August 2010: Online Earnings...

Right, I'm gonna jump straight to it. I made $496.44 in August. Grateful for the money, but slightly frustrated it was a few dollars short of $500. I'm no longer aiming to make $1000 a month for now; need to go back to the drawing board. Actually, there wasn't a board to start with, or a marker, which was parto of the problemo.

Another part of the problem was...at the start of every month, things tend to look more achievable, don't they? So I thought, "hey, why not shoot for $1k this month?" I just sat there and plucked a nice round thousand outta my head like the frikkin tooth fairy was gonna tuck a wad of dollar bills under my pillow.

Anyway, August's earnings (breakdown):
(any figures in pounds means I was originally paid in that currency)

- Writing: $249.13 (blog writing - $230.64 ...and blog commenting - $18.49 (£11.87))

- CloudCrowd: $80.88 (paid to complete tasks) (read my CloudCrowd review)

- Research work: $47.75 (last pay from the research gig I packed in)

- ebay: $36.13 (£23.34) (still getting rid of stuff)

- Surveys: $27.82 (£17.73) (MySurvey UK - $11.67 (£7.50); Crowdology - $6.90 (£4.23); Pinecone Research - $4.63 (£3.00); LightSpeed Panel UK - $4.62 (£3.00))

- Proofreading: $24.24

- Triviala - $23.37 (£15.00) (games/trivia site) (read review)

- Swagbucks: $5.00 (paid to search, do polls, surveys, etc. To find out more about Swagbucks, read my review)

- ToneADay: $1.79 (read review)

- QuickRewards Network: $0.33 (GPT site) (read review)


TOTAL: $496.44



$500: a new obsession...

This is the second time I've been sooooo oooo oooo close to making $500/month this year. In June, it was $492.96. Because I've been so close, because it's eluded me TWICE, I can feel it becoming something of an obsession this month. Maybe that's the extra ingredient I need.


Here's to a kick-ass September (for you, too). Grrrrrr it.

Ebele.

CloudCrowd Review...

(For updates, please scroll down to the bottom)

CloudCrowd pays you to complete a number of tasks including:

- looking for email addresses and business profiles

- evaluating images

- editing and reviewing content

- translation work (usually German/French to English and vice versa)

- writing summaries


Payments are made every business weekday via Paypal.


To do most tasks, you have to first complete and pass a test (known as a Credential Test). The ones you have to sit an initial test for pay more (9 cents to $5.00 each). However, for a few other tasks, a test is not required (for now) and you can jump straight in (pays mostly 2 cents each).


Pay-rate variance...

The pay isn't always the same on CloudCrowd; sometimes it changes every few days or so - it can go up or down.


Task availability...

Tasks and credential tests aren't always available. To know when they become available, you can either make frequent visits to the site or you can request that you be informed when they do become available.


Task checking...

Often, when you complete and submit a task, someone will look over your work to make sure you've done it properly. If you ever submit a task and its status is 'Awaiting Approval', then that's what's happening there.

Other times, when you submit a task, it's automatically approved. However, a reviewer can still go back and check it.

Upon checking, if he/she thinks you haven't done it well, your task will be rejected, you lose some *credibility (explained below) and you won't get paid for it.

If you feel it should have been approved, you can appeal it (exception: you can't appeal a credential test). The appeal process can take some time and you're only allowed to appeal one task at a time. Though that's the way to go, some members sometimes choose to forgo that and post a thread on the support forum instead. I've noticed a lot of the time, it gets dealt with. Though you can't appeal credential tests, I've seen a couple of people take the support-forum route.


Credibility...

What this means is how well you do each task. The credibility level starts from 20-25, I believe, and goes up to 100. The more tasks you do correctly, the more your credibility creeps up. However, if you do one task wrong, it can go down pretty quickly, so be careful. If it gets to a certain low, you can be put on probation. You can still do tasks, but it means that you're being monitored more closely until your tasks prove you're doing the job properly.

Credibility loss and probation periods happen to CloudCrowd workers frequently, so don't be too alarmed if it happens to you. It's happened to me a few times and is part of the learning process. Just be careful and do the job as thoroughly and attentively as you can.

Your credibility is important because it can often determine the tasks you're entitled to do. Also, if you dip to a certain level (beyond probation level), you can get suspended. It doesn't happen to a lot of people, but it has happened. If you read the rules thoroughly, make sure you understand what you're required to do, read the support forum and ask questions if you don't understand something, then you should be OK.


Some pointers...

- just to make it clear, you don't earn with Facebook, you earn with CloudCrowd. However, you need a Facebook account to join CloudCrowd as its application is Facebook-based.

- you need a VERIFIED Paypal account to receive payments from CloudCrowd

- before attempting your first task or taking a test, read CloudCrowd's rules as thoroughly as you can as well as the support forum.

