Niall Doherty's Blog, page 187
May 16, 2019
PaidViewpoint Review
Earnings Per Hour 1
$4
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 5
20% of referred person’s earnings, up to $25.
Overall Rating2/5 6
View Best Survey Sites
Or join PaidViewpoint for free »
What is PaidViewpoint?
PaidViewpoint is a long-established website which pays you for answering occasional surveys.
We’ve spent 5+ hours using and researching the site ourselves. This PaidViewpoint review will help you decide if it’s a good way for you to make money online.
Table Of ContentsWhat is PaidViewpoint?How does PaidViewpoint work?Is PaidViewpoint a scam?PaidViewpoint PrivacyHow much does PaidViewpoint pay?How does PaidViewpoint pay?PaidViewpoint activation bonus codePaidViewpoint sign up
PaidViewpoint login
5 PaidViewpoint hacks
PaidViewpoint app
PaidViewpoint affiliate program
Is PaidViewpoint worth it?
Sites like PaidViewpoint
Have you tried PaidViewpoint?
This review is a joint effort between Niall Doherty (founder of eBiz Facts) and a hired freelancer named Hannah based in the USA.
Our process:
We hired Hannah to sign up to PaidViewpoint and test out certain parts of the site.Hannah documented her work and tracked her progress.We searched online for additional information about PaidViewpoint and carefully noted our findings.We wrote a first draft of this review.We sent the draft to our Freedom Business Builder community and asked for feedback.We made our final edits and published the review.Note: We may earn a commission if you decide to join PaidViewpoint via a referral link in this review. Read our full disclosure here.
How does PaidViewpoint work?
Countries Available
Worldwide.
PaidViewpoint pays you to answer surveys.
They offer two types of surveys:
Traits surveysMarket research surveysTraits surveys are small collections of questions that help us get to better know you and your interests. By getting an idea of your traits, demographics and interests, we can deliver you surveys which are relevant, interesting and more fun for you to answer.
Traits surveys generally pay between $0.03 and $0.10, but more importantly they help build your TraitScore.
Your goal is to achieve a TraitScore of 9000 or better. That will place you in the top 10% of PV members and means you will earn more for each answer.
While traits surveys aim to determine if you’re trustworthy or not, market research surveys are surveys ordered by clients of PaidViewpoint who are trying to understand more about your demographic, your buying habits, etc.
Each market research survey is different, but most take less than 5 minutes to complete and pay between $0.25 and $1.50.
PaidViewpoint stands apart from most other survey sites in two important ways:
Other survey sites often disqualify you midway through a survey. This never happens on PaidViewpoint. You don’t have to qualify for any survey. Answer those that are presented to you and get paid.You can sign up to PaidViewpoint anonymously, without having to confirm your name or mailing address.Here’s a quick video showing you how PaidViewpoint looks and works on the inside:
See our top-rated survey sites
Or join PaidViewpoint for free »
Is PaidViewpoint a scam?
Two of the most popular things people search for in relation to PaidViewpoint:
PaidViewpoint scamIs PaidViewpoint legit?First of all, PaidViewpoint is very upfront about the fact that you will not earn a lot of money using their site:
Everybody earns on Paid Viewpoint. But we are not a fast cash or big money site.
Their parent company – Umongous, LLC. – has received a respectable B- rating from the Better Business Bureau (though it has yet to receive accreditation).
PaidViewpoint is also part of Ask Your Target Market (AYTM), which appears to be one of the most respected market research platforms online, having worked with the likes of Samsung, Nike and NBC.
However, we have seen numerous complaints from PaidViewpoint users along these lines:
There were plenty of surveys available for me to answer when I signed up. But as I got close to the $15 payout threshold, the surveys seemed to dry up.
Furthermore, doubt has been cast on PaidViewpoint’s promise that users earn more per survey once they’ve achieved a TraitScore of 9000 or better. Nothing we’ve seen or experienced shows that to be clearly the case.
That said, many users of PaidViewpoint seem not to have encountered such issues. They continue to use and recommend the site regularly.
But if those issues worry you, you may want to choose another option from our list of top-rated survey sites…
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
PaidViewpoint Privacy
PaidViewpoint stands apart from most other survey sites in that you can use it without confirming your name or mailing address.
In other words, you can use it anonymously.
You are asked to provide your name and address upon sign-up, of course, but there’s no validation process.
The only profile information you provide to PaidViewpoint which must be accurate is:
Standard demographic information (birthdate, zip code, gender, etc.)Your phone number (to activate your account via an automated code)Your PayPal address (so you can get paid)On top of that, you should obviously answer all the traits surveys and market research surveys as accurately as possible. (Do otherwise and your TraitScore is likely to suffer.)
PaidViewpoint shares the following information related to your privacy using the site:
When you answer a research survey we provide the researcher your answers, your standard demographic information (see below) and your location down to the zip code level. We do not provide them your street address. We do not provide to them your name, phone number or email address. We do not share your IP address but we do let them see on a map approximately where you live.
Although we do not directly share your identity, there is always a possibility that Umongous Clients who receive this information from us, and/or other third parties with whom Umongous Clients share this information, would be able to deduce your identity based on the information provided, for example if your zip code is sparsely populated area and/or if the combination of your demographics and survey answers are very unique.
See our top-rated survey sites
Or join PaidViewpoint for free »
How much does PaidViewpoint pay?
Your earning potential on any survey site comes down to two primary factors:
How much you can earn per hour, on average.How many surveys are available for you to answer each day.If you can earn a high amount per hour and there are endless surveys available, you can earn a lot of money.
