Which Social Networks Empower?: August 2009

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Which PTCs Work: Conclusion to date

I came across a blog in my internet travellings: Online Approved, it was called.

After looking at the list of PTC sites that were personally recommended by this blogger, I came to this statement:
"The only way PTC sites could really be profitable to you is if you had dozens of faithful referrals, which is unlikely for most of us.

So with the exception of You Data, I think PTC sites are a waste of time. If you still want to start using them, join You Data first, and then try Wordlinx or MyPoints."

While I agree that most PTCs are essentially a pyramid scheme (because they're not worth the effort and to make them worth the effort you'll have to get direct referrals (which means that you'll be stringing along your side others for whom this endeavor will be a waste of time...)), but, what I think is critically missed in this evaluation is rented referrals. Granted, there is the possibility of the referrals being bots. This possible investment risk can be easily circumvented by only signing up with PTCs that allow you to use your main balance to rent referrals, instead of having to invest your own pocket money.

That being said, if renting referrals proves to be a waste of time, then YES, ALL PTCS ARE A WASTE OF TIME (if you intend to make a decent amount of money).

So far, according to my above heuristics, the only PTCs that I recommend are NeoBux, PalmBux (maybe not though, since I've never seen referrals available for rent) and BuxWiz. PTC sites that require the package to be more than $1-2 (i.e. more than 3 rents at a time) can be discarded.

If renting referrals on NeoBux does not pan out for me, I will stop using PTCs altogether. With, perhaps, the exception of PaidToClick. There aren't too many ads, and it looks like it could be a pretty consistent income of, like $0.05 per 2-3 days. Nothing big, but not too bad for not too much effort. BigKahunaClicks is also paying, but there is a 1% fee, which, in my opinion, takes a huge chunk of the money you earn.

So, really, there's only one PTC site that I can recommend: NeoBux. And until I make profit with it (I'm at -$28 in net profit), it's going to be a small recommendation.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Payment from Shaggy's Shack

Having talked with shaggy about the keywords and him consequently revising the word count to 250 and the keywords to better ones, and to the option of no keywords required, I figured I'd try the website out. I didn't really feel like writing a story, so I wrote about the shag shack. I talked about Jenny's Crownz website and work-online.org.uk (which is taking forever to process the last few stories that I need to make cashout!) and commented on how it would be nice if there was a word-count included on shaggy's site (I googled around and found a site that did it and used that to count the words); to my pleasant surprised, my suggestion was taken, and now the writing page includes a word count. ^_^ Cool!

When payments are made and what the minimum for cashout is, is a tad uncertain (and towards being better than being worse). The minimum is said to be two stories (or $0.40); I just wrote one story and got the $0.20 (with no fees!).

Here is the reason for not being sure when cashouts are made:

"

Admin: Payments sent, please check your paypal's.

30 Aug 09, 10:11

Admin: Ok well I am going to send cashouts instantly, so everyone who has already made money, you'll be receiving your money too

30 Aug 09, 10:00

shyguy76767: I doubt people would ask that you not include that.

30 Aug 09, 08:42

shaggy: So when you get a story approved I send the cash out.

30 Aug 09, 08:42

shaggy: How would you guys feel if I made cash out instant?

"

The trend, however, is toward faster payments. I'm assuming that it's on an "as soon as I can" basis. It is probably that the reason I got the payment after only one story as opposed to two is that this site is new, and shaggy is trying to figure out how he wants to do stuff, and paying people is better than delaying payment.

My main concern with the site is, like with Jenny's, sustainability. I don't know how he's making money, and it's my guess that he's taking out of pocket. And while that might benefit writers right now, it is, ultimately, to their detriment, since eventually there won't be, as it were, job security.

Second Paypal investment to NeoBux

$5 to NeoBux, making total negative (-$25 +$2 -$5) of $28.

Payment from NeoBux: $2

So, I'm making a $2 payment to myself from my NeoBux account, primarily to make sure that I haven't been suspended.

Here goes... I'll try and do those time pics that show one second, and then the next second. I don't know if I'll be successful.

Before payment:

Payment sent...

And, a few seconds later:

Yay! It's real money! And quite needed!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

PaidToClick.in $0.05 payment

I've waited for about 1-2 days for a payment from PaidToClick.in, and I finally got it. The date of payment is wrong, but apparently he does mass autopay, so it's probably just an error.

I have a direct referral on NeoBux now!

New history entries

TODAY at 10:02
You got a new Referral: sai51192job
He/She used the link with your username.

As I was browsing the forums, I saw that I had a new event. I looked at the event, and it was a new referral, sai51192job! And sai51192job came from what was probably my LinkBucks link on my myLot page. If sai51192job reads this, please turn on your mail box! I'd love to help you out!

Oh, it's so exciting to get a direct referral! It's like getting a Christmas present. ^_^ Free clicks!

Although, it's also possible that the referral was from this blog. Either way - would love to help him/her!

NeoBux: Back in business

After a short 10 or so minutes of being "down", Neobux is back up.

Conversation on myLot:

http://49691b85.linkbucks.com

NeoBux Problem: Proxy Shield??

I was reading the forums and saw the my NeoBux balance had gone up. I wanted to see the details of it, so I clicked on my username and opened it in a new tab.

What I got was this:

I then tried to access NeoBux by going to www.neobux.com. . Same thing. I'm not using a proxy, so why is this happening? I can't see anything to do with NeoBux on the NeoBux site right now.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Whoa! Another fee-free $2!

Just got paid for the Nikon review that I wrote! That makes for a total of (.67 + .3 + 2.1 + 2) $5.07. Nice!

