Day 5:Using Zazzle and Making Fractals

Zazzle, like i mentioned in this earlier post, is a quick and easy way of earning passive income. The problem is, its not so easy when you don't have any skills in graphic design. Thats why I'm dedicating this post to showing you a quick method to make amazing graphics with no skill at all. This is actually how I made images like these:

What's in This Video

• I show you how to quickly generate fractals.
• I show you how to render them.
• I show you how to quickly upload your design to Zazzle.

What Are Fractals?
Because describing them is difficult and something i'm not quite sure of myself, here's a link: http://fractalfoundation.org/resources/what-are-fractals/

To put it simply, they're just never ending patterns created by mathematical formulas.

How Do You Make Fractals?

The easiest way to make fractals is to first download fractal making software. In this video, I used apophysis. On startup, this program creates a random batch of fractals. The random batch generally had one or two fractals that i really like so i generally just render one without editing it at all. After about an hour of waiting for it to render you have yourself a simple .png image that you can upload onto Zazzle. If you wanted to learn to make more complex fractals or make small changes to random batches there are plenty of tutorials on the web and youtube. I recommend browsing deviantART. Not only do they have a huge collection of the most beautiful fractals i've ever seen, but they also have a few user made tutorials so you can learn from the pros.

Day 4: Review of CashGopher

What is CashGopher?

For all of you who don't already know, CashGopher is both a website and software. They will pay you to allow their software to put your computer to work during its idle time. Everything is completely legal so you don't have to worry about unintentionally aiding criminals. Your pay depends on a lot of factors like how where you're located and how much advertisers are willing to pay. There's really no way of predicting exactly how much you could pay and the numbers aren't exactly helpful. According to the websites FAQ you can earn between $10 and $1000 a year. That might not sound like a lot but, its free money! 

Why I Decided to Try It

Sadly I don't have the video to show you since YouTube took it down for some reason I don't understand, so I'll summarize it for you. At first look the whole thing sounds a lot like a scam or a virus or something. The website looks very suspicious. If you look at the homepage, it looks a little too simple in my opinion. They make a huge bold claim and just have this giant download now button without really giving much information. They're lucky I didn't just leave right away. If you look at the bottom though, you will see their FAQ link. This is where you actually get some info on how the software works and most importantly, how you'll get paid. If you read under "How Do I Know I'll Get Paid", you'll learn that this site is actually run by the same makers of Mylot. This is the only reason I decided to trust them and download. Mylot is basically a social networking site that pays you, and they had quite a nice record when it came to delivering the money on time. This is when I went back to the homepage and signed up.

What Happened After I Signed Up

Apparently your download is supposed to start automatically after you sign up. That didn't happen for me. I ended up going back and hit the download button in my user page. Then when I tried to install it there was an error. So I tried it again and got another error. That’s when I just quit. I checked the website and my computer should be compatible.  Maybe it's my computer or maybe it’s their software. I really don't know.

My Review

Benefits

• Sounds like a great idea
• Probably not a scam

Problems

• Website design looks suspicious.
• Needs an average number to describe the potential earnings.
• Software needs to be improved.

Lastly...

Although I didn't give it that great of a score, I would try it again maybe in a few years. This service is new and I believe it has great potential. For anyone who wanted to join, I would say wait until next year so they can filter out all the kinks but overall you should try it.

How to Sell Your Art

Coming up in July, I have a huge family reunion. There will be long lost cousins, weird aunts I've never met. There's pretty much going to be a lot of people (we have it planned for at least 70). Since art is my passion, I realized this would be the perfect opportunity to make some money. Then I realized I might as well right an article about it too. So here it is; making money from your artwork.

Make it good

This should be the most obvious step. It’s a lot easier to sell someone something of quality. It’s possible with good enough marketing skills to sell an average to low quality product but I’d say aim for the best. Make sure your art is properly framed if it is a drawing or painting. Make sure there are no stains on it or dirt and package it nicely. If it’s a song, make sure it’s got good sound quality. If it looks like it was prepared with care more people will be willing to pay for it. 

Price It Accordingly

Many people think artist can't make a living only with their art. The truth is, it all depends on how good of a salesman you are. You can be an amazing artist and still make less than a beginner just because you don't know anything about selling. When your pricing your art there are three things you should think about; the amount of time it took you to make it, the number of years of experience, and how similar works are priced. Pricing your art can also impact your image. If you're selling your art dirt cheap, people will assume something’s wrong with it or its not very good. 

Produce a Lot of Work

People like to have options. While you might not sell everything, it’s always good to have more than one thing to choose from. Having a lot of art also makes you look more professional because it shows that you spend a lot of time practicing. 

Selling Your Art Online

Selling art online is a lot more complicated than selling at a family reunion because you actually have to actively find people to sell to. You won't have a captive audience of over 70 people who are all your family. You have to put your name out there and do some advertising. You can start a website to host your work and advertise your website like I show you here. There are also several websites where you can easily post your art for free like deviantART. Even though selling online may be harder, there are some major advantages to it.

• You can sell unlimited numbers of prints if you use services like deviantART. This allows you to make passive income that you can continue benefiting from without any upkeep.
• Once you get customers, more customers will find you. After you get a following you can pretty much focus just on your art. Your name can spread quite quickly on the web just by word of mouth. 
• You’re advertising to the world. You can reach far more people online than you could ever meet. I've gotten things online from other countries before that I might never have even known about if it wasn’t for the internet.

