Last week, over the weekend, Mylot had a small computer glitch. Basically, earnings were not being updated in a timely manner. Of course, this started people (or maybe more properly trolls) talking about how Mylot was not going to pay anymore. Computer glitch, trolls and rumors---what an unpleasant combination.
I wasn't worried. As many of my readers know, I use Mylot to relax, and perhaps warm up for a day's worth of writing. For me, Mylot is only a little pile of pennies, not neccessary a big deal if it did go payless. I just don't have enourgh referrals to make it worth my time to sweat over.
But it does call to mind two things.
First off, you should never be relying on one source of income that its removal causes you to panic. This is especially true for us writers. Markets come and go, and you should never have all your eggs in just one basket.
The second thing is that I have heard rumors like this on every site I belong to when a glitch results in earnings not being updated in a timely fashion. Trolls like to use every little glitch to stir up the pot. While some sites do go under, there are far more rumors than actual sites going under. One should never rely on rumors to figure out the health of a website that you are earning on.
Showing posts with label My Lot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Lot. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Saturday, February 16, 2008
MyLot Earnings
For those of you curious about how much MyLot pays, yesterday I hit my thousand discussion (aka responded to or started a thousand discussions) which brings my earnings up to $14.90--or .0149 cents a discussion. Note that this is just my current overall average; you have to remember that when I first started out on MyLot, I was only averaging a half penny per post. So my average has improved as I learned more about the system.
Friday, October 26, 2007
To delay payment or not
Today, on MyLot, I responded to a discussion about whether or not, someone should raise their payout from the standard ten dollars to a higher amount (ex. twenty-five).
Now, due to my experience running a business (a restraurant in a chain), I approach it from the viewpoint of a business owner. Being in a second economics class this semester just amplifies that tendency.
Personally, I set all of my payouts (the amount that one must earn before a company mails you a check or paypals you) to the lowest possible amount whenever I have a chance. It is my money, and I want it in my grubby hands as soon as possible.
And not just because I am a straving college student either.
If one has earned enourgh to make payout, and rises the amount of their payout threshold, what happens? The company that owes you the money holds it in their bank account. Standard business practice is for this account to be an interest bearing account. I watched my bosses depositing money into their bank as quick as they could, and then take as long as possible to pay their expenses (labor, rent, suppliers, etc.). This practice earned them a lot of interest income off of money that rightfully belonged to other people.
Paid to post sites, and other online work sites, want you to raise your payout amount. They give you the option because it benefits them. It is not for your convenience; it is for theirs. They hope that you set your payout thresholds to a higher amount, so that they can hold your money longer and earn interest off of it. Essentially by setting your payout threshold to anything above the minimum, you are giving them a free loan.
(The other type of free loan that people are fond of doing is to have more money withhold from their paychecks than necessary--yes, a big income tax return is nice, but why give the government an interest free loan. If you want to loan the government money, invest in government bonds instead.)
The only time when rising your payout threshold makes sense is when it is close to the end of the business year and you are trying to avoid slipping over into a higher tax bracket. And that is a very rare situation for most of us--so do yourself a favor, collect your money as soon as you can and deposit it in your own saving account.
After all, the money is going to be earning interest anyways, so why shouldn't it be you that collects it?
To Join MyLot, click here.
Now, due to my experience running a business (a restraurant in a chain), I approach it from the viewpoint of a business owner. Being in a second economics class this semester just amplifies that tendency.
Personally, I set all of my payouts (the amount that one must earn before a company mails you a check or paypals you) to the lowest possible amount whenever I have a chance. It is my money, and I want it in my grubby hands as soon as possible.
And not just because I am a straving college student either.
If one has earned enourgh to make payout, and rises the amount of their payout threshold, what happens? The company that owes you the money holds it in their bank account. Standard business practice is for this account to be an interest bearing account. I watched my bosses depositing money into their bank as quick as they could, and then take as long as possible to pay their expenses (labor, rent, suppliers, etc.). This practice earned them a lot of interest income off of money that rightfully belonged to other people.
Paid to post sites, and other online work sites, want you to raise your payout amount. They give you the option because it benefits them. It is not for your convenience; it is for theirs. They hope that you set your payout thresholds to a higher amount, so that they can hold your money longer and earn interest off of it. Essentially by setting your payout threshold to anything above the minimum, you are giving them a free loan.
(The other type of free loan that people are fond of doing is to have more money withhold from their paychecks than necessary--yes, a big income tax return is nice, but why give the government an interest free loan. If you want to loan the government money, invest in government bonds instead.)
The only time when rising your payout threshold makes sense is when it is close to the end of the business year and you are trying to avoid slipping over into a higher tax bracket. And that is a very rare situation for most of us--so do yourself a favor, collect your money as soon as you can and deposit it in your own saving account.
After all, the money is going to be earning interest anyways, so why shouldn't it be you that collects it?
To Join MyLot, click here.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
My averages on MyLot
Today in reply to a discussion, I figured that I have been on MyLot for 84 days (since May 18th). Not counting for the days I have not logged in because of other things (visiting friends, lodge days, etc.), I figure that I am averaging eight cents a day, which is about six discussions a day.
