Yuwie, the social networking site that pays

I've just recently joined this community, and I must say I'm very impressed with its potential.

If you're curious about it, you can look at my homepage:
http://www.yuwie.com/ethanmama/

Yes, it's the one with the cute Shar Pei dog.

If you're familiar with social networking sites like Friendster, Myspace, etc. This one is similar. You can post your blog here, post pictures for sharing, network with friends etc.

So why not join the more established networking sites?

The reason is everytime you use their services, everytime somebody takes a look at your homepage, at your blog entries, at your pictures, at your layouts, you get credited with page views. You earn with your page views! The more page views you get, the larger your earning!

Not only that, you can refer people, and the pages of the people you refer also get credited to YOU as your referral's page views, which increases your earnings.

It's easier to understand if you try to play the following video: http://r.yuwie.com/ethanmama . Be sure to turn up the volume so you will understand what it's all about.

It's free to join. Payment option is either by paypal or by check, and minimum payout is 25 dollars.

Downside: It is a little slow to load, especially if you're using a dial up connection, but I guess it's improving. A while ago, I didn't encounter any problem with speed at all.

Paypal in the Philippines

All talks on earning money online would be useless unless one has a way to receive the money. By far the most popular way to receive money online would be via paypal.

You can apply for paypal here.

Until recently, paypal is off limits to Philippine users. But now, we can both send and receive money with Paypal. Then we can withdraw the money if we have VISA credit or debit card, or if we have a US bank account. The caveat is that there is a 5 dollar fee for transfer of the paypal funds into the credit card, so I would wait till there's more money in my account before I cash out.

You need to enroll for expanded use of paypal in order to receive money. To do this, you have VERIFY your VISA card in order to receive as well as send money through paypal.

The easiest option for Philippine paypal users is to use the debit card from Unionbank, the EON account. You can actually apply for it online here, then just pick up the card from the Union bank branch nearest your place. Do take note that you have to pay an annual fee of 350 pesos in order to use the card. You pay for the as soon as you get the card. You also have to provide 2 valid ID's in order to claim the card.

You can access your account through any Unionbank ATM machine OR you can use it much like a credit card when you purchase something.

Here is a guide from the people of Unionbank about registering for expanded use of paypal using their EON card:

Start Using Your PayPal Now

To enroll your UnionBank Visa Card in PayPal, first sign up for an account at the PayPal web site. Be sure to select Philippines as the country where you live and use U.S. Dollars as the primary currency. Your online transactions will automatically be converted to Philippine Pesos when billed.

When asked to enter your credit card or debit card number, enter the full 16-character card number and then the CVV. Make sure you enter your address of record at UnionBank as your billing address. For UnionBank Visa Credit Cards, use the address that appears on your monthly statement; and for EON Visa Electron and eWallet, use the address found on your Profile Page at the unionbankph.com online banking site.

After doing this, you have completed the basic enrollment which allows you to transact online up to a maximum amount determined by PayPal, regardless of your available balance or credit limit. However, to get full use* of your UnionBank card, you will be automatically enrolled in PayPal's Expanded Use Program.

Expanded Use Enrollment

1. When you register your UnionBank Visa card, PayPal will charge you the equivalent of US$ 1.95 for expanded use. Pay Pal will credit you back the US$ 1.95 amount on your first PayPal transaction. For EON and eWallet cards, your account must have the equivalent of US$ 1.95 in pesos in order for the expanded use transaction to go through when you first enroll your card.
2. You will then be issued a 4-digit Expanded Use Number. But, please allow 5 days for the Expanded Use Number to reflect on your statement.
   • For UnionBank Visa Credit Cards, you can find it on your next monthly paper statement or by viewing your Visa Transaction History online. [View Sample.]
   • For EON Visa Electron and eWallet Card holders, please contact the UnionBank Customer Service Call Center at 84-186 and ask the customer service agent to provide you with the 4-digit PayPal expanded use code.
3. Once you have this number, go back to the My Account Overview section of the PayPal web site and click on "Finish Expanded Use Enrollment" to enter the 4-digit number.[View Sample.]
4. Upon entering your Expanded Use code, you will receive a confirmation message indicating that your credit card has been verified.

