A Guide for Newcomers to GPT (Get Paid To)

Qassia is a credit-driven intelligence engine coupled to a cascading tag-based web directory. What exactly does this mean? Well, please read on (copied from Qassia’s own site - why re-invent the wheel

Good stuff your websites will like

At Qassia, you can add your websites for free, and without having to add reciprocal backlinks. You’ll get unlimited quality backlinks (as opposed to useless “no-follow” backlinks). You can also add intel. Short for “intelligence”, intel is a tidbit of information. Qassia rewards users who add intel in three ways. This means that website owners have triple incentive to contribute intel. The contributed intel will allow Qassia to become a vast repository of intelligence, with unrivalled original content. And a vast amount of original content draws traffic like honey draws ants.

1. Backlinks You get one backlink for every piece of intel you add. Every intel will carry a direct backlink to one of your sites. So the more intel you add, the more backlinks you get. 
2. Credit When you add intel, you also get credit, in the form of Qassia dollars. Your net worth in Qassia dollars determines how well your websites rank in our directory. 
3. Revenue When your intel is displayed, you get 100% of the advertising revenue generated by that page. That is not a typo, by the way: we give you ALL of the gross ad revenue.

It’s Easy - Just Start Typing

Qassia is sometimes confused with sites like Wikipedia, Squidoo, and most recently, knol. Qassia is fundamentally different from these sites, because Qassia is not about asking people to upload authoritative articles. You don’t need to be an egghead at Qassia. You could upload a lengthy academic treatise if you want, by all means, but you can also get away with contributing a hastily scribbled tidbit of information about a person, a company, a place, an event, a thing, or anything you know about.

What we value is intelligence about the people, companies, and places around you. The people and places do not have to be famous, and the intelligence does not have to be earth-shattering.

Qassia isn’t a wiki. Your intel will not get edited (it will get rated, but not edited). You can write your intel in any tone or style you like. You can write in the first person, and you can give your opinions.

The Best Deal in Town

Other knowledge repositories give their users 40% of the advertising revenue. Others still give their users 60%. We, on the other hand, give you 100% of the advertising revenue from your intel and user profile pages. We have the best, most generous, and most reliable ad revenue sharing program on the web. So if you’re thusly inclined - and who wouldn’t be? - you’ll actually get paid for the effort you put in promoting your websites. No hitch, no catch. Now, if that ain’t a sweet deal, we don’t know what is.

We believe that, only by completely pampering our users and giving more than any other website, and in fact giving more than the users themselves expect, can we attain our goal of becoming the most incredible website the world has ever seen.

Qassia is a new era

Think of the bits and pieces of intel as the gravel which will fill the potholes on the information superhighway. While the Wikipedia and other knowledge repositories are huge, boasting tens of thousands of articles, less than 1 percent of human knowledge has been uploaded to the Internet. At Qassia, we are giving users the incentive and the freedom to add the remaining 99.9 percent.

The vast web of intel created at Qassia will produce more than a useful intelligence engine. The advent of Qassia is a cataclysmic event in the history of the Internet. We are redefining the web experience. Come be part of history and create your free Qassia account now.

I’m not refering to any specific bank, nor to any country, but the advice which follows certainly applied in the bank for whom I worked for over 25 years, and which operates in more than 100 countries world-wide.

Customers come in all shapes and sizes, and with balances to match.   Some are prudent with their finances, even thrifty, some are cavalier and regularly end the month with little or nothing in their accounts, and frequently with any (all) credit cards maxed-out.

One thing which many, on both sides of that divide, have in common is a fear of approaching the bank, especially their bank manager, who seems to have gained the rather unfair reputation of being a fearsome Victorian father-figure, who will snap at you, treating you like a child who has used up his or her allowance for the month, seeing you as coming for an advance on next month’s allowance. 

Very few are really Victorian…..

In my insider’s experience, at the consumer banking level (corporate banking too, but that’s another topic for another day), bankers are delighted if a customer has the courage to come to see them for help.  I do not use the word ‘courage’ lightly, for I know that for many, that is exactly what it does take. 

It’s embarrassing to have to admit to a stranger, especially one who is probably a wizard when it comes to managing their finances, that your money-management has been found wanting – perhaps at no fault of your own. 

