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Work-from-Home as a PPC Consultant

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PPC (pay-per-click) consultants are experts working in the shadows to manage the online advertising campaigns of a company. Their job involves a lot of internet marketing tasks like keyword research and mastery of ad programs from Google AdWords, Bing, Yahoo, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms. Because pay-per-click advertising is an effective, yet costly endeavor, companies hire PPC consultants to ensure the job is done right the first time.

If you’re confident of your Internet Marketing skills and looking for a challenging career that you can perform at the comfort of your own home, then check out PPC consulting as a home-based job.

PPC Consultant Qualifications

The best thing about this job is that you don’t need any diploma or formal education to become successful. However, you do need an in-depth portfolio that would prove you can reduce advertising cost, while improving ad performance and click-through rates. This includes:

  • Certification – This isn’t a requirement to all PPC consultants, but it helps in proving that you know what you’re talking about. Google’s AdWords certification, for example, involves two exams about online advertising in general and AdWords fundamentals. Google AdWords is the world’s largest pay-per-click advertising service and the search engine giant makes the annual certification exams harder each year, so becoming a Google AdWords Certified Partner would pave the way for better opportunities.
  • Google Analytics report samples – You can have one of the most in-depth resumes in the planet, but if you can’t show a report that your clients could check to see your deliverables, how can you prove that you’ve managed a successful ad campaign in the past? Having report samples readily available (even with sensitive company information of former clients blocked out) can give new clients a sense of how you manage accounts, track conversions, measure success, and organize information in general.
  • Ability to use Important PPC tools – PPC involves a lot of research and data, but tools make it easier to handle these tasks. Unfortunately, many of them have a learning curve that only extended use could solve. As a PPC consultant, you should be well-acquainted with tools like SpyFu (for competition research), Ahrefs (SEO tool with PPC functions), SEMRush (PPC ad monitor and competition analysis), Google Trends and Google Keywords Planner (keyword research), Microsoft Excel (exporting large amount of PPC data), and PPC Protect (PPC budget management), among others.

5 Things That Make You Better than the Next PPC Expert

What separate you from the next pay-per-click expert online are these 5 important things:

  1. Excellent communication skills – After selling your skills to a potential client, communication continues to be an important aspect since you’ll need to explain everything about the job from your ad campaign plan to actual results, fees, methods used and recommendations to help website traffic improve, among other important issues.
  2. Proof of ad campaigns with significant spend – It’s common for a pay-per-click expert to claim success over a personal blog’s ad campaign. However, if you can show past work with a campaign involving a significant amount allocated to PPC ($10,000/month or more) and supporting reports to show how you managed this amount, you’ll be in another level in the PPC world.
  3. Free assessment – Real PPC experts are willing to study your case, provide recommendations and an estimate of costs. This gives potential clients a chance to see your strengths and determine if you’re the best person for the job. An assessment includes information about the client’s competition, business goals, budget allocation, and detailed action plans.
  4. Transparency – Ad campaigns require a unique account for every platform, such as Google AdWords, Facebook, etc. A good PPC expert must ensure all accounts created are owned by the client and provide a comprehensive report detailing where every cent went. PPC consultants who have been in this ever-changing field know too well that they cannot make guarantees. You’ll need to be transparent from start to finish, especially if the campaign isn’t getting desirable results.
  5. Research and analytical skills – Experienced PPC consultants continuously research and analyze data even in the middle of a campaign. They examine the performance of keywords, specific ads on every platform used, and adjust as necessary with the go-signal of the client.

How Much Do PPC Consultants Make?

Freelance PPC consultants charge two kinds of fees – one for set-up (wherein the client takes over once you’ve began the ad campaign) and the other is for management fee (charged monthly because PPC consultants manage everything).

Set-up fees range from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on how big an ad campaign your client wants. Monthly management fees can go as low as $300/month or 10% to 15% of your client’s monthly spend (the monthly budget they have for the PPC campaign).

The income you earn as a PPC consultant depends on the services you’d be providing. Tasks like copywriting, ad design or restricting existing ads may require extra payment on top of the monthly fee.

The Bottom Line

PPC consulting is a continuously growing field – AdWords (Google’s own PPC platform and the biggest of all pay-per-click programs in the world) accounts to  95% of the search engine giant’s annual revenue.

PPC done right leads to businesses making an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on AdWords, which is why pay-per-click managers, consultants or experts have been in-demand in recent years. However, PPC consulting is one of those jobs that experience is a must. You simply cannot “just wing it,” especially since you’ll be handling your clients’ advertising fund for them.

If you do land a career in the PPC field, the income potential is substantial and job outlook is promising. Plus, you can completely perform every aspect of your job at home.

5 Reasons Why You Should Work-from-Home as a Lead Generation Specialist

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In the B2B world, the work of a lead generation specialist makes a whole lot of difference in ensuring people who are interested in your products reach your website. It isn’t as simple as getting traffic to the site from thousands of people around the world.

Lead generation specialists narrow down quality leads from a massive group of people, allowing businesses to prioritize on marketing to guaranteed buyers, instead of freebie-seekers. So if you have 100,000 leads and a lead generation specialist works his magic with this list, businesses can expect 10,000 to 20,000 highly-targeted leads that are more likely to buy or subscribe to what your company is offering.

If you have a solid marketing background with lead generation as a specialization, here are 5 reasons you should go solo and offer your services to companies straight from your home office:

1. The Demand to Outsource is on the Rise

In a report by Brighttalk.com, over 61% of B2B companies state that the lack of time, staff and funding are the biggest obstacles they face when it comes to lead generation.

Companies are aware of the advantages an exceptionally-delivered lead generation can bring to their brands, and see outsourcing as a solution to their challenges. B2B companies outsource lead generation so that their sales team can focus on other more important tasks and act on quality leads that have been obtained by the third-party specialist or lead generation company.

In addition, companies can allocate budget properly, since they can control the number of qualified leads they want to “order” every month and pay only for the leads received.

While the demand is high, freelance lead generation specialists should take advantage of the opportunities available.

2. Experiment Lead Generation Techniques

If you’re an employee working with a lead generation team, your tasks are bound to what you are assigned to do. When you decide to go freelance, you can create your own lead generation campaign with a mix of content development, social media, advertising, and cold calling, among other lead generation techniques.

You can even offer lead generation packages and relevant services such as database management, market classification, data analysis, content syndication and lease lead generation infrastructure.

3. Use a Wide Range of Software

One of the cool things about being the boss of your own career is that you can use whatever lead generation software you feel a campaign requires. From the industry-standards InfusionSoft, Marketo and HubSpot to not-so-popular but still useful programs like LeadPages, Fyrebox, from outbound lead generation software like Datanyze and BuiltWith to data verification software, you are truly in control of how you can achieve your goals.

