Tuesday 22 January 2013

21.01.13 - My Third Weekly Round Up of January

Week 3 has gone by in the blink of an eye, and I have actually been away all week so have done very little work online, not even much networking and backlinking. So here is all I have done:

Gigbucks
This is another of the micro job sites I am a member of, just like Fiverr. To be honest I have been on here just as long as I have on Fiverr and have only done 3 jobs in total! I had a rewrite job on Gigbucks this week so that is $4 in the kitty for January.

Hubpages
I haven't added any new Hubs since last week yet, but I will say that my Valentines ones are doing pretty well on views this week and have thankfully given me a few days with a decent earning compare to my $0.50 a day of last week. Here are the 3 Valentines Hubs I have running currently:

Squidoo
Again no time to write any new lenses, but I have been working on a new Children's Colouring page one, which I will hopefully finish and get out this week coming, seeing as Valentines Day is fast approaching.

Blogging
I haven't done any blogging on my Less Waist More Taste blog as the diet was off whilst we were away. But I'm always posting on my Daisy Dayz Lifestyle Blog and I am now on the look out for official sponsors. I have had a bit of interest so far so hopefully will be able to sell a few spaces by next month!

Affiliate Sales
Nothing extra on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk this week sadly, but I have been accepted to a few new Affiliate Sales Programmes on Affiliate Window, so I will be adding some posts linking to them on my blog over the next few weeks. All are fashion based - sadly I have had absolutely no sales in the past with Affiliate Window but I haven't pushed them at all, I intend this year to be a little different!

Zazzle
We have added a few more items and designs to our Zazzle Store though so I would love it if you checked us out Cross-Jones Photo Zazzle Store. Only had 1 little postcard sale at the end of last year, but are now looking at building a bigger shop and actually trying to promote it.
This is our Reed Flute Caves iPad Sleeve from a photo we took in China.

So there you have all of this 3rd week of Januarys work, not hugely active but here are the figures so far for the month:
  • $16.90 on Hubpages (up to the 20th)- this is only an estimate  but it is pretty decent I think
  • $12 on Fiverr
  • £4 on Fivesquids
  • $1.26 on Amazon.com
  • $4 on Gigbucks
  • $1.75 on Adsense for the month so far!
The figures are all looking pretty decent to be honest - I have actually been contacted for a few private freelance jobs too although for now I will not be including these as I don't really class them as Online Income, more just a job.

So how is everyone else doing on the Online Income front? Anyone got any tips they would like to share on where to earn money online, or increase current figures?

Friday 18 January 2013

14.01.13 - The Second Weekly round up of January

Ok so this is a bit late being posted, but I am currently away so thought it would be easier to do a weekly round up than try to post all the things I have been up to. Even though I am away it hasn't stopped me getting some work done. 

Squidoo
I finally finished the epic 50 Fancy Dress Costumes Beginning with A lens that I had been working on all of last week. And over the last few days it has slowly been working it's way up the lens rank, it's currently sitting at 76,954. Sadly the other 2 of my lenses on my FancyThatUSA account have slipped down the ranks - keeping lenses well ranked is going to be the biggest challenge I think. Having them slip out of the top 80,000 before the end of the month means it will be harder to get them in to a paying tier ranking for January.
On my FancyThatUK account I have started work on a new lens about Free Downloadable Colouring Pages for Valentines Day Fun. My Where's Wally Costume Lens is still doing pretty well here, unlike my US version of it, but my New Years Eve Decorations Lens has slipped out of the ranking, which is only expected now that New Year has passed.

I don't like not being able to see my earnings for a minimum of 60 days on Squidoo, I much rather Hubpages system of seeing my earnings after 24 hours. It's hard to keep motivated when your not seeing any financial gains up front - none at all, even the pennies on Hubpages in the start was fun to see.

Hubpages
I have only had time to get one Hub sorted this week, although I have about 6 all in different stages of completion. I am aiming to get up a few more Valentines Day based hubs this week though, as the date is just a few weeks away and the 2 I already have up are doing pretty well already. So the hub I managed to finish this week was Great Valentines Day DIY Craft Ideas for your Home. Seasonal hubs may not get hits all year round but they get a huge boost around their season which is great for getting you some new readers. 
For some reason I have been getting lots of new followers this week, going from 256 to 326 in just a few days! Hopefully this will help get my hubs viewed and shared a bit more.