But, I assure you that the sooner you go to the bank, to tell them of your (temporary) difficulties, and explain why you need help, the more understanding they will be.  If you leave it, especially up to the point that the bank has to take some negative action, such as returning a check for lack of funds, it will be much harder for you.  You should know however, that regardless of the stage it has reached, the bank will be so much more understanding if you go to see them, rather than them asking to see you. 

This is particularly important if anyone reading this is unfortunate enough to be made redundant by their company downsizing.  As soon as you receive the terrible news, go straight away to see your bank manager and ask him/her to consider re-structuring all your borrowing facilities, perhaps extending the repayment periods, reducing the monthly repayment amounts or reducing the rate over base rate, all until such time as your income stream has returned, with your gaining re-employment. 

If you have outstandings on your credit card, see if your bank manager will agree to your converting this into a personal loan.  This will usually be cheaper than the APR rate on your credit card.  Once done, put your card away in a drawer somewhere, not to be taken out again until you have the regular income once again.  If you don’t trust yourself, I suggest you cut up the card, thus destroying it.  You can always re-apply once normality has returned.

Nothing hurts more than an available credit card, coupled with a non-available monthly repayment!   

If you’re a card user over the Net, for example to buy your groceries, you can always use a pre-paid credit card instead, one which operates like a stored-value card, and is only good for the amount of credit you have bought.  I do not recommend extending the use of your debit card – especially online.  The Net is not truly 100% secure and when you’re using a debit card it’s your money that’s at stake, whereas with a normal credit card, it’s the bank’s money.

There are many other ways in which you might be surprised at how helpful the bank can be – all you have to do is ask.  What’s the worst they can say?  ‘No’.  But at least you asked, and as my dear, late Grandfather used to say to me, “Michael, if you don’t ask, you cannot receive.” 

For example, annual fees on a credit card.  This is such a cut-throat, competitive business that most banks will at the very least consider reducing, if not actually waiving the annual fee, if you ask them.  Bank charges generally they are often very quick to refund if you approach them.  But please, in all cases, do it nicely.  The bank officer or manager is a fellow human being, and only doing his or her job, hopefully these days recognising that they are a part of a massive service industry.  So when you talk with them about reducing or waiving certain charges, do it with a measure of honey rather than vinegar.  You’re far more likely to be successful.

If you’re not sure exactly how the bank can help you, no problem, go into your branch and ask them.  Tell them of your problem or concerns and ask what advice they can give, or what products and services they have from which you could benefit, until your financial problems have been resolved.  In addition, or perhaps before you go to see your bank’s branch manager, take a look online at one of other of the very helpful sites relating to managing your personal finances.  In fact, I really suggest you do. 

You’ll not regret approaching the bank and you’ll be on the road back to sound financial health.

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Author, Michael Davies, is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and now Malaysia).   After 25 years with a global banking leader, he’s now a partner in his own Management Consulting Company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing.  Michael’s contact is mikeATmakingdollars4u.com (usual email format) and just about all the pages of his site at http://www.makingdollars4u.com are appropriate to this topic.

For some time I’ve been looking for an additional UK based affiliate for my page on getting paid to drive your own car, and yesterday, I found one.  This is where you agree to have your car wrapped in a vinyl advert, and you get paid a pretty good monthly rental.  It’s like a mobile billboard.

Drive Free Car UK looks a really good option, especially as not only do they offer both free cars and pay you to drive your own, but their up-to-date directories cost only £7.95, they also offer a 100% money-back refund in the unlikely event of your being dissatisfied.

As with all my other drive affiliates, this company also offers a search facility so before you even think of paying the £7.95, you can check that the scheme is on offer by at least one company close to where you live (or in a location acceptable to you).

If you use your own car, you’ll be paid anything from 50 to 1,500 per month, depending upon the advertiser and your own wrap limitations (ie full or partial wrap or decals only).  If you are lucky enough to qualify for a free car, then all you’ll have to pay are your petrol costs and insurance.

So, if you’re a UK based reader, who is keen in this awful economic climate to try to secure some extra income, why not visit the page of my website and take a look for yourself, or go straight to Drive Free Car UK by clicking HERE.

