating out or maybe staying in hotels then perhaps you could make money by becoming a Mystery Shopper.

A typical task might be to purchase something in a specific shop and then return the goods to check on customer service. Or maybe dine out at a restaurant to taste the food and see what the service is like.

As a Mystery Shopper it's then necessary to do a report on your findings, usually within 24 hours. For this you get paid a fee and expenses which varies from task to task.

In the UK companies to contact are the likes of retaileyes, Storecheckers, MSPA Europe.

For USA readers: Get Paid For Shopping & Eating Out: Make money as a Mystery Shopper and be paid $10 to $125 per assignment.

How To Make Money from Blogging Even When On Vacation

2008-08-24T15:48:00.004+01:00

Rob Benwell has written about 'Blogging To The Bank'. He writes:

"If you want the inside story on how to make thousands of dollars every month from blogging, or how to use blogs to drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website for FREE, then read every single word on this page now!"

He goes on to tell 'how one dumb little blog can earn over $3,947 per month.'

To read the full story you can see what else Rob claims if you click here.

He also says, for instance, that you can make money from blogging even when you are on vacation! That's him in the photo in the Maldives.

How To Become Wealthy

2008-07-18T18:09:00.005+01:00

Several years ago I wrote a short article called How To Become Wealthy but I think it's still relevant today.

One of the statements I make is: The important thing is that you can attain your wishes if you go about playing the game of life properly.

Now you might think this is quite a sweeping statement but all things really are possible.

A lot of life is based upon out thoughts, words, deeds, actions and beliefs. If we can change these our lives can become beyond recognition within two years - okay, another big claim!

Read the full article here. You may end up thinking it's a load of rubbish but there again ... well, you never know in life!

Make Money With Fortune Telling

2008-07-17T20:30:00.005+01:00

Times have changed but people still want to know what the future holds.

Fortunately you no longer need psychic skills or a crystal ball. It can now all be done with the aid of a computer. Great for Fairs, Fetes, Parties and so on where visitors will partake for a bit of fun and amusement.

Though perhaps it's not to be taken too seriously, it's still a money making idea. You'll find computer software of varying styles and methods of fortune telling on the Internet. For some freebies try Free Downland Manager. There's more free software and for sale on Blue Chillies.

Do a search on Google for Fortune Telling Software and you'll find all sorts of stuff that could make money if marketed properly.

How To Make Money With 90% Amazon Discounts

2008-07-16T20:23:00.005+01:00

Did you know that you can buy some products from Amazon UK and Amazon USA at up to 90% discounts?

This is what some people are doing and then reselling them on eBay and other places to make money.

The full details of how to get these Amazon discounts can be found on How To Get 90% Discounts On Amazon.

These prices on certain goods apply to the UK and USA.

Other Interesting Blogs: Mike's Money Making Mission / Celebrity Insider - Photos & News / Weird Amazon

Make Money With Surveys

2007-10-17T17:38:00.000+01:00

It's true that there are a lot of scams involving surveys but there are a few good ones.

If you like completing surveys and polls for money one genuine company is You Gov.

They are looking for people for their panels. Here in the UK we often see their polls in newspapers and quoted on television.

Payments are made for completing surveys. It's not big money but it is extra cash. They also offer payments for introducing new members to their panels.

The cheque shown is one I received from You Gov for £50 (about $100) to verify that they pay out okay.

Make Money Marketing Patterns

2007-10-01T17:47:00.000+01:00

For as long as I can remember, my wife has made and designed dresses, though not quite as much nowadays.

She has a stack of patterns for dresses, she has made in the past, and also for stuffed animals, like teddy bears, that she also used to enjoy making.

The thing here is that many people are unable to make patterns themselves. And this is for all types of craft work, including such things as knitting, sewing, embroidery, tapestry, quilting, toys, carpentry and so on.

If you can make the patterns for other craft workers then there are pounds, dollars and euros to be made. And once you have created the pattern you have it for life to sell over and over again.

Make Money House Sitting

2007-09-24T18:03:00.000+01:00

More and more people feel uneasy about leaving their homes unattended while they are on holiday or on business trips. This is a niche that could produce profits. An example of this is the service offered by Guardian Angels.

They also want 'angels' to house sit details here. It is however something that anyone could set up in their own area and might be ideal for someone retired.