Because your lead generation efforts won’t be constrained by a company’s licensed software, you’ll be able to mix and match programs, maximizing the potential of every software available, instead of just using an all-in-one marketing tool.

4. High Earning Potential

As Australia-based lead generation specialist Tracie Dickson claims on her blog, she only takes in 5 clients at a time, but makes a huge income while working at home. In general, lead generation specialists who are employed with a company earn around $40,000 per year.

If your lead generation skills are advanced with over 10 years of experience in the marketing industry, there’s a chance that you’ll earn much more per annum when you’re working from home. Imagine handling two to three clients who will pay you $3,500/month. That’s a whopping $10,500/month or $126,000 per year.

Do note that since there will be no company to shoulder hardware and software expenses that may incur from performing various lead-generating tasks; you have to take these things into consideration.

5. Benefit from a Work-from-Home Lifestyle

Working a full time job at home is hard, unless you live alone, live on delivery food, and have help with household chores. It can be extremely challenging if you live in a house with kids below the ages of 5, and juggle cooking with generating leads.

But the benefits of a work-from-home lifestyle is worth all the trouble, since you’ll be able to kiss your kids anytime you feel stressed, or travel with the entire family while working on your laptop.

The Bottom Line

Anyone with a comprehensive marketing background can dive into the world of lead generation, but those who have specialized in internet marketing have more chances to become successful in this field.

Lead generation specialist is definitely a new type of job, but the demand for this role continues to rise. As long as lead generation specialists provide quality leads that could help companies save time, money and resources, companies will prefer to outsource the job and benefit from a well-researched and well-analyzed group of pre-qualified leads that would make the company’s sales funnels and marketing efforts more efficient.

Got an eBook? Double Your Money by Turning it into an Audiobook

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Audiobooks are voice-recorded audio files that you can listen to while on-the-go. It is becoming more popular than ebooks because of today’s fast-paced lives. In fact, audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of publishing and estimated to be a $3.5 billion industry (as of December 2016).

If you’re an eBook author or planning to be one, do you know that turning an eBook into an audiobook can bring in more cash? Many people are doing it; some even go straight to audiobook format without writing an eBook first. And here’s why audiobooks can be lucrative:

Less competition

The ebook industry is packed with authors from all corners of the world. And tons of new authors are releasing ebooks on a daily basis. Because audiobooks require a bit of technical skill, money for software, and someone to narrate for you (if you don’t have that smooth, pleasing-to-the-ears voice), authors prefer ebooks instead (since it only requires a word-processing program and that’s it).

New generations of learners

Millennials are a tech-savvy generation, which means they take advantage of every possible technology that could make their lives easier. This extends to learning new things because audiobooks give them an easy access to knowledge.

Libraries make them available

With partnerships from Overdrive and other technology and publishing companies, libraries are making audiobooks readily available to the masses.

The cool thing about growing sub-niches like audiobooks is that new service providers pop up as well. For example, a company like Archangel Ink can produce an audiobook for you for about $25 for every 1,000 recorded words. Audiobook narrator freelancers are also available on Fiverr and other micro job sites with the possibility of splitting royalty fees as payment.

How Much Money can an Author Make with Audiobooks?

Sales of audiobooks are much lower than ebook prices. Those who have been in the ebook- and audiobook-selling business report that their audiobook sales are about 10% to 20% of their ebook sales. So if you’re bringing in $1,500 a month in ebook sales, you could expect to make an extra $150 to $300 in audiobook sales.

Of course, the amount would vary significantly due to various factors, such as following of the author’s blog, how popular the audiobooks’ topic is, and if the author already had success with other audiobooks (such as an installment of an audiobook series).

If you’re an Audible affiliate and you have a massive subscriber’s list, you can earn more by inviting your followers to listen to your audiobook without charge. They simply have to sign-up for a free 30-day Audible trial, listen to your book and you earn $10 for every listener. If one of them converts into a paid Audible member, you’ll receive $25 instead of $10.

5 Things to Consider Before You Dive In

1. Niche

Because of the nature of audiobooks, not every ebook can be converted into audio versions successfully. Books that rely on visuals, such as recipe cookbooks, many not sell as much as fiction. If you’re still on the ebook writing stage, various genres have been success over the years, and you could take a slice of the pie there. These include action or adventure, fantasy, fiction, How-To’s, and reviews, among others.

2. Book Length

The length of an ebook is one of the determining factors most authors face when deciding audiobook production, since the longer your book, the longer narration it would require, and the higher investment you’d need.

3. Investment Costs

In general, a 50,000-word ebook can be converted into a 40-hour audiobook. If you’re confident about your speaking voice, all you need is software to record your voice and a quality microphone. If you don’t have a decent speaking voice and would rather hire someone to narrate the ebook for you, such a service would cost per hour or per page. Special requests, such as British accent or female voice, may also affect the cost of narration.

4. Audiobook Pricing

Ebooks rely on agency pricing, which means authors have no say in offering discounts or promotions. The best thing about audiobooks is that authors have flexibility when it comes to pricing their products, so they could give huge discounts to bring in customers, or price it high when demand increases.

5. Growth Limitations

The problem with audiobooks is that review websites that focus on audiobooks are only a handful. Ebook review sites are plenty and helps drive sales to ebooks and even the ebook platform it is hosted.

The Bottom Line

Now that you are introduced to the world of audiobooks, it’s up to you to add another passive income to your portfolio. You may just earn as little as $5 per audiobook, but if you sold one a day, that’s about an extra $150/month or $1,800/year.

Work-at-Home Job Spotlight: Mobile App Developer

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A mobile app developer is a relatively new career that is offered as a work-at-home position, but it is one of the most in-demand jobs available today.

Mobile app development wasn’t even a term several years ago, although the idea had been introduced in the summer of 1983 by the late, great Steve Jobs. During a conference speech in Aspen, Jobs was still developing the first Mac, and he predicted a new digital distribution system where software could be downloaded over phone lines. He saw the future of apps and app stores, about 25 years before launching the Apple App Store officially.

If you’re interested in a career as a mobile app developer, read this guide to get you started.

3 Characteristics of an Ideal Mobile App Developer

  1. Up for a challenge – The world of mobile app development involves plenty of studying. Because technology is always evolving and every platform requires knowledge of a particular language and relevant technical skills, you’re likely to be researching for solutions throughout the app development process. If you’re always up for a challenge, this career could be potentially life-changing.
  2. Leader personality – While there are thousands of mobile apps already developed, there are more apps that haven’t been invented yet. If you are attracted to the idea of creating something new, and would like to become an innovator in a specific niche.
  3. Flexible – As a mobile app developer, your job might include traveling to attend conferences, learning specific skills at a third-party company, and communicating with other professionals in the field.