Good luck!

If you’re not in UK, why not see if any of the following affiliates offer something similar where you live?

Paid Ride

Free Car Source 

The Free Car Finder

Mike
www.makingdollars4u.com

So, will the fact that millions of us are now online make a difference to our survivability?  In all honesty, I think the answer is both yes and no. 

Back to the last major downturn in the mid-late 1990s, especially here in Asia, the Net was in its infancy, very few people were online, and of those who were, just about all were only on dial-up connections.  The whole online scene was not really a factor at all. 

If you were unfortunate enough to be retrenched back then, your chances of quickly securing another job were slim, and opportunities to earn an income through your own efforts and resources, were very dependent upon your wits, your ingenuity, your skills and probably most of all, your courage. 

We have probably all got examples of where friends or relatives showed amazing resilience and started little cottage industries, in their own locations, which managed to keep the wolf from the door. 

However, to be realistic, relatively few have the resources, skills or ability to start their own, even very small scale business from scratch.  Now, though, with the advent of the Internet and what massive, and often free, resources are available, things can be very different.  But we still need to take great care, and be very selective.

That selectivity also means we have to be very careful of to whom we listen.  The first people that, in my view, we should be extremely cautious of are the so-called Internet Marketing Experts …I refuse to use the Hindi word ‘Guru’ meaning ‘teacher’, as most of these “experts” wouldn’t teach unless thousands were paying them a large amount – have you noticed how many times $97, $47 or $17 comes up?  97 must be the new 99.

When the first “expert” writes to his opt-in list, with a message that is genuinely free, in these very troubled times, and is helpful both in information and financially, I will then put out the flag and run it quickly up the flagpole.  I will not hold my breath, however, for this to happen any time soon. 

While I might write fairly regularly on internet and affiliate marketing, I do so as a user, an experienced business consultant, not a teacher, and certainly not a ‘Guru’.  This is important, for it means that I am just as affected as the next man or woman by the downturn and crisis, but perhaps the only difference is that I’ve been lucky enough to be blessed with a small ability to put pen to paper, and if the results of that helps others, then that is terrific. 

The affiliates that I deal with continue to offer a 100%, no questions asked, 45 or 60 day money-back guarantee, in the event those who sign up are dissatisfied with the service received.  Yes, these are affiliates to whom you pay a small, one-time-only fee (usually around $15-$29), but all this means is that the directories they maintain, to send to those who sign up, are as up-to-date and as accurate as they can be, and in today’s marketplace, with companies going under, this is an important point.  The free sites cannot afford to keep their directories up-to-date. 

Those who find themselves redundant this time around, have an amazing number of opportunities online to continue to earn an income, hopefully sufficient to help them and their families through the hard times ahead.  This was just not around at the time of the last, big economic downturn in the mid to late 90s. 

Whether it’s getting paid to drive your own car wrapped in an advert, or paid to be a secret shopper, movie reviewer, tester of videogames or whatever else, there really is no reason why people need be quite so despondent as their counterparts of a decade or more ago.   The opportunities are out there, all you need to do is go look.

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Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and now Malaysia). After 25 years with a very prudent, global banking leader, he’s now a partner in his own Management Consulting Company. Today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing.  Michael’s contact is mikeATmakingdollars4u.com (usual email format) and just about all the pages of his site at http://wwwmakingdollars4u.com are appropriate to this topic.

Launched only last month, The Widgeteers is fast growing into a very popular way in which to drive decent numbers of visitors to your site. 

I joined for free as a Silver member, and get some great benefits, not the least of which should be driving hundreds, if not thousands, of new and targetted traffic to my website or blog.  All I had to do was place a Widgeteer’s ad widget on my site (with me controlling the type of ads).  This however is no hardship as whenever a visitor clicks on one of the ads resulting in a sale, I’ll get a commission.  Plus, of course, the MLM style benefits from visitors who click on the link back to The Widgeteers and sign up as I have done.  They become my downliners, just the same as any who sign up similarly on your site, if you join, become your downliners.  As we know, we also benefit from the successes of downliners, and the more you have, the more is the income you earn.

So, why not take a look yourself at The Widgeteers’ site through this link (or through those above), and let’s all get more traffic and earn extra income.