When I first started looking for work online in the late 1990′s there were many jobs that involved researching and writing content.  Websites needed to fill their sites and databases with information and paid people to help them do that. Those jobs, in that fashion, don’t exist much anymore, but a new type of pay-for-content work has evolved.

You may have heard that “Content is King” on the Internet. In most cases people go online to get information. The sites that have the best information (content) tend to also have the most traffic and therefore make the most money. New news aggregators and content portals are vying for a piece of the pie and are paying people to help them develop quality content.

What’s Involved?

The basics are the ability to find information and organize it in a concise easy to read fashion. You don’t need access to the expensive data bases or a degree in journalism, but you do need to know how to find reputable information on the Internet and string words together coherently.

Most sites want 300-500 word articles that can cover topics of your choice or that the site has requested. The articles can be in a variety of formats including ‘how-to’, reviews, lists, ‘best of’, fact sheets, etc.

How much can you make?

This is the tough question. Like in most work-at-home options, some people make good money and others make nearly nothing. It really depends on the site, your topics, and quality of submissions. Some sites will pay you a small flat fee anywhere from $5 to $30 per article. Others pay you in ad revenue, which over time, if there is lots of traffic, can build. Some do a combination of both.

My opinion on this type of work:

If you want to be a full-time freelance writer, these options aren’t for you mostly because most magazines don’t view these sites as “clips” to add to your portfolio. And the pay isn’t as good as writing for magazines.

But if you want to make a few hundred to a thousand dollars a month AND have the time to write and submit frequently, and help the site build traffic to your submissions, then this is a good option. It’s extremely flexible…you write what you want, when you want. But you aren’t going to see that money overnight. Most people who work on it consistently indicate it takes a couple of months to see a steady stream of income.

Where’s the work?

There are many places such as Demand Studio and Associated Content that pay for content. But not all are worth the time and effort.  For example, Examiner is posting lots of work on job boards, but the pay is so low (1 cent per page impression) and not guaranteed. Plus it says it can take and reuse, rewrite, and redistribute your work without additional compensation to. That’s not fair. You’re better off to go with a site that doesn’t pay well but at least you own your work and submit it to more than one place. Or that will pay you more to have exclusive rights to your work.

What should you do next?

If this sounds interesting, take the time to do more research. Like most work-at-home options, a single article can spark an idea, but you need the nitty gritty details to know what do to next. You can start by checking out some of the content sites (all are free to join) and learn what sort of content they want, how they pay, and what’s involved.

I was able to get a hold of Matthew Sherborne’s Cash for Content System. I read a lot of ebooks and most aren’t that helpful, but Matthew’s is very good. It takes you through the steps of finding good profitable topics, how to put together quality content even if you don’t like or aren’t’ sure how to write, and the best ways to maximize profits at many of the best web content sites. He uses screen captures so you can follow along with him and not have to guess what he’s talking about. Plus he’s added toolbox that takes you step-by-step through the process of brainstorming ideas, writing content, and keeping track of the best paying sites. I’ve also thrown in a bonus that lists some additional sites that aren’t in Matthew’s book.

Check out Matthew’s great resource at Cash for Content System.

Like surveys, mystery shopping is one of those “jobs” that people seem to gravitate to because it seems so easy and fun. And like surveys, mystery shopping is a “real” way to make money. BUT you aren’t likely to make a living. The few times I mystery shopped, the income was not at all worth the time and expense. But if you want to try it, there are some things you need to know the most important of which you don’t have to pay to mystery shop. Legitimate companies that use mystery shoppers don’t charge you.

This brings me to an email I keep receiving from Shadow Shopper. I’m not sure how I ended up on this list, but a few times a week I get an email about how desperate they are for shoppers in my town. The email mentions my town by name or zip code. If I lived in a big city I might buy the hype. But I live in a county that just got its first stop light. There are only two chain stores and a couple of chain fast foods in the area. Competition is low. I don’t see them needing mystery shoppers.

What they are desperate for is for me to BUY into their program. It doesn’t appear that Shadow Shopper is actually hiring but that it sells memberships to access its directory of mystery shopping programs and sends email updates of new jobs. This might be helpful if in fact you live in a city with regular and frequent mystery shopping needs. But with a little research, these companies can be found online for free.

Further Shadow Shopper terms of service indicates there are NO refunds. To me its not worth risking your money if you don’t have any recourse. What if I joined and discovered there in fact was no mystery shopping in my area (meaning their email lied to me). I still be out of luck according to the sites TOS.

And finally it says you can become a certified shopper…does that really exist? Well it exists, but does it actually mean anything? I wasn’t certified when I did some shops so its clearly not a requirement.

The real deal is that mystery shopping doesn’t pay well and often you end up losing money if you have to buy something or the money they give you to spend (like in restaurants) isn’t enough to cover the meal. Further you are asked to do specific things in the store (ask for customer service help, check the bathrooms, etc) and you have to pay attention to details because the report you fill out is detailed. This makes it hard to do shops with kids tagging along. And finally, the work isn’t steady. You can go weeks even months without an assignment. Most people can’t afford to live on an income of a few bucks every few weeks.

Mystery shopping can be a fun way way to earn a few bucks or get a free meal, but don’t expect it to be your career.

