Free at Last, Free at Last!

(republished from http://karlacross.com)

So after two years of trying to unravel the mystery of making money online, 4,000 cups of coffee, and a few extra gray hairs, I packed up my website, moved it over to a new server, redesigned it and changed my entire focus.  My conclusion......Free or almost free money programs, networking with like-minded people and helping newbies who want to earn are where it's at.  At least in this ecomony. 

Everywhere I turn it seems that people need money and they can't afford to spend it to get it.  People are losing their jobs, losing their homes and just generally in bad shape.  Many people have turned to the internet only to lose more money from the promises of instant wealth made over and over again by unscrupulous people hoping to make a buck themselves.  Some of them purposely lie with no visible shred of a conscience.  Others simply join a program that promises they will earn and they unwittingly pass along the hype and exaggeration hoping that someone else will buy into it, so they can get their investment back.  I have been a victim of both.

When all is said and done, I have made the most money from free or almost free programs and I have made the least from programs that I paid to join.  I also realized that I have never had to apologize for referring someone to a free program.  I wish I could say the same for some of the paying programs I have promoted.

I want to have a clear conscience.  It is important to me.  It seems that all of the paying programs eventually change their business model and what once seemed like a good opportunity now seems like a good opportunity only for the program administrator.  Free programs seem to stay pretty consistent.  And hey, if they don't, how can you complain?  You haven't paid anything to earn.

So, with my newly designed website, karlacross.com, I will simply put out links and splash pages that lead people to see what programs I use and what I earn.  This is a NO HYPE ZONE!  I am not going to tell you that you will get rich.  I am not going to tell you that if you follow me you can retire tomorrow or show you pictures of fancy homes or sports cars.  What I will do is be your guide and share all the tips and tricks I know to show you how to earn online with free or almost free programs. 

Now before you start thinking that I am such an angel, giving generously of my free time and asking nothing in return.......pause........    (I actually like you to think that for a minute.) ......ok.  Here's the deal.  Of course, when you join these programs and earn, I make money too.  So in the interest of full disclosure you need to know that when you earn, so do I.  But I am here to help you show others how to do the same, so that you can earn more, too!

My site also includes a few programs that I did pay to join but these are basically tools that I like that I have found can pay for themselves and then some.  Don't ever spend money that you cannot afford to lose.  The road to internet riches is paved with pot holes (and other kind of holes that I won't mention) and nothing is for sure.  However, if you don't spend any money, you can't lose any either. 

Anyway, I am feeling quite relieved.  I never have to exaggerate, make wild claims or overpromise again.  Now you just get the truth, backed up by proof.  If you are not impressed with what you see, come back in another six months because the one constant in my crazy two-year ride is that I keep making money with free programs.  If I had concentrated on the all along, I am confident that I would be much further along.  Now if you will excuse me I am off to remove the grey from my hair that being less than honest has caused.  Do they make Just for Women?

For a look at some of the free programs that I recommend, please go to my website:  http://karlacross.com.

PeopleString, Making Progress

To bring you up to speed, I joined PeopleString (PS) three months ago, but only started using it about four weeks ago. My motivation for joining was different than most people. Although this is advertised as a free money making opp, I am experimenting with PS to see if it will lead to prospects and eventually sign ups for my other programs that I am involved in.

Everyday, several times a day, I do a few simple actions to earn 50 people points. Then I approve my friend requests and reply to any messages. The most important part of my action at PS is to review the forums and comment on topics that I can contribute to, or have an opinion on. You need to be careful here with your comments. The forums are a reflection of global society. You find hucksters, (old school word for spammers) naysayers, Chicken Littles, bullies and nitpickers. But you also find kind, generous people who either want information or those who have it and may or may not be willing to share it. As hard as you try, sometimes your comments will be misconstrued, but be very careful not to pick a fight or criticize. Helpful suggestions usually work well.

