UPromise is simple: register your grocery and drugstore cards, and your credit cards, with UPromise and get small bits of cash back toward college.
I joined in 2002 and now have slightly more than $300 in my account. Once you register your cards, it's passive income.
But for years I thought it had to go straight into a college account called a 529, and opening a 529 involves a fee and paperwork, so I didn't bother.
I recently learned, though, that you can just request a check from UPromise, up to $150 per quarter, and they will send it.
I sent my request off back in December and haven't heard back. I'll try again. That's $300 I didn't have to earn (about $50 a year). You never know if you have some hidden cash there, so if you have an account, check it out: UPromise check request.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Freelancing: Today.com
Today.com is hiring, and the pay is not so great: $1 per 100+ word post for your first 30 days as a blogger, plus $2 per 1,000 page views.
Now, to be fair, most writers can write 100 words and post them on a blog in about 3-4 minutes. But Today.com limits bloggers to 1 post per day, and makes no guarantees about earnings beyond the first 30 days. You're encouraged to Digg and Stumble and all that Social Media 2.0 The World Is Our Friend jazz, which is great, until you realize you've spent 20 minutes social media-ing a $1 job. How's that hourly rate?
A number of freelancers/write-from-home folks have taken the plunge, because Today.com lets you pick your topic, and off you go--like Associated Content, but with guaranteed pay for 30 days. And who knows where it will go--if you can streamline your time, research, topics, and promotion, it could lead to passive income, like Associated Content and eHow. Nothing like making $25-30/month like I do now for doing, well, nothing with my Associated Content account for almost a year. That's 2 lattes a week! Can you feel the buzz?
If you can get into a decent passive income stream with Today.com, it might be worth a try.
Now, to be fair, most writers can write 100 words and post them on a blog in about 3-4 minutes. But Today.com limits bloggers to 1 post per day, and makes no guarantees about earnings beyond the first 30 days. You're encouraged to Digg and Stumble and all that Social Media 2.0 The World Is Our Friend jazz, which is great, until you realize you've spent 20 minutes social media-ing a $1 job. How's that hourly rate?
A number of freelancers/write-from-home folks have taken the plunge, because Today.com lets you pick your topic, and off you go--like Associated Content, but with guaranteed pay for 30 days. And who knows where it will go--if you can streamline your time, research, topics, and promotion, it could lead to passive income, like Associated Content and eHow. Nothing like making $25-30/month like I do now for doing, well, nothing with my Associated Content account for almost a year. That's 2 lattes a week! Can you feel the buzz?
If you can get into a decent passive income stream with Today.com, it might be worth a try.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Brijit is dead :(
According to Brijit's homepage, and to an email I received:
Brijit had one of the best publishing platforms I've seen, and I've seen plenty since I started dabbling with content management systems in 1998/99.
What a shame. I hope Brijit gets some funding and comes back better than ever. in the meantime, that's one more income stream for some readers that is gone. :(
You've reached this page because, at the moment, Brijit is out of money and can no longer afford to bring you the world in 100 words. We're working hard to find a way forward for our service and hope to relaunch in the not-too-distant future. Thanks to all our loyal readers and writers. And to our Brijit writers: payments in full for all abstracts published through May 15 will be made next week.
Brijit had one of the best publishing platforms I've seen, and I've seen plenty since I started dabbling with content management systems in 1998/99.
What a shame. I hope Brijit gets some funding and comes back better than ever. in the meantime, that's one more income stream for some readers that is gone. :(
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Freelancing: More on Demand Studios, $15 per article
So I briefly mentioned Demand Studios a few posts ago. I received an email from them shortly after, inviting me to write for them using their new content management system. I went in and checked it out.
They pay $15 for writing one "eHow" article. You can claim up to 10 articles at a time (or less, of you like) and you have 1 week to write them. The articles expire if you don't write them by the deadline, and then go back into the content management system queue for others to claim and write.
The writing system is simple: there is a basic form you follow, and it's 1000% better than Associated Content's submission form, and has a much better look and feel than Constant Content as well.
If you know your topic well, you can write an entire article in 15-20 minutes. The article is approved, and you receive an email informing you that it was approved and to expect PayPal payment within 7 days. I received my approval and then payment within 3 days, so I am impressed.
Like Associated Content, though, I wonder if this is just the beginning of a process that will decline in quality. When AC began, they paid a relatively steady $10-12 per article and accepted almost all submissions. Then as supply increased, they lowered their payments and began rejecting more. Now writers are lucky to be paid at all, with some experiencing 50% rejection rates and $3.01 payments.
So--get in now while Demand Studios is paying well. Go to their site at http://www.demandstudios.com to apply.
They pay $15 for writing one "eHow" article. You can claim up to 10 articles at a time (or less, of you like) and you have 1 week to write them. The articles expire if you don't write them by the deadline, and then go back into the content management system queue for others to claim and write.
The writing system is simple: there is a basic form you follow, and it's 1000% better than Associated Content's submission form, and has a much better look and feel than Constant Content as well.
If you know your topic well, you can write an entire article in 15-20 minutes. The article is approved, and you receive an email informing you that it was approved and to expect PayPal payment within 7 days. I received my approval and then payment within 3 days, so I am impressed.
Like Associated Content, though, I wonder if this is just the beginning of a process that will decline in quality. When AC began, they paid a relatively steady $10-12 per article and accepted almost all submissions. Then as supply increased, they lowered their payments and began rejecting more. Now writers are lucky to be paid at all, with some experiencing 50% rejection rates and $3.01 payments.
So--get in now while Demand Studios is paying well. Go to their site at http://www.demandstudios.com to apply.
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