Not a massive earner but something that could also be enjoyable for the right people with time on their hands.

Make Money With Jewellery

2007-09-22T16:54:00.000+01:00

This opportunity can range from making and selling inexpensive jewellery, to producing custom designed or novelty items. Whatever quality or speciality one opts for, will determine the method of sale. Lower cost and gimmicky items might best be reserved for craft fairs, party plan, car boots sales or in bulk to local shops.

Higher quality items could be created to customers' specifications or else produced specifically for sale on a commission basis in local craft and jewellers shops, at craft fairs, trade fairs - the opportunities are endless!

Kate runs an interesting blog about making and selling jewellery where you will find several useful articles.

Also more information: Jewelry Making

Make Money With A Free Online Shop With Zlio

2007-09-21T17:27:00.000+01:00

Do you fancy your own online store, with a full range of products, and all for free? Well you can have all of this with Zlio.

Okay, so what is it?
I'll give you the official description from Zlio:

'With Zlio, you can open your own online shop in 5 minutes. You don't even need to have your own products.

Zlio lets you choose from an extensive catalogue of thousands of products and allows you to design your ZlioShop quickly and easily!

Your ZlioShop can provide:

Your favorite products.
Items from your wishlist.
Products within the theme of your choice.
Products aimed towards a specific group of people (new moms, video games fans, rap music lovers, etc)

You can then offer your ZlioShop's services to your friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, on your blog, via messenger, on online forums, just like a professional vendor!

Shortly after you've set up shop, your site will automatically be referenced among the main search engines and will attract visitors with no efforts on your part!

Thanks to Zlio, anyone can run their own store without ever having to worry about deliveries or customer service!

Join the Zlio revolution!'

My thoughts:
Firstly it takes much longer than five minutes to set up a Zlio store properly.

In five minutes all you would have time to do is the basic store - but without any products.

Puting on the products takes an age and quite frankly I made a right pig's ear of it on my first attempt. It was my own fault as I didn't really know what I wanted to sell. There are many categories and lots of products to choose from.

It's best to decide on a theme, relative to your blog, and stick with this. I didn't, unfortunately, so I had to start all over again.

All products have a different commission rate, as they are from various suppliers. Commissions are paid to members via PayPal. There is also commission payable (10% and 5% over a further 2 levels) for referring other people into the program.

At the present time products are aimed at the USA market, though UK and Canada will be following soon.

It looks promising providing:

(a) You make a decent job of your Zlio store regarding products, layout etc. To me it looks better than the Amazon aStore.
(b) You can get vistors to the store.
(c) You can refer others to Zlio.
(d) You have visitors to your blog from the USA.

If anyone has any sound experience with Zlio your opinion is welcome.

Profit From Cherished Car Number Plates

2007-09-20T16:09:00.000+01:00

This is something for UK residents but maybe there is something similar in a few other countries as well.

Take a look at the motoring section of magazines such as Exchange and Mart, or do a search, and you'll discover a wealth of car number plates offered to discerning drivers. Prices range from £100 or so, for a number a little out of the ordinary, to something like £50,000 for a plate that spells a name.

When you look into this business you'll find that several dealers are selling the same number plate. What they are doing is simply acting as agents for the owner of the vehicle currently bearing the number plate. They are working on a commission basis - so no big outlay involved.

All that is really required to start up something similar is government information regarding the transfer of number plates and the cost of advertising.

Specialised Greetings Cards Make Money

2007-09-19T16:10:00.000+01:00

Greetings Cards seem to be all very similar. I bet at Christmas you get loads that look alike. Usually from the same shops and stores. Often the same cards are repeated year after year.

So wouldn't it be nice if you could get a card for a loved one, or on a special occasion, which is unique and different from the norm?

This is a service that could be set up using DTP or by craft workers and those of an artistic bent. And, of course, it can make you money!

Make Money Publishing 'How To' Information

2007-09-18T12:28:00.000+01:00

This is all about selling information but not necessarily information that you have written yourself.

When I published my magazines I also sold various manuals on 'how to' subjects. I purchased some of these initially with reproduction and resale rights. All I then had to do was advertise them and photocopy the material when I received orders. I also wrote some of my own. This was prior to the Internet taking over our lives.