Compared to most other survey sites, PaidViewpoint scores well on the first factor:
Earnings Per Hour 7
$4
But not so good on the second:
Survey Quantity 8
awful
Our researcher Hannah in the USA found that there was usually only one survey per day available to her after signing up to PaidViewpoint.
She ended up earning almost $4 in less than one hour total using the site, but that hour came over a span of 9 days.
Above: Our researcher’s earnings after one hour of answering surveys on PaidViewpoint.The most we’ve heard of anyone else (believable) earning on PaidViewpoint is $6 per hour, but again that hour was spread out over many days.
Given that, you should not expect to earn very much money using PaidViewpoint, even if you have a lot of time to spare. There simply aren’t enough surveys available on there to earn yourself a quick payday.
If you really want to maximize your earnings on survey sites, see our alternative recommendations here:
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
How does PaidViewpoint pay?
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 12
20% of referred person’s earnings, up to $25.
The PaidViewpoint affiliate / referral program is how some folks earn BIG money on the site.
Above: The “friends” section of PaidViewpoint, with all the details for affiliates.
Essential info for PaidViewpoint affiliatesYou can refer people to PaidViewpoint and start earning commissions as soon as you sign up. Check the “friends” section once logged into your account for all the info.Whenever someone you referred cashes out, you will receive 20% of every business survey reward they’ve accumulated, up to a maximum of $25 per referral.Once you’ve referred more than 100 people, you can apply for the PaidViewpoint VIP program. If accepted, you can collect your 20% commission on the fly instead of waiting for them to cash out.
PaidViewpoint elaborates on that last point:
To get this privilege you need to have 100+ ACTIVE friends/referrals. By active we mean that your referrals have to have been a member for more than 30 days and must be visiting the site and completing surveys on a regular basis. You can apply for it by clicking the VIP banner on your Friends page. Please note that only members who have assembled their communities in a 100% honest way without a shadow of doubt will be granted the VIP status. Please don’t try to bump your numbers by adding ghost accounts or inviting your dog to join, it won’t do any good
Swagbucks Review
Earnings Per Hour 1
$1
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 5
$2.20 per new verified account.
Overall Rating2.5/5 6
Get Your $5 Sign-Up Bonus
See all our top-rated survey sites »
What is Swagbucks?
Swagbucks is a popular website / app which pays you for completing a variety of activities, such as answering surveys, watching videos, searching the web, and playing games.
We’ve spent 5+ hours using and researching the site ourselves. This Swagbucks review will help you decide if it’s a good way for you to make money online.
Table Of ContentsWhat is Swagbucks?Is Swagbucks legit?How does Swagbucks work?6 ways to earn on SwagbucksHow much does Swagbucks pay?How does Swagbucks pay?Swagbucks sign up codeSwagbucks swag codeSwagbucks sign up
Swagbucks login6 Swagbucks hacksSwagbucks appSwagbucks affiliate programSwagbucks referral programIs Swagbucks worth it?Sites like SwagbucksHave you tried Swagbucks?
This review is a joint effort between Niall Doherty (founder of eBiz Facts) and a hired freelancer named Hannah based in the USA.
Our process:
We hired Hannah to sign up to Swagbucks and test out certain parts of the site.Hannah documented her work and tracked her progress.We searched online for additional information about Swagbucks and carefully noted our findings.We wrote a first draft of this review.We sent the draft to our Freedom Business Builder community and asked for feedback.We made our final edits and published the review.Note: We may earn a commission if you decide to join Swagbucks via a referral link in this review. Read our full disclosure here.
Is Swagbucks legit? Is Swagbucks safe?
A few of the most popular things people search for in relation to Swagbucks:
Is Swagbucks legit?Is Swagbucks safe?Is Swagbucks a scam?Swagbucks scamWe can tell you that Swagbucks is legit and definitely not a scam.
Swagbucks is owned and operated by Prodege, LLC.
They’ve been in business since 2005 and have long been accredited by the Better Business Bureau, which has awarded the company an A- rating, and notes that 500+ customers have given the company an average review of 4.1 stars.
That said, Swagbucks is NOT a very effective way of earning money online.
Even when compared to other survey sites – none of which are great for earning big money online – we find Swagbucks lacking.
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
Why so many people ask if Swagbucks is legit
Most likely, it’s because there are many misleading Swagbucks reviews online.
Many of those reviews are written to generate affiliate commissions, and so tend to make exaggerated claims about how much money you can earn on Swagbucks, in the hopes that you’ll get excited, click an affiliate link and sign up.
For example, we’ve read reviews claiming that you can earn $5 in only 30 minutes on Swagbucks. Based on our experience and research, earning such amounts is extremely rare if not outright impossible.
In summary: Swagbucks is legit, but most Swagbucks reviews are not.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
How does Swagbucks work?
First of all, you can only sign up for Swagbucks if you live in one of the following countries. 7
Countries Available
Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, USA, UK.
Once you’ve signed up and verified your account, you can start earning SB.
1 SB = $0.01 USD (one penny)100 SB = $11000 SB = $10There are several ways to earn SB, which you can then exchange for cash or gift cards.
Ways to earn on Swagbucks
Answer Swagbucks surveys
Answering surveys seems to be the most popular and most effective way to earn money directly on Swagbucks.
Above: An example of the type of surveys Swagbucks will pay you to answer.As per the official website:
Here’s how it works: brands and market research companies invite Swagbucks users to fill-out online surveys about products and services. When users complete a survey, Swagbucks pays its users between $0.05 and $2.50 (and sometimes as much as $25 – $35).
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Try products and services
Be careful here, as this is one of those “spend money to make money” type deals.
The official word from Swagbucks:
Marketers and brands literally pay Swagbucks users to try their products and services. In many cases, the amount of money that marketers pay will cover a portion of the cost of the product or service itself. However, there are some cases where companies reward users with more than the cost of the service.
Some of the best offers we’ve seen here are for Hulu ($10 reward), Bluehost ($60), and Dollar Shave Club ($15).
But again, you need to spend money on these services via Swagbucks before you can claim your reward, so it’s really only worth doing if you were going to buy them anyway.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Watch Videos / Swagbucks Watch / Swagbucks nCrave
You might get a kick out of this if you like watching videos online and discovering new content.
From the official site:
Swagbucks has a section of its website and a number of mobile apps that are dedicated to rewarding users for watching video playlists and reviewing the content of various websites.
If you’re committed, you can consistently make about $5 per day watching videos on Swagbucks. There’s a range of interesting video categories. They include Entertainment, Food, Home & Garden, Health, Tech and Travel.
Above: Example of videos you can get paid to watch on Swagbucks.Nested inside this section of the website you’ll also find Swagbucks nCrave, described as:
nCrave is your place to discover amazing videos, articles and websites on the Internet and earn SB at the same time.
Just click on the link and you have the opportunity to discover new videos and articles that are trending across the Internet. Choose one of the options in the list or just start from the top and work your way through the list.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Get cashback for shopping online
As with #2 above, this is only worthwhile if you’re going to buy something online anyway.
Otherwise, you’re spending a lot to earn a little, which is a sure-fire way to end up broke.
So please be careful here.
Here’s how Swagbucks describes this option:
Whenever you plan to make an online purchase, find the store at which you intend to shop within the Swagbucks Store Directory. Then, simply click through from the store’s page on Swagbucks.
You will then earn a certain cashback amount for any purchase made at that store’s website.
Above: Examples of online stores where you can earn cashback via Swagbucks.Two other things to note here:
The first time you make a purchase through the Swagbucks cashback portal, you’ll receive a $10 “new shopper bonus.” That’s essentially free money if you’re planning to buy something online anyway.Swagbucks offers a free browser extension that alerts you about available coupons and cashback amounts when you shop online, so you don’t have to remember to go through the Swagbucks portal and can maximise your cashback earnings.Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Get cashback for dining out (Swagbucks Local)
Another one where you must first spend to earn, but there really doesn’t seem to be any downside to this one if you eat out regularly.
As per the Swagbucks website:
The best way to save money, and essentially make money, when you dine out is to use a service like SB Local. With it, you’ll effortlessly receive cashback when you dine out or shop at any of the 1,000s of participating restaurants and retailers nationwide. And, you won’t have to show a coupon or do anything other than pay with the credit card you link to the Swagbucks Local program.
Above: How SB local works.Note that you can also get a 500 SB bonus ($5) when you use SB Local for the first time.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Swagbucks daily poll
Swagbucks posts a new poll every day for users to answer.
Above: An example of the Swagbucks daily poll.You will earn only 1 SB ($0.01) for answering each poll, which means that answering the Swagbucks daily poll every day for a year would earn you only $3.65.
Given that, it’s not really worth the time.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
How much does Swagbucks pay?
Earnings Per Hour 8
$1
As noted above, there are a variety of ways to earn money with Swagbucks, but for this section we’re going to focus on what’s generally considered to be the most lucrative: answering surveys.
Your earning potential on any survey site comes down to two primary factors:
How much you can earn per hour, on average.How many surveys are available for you to answer each day.If you can earn a high amount per hour and there are endless surveys available, you can earn a lot of money.
On Swagbucks, as with most survey sites, those two factors can vary greatly depending on demographics.
The official line from Swagbucks:
When users complete a survey, Swagbucks pays its users between $0.05 and $2.50 (and sometimes as much as $25 – $35).
Based on our research, “sometimes as much as $25 – $35” is incredibly rare.
Instead, the average person seems to earn only $1 per hour answering surveys on Swagbucks.
That’s on the low end for survey sites. (See which survey site is best here.)
Above: Some higher-paying surveys on Swagbucks, the best paying $3 for an estimated 10 minutes (this is rare).On the plus side, there are pretty much endless surveys available on Swagbucks.
Survey Quantity 9
great
Which is how one user managed to earn more than 1000 SB ($10) in a single day.
Above: Screenshot shared by one Swagbucks user showing 1,004 SB earned in a single day just by answering surveys.Of course, there are many ways to earn more money per hour working online, but the reason many people like using Swagbucks for this purpose seems to be because answering surveys is easy and doesn’t require your full attention.
However, the same is true of Survey Junkie, and your earnings per hour there will be more than 2x what you’re likely to earn on Swagbucks.
Check out Survey Junkie or read our Survey Junkie review.How does Swagbucks pay?
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 12
$2.20 per new verified account.
This is how some folks earn BIG money with Swagbucks.
We’ve read of people earning $10,000 or more per month as affiliates for survey sites, and Swagbucks has one of the best affiliate programs in the business.
Essential info for Swagbucks affiliatesYou must sign up for the Swagbucks affiliate program via Awin.Swagbucks only accepts traffic from the Australia, Canada, Ireland, the USA and UK. Anyone who clicks on your affiliate link from another country will land on the Swagbucks homepage, but won’t be able to sign up for an account.The payout is $2.20 “per email verification of new user registrations.”
That second point really separates Swagbucks from the pack.
Most affiliate programs only pay you once a sale is made, but Swagbucks pays you just for sending them new users who sign up for a free account.
That’s not to say it’s easy to earn money as a Swagbucks affiliate. Becoming a successful affiliate marketer usually requires quite a bit of work up front.
Learn more about affiliate marketing »
Swagbucks referral program
Yes, the Swagbucks referral program is different from the Swagbucks affiliate program.
The referral program is for users of Swagbucks to invite their friends.
When you sign up to Swagbucks, you receive a special referral link. Share this link with your friends, they sign up using it, and then Swagbucks awards you 10% of whatever they earn, indefinitely.
You Earn 10% of Whatever They Earn. Whenever They Earn it.
So if your friend Jane earns 700 SB in a single day, we will give you 70 SB in return. The more your referrals earn, the more you earn.
Is Swagbucks worth it?YES if you’re looking for a survey site with lots of rewards options.YES if you’re looking for a survey site with loads of mobile apps so you can earn a bit of money on the go.NO if you’re looking to earn a living working online. (There are much better options for that.)NO if you’re looking to earn as much money as possible from a survey site. (See our top rated survey sites here.)
Overall Rating2.5/5 13
Get Your $5 Sign-Up Bonus
See all our top-rated survey sites »
Sites Like Swagbucks
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
Your Swagbucks Review
Have you tried Swagbucks?
Please consider leaving a review below – good or bad – doesn’t matter so long as it’s helpful to our visitors. Thanks for your support!
May 14, 2019
Survey Junkie Review
Earnings Per Hour 1
$2.50
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards (US only), bank transfer (US only)
Minimum Payout 5
$1.50 per new account.
Overall Rating4/5 6
Join Survey Junkie For Free
See all our top-rated survey sites »
What is Survey Junkie?
Survey Junkie is a popular and top-rated website / app which pays you for answering simple surveys.
We’ve spent 20+ hours using and researching the site ourselves. This Survey Junkie review will help you decide if it’s a good way for you to make money online.
Table Of ContentsWhat is Survey Junkie?Is Survey Junkie legit?How much does Survey Junkie pay?How does Survey Junkie pay?Survey Junkie rewardsSurvey Junkie sign upSurvey Junkie login
Survey Junkie access deniedSurvey Junkie hacksIs Survey Junkie safe?Survey Junkie affiliate programIs Survey Junkie worth it?Top Rated Survey SitesHave you tried Survey Junkie?
This review is a joint effort between Niall Doherty (founder of eBiz Facts) and a hired freelancer named Hannah based in the USA.
Our process:
We hired Hannah to sign up to Survey Junkie and spend 10 hours filling out surveys on there.Hannah documented her work and tracked her progress.We searched online for additional information about Survey Junkie and carefully noted our findings.We wrote a first draft of this review.We sent the draft to our Freedom Business Builder community and the folks at Survey Junkie and asked for feedback.We made our final edits and published the review.Note: We may earn a commission if you decide to join Survey Junkie via a referral link in this review. Read our full disclosure here.
Is Survey Junkie legit?
Two of the most popular things people search for in relation to Survey Junkie:
Is survey junkie legit?survey junkie scamYou might be wondering yourself if Survey Junkie is a legitimate way of making money online.
We’ll tell it to you straight: Survey Junkie is legit, but you’re not going to earn a lot of money on there. Or on any other survey site, for that matter.
Survey Junkie are upfront about this themselves, stating in their help section:
You will NOT get rich by taking surveys. The rewards for each survey will vary but with commitment and regular participation, you’ll have the opportunity to earn extra cash each month.
Survey Junkie is also accredited by the Better Business Bureau, which has awarded the company a B rating, and notes that 300+ customers have given the company an average review of 4.5 stars.
Furthermore, we spent more than 10 hours completing surveys on Survey Junkie ourselves and were able to cash out easily.
Why then do so many people question if Survey Junkie is legit?Most likely, it’s because there are many misleading Survey Junkie reviews online.
Many of those reviews are written to generate affiliate commissions, and so tend to make exaggerated claims about how much money you can earn on Survey Junkie, in the hopes that you’ll get excited, click an affiliate link and sign up.
For example, we’ve read reviews claiming that you can earn $100/day on Survey Junkie, or even $15 in only 20 minutes. Based on our experience and research, earning such amounts is extremely rare if not outright impossible.
In summary: Survey Junkie is legit, but most Survey Junkie reviews are not.
Join Survey Junkie For Free
How much does Survey Junkie pay?
Your earning potential on any survey site comes down to two primary factors:
How much you can earn per hour, on average.How many surveys are available for you to answer each day.If you can earn a high amount per hour and there are endless surveys available, you can earn a lot of money.
On Survey Junkie, those two factors can vary greatly depending on demographics.
For example, our researcher Hannah is 19 years old, has not completed university, and lives in Florida. After spending 10 hours answering surveys on Survey Junkie, she earned a total of $15, or $1.50 per hour.
Other (believable) reports we’ve found online note earnings of $3 per hour, and more is likely possible if you fall into a “richer” demographic.
Given all that, here’s our best estimate for how much you can earn on Survey Junkie:
Earnings Per Hour 7
$2.50
Which is about average for survey sites. (See which survey site is best here.)
