Lunch Money

Some years back I was doing an online search for pictures of teddy bears when I managed to fall down the rabbit hole, in a manner of speaking. I'd been mucking about with computers for many years before encountering what most people simply call "Paid To" with all the acronyms such as PTC (Paid to Click), PTR (Paid to Read), and my favorite PTW (Paid to Write).

The Paid To programs advertise with something called banner ads. This is one of the first ones I designed:

Don't click on that one, as it is not "live" but the idea is you link it to a web page somewhere and then whoever clicks on it falls into the rabbit hole, too, and every time somebody clicks you earn a little money.   Well!   Before the fall, I was just poking around and accidentally clicked a banner that for some reason had a little payout associated with it...four cents, if I recall correctly.   What a scam, I thought!  They lure you in here with the eye candy, and then start feeding you pennies to keep your attention.  Hah!  I'll investigate this phenomenon, I said, and started researching the Paid To Industry.  Sure, there are some nasty criminals doing ugly stuff online, but to my great surprise, I learned that some of the Paid To programs are clean and honest and fun, not to mention their earning potential. 

Like anywhere else in the world, some of the places in cyberspace are scams but some are not.  I've made a bit of a hobby searching out the ones that are not, and turned it into a little business (I guess that is what you call it when you reach the point where you have to pay taxes on your earnings :-)

So here is the one I am researching today and the links below are live, so go ahead and click (if you dare!

My IM Report Card Forums link

Same link hidden behind a banner...

I first learned about the PTW program called IM Report Card on a social networking site  called mylot.  You can Join myLot here!

The first thing I bought with my MyLot earnings was a software application called Watermark Factory 2, which is use to put my copyright information on photos I've taken and posted online.  Here is a sample:

 

I love taking pictures of my shadow, and yes, that is me standing behind the railing at the top left.  looking out toward the Pier in Ventura, CA.   It was a perfect day to visit the ocean.