I’m always looking for ways to make more money.  Last week I shared with you how to make money blogging.  Another way you can make more money is with your hobbies!  Knitting, crocheting, painting, sewing, and cross stitch are just not for grandmas any more!  Personally, I enjoy knitting.  I like making socks, dish cloths, and baby blankets.  It’s nothing more than a hobby for me because the time and energy I invest knitting the items outweighs the monetary gain.  I like giving my things as gifts, but have often times wished for a way to make knitting my job!  That’s not going to happen, but if I do decide to sell my dish cloths, I know there are options out there. There are a few different websites that you can use to sell your crafts online.

Etsy.com

Etsy.com is of course the first website that comes to mind for most people.  With Etsy, you create your own “store” and list items for a certain amount.  There’s no upfront investment to become an Etsy seller.  You can start your store for free, which I think is awesome.  When you list an item with Etsy, there is a 20 cent per item fee.  With that fee, you have the ability to upload five photos of that item for four months.  If your item doesn’t sell, you don’t pay any more money.  If your item sells, you pay a 3.5 percent commission to Etsy.  You are in control of your earnings, as there’s no limit to how much you price your items for, and if your items are popular, you’ll make more money!

Etsy is a site for all crafts: knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, sewing, painting, etc.  It’s nice because you can search the site for whatever items you’d like according to the craft type.

JewelryWonder.com

Jewelrywonder.com is a site where you can sell jewelry, crafts, art, clothing, home and garden, dvds, and more!  With Jewelry Wonder, it’s completely free.  There are no set up fees, listing, hosting, monthly or transaction fees.  You set your own prices, so you have an unlimited potential for earnings as well.  Jewelry wonder is not just for jewelry (as misleading as the name sounds!) so if you try Etsy and don’t have much success, you may want to try Jewelry Wonder.  You just have to have at least 30 items to open the free online store.

ArtFire.com

Artfire.com is the “premiere handmade marketplace” where you can buy and sell crafts.  They feature everything from handmade items, fine art, craft supplies, vintage, and even media.  You can choose from a basic free account (which has unlimited listing and four pictures per item) to a pro account (with 10 pictures per item plus a customizable store and promo features) at $15.95 a month.  With ArtFire, you can sell directly from your blog or website.  ArtFire has no transaction fees, so you get to keep 100% of your earnings.

These are some great ways to boost your income if you’re an artist or into crafts.  Of course, I always make sure that it’s worth my time to make and sell items, but if you’re in it for the fun, that’s even better!

What are your hobbies? Could you make money with them?

Who doesn’t want to know how to make money blogging?  There are people out there that make a living from their websites/blogs.  However, there are many, many more bloggers out there who make hardly any money from blogging.  Blogging is very time consuming, and as your traffic grows, your responsibilities do as well.  Personally, I would love to make more money blogging, and make this my full time job.  I’d love to be able to write and share my ideas and tips on how to save money and live green and that be my only source of income.

Here are some ways to make money blogging:

1. Google Adsense.

Google Adsense ads are displayed on blogs and promote information related to the website’s content.  For instance, if you are looking for “how to no poo“, chances are the ads on the page will be advertising for shampoos. When someone clicks on an ad on your website, you make money as a commission for referring the person to the advertiser’s website.  Google Adsense can be a great source of income if you write about topics that are relevant to companies that advertise through Google.

2. Blogher Ads.

Blogher ads are paid by the number of impressions, not clicks.  It’s nice because when your traffic goes up, so does your revenue.  However, Blogher Ads do take over half of the amount of advertising dollars as a commission.  As a perk, they also promote three other bloggers’ posts at the bottom of the advertising widget, so that is a nice bonus, as more traffic is driven to the sites that are linked.

3. Amazon Affiliate Program.

I like the Amazon Affiliate program because when I want to share a product that I love it’s easy to do so through Amazon Affiliates. I can link to the product’s Amazon page where the readers get more information and reviews and if they purchase something from clicking from my site, I earn a small commission.  It’s not much, but every little bit helps.

4. Text link ads.

Text link ads are frowned upon by Google, so you may want to keep that in mind before you start accepting them.  Many websites have been penalized by Google for accepting private text link ads.  However, text link ads can be a very good source of income for a website, because there is a flat fee paid each month just to have the ad on the website.

5. E-books.

E-books are great because they’re all digital, easier to publish than a paper book, and can be written at any number of pages.  E-books are also nice, because the income you make from selling your e-books can go straight to your bottom line versus having to give someone else a cut right off the top.  You can decide to give those who promote your e-book a commission if you choose, and that will help you make more money even though you are paying out commissions because you’ll have more exposure.

I’ve been blogging about personal finance and frugal living now for almost three years, and by no means am I getting rich off my blog.  I started this site as a way to share my money saving tips and green living ideas.  I always strive to share the best information with my readers because that’s the most important point of blogging to me.

All of the above ideas are how to make money blogging.  I’ll be honest and say that if you are starting a blog to make money, don’t do it.  Start a blog to share your thoughts about a topic you’re passionate about, and then go from there.

Have you ever wondered how to make money blogging? If you’re a blogger, do you have more tips on how to make money blogging?

For many years I’ve participated in Pinecone Research. I enjoy being a panelist. They send you surveys and products to try and you get compensated for your time and energy by getting $5 per survey (unless it’s household questions) and $5 for every product you try. Well, I guess I should say you used to. About a year ago, they changed new sign ups to get paid $3 per survey and entered into a drawing to win $500. They have recently sent out a study to current members that were still getting the $5 basically telling them that they are changing everyone to $3 per survey and sweepstakes.

