I recently published a Hub which detailed sites where you could earn revenue with Google Adsense. This hub is the first in a series that takes a deeper look at some of the sites I listed.

There are many opportunities to make money online ranging from selling personal items on ebay, writing content related hubs on Hubpages or earning Google Adsense clicks on your blog. There are literally hundreds of similar opportunities, but out of all of these Webanswers is perhaps the easiest.

What is Webanswers?

Webanswers is a simple site that allows you to ask or answer questions on literally hundreds of different subjects or categories. It has many competitors such as Yahoo Answers, Mahalo.com etc that provide a similar service, but the one thing that makes Webanwers stand out above all is the ability to link a Google Adsense account to your Webanswers account and make money while answering or asking questions.

The beauty of Webanswers is perhaps in its simplicity – there aren’t many bells and whistles, it simply is a site that allows you to quickly and easily ask or answer questions, and while doing so earn a few dollars.

How does Webanswers work?

There are two aspects of Webanswers – asking questions and answering questions.

Asking questions – quite simply you can ask any question you want. While asking a question, you can provide additional information about the question and then categorize it appropriately. Any question you ask is listed immediately on Webanswer’s front page, and if it is a good or interesting question you will begin to get answers immediately from many of the regular or one-off members of the site.

Answering questions – again, simply answer any question that you feel you know the answer to. Generally, the better the answer you provide the more chance you will be rewarded the answer (see rewarding answers below). If you provide accurate information in concise and well written English (no grammatical or spelling errors) and consistently answer questions with the same quality then your quality score will increase (see quality score below). The higher your quality score, the more you are likely to earn on Webanswers (see Earning on Webanswers below).

Rewarding Answers – like most of the Q&A sites out there, the questioner has the ability to award an answer as the ‘best answer’ on a question. This has multiple benefits including increase quality score, increased earnings etc.

Quality Score – the quality score (QS) is a measure of the expertise of a member and is calculated using many factors including length of answers, quality of answers, spelling, grammar and also the amount of awarded answers you receive. The higher the QS the better and this will have a marked benefit in the amount of Google Adsense income you receive.

Earning on Webanswers

Webanswers does not pay you for any question or answer, or any members you send their way. The way you earn is by linking your Google Adsense account to your Webanswers account (note, if you don’t have one, you can apply for one once you have been awarded 10 questions – generally acceptance into the program is pretty quick).

Essentially, Google Ads will be placed next to all questions and the ‘ID’ used on each Ad will vary based on the following criteria:
For questions you ask that you have not awarded – Adsense impressions are shared between Webanswers, you and everyone who answers – priority is given to those with higher QS.
For questions you ask that you have awarded - Adsense impressions are shared between Webanswers, you and the awarded answer – priority is given to those with higher QS.
For answers where no one has been awarded the answer – you will receive a share of the Adsense impressions with the questioner, Webanswers and everyone else who has given an answer - priority is given to those with higher QS.
For answers where you have been awarded the answer - you will receive a share of the Adsense impressions with the questioner and Webanswers - priority is given to those with higher QS.
For answers where someone else has been awarded the answer – you will NOT receive a share of the Adsense impressions.

How much can I earn on Webanswers?

Some users earn up to $400 a month on Webanswers. Over time there really isn’t a limit on how much you can earn but you really have to be a very active member to get the high returns. My own experience is that I earn between $50 and $150 a month depending on how active I am on Webanswers.

What should I know about Webanswers?

Here are some things you should be aware of:
You cannot copy and paste answers from the web – all answers should be unique.
You cannot add affiliate links or any other links to your answers.
Spamming is likely to get you banned.
You must have ten awarded answers before you can link (or create) a Google Adsense account to your Webanswers account - so be patient!

Webanswer’s Competitors

Webanswers has many competitors, the most famous perhaps being Yahoo Answers and Mahalo.com. Yahoo is perhaps the largest competitor and is used by more people however Mahalo does allow you to earn Mahalo bucks that can be used to buy Mahalo merchandise.

Both Mahalo and Yahoo Answers actually better designed and look ‘nicer’, however there’s something about the simplicity of Webanswers that simply makes it easier to use and much ‘friendlier’.

Out of all of the answer websites I’ve tried, I haven’t found one that is as good or as easy to use.

Webanswers Experts

What I find interesting is that as I continue to be an active member of Webanswers it is obvious that there are quite a few experts on there who always provide excellent answers in their specialized area – it’s this availability of experts that really makes me want and value the opinions I receive on Webanswers.

Conclusion

From my experience, Webanswers is a fun and interesting site in which I have earned a little money but also have gained a lot of knowledge. My motivation is more about helping others than making money and I do find that this site is a little addictive.

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I knew I could now apply to the Amazon and HubPages Earnings program so I started with the HubPages Earnings first. I clicked on the link to apply on my earnings page since it was now active. It had a few very short questions, I answered these and was excited to know I was all set. I just had to let the traffic come to my site and watch the monthly earnings grow.

I then applied to the Amazon Affiliate program, which now had an active link on my earnings page as well. It brought me to a page with suggested answers to questions that will be given on the Amazon Affiliate site. I chose, “Get Started” at the bottom of the page and was brought to the Amazon Affiliate website. Here you can sign in with your Amazon username, unless you need to create an account, which you could do at this step too. Fill in the questions honestly and to the best of your knowledge and, ofcourse, with the answers given to you on the HubPages application page. This step was so simple and I was done before I knew it. The only thing I was confused about was all the directions on banners, links, etc on the Amazon site. You can ignore these notifications as a HubPage writer because you are given a Amazon Capsule on your tools panel when creating hubs.

You’ll need to now go into all of your current hubs and upgrade them for these Amazon earnings. Choose the Amazon capsule and add a product by either clicking on the choice for a specific product or to search by keyword. A convenient way to search for products is by opening a new tab with amazon.com and searching relevant items to your hubs there. You can then copy and paste the URL into the hubs capsule for that specific item to have it show on your profile.

Thus far, I’m about 4 days into my HubPages and Google AdSense activation and I have a total of $2.50. Ok, it’s not a lot but it’s a start. I need to continue writing quality hubs and continue with my social networking to create traffic to my profile. I hope this hub was informative and helpful for those just starting out either writing on HubPages or as an online writer in general. Happy hubbing!

Update: I just received a new Accolade today: the Popular Among Readers Award. This is measured by feedback given by other hubbers. I'm liked among my fellow hubbers and it feels great! Thanks Everyone!

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How Could One Profit Using Google AdWords

Cyberspace giant Google created a service for businesses that can provide fast and hassle-free advertising for products and services in the Internet through cost-per-click and cost-per-impression called Google AdWords. Advertisements are displayed along with search and content sites and search results done within the vast Google network. Keywords are carefully selected to determine where the ads will appear within the network, and there will a charge for every click to the ads. Merchants will specify how much they are willing to pay for every click.

Advertisers are assured of maximum audience penetration because the ads will appear at search results or occupying a space in a results page a user navigates through to get to a site directory. At present, Google garners views from about 80% of the Internet users in the U.S. alone. To add to the exposure, the advertisements are also prominently displayed In Gmail, Google's own electronic mail service.

There is no secret that Google AdWords provide not only useful service to businesses, it also enables them to save money and earn a lot of profits. The service requires payment only when the ads are looked at, whether it gets clicked or not. A merchant can monitor the performance of an ad through an online account control center provided by the service. The ads will appear shortly after the required billing information of the advertiser is submitted. Maximum payment is charged per thousand views.

But however powerful this online advertising tool is, it is still necessary that marketers create an effective AdWords strategy to rake in the profits. In fact, an AdWords campaign that is poorly implemented can even make advertisers lose money.

There are several benefits for knowing the operations of Google AdWords inside and out. First, with the service, an immediate test is available to know the marketability of a product. Second, it is possible to produce leads. This can be done by offering free options for users so that their email addresses can be procured. Third, it is possible to sell the advertiser's own products without using middle men, and in this way, reduction in total products will increase considerably. Fourth, it is also possible to sell the products of other businesses aside from one's own by using affiliate programs. Commissions will be collected for each every product sold, and this is done by directing online users to the site.

Here are several strategies to produce an effective AdWords campaign, which will produce profits for advertisers in no time.

1. Come up with a large quantity of keywords or keyword phrases that highly-targeted but costs less. It is vital since an advertiser pays for each click done on the keywords.

2. Create descriptions and advertisement headlines and test-run them to determine which of them is more effective. Here is a tip: the greatest benefit of a product or service should be mentioned in the headline and description.

3. The keyword-matching option available should be utilized to establish better targeting of the ads.

4. Concentrate the designation of ad impressions to specific regions or countries as soon as customer data is produced.

5. Place a sign-up box for subscribers on the web sites being promoted

6. Provide a Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language pop-up for the sites. Unknown to some, pop-ups are can be used on landing pages provided it does not result in opening up new windows.

7. Put strong words in the ads, the type that appeals to the five senses of a user. Avoid using verbs that are abstract and personal. For instance, use tell instead of inform, change instead of modify, want instead of desire.

8. Avoid assigning too many keywords in an ad group.

9. Establish a daily budget for the ads. It is best to allocate a small amount to be paid for each click the ad gets.

10. When writing the ads, make sure there is rhythm to its flow. It arouses better reaction from people.

11. Remove those ads that are not getting many clicks from users and constantly edit those that prove to be functional.

12. Manage and keep track of the campaigns religiously. An advertiser will get to know which of the keywords utilized generates the highest impressions and click-throughs.

Competition is truly tough nowadays, so advertisers should utilize all the channels available to them in order to get profits. Through Google AdWords, they can bring expansion in their advertising campaigns and reap rewards from it.

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Viral Marketing 101 - Not Using It Could Kill Your Business!

Creativity.

This is one virtue a site must possess to lead the race in the ruthless competition in the Internet based business. With so many competition and rivalry going on, every method of marketing must be employed and utilized.

It doesn’t matter if you have a killer product or a fantastically designed website, if people don’t know that you exist, it doesn’t matter, and you are not going to make it big. Worse of all, you business could just get killed.

While there are so many methods and schemes used by so many e-commerce sites today, there are still some of those that can help you with an extra boost in the popularity ratings. One of these is the so called Viral Marketing.

While the term Viral easily depicts a virus, a word very much dreaded by all computer owners, it is not what it seems. You do not actually use a computer virus to spread your business; on the contrary it just might kill you. Everyone has had enough of all those pop up ads and spywares.

Viral Marketing Overview

Viral Marketing also known otherwise as Viral Advertising is a marketing technique used to build the public awareness of one’s product or company. They use many forms of media to reach out to the public without actually promoting the product by riding on in other forms of addictive means that could get a person hooked and be obliged or amused to actually pass it on, with the product or company advertisement along with it.

In a nutshell, companies ride on the idea that if people like the content of a media they will pass it on to their friends and family. They sponsor the certain media, such as a cool flash game, funny video, amusing story and such, which one may pass on to another with the company brand or logo or the products description or any other content to help promote the company or its product.

Viral marketing has become a popular means of advertising and marketing because they are relatively low cost. To avoid being tagged as spam mail, viral marketing counts on the eagerness of one person to pas on the product. If a person sees the name of the person they know as the sender, they won’t block it and open it as well.

Many companies offer incentives such as discounts and rebates when they help in spreading their viral marketing. They rely on the number of recipients a viral marketing gets from one person in determining the amount or number of incentive they can be attributed with.

Using Viral Marketing to your advantage

The main and foremost advantage of viral marketing is that you get a lot of publicity and public awareness about your site and your company. You get to generate a flow of traffic that are potential customers. With a little ingenuity and imagination, plus some incentives or prizes, you can reach out to a great number of people and announce your existence.

Most every site and companies are catching on to the effectivity of Viral Marketing and Advertising. Not using it could kill your business. Along with other schemes and methods in promoting your site, like Search Engine Optimization and such, viral marketing could easily push you ahead in the rating games.

Viral Marketing could be a sneaky way to get people to know about you and your company. You get them to pass your advertisement along. They are also very low cost that not investing in it could be downright a business suicide. All it takes is a great idea, a good addicting game, a funny story many ideas are still out there. Create a gossip or a buzz, many movies are promoted by using scandals and gossips to make them moiré popular. Remember the movie “The Blair Witch Project”?

Many big companies have tried viral marketing and have had many success stories with it. A classic example is Microsoft’s Hotmail. They were the first known big company to utilize the scheme and it has worked wonders for them.

Now it’s your turn to use viral marketing to work wonders for you. Act now and reap the benefits Viral Marketing will provide for you and your sales figures.

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