Sounds worse than it really is--I just use MyLot to warm up for other writing.
Sounds worse than it really is--I just use MyLot to warm up for other writing.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
MyLot vs Helium
A question that I have seen show up a couple of times on various member forums is which is the better site, MyLot or Helium. Quite often, this question boils down to which one is the better money maker. Unfortunately, it is like comparing apples and oranges.
An overview of MyLot
MyLot is a paid to post forum. You get paid to start and respond to discussions. The earnings update every twenty-four hours. Based on my own postings, I figure that one recieves between a half penny to four cents based on the length of the posting. There are certain types of discussions that are not allowed there and will get deleted as soon as they come to the attention of the management of the site; the smart person will learn not to post to anything that looks like an ad, or a flaming argument--upon deletion, any earnings you made on such discussions will disappear.
The payout on MyLot is ten dollars, paid though paypal and paypal/moneybookers. There are people that claim to make payment every month, but given my busy schedule I doubt that I would ever be one of them. Basically, the more and longer your postings the more you get paid. There is also an option to post pictures (after you have taken part in 500 discussions), but it currently seems to be a less reliable way to make money; the general census is that they are only paying one penny for the first photo uploaded by an user on any given day.
An overview of Helium
Helium is a paid to write site. There are thousands of titles available to write to, and also an option to create a new title if your article does not fit one of the existing titles. Articles need to be at least one hundred words in length, soon to be four hundred words. Ideally, the articles should be well-researched and/or based on personal experience.
Payment is based on a secret formula--the writer gets a part of the ad revenue that Helium is getting. The better the ads around your articles, the more your potential payment. It is also based on how many people that read your articles. But one should keep in mind that payment comes after people read your article--think royalities--and is slow going at first until you build up your stock of articles. One way to earn more is to write about subjects that people are more interested in. Payout is set at twenty-five dollars.
All the articles on Helium are rated by one's fellow Helium writers. Unfortunately, Helium is still a young site, and its writers run the gamut from seasoned professional to rank amateur--the ratings reflect this fact. It may take days for a piece to reach its natural place in the ratings, and there have been a couple of time when I have looked at the material above mine and wondered how it got rated higher than mine (but that is another subject for another day).
Fortunately, Helium does provide the option for the writer to replace one of their existing articles with another verison (provided that three random raters consider it to be better)--leapfrogging. This allows one to replace a low rated article and take another shot at getting a higher rating.
Getting your articles into the top five is very desirable (though leapfrogging is risky; I have experienced some of my leapfrogs tanking worse than the originals). The top five articles are more easier found, therefore they get more readers (hence you earn more).
Comparsion of MyLot and Helium
The problem with comparing these two sites is quite simply that one (MyLot) pays you an one-time upfront payment for your contribution while the other (Helium) does ongoing residual payments.
Both are "user-generated content." Both provide a writer a place to practice their craft. Yet given the style and goals of different people and their payment methods, one or the other will prove to be a better use of their time.
For my own purposes, MyLot is a handy warmup site, a place to post a few quick responses as I look around for my daily inspiration; Helium, on the other hand, is more useful for my timeless fact-based short articles.
Comparing MyLot and Helium in the end is like comparing short and long-term investments.
Happy posting and writing.
An overview of MyLot
MyLot is a paid to post forum. You get paid to start and respond to discussions. The earnings update every twenty-four hours. Based on my own postings, I figure that one recieves between a half penny to four cents based on the length of the posting. There are certain types of discussions that are not allowed there and will get deleted as soon as they come to the attention of the management of the site; the smart person will learn not to post to anything that looks like an ad, or a flaming argument--upon deletion, any earnings you made on such discussions will disappear.
The payout on MyLot is ten dollars, paid though paypal and paypal/moneybookers. There are people that claim to make payment every month, but given my busy schedule I doubt that I would ever be one of them. Basically, the more and longer your postings the more you get paid. There is also an option to post pictures (after you have taken part in 500 discussions), but it currently seems to be a less reliable way to make money; the general census is that they are only paying one penny for the first photo uploaded by an user on any given day.
An overview of Helium
Helium is a paid to write site. There are thousands of titles available to write to, and also an option to create a new title if your article does not fit one of the existing titles. Articles need to be at least one hundred words in length, soon to be four hundred words. Ideally, the articles should be well-researched and/or based on personal experience.
Payment is based on a secret formula--the writer gets a part of the ad revenue that Helium is getting. The better the ads around your articles, the more your potential payment. It is also based on how many people that read your articles. But one should keep in mind that payment comes after people read your article--think royalities--and is slow going at first until you build up your stock of articles. One way to earn more is to write about subjects that people are more interested in. Payout is set at twenty-five dollars.
All the articles on Helium are rated by one's fellow Helium writers. Unfortunately, Helium is still a young site, and its writers run the gamut from seasoned professional to rank amateur--the ratings reflect this fact. It may take days for a piece to reach its natural place in the ratings, and there have been a couple of time when I have looked at the material above mine and wondered how it got rated higher than mine (but that is another subject for another day).
Fortunately, Helium does provide the option for the writer to replace one of their existing articles with another verison (provided that three random raters consider it to be better)--leapfrogging. This allows one to replace a low rated article and take another shