If you haven’t, well let me fill you in…

In 2005 The Million Dollar Homepage was launched by a student from England. The index page of the site consists of a 1000×1000 pixel grid (one million pixels), on which image-based links were sold for $1 USD per pixel, in minimum ten by ten blocks.

The purchasers of these pixel blocks provided tiny images to be displayed on them, a URL to which they were linked, and a slogan displayed when hovering the cursor over the link. The aim of the site was to sell all of the pixels in the image, thus generating one million dollars of income for the creator.

By the time that all of the pixels were sold, the site had grossed $1,037,100. The Million Dollar Homepage became one of the most successful stories of a young entrepeneur making money online, and soon spawned numerous copycat websites.

However, not a single one of them has had the impact that the original had. Alex Tew (the founder) even tried his hand at another similar site but it failed, showing that perhaps The Million Dollar Homepage is a one-off.

In 2008, Pat Hankinson created a site called The Social Millionaire. The site was similar to The Million Dollar Homepage in that you buy links on the homepage in the hope of exposure because of the traffic driven to the site.

Pat’s idea is slightly unique in that he is trying to use the social networking space to drive traffic to the site. Unfortunately, despite getting a fair bit of coverage from the blogosphere, the site has only sold around $3,500 worth of links at the time of writing.

The reason I have listed the two sites above and given you a bit of background knowledge on them, is that these sites are a great example of creative ways to make money. Whilst not all of these types of sites work, they have huge potential and it really doesn’t hurt to try.

Selling links on the homepage of a website is nothing particularly new, and you’re going to have to make sure you do something totally different to the competition, or you simply won’t make money.

Sites like Tagcheap are now selling scripts which will allow you to quickly and easily create your site to sell links on. Whilst the basic format is solid (and the design is great) you aren’t going to attract much attention simply by setting up a site and letting it roll.

The best thing to do is to add some viral marketing to your project, using social media is a fantastic way of doing this and I still believe that Pat Hankinson didn’t quite capitalize on the current state of the web. If you can create a brand behind your project, and even offer something more than just links, then your project probably has a chance.

Armen from Alpha Blog Designs designed the site and I’m very happy with the new look, so thanks Armen!

I have (for now) deleted all the “old” posts, this means that I can get back to structuring the site and instead of going through 40 or so articles, I can start fresh and work on a clean slate.

There are still a bunch of things for me to do (I have a large “to do” list sitting next to me right now) so please bear with me. I’ll be uploading new content at a fairly fast pace once things get going, and I’ve already uploaded a huge article about Paid Forum posting which you can find here

So there’s lots of things for me to do, I’ll keep you posted on the latest developments!

Now before I start on this particular method, I want to explain that Paid Forum Posting is never going to make you a millionaire. In fact, it may only be able to make you a little more than minimum wage. With that in mind, let’s examine some of the reasons you might want to offer your services as a paid forum poster.

• You may be too young to get a job.
• Sitting in front of a computer is a lot easier than going to work.
• The workload is completely up to you and you only have to take on projects when you are free.
• You might want to earn some money to get started online, and forum posting is guaranteed money.
• You might enjoy posting on forums, and thus you could get paid to do what you love.

I’ve listed just a few of the reasons that you might want to get into paid forum posting, and hopefully some of you may now realise why it isn’t such a bad idea after all. If you are sceptical and know that you can make money with other methods, this idea isn’t for you. This article is aimed at people who are new to making money online.

What is Paid Forum Posting?

Quite simply, it is when someone pays for you to post on their forum. This can be for a number of reasons; most commonly it is because people to “fill out” new forums in order to make them more attractive to prospective members, but it may also be to spark some discussion and generate some quality content on the forum.

How do I get started?

You can get into forum posting in a number of ways, for example, you could sign up to a network such as Forums First which will find jobs for you and pay you a cut of what they are paid initially by customers. This is good for beginners because it allows you to find jobs immediately and you can start work right away.

However, you probably won’t be earning as much as you could because the network will be taking a cut of what you earn. You will probably need to complete a few sample posts to ensure that you can produce quality content, but once you are accepted you can usually take on as much work as you want.

Another way is to work alone and without being linked to a network. This is an attractive opportunity for most people since it allows them some independence and will normally mean higher earnings in the long term. However, the main issue with working alone is that you need to find clients, which is often difficult and there is a possibility that you will be out of work for small periods of time. This is why it is best to combine working with a network with working alone so that you are almost guaranteed to have work when you want it.

Another way of making money with paid forum posting is by outsourcing the forum posting services. In essence, you build up a group of people who you can rely on to complete work to a good standard, and then find clients for your own “network”. You can then personally take a cut of the earnings without ever actually doing any paid posting yourself. We will look at this method later in the article.

Joining A Network

Anyone who is new to the game should probably sign up to a network immediately, in fact you should be signing up to as many as you can possibly find. The fact is that a high percentage of forum owners will go to networks first rather than trying to find an individual, so you can use the network’s position in the marketplace to ensure you have plenty of work.

Let’s take a look at some of the networks that you should probably sign up to when you first get started:

• Paid Posting Tools – A very reputable network which numerous people seem to have good experiences with.
• Forums First – A reputable network who should also be able to provide you with work.
• Wired Flame – Wiredflame.com have a good reputation and although lesser known seem like an exciting company to work with. Sign up and submit a writer application form at the top of your account page.

Networks you should avoid:

Ideal Posting – After reading this review I feel that any company who doesn’t fulfil orders is probably not one you want to be dealing with.

Sample Posts and earning money

You will almost certainly have to complete a small number of sample posts to ensure that your work is of reasonable quality. This should not put you off however, since realistically they won’t take you long to complete and it should give you some idea of the work you will be expected to do.

Once you have completed the samples, you can start accepting work and now you can start earning money. If you have a lot of work available, try to choose the forums which you have the most interest in and you’ll find it easier to make posts. If you complete a number of jobs, some networks will reward you by offering you more work, and you could even try and get in touch with them to ask for higher rates.

I would advise you to always remember which forums you have posted in and to save your username info. When the time comes for you to go it alone, you are going to want a portfolio to show the quality of your work.

You can normally get paid online by Paypal or wire transfer (this depends on the network). Some networks will only pay you by cheque so you should always check before you start work how you’re money will be sent to you.

Optimizing Your Time/Earnings

It is true that many people don’t enjoy paid forum posting work, and many give up after a few jobs because they get frustrated and bored, however there are ways to make the work more enjoyable and earn more money.

You should be trying to join/start discussions that interest you, since you can write much easier on things that you have some knowledge on. In most forums there will be a section where you can engage in conversation with other members, look for these because they can allow you to actually enjoy yourself whilst posting.

If you actually get involved with a community, you’ll find yourself enjoying yourself much more and posting won’t be such a chore. Imagine if you were offered to get paid on your favourite forum which you would visit even if you weren’t getting paid, I’m sure you would jump at the opportunity and would make a large sum of money. You have to treat each forum as if it is a community that you love and you shouldn’t take the easy way out and just write whatever pops into your head.

Typing quickly is always going to help you, and an ability to just start typing is very useful when you are posting on forums. Once you get to know a forum and its members, posting will become much easier and quicker. Try to improve your typing speed and learn to write quickly on any topic, in this way you can optimize your time to earn more money.

Going It Alone

Hopefully you will have had some experience in paid posting before you start finding your own clients, because otherwise you might find yourself swamped with work or not enjoying the work you are doing.

You will want to build up a small portfolio of forums that you have posted on if you are going to try and attract clients. No one is going to hire someone who is completely unproven to post on their forum, so you need to be able to produce examples of quality work which is why it is so important to make sure you are constantly producing quality content, even if it takes a little longer than you initially thought it would.

Finding Clients

This is the hardest part of trying to make money with forum posting on your own, because you will often find it difficult to attract well-paying clients and this can be extremely frustrating. You should realise that there are always going to be dry patches in whatever form of freelancing you do, and it is those people who work their way through these times that succeed in the freelancing world.

Probably the best place to start is webmaster forums such as Digitalpoint where there are often people making threads looking for paid forum posters. A high percentage of freelancers find their first clients through forums because they are a hive of activity and you can advertise your services with threads and posts whenever you want.

Let’s look at Digitalpoint as an example. You will often find people posting threads looking for forum posters. It is important not only to make a reply quickly, you should be emphasising that you are offering a quality service. The key to making money in any form of freelancing is differentiation, in markets where there are a hundred people to do one job, you need to make sure you stand out above your competition. One way of doing this is to offer quality content!

If you are lucky enough to get a few jobs from forums, you can start building a network of clients which you can call upon whenever you need work. Forum owners are often in contact with other forum owners, so if you have offered a quality service to someone, they may well recommend you to their friend, and you’ll instantly have a heap more work! This is why it is so key to offer quality so that your clients will like your work, hire you again, and recommend you to their friends.

Outsourcing

This is perhaps the business model which has the most potential if you get it right, but it’s not for everyone and requires a fair amount of skill and time. The basic premise is to build a network of forum posters and then find work for your network, taking a cut of whatever it gets paid. This sounds really simply, and in essence it is, but there are quite a few pitfalls which you need to try and avoid.

Building up a solid network is probably the hardest part. You need to be able to completely rely on your works and trust that they are producing quality content. Sites like Elance are a great place to find workers, but you need to specify a number of the conditions of joining your network. Little things like time difference might not seem to be an issue, but when you can’t get in touch with your workers because they are asleep, your business is going to take a hit.

Once you have built a solid network, the next step is to find clients. You will initially want to advertise your services on forums and freelance sites, but in the long term you should look at creating a web site which advertises your services.

You should probably put together a small number of “packages” and set a standard rate for posts. Obviously you should be taking a small cut, analyse your numbers so you know exactly how much you are going to be making for each package.

Building a network isn’t easy, and it isn’t for everyone, but if you want to start an outsourcing business then it’s probably quite a good way to go because of the simplicity of the work.

Conclusion

Forum posting gets a lot of flak for being a relatively “low earning” business, however if you can offer a quality service you can make some good money with it.

Being professional is an important part of any business online, and to succeed with paid forum posting you are going to need to approach everything you do as a business venture. Make sure that you are offering high quality, affordable, services and you will probably find that you get a large amount of work.

Interview

One of the contributors to this article was Emma Quequish who blogs at Gettin Personal. She has been doing paid posting for a while now, and I asked her a few questions about the work she does.

Hi Emma, first of all, in terms of content creation, is most of your income from paid posting on forums?

Yes, most of the money I have made in content creation has been made through forum posting. The most that I made in one month with minimal effort was almost 200 dollars.

Do you think that quality is an important part of posting on forums?

I strongly believe that quality is the most important part of being a paid forum poster. Clients generally don’t shell out their money for low-quality posts.

How do you schedule your forum posting?

I schedule my posting according to when the client wants me to finish. I usually aim to write 2-3 posts a day so that they are spread out until the deadline and yet have consistency.

Do you ever get bored of this type of work?

It can get boring especially when you have no personal interest in the forum, but I always keep in mind that I am being paid to work so I always stick it through while maintaining high quality.

Do you think posting on forums is a better way of earning money than other methods?

I wouldn’t necessarily say that forum posting is the best way but it is one of the better and more legitimate ways.

Do you freelance or work for networks?

I work for networks but I also freelance. I enjoy working for the networks that I am most active in because I have befriended both co-workers and bosses. It helps when you enjoy talking to people that you work with because you can respond to each other’s topics on the client forum.

Do you have any tips for our readers to make forum posting a good way to earn money online?

Some tips that I would have for readers who are interested in earning through paid forum posting is to always maintain quality, always maintain deadline dates, don’t dump a lot of posts on the clients forum in one day and don’t insult the clients forum or get into fights with the regular members of the forum. One last but very important tip, is to not to be afraid to step outside of yourself. If you don’t like the forum personally, imagine how a person who does would think and channel that person.

Thanks to Emma for completing the interview, check her blog out at Gettin Personal.