Readbud Update

Update 12/9/10: Red Alert! Readbud IS a SCAM! It’s official - see PTC Investigations for full report.

Update 10/8/10: Readbud banner and links removed as I no longer recommend Readbud.

Well, I’ve been a Readbud participant for 5 days now and am having fun for the most part. I get to read and rate articles of interest and get a few cents each for doing so. Sounds like a win-win to me! So far I’ve made nearly $7 so I won’t be quitting my day job (wait! I don’t have a day job!) but it’s a little extra money piling up for a rainy day. Anyway, I’ve yet to reach payout so have no first-hand experience on how that will go but I’m optimistic based on what I’ve read online. It takes a while to hit the $50 mark so we’ll see what happens in another month or so.

I’ve discovered a work-around on what may be glitches in the system or a problem with my computer or a combo of both. Periodically the articles freeze up during download. Try refresh but if that doesn’t work, just close the browsers and open the Readbud site again. This usually works for me.

To rate articles that may have been skipped due to closing and opening browsers, just go to Article History. The titles of every article you’ve read or been offered to read are listed there. Just click on any that show as not rated and proceed as usual. Be sure to do this promptly, however – the opportunity to rate and be paid expires the same day.

All in all, my Readbud experience has been positive. There was a problem with the site a couple of days ago and it was down mostly all day. Things seem to be back to normal now, however. So happy reading!

Please note that the links in this blog post are referral links. So if you click on one and sign up, I will receive $5 once you reach payout.

More Paid to Read Online Info

Update 12/9/10: Red Alert! Readbud IS a SCAM! It’s official - see PTC Investigations for full report.

Update 10/8/10: Readbud links removed as I no longer recommend Readbud.

Well, I’ve done some more research on this fascinating and totally-new-to-me topic. What I’ve discovered is that there are a lot of paid to read (PTR) scams but so far, Readbud doesn’t appear to be one of them. I did happen across a couple of interesting sites, including a good article on Consumer Reports WebWatch about Online Work-at-Home Schemes. Although it was written in 2004, the info and warnings are still valid.

In my web travels over the years I’ve heard of paid to read email schemes where you click through to advertisers from email that comes to your inbox. No thank you - I don’t need more spam! With Readbud, the articles are accessed online at the site and no click through is required. So again, this seems like a legit opportunity but only time will tell. At this point, it’s fun and I’m only spending time that would likely be wasted surfing anyway, so nothing lost and a few cents gained!

Make Money Reading Articles Online

Update 12/9/10: Red Alert! Readbud IS a SCAM! It’s official - see PTC Investigations for full report.

Update 10/8/10: Readbud banner and links removed as I no longer recommend Readbud.

There’s a new online moneymaking opportunity that shows promise and appears to be legit. At Readbud you simply read and rate articles based on the areas of interest that you’ve chosen. For each article rated, you receive a few cents. While it isn’t much, the articles are short and don’t require a lot of time. This has proven to be a really enjoyable way for me to spend time while having my morning tea. Also, it's fun to read and rate articles rather than write and be rated for a change.

Here are a few tips based on my limited experience with Readbud:

• Select the maximum number of interest areas (50). The articles you receive will be based on the areas you choose but can be changed daily.
• Do not skip an offered article unless the title really holds no interest for you. I discovered that skipping an article not only decreases earnings, but shows up in the stats. I will not be skipping any more!
• Read all articles available at one sitting, when possible. So far the most I’ve gotten is 8 or 10 in a row so it doesn’t take a lot of time.
• An article to be rated opens in a new window. Once you read and rate, close that window. You cannot open the next article with a previous article still open.

I signed up yesterday and so far have earned a couple of dollars on Readbud. Payout requires a $50 balance so I’m a ways from that but my online research indicates that some folks have reached payout and been paid so I’m cautiously optimistic that I will be paid once I reach $50, as well. Anyway, if you’re interested in being paid to read articles online, check out Readbud. And if you know of any similar sites that appear to be legitimate, please leave a comment here!

Update: I've done some more checking and have written another post with additional info on avoiding scams.

Please note that the links in this blog post are affiliate links. So if you click on one and sign up, I will receive $5 once you reach payout.

Are You Sabotaging Your Plans for Retirement?

Who would sabotage their own retirement plans? Well, a lot of people do whether they mean to or not. There's an interesting article in the yahoo finance section on just this topic. Common ways in which you might be sabotaging your retirement are by over-spending, under-saving and indulging bad habits. Remember that for the vast majority of us to live comfortably in retirement, it is imperative to reduce expenses as much as possible and live below our means. Starting NOW. Read 6 Things You're Doing to Delay Your Retirement and see which areas you can improve immediately and work toward improving all areas over time.

New AdSense Revenue Sharing Writing Site – 80% Revenue Share!

There’s a new revenue sharing writing site on the web that pays a generous 80% of Google AdSense revenue to the authors! Launched just a few weeks ago by TastyPlacement.com, an SEO and Web Services company based in Texas, ArticleShare.info purports to be similar to ezinearticles.com.

I found out about ArticleShare when I was invited to do this sponsored post. So I signed up. The site uses a WordPress blog platform for publishing articles. Although I haven’t published yet, I’m somewhat familiar with WordPress due to previous blog experience. Anyway, the publishing part shouldn’t be a problem.

My concern at this point is the inability to locate the full text of the License Agreement, which I had to accept when registering. There’s a check box but no way that I’ve found to access the agreement. So I need to read that little piece of legalese before proceeding. I plan to email them but don’t see any contact info either. Hmm. Anyway, I’ll get on the TastyPlacement.com site and bring these two things to their attention.

The rules spelled out on the site are simple. There are only three – SPAM is prohibited, clicking on your own ads is prohibited and you are limited to two links per article. While freedom of expression is nice, I personally would prefer a little more structure – like a detailed Terms of Service page maybe? For instance: What about copyright? Are pictures allowed? Any restrictions re: profanity, porn or other offensive material? I wouldn’t want to be associated with a site that allows inappropriate content. 

At this point, I plan to proceed cautiously. I want to ensure that I retain full copyright to any articles placed on the site. I also won’t be entering my Google Advertising ID until my questions have been answered. So I’ll keep you posted as I find out more!


Update to above info (and this part has NOT been sponsored):

Now that the Terms and Conditions are posted on the site and the Rules have been completed, count me in! As far as I can see, ArticleShare is a total go – I’ve received a prompt email response to all my concerns and I'm satisfied that this is a great new online writing residual income opportunity. I've got my profile done and am in the process of posting my first article. Isn’t this exciting?