I try to be myself. I try to be genuine. I offer tips, encouragement and perspective. The forums are filled with people who came into PS expecting to be millionaires overnight. You can hardly blame them because all programs like this tend to exaggerate the success that the average Joe can expect. However, I have found that people who are willing to stay positive, promote their programs and be consistent begin to have success after a period of time. Those who get frustrated and quit.....well.....obviously they don't. The trick is to get people to understand and believe that they can succeed. If you can do that, people will be drawn to you.

In the last week, I have gotten two referrals in a traffic exchange, one sign up in another free program I use to earn, but most interesting to me is that I am getting at least a dozen emails every day with people asking to know more about what I do and how I earn. That is the reason I joined PS and so far it seems to be working. I don't have to spam my links, or toot my own horn, I am just being me. And that's very comfortable for a change!

A quick update. I currently have a string of 32 people. 21 on my 1st line, 8 on my second and 2 on my third. I am adding to my first line at about a rate of one person, per day. I currently have earned $10 and have another $10 pending and when the next revenue share is posted in about a week, I will have more since I am active on the site.

I won 250 People Points yesterday by spinning the wheel and earlier in the day I won $1. Not bad for playing a game, huh? Another update shortly regarding helpful info given out at the PS Entrepreneur Webinar last night.

Grab More Traffic Exchange Credits with Jay Hine's Quick Tab Change (Free Tool)

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my great disappointment with TE Browser, the new browser created specifically for surfing traffic exchanges. Today, I want to fill you in a on perfectly safe alternative, Jay Hine's Quick Tab Change. This is a free tool created by Traffic Exchange kind and all around nice guy Jay Hines. It is merely a hot key type program, but very useful for those of us so technically challenged that it is just too much of a pain to figure it out for ourselves.

Download the free tool. (Yes, there is an optional one time offer. Which is a good value, but you don't need to buy the OTO to benefit from this tool.) Open the program and a little window pops up that will allow you to choose a key on your keyboard to automatically advance to the next tab when you are surfing several traffic exchanges at one time. This is certainly much faster than clicking a new tab to advance each time.

This program is not quite as fast as using TE Browser and it does not help you spot the prize pages, but it definitely makes things much more efficient.

Grab Quick Tab Change, but clicking HERE and rack up some free advertising.

Tired of someone else controlling your future? I was too, until I found a simple way to use other people's money to build a business that requires very little time and absolutely no investment of your own.

Fusion Cash is a 100% Free, user-friendly GPT (Get Paid To..) Site. They pay money for their members to view offers from their sponsors, complete surveys, post on their forums and best of all, refer others to do the same. I started earning money immediately and in less than 7 days, working a few hours a day, I earned $25. Because I was intrigued I spent more time trying similar programs I earned another $100 in another 7 days. I was hooked until I met someone who told me that I could continue spending hours filling out surveys and offers and keep making $100-$200 per month or I could change my focus and earn hundreds of dollars by simply promoting the same sites I was using and working 15-20 minutes per day.

The point here is not to fill out offers and do surveys for the rest of your life. The sites like Fusion Cash provide seed money for advertising and other internet ventures so that I can invest and try new programs that charge a fee without risking my own money. Some of these programs turn out to be gold mines, some turn out to be land mines, so I learned a long time ago to use free money I make from various feeder programs like Fusion Cash.

If you go to Vegas and lose $5,000 of your savings at the black jack table you will probably be pretty angry and bitter. If I gave you $5,000 and you lost it the same way you would leave feeling as though you had a good time anyway. Always protect yourself.

"But I can't get referrals!" "I am not comfortable referring my friends and family." I know I said the same thing. Don't tell your friends and family. They will be begging to find out what you are doing once you get your own system rolling. I call it attraction rather than promotion and I can explain how it works.

