All of us Examiner.com writers know the changes that the site has gone through lately, first being removed from Google News then graciously allowed back in -- with the local Examiners making sure to write locally, and the National ones sticking to their topics.
But how many of our Examiner articles are actually making it into Google News? I just wrote a piece about Beyonce's booty-shaking and Bible reading that I hope makes it into Google News.
Checking out these links will let you know which ones of mine are making it in. Examiners -- how many of your pieces are making it in?
AOL's Seed.com: How much does it pay? Is it a scam?
I was looking through Google News for Examiner.com mentions and found this ABC article called "Earn Cash from Home When You Work with Twitter, AOL and Other Online Companies," which talks about how to earn real money online.
As many Examiner writers know right now, the website has been temporarily removed from Google News while it restructures its local news and national news positions -- and plans to be back in Google's good graces soon. (They are back in Google News! Hallelujah! Forget this Seed.com thing. Okay, kinda kidding -- but they rejected my article below. I may try again.)
In the meantime, it's been one of those great times to stop and have "second cup cafes" with God and figure out what to do with my life and career. More on that soon -- but in the meantime, that ABC piece led me to AOL's new Seed.com, which is not one of the scams the author of that ABC piece found.
When I do, you'll know I'll tell my readers how much they paid me.
Update: I'm also following this Work-at-Home Mom's forum about Seed.com -- still trying to find anyone who will publish that Seed.com actually paid them money in their PayPal accounts.
And I gotta admit that Saul Hansell's new blog post about leaving The New York Times to join AOL called "The Seed Creed" has got me hopeful for more Seed money.
Oh yeah, and I clicked on the "Pay Me Now" button and filled out my W-9 info (gotta figure out where to send that) and my PayPal info and such, just to be prepared for the multitude of monies coming in...
So far, I only see a Yahoo Finance piece where they peeked into the Associated Content forums (small online writing world, heh?) to get an idea of what Seed.com may pay writers.
I looked through some of the same AC forum and don't see specifics about those who did get articles accepted by Seed.com and how much they were paid. I do see some people complaining about their work getting rejected for exclusive status (and therefore fell under the non-exclusive, non-paid?) -- but I like to have my own experiences with different online places -- because Examiner.com was a boon for me (paid for my taxes I owe Uncle Sam, praise the Lord!) but to look at the LinkedIn forums, you wouldn't be able to tell that from some of the complainers online.
The Seed.com deal differs on whether AOL accepts the writing or not -- plus the exclusivity chosen.
Either way, it's an interesting venture and I'm hopeful.
Thanks to Design Delight, that mysterious and loyal comment-leaver who reminded me to update you guys with my 2009 income.
And THANK GOD for Examiner coming into my life in September 2009 -- because as you can see, they make up a good chunk of the year's income -- and that's just for 4 months' worth of income from them. So glad I can pay Uncle Sam what I owe him.
I didn't include my expenses, so this is just gross income for now. Perhaps I'll come back and update the expense numbers, like anything I spent on Adwords:
Name Payment Received
Associated Content Total $1,611.58
Clarity Digital Group, LLC Total (Examiner.com) $12,217.90
LinkWorth Total $50.00
Niche Blog Media Total $11.98 Text Link Ads, Inc Total $676.04
AMAZON ASSOCIATES Total $10,648.51 BUY.AT PERFILIATE TECHN PAYMENTS Total $134.25 CJ.com Total $673.13
EBAY PARTNER NETWORK PAYMENT Total $3.07 KONTERA.com Total $2,271.43
LINKSHARE Total $1,022.70
GOOGLE ADSENSE Total $14,612.25
Grand Total $43,932.84
