So Tsu me

Well I did it.  I signed up for a new social network and so far so good.  You might have heard of tsu.co as the alternate Facebook where you can get a cut of the advertising revenue for producing content rather than letting the Zuckerberg boys have all the fun.  At least that is the idea and I am game for that.

Tsu takes a cut of 10% which isn't much these days and then they pay the content producer half the remaining amount with the other half going to the content producers sponsors (kind of like the upline and downline of multi level marketing).

That means you have to have a sponsor or referral to get in.  It is o.k. because you know me and I will be sure to hook you up if you want in.  My link is https://www.tsu.co/EdHWW.  If you know Facebook then you already know Tsu.  Similar if not simpler.  Where I felt lost with Facebook, Tsu comes a bit more intuitively.  I like that in a web site.

It is new and developing and I am sure there are some that think it wont last but I don't care.  It is a work in process.  If this takes off, and it looks like it may, Facebook has something that it hasn't had to worry about up to this point; competition.  Worried?  Probably not but they better not rest on their laurels and start taking care of their core customers because there now is another place to play.

Here is that invite once again.

https://www.tsu.co/EdHWW

It is kind of exciting to be on the leading edge of something.  If it doesn't work fine, but if it does just Tsu me.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Would you bend down for $100

Picture this.  It is a beautiful day, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, there is a light breeze and the temperature is perfect.  You are walking down the sidewalk without a care in the world and your favorite tune is playing in your head.  What could be better.

You look down and notice something in front of you.  As you get closer you notice that it is a $100 dollar bill.  There is no one around and you can tell that it has been there for some time so you know this is found money.  Your pulse quickens.

Do you bend over to pick it up?

Of course you do.  Why wouldn't you?

What if was just $10 dollars, are you still willing to bend over to pick it up?

I know I would but what if it was just $1, would you still be willing to put forth the effort?

What if it was a penny?

Is there a point where you consider it beneath you to bend over and pick up found money?

What if wasn't even real money...what if it was an aluminum can?  Would you bend over to pick up an aluminum can?

Many people will not stoop over to pick up a quarter.  Don't ask me why because I don't understand it.  I still bend over to pick up a dropped penny, and probably always will.  It is a sign to me and to the world that I welcome an increase in whatever form and whatever amount it comes in.  I am anxious to receive.

Wal-Mart is one of the largest retail businesses in the world daily doing millions in transactions.  Those transactions are not all million dollar deals but rather millions of dollar deals.  They pick up the penny millions upon millions of times a day and then do it again the next day.  That is how they got where they are and continue to be who they are today.

But what about the Bill Gates and the Warren Buffetts of the world?  I bet they don't bend over for the pennies and probably not even for the $100 bills.

You are right.  Why?  Because the sidewalk they are on has so many more opportunities of found money of all different kinds of denominations and they only have so much time in a day that they have to focus their time and efforts only on those things that will give them the most return for bending over to pick it up.  They have choice.

If you are not blessed to walk on those sidewalks, what do you do with the sidewalks to do walk?

Some are so busy looking for the big score that they miss out on the little things that can and do add up to the big things.

"For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow."  Luke 19:21.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

So why making a slow buck on the internet?

I spent a lot of time in casinos in my younger years.

"Are you a betting man Drebin?"  "Only when I order out."

No I am not a gambler but I found the whole thing fascinating.  The money, the action, the people, the business, the marketing, the attitude...I became a student that tried to understand all of it.  Also if I could figure it out maybe I could make it pay...but that didn't happen.

One thing I did learn one night while watching some blackjack at Ceaser's Palace is that those playing at the $100 table where playing in exactly the same way as those that were playing at the $1 table at the Frontier down the street.  In other words the game was the same, the rules were the same, the players were the same, the only difference was a matter of scale.

This was at a time when the 'morons that be' figured they could devalue the dollar and it would improve the balance of trade, but there was a lot more wrong that needed fixing before any meaningful change would happen on that front.  We wanted the Japanese to buy a Chrysler or two but it was cheaper for them to buy the Chrysler building than the car...but that is another story for another time.

The point here is that if you want to win at blackjack you need to learn the rules, tips, tricks and strategies to win at blackjack.  If that is your intent then spend whatever it takes while in the learning stage but by all means spend wisely until you have it figured out.  Remember that the beginning player at the $1 table was learning the same lessons as the beginning player at the $100 table; the final bills for that education just had different totals at the end of the day.

Once you have it figured out then you move in and prove it.  Once you have proved it then you scale up and reap the rewards of your efforts.  If you try to do this out of order it can be vary costly both in time and resources and you might run out of one or both before you reach your goal.

For those that are interested in investing in stocks or commodities or whatever, it is often suggested to the student to begin by doing paper trading.  This is where one goes through the motions of doing the activity in simulation mode first...act as if you are making the trade by recording a buy and sell on paper...no real money changing hands.  You can measure you results positive and negative and determine if your skills are sufficient to make things work in the real world.

Once you are comfortable with your paper trading and the results on paper are giving you a pretty good idea that you are actually able to trade profitably then you get an account and do it for real but at an affordable level, this will validate your efforts.  If your account grows, and not just from injections of fresh capital, then you have something that works for you and you can begin to scale up.

If it isn't working your results will tell you this to.  If it isn't working it is time to stop and go back one step, figure out why, fix it or change it and try something different, then move forward again.

So the paid to click sites I referred to is a no cost, time only effort to step into a lesson plan that can help us learn how to make a buck, internet or otherwise.  Just like the player sitting at the $1 table we can learn some of the lessons and principles that work no matter what level you are playing at.  It is these lessons that I will try to address with future post.

As there isn't a great deal of followers to this blog at this point it might just be me teaching myself but if you are willing to tag along I hope you enjoy.  A smart man learns from his mistakes while a wise man learns from the mistakes of others.  With that said there are some lessons that can be learned from others but there are many lessons that can only be learned through doing.  I can read all about running a marathon but until I actually run one I will never truly know.  That is the reason to offer up the referrals I did.

By the way, I don't intend on running a marathon at the moment but you never know.  This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Finding hope for capitalism in a game on my tablet

Roy H. Williams of MondayMorningMemo has talked about an 80 year cycle that takes our society from the extremes of a me generation to an us generation every 40 years.  We are approaching the apex of an us generation which would explain all the political correctness of socialism at the moment.  So I was pondering on how will society change back to something more moderate when it seems that socialism is all that is taught in the schools and talked about in the media and legislated in our governments.  Have the roots of capitalism been abolished and replaced with the entitlement mentality?  Has the drive of the individual to become the greatest individual they can become been weened out and replaced with a submission of will to serve the common good however the overlords dictate it to be?

Socialism along with it's more forceful cousin Communism are some of the least effective economic models for a nation even without addressing the moral issues of abolishing free agency.  Take a moment to think about how "well" this world would run if every aspect of your life operated by the same bureaucracy that runs the post office or DMV.  There would be no incentive for efficiency or innovation and therefore there can be no growth.

My vision of the future was growing rather bleak when I happened to find hope in the unlikeliest of places...the games I downloaded on my newly acquired tablet.  Within those games are the elements of capitalism.

At first the elements went unnoticed as I was still learning how to play the various games but then I realized that they were there and hopefully were instilling themselves on those that took the time to play the games.

I have narrowed my recent game time to three games in particular, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Star Wars Tiny Death Star and My Muppet's Show.  All of these games are considered Freemiumware (a combination of free and premium software) in that they can be had for free and played for free but there are extras that you can buy with real money to advance the game a little faster or gratify your vanity.

Within these games there are usually two kinds of currency whether they are called credits, or bux, or vegetables or donuts.  One of the currencies is easy to get and is the basic measuring unit of the game while the other is much more difficult to get but there is always the opportunity to get more in exchange for real life currencies i.e. you real life wallet.  As an added feature of my gaming experience, I make it a point never to use real money in the virtual world .

The games become an analogy of life as they are played.  You are asked to perform certain task for which you earn credits.  These credits can then be used in the game to obtain the next level, a new character or an extra power or decoration.  These will in turn help you earn more credits and at a faster pace in order to obtain more new things that are better, faster, cooler than the last thing and almost always at a higher price.

These are mini simulations of life played out in a somewhat benign way through a computer screen.  Instead of berating our kids for wasting too much time playing video games perhaps we should be playing those games with them and then having discussions with them to help them see the lessons there to be had, lessons we may have missed or forgotten along the way.  The longer you play the game, and the more games you play, the better you will recognize the rules of the game and learn how to play it well.

As the next generation grows up on a diet of these types of games they will provide the energy to reverse the cyclical societal momentum we face and let the pendulum swing back towards a more moderate approach in our lives.

And with that thought my hope was restored.  I remembered that good can be had even in times of extremes.  It is that hope that drives man forward, to challenge the odds and the mandates and give it a go anyway.  It is that spirit that will overcome the oppressive nature of a collective society.  It is that spirit that we should foster to grow and survive not only in ourselves but in others.

I will discuss further some of these lessons I have seen from playing these games and doing the paid to clicks.  Maybe they haven't been such a timesuck after all.  For now this is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

How I do Swagbucks

It's Swagbucks turn.  So what is Swagbucks?  It is a web site where you can get paid to do some of the typical web surfing stuff like doing searches, playing games, watching videos, taking surveys, and being exposed to a boatload of advertisements while getting a small reward for doing so.  This is the one site that can really add up if you are willing to put in some effort and time.  Just be careful that it doesn't take up too much of your time as it can become far too addicting.

Like all of these sites, the first thing to do is to find and collect the easiest points, or low hanging fruit first.  Only after this is done do you start spending your time on the points that take a little more time and a little more effort.  This will help control how much time you are willing to spend as the margin of return to time spent will let you know when you have done enough for that day, and you can put it aside and work it some more on the next day.

The easiest place to start is the daily poll; one quick point and your on your way.  The next item is the NOSO or No Obligation Special Offers.  Quickly load the page and hit the skip button that moves you finally to a captcha that you enter to earn your two points.

Next pick a game to play, one that doesn't take too long to lose and then repeat as you will get one point for every two plays.  One of my favorites is the Swagasaurus Run as I can cycle through it about as quick as any of the games.  Of course if you like the games you can still enjoy them just realize that they will eat into the time that you are building your Swagbucks points count.  Unless they are doing a special day deal, there is a limit of 10 plays for 5 payouts of 2 points each for a total of 10 points per day.

Next thing to check out is the main page for any easy special offers.  Look for the small point offers as they are easy to do, don't require much effort, and they don't require you to register for anything or give a credit card to buy anything.  You will want to check out the main page every time you refresh it as some of these offers will refresh with the page and let you get paid for them multiple times.  There are different offers for different times of the day.  Also look for the Radium One tab on the Special offers page for many of the same types of things.

As you get familiar with the site you will begin to recognize which items are worth doing and which ones to avoid.  If it is an item to avoid you can hit the X in the squares upper right hand corner to delete it from appearing each time...at least for that day.

Some items will have a big point payout but that usually means you have to sign up for something even if it is a free trial something.  The trouble with free trial somethings is you forget you signed up and you get a monthly bill on your credit card for that something that you forgot to cancel.  If you can make yourself a list and keep track of when your need to cancel by dates are then you can pick up some major points this way.  I can not and I know it so I don't even bother with these.  And if you do the insurance quotes you have no one to blame but yourself if you get the occasional phone call...

Next up are the Swagbucks TV videos.  Pick a topic and go.  Watch the credit bar to see when you have earned the credit for watching that video and as soon as you have it is time to pick the next one.  Don't worry that you have just made it through the commercial and haven't actually watched the video, that is not what this is about.  It takes 10 videos to get 3 points for a total of 150 points per day unless there is a special thing going on.  I have never hit the limit if that tells you something about what this takes.  I do however use it to help build the points I need to meet my daily goal.

Oh yeah, the daily goal.  There is your own personal goal which can be whatever you want it to be but in case you can't decide let them set a goal for you.  Swagbucks sets two daily goals, kind of a level one and a level two.  Each level comes with a bonus points amount that is collected through out the month and paid in the first week of the following month.  These can add up nicely and it is a pleasant surprise when you notice your balance just took a jump and you can't remember why.

There is another points bonus that you can earn by hitting the level one daily goal several days in a row.  Seven days will get you an extra 25 points and you can get up to 300 bonus points for hitting your level one daily goal every day of the month.  Combined with the daily goal bonuses this makes for a nice bump but it can become a little stressful trying to make sure you hit it every day.  Also be ware, everyone used to have the same daily goal but now it is a moving target for each individual based on how much activity they do.  The more you do the higher the goal becomes, the less you do the lower the goal...your basic two edged sword.

Encrave is like Swagbucks TV but works slightly differently.  Some are short, some are longer combinations.  It used to pay better but it has cut back some lately, also they took off the notice of what the payout is for each viewing offer.  That means learning it by trial and error.  Look for the ones with a circle like symbol as they will go from one video to the next automatically which is nice...set it and forget it.  Sad part is you have to have your cursor on the screen to have it give you credit for viewing.  There used to be a countdown timer but they took it off.

I haven't said it out right yet but here is a good place to mention that with a little practice you can figure out how to open up and have several windows running at the same time.  This is the real way to get to the daily goals.  If you had to do this all one shot at a time you could kill off a whole day and not even realize it.  You really need to do multi tasking to make this work out well.  By the way, I am watching Swagbucks TV, playing Swagasaurus run and doing Encrave right now as I am writing all of this.

Next up is surveys.  You can be honest about who you are but be aware that if you don't meet the desired demographics you wont get in.  If you try to be who they are looking for you can get paid fairly well.  It can be like a game trying to figure out how to take on a different persona and answer survey questions in a third person in order to gain the prize.  I know one person that has been pretty successful at playing the survey game whether he needs to be a teenage game playing boy or a single hispanic mother of two.  It kind of makes you lose faith in the outcome of surveys and polls and even more in the people that pay for and act on the information that comes out of them, but don't let that hold you back from getting paid for their folly.

Last mention is the searches.  The payout is given randomly, totally hit or miss and usually pays in the 6 to 11 point range, so I don't count on it for much other than icing when I get one.  I do search and go to a site known as sc-s.com.  It stands for swag code spoilers and will let you know if any of the Swagbucks social sites like Facebook, Blog, or Twitter have a special Swag code phrase you can use for a limited time to gather some bonus points.  Quicker to use than the sites but it is all hit or miss for timing.

So when it comes to being paid (and that is the best part) just know that there are several cards to choose from where 1 point equals 1 cent and you can pick many different cards in different denominations starting from $5.  One card that can be bought at a discount is the Amazon $5 card which you can get for 450 points, up to 5 cards a month.  First place to start and the one goal you should shoot for is these 5 cards each month.  It doesn't take long to build a nice credit balance at Amazon.

Now if you think this is all small fry I must state that my friend has bought a lot of nice things through Amazon with the $1000 plus he as made in the past 10 months he has been doing this.  This is all part time outside his regular full time job.  He is driven and goal oriented and does what it takes to get where he wants to get.  Way to go.  I haven't done that well myself but I do like what I have been able to do.

If you think you would be interested in giving this a try then use my referral to try SWAGBUCKS. (or http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/c5ed) and enjoy.  It doesn't cost anything to try but your time.  I like that.  I like that.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

How I do Bing

This is the second installment of the how I do the pay click sites and this one is for Bing.  Bing is the easiest to learn and easiest to do.  I like that.

Bing is part of the Microsoft group and is closely associated with the MSN web sites even though it has it's own main page site.  The pay is one point for every two searches with a limit of 15 points per day.  That is unless they have a special deal going like double points Monday where you can get 30 points total on Monday.

When you are trying to do searches you can do your own or look for the list of top current searches for the day from the pull down lists or select one of the stories of the day as a starting point.

I try to find a search that is on an individual or a place.  The search results will generally have a list of related searches on the right hand side column.  Select one of those related searches and it will give the list of related searches across the top of the next selection.  This makes for a quick list of searches to run one after the other until your limit for the day is reached.  Just make sure to wait for Bing to recognize your search and give you credit for it.  You can see this happen by looking for your point count to appear in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

The other thing to look for is the activity list that is next to your point total.  It will show how far along you are in getting your total search points for the day and it will list any extra point special searches that are available for the day.  There is usually always at least one but I have seen as many as four so take the time to take a look.  If you keep focused on the goal of reaching your daily limit you can easily get your searches done in a matter of minutes.

Bing also has a Bing Bar that you can add to your Internet Explorer that makes it easy to access a countable Bing search from wherever you are on the web.  Like I said, easy is good.

Bing has three levels, member, silver, and gold.  It is fairly easy to get to gold and there is a reason to want to get there quick and stay there...you can redeem at discounted prices.  A $5 Amazon card can be had for 475 points at the gold level.  This means that if you do this daily you can earn a $5 dollar card each month.  The nice thing is Bing pays out quickly, like next day quick.  $5 gift cards is as high as it gets, no saving up for that big ticket card.  There are sweepstakes you can enter but like a real sweepstakes, it is a gamble and just like gambling, the odds are against you so don't bother.  Besides it is the real gift cards that will get you some of the stuff you are really after.

If you have not already signed up with Bing and would like to feel free to use my referral code try BING. (or http://www.bing.com/explore/rewards?PUBL=REFERAFRIEND&CREA=RAW&rrid=_95a992a4-7aa7-0195-b0d8-087fa58f6722).

Bing is one that I have really liked and I think you will to.  This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

How I do Irazoo

I said that I would do some follow ups on how I do my little slow buck earners on the internet.  This is the first installment on the site we call Irazoo.

Irazoo is a site that pays you to click and participate with games, watching ads and doing searches.

I have done Irazoo for quite a few years now and they have changed the rules quite a few times along the way.  Like the book says, you have to adopt when someone moves your cheese.  When Irazoo changes the rules then you have to adopt to the new rules to make it worthwhile.

As of this post Irazoo is not the easiest to rack up points on.  Where most sites have one point equal about one cent, Irazoo has six points equal that same one cent.  In other words it takes 3,000 points to cash out one $5 gift card.

Irazoo has some of the same offers as you will find on other sites and it seems like it pays more points at first but when you divide by six you notice that it might not pay as much, so if you use other sites it pays to compare before doing an offer to see if it doesn't pay higher on another site.

You can spend a lot of time trying to add up the points but when you find out you are only making $.18 an hour then you can get discourage pretty quickly.  The secret then is to only spend your time on those things that give the quick return and move on.  It takes more days to get to your goal but you spend other time working other sites and doing all the other things you want to.

So I focus on the quick points first.  After logging in, the first thing I do is go for search points.  Think of a phrase, type it into the search box and hit enter.  If it doesn't pay then delete the first letter of the phrase and hit enter again.  Repeat this process until you have a pay on searches.  This is usually good for 10 or 12 points but every now and then I will get a big payout of as much as 96...but don't count on it.

Next up is a visit to the videos page.  Don't bother watching the videos unless you are trying hard to get points as it takes two views of at least 30 seconds each to earn one point.  Remember that at best that is 60 points an hour or $.10 and hour, but that first visit to the videos page will give you one point, no waiting.

Next up is a trip to the offers page, just click on the Earn Points tab or wait for the menu to pull down and select Offers.  You just made 5 points for each of the first visits of the day.

Sometimes that is all I do in Irazoo.  If I feel like spending a little more time I will delve a little deeper to see if there are any more easy points to be had.  On the Offers page you will notice several tabs running across the page.  These look similar to stuff you will see on Swagbucks and from what I have seen most of this is all better to be done on Swagbucks so don't bother with it here.  You can explore to see what works for you if anything but right now the only place I look every view days is under Matomy and then under the sub tabs of 'Video' and '1 Click Offers'.  The sub tabs will narrow down the selection.  From these two sub tabs I can select a few easy points but it takes trial and error to see which ones actually pay (unfortunately many do not).

Once you know which kind pay you can select them and they will open up in a new Explorer tab and then go back and select another one.  That way you can have several open and running at the same time.  I like that.  Usually they just have to be open for about 30 seconds or so and then it says offer complete and you are good to go on to the next one.  That is why you can open up the next one, and the next one while you are waiting for the first one to complete.  The principle of multiple streams of income applied.

If you want to check one other possible point producer then go back to the big Earn Points tab and select 'Special Offers' to see if there is anything going on there, lately not much, but at times you can earn captchas for points and depending on your typing skills and your patience you can rack up a few points.

As for cashing out I suggest doing it as soon as you have the 3,000 points.  It takes a long time to get to 3,000 points and it takes Irazoo a long time to deliver so you might as well start the process as soon as you have enough, just pick your favorite gift card and go.

You have to be referred to join so if you don't already belong use this for IRAZOO. (or http://www.irazoo.com/ReferedNewUser.aspx?RefBy=farrwest).  You can then refer others yourself and earn up to 3,000 points for matching points from your referrals searches.

It's not great but it is something so for now this is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Making another slow buck on the internet

If you read my last post you know that I have been surfing the internet to find ways to make a quick buck and finding that to be mostly bunk I started looking for any worthwhile ways to make any money on the internet, in particular making the slow buck on the internet.

It mostly comes from doing some of the same things you would anyway such as searching, playing games, being exposed to endless ads but with a little effort you can actual make a little pocket change for your time.  It sure beats doing it for nothing, or even worse paying for the privilege.

My latest find is one I came across a couple of years ago that was o.k. then but it has gone through some changes and came out slightly better and now worth mention.

If you are not where you want to be now, and you know it, then you will have to change.  Change is not always easy and it does take effort but if you have the desire and it is strong enough you will make the change that you are after.  Even if it means doing homework.  Are you willing to do what it takes to change into whatever it is you are seeking, be it gaining health, losing weight, building wealth, adding knowledge, changing attitudes?

If you wish to work on your wealth you may need to change some of your thought processes.  The popular book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Richard Kiyosaki, has one major premise I really like; namely that rich people think differently than poor people.  I have found that to be true.  It doesn't take much more than a conversation with your co-workers to realize this.

If you are surrounded by the attitude that "money is evil", "I could be rich if only I compromised my principles", "rich people are lucky or cheaters", or any other like sentiment that keeps you in the "I will never, could never be..." mode, then maybe you need to change your thought patterns and attitudes.

I am not talking about having blind, misapplied optimism but having some positive optimism is not a bad place to start.  It is hard to have a positive attitude if you fill your head with normal drivel that is contained in the typical editorial pages, nightly news, and most talk radio programs.  If your thought diet consist of only these things then daily scriptures and weekly church attendance may not be enough to buoy you up.  You need to expose yourself to a lot of offsetting good to overcome all that depressing noise.

Well one of those things that helps change your thinking in a good way is to listen to others that are thinking the way you want to be thinking,  Expose yourself to others that are interested in becoming healthier, wealthier, wiser.  Those that have the traits you would like to obtain can provide an example to follow for which you can learn from.  By learning how they see the world around them and how they deal with daily problems, we may learn some new techniques that will help us deal with our daily problems.  Big fat hairy deals might just become a little smaller with an adopted change in perspective.

One site with a view on the being wealthier front is Marshal Sylver's GetRichRadio.com, and you can join using my referral at http://getrichradio.com/join/17026.  Give it a try and as with most things I recommend, it cost you nothing unless you want it to, but I like the part that cost us nothing while still can getting something worthwhile.

Marshal Sylver's GetRichRadio pays you to listen to his online radio program.  Granted they pay you in scholarship dollars and they are highly inflated.  You can save up to $250,000 and cash it out into $50 real dollars through pay pal or you can use the scholarship dollars to buy education programs that are offered on the web site.  These programs cover things like marketing, real estate investing, auctions, sales, probate, business credit, and stuff like that including one labeled what would a millionaire do?

This is where the real value is.  If you haven't been exposed to these kinds of programs it may open you to a whole new world.  If have been exposed and always wanted to try some of these programs but were not willing to pay those over the top prices...well now you can and do it all using the house's money.

You get paid $50 per hour to listen to getrichradio once you have registered and also a matching amount from those you refer.  Just let the program run in the background while you do something else, like build your swagbucks account, and soon enough you will have more than enough in your getrichradio account to get a program or two.  And through it all you will expand your knowledge and work on that change of attitude that will help you move in the desired direction.

I admit that much of what I have heard here is a regurgitation of things I have heard before but repetition has served me well, especially when it reinforces an idea from a different perspective.  Sometimes you have to go through a lot of earth to find a few nuggets but nuggets are kind of what we are after.

Sometimes you never know where your next discovery will come from so it is worth having a curious nature and a thirst for knowledge.  I love to explore and have found this site one worth spending some time on.  Give it a try.  I don't agree with everything he says but I have found some things that are worth listening to.

As always, this is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Making a slow buck on the internet

There are get quick schemes out there on the internet and most aren’t worth the time spent reading through the hype.  There are few ways to make slow money out there, you just have to invest time and a little effort to see some results.  Be forewarned, those results won’t allow you to quite your day job anytime soon, but it will allow a little extra spending monies for some of the little things you might need or enjoy.  I will tell you about the top three that have worked for me.

All of these are some form of click to earn sites; that is you earn points for doing searches, playing games, watching videos, taking surveys, shopping or just plain watching commercials…and believe me you will be exposed to lots and lots of advertisements.  They also have referral programs which pay you a bonus if someone you refer joins so if you would like to try them out please use the links.

#3.  IRAZOO--I have mentioned this one before and have had a few payouts from it, just not consistently.  They have changed the rules frequently and the payout comes slowly but with minimal effort you can earn a $5 gift card every 2 to 3 months.  This is really making a slow buck on the internet but combining it with the others it will add up over time.  Also with this as my number 3 it should give a pretty good indication of what the rest of these types of site out there are like, in other words be careful and read all of the fine print.  You have to be referred to join so click here for IRAZOO. (or http://www.irazoo.com/ReferedNewUser.aspx?RefBy=farrwest).

#2. BING– Yes the same Bing that is part of the MSN group and trying so hard to compete as your main web browser has a program where you can earn points for your searches.  Every day you can make 30 searches which will earn you 15 points plus they have a special search or two worth a point each.  Sometimes they will have days where you can earn double the daily point limit.  15 points a day doesn’t seem like much but it can add up to a $5 gift card to Amazon about once a month.  Bing doesn’t take a lot of time or effort, is consistent, pays out quickly and has worked well for me.  I wish they would expand the program beyond just searches with other point earning offers but it is because of what they do that I do recommend them.  You can add a search bar to your Internet Explorer (which it prefers but you can also use Firefox) for extra ease.  Use this link if you would like to try BING. (or http://www.bing.com/explore/rewards?PUBL=REFERAFRIEND&CREA=RAW&rrid=_95a992a4-7aa7-0195-b0d8-087fa58f6722).

#1. SWAGBUCKS –You may have heard of them before and they seem to be the real deal.  This one doesn’t have the limits (other than running out of offers) that the others do.  You can earn as much as you are willing to spend time on but more realistically you should shoot for the daily goal which is around 100 points a day.  If you are consistent this can translate into $30 or more in gift cards a month.  If you are ambitious it can be much more.  Use this link if you would like to try SWAGBUCKS. (or http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/c5ed).  I have done a lot of looking and this seems to be the best of its kind out there and has been for several years.  I have added a couple of hundred dollars to my Amazon account with Swagbucks…very nice

If you decide to do any of these here are my top suggestions, 1. Read and follow the rules carefully.  It is their game and they make the rules and if you follow them you will be successful, if you don’t you risk getting terminated.  2. Get a new junk e-mail account and use it to sign up.  If you click on any offers at these sites use this new junk e-mail account and just expect that there will be junk mail coming.  That way you won’t plug up your regular e-mail account and we can still be friends.

Some friends from work got competitive and were really racking up the points so if you set some goals (like a new game console, Blue ray player, TV???) and invite your friends to do this also you might enjoy some building fruits from your efforts.  I must warn you though, this can be addicting and you may lose track of time and end up spending way too much time on this.  Self control is required, both for your family and your sanity.

Anyway you go at least have fun doing it.  Good luck on your way to fame and fortune.  I will follow this up with a how I do it post later but for now this is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.