Still writing and taking surveys...

The cold days of winter are here and I have been busy writing and taking surveys in my spare time. After the kids are in bed, I take out my trusty computer and begin trying to work at home once again. Although I was pleased with my earnings from last year, I have much larger goals for this year.

Right now I am focusing on increasing my article library both on eHow and on Squidoo. I have Bukisa and Associated Content on the back burner right now, because they don't perform as well for me. My goal is to add affiliate links to many of my articles in an effort to increase my profits in the new year. I have not done a good job of this so far, but I will change that. I'm going to focus on the articles with the most search traffic first, and once those are done, I will add links to the other articles as well.

I also want to work on article marketing. I have not focused on this over the past year either but I think it's key to internet success.

Lastly, I plan to start a SiteBuildIt site as soon as I have the $300 saved to buy a year's subscription. I have a feeling that it would greatly help me in my work at home mom endeavors!

Squidoo

I just signed up at Squidoo, another freelance writing gig. I have read many good things about Squidoo and the potential to make a fair amount of money on the site. I wrote my first "article" which Squidoo calls a "lens". So far it is the most complicated site I've written for but also offers more money making opportunities than any other site as well.

I'm hoping to continue making more and more lenses and build up my residual income streams throughout this new year. I really hope to be making full time income by the end of the year, which I know is possible if I just try hard and don't become discouraged or overwhelmed. I'm hoping that adding Squidoo to my list will increase my residual income quite a bit. Now if only I could find some great niche to write about...

The Switch to Firefox

I am so thrilled right now! For months, I have been dealing with slow page downloads whenever I'm online. My emails took forever to open, and I was starting to lose my mind every time I got online. After following the advice of so many other work at home moms, I finally made the switch from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox and I couldn't be happier!

Every page opens easily, I can check 25 emails in minutes instead of hours and I have never been so productive online before. If you are considering making the switch, don't hesitate a minute longer. Download Firefox now!

1 Year eHow Anniversay!

November 8th marked my one year anniversary of joining eHow and the 14th marks the anniversary of my first published article. It's made a whole $1.51 since then but at least it's something! Luckily, I was able to fine tune my writing endeavors as time went on and I have several articles that are doing rather well. I just wish they were all doing well!

I have high hopes and goals for my eHow articles. I really want to continue writing and adding more articles on a consistent basis. I have been devoting most of my time to other sites and have left eHow in the dust over the last few months. I do plan, however, to try harder and return to this site which I know can pay off eventually. Here's to a more productive second year on eHow!

Thoughts on Demand Studios

I joined Demand Studios in July and am happy to report that I love writing for them. After spending years taking surveys and months attempting to write for myself on sites like eHow and Associated Content, Demand Studios has proven to be the most lucrative way for me to make fast cash.

With Demand Studios, I get to choose from an unending list of article titles with a set price attached to each one. Although I did write some $5 articles when I first started, I realized pretty quickly that it takes just as much time to write the $5 articles as it does to write the $15 articles so I just stick with those now.

My goal is to write at least one article per day (week days only). Unfortunately, this has been quite difficult for me since I have several young children at home and combined with all of my daily housework, it's just too much! But I know that I can always take a break from Demand Studios and come back to it whenever I have time. It really is a wonderful way to make extra income from home by writing articles online. I had no idea how great freelance writing could be until I joined Demand Studios!

Tis the Season for Surveys

Last year between the months of October and December, I took one survey after another and ended up with hundreds of dollars worth of money and gift cards. Based on my recent email notifications, it looks like it will be another great season for all of us survey takers. If you haven't been a faithful survey taker as of yet, you may want to reconsider. This is the best and most fruitful time to take free online paid surveys. Try some of these: MySurvey, Inboxdollars, Ipsos iSay, Synovate Global Opinion Panel, and MyPoints. Although I can't guarantee that you'll be as successful as I am, it's worth a try. Free online paid surveys are especially worthwhile during this time of year!

A Review of MySurvey

I have almost entirely stopped working with survey companies because I think that they are a waste of time compared to freelance writing, but MySurvey is one survey site that I'm sticking with. I have been able to make the minimum cash out of $10 for the past two months now with extremely little effort. I know that $20 isn't a lot of money, but for this mom, an extra $20 is like getting a month's worth of diapers for free. In fact, one of my recent MySurvey opportunities involved testing a whole box worth of free diapers in addition to being paid for the follow up survey. Now that's a good deal if you ask me! Give them a try and see if 5 minutes of work here and there is worth an extra $10 per month. I know it is for me! https://www.mysurvey.com/index.cfm