For both the Hubpages Hubs and Squidoo Lenses I have done my usual back links on twitter, facebook and pintrest - but a little bit of an interesting thing I noticed was that my Valentines Day Crafts for Kids  has actually been re pinned over 400 time!! Mental! So hopefully this will get me more views over the next few weeks, when we get closer to Valentines Day itself and people need to start making things.

Fiverr
I have only done 1 Fiverr gig this week, a bit of backlinking for a PPI Reclaims company called Allegiant Financial Services

Fivesquids
I also did a Fivesquids gig this week though. Fivesquids is a british version of Fiverr, so instead of being $5 it is £5 per gig. I rewrote the landing/about me page for a reflexologist in the Marlow Area of the UK. Clare Cogan Reflexologist and Maternity Reflexologist.

Blogging
Obviously I have this blogging which is slowly ticking over with the views but I haven't really had a lot of time to promote it yet. My Alternate Day Diet Blog - Less Waist More Taste is also going well, actually better than this one so far.

I have also just sorted a Sponsorship page for my Fashion and Lifestyle Blog - Daisy Dayz. Which will hopefully start to bring me in a few official sponsors, and some more money!

Affiliate Sales
I have managed to sell 4 small items via Amazon.com in the last week, not sure if it was via, hubpages, squidoo or my blog but they have made me $1.26 commission. Not a lot I know but as I have to reach $100 before a payout in the UK, every little helps! I know have $21.71 in there so I am getting there slowly.

So there you have the wrap up of my second week of the year.
Figures so far this month are sitting at 
  • £1.48 for adsense - a big increase on last week thanks to 1 little click!
  • $10.30 on Hubpages - this is only an estimate. I'm not too happy as my earnings dropped below the $0.50 a day mark for a few days when they really shouldn't have.
  • $12 on Fiverr
  • £4 on Fivesquids
  • $1.26 from Amazon.com
So week 2 was pretty similar to week 1 lets hope week 3 will keep on the same thread and I should make a decent amount by the end of January.


If weekly round ups work better I may just do it this way every week as I don't always have time to post daily.

Thursday 10 January 2013

09.01.13 - An Epic Squidoo Lens

We were busy for the majority of today, I was out collecting supplies for my little online craft shop, and 'spring' cleaning our bedroom. But I got straight to work as soon as we got home. 

Squidoo

 I thought I would dedicate my evening to finishing off the Squidoo Lens I have been working at for a few days now. Decided I really shouldn't be spending any more time on it, and I just needed to focus and get it finished! So it could at least start getting views and hopefully start earning me money. And I am happy to say that after a few more hours it is all done! Hooray! So you can check it out here - 50 Fancy Dress Costume Ideas Beginning with the Letter A. Please take a look and let me know your think!

Hubpages
I am a little annoyed that my hubpages earnings have plummeted quite so badly since the festive season, as it is currently lower then it was in November! And I have still got the hubs that were up before that date plus a few I have posted since then too. But I just can't seem to get my hits up to a reasonable amount to make a good daily pay from the Hubpages programme. I had calculated that if I was running at the same figures as November I would be able to make payout every 3 months, not great but at least it was a payout, at the moment it's looking like at least 4 months, not a happy bunny! Ah well all I can do it keep posting Hubs and hope the views pick up a little. Maybe it's another Google update that's hitting me and it will recover at some point.

Photography
Apart from our days jobs, and our effort to make money online we (my hubby and I) also have a small photography business. I know this isn't money we earned online but I thought I would share it with you anyway. We were out this week on a shoot with a local band called Smoking Aces. You can check out the whole set on our webpage Cross Jones Photography. We have thought about trying to make more money online selling stock images but we have yet to find the right website for us. Any tips in this field will be greatly appreciated. We are already on Zazzle and just taking some time to build our shop up. I will add updates on the Zazzle store when we start working on it some more.

Blogs
So another post up on the Less Waist More Taste Diet blog I have. It is another daily 'What We Ate Post' featuring pictures of my Sausage Apple Pot for the Slow Cooker. I will be adding the recipe for it to Hubpages then linking it into the blog, to create a solid back link for it.

