I am still running about 2 to 3 days behind in the challenge.

I will be spending tonight and Friday getting caught up and will post week 4 and 5 updates on Saturday.

Stay tuned to find out if I make my $10 by Friday night at midnight....

Author: Elaine Currie

If you want to make money online, you are not alone and there is plenty of help available on the Internet to get you started. The trouble is that it is not easy to know who you can trust to give you honest advice and who is just a big bad old wolf strategically shaved and dressed in a nice suit.

Once you have been around the Internet for a while, you will find it easier to sort the genuine help from the other kind. You will learn to check out the size of the teeth and ears of anyone who offers you help. You will find that you will be able "smell" a scam as soon as it appears on your computer screen. The attempts to get you to join a get rich quick scheme will all start to look very similar and you will pass them by without sparing them a second glance. Experience will enable you to ignore the hype, shut out the wolves and concentrate on finding a legitimate way to make money that you will enjoy doing. In the meantime, while you are gaining that experience, these 4 tips will help you on your way...

Tip 1

Think before you act. If you see a way to make money that appeals to you, take time to consider it. If there is undue pressure on you to sign up immediately, take that as a warning sign. If the program really offers a legitimate way to make money, the owner or sponsor will be happy to give you information about how it all works and to give you time to make an informed decision.

Tip 2

Trust your gut reaction. You might be lacking in knowledge and experience when it comes to recognising a legitimate way to make money online but you should still rely on your instincts. If there is something about a money making opportunity that gives you a bad feeling, trust that feeling and stay away. If you ignore your gut reaction and join the program, your original doubts will hang around like a toxic cloud and you won't feel comfortable with the program even if it is the best way to make money anyone could hope to find.

Tip 3

Use the Internet to research any money making program you are considering. For a quick way to get an idea of how good the program is, just do a search for the name of the program accompanied by the word "scam" and then start reading the entries. Don't be put off by the number of results: I just did a search for "Pope scam" and received 1,870,000 results. Does that mean the Pope is a scam? No, of course not, most of the entries relate to scammers attempting to exploit the Pope's image, and this is why you need to read the actual entries. Bear in mind that no company in the world has a 100% customer satisfaction rate (you can't please all the people all of the time etc) and this is where you will have to use your own discretion and instincts.

Tip 4

Forum (message board) postings are a good source of information about ways to make money online. The information is completely raw, so you need to process it carefully rather than just swallowing it, a large pinch of salt is often necessary. You can read input from disgruntled customers criticising a program, successful members defending the program, rival program owners trying to destroy reputations and the odd mad person who just enjoys stirring up discord. Don't forget, forum postings are not the work of experts, they are the opinions of ordinary people and opinions will vary. Use the different opinions to help you weigh up the pros and cons of any online business you are considering.

The period during which you are looking around and trying things out is a dangerous time. The wolves can scent an Internet newbie within seconds and, if you want to avoid being their next meal, you need to learn very quickly how to recognise a wolf when it comes huffing at your door. Following these simple tips will make it easier for you to keep the wolves from getting their paws on you while you seek out the best way to make money online.

---

A visit to Elaine Currie's Work At Home Directory will show you the best make money online tips, ideas and resources.

I didn't get as much done this week as I should have.

My father-in-law passed away Saturday the 11th and the funeral was on Tuesday. Plus, my husband's uncle, who teaches school in China and comes back once a year, was here visiting until Friday.

I am a day behind on the challenge, but will get caught up this coming weekend.

This week's recap:

Day 18 and Day 19 - The Weekend - Catch up Time

Day 17 - Watched the 3 videos. Learned about Social Posting and Ezine Articles. Received 2 tips: Set Up a Separate GMail Account and What to Expect From Google

Day 16 - Watched 2 videos and learned how to use Tumblr.

Day 15 - Watched the video of The WHY of Traffic and worked on my articles.

Day 14 - Watched 2 videos and wrote some more articles for my niches.

Day 13 - Watched the video about Golden Nuggets and then started writing articles for my chosen niches.

I have been applying some of what I am learning to increase my traffic to all of my sites as well as the one I am doing for the challenge.

I forgot to mention that my husband is on vacation all of this week, so I will be doing day trips to various places with the family and working online as I can.

To Your Success!

It was another great week of learning. I wish I had know even half of this Web 2.0 stuff when I first started trying to make money online 4 months ago.

Here is this weeks recap:

Day 11 and Day 12 - The Weekend - Catch-up Time

Day 10 - Today's goal was to get down to two phrases - representing two markets. They showed us a tricky step to determine if our keyword phrases are good ones -Taught us a cool technique on how to use Google News and Bloglines to learn about our niche topic and how to use Google Notebook to help us gather WOW facts and useful snippets. Listened to the podcast and watched the 3 movies.

Day 9 - A review of Day 8 and continued to use Google Trends, Wordtracker and Google Search to do more keyword phrase filtering - revealed the magic number of Internet Marketing - listened to the podcast and watched the movie.

Day 8 - Taught us how to use Google Trends and Wordtracker to do more Keyword Research - listened to the podcast and watched the 2 movies.

Day 7 - Taught us how to use Google and Wordtracker for Competition Research and finding keyword phrases for all 7 niches - listened to the podcast and watched the 3 movies.

Day 6 - Taught us how to use Google Trends, Wordtracker and Google Search for Market Research - watched the 3 movies and then narrowed down my 7 niche ideas.

I also stumbled, rated, Delicioused and all that other good Web 2.0 stuff, to all the sites that I was visiting during the week. Spent some time meeting people at Facebook, Twitter, Blog and the forum.

I am really looking forward to this coming week's lessons!

To your success!

So far, it has been a great learning experience and I'm finally starting to understand what all this Web 2.0 stuff is about.

I have started applying what I am learning to my sites and visitors have been increasing. I will keep working on this and post updates.

If you have not joined the Thirty Day Challenge, there is still time...what you will learn is well worth the time it has taken so far.

Here is this weeks recap:

Day 4 & 5 - Action Steps

Step 1:- Use the weekend to review, catch up and get ready for the coming week!

Step 2:- Check in at Facebook, Twitter, Blog and Forum - Done


Day 3 - Action Steps

Step 1:- Download and listen To The Podcast - Done

Step 2:- Bookmark new site - Done

Step 3:- Check in at Facebook, Twitter, Blog and Forum - Done


Day 2 - Action Steps

Step 1:- Download and watch The 4 Videos - Done

Step 2:- Download and listen To The Podcast - Done

Step 3:- Pick seven Niche ideas to explore - Done

Step 4:- Check in at Facebook, Twitter, Blog and Forum - Done


Day 1 - Action Steps

Step 1:- Download and watch The Video - Done

Step 2:- Download and listen To The Podcast - Done

Step 3:- Download and install Thirty Day Challenge Toolbar - Done

Step 4:- Check that everything is downloaded and ready to go - Done

Step 5:- Jot Down Niche Ideas - Done

Step 6:- Check in at Facebook, Twitter, Blog and Forum - Done


Now I am off to spend some time with my kids and later will be checking in at Facebook, Twitter, Blog and the forum.

To Your Success!

It was brought to my attention that Google AdSense Program Policies does not allow the following...

Sites displaying Google ads may not include:

"Content regarding programs which compensate users for clicking on ads or offers, performing searches, surfing websites, or reading emails"

Since most of my Earnings Updates mentioned some of those types of sites, I have removed those posts and any comments about them from this blog and posted them in another blog.
I do not want to lose my Adsense account.

The new site is listed here:
http://www.blogger.com/profile/12896015652516067696

All Earnings updates will be listed there in the future.

Thanks for your understanding in this matter.