Mobile App Developer Job Requirements

Like most careers in IT, a mobile app developer job requires more than just a diploma. It’s a career that entails continuous learning.

  • Degree – Most employers require mobile app developers to possess at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a similar discipline. There are a few colleges that already offer Mobile App Development courses, but it is still rare. If you already have such degrees, you can study online training programs to become a Certified iOS App Developer or Certified Android App Developer.
  • Certifications – If you want to have an edge over your competition, obtain certifications such as OCA (Oracle Certified Associate), OCP (Oracle Certified Professional) or CompTIA Mobile App Security+.
  • Programming Language – Mobile apps are written in various programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, C, C++, C#, Objective C, SQL, Python, iOs, Ruby on Rails, and more. In this field, the language used in an app depends on the platform (such as Android, iOs) it is being created for. As such, you should be an expert in at least 2 or more programming languages.
  • Familiarity with Mobile App Development Platforms – In late 2016, TechWorld published the most popular mobile app development platforms being used in the market. Learning as many platforms as possible from that list helps in bagging your dream job.

Of course, these requirements would vary depending on what platform (iOs or Android) you plan to master, or which company you’d like to work for.

Tasks of a Mobile App Developer

Simply put, a mobile app developer turns an idea (such as creating a mobile-friendly program that could track how many 8-ounch glasses of water a person has consumed in a day) into a working app that can be installed on a smartphone. The job of a mobile app developer is to write the program, test, tweak the program, launch the app, and fix possible issues found after release.

The tasks assigned to a mobile app developer depend on:

  • The employer – If you’re a work-at-home freelance developer, you’re mostly going to work on it alone, with the instructions given to you by a client. If you’re employed with a company, it is often a team-based project and your tasks could vary depending on what parts of the app development is assigned to you.
  • Your skills and expertise – Of course, the task a mobile app developer performs would rely largely on the platform/OS and programming language you know.

Salary & Outlook as a Mobile App Developer

Full-time, office-based mobile app developers can earn anywhere from $90,000 to $125,000 per year. As a freelancer, mobile app developers can earn anywhere from $20 to $100 per hour, or $700 to $5,000 per project. Upwork, one of the biggest freelancing job board online, explains that “rates of platform-specific (iOs-only or Android-only) developers vary significantly”

With almost 5 billion mobile phone users around the world, the demand for mobile app continues to grow. Every company, big or small, wants its own app. Because of the rapid growth in interest, there are plenty of opportunities for mobile app developers, even those who prefer to work at home and go the freelance route.

It is expected that by 2020, the jobs available for mobile app developers would reach up to 300,000, but as of 2017, the demand for developers exceed the supply. Plus, global mobile app store gross revenue is expected to exceed $101 billion in 2020.

This job outlook means that if you have the skills and knowledge to pursue this career, it is the best time to do it now. Work-at-home mobile app development freelancers would fit perfectly in this field because you’ll be able to specialize in a particular programming language or platform, as you work your way up to handle more complex projects.

How to Make Money Online with eBooks

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eBooks weren’t as widely received as smartphones, but as libraries began offering free books with more formats and electronics becoming available in the market, people started warming up. By the time dedicated eBook readers like Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle were released in 2006, eBook appreciation reached an all-time high. Of course, it helped too that these eBook reader manufacturers partnered with publishers to release digital versions of their books.

Today, eBooks have their own special place online. By 2018, e-book sales are forecast to account for about a quarter of global book sales. Bookworms either love it, or hate it. But one thing’s for sure – you can make money online by selling eBooks.

Make Money with eBooks in 2 Ways

You have two options when it comes to selling eBooks. You either:

Become a self-published author and sell your own book

Amanda Hocking has tried and failed to get traditional publishers to pick up her paranormal fiction books. In 2010, she decided to self-publish “My Blood Approves” via Amazon to raise extra cash. Within six months, she sold 150k copies of her first book and earned $20,000. Two years later, this book has sold 1.5 million copies and raked in $2.5 million. As of 2017, Hocking has published five different series, with a total of 22 titles.

Or become an affiliate

Marketing plays a huge part in determining the success of an eBook. One of the best ways to advertise your eBook is by creating your own affiliate program, which gives you a chance to earn more royalties from the eBook due to more publicity. Non-authors can also earn money by becoming an affiliate (More on this later).

This guide will show you how selling eBooks is feasible, and which method earns you the bigger cash.

Self-Publish Your Book

Let’s assume that you’ve already finished writing a fiction or non-fiction eBook, chose a head-turning title, designed a visually-appealing cover, and formatted the eBook via different digital formats. When you’re ready to share your work to the world, how do you proceed? You can either offer your work directly to eBook retailers or distributors, self-publish by hiring an assisted-publishing service, or working with a hybrid publisher.

Assisted-publishing service

This type of service bundles up every task needed for publishing properly, such as design, PR and marketing. You pay a fee upfront, but keep 100% of the profits from your eBook. The best thing about services like Matador and Scribe Writing is that authors keep rights to their work. Be wary of companies known to take advantage of newbie self-publishing authors and always check their reputation at Mick Rooney’s Independent Publishing Magazine before signing the dotted line.

Hybrid publisher

This type of service combines aspects of a traditional publishing house, and an assisted-publishing service company. Deals differ significantly. Some charge authors to publish with an upfront fee, others may hold off with payment but take a bigger cut on royalties (higher than the industry-standard 50% commission) instead.

If you chose to self-publish without the help of a publishing service, one of the major decisions you’ll face is if you want to publish exclusively on Amazon KDP or go wide with all platforms. Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is the most popular platform for self-published eBooks and offers the best value to authors (in terms of free promotion) thanks to Amazon-exclusive programs like Kindle Book Lending and KDP Select. You can also check out other platforms, such as Kobo Writing Life, NookPress, and iTunes Producer for iBooks. Authors can also upload their eBooks once, and let modern distributors like Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribute the eBooks to all other platforms.

As an author, you have total control on pricing (preferably somewhere between $2.99 and $9.99). Most eBook stores give authors 35 to 70% royalty, which means you get around $2.09 royalty for every sale of a $2.99 eBook. Authors are also free to create discounted offers and other promotions. Note that most of these stores have country-specific pricing, so it’s best to decide on a fixed price for every major currency, instead of relying on the store’s auto-exchange rate.

Become an eBook Affiliate

Affiliate marketing is an old and simple type of marketing wherein you refer another person to any online product. When that person buys the product as a result of your recommendation, you earn a commission.

When it comes to eBook affiliate marketing, there are three important players – the vendor (the person selling the eBook), the retailer (a platform such as ClickBank, e-junkie, JVZoo, and Gumroad that carries the eBook within its catalog of digital products), and the affiliate (the person promoting the eBook).

The retailer creates a unique affiliate link for promoters in order to track referrals, even if eBook buyers came from Facebook, websites, and other means. Every month, the vendor receives a report of sales generated by affiliates. Either the vendor or the retailer then pays affiliates the commissions based on a particular month’s sales.

  • Create an affiliate program – If you’re an eBook author, creating an affiliate program doubles the marketing efforts without spending thousands of dollars. Affiliates do the extra legwork you wouldn’t have the time or money to do, so giving them a cut of your eBook sales is worth it.
  • Promote other authors’ eBooks – For those who don’t have eBooks, but want to cash in from the ever-growing eBook industry, you don’t have to write your own eBook to make money. Just sign up to Clickbank or other platforms, find eBooks you’ve want to promote, and share the eBook everywhere.

The Bottom Line

Selling eBooks can be a lucrative way to earn money online. Some people even turn them into full-time careers. And if you’re lucky, you can even be the next success-story after “Fifty Shades of Grey” author E.L James. Mother-of-two and London-based James was 46 years old when she got obsessed with the “Twilight” novels, discovered fan fiction, wrote her very first novel, and released it as a Kindle book under the pen name “Snowqueens Icedragon.” Her success in eBook led to “Fifty Shades of Grey,” a publishing deal, movie deal and about $80 million net worth.

Despite reports that eBook sales continue to fall in 2017, eBooks continue to be a money-making machine no one can stop. Many self-published authors explain that the case study only reported books with ISBNs, and since majority of indie eBook publishers don’t use ISBNs, the data is highly inaccurate.

Still, eBooks have lower risks, smaller investment, and minimal requirements to start. You don’t even need a book deal to succeed in this industry. These reasons make eBook production, selling or marketing a doable option to make money online.

10 Characteristics of an Effective Social Media Manager

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Social media is a blessing to many companies. The potential for “free” marketing on social media is limitless, which is why all companies big or small should be taking advantage of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. Behind any successful social media account is a person (or sometimes, group of people) who manages the accounts in behalf of the company.

Choose the right person for this job, and your company can benefit from free press and increase in sales. If you’re looking to hire a social media manager, assign this position to an existing employee, or man the accounts yourselves, here are 10 skills, traits and characteristics you must consider:

Copywriting & Communication Skills

The web is fast-paced and people online lose interest within seconds. The right person for the job must know how to catch the people’s attention. Whether you’re assigned to manage the 140-character-restricted Twitter or Facebook pages, writing is a huge part of the job.

While automation tools like Hootsuite are available to make posting to different networks easier, every social media platform follows specific rules, which means you can’t just re-post something you published on Facebook to Twitter, or Twitter to Instagram.

A person with exceptional copywriting skills would know how to write for the 65+ year-old market (who are mostly active on Facebook), for the college kids and young professionals (LinkedIn), or for the teens to below 30s (Twitter/Instagram). On top of copywriting guidelines, the social media manager should also be familiar with social media etiquette, writing headlines for every platform, and hashtags.

Knowledge in graphic design, video creation, and Web 1.0 to Web 2.0

In 2016, Hubspot conducted a Consumer Behavior Survey and found out that posts with images are received better than text-based posts, and that 43% of consumers want to see more videos in the future. You don’t have to be the best artist in the world as a social media manager, but some skills in graphic design and video editing would give you an edge over the rest.

Outstanding Customer service skills

Sprout Social reported in mid-2016 that about 35% of people choose social media for customer care, beating out those who still prefer live chat (24%) and e-mail (19%). This means that even if your goal is to promote products and services on social media, it is inevitable that you’ll receive inquiries, complaints, and other messages from existing or potential customers.

Humor and empathy

In order to facilitate community engagement, a social media manager must be able to address a wide range of people armed with information and sometimes, empathy. The people who follow your brand’s social media must feel that the one publishing posts is human.

Social media managers with a good sense of humor would go a long way in this field. Many companies have benefited from banters between two brands (Wendy’s vs. Burger King, Taco Bell vs. Old Spice, and more) that have turned viral for days. Many people follow companies on social media for the laughs. It doesn’t mean you should throw in dadjokes every day, but be on the lookout for opportunities to join friendly banter online and enjoy a dramatic increase in followers and free press.

Multi-tasker

As you’d notice by now, a social media manager wears the hat of a writer, graphic designer, customer service rep, and even company mascot. It can be a stressful job for the wrong person, but a fun and challenging position for someone who meets all these requirements.

Meltwater published an interesting “a day in the life of a social media manager” post with an infographic listing down the numerous tasks that this job entails.

Up-to-date with trends and pop culture

Social media managers must work like a journalist – posting timely news that bring value to its audience. Not only do they have to be updated with social media policy changes and trending topics, they should also have an ever-so-growing knowledge of pop culture. People on social media absorb information and relate more to a brand when its social media posts also include what’s happening in the real world than just serious marketing-infused talk.

Detail-oriented

It’s not just fun and games for a social media manager. Time management plays a big role in this detail-oriented position. The business side of this job requires you to keep track of a content calendar, where company promotions are often included.

You have to really dig into the details because aside from creating content, you’re also scheduling pre-written posts, responding to messages, answering e-mails, engaging with the company’s audience, and more. Of course, there are office-related tasks as well (such as meetings and reports) that you have to deal with.

Authentic

Knowing your brand’s mission, vision and “voice” is important because the social media manager will become the official representative of a company. You don’t have to use slang to sound cool. What’s great about social media is that you can use a casual tone while being professional. It’s important that the person manning a company’s social media knows exactly who the target audience is in order to make the brand’s voice as authentic as possible.

Analytical

Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms provide users a comprehensive report, which includes metrics (likes, comments, shares, re-tweets, etc.), and useful metrics like traffic and revenue. A social media manager has access to all these information, which he/she can use to improve the social media account’s performance, such as discovering what topics the audience engages to the most, or what time there are more active followers. If a company is using social media to drive traffic to a website, these reports can help achieve this goal.

Budgeting skills

Sometimes, a social media manager will also handle a company’s paid advertising and other expenses (images, graphics, social media management tools, etc.) required in managing a brand’s social media effectively. If this is the case, you’d need basic spreadsheet skills to list down every cent spent on any given month/quarter.

The Bottom Line

The job of a social media manager is relatively new, but it’s becoming a highly in-demand job. For many small businesses, hiring a resourceful, multi-tasking, creative and effective social media manager could be all it takes to drive more sales. For bigger companies, an active social media presence bridges the gap between corporate and customers.

7 Weird but Legit Work-at-Home Writing Jobs

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Finding legit work-at-home writing jobs used to be hard, with tons of low-paying, scammy jobs widely-available at the local Craigslist. But with the rise of forums, job listing sites, work-at-home blogs, and various resources that reveal these scams, the online freelancing world has become a lot more writer-friendly.

Today, copywriting, legal or academic writing, blogging, proofreading, eBook writing, editing, technical writing, and various web content writing sub-categories are widely available. But if you’re looking for something different, you’d be amused at how these 7 weird writing jobs are actually legit and can become a lucrative career:

1. Fortune Cookie Writer

If you’re a fan of zodiac signs, astrology, and bringing good vibes to people, this job would be perfect for you. The writer must have strong descriptive writing skills, since you’ll be writing only one- to two-liner fortune-telling sentences.

Writers with a healthy sense of humor would thrive in this field. Freelancers earn either by project or by the hour, while those hired by fortune-cookie manufacturers have salaries ranging from $28,000 to $105,000 depending on skill and experience.

2. Gravestone Quotes Writer

Ideal for writers with exceptional copywriting skills and 100% confidence in their work, crafting epitaphs on gravestones can be an interesting side job. You’ll be honoring a person’s last words to the world by making content that would literally be written in stone. This is a highly specific career path and mostly embraced by obituary writers.

3. Writing Breakup Letters

It may sound weird, but break-up letters have been around since 10 B.C. There’s even a collection of the best written breakup-letters called “Hell Hath No Fury: Women’s Letters from the End of the Affair,” which was edited by Anna Holmes. Today, freelance writers can earn from $10 to $30 per letter (depending on length and experience). Note that you might feel a little bit guilty that you’re contributing to someone’s would-be heartbreak every time you finish an order.

4. Weird and Random Writing

Fiverr is a goldmine when it comes to weird writing gigs. If you’re feeling creative and want to shake up your writing style a bit, take a look at some “inspiration” by fellow writers. For example, for $5, a seller offers to write a cringe-worthy fanfic, an outrageously random paragraph, or a weird true story. What’s amazing about Fiverr is that there’s no limit to creative writing opportunities you could offer.

5. Product Reviews

Companies are willing to shell out big bucks to promote their products in any way possible. This includes gaming the system of ecommerce sites like Amazon with professionally-written, positively-skewed product reviews.

In some cases, companies may also hire prominent bloggers to review these products in exchange for gifts or cash. Writers can take advantage of this need, and turn product review writing into a high-paying career. Rates for reviews range from $0.02 to $0.05 a word.

6. Viral/Trending Writer

The rise of social media and the ever-so-shortening attention spans of people have given writers this new type of job. As a trending writer, your job is to create share-worthy articles with clickbait titles. Buzzfeed is the best example of viral writing, and thousands of Buzzfeed copycats have also been taking a slice of the viral-article pie.

To become successful in this field, you’ll need to be good with list-type writing, show off your sense of humor through your words, and be up-to-date with pop culture. This job isn’t for the faint of heart though, because content here is produced on hyper-mode, which means work can be stressful and deadline-oriented. Salary for full-timers begins at $43,000/year.

7. Adult content

The deep, dark world of adult content can be uncomfortable to some writers, but if you’re up for the challenge, you’ll be amazed at the high rates offered to write sex stories, product descriptions, sexual technique advice, sexy/nude image descriptions, blog sex-related posts, adult video script, and more.

This niche isn’t for the shy-types, but for those with an inner Christian Grey who’d want to explore sensual writing for cash. Rates depend largely on the type of project required, but adult content offers higher rates compared to regular copywriting.

The Bottom Line

If you spot writing gigs similar to the ones listed above, don’t just brush them off as a scam or practical joke. Many would agree that some of these writing jobs would question your values. For lucky writers who have built a reputation, connections to clients and a sizable portfolio, skipping these writing jobs may be a no-brainer.

But for those who are strapped for cash and are willing to write for food, these weird work-at-home writing opportunities can be a lucrative niche worth checking out.

Copy the Secrets-to-Success of these 3 Top Fiverr Earners

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Serious freelancers have sometimes overlooked Fiverr as an actual money-making source. It makes sense. The online marketplace was named after $5 or “Fiverr gigs” after all. And once Fiverr takes its 20% cut, freelancers are left with a measly $4 for a gig as varied as writing, animation, graphic design, programming, music, and more.

The “people selling things for $5” concept didn’t appeal to those who seek full-time work online. What many job hunters don’t know is that Fiverr’s services can actually go up to thousands of dollars.

Since its launch in early 2010, Fiverr has become a life-changing platform for members who have initially used it to make extra cash, but have quit their jobs and turned their Fiverr gigs into full-time, annual six-figure-earning careers.

Here are their stories, and tips on how you can replicate their success, even if you’re late to the Fiverr game.

Charmaine Pocek

Fiverr name: boomsa
Main skill offered: Resume writing
Year started on Fiverr: 2011
Earnings: Over $1 million earned

Charmaine Pocek worked as a corporate recruiter for almost 20 years when she discovered Fiverr in 2011. Charmaine offered to jazz up resume for $5 a pop (or higher for executive resumes) and made $10 to $15 per hour throughout her first year.

Armed with tons of feedback, a Level 2 Fiverr status and new certifications, Pocek decided to quit her day job and focus on Fiverr fulltime. By the end of 2012, Charmaine was making $30 to $50 per order from her gig offers like career counseling, setting-up LinkedIn profiles, writing cover letters, job interview training, and resume writing.

Charmaine worked 50-55 hours a week as a Fiverr full-timer and didn’t have real day-offs, but this earned her $180,000 for 2013, over $250k for 2014, $320,000 for 2015, and a whopping $445,000 in 2016.

Lessons You Could Learn from Pocek:

  • Provide services that would lead to referrals – Charmaine went above and beyond customer service. She didn’t ask her clients for referrals, but received them anyway because they had positive experience dealing with Pocek.
  • Price your skills appropriately – Pocek spent most of her career as a senior recruiter. She knew what she was doing, but still took up new certifications to back her pricing increase. Charmaine has a soft spot for new graduates and teachers (she fixes their resumes for $30 or less), but charges up to $800 for executives (whose job orders would take longer time to complete).
  • Diversify – Charmaine didn’t earn over $1 million on Fiverr by simple sprucing up resumes. She learned what her clients needed, and offered gigs based on her market’s needs. Pocek also offered custom orders with flexible pricing dependent on a client’s request.
  • Communicate with clients – Pocek takes advantage of Fiverr’s auto-reply feature and uses this to send quick messages to clients and acknowledge their orders (even if most her offers have 7-to-10-day turnaround times.

Redd Horrocks

Fiverr name: reddhorrocks
Main Skill offered: Voice-over acting
Year started on Fiverr: December 2012
Earnings: Over $600k earned

UK-born, US-based Redd Horrocks worked as a stage manager for a Las Vegas circus-production company when she visited Fiverr.com to hire someone to reformat a document. There, she discovered people offering voice-over gigs and got instantly hooked.