Why You Need Social Networking and How to Use It

Why Social Network

If you have an online business or if you are a blogger (like me) your biggest problem is probably getting more views and followers. You can have the greatest website in the world, but it means nothing if nobody can find it. You can't rely on Google landing you thousands of views in your first week. Social networking is by far the best way to get traffic, and here's why.

• It's free
• Yes you can buy traffic, but in my opinion, that's counter intuitive. If making money is your goal, you'll spend more on traffic than you make.
• If providing quality content is your purpose (and it should be), paying people will not bringing any good traffic. When you have to pay someone to do something, you can almost guarantee that they didn't originally want to do it.
• Paid traffic is penalized by most search engines
• If you have no money to spend (like me!), this is the only way you'll get traffic.
• There's no skills involved
• All you need to know is how to be a decently friendly person.
• the most costly part is the time
• most people think it's fun

How to Social Network
Now that you know why social networking is important, here's some easy ways to start.

• You don't have to join Facebook.
• Facebook is time consuming and maybe even a little intimidating for some. You'd be better off on a smaller site anyway
• Join a site that is related to your niche.
• If you're trying to get people to come to your basketball blog it's a good idea to sign up for a social networking site dedicated to basketball. Not only will people be more likely to care about what your blog is talking about, but you will also learn more about the people in your niche.
• You can get paid to social network
• Some sites will even pay you to participate. I would recommend Mylot, but they have apparently stopped doing that. I've recently signed up for Bubblews, and I’ll tell you how I like it once I receive my first check ;).
• Introduce Yourself
• Be friendly and make positive, meaningful comments. Don't try to sell yourself at every turn. You can put a link to your blog in your signature and that's enough to bring in some traffic.
• Give advice and then link to your blog/website. Yahoo Answers is a good place for this kind of stuff. If, for example, you had a website that has tutorials to help students with their math, you could answer some kid’s math problem then leave a link to your website that has information related to the problem. This is a more active strategy to get more people to your website.
• Get noticed by interacting with some of the most popular people on the site. By doing this, you will be seen by more people, earning you more potential visitors.
• Post quality regularly
• If you can post once a week that's just fine. Just make sure you stick to the schedule
• You don't necessarily have to post fresh content. You could put the same message on several social networking sites.

How To Start Your Own Blog

For my first blog, I have to admit that I'm somewhat disappointed. When I started about a week ago I truly had no idea what I was doing. A lot of what I have done so far is things that anyone could have accomplished in the first day. Here's everything that I've done so far and a guide to how you can accomplish it in one day.

Start the Blog

• If you’re going to use Blogger as your platform, sign up or log in. then under the more tab at the top, go to Google Blogger. Click create to make a new blog, fill out the  name and other information and you've got yourself a blog

Change the Template

• Nothing says "Newbie Blogger" as much as the default templates. There are plenty of free quality templates online if you search for it, or you can click here.
• Once you've downloaded the template you like click on the template tab on the left of the screen. At the top right you should see a button that says backup/restore. Click the button and upload the xml file from the template you chose. Press upload and you have your new template.

Write Some Posts

• The most important part of a blog is the content. Write a few posts of quality information by clicking the create new post button on the left of the screen.
• It helps when you add helpful links, pictures, and video.

Add an About and Contact Page

• This process is a lot like adding posts. Just click the pages tab and add a new page.

Advertise Yourself

• Sign up for Facebook, Twitter, any social media site you want and introduce yourself. Make sure everyone knows about your blog without nagging them about it. Contact people who are doing something in a similar category as you and make some friends. The more people who know you, the more people will know about your blog.

Writing Articles on Infobarrel

Freelance writing online is a well known way to make money online so I thought it would be appropriate to discuss it.

What's In This Video

• I show you how to sign up for infobarrel, a fairly new site for freelance articles.
• They have great reviews.
• They have a great reputation.
• Now you don't need an adsense account to sign up.
• I show you how to post your first article.
• You don't have to have a English degree to write a good article.
• You need to get it approved before its published to ensure good quality.
• You get feedback if your article is not accepted.
• The community is very helpful and friendly if you need help.

Why Infobarrel

• They are fairly new and have room to grow meaning that your articles are going to be worth more.
• eHow used to be the place to go for this kind of service but it has started a new way of getting writers. Basically you have to fill out an application and be hired. 

Pay-Per Article vs Percentage of Ad Revenue
At infobarrel you get paid a percentage of the ad revenue generated from your articles. There are some sites where you can get paid upfront for exclusive rights to your article(Although I can't seem to find any.). This basically means that you get paid once for complete control over your article. Here's a little guide to what you should choose.

Pay-Per Article if you...

• Need money fast.
• Would like your money all at once.
• Don't mind strict regulations.

Percentage of ad revenue if you...

• Don't mind waiting for greater reward.
• Want your pay spread out over years in the form of monthly checks.
• Want less strict regulations.

Why I Now Recommend Zazzle instead of CafePress

In my original video (Day 3: How to use CafePress), I introduced you to CafePress. Now I'm moving to Zazzle and here's my reasons why.

• After doing some research, I've found that several people are unhappy with CafePress. Some people have complained about the quality of the prints, while others complain about the actual site and service.
• Zazzle's shops are free. The free CafePress shops are very limited and you have to pay to get a premium shop
• Zazzle does have a affiliate program. (This is my main reason)
• Zazzle gives you more control over the price.

I'll be posting a youtube video over zazzle soon, but in the meantime, if you would like to know more about CafePress you can check out my video and my post. I'll post a more in dept analysis and money making guide latter if anyone is interested.