So that is all for today. Back in the day job tomorrow so probably will get very little online work done at all.


Wednesday 9 January 2013

08.01.13 - Hubbing Good Recipes

I have been in my day job nearly all of today so haven't really had a huge amount of time to do much work online. But I still got a little done, as I said I would try to everyday.

Blogging
The main thing I have done today is do some networking in the blog world. I have been visiting other bloggers and leaving nice comments, and following blogs. Plus sorting out my Google+ profile and starting to find and follow people I know on there. I have already spent so much time doing this for my personal fashion blog - Daisy Dayz, but this is linked to a different email and Google+ account so I am having to work at it all again. At least I know what I am doing and that it really does work, and I know how important it is to network with other bloggers as they make up a large percentage of your regular readers. I have been focusing on Diet and Healthy Living Blogs to help bring views to my Less Waist More Taste Diet Blog.


Hubpages
I managed to get up a new recipe post today - Honey, Mustard and Marmalade Glazed Ham. It is a seriously yummy recipe that is great for the festive season, but will be good all year round. It is especially great for family parties or large gatherings. Just let it chill, slice it and serve with a pile of salad, new potatoes and crispy fresh bread rolls. Plus I did the usual back links for this new hub too. I'm feeling a bit at a loss with Hubpages at the moment. Since the Christmas peek on views they have totally plummeted again, barley scrapping in $0.70 a day where as I was clearing at least $1 everyday in the 2 weeks before Christmas and the week after. So I am hoping if I start putting up hubs frequently again the views will pick back up, but who knows.

Squidoo
Spent the last part of my evening working on that bumper Squidoo Lens - 50 Fancy Dress Costume Ideas Beginning with the Letter A. It is going to be a mega Lens, I just hope all the effort I am putting in is worth it. It is nearly finished, so hopefully if I get some time tomorrow I will be able to complete it and post it live. I want to do the whole Alphabet but after the amount of work this one has taken I am a little worried that it will take to long, so think I will be making other lenses in between each of the letters. They are very comprehensive with lots of different things, so I hope they will be popular and pick up a few search engine hits.

That is all for today. 

Tuesday 8 January 2013

07.01.13 - Selling services on Mini Job Sites

I've not done a huge amount of work online today, but I managed to get in a little bit this evening.

Fiverr
Allegiant Finance Services - A PPI Reclaims company in the UK orderer one of my gigs for back links on Fiverr, so I spent a bit of time sorting that. Then a bit of time refreshing and reposting my other Fiverr Gigs in the hope of getting some new orders.


Etsy
I have been spent most of my evening working on building stock for my etsy store - Daisy Dayz Emporium - which I hope to have fully stocked and ready to launch properly on the 1st of February.

Blogging
I have posted another food blog post on my diet blog - Less Waist More Taste. It was an Up Day on our Alternate Day Diet so we were able to eat normally and went for a meal at Miller & Carter Steak and Grill House in Cardiff Bay

That is all for today I hope to be back to writing some things tomorrow

Monday 7 January 2013

The First Weekly round up of January

As the first week of January has pretty much passed in a blur. And I didn't actually get the blog up and running till a few days ago, I figured I should roll the whole of the first week into 1 post. So this is what I have been up to this first week.

Squidoo
I wrote an article all about Where's Wally Fancy Dress Costumes. Where you can buy Where's Wally and Where's Wenda Fancy Dress Costumes. All the props you will need for Where's Wally Outfits and links to Where's Wally and Where's Waldo websites and Free Online Games. I wrote one for the US market and one for the UK market. Here are the links to these articles if you would like to check them out: Where's Wally Costumes for Adults and Where's Waldo Costumes for Adults. I also did a fair amount of back-linking for these too, on places like Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and Stumbled. I also linked them to each other, to help make some back links and a little circle of information.

I also made a big start on a new Lens for my US Account - Fancy That USA - It's going to be 50 Fancy Dress Outfit Ideas Beginning with the Letter A. It's almost done, so I should be able to post it live next week. 

Hubpages
I finished off and posted 4 hubs in the last week:
The Complete Works of DaisyDayz - Which is a library/database of all of my Hubpages articles,  listed under their relevant topic. This serves a few purposes; firstly it makes it easier for my reader and followers to find a specific article or to look for something that might interest them. But it also works as a back link to all of my articles too, which is very helpful.