Start by clicking here to join Fusion Cash and begin earning today! Be sure to follow the instructions and verify your account by phone. Don't worry, they will never call you after the verification. You cannot get paid if you don't verify. Be sure to check the area next to my user name, samrhett2 on you account page so I can contact you to offer assistance. Go to Yahoo or Hotmail and create a few email accounts to use when filling out your offers so that your personal email is not overwhelmed with advertisements. Be sure to check these email accounts and confirm any offers that require confirmation so that you will get credited. Read the requirements at Fusion Cash and become familiar with the site through their forums. Be sure to clear your cookies in your browser between offers and alternate email accounts.

Then set up a free page like this one. I will be happy to assist you if you need help. I would love to help you earn because referrals are the key. When you sign up, complete offers and cash out, Fusion Cash pays me referral fees. Your Fusion Cash earnings are not affected in any way, but by signing up through my page you will get free support and encouragement from someone who has already taken the time to learn what works and what doesn't. When you succeed, it benefits both of us.

Fusion Cash is only one part of the formula that I use to earn online. If you would like additional free ideas and information, check out my blog at:
http://earningonline-backtobasics.blogspot.com/

Who Ya Gonna Trust Help You Earn Money Online?

As a member of over 50 traffic exchanges, I have to chuckle every time a new program comes out. Like clockwork, I get 50 messages from 50 different traffic exchange owners trying to get me to join the same program that just launched. I am sure you have experienced this also.

When I first started with traffic exchanges I would see this and get all excited. You see, I thought that if this many people "in the know" were telling me to join, it must be really important. So I would join. What I would always find was another e-book that I never read and a One-Time Offer, that kept popping up, no matter how many times I said "no thanks".

I soon found out that this is the pattern of most traffic exchange owners. They are usually given JV partner status in the new program and in return they agree to try to get everyone on their lists to join. I guess there is no problem with this arrangement, except those owners quickly lost creditability with me when it comes to joining their suggested programs. They suggest any and all because they have such huge lists that they are bound to make money just by typing up an email and sending it out. In most cases they don't pay what you and I do to join and get the upgraded benefits, so why not write a simple email or even less-inventive, they usually just copy and paste one that has been given to them by the new program owner. Easy money for them, but not so cool for you and I who have to get 50 emails each day all promoting "today's" newest launch.

My advice is to choose your mentor's wisely unless you have a huge experimental budget that allows you to earn by expensive trial and error methods. This is why FREE is best for beginners. Earn some money from free programs, then go do some homework and invest to build your online business carefully. TrafficWave and IX Webhosting are awesome programs to invest in and promote because you need these two tools anyway whether they ever earn you a dime. Promote them and they pay for themselves and become additional streams of income. But that is a blog for another day! Bottom line is, earn free money online, then use it to build an online business risk-free!

I try to walk a tightrope with my list. I want to stay in touch, but not bombard the recipients with everything that comes down the pike. I almost always join a program, promote it for awhile and use it myself before I suggest it to anyone on my list. Do I miss the boat sometimes because of this? Yes, perhaps, but it is more important to me to retain your trust by allowing you to retain your cash.

Speaking of cash, you know I love free programs. Cash Pirate is one of my little darlings. I am shocked about how many people have never heard of this one. It is one of those sites that pays you to complete offers and submit emails, etc, but the difference here is that I get such a consistent approval rate with their offers that if I spend a little time there I can cash out almost anytime I want. You only need $4.99 in offers to cash out to PayPal and it takes no time to get there. The money is put into your Paypal account within minutes of cashout. If you are outside of the US and Canada, it is still a cool program to promote and earn 20% of what your referrals earn.

If you need a quick pick-me-up for your Paypal account, check it out here: Cash Pirate
Also, if you get a chance you can check out my proof of payment by going to this site and clicking on The Proof! tab: http://feedyourcashcow.weebly.com/

Just know that I have been really slack the last several months updating it. Although I do have the screenshots of my latest payments from various little free programs. I will be updating the page when I get a chance. For some reason, I just hate working with screen shots!

Have a great day and do not hesitate to email me at abbyray1@gmail.com if you need help or have questions.

Karla Cross
http://www.karlacross.com

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