Browsing Category: "reviews"
Fair Review – Creating a Blogging Community
In the world of blogging there is a sense of community that is expressed in several ways. Rhys Wynne over at Fair Review is pioneering a new service. Just by reviewing one of the blogs listed on the site you are able to submit your own blog, hopefully to be reviewed in turn. I chose to have a look at The Prize Blog as it gives you a chance to win prizes or make some money.
If you are someone who enjoys taking part in competitions then The Prize Blog by Brian Aldrich will definitely be of interest. The concept is simple. Rather than you having to search the Internet looking for great prizes to win Brian does the work for you describing the potential prize and a link to the site to enter.
I found one that was of interest and immediately hopped over to the website to take part.
Probing a little further I did notice that a lot of the competitions would only be open to residents of a specific country (US in general). It would help if Brian could use some form of symbol on each post to let readers know whether there are specific restrictions on who could enter (a US flag icon for example where only US residents are allowed). I appreciate that this might take a little longer to research but it would be helpful to readers. Perhaps a footer showing a disclaimer might also work.
There is a useful list of categories that make it easy for users to find the type of competition that they are interested in. I enjoy holidays and headed for the Vacation category. When I got there it occurred to me that in a blog like this many of the posts become redundant once the closing date is passed.
So what does this mean for the blog?
Perhaps it might be useful to add a category that lists competitions that will be closing in say the next two weeks so readers won’t waste time in trying to find competitions that they can enter.
Will this make me Money?…
A recent post I made was titled Money Making Ahead of the Crowd and was about a newsletter I receive on a fairly adhoc basis. The author, Gerald Deer, has provided some useful recommendations for investments to consider (you can subscribe to the newsletter by sending an email to geralddeer@safe-mail.net with IYCU as the subject line of the mail).
Whilst it is interesting to receive the recommendations it doesn’t necessarily validate any of the programs that Gerald discusses so I thought I would do somewhat of an experiment where I will invest some of my own money in one of his recommended programs to see whether a good profit can be turned.
The program I’ve chosen is ghpi which has a range of investments on offer. I’ve chosen the Real Estate Plan as it has a low minimum deposit ($100) and pays a return of 8% per week for a year. I’ve invested $125 so that the weekly return is an even $10.
None of the plans allow you to compound your investment returns so I will likely make a withdrawal for every $50 earned. This will then provide me with funds to either re-invest with ghpi or elsewhere.
If you are tempted to follow along with my example then you should note that ghpi are very close to closing to new members so you may not have much time to join. Also, whilst you can join for free you do have to make an investment into one of the plans within 72 hours or your details will be purged from the database.
It’s worth mentioning that I have read good reports about ghpi on other forums so for what they might be worth there is at least some anecdotal evidence that the program is sound.
If you do visit the site then you should be aware that the program admins are German so some of the English used may not sit all that well if you are a grammar buff, but at least it raises a smile now and then.
Am I making Money?…
In my post The Ups and Downs of 2006 I reviewed where I was in relation to the investments that I was actively trading at that time. Now, at the end of the first quarter of 2007 I thought I’d do another quick review to see what progress, if any, has been made in the past three months.
I’ve not really done any more with my Sports Arbitrage trading at Risk Free Profit as I’ve maintained my focus for active trading on Fixed Odds Trading using the recommendations from Matt Shaw and more recently the Market Excellence service from Martin Corkish. Overall results have been mixed as many of Matt’s recommendations took a dive in the early part of the year. Things have started to improve but I am still using a fairly conservative approach where his recommendations are concerned so that I limit the risk even more. I’ve explained previously that Martin uses a very conservative trading strategy so whilst his recommendations have traded well the returns are fairly modest.
As a way to increase the returns from Market Excellence I also joined the trading club where Steve Hoven makes trades on FOREX. Unfortunately as soon as I joined the results dived and March has been a fairly disastrous month. The one good thing is that I am guaranteed to make a profit before any more fees are paid so I am hopeful that April will start to turn things round.
My account at FXIG has now been moved to Sharndor and it has taken some considerable time for funds to migrate across. The trader has resolved to expend all his efforts on bringing the trading back to profit as soon as possible but there is always a threat that impatient investors may scupper his plans. Luckily I was able to recoup more than my original investment so I’m now using profits when and if trading resumes. Again time has been somewhat unkind to Divinius Opulentis as progress was expected before now but fortunately some good news right at the end of March should see things accelerate in the very near future.
One of the shining lights in the last quarter has been CEP Coast and the whole CEP family of programs. CEP Coast continues to pay out at 2%+ a day and as I reported in mid-February they are now in a position where the returns are guaranteed. If I was starting out in online investment I would make sure that CEP Coast was the first program I joined.
Whilst I’ve been happy with Fantastic Pay as an investment they have encountered problems and are currently working through the resolution of these. This is not a major area of concern as I’m positive that they will come through and be stronger for it. Investors are still waiting for the first bonus cheques to arrive from Shop Right so performance here is somewhat below expectations. Having said that the organisation is still marketing strongly and provides a very positive outlook.