Where Survey Junkie really excels however, is in the number of surveys available each day…
Survey Quantity 8
good
Although your earnings per hour are likely to decrease as you spend more time on the site, it’s still possible to spend several hours per day on there answering paid surveys.
We even found a report of someone spending 4 hours per day on Survey Junkie for an entire month and earning $248 total, which works out to about $2 per hour.
Of course, there are many ways to earn more money per hour working online, but the reason many people like using Survey Junkie for this purpose seems to be because answering surveys is easy and doesn’t require your full attention.
Time and time again we’ve heard Survey Junkie fans saying things like this:
I love that I can be eating pizza while watching Netflix or listening to a podcast, and earning a few easy dollars answering surveys at the same time.
Join Survey Junkie For Free
How does Survey Junkie pay?
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards (US only), bank transfer (US only)
Minimum Payout 10
$1.50 per new account.
This is how some folks earn BIG money with Survey Junkie.
We’ve read of people earning $10,000 or more per month as affiliates for survey sites, and Survey Junkie has one of the best affiliate programs in the business.
Essential info for Survey Junkie affiliatesSurvey Junkie only accepts traffic from the US, Canada, and Australia. Anyone who clicks on your affiliate link from another country will land on an error page.The payout is $1.50 “per conversion.” Survey Junkie counts a conversion as an email submit, single opt-in.
That second point really separates Survey Junkie from the pack.
Most affiliate programs only pay you once a sale is made, but Survey Junkie pays you just for sending them new users who sign up for a free account.
That’s not to say it’s easy to earn money as a Survey Junkie affiliate. Becoming a successful affiliate marketer usually requires quite a bit of work up front.
Learn more about affiliate marketing »
Is Survey Junkie worth it?NO if you’re looking to earn a living working online. (There are much better options for that.)YES if you’re looking for an easy way to earn extra cash while watching Netflix or listening to a podcast.
Overall Rating4/5 11
Join Survey Junkie For Free
See all our top-rated survey sites »
Survey Junkie is one of our top-rated survey sites
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
Your Survey Junkie Review
Have you tried Survey Junkie?
Please consider leaving a review below – good or bad – doesn’t matter so long as it’s helpful to our visitors. Thanks for your support!
May 9, 2019
eBiz Weekly #19
Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archiveThis week:
Book Recommendation
Remove image backgrounds in 5 seconds
Offline Connections
Online productivity hack
Get more links to your website
Passive income for teachers
Active income for teachers
Why email is still king
How I got you to open this email
Every freelancer should do this at least once
Book Recommendation
Mindset by Carol Dweck is a modern classic, diving deep on the concept of fixed vs. growth mindset. It’s one of our reads this month in the Freedom Business Builder book club.
An excerpt:
Just because some people can do something with little or no training, it doesn’t mean that others can’t do it (and sometimes do it even better) with training. This is so important, because many, many people with the fixed mindset think that someone’s early performance tells you all you need to know about their talent and their future.
Darwin and Tolstoy, for example, were considered fairly ordinary children. But by working persistently at their craft, they produced much better and more impactful work than many people who were considered to have more talent.
Remove image backgrounds in 5 seconds
Words can’t describe how excited I am to have found remove.bg, a tool that removes the background of any image… for free… in only 5 seconds.
I’ve probably spent weeks of my life cutting people out of backgrounds the old tedious way in Photoshop.
Never again.
Offline Connections
Sometimes, the best way to find clients or customers for your online business is to connect with people offline. This guy challenged himself to walk into 500 businesses in his local area and offer his services.
The result?
$30,000 in increased sales the first month.
(Related: the same guy mailed 500 lottery tickets to his existing clients and generated a nice chunk of additional business.)
Online productivity hack
This productivity “hack” probably saves me more time than any other.
It’s a free plugin for Chrome that allows you to easily adjust the speed or skip around pretty much any video online, most of which can be watched at 1.5 or 2x speed without loss of comprehension.
Works on YouTube ads, too.
Use the keyboard shortcuts for bonus productivity ninja cool points.
Get more links to your website
You know I’m a big fan of the guys at Authority Hacker, have learned a lot from them over the years.
They’ve just released a new course called The Shotgun Skyscraper Blueprint. Only serious SEO geeks need apply.
Check the latest episode of their podcast for a solid overview of how they build links to their websites at scale.
(By the way, if you get good at building links there’s a massive opportunity to sell that as a freelance service. I’ll likely by hiring someone for that myself later in the year.)
Passive income for teachers
If you teach online but are tired of trading your time for money, check out Teachers Pay Teachers. It’s an online marketplace for original educational resources.
For example, this 47-page reading comprehension guide for kids sells for $8, has almost 2,000 ratings, and presumably many more sales.
Active income for teachers
Of course, passive income ain’t easy. (See here for the inconvenient truth.)
But while you’re building that up, you can jump on some of the many “active income” online teaching jobs available.
For example, BlingABC will pay you up to $38 for teaching English online.
Why email is still king
Here’s an interesting article from WIRED: We Launched a Paywall. It Worked! Mostly.
They don’t give exact subscription numbers, but some good takeaways in there nonetheless, including the importance of testing different offers.
Here’s the bit that really caught my attention:
So what’s the lesson here? I think it’s that people will subscribe after reading all kinds of stories if they’re done well.