DaisyDayz Loves to Cook - It is essentially the same as the Complete Works post but only for all my Hubbed recipes, I realised I had so many of them on Hubpages it would be easier for them to have their own dedicated page. Again this also works as a back link to all of my recipe hubs.

I like to get a head start on the big seasons so thought I would start working on Valentines Day articles. 

Simple Valentines Day Crafts for Children - This one is pretty much self explanatory. This is an article all about Valentines Day Crafts that Children can make and give to their friends on Valentines Day. Great easy and cheap kids crafts where they can make valentines cards, valentines lollipop butterflies, love bugs and a few other things.

Romantic Valentines Day Food Recipes - This post has some great Valentines Day Recipes for couples. I have featured links to Heart Pancake Recipes, Heart Shaped Ravioli Recipes, Heart Shaped Pizza Recipes and a Cupcake Recipe with hearts backed into the centre. Enough recipes to get you through a whole day of Romantic Food for two.

Again I have back linked all the hubs on Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and a few other sites.

Fiverr
I did 2 gigs this week, proofreading gambling site reviews:
  • Spin Palace Review
  • Unibet Review
  • Expekt Review
  • Paddy Power Review
  • 888 Casino Review
  • Dash Casino Review


Blogging
Other than this new blog, me and my husband also started a diet blog to track our alternate day diet, what we are eating on the 5/2 diet, diet and health eating recipes we are cooking and reviews of Diet meals and snacks. We hope this may help us earn a little more on adsense. It's called Less Waist More Taste, and we aim to update it daily with what we are eating, so it is a food diary.

Think that is a pretty thorough update of this first week in 2013.
Figures are sitting at:
  •  £0.17 for adsense
  • $4.10 on hubpages - this is only a estimation though
  • $8 on Fiverr
Let's hope next week is just as productive.

Sunday 6 January 2013

Online Income Work before 2013

So as this is my first official post on this blog I figured I should get you up to date as to where I already am, in regards to my Pursuit of an Online Income. If you want to know more about me, why I am writing this blog and what my aim is then, check out the About Me post.

So this is where I currently stand.

Hubpages: I have spent the last 9 months working on my hubpages account, and have built up, what I feel is a rather impressive 104 hubs! You can see my account here, with all my articles. In December I made enough revenue to pass the payment threshold of $50 for the first time, so now I am waiting for my first payout to see exactly how much I get. But my diary will be working from the start of 2013 so I won't count the 2012 money. Although obviously that fact that I have already put in 9 months of work will make it easier to make money a little quicker in 2013. Sadly my views took a nose dive after Christmas, but they are sitting steadily around 300 a day at the moment. So my aim is to first try and hit around 1000 views a day regularly.

Squidoo: Now Squidoo is a bit different I have only been writing on there for about 3 weeks. As there isn't really a payout threshold, $1, I actually have 2 accounts, as I don't have to worry so much about accumulating enough for a payout. - FancyThatUK and FancyThatUSA - they primarily have the same things on them but one is for the UK market whilst the other is the US market, pretty obvious I suppose! I have 4 lenses in total. They are going to be niche sites based around party supplies and fancy dress ideas, and I am hoping to use them to make Affiliate sales, rather than relying on Ad revenue as the Squidoo Tier system is very difficult. So as of now I have made nothing on there, I also won't find out if I have made anything for around 2-3 months, due to the delay on it.

Fiverr - I have also been here for 9 months, mainly offering proofreading, copywriting and editing jobs. I have the odd bit of success when I get large orders and to date have cashed out $526 (£324), not bad really. I have actually done 4 gigs since the start of 2013, which comes to $16 (£9.84) so they are my first official online income for 2013. 

Affiliate Sales: I work mainly with Amazon on Hubpages and Squidoo, and occasionally on my own blog. But sometimes I use other affiliate sites too although I have yet to make anything from other sites. My Amazon.co.uk account is currently sitting at £8.96 although I haven't made any sales in over a year, so a little worried about that. My Amazon.com account is at $20.45 and I have made all of that in 3 months via Hubpages. So I hold out hope for making some money via that this year.

Well I think that is everything at the moment. I will now be updating this blog, hopefully everyday, with the work I am doing to help build a little more online income or towards my residual income.