Writing Opportunities

About.com is hiring writers. So if you have an eye for writing and are a little seasoned then follow my links and apply to these sites. They offer a variety of helpful articles on tons of things. Good luck and let me know what happens.

www.about.com

www.associatedcontent.com

http://www.demandstudios.com/

www.ehow.com

http://www.helium.com/

http://www.howstuffworks.com/jobs.htm

www.wisegeek.com

http://greenhouse.mahalo.com/Main_Page

http://www.erotica-readers.com/ERA/index.htm

www.bukisa.com

www.need-an-article.net

http://www2.brighthub.com/writers/writers.html

www.WriterAccess.com

Making money with Associated Content

I've had myriad people ask me about Associated Content and whether or not I see the money potential with writing articles for them. I guess I will start by stating that the upfront price for articles have changed. There use to be a time where people were offered $5 and up for upfront payment. Now, its seems that Associated Content is offering $1-$4 dollars per article. It also seems that heavy emphasis is being put on performance pay instead of upfront payment not to mention that they are getting more rigid with submitted material. So, to get back to the question of whether or not I think that there's earning potential with AC, I would think that it is.

Why? I tend to be a realist when it comes to money. If you commit yourself to writing daily not only will you be making some extra change but you will also improve your writing in more ways than one. So if you're an amateur writer, use this as a stepping stone to bigger and better writing gigs.

Making Money for the Holiday season!

I'm enclosing some common ways people look to make extra money during the holiday season. Hope you find some useful information in this list. The holiday season is fast approaching so keep that in mind.

1. Santa Writing Service-offer parents a personalized letter to their child from Santa. Make a small form to answer questions about the child, like his name and his pets' name and use it to write a personalized letter to the child; use Santa stationery.

2. Set up a kiosk at a mall or flea market selling wholesale products or things you make.

3. Make cakes, cookies, or special treats for busy individuals in your area.

4. Become a personal shopper to make money at Christmas; offer this service based on the amount of time spent shopping and the distance to the stores.

5. Start a decorating service; decorate homes for a fee. Charge for each separate decorating job you will do, from the Christmas tree, to a stairway to outdoor lighting. You will need ladders and tools but will use your customer's own decorations. Be sure to specify if your charges also include removal of decorations.

6. Sell personalized keychains, poems, mugs, etc.

7. Make handmade soaps or candles. Package them in holiday baskets with colorful ribbons and sell them at county fairs or flea markets.

8. Offer gift-wrapping services; you can charge by the package or by the job and make extra money by offering a pick-up and delivery service as well.

9. Get a 2nd job working at a retail store, distribution store, or warehouse in your area. The United States Postal Office, UPS, and FedEx also hire in the warehouse doing the holiday season because of all the shipping. The pay is good with the Post Office(I've done it before). Please look into his early because the jobs start filling up around late October.

10. Ring the bells for the Salvation Army and help a good cause.

11. Also, try any job where you're going to earn commissions. The holiday season is an excellent way to capitalize and earn more money than you would working hourly.

Selling Life/Health Insurance as a side hustle

Let's face it. As long as people continue to get sick and die, there will always be a need for health insurance and supplemental life insurance. I've been pondering about doing it for a while because some of my friends do it as a side gig and it pays pretty well. For instance, one of my friends sells life insurance and makes up to an extra $1,000/month doing it part-time(she sometimes makes more but I'm quoting her average pay). She said that her first customers were family members and friends. So that got me to thinking. Why not take advantage of this opportunity even if it is for a limited time? In Georgia, we're permitted a temporary license where we can write policies and its even renewed for up to 3 times before we have to take a the big test.

So, that gives us something else to think about with the upcoming holidays. Let me know what happens with you or would like to share your experience.

The State of your Hustles: August

So today is August 7, 2008 and I would like to share this month's current and projected
finances for this month. By posting the state of my finances, it should motivate you to
go that extra mile when setting your monthly goals.

*Projected Income for August 2008*

Mystery Shopping--------> $500

Article Writing---------> $100

ChaCha------------------> $600 (most will come before the 8/14 deadline)

CraigsList/Ebay Postings-->$200 (I have all sorts of things hanging around the house)

Total Projected August income: $1400!!!!(I've been averaging between $1,000 and $1,500 monthly).

I also have a regular job so in addition to that income, I'm doing pretty well. Please let me know how you're faring.

ChaCha nonsense????!!!

To some motivated individuals, ChaCha had become a cash cow of some sorts. However, after an announcement a couple days ago citing reduced pay in favor of performance pay,
a host of people including myself are ready to jump ship if need be. So what the problem with this new implementation? Well, for one thing ChaCha is reducing the pay from twenty cents to ten cents per answered query. Now the catch is that you have to reach top guide status each week in order to qualify for the usual .20 and maintain an accuracy level of at least 97%. The problem with this is that only Quality Control(QC)is able to make judge accuracy levels and there's no set rules for how accuracy is critiqued. So, we have a big problem.

Now, before everyone starts worrying, I will say this. If you spend a good amount of time on ChaCha answering questions then nine times out of ten you won't have anything to worry about. On the .20 scale, it takes five hundred answered queries to fetch a hundred dollars. I truly believe in my heart that this isn't an astronomical number nor is 300. My suggestion to people who can't find the time to do at least 300 searches is quite simple. Quit! I really don't see the point in taking on ChaCha if you're not making more than $100/week.

There a lot to be said about ChaCha right now but I think I will stick with this supposedly sinking ship until the last sail goes down.

$75 in two hours!!!!!! get your hustle on!

On Monday, July 21, 2008, I went on five mystery shops for a major cellular carrier here in Atlanta. In total I made $75 in about two hours(each of the shops were $15). I just went in and out, literally*smile*, and went on to the next shop. Now you may ask how did I get five shops at once? I simply sent the account managers at the mystery shop company an email stating that I would like to complete 5 shops because they were located within a 10-15 mile radius of each other. I also let them know that I have a nice shopper rating and I could really use the extra cash(be dramatic!). SO my friends, that is how I made $75 in just about two hours.

I will be making an out of town excursion next month by car and have arranged almost $2oo worth of shops along my route which is just about how much gas will cost me roundtrip. So I encourage you to get in there, establish a high shopper rating, and the money will follow!!!!