Since the New Year I’ve also started to invest in gold by way of Bullion Vault and GoldClaim although the offerings from both are different. With Bullion Vault you can purchase gold directly and it will be held in the vault of your choice in London, Zurich or New York. I make a monthly payment so that over time I hope to have a reasonable portion of my investment here. On the other hand GoldClaim use the money you invest for projects that they are involved with. At the the end of a defined period the aim is to return your funds and profit so that you can then buy gold coins. Recently the Admin advised that payments were being suspended for 120 days due to problems with banks so I would caution anyone thinking about investing in GoldClaim to hold fire for the time being.
Another worth an honourable mention is Global Pension Plan as is it fast approaching 50,000 members and the forecast is that the 100,000 target will be reached in September this year.
So, what’s the verdict for the past three months? Well whilst some programs have performed well others have under-performed so I would say that I haven’t advanced as much as I’d hoped. This doesn’t mean to say that all is lost, mine is a long term strategy and I can see very positive signs in many areas. Let’s see what the next three months brings.
2000 and still going…
Some while ago now I featured one of the daily newsletters I get, namely Early To Rise and it has reached a significant milestone so I felt that the time was right to mention it again. I originally came across it when I was looking to find a home study course I could do whilst working abroad. The course I chose was a copywriting one that is marketed by Agora Publishing with the course editor being Michael Masterson.
Why I subscribed to Early To Rise is lost in the grey mists of time but I’ve never regretted the decision. The reason they are celebrating is the fact that they are publishing their 2,000th edition imminently, an enviable record I think given the ebbs and flows of survival on the internet.
Each edition comes with well considered, well researched practical articles that are designed to make you healthier, wealthier and wise. As well as Michael Masterson there are a whole group of other contributors who provide rock-solid content to the readership. Now, it shouldn’t be any surprise to note that each issue contains ‘opportunities’ to earn, learn and improve by just purchasing the recommended Agora Publishing product but in fairness the quality is generally good and being masters at the art of direct marketing they provide money-back guarantees with all their products. And, as this is the 2,000th edition of Early To Rise you’ll find good discounts on the products.
A sister publication is Investors Daily Edge which is again a newsletter that I would highly recommend if you are interested in how best to reap rewards on the markets.
The only slight downside with both the publications is that they are very US-centric so some of the money earning opportunities are not that relevant elsewhere. Having said that the information taken in a more general sense can be applied anywhere.
Incentive To Post…
I’ve mentioned previously that you can blog for money at PayPerPost. When I checked back there again today I see that they have a posting opportunity for $1000 which is very tempting indeed. Unfortunately my blog hasn’t quite reached the dizzy heights needed for me to take advantage of this opportunity just yet, so please tell all your friends about my blog and you never know one day I’ll be heading over to PayPerPost myself for just such an opportunity.
Now, whilst headline sums like this (and there are more believe me) look very attractive there’s no reason why bloggers like myself aren’t able to make some money for somewhat lesser amounts. If you head over to the home page you’ll notice that several people have already earnt several thousands of dollars by taking part. In my particular circumstances I have decided to select opportunities that align with the type of information that I cover in my blog so opportunities may be less frequent, that’s a personal choice that I am happy to make. If you have a more general blog then there may be opportunities that you feel able to take. Whatever you decide I’m happy to recommend PayPerPost as a good way to make your blog pay it’s way somewhat, why don’t you give it a try.
If you don’t already have a PayPerPost account by clicking on the link to make a comment on this post you will already be on your way to making $7.50, now that’s not so difficult is it?
Spreading the Word…
There are many ways for companies to advertise their products or services to the world. One of the best ways is to use the internet as a way of showcasing what is on offer. The difficulty of course is how to reach as wide an audience as possible.
One way is to get the vast army of bloggers to help out. One service that provides a good way of doing this is Blogsvertise which has been created for just such a task. When a blogger is sent an advertiser to reference they can review the product or site, show how they might have used the product or service themselves and generally give honest feedback (both good and bad). 
When Blogsvertise has reviewed and approved your post a payment will be sent to your Paypal account. So, how much can you make? Well, on the Blogsvertise FAQ page they quote typical payments of between $5 and $15 per post which I think is pretty fair.
If you enjoy writing your blog and keep it updated regularly then this seems to be an ideal way for everyone to benefit. See what you think…
Juicy Arbs?…
When I first started writing this blog I was focusing much of my attention on Sports Arbitrage Trading with Risk Free Profit as I saw that as one way to build up a good second income. As you can read in my post for the 2006 roundup I discontinued using their service on a regular basis because of problems with my bookmaker accounts being restricted (and no, I wasn’t trading $’000′s at a time).
Having said that I still like to keep an eye on what is happening in the sports arbitrage world and recently I came across a new offering from Juice Trading. They are a new venture that started towards the end of 2006. Their strategy is somewhat different to other providers in that they sell you the software directly rather than charge a monthly fee. The basic package is $99, a professional version is due out later but there is no information about the price as yet.
Whilst I was doing some research I came across a very good review of the software at the Sports Arbitrage Guide which I think gives a very balanced view of both the positives and negatives of the software. In summary it says that the package is a good starting point for those who want to venture into the world of arbitrage. As they work with a limited number of bookmakers there will always be a trade-off against more expensive services but it certainly means that for beginners there is now a very economical starting point.