The NicheDemon Niche Marketing System

The NicheDemon Niche Marketing System describes itself as the “stripped down, no-nonsense, step by step version of niche marketing at it’s best” and its pretty accurate.  While there are lots and lots of resources teaching you how to make a living on the Internet, many get complicated and teach potentially costly methods (ie PPC marketing) that are usually better utilized later when there is a better understanding of keywords and copywriting. The Niche Demon Niche Marketing System essentially eliminates all the “noise” that comes with many other Internet marketing resources, offer just the very basics to get started.

The NicheDemon Niche Marketing System goes through all the basics of identifying a niche, choosing keywords, determining if there is a market, assessing the competition, and finding products. It takes you step-by-step in getting online including choosing a web host, buying a domain name and installing Word Press, tasks that can be overwhelming to the newbie.

One of the best features is the five day traffic building tips that give you specific marketing tasks, most of which are free or low cost, to start making money from your niche site asap. It then offers more advance tips once you’ve mastered the basics. It also provides warning on what not to do.

The Niche Demon Niche Marketing System is a good beginner resource. Its designed for the person who  knows nothing about affiliate marketing, setting up a website, or making money online. It’s straight forward and very easy to read.  If you follow the steps, you should have a good start to a money-making niche website.

The Niche Demon Niche Marketing System is a new product by Suzanne Welsh who is offering a significant discount as an introductory offer. The system is regularly $47 but through the NicheDemon Special offer its only $27.

I recently decided to hire a virtual assistant to help me with my business. As a die hard do-it-yourselfer I was resistant to letting go of control of the activities required to do business. But with several blogs, my adoption work and now a book to promote, it got to be too much. I’m not alone. More and more small and even mid-size businesses are turning to virtual assistants to help them manage their work (and sometimes even their personal lives). Its much more affordable for businesses to use the services of professional virtual assistant than to take on an employee. And many businesses that have let employees gopu are outsourcing work to virtual workers. This makes a virtual assistance a good choice during tough economic times.

When finding a virtual assistant to hire, I contacted the mom mastermind group I belong to for tips on hiring and recommendations on who would fit my needs. I discovered that two of the members, former VA’s  put together a resource to help prospective VA business owners get started right. I decided to check it out as a possible resource to share at Work-At-Home Success.

How to Become a Virtual Assistant is a complete course that walks you step-by-step through the process of starting and operating your very own VA business. The course covers everything from setting up your business to keeping clients coming back for more. It walks you through choosing domain names and hosting services. It even offers website templates so all you have to do is fill in your information.Further it covers marketing and advertising strategies such as blogs and newsletters, how to determine prices and payment options, creating contracts and retainers (so you get paid).

The course includes:

•2 hours of audio outlining everything from getting a business license to keeping your clients happy.
•Accompanying workbook with notes
•5 customizable website templates to get you started
•A professional newsletter template so you can stay in touch with your readers and clients
•A video critique of a new VA’s website to show you how to optimize your site for maximum results.

How to Become a Virtual Assistant is full of real advice by real virtual assistants who have found success. And who better to learn from than from women who’ve already achieved the goal you’re striving for?

For the price and what it provides, How to Become a Virtual Assistant is a great resource for anyone wanting to start a virtual assistant business. I give it a thumbs up!

Visit How to Become a Virtual Assistant to learn more or get the course.

Gone are the days in which you have to order 250 or 500 business cards from your local printer. With a computer, printer and business card paper, you can create your own business cards as you need them.

iBizCard Studio is a software application that can help. The program is simple to use and allows you to use create text in a variety of fonts, insert your own graphics, and even include a bar code if you’d like to make membership cards. Another great feature is the CD business card option. iBizCard Studio can guide you through the easy process of adding audio or video and creating an interactive business card.

Its priced comparably to other deluxe or professional business card software. It currently has 16 templates which is less that most other business card software; however, it does offer the bar code and interactive cd options that other programs don’t offer.

This is definitely worth checking out. With the online world being what it is, having an affordable way to create interactive CD business cards is a valuable tool.

You can learn more by visiting IBizCard Studio or you can download iBizCard here.

I’ve been posting work-at-home jobs online since 1998. Over the years I’ve seen work-at-home and general job databases come and go. Some are still around, but just aren’t as good anymore. I do try to keep up-to-date, but its difficult to keep up with them all.

Recently I started getting some complaints about GoFreelance (Freelance Work Exchange). Because my credibility is on the line, I had to check it out. When I first tested the database, it was a solid, albeit expensive work-at-home job database. The cost is still $2.95 for a trial membership and $39.95 per month after that.

Imagine my surprise and disappointment when I visited yesterday. The cost is the same, but there are just a handful of jobs. I know of free work-at-home job websites with more work-at-home jobs posted! Below the job listings were other work-at-home options that weren’t jobs, but ads or affiliate links to other work-at-home programs. This isn’t bad necessarily, but why charge to access a nearly non-existant job database to then be sold other work-at-home programs?

I’m disapointed and I’ll admit its partly because GoFreelance has a very good affiliate program. However, I cannot in good conscience continue to promote it. I’m also upset because removing the link from my website pages will be a long and tedious task.