Horrocks got her first voice-acting order the same month she signed up. Orders slowly and surely arrived, earning Redd about $300 to $1000 monthly throughout 2013. But it was only in March 2014 when she showed off her skills via a new video posted on her Fiverr page when orders dramatically picked up. For that month alone, Horrocks earned $3,500.

When Horrocks’ side gig eventually earned more than her corporate job, she stayed home and went full-time on Fiverr by September 2014. Now, she earns an average $10,000 per month, delivers about 250 to 260 gigs a week and has become one of Fiverr’s Ambassadors.

Lessons You Could Learn from Horrocks:

  • Provide samples of your work – Redd’s slow and steady Fiverr orders skyrocketed once she posted a video of an order she made for one Fiverr client. The video proved successful in bagging clients, since she was able to show off her British and American accents (and in turn, expanded her market).
  • Treat all buyers as would-be repeat buyers – Redd’s Fiverr income mostly comes from repeat buyers. Horrocks advises to treat buyers wonderfully and be as professional with everyone “because you never know when your next client is going to become your best client.”
  • Invest in your craft – When her Fiverr income allowed it, Horrocks built a professional studio in her home. She now offers custom orders for buyers who want to be remotely in the studio with her while recording.
  • Leave time for client communication – Although Redd works over 30 hours a week recording her orders, she leaves an average of six hours to respond to buyer inquiries, emails and quote requests.

Ryan Heenan

Fiverr name: customdrumloops
Main Skill offered: Jingles and custom instrumentals
Year started on Fiverr: March 2012
Earnings: Over $200k earned

Berklee School of Music graduate and former Boston preschool teacher Ryan Heenan only joined Fiverr in March 2012. He began by offering drum loops, but quickly shifted to jingles and ukulele when his first gig didn’t attract any buyers. Two months later, Heenan has received the 60-order requirement to move pass Fiverr’s seller Level 2 ranking.

Ryan Heenan has since expanded his offerings to informational videos, animated commercials, PSAs with catchy soundtracks, ukulele jingles, and more. As of 2017, he had completed 8,018 projects with an average of $84 to $213 per order, done business with people from 123 countries, and maintained buyer portfolio with 40% repeat buyers.

What’s more impressive with Heenan’s success story is that he has built several brick-and-mortar businesses with his Fiverr income. He even wrote a book, entitled “The Top Rated Seller Formula: How I Became a Top Rated Seller in 3 Months on Fiverr,” as a guide for freelancers wanting to make it big with Fiverr.

Lessons You Could Learn from Heenan:

  • Be time-efficient – Offer high-quality services that can be delivered quickly, preferably within two days.
  • Be different – Heenan suggests that “if you can position yourself a little differently you can really standout, and in my case it was adding the video to the music.”
  • Target the business world – While Heenan doesn’t discriminate buyers and accepts projects from individuals, all of his gig postings are aimed to capture the attention of corporate execs (who pay higher and tend to become repeat buyers). He has done marketing work for 3 Fortune 100 companies.
  • Invest your Fiverr income – By 2017, Heenan has used his Fiverr income to open a gym and fitness business “Redefining Strength with Cori, ” built a freelance web design business, launched artisanal peanut butter company ‘Ingreatients,’ and open his own Analog Music Studios, where he teaches four afternoons a week.

Give Fiverr a Chance

If you’re one of the many people who criticized the 5-dollar-platform in the past, here’s why you should take a second look at Fiverr:

  1. Earn $10k per order – Once you’ve built a solid reputation on Fiverr, you can take advantage of the site’s custom-offer tool. This feature allows sellers to make up to $10,000 per order.
  2. Get connections from around the world – Fiverr.com is the world’s 429th most popular site globally. It can connect you to individuals and companies (without spending a dime). Fiverr even gives you a fun dashboard called “World Domination,” – a visual map that lets you see where all your buyers come from and how well you’ve “dominated” the world.
  3. Join Fiverr’s Affiliate Program – It’s not as popular and highly-publicized as other affiliate programs, but Fiverr does pay $12.75 commissions for every recruit who places an order.

Fiverr isn’t for everyone though. The online graphics design community has been very vocal about its anger towards Fiverr graphic designers bringing prices down dramatically. But it’s a great platform for those who wish to earn consistent side-hustle income. As for a long-term career, Fiverr lets you show off your skills, build a sizeable portfolio with publicly-viewable feedbacks from clients, and eventually take your “gigs” up-market as what these 3 top-earning Fiver members have done.

I’ve Tried That Reviews Self-Publishing School by Chandler Bolt

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Chandler has granted me access to the program in order for me to provide you with my review. I was not paid to write this review, but I do receive compensation if you buy Chandler’s product through one of the links in the article below.

If you have a book ready to self-publish or still in the works, then the Self-Publishing School (SPS) program may be the perfect program for you. This program, developed by Chandler Bolt, is intended for first-time authors who may or may not have a book in the works and who want to self-publish their work.

SPS is geared more towards non-fiction authors, but fiction authors can also use the course to learn the finer points of launching and marketing a self-published novel or other work. The optimal goal of the program is to have the author write and publish a book that becomes an Amazon Kindle bestseller; other goals include building a following/network, generating sales leads, and becoming a recognized niche expert.

The six-phase program, which is designed to run for 90 days, promises to help you take the following steps in your self-publishing plan:

1. Positioning and Outlining

Phase 1 involves going from having no book idea or plan of action to having a book outline with a completed introduction.  To this end, you go through the steps of finding an “accountabilibuddy,’ finding the purpose and subject of your book, creating a mindmap for your book, and finally, creating an outline of your book from your mindmap.

Other areas covered in phase 1 include writing your book’s introduction and learning how to write fast. Chandler narrates many of the videos that are presented in this section as well as others:

Phase 1 - Positioning & Outlining

Incidentally, the accountabilibuddy is located by perusing through a list of the program’s members, as well as their proposed books. Once you select an accountabilibuddy, you are expected to set up weekly calls with this person and use the program’s provided accountability document to hold both yourself and the buddy accountable.

Such accountability systems have proven their worth in many other programs, including those designed for weight loss, physical training, etc. Obviously, when you have another person to answer to, you’re less likely to slack off and not complete your tasks or achieve your goals.

2. Writing

This section focuses exclusively on rapidly writing at least 50% of your book during a 2-week portion of the course. To this end, you are taught how to successfully start and finish your book’s rough draft and how to write faster and for at least 30 minutes each day.