Congratulations! Your PayPal account is now verified for Expanded Use. For more details on linking your UnionBank Card with PayPal you can visit UnionBank's Customer Service page, contact the Call Center hotline at 84-186 or visit the PayPal help site. We hope you enjoy and take advantage of borderless shopping with UnionBank's VISA Cards!

When you get your EON card, logon their site and open your online gateway to your account. This will take about 2 working days to get completely set up. Once you see that you can already access your Unionbank EON account, call them up in order to get the 4 digit Paypal expanded use code.

Starting to Blog

So you've decided to start blogging. Good for you. Blogging is fun, it's a good way to express yourself AND it may be a good way of earning some money for yourself.

The first thing that you have to do is choose a program for your blog. By far the easiest way is to used http://www.blogger.com . This is a platform by Google, it's free, and it's easiest to manipulate and navigate around, especially if you're a beginner. Also it doesn't limit you from trying to monetize your blog.

Another one you might want to check out is blogchex. This is also free to join. And it promises to pay you if you get a lot of ad views. It also promises a portion of payment from the people you refer. It's pretty difficult, though for one to reach the minimum payout of 50 dollars, without a lot of active referrals. I haven't even been near minimum payout. Anyway, you can join through this link if you want to try it out: http://www.blogchex.com/?signup&friend=699
(Update on July 7, 2008: Blogchex is no longer accessible. I never received any payment from them, but then I never reached payout level either.)

It's really your choice. I have 1 blogchex blog and 4 blogspot blogs which I use for different purposes. You might want to try both platforms.

I also have a free wordpress account. However, if you're looking to earn some money from your free wordpress blog, well, it's not allowed under their terms of service. A paid site with your own hosted domain is allowed to earn through advertising and other means of paid blogging, though, but if you're just starting out, it may just be best to start with the platforms I've mentioned.

A reminder about work at home programs

1. Although most programs are quite easy to do, you still have to do it. You can't just join and expect the money to come in without any effort at all. 2. These are not get rich quick programs. You can get a healthy income from a variety of programs IF you work at it. 3. Referrals will boost your income. But do remember that some referrals won't be active at all. That's all right. It's always a question of numbers. Get more referrals, there's bound to be a few that will work on the program. 4. Choose the programs that is applicable to your area. There are programs that are for the US only, so if you're from outside the USA, you'll just be wasting time if you join. 5. Choose the program that has a method of payment that will be applicable to your area. Or else, you would not get your payment at all. 6. As with all businesses, the programs will work for you only if you keep at it and do not give up. 7. Always maintain a positive attitude about your work, and remember why you're doing it in the first place.

MyLot

What it is: A discussion forum

How it pays:
You get paid for responding to topics and posting pictures. You also get paid when people respond to discussions you start, but only when you have at least 10 responses.

You also earn 25% of what your referrals earn.

Payment options: paypal or moneybookers.

Minimum payout is 10 dollars. Cut off is at the end of the month. If you reach minimum payment by cutoff, you'll receive payment on or before the 15th of the following month.

And yet, I've gotten paid!

Description:

MyLot is a growing discussion forum which claims a membership of about 112,637 at the last count. It tries to encourage quality discussions by rewarding longer and more meaningful responses. Also, longer topic starters who get more than 10 responses get rewarded. You also get paid for posting pictures.

The payment algorithm is not very clearcut, but generally, they give out 1-3 cents per response. Extra income seems to be added when your response gets awarded as "best response". Pictures also earn when others click on them to take a look.

There's a rating system available, so the reputation of the person is dependent upon how the other mylot people see his responses. Also, the other mylot members may report another member who's posts they find too offensive. Members get to see their rating when they reach at least 100 posts.

I found the discussions enjoyable. It's a real online community with a lot of interaction among its members. Trying to earn is quite tedious if you don't have referrals, but not impossible.

It is important to read the rules and follow them, because "naughty" members MAY get banned if they are not too careful.

To join MyLot, click here.
To join paypal, click here.
To join moneybookers, click here.


Got Paid!

Online Raket...What is it?

Online -- because it's on the net.

Raket -- Philippine streetspeak for "sidelines", "ways of earning extra money"...

I will feature the different things I joined online in order to earn a little something extra. :)