Paid $2.40 By Jenny!

I have just been paid $0.30 and $2.10 by Jenny, owner of Crown Royalz Reviewz and FourLuvz Screamz. Crown Royal Reviews is where you put reviews and pretty much anything else you'd like to write; FourLuvz Screamz is for poetry.

The nice thing about them this time was that there was no Paypal fee. I don't know how she did it, but I'm quite glad to have extra money!

The poem I got payment for was about PTCs and her site(s):
"

Featured Poem !

Comments: Looking here
Looking there
Scammed once
Scammed twice
Wondering if the internet is
Only Lice

Sites that pay
Make my day
As they are quite rare

PTCs
PTRs
And their paypal freezes

And here comes along
a promising site
That looks like day
when makes all of the others are night
But the waters are still troubling

Looking there
Looking here
Paid once
Paid twice
Wishing for the formula
To get rid of

The Lice"

Yep. It's featured. She liked it a lot:
"I completely understand your poem! Wow, I hope your not thinking that I am lice. I loved it! Your getting a bonus: for this review you will get .50 cents! rather than .10 ! Nice job! I have been scammed so many times it isn't even funny. But I am trying to create a site that you can ask questions, submit replies or ideas... have a real person for your business partner. I try to communicate with all the writers to ensure that I am a legit person. You wrote about scam, I will send you a payment now, the last of what i have in my paypal FOR NOW until September just to prove to you .. I am not a scam! I love your poem and it will be published!"

"I take that back, this poem is getting $1.30 I already sent you the .30 cents!"

Not a bad amount for something I enjoy doing! I might even go as far as saying it's better than work-online.org.uk, especially since I'm having a hair-tearing time of figuring out how to work with their keywords! I'm considering just finishing the second payment, and then leaving the site:

"We have added another category of story - "insurance".

Some of the keywords in it are very specific to insurance and finance.

Please dont write stories for the Insurance category unless you are able to write a story that is ABOUT the keywords.

Many thanks, Master admin."

Which would have been a good thing is the keywords they started with. One word keywords I can deal with. But within an hour, they were changed to this:
"cheap motor trade insurance, group, insurance, quotes"
That's a four word keyword! And they want you to write about the topic?! I'm thinking that I'm going to do some research on Insurance stuff and then do the last three stories, and then abandon the site. It's become a mental hassle.

Surprise payment from PaidToClick.in!

I have just been impressed by PaidToClick.in. I got $0.01 (with no paypal fees!) and I didn't even request cashout! Apparently, it's automatic somehow:

Auto Withdraw Earnings

	Method	Minimum	Fee
	Turned Off
	Paypal	$0.01	0 %

And,

Withdraw History

Request Date	Date Paid	Method	Account	Fee	Net
Aug 26, 2009	Aug 26, 2009	Paypal	----------	$0.00	$0.01

I PTC-Investigations'ed it and found that it is apparently a rather controversial site.

"Some say "It is a scam!" and some will say "Hey, I've been paid by them!"."

And the wait time is posted as "?". I don't really know what to make of this site. It intrigues me.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

NeoBux: 10 more rents, making 66.

Perhaps I'll even, someday, have 666 rented refs. I want to get up to having at least 100, first. All of this reminds me of banking and of those banking terms like Compound Interest. Just keep putting the money back in, and it increases exponentially! Well, I hope so... A good renting strategy is nice too. Right now my basic strategy is, let the refs do as they wish, and if they don't click for 5 days or more, recycle them. That's pretty much it.

Membership
	Since:	2009/07/07
	Type:	Standard
Referrals
	Rented:	66
Advertisement Clicks
	Yours:	278
	Referrals:	1879
Account
	Main Balance:	$1.525
	Renting Balance:	$0.022
	Direct Purchases:	$10.580

Monday, August 24, 2009

Buxy.ATH - suspicious...

In checking how much I wouldn't be getting because of the 15% / 15 cent cent deduction from my earnings, I found that Buxy.ATH is lacking the "No Minimum" cashout option. There is just that $1 cashout option. Does this mean they're turning scam, realizing that their payout option isn't working too well, or what?

Requested 3rd payment: PtcBux

Since I want accuracy in how long it takes for payments to get to me, I am now posting when I requested payouts. So far, despite PtcBux's bad connections, I have been paid twice.

Two Payment Proofs: Big Kahuna Clicks and Bux.ATH

Ah, the pleasant sight of seeing more money in your paypal account! I have been paid by Big Kahuna Clicks $0.03 and by Bux.ATH, $0.06.

There are two things to note about each site:
Big Kahuna Clicks has a about 27 click ads for about $0.0005, with about 5 read ads at $0.001, making for a total of about 2-3 cents a day. Not bad at all. Just a lot of clicks.

Bux.ATH has a tad of a tricky system. There are two types of payout, one with a 15% or 15 cent fee (whichever is greater) for the no-minimum cashout. That basically means it has a minimum cashout of $0.16 to get $0.01 in your paypal. The other method of payout has a 0% fee, but you have to wait until you reach $1, which isn't all too bad. The reason I went with the lower one was to test out whether you get paid or not.

So far, looks good for Big Kahuna, not so good for Bux.ATH. There was a transaction fee of $0.06, which makes my net profit exactly $0. It's just a tad unsettling.
The transaction time (i.e. time from request to getting) was about 2-3 days. I wasn't paying very close attention, as the amounts weren't that big, and I really didn't think I was going to get paid by either (however much good I've heard about Kahuna, I am still suspicious of most sites anyway).

Payment Proofs:

Which Social Networks Empower?