They’ll particularly pay, we also learned, if you send them newsletters. The propensity to subscribe by people who enter WIRED.com on a mobile device is rather low—unless they come in via a newsletter. (To give one data point, a visitor who reaches us via search is 1/19th as likely to subscribe as one who comes in from a newsletter; a reader coming in from Facebook is 1/12th; and a reader coming in from Twitter is 1/6th.) That’s one reason why we’re launching all kinds of new newsletters, tied to specific sections of the site.
How I got you to open this email
Speaking of email marketing, here’s a handy list of 87 email subject lines you can draw inspiration from.
I used formula #3 for this email.
Since you’re reading, I guess it worked 
Offline Connections
Sometimes, the best way to find clients or customers for your online business is to connect with people offline.
A great example of this comes from Max Maher. In the video below, he details a self-assigned challenge to boost his business.
My goal was to in-person cold contact 500 businesses that could potentially refer my business to their clients. This challenge took 142 hrs over 7.5 weeks. The challenge resulted in over $30,000 in increased sales the first month.
Note that Max’s business is a moving company, which obviously can’t be considered an online business.
However, there’s no reason why the same approach wouldn’t work for someone selling an online product or service.
For example, it’s not hard to imagine many businesses in your local area needing help with:
Facebook AdsGoogle AdWordsGraphic DesignSearch Engine Optimization (SEO)Social Media Marketing (SMM)Web DevelopmentThink about the people and businesses in your local area. Might they have a need for your services?
Go connect with them and find out.
This is one of many ways to get clients for your freelance business. See the full list here.May 3, 2019
eBiz Weekly #18
Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archiveThis week:
SEO Geeks Only
How Much Should You Charge?
Charge More Than You Think You Should
Hate Marketing?
Nomad Train
Premium Coffee
Robotaxis
Don’t Start A Podcast
Prepaid SIM Cards
April Finance Report
SEO Geeks Only
The guys at Authority Hacker have been releasing some great content recently, all about link building.
This in-depth article blew my mind, detailing how they built 700+ links in a year for a site they eventually sold for six figures.
Then there’s an interview with fellow Irishman Jason Malone, who builds links as a service. Super geeky stuff but highly recommended if you’re serious about SEO or building an authority site.
Also, I’ll be attending the Chiang Mai SEO Conference this November. Let me know if you plan to be there, too. Looks like there are still some tickets available.
How Much Should You Charge?
If you’re having trouble deciding on your freelance rate, IWT has three good rules of thumb:
Drop Three Zeros Method
Double your “resentment number”
Do what the next guy does
Alternatively…
Charge More Than You Think You Should
Great advice for freelancers on Reddit.
Note for service providers worrying about charging “too high” a price or considering “starting small and working up”. Remember that it’s easier to negotiate DOWN than UP. In other words charge WAY more than you think you should.
The full post is worth a read.
Hate Marketing?
This thread on Twitter gives a good perspective of marketing and how it doesn’t have to be sleazy or inauthentic.
Key point:
“To me, marketing is the practice of making it easy for the people who would benefit from knowing me, to find me.”
Nomad Train
The Trans-Siberian railway is the most epic train trip on the planet, taking you from Moscow to Mongolia (and beyond) across some spectacular landscape.
Nomad Train has a 2-week trip scheduled for this September – they do a few overnight stays at some towns/cities en route – so you can organize everything easily and get to know a bunch of other digital nomads along the way.
Use promo code EBIZFACTS at checkout for a €50 discount.
(Fun fact about Vladivostok, a city in Russia which marks the end of the Trans-Siberian railway: it’s closer to Australia than it is to Moscow. Also, here’s a 5-star read for the train.)
Premium Coffee
From Jim’s Marketing Blog:
People don’t visit coffee shops for the coffee. They already have coffee at home. They go and pay 500% more for coffee at the coffee shop, because of the experience. Understanding this principle is essential if you’re serious about growing your business. Don’t just sell the thing you do. Sell the way you do, the thing you do.
One way to show prospective clients what it’s like to work with you is via Ground Zero Case Studies.
Robotaxis
Okay, so this isn’t related to online business, but if it comes to fruition it definitely counts as passive income.
Last week Elon Musk unveiled plans for a Tesla ride-sharing app (watch the 3-minute video here). Which means you could own a Tesla and have it drive around autonomously when you’re not using it, operating as a taxi and earning you as much as $30,000 per year.
Don’t Start A Podcast
Advice from someone who has recorded 300+ episodes of a podcast that has made several top business podcast lists:
now that podcasts are all the rage — do we recommend that you start one? Not at all.
How much business has the podcast brought us? None whatsoever.
[…]
So what should you do instead? It’s way easier to be a guest on a podcast than it is to host a podcast. You can piggyback onto all of their marketing and let your brilliance shine to their audience. By guesting on a number of podcasts you can reach a much larger audience than you would by building your own podcast.
Prepaid SIM Cards
Wish I’d known about this website when I arrived in Bali last week: it’s a wiki that collects information about prepaid mobile phone plans all over the world.
Really useful if you move countries regularly and need to stay connected.
We’ve added it to our shortlist of recommended travel resources for online business builders.
April Finance Report
I’ve been tracking everything I earn and spend since January 2011 and posting monthly reports online.
…
That’ll do it for this week.
Keep working at it, and let me know if I can help with anything.
—
Niall Doherty
eBiz Facts
P.S. Hi from Ubud in Bali. If you’d like to read some of my more personal ramblings, my latest Momentos are here.
By the way...
Travel Hacker’s Toolkit
Check out the top resources I recommend for the traveling online business builder. Cheap flights, a jet lag app, free VPN software, and more.