- keep your credibility level healthy

- your tasks are checked by other CloudCrowd members. Who does it depends on their credential and credibility

- though CloudCrowd standards are quite high, rejections have been known to be wrong. If you're adamant your task shouldn't have been rejected, appeal it.

- when you get a task, it's up to you if you wanna do it or skip it. If you skip it, most of the time, a new task will appear (unless CloudCrowd runs out of tasks). If you get a task that you're unsure about, you might want to consider skipping it altogether rather than run the risk of attempting it, having it rejected and losing some of your credibility. It's up to you, though. Everyone works differently.



My Experience with CloudCrowd...

When I initially joined CloudCrowd, I wasn't really that active. I did a few of the low-paid tasks just to test things out and got paid overnight which was cool. After that, I didn't use it for a while.

About a month ago, I decided to revisit. I wanted to earn more and decided to take the editing credential test. I'd been putting it off for a while because I was nervous about it. The rules seemed overwhelming. But I guess on that day, I was feeling less fearful and more willing to just go for it without worrying about how it might pan out.

Few days later, I got an email informing me that I'd passed. I'd kinda forgotten I took the test. I think at the time I took it, it was more important that I conquered a fear.

However, saying that, the extra money is definitely appreciated. I tend to do more review work as I enjoy proofreading, but I've also done some editing work. I was nervous about doing the editing work too, but glad I gave it a go. It's not quite as daunting anymore.


If you see tasks on there that you feel you're skilled to do, try taking the test. The worst that could happen is that you don't get in. That's it.


Help...

If you have any questions, I don't consider myself to be a CloudCrowd guru, but I'm willing to help if I can with what I know. However, your first port of call should be the support forum.


Good luck...

If you plan on joining CloudCrowd, good luck. It's a site that's still in beta so it's not without its faults, but it has potential.



Update - 28th Aug:

The credential test for English editing is currently available and has been since 14th Aug. I don't know how long it'll be up for. If you feel you'd be good at proofreading/editing, consider giving it a go. If you pass it, it means you'll be able to:

- edit documents (current rate: $2.00 per edit)
- review edited documents (current rate: $0.37-$0.62 per review)
- grade editor credential tests (current rate: $0.09 per grade)

...as well as other paid tasks.

What I've Been Up To...

img credit: striatic

When people ask me what I've been up to, I usually don't have a frikkin clue 'cos my mind draws a blank.

Does it happen to you too?

Anyway, I'm asking myself the same question, trying to think about what I've been up to, so I'll start from the most recent and try and work my way backwards (she says).

i) Mama's got a brand new blog

I set it up a few days ago: My Kooday Diary. Been hearing about a site called Kooday on the lips of many for a while. I was curious so I thought I'd check it out. The main premise of Kooday is that you make money by buying & selling keywords. There are a few other ways to earn too.

The site requires a minimum $5 investment to get started, so I paid up. I had no problem investing that amount. My curiosity was stronger than the worry that I might lose my investment. Plus, it's an amount I'm prepared to lose. However, I ain't investing any more than that.

Within 2 days, I'd made back my initial investment, plus a couple extra dollars. Well, in theory, I have. It's one thing to 'earn', it's another to actually receive the money in your Paypal account. I've requested payment, so we'll see if they pay up. I've seen a couple proofs of payment, but I wanna experience it myself to make sure.


ii) Actually, erm, Mama's got two brand new blogs...

The second one's How to Make $35 Online in a Week. I set it up after coming across a discussion on myLot. There was this guy who needed $60 in a week to pay for something. He already had $25 and needed $35. I gave him a couple of suggestions and ended up setting up a blog to demonstrate.

There are obviously other ways to make that amount, but I suggested ones I have personal experience of using.


iii) Packed in the research job...

Tried the gig for a month or so, but decided it wasn't for me. I'm glad I gave it a go. Worked for a really lovely client - was a great mentor, patient, cool, genuine, friendly. Would love to work with him again in the future. He's open to it too.


iv) Other stuff...

- CloudCrowd: So far this month, I've made over $50 on there. Last month, it was under $20. The reason for the jump this month is 'cos I stepped outside my comfort zone and started editing documents. Usually, I stick to reviewing edited documents and grading English Editor tests. It's what I generally prefer to do. However, now, sometimes I'll also edit a couple of documents. Those pay more.

I'm gonna post up a CloudCrowd review soon.


- Freelance writing: The writing's going OK. Written four pieces this month. Not as much as I planned to, but I should be less busy this coming week.



I like...

Having created the two new blogs, it's revived my interest in writing in that vane. I really like investigating stuff and feeding back on my findings (or setting myself a challenge and doing updates on it). I did it with Neobux where I tried the site out for a few months. I don't know why I get a kick out of it, but I do.

It can also be a great way to get referrals, but I tend not to insert referral links 'til I've seen a significant amount of proofs of payment and/or made some money myself.



Anyway, so that's what I've been up to. There's probably other little bits & pieces, but if they don't want to be remembered, ah well...


How about you? How's your online month been?