You’re also provided with videos and tutorials such as these:

The Key To Getting Your Rough Draft Finished Faster

The Lazy Author’s 3­-Step Short-­Cut To Creating Your First World­-Class Book

How To Easily Bulk Up Your Book

The biggest hurdle that this section focuses on is having you get over writer’s block, which can originate from a number of sources including fear, procrastination, and not having a clear picture of the book’s subject matter.

3. Editing

Phase 3 involves hiring an editor. To help you in this task, you are provided tutorials on how to recognize a good editor and locate one through sites like Upwork (formerly Odesk and Elance). You are also provided with documents and videos explaining how to craft a great book title, subtitle and book cover. Several resources are provided to you, including the following:

How to Find An Editor Using Elance (An Upwork Company)

How to Keep Your Editor On Budget (and avoid hiring a bad editor)

7 Steps To Crafting A Best Selling Book Title

How to Get a Book Cover created with Fiverr

Because editing your book and crafting its elements are critical components to garnering interest in it and placing it on the bestseller list, there is a lot of information packed into this segment of the program. For example, there is a video that discusses how you can use 99Designs to create several different versions of your book cover instead of just one:

Phase 3_ Editing Made Easy

4. Book Launch

Building an email list, formatting, reaching out to influencers/reviewers, creating landing pages, writing your book description, and social media marketing are all addressed in this section of the program. Many different resources are provided, including videos teaching you how to create a landing page and then connect it with an email service like MailChimp, and how to use Scrivener to format your book. There are also PDFs that explain how to reach out to reviewers, for example.

The main goal of this section is to have you clean up and prepare your book for publication through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).

5. Publishing

In this section, the goal is to have you finally publish your book using KDP, which involves creating a KDP author account, selecting keywords and categories, and uploading and publishing your book. For the first few days post-publication, you promote your book by .finding free e-book Facebook groups, for example, and putting your book out there. Once the promotion period ends, you switch to KDP paid mode.

There are several resources provided to help you complete these tasks, including the following:

How To Use Your Book To Get a Ton of Leads  

 3 Ways to Drive More Book Sales

How to Easily Create A Simple Book Website In Less Than 10 Minutes With No Tech Skills

6. Maintenance

Once your book is published, it’s easy to get sidetracked by other projects…or just forget about your book altogether. To not have this happen, SPS presents a Phase 6 plan for sustaining your book sales long-term and even creating and releasing new books. This involves tasks such as creating a book website, having periodic promos, and engaging in a marketing sand sales strategies that go beyond just promoting your book on your blog or Facebook.

One of the resources provided towards this effort is a recorded webinar by marketing expert Nick Stephenson:

Webinar Replay Register (Chandler)

Other Self-Publishing School resources

Self-Publishing School does more than just throw a bunch of videos and PDFs at you. Once you sign up to the program, you access a private Facebook community where other students and program coaches chime in with questions and answers about various book writing and publishing topics.

Should you choose to purchase the Master version of SPS, you also gain access to monthly group calls with Chandler. You also get 30-minute one-on-one coaching calls each week.

The Bottom Line

I think that SPS offers some major benefits for the unpublished or even previously published author who is looking to launch a book online, build a network, and generate book sales. Chandler goes in-depth about creating a finished product that has the look-and-feel of a bestseller, an audience and influencers to carry it, and actually makes money for its author.

While SPS isn’t the cheapest training program around, its emphasis on accountability and community can help a reluctant author finally publish that back-burner book he or she has been thinking about for the last few months/years, and that in itself makes this program a worthwhile investment.

Cash In On Your Fiction and Short Stories with These 20 Literary Sites

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Recently, I was reading the biography of Philip K. Dick, the author of such notable stories as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the story that the movie Blade Runner was based on), Total Recall and Minority Report.

Philip published 44 novels and 121 short stories in his short lifetime of 53 years. It is assumed that part of the reason for his prolific writing is that this is how the author earned his living. When Philip needed some money, he relied on his imagination to produce a story; that story was then sold to a magazine.

Authors today can still make money by writing fictional stories and essays and selling them to magazines as well as traditional and online publishers. The easiest way to do this is by submitting the work to a literary journal.

There are plenty of such journals to choose from. While many literary rags are tightly associated with a college or university, others are “free -standing” structures headed by a devoted team of editors, journalists and sometimes even marketing folks. In most cases, these individuals have regular jobs outside of their literary interests.

20 Sites to Get Published (and Paid) for Your Literary Submissions

Here is just a sampling of 20 available literary journals that pay money to writers for submitting their prose, essays and poetry. Most of these sites are free to enter and submissions can be made online (saving you on postage).

Abyss & Apex– This journal accepts entries on “speculative and imaginative fiction and poetry” and looks for stories that are character-driven. Payment for published entries is at 6 cents/word for up to 1,250 words, and it appears that longer entries (up to 10,000 words) receive a flat rate of $75.

AGNI– This print and online journal accepts essays, poems and fiction for nine months of the year. Accepted entries are paid $10 per page for prose and $20 per page for poetry, with a $150 maximum payout.

Analog– This print and digital magazine publishes science fiction stories 20,000 words or under. Winning stories are paid 8-10 cents/word. Science must be an integral part of the submitted story.

Apex– This magazine is looking for sci-fi, fantasy and horror short stories that span no longer than 7,500 words. If accepted, payment is 6 cents/word.

Asimov’s Science Fiction– Started by the author of the same name, Asimov’s Science Fiction accepts stories up to 20,000 words in length that are strongly character-driven. Winning stories are paid out at 8-10 cents/word for the first 7,500 words, and 8 cents for each word over 7,500.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies– This periodical seeks narratives that introduce alternate worlds and/or realities and focus on character trajectories. Submissions should be no longer than 11,000 words. Payment is at 6 cents/word.

Boulevard– This publication accepts essays, fiction and poetry of up to 8,000 words. Payments for published submissions are $100-$300 for prose and $25-$250 for poetry.

Camera Obscura Journal of Literature and Photography- This periodical accepts prose and poetry submissions, with published entries being awarded $1,000. The general word guideline is 250-8,000 words, but the periodical is quite flexible on this matter, and even entire novellas (up to 30,000 words) are accepted. This was one periodical whose guidelines I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Cincinnati Review– All genres of fiction are published here, with the criteria being that the “work has energy” and is “rich in language and plot structure.” Published entries earn $25 per double-spaced page.

Clarkesworld– Submit your sci-fi and fantasy fiction here; published entries earn 10 cents/word up to the first 5,000 words, and 8 cents/word for each word beyond 5,000. Entries must be between 1,000-16,000 words.

Lightspeed– This sci-fi journal accepts science fiction submissions that range from 1,500-10,000 words in length, with stories around 5,000 words preferred. Writers who are published earn 8 cents/word.

Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition– Started by Ernest Hemingway’s granddaughter back in 1981, this contest accepts stories no longer than 3,500 words. The prize is $1,000 plus publication of that story in the Saturday Evening Post.

One Story– This periodical publishes just one story of literary fiction every three to four weeks. Stories must be between 3,000-8,000 words, and accepted entries earn $500.

Shimmer– This periodical is looking for speculative fiction stories that contain strong female characters and plots. Contemporary fantasy tales are most welcome. Payment is at 5 cents/word or a $50 minimum. Submitted content should not span beyond 7,500 words, and the preferred length is 4,000 words.

Strange Horizons– If you enjoy writing “what if” scenarios, this magazine is looking for writers of speculative fiction. Accepted entries must be 10,000 words or under; payment is at 8 cents/word.

The Antioch Review– Article, fiction and poetry submissions up to 5,000 words are welcome here, and published entries are paid at a rate of $20 per printed page.

The Georgia Review– This journal publishes essays, fiction and book reviews on varied topics. While there is no length limit, the majority of published stories run about 5,000 words. Payment is $50 per printed page.

The Sun Magazine– This publication accepts several different literary media, including essays, interviews, fiction, and poetry. Submissions should span no longer than 7,000 words. Payment ranges from $300-$2,000 for essays and interviews, $300-$1,500 for fiction, and $100-$200 for poetry.

The Threepenny Review– This publication accepts fiction stories up to 4,000 words as well as poetry and pays $400 and $200 for published entries.

Virginia Quarterly– VQ accepts fiction spanning 2,000-8,000 words, poetry and even non-fiction. Payment for short fiction is $1,000+, poems are paid out at $200 each or $1,000 for a set of five. Personal essays or literary critiques get 25 cents/word.

How to Get Published and Paid for Your Fiction (Again and Again)

One of the advantages of online submission is that you can take one short story or poem and send it out to a handful of literary sites without too much effort. This vastly increases your chances of being published- and paid.

Another good tactic? Read the submission guidelines. Editors say over and again how many literary submissions are good…but fail to meet submission guidelines and so are deleted or tossed. Don’t lose out on your chance to be published because you didn’t read and follow directions.

You may also wish to invest in some writing and editing software, which can save you on time and frustration down the line. The Novel Factory is a decent piece of software that costs about $40 and helps you organize your chapters and characters. The Hemingway App helps track your spelling and grammatical errors and alerts you whenever you’ve committed a writing faux pas (like writing in passive voice).

Finally, don’t become discouraged if your first attempt at getting paid for your literature doesn’t work out. Most authors have to make several attempts- and draft revisions- before being published. If you are able to, find yourself a fellow writer, editor, or even a friend to look over your words before sending them out. And accept their critique in stride.

Is Your Online Business Opportunity an Ad Pack Ponzi Scheme?

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Lately, it seems that there are multiple online and work-at-home opportunities that operate as ad pack Ponzi schemes. These schemes do not make you any money. In fact, you end up losing a good chunk of your own cash because you must “invest” in this system by buying advertising.

While you may know what a Ponzi scheme is about, you may not know about ad packs and how they fit into this plan. So…

What is an ad pack?

Advertising packages, or ad packs, are bundles of banner, video, text and other ads that are sold for a discrete amount of money (e.g., $50). After you buy this advertising bundle, you can use it to advertise your own goods and services on the vendor website or family of websites.

In many cases, your purchased ad pack gives you only a fraction of the total money you paid in the form of ads. For example, if you pay $50 for a single ad pack, that pack may only provide you with $11 worth of ads. The remaining money, meanwhile, is said to “mature” over time, like a certificate of deposit (CD).

Traffic Monsoon (TM) is one example of a platform that sells ad packs. In exchange for making a purchase through TM, you unlock a sharing position with the site. As such, you earn money from any revenues generated through TM. With TM paying out 110% currently, your $50 ad pack can theoretically become $55 when it matures.

This all sounds good, except that most ad pack Ponzi schemes have no idea when their ad packs will mature and pay out that 110% or 150% or 200%. So, you are encouraged to keep buying the ad packs, but no one can tell you when you’ll see your payout.

You’re performing tasks (i.e., clicks)

The other action that most ad pack Ponzi schemes encourage is the clicking of ads shown on the vendor website. Most schemes actually require that you watch a set of ads on a daily basis. The ads must be seen completely to the end or else you aren’t credited. Generally, the ads run about 10 seconds.

It’s not difficult to figure out that the “traffic” being sold by the ad pack Ponzi scheme is coming from none other than its own subscribers and members. In essence, you are paying money to view and/or click on your own ads.

You’re paying membership dues

Many ad pack Ponzi schemes don’t just sit back and hope you’ll buy an ad pack (or three) every day. No, many such schemes also expect you to become a paid member of their community.

Membership plans can cost anywhere from $10 to even $50/month. Once you’ve become a paid member, you share in the revenue streams of your referrals and friends. You also share in their product sales. And speaking of products…

There are no products!

Although you’re encouraged to purchase ad packs and post them on the platform in the hopes that someone will see your ads and buy from them, the site itself offers no actual products of its own. So, how does it really make money?

The answer is referrals.

You are asked to find and sign up members under you who will kick up their product revenues to you. These new members will also buy additional ad packs and membership plans. With this money, the Ponzi scheme will be able to pay off at least some of the older members’ matured ad packs.

Some ad pack Ponzi schemes have large matrix setups that kick up member earnings in elaborate ways. GlobalAdShare is one such Ponzi scheme.

GlobalAdShare

When a business offers no real products of its own, and when its revenues are solely generated through recruitment of new members, such a setup is termed a Ponzi scheme.

However, many of today’s ad pack Ponzi schemes get away with their fraud by announcing that they are selling advertising.

How can you recognize ad pack Ponzi schemes?

It’s important that you not be fooled by ad pack Ponzi schemes, which will only drain you of your money and time. How can immediately recognize such a scheme?

1. Buying ad packs is emphasized.

The site may make bold claims about how it’s legit, or has $0 debt, or some other irrelevant detail. But at the heart of its message will be the insistence that you buy ad packs, and often.

2. Clicking on ads is emphasized.

The only way you’ll see any kind of traffic going to your purchased ads is if others click on them. So, you’ll be told to click on ads that other members have purchased and placed. Whether you buy the advertised products, and whether they’re even a good match for you, are completely irrelevant details.

3. Referrals are strongly emphasized.

You’re not going to make money from your product sales. The only way you’ll make any money is if you refer others and then collect a commission from their signing up with the program.

Bottom line: Don’t sign up with ad pack Ponzi schemes

If you listen for these three telltale signs of an ad pack Ponzi scheme, you’ll steer clear of this scam and obvious attempt to make you part with your money.