Going Green: A Breakdown of Costs March 27, 2008

Okay.

I finally have a few moments. I still can’t tell you how much money I’ve made from promoting these sites yet, because I’m waiting to see how much time it takes me to deal with canceling the “offers”. In other words, I don’t want to be horribly unethical and inflict something terrible on others, so I’m waiting to see if it is (A) merely a pain in the ass or (B) a royal time-sucking pain in the ass that I would never repeat in a million years.

Here’s a list of the offers I had to take to make the money I made on the first site I did:

Blockbuster (1/2 credit)–free to sign up, but I have to cancel the service in two weeks or I’ll be charged….something.

Lifelock (1/2 credit)–free to sign up, but if I don’t cancel by in thirty days, I’m out a billion dollars or something.

One credit makes you “Go green” on that site. This one was really easy, and I’d recommend it to others. So, if you’re an organized person who’d like to make $20, contact me and I’ll hook you up.

Of course, once you’ve completed the referral, you can do the same thing yourself. I’ll be going for $450, which by the time I pay for completed referrals will be a grand total of $230. This is not looking like a way to get rich, but it IS another source of income. You know, multiple streams and all that.

I completed referrals on three other sites and chose the following “offers”. It says something that these are the best ones I could come up with:

Bella Clear–It cost about seven dollars to have it sent to me, and I have to send it back within 15 days or my credit card will be charged nearly eighty dollars. A month. You can see how organization is important if you are going to do this.

eAuction Success–This one cost $1.95, but if I don’t cancel in 14 days, I’m out sixty bucks a month for this informational product. There are several other informational products offered by this company, but you can only order one. I am starting to see where the real money is in this, though. I have it on my list to see what it takes to get myproduct offered on one of these sites.

Allure Patch–This contains green tea or something, and set me back a couple of bucks. It will cost me $89.95 a month to continue with this weight loss effort if I don’t cancel in 10 days.

Boca Java–I paid $19.95 for a cute set of mugs and a bunch of expresso. It’s going in the pile of gifts for people I don’t know I’m giving gifts to yet. If I don’t cancel in 14 days, I’ll get expensive shipments every month.

Web.com–This is a hosting service that I have no gripe with. Their customer service was great when I called to get my $25 in Adwords. I paid about $10 to sign on with this one, so that was a really nice perk. Of course, I will continue to be charged every month until I cancel.

Girls Gone Wild–It was seven dollars or so to order the video. Subsequent monthly videos cost $19.95. I suppose watching the same girls all the time gets a bit tame…I am ticked off at them because they haven’t given me credit yet for signing up, so I haven’t went “green” on that site yet.

So you can see how this is a way to make actual money, but that it might not be the easiest way. One thing I am learning about making money online is that there isn’t an easy way. I enjoy writing, so PPP seems easy to me, but it might not for someone else. Completing these offers makes me want to tear my hair out, and I’m not going to do it anymore. I’m going to promote the sites I already have in “green” status. Also, you can keep those sites green without having to complete any more “offers”, which means you keep your cash machine going.

I’ll let you know how it turns out once I start canceling things.

There’s Luxury in Simplicity March 27, 2008

When I was a Vogue reading teenager, one of the advertisements that I remember impressing me the most was for
Movado watches. The simplicity of their design was impressive. I still like them today. If you go to The Watchery, you can find luxury watches galore. You also get a free watch with purchase. I’d add it to my “gifts I need for Christmas but don’t know who for yet” pile in my closet. Anyway, it sounds like a good deal.

Can’t Afford the Bestsellers? No Problem. March 27, 2008

I love to read. I get almost all of the books I read from the public library, whose staff knows me by name. Still, sometimes there’s a bestseller that I want to read that has been reserved by 843 people, and then I either have to wait, or buy it. I hate buying bestsellers. They’re usually the type of thing that I read for entertainment and don’t really want cluttering up my bookshelf later. In fact, those are the sort of books that I sell on Half.com. Read on.

Here’s a trick that I use occasionally when I am feeling cheap. I don’t do it often because it’s a hassle. Anyway, here’s what you do:

Check the price of the bestseller you want to read on Half.com.

Go to the bookstore. If the price of the book isn’t much more than the price on Half.com, buy it.

Read it within a week or so, and don’t get any smudges on the pages.

List it on Half.com and get your money back. You may find that you even make a few pennies, or you may find out that you ended up paying a couple of dollars for the book. It’s still a deal.

It works for me. I’m a book addict–it’s how I relax not having television. Shoot, I can’t even watch DVDs since my son discovered how rubbing magnets all over the screen would make it look real pretty. Well, I CAN watch them, but only if I don’t mind everyone’s face being an electric blue color.

At least my books aren’t turning blue. He’d better watch it with that Poweraid….