I think it sucks. Sure, there are times you answer questions and don’t get compensated for them, but they really aren’t that bad. There is an option to leave it at $5 a survey, but it basically says if you do that you probably won’t be getting very many surveys. I think I’m going to go ahead and change to the $3. Do I like it? No. But I do enjoy being a part of Pinecone Research and want to continue doing so.

Do you do Pinecone Research? What do you think of the recent changes? Is $3 good enough?

Sign up today!

One of the ways I make money online is by searching through Swagbucks. How does Swagbucks work? Swagbucks is a free search engine.  You sign up for a Swagbucks account, start searching, and win swagbucks that you can trade for cool things like Amazon gift certificates, Paypal money, and you can even donate your swagbucks to plant a tree!  When you search, you’ll see ads up at the top (just like other search engines) and basically they are giving you a cut of the advertising dollars they earn.

How I use swagbucks is like this:  I make it a point to do a few searches everyday until I win some Swagbucks.  The amount varies each time, but every time I win it makes me happy.  They add up!  Once you hit an amount that you want to cash in, you can check the Swag Store and trade in the bucks for prizes.  It’s pretty cool.  I like that it’s free and you don’t have to do much to get the Swagbucks.

When you sign up, I would love it you would use my referral link! I earn Swagbucks from the referrals.  Then, have all your friends sign up under you!

Do you use Swagbucks?

Pinecone Research is looking for new members. I have been a member for years, and really enjoy testing out the new products!

You don’t get anything special for referring people, but it really is a great program to be a part of! You get $3 for every survey they send you and you do. They pay via paypal or a check.

They don’t look for new panelists all the time, so sign up today if you are interested! Only one member per household may register.

image from yokko.m0723

Today is an awesome day. When I got home from work this evening, I checked my mail, and in it I found an unexpected check from Cash Crate! I had no idea I was going to be receiving this check, so this extra $21.07 is a chunk of change I’ll have to play with.  When I logged into my email, I was also surprised with a paypal payment from Expo tv! I got a $50 bonus payment for making a video about our alcohol consumption (believe me, it wasn’t that exciting because we’re not big drinkers). I also got my payment for my video views, which was $3.14 but still nice because I didn’t have to do any work to get it.

I made $74.21 today and had no idea it was coming.  What a great start to the weekend! I’m trying to decide what I’m going to do with it, and most likely I’ll be putting it in my savings account.  I can always decide later what I’ll do with it.

I’m glad I signed up for these different residual income earners. Obviously I’m not going to get rich by any means from it, but it’s always nice to have some surprise cash coming in.  If you decide to sign up for some of these make money online sites, please make sure you create a new email address just for them.  You’ll get tons of spam, trust me!

What do you think I should do with my unexpected snowflakes?

One of the ways I make money online and have residual income each month is from writing for Associated Content. Here are a few tips that I follow:

• Cross post articles from my blog to Associated Content.  Not only does this make me money, but it helps drive traffic to my blog.  If you’re looking to build traffic to your blog, this greatly helps!
•  Whenever I feel like writing something that’s not money related, it’s nice to know I can write about it and post at Associated Content for money.
• Each month I receive residual income from people viewing my articles.  Sometimes I get questions about things I’ve written, and it’s always nice to get feedback as well.
• Sometimes I answer “calls for content”, which are basically writing on a topic they choose.  These pay well and are interesting.  It’s fun to step out of my writing comfort zone and write about something I’m not familiar with.  I love learning!

I’ve been a member of Associated Content for over a year now.  I enjoy making money from my articles, making the residual income (who wouldn’t?), and I also enjoy getting more blog traffic.  It’s an interesting way to get your name out there.  Sign up today and give it a try!

Pinecone Research is looking for new members. I’ve written before how I do surveys with them to make a little extra snowflake money. Sign up here if you are interested. It’s definitely my favorite survey site, as the surveys you do are relevant to your demographics. Sometimes you get to try out new products. That’s my favorite part!  Usually it’s really hard to get on with them, so as soon as I received the email today I thought I’d share it with you.  Please comment if you have any questions, and enjoy!

ChaCha: $130.48

Cash Crate: $6.26

Pinecone Research Surveys: $3

Associated Content: $2.11

ExpoTv: $3.90

Ebay Sales: $46.92

Miscellaneous: $65

National City Everyday Rewards Visa: $109.80

That’s $367.47 in “snowflake money!” I am really happy with July’s earnings. I’m going to keep on working from home with ChaCha,
Cash Crate, and Associated Content. If you want to see what other things I do to make money online, check out this page!

One of the things that I started doing this month to supplement the money I make online is becoming a ChaCha Guide! This is how it works: people text questions to ChaCha, a real live person (a Guide) searches the internet for an answer, and then replies with the correct answer! It is a great service and fun to do.

It is a human powered search engine. Sometimes I’ll get off the wall questions, sometimes I’ll get someone looking for directions, and sometimes I’ll just get someone goofing off. I think it’s very easy to do, and I have fun doing it.

If you are interested in becoming a guide, go to ChaCha’s website, go to the bottom right where it says: get started, become a guide and click. Follow the link from there! Please put my email as your referral (ultimatemoneyblogATgmail.com) so I can be your sponsor and add you as a friend when you get on board. It is pretty simple to sign up. This is a legitimate work at home opportunity.  If you’ve always wanted to work from home, this is a great chance to do so. If you have any questions, please comment here or email me!