Great Value Courses
My go-to websites when looking to learn or enhance a skill are Skillshare and Udemy. Both have thousands of courses on many different topics, rated and reviewed so you can easily tell what’s best. Udemy is pay-per-course, whereas Skillshare is a subscription model (my preference).
Start Earning Online
Check out our free crash course to help you build an online business, consists of 11 videos and accompanying articles.
Freedom Business Builder
FBB is a private community of online business builders. Our 300+ members range from people just starting their first online businesses, to experienced online entrepreneurs earning thousands of dollars each month. More info here.
Facebook and Twitter
If you enjoyed the above, come follow eBiz Facts on the socials. We share this kind of content daily on Facebook and Twitter.
May 2, 2019
Momentos
These are my Momentos, vignettes I write daily and publish twice a month. They’re incredibly self-indulgent and I’m surprised anyone reads them. There’s one for every day since February 27, 2013.
16
Been all around the world, fifty-odd countries, but there’s plenty of Ireland I’ve yet to explore. We’re up around County Galway the next few days, staying in a small town that had more heads before the spuds went bad. Yeats lived near here in a castle, and now a bunch of Brazilians call the place home.
17
Hiking in the Irish countryside, across streams, through woodlands, up and over a couple of hills that once told time. You can see as far as the Shannon from up here. Later we’ll drive to a village and sit and chat at a cafe that feels like someone’s house with a couple of auld petrol pumps out front and a young lad on a fine big horse.
18
Galway is buzzing with the sunshine today, live music up and down the main drag, heaps of people claiming spots of green along the waterfront, drinks and skits. I enjoy the walks and the talks around the place, trying not to let that run in with the homeless lad earlier take up space in my head.
19
Had been waiting several weeks for particular affiliate payments to come through. My account showed I’d been paid hundreds, but I’d yet to see a penny. Four emails unanswered. Looked like they were going to screw me, little I could do about it. But some relief in my inbox this morning.
20
There’s a part of me when I’m back in Ireland that wonders what if. What if I’d never left, eleven years ago? What if I’d returned for good, eight years ago? In a village like Kilsheelan on a day like today, walking in sunshine by a gentle river, it’s easy to imagine being happy here.
21
Been asking more people about working online. Would they be happy enough sitting in front of a computer all day? Or would they rather be out and about, having more human interaction? Responses are mixed. For some it’s a dream, for others a nightmare. No one path right for all.
22
I likes having a go at a sudoku puzzle every now and then because it reminds me to be persistent. You get stuck on one sometimes, feels like an impasse, but eventually, if you keep going, it’s like the grid yields to your will and coughs up the next number.
23
There have been three main cities in my life. Waterford, where I grew up. New Orleans, where I lived a teenage dream. And Amsterdam, which mesmerizes me for a million reasons. Back there now for a short stretch, among the bikes and the canals and the woeful customer service.
24
The fact that weed is illegal in most places is nothing short of crazy. Especially when things like alcohol, tobacco and gambling are above board. Gambling proves that addiction isn’t a substance issue. Criminalizing drugs isn’t helping anyone.
25
We’re about forty minutes north of Mokum by train, stopped at the corner of a spectacle. Throngs of tulips, bright strips of color stretching off into the distance. We’ll get caught in a downpour cycling back, but that’s okay. No rain, no rainbows.
26
On a flight to Bali, via Singapore. Reminding myself that we booked these flights for free. Credit card points. And the same card gets us lounge access, free food and drink at every airport. Credit card companies bank on us being irresponsible and racking up debt. Don’t do that and it’s easy take advantage.
27
At a raw vegan place. A lady across the way orders a big bowl of salad. When it comes, she places her hands over the bowl and pulses them while taking a breath so deep her shoulders reach her ears. I this very annoying, probably because I wish I cared as little as she does about what other people think.
28
Here we go again, my least favorite thing about travel: finding accommodation. We scoot around town for a few hours, checking out a bunch of places. Do this in Chiang Mai and you’re spoiled for choice. Here, we’ve yet to find a half-decent spot with a kitchen, even beyond our budget.
29
One of the best things about switching my business focus a few months back has been giving up the “lifestyle” posts on social media. Used to do that as part of marketing my course, showing that I was walking my talk. Not that I hated doing it, but it’s a relief now not to be documenting every sight I see, every place I go.
30
Finally found a place. Proper kitchen, great location, easy on the budget. Can’t move in for ten days, but we can stay at our current place until then, no big deal. Will likely stay a couple of months in Ubud all told. Looking forward to getting back into a routine, getting back to work.
April 25, 2019
eBiz Weekly #17
Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archiveHey there,
Writing to you from Amsterdam this morning, about to hop on a flight to Singapore. I’ll be in Bali by tomorrow.
My first time there, will be checking out Ubud first. Any tips or recommendations?
If so, drop them in the comments 
April 19, 2019
eBiz Weekly #16
Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archiveHey there,
Writing to you from County Galway in Ireland this morning, a small town called Gort in particular. The poet W.B. Yeats once lived near here in a big stone tower.
He wrote stuff like this:
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?
Anyway, here are a few bits and pieces related to online business I think you’ll dig…
Get Clients
If you’re a freelancer looking for clients, here are three methods I recommend, in order:
The Billboard Method
The Door-To-Door Method
The Classified Method
This week I updated The Billboard Method with an example of a lady posting about her copywriting services in a Facebook group and generating four leads within 24 hours.
Beyond those three methods, I’ve recently added Ground Zero Case Studies and Laptop Decals to our Get Clients section.
Udemy Easter Sale
You never have to wait very long for a Udemy sale. Their latest ends Monday, so you can buy a bunch of courses on there at the moment for as little as $12 each.
Here are six very popular, highly-rated courses on there that you can grab for only $12 right now:
The Complete Copywriting Course – 4.6 stars, 1.5k ratings
Ultimate Google Ads / AdWords Course – 4.7 stars, 27k ratings
Facebook Ads & Facebook Marketing MASTERY 2019 – 4.6 stars, 18k ratings
The Complete 2019 Web Development Bootcamp – 4.7 stars, 12k ratings
Machine Learning A-Z – 4.5 stars, 78k ratings
An Entire MBA in 1 Course – 4.4 stars, 24k ratings
(Note: as I’ve said many times before, if I was just getting started with freelancing and looking to learn a profitable skill, copywriting, Facebook ads and Google ads would be on my shortlist.)
20-20-20 Rule
One of the downsides of working online is staring at a screen for long stretches of time. Not great for the eyes.
Here’s a handy rule from the American Optometric Association, “to help alleviate digital eye strain…”
follow the 20-20-20 rule; take a 20-second break to view something 20 feet away every 20 minutes.
Build Your Business In Prague
My friend Dan Johnston is hosting a 4-day event in Prague this June for a small group of business builders. There will be a strong focus on psychology and personality types to build the perfect business for you.
If that sounds like your cup of tea, you can find more info here. The price is usually $1,295 but Dan has kindly offered eBiz Facts readers a $300 discount
April 18, 2019
Momentos
These are my Momentos, vignettes I write daily and publish twice a month. They’re incredibly self-indulgent and I’m surprised anyone reads them. There’s one for every day since February 27, 2013.
1
Pretty much all my adult life I’ve used an alarm clock to wake up in the morning. Experimenting without one now. Set a timer when I go to sleep, stop it when I wake up, see how long I slept. In theory, my body should rest as much as it needs to, and wake when it’s good and ready. We’ll see.
2
Also quitting coffee for the next 10 days, until I’m back in Ireland. The past year or so I’ve gone from 5 cups a week to 2 or 3 a day. That’s too much for me. I’d rather not feel so dependent on it, and I doubt it’s doing my digestive system any favors.
3
Reading a biography of Tony O’Reilly, considered to be the first Irish billionaire (before he lost it all). He’s the reason you see Kerrygold butter in supermarkets all around the world. Definitely a natural-born entrepreneur. Unlike me. This shit doesn’t come naturally to me at all.
4
Writing a review of Respondent. Before I write any review, I google around and see what the existing reviews are like. Most of the time I’m encouraged by what I find: shallow reviews by people who didn’t actually try or test the thing they’re reviewing. I believe it was Zig Ziglar who said, “there are no traffic jams on the extra mile.”
5
Was at the coworking for a few hours this afternoon, right by the beach. Took a basketball break at the outdoor court nearby and ended up playing a fun 5-on-5 scrimmage. Walking back there was a dude on a unicycle and beyond him three kite surfers skimming waves. It’s a good place to be, Las Palmas.
6
First proper virtual reality gaming session, four of us at a place here in the city. Customer service ain’t great, but the technology is impressive. We spend 40 minutes botching a bank heist and another 20 trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. Sweating by the end of it.
7
Meditating, and there’s a sadness there. I try and sit with it, don’t push it away. There’s a line I try to remember at times like this: “We don’t need to feel better. We need to be better at feeling.” But I don’t sit there long. Just a few minutes. Then I drown the sadness out with work and Netflix for the rest of the day.
8
Been reviewing these survey sites. I think they’re crap and nobody should waste their time. And yet I read reviews from non-affiliates (i.e. non-biased reviews) and there’s plenty of praise. How can anybody enjoy doing such dull work for $2-3/hour? I don’t get how people can value their time so little.
9
At the coworking, encouraging myself to get stuff done. Been in a slump all week, trying to be gentle with myself. Getting frustrated won’t help. Coworking isn’t helping either. I end up watching crappy YouTube videos and shooting pixels. The start of a slippery slope.
10
I watched a whole season of a show on Netflix today. 12 episodes. That season was shot in multiple countries, required the skill and communication of hundreds of people, probably took a couple of years from inception to completion. And I blow through it in ten hours.
11
There’s a sport popular here in Spain called padel. It’s a bit like tennis, but with walls. Imagine if tennis and squash had a baby together and you’re close. Anyway, for my final evening on this island myself and a few friends went to a padel club atop a mall and smacked balls at each other for a bit.
12
We’re living in a world, he says, where everyone wants to be remarkable. And all we see on TV and the internet are remarkable people, extraordinary things. Very few people are willing or able to embrace their ordinariness. But if you can embrace your ordinariness, well… that is something truly extraordinary.
13
A holy trinity for my mental health: stretching, meditation and free writing. 5-10 minutes of each gach lá makes a massive difference. Keeping the coffee to one a day helps too. Mad that I’m 37 years old and still figuring this shit out.
14
Been in Cork and Waterford city centers the past two days. Loads of prime retail locations sitting empty. Hard to succeed with a brick and mortar business. Rent, rates, insurance, all that jazz. The odds are stacked against you. So glad my work is online, way less hassle.
15
Slept ten hours each of the last two nights. Didn’t even think I was that tired. I tend to sleep better back here in the Irish countryside though. Probably some combination of the quiet, less artificial light, cooler temperatures, and a lighter workload when I’m home.