Believe me, the 'how to' business is massive. When my son was at university, for example, he sold manuals he had written on 'how to' pass exams and study plans. He also put the info onto CD's. He made a nice sideline to cover his 'beer' money, and whatever else students spend their money on.

Exams and study plans are probably not your thing but we all have some knowledge that others may want. What we don't know we can source from the Internet. It's true that prospective customers could do the same but they don't always do this. People are lazy and often prefer a ready made 'how to' package.

Once you have written a 'how to' manual you can then sell this over and over for years and years. It takes some initial effort but, once set up, it's something to sell for life (with only perhaps occasional updating).

If you can't do this yourself you'll find lots of ready made material if you do a Google search. There are eZines, guides and the like, in various formats, that you can reproduce for profit. You simply buy ready made packages that you can duplicate and sell.

Manuals can be sold by mail order, on ebay, by email or transfer the info to CDs and DVDs or even use your web cam to illustrate what ever it is that you are writing about.

If you have created some exclusive material keep it to yourself, at least initially. After a period, if sales are dropping off, start selling the manual/CD etc with resale rights. This way you can normally charge more for virtually the same product. There's plenty of customers within a worldwide market.

Quality information is gold dust!

Making Money With Newsletters

2007-09-17T14:39:00.000+01:00

Newsletters are sought after by many varied groups of people ranging from collectors to mail order dealers, opportunity seekers, fan club members, sixty music fans and so on. Whatever your niche there are others wanting to link up and get more information on the subject.

As individuals people often carry out their interests in isolation deprived of the assistance and benefits of group membership. Someone who can bring together such people and their interests via weekly, monthly, bi-monthly newsletters must surely stand to make a very handsome profit. And all for what essentially amounts to writing up simple, but informative, newsletters for distribution to members.

The newsletters can carry a subscription or even be sent out free if you can make money by some form of spin off i.e. advertising, products relative to the subject matter etc.

When I was publishing my mail order magazines I also did a newsletter on the subject of MLM (multi-level-marketing) and money making programs.

On this I listed all of the new opportunities that I came across. It proved successful and I got to the situation where people setting up new opportunities would contact me - and often let me join for free. This way, as well as receiving a small payment for the newsletters, I also made commission when readers joined or signed up for the money making opportunities I wrote about. In saying this I was always honest in my appraisals, of the schemes I wrote about, and didn't let any possible commission influence what I said.

At the time I did everything via the mail but obviously newsletters can now be done easily by email.

Make Money With Autographs

2007-09-16T17:16:00.000+01:00

Profit From Autographs!
I know of someone who buys celebrity autographed photos and then sells reproductions of these on eBay and by other methods on the Internet. She makes up to £1250 ($2500) per month. Biggest sales are during the winter months.

It's easy nowadays to print good quality photos from reasonably priced printers.

The lady concerned makes a good profit on each photo she sells and prices them between £8 ($16) and £15 ($30) each. I'm not too sure why buyers would want duplicate photos but it seems they do.

Yes, she has to spend to buy the original autographs but once purchased she has them for life - to sell over and over again. She buys them over the Internet, usually from abroad. The logic being that, for example, a USA star's autographed photo costs less in the USA than it does in the UK or other parts of the world. I have dabbled in this market myself - see below.

For a couple of examples of Madonna's Autographed photos please see my reference blog Madonna Photos. Note that some of the Madonna photos on the page are nude, so please don't visit if this is likely to offend.

Making Money With Forum Signatures & Avatars

2007-09-15T18:24:00.000+01:00

This is a tip I got from the knowledgeable Tom a while back (his blog AdSense4Dummies is always an interesting read).

The signatures I am talking about are those shown at the foot of forum comments. These can be rented out for about $10 a month - subject to certain conditions etc. To do this you need to be an established member of a forum with lots of comments under your belt and be in the habit of using the forum regularly.

Since I've been aware of this money making idea I've also seen bloggers who rent out the avatar on their forum posts as well.

Make Money With Free Blogs

2007-09-15T17:03:00.000+01:00

Well I had to start with this one, didn't I? And in doing so I'll take the easy way out and refer you to my three posts on my blog Mike's Money Making Mission on this subject.

How To Make Money With Free Blogs - Part 1
How To Make Money With Free Blogs - Part 2
How To Make Money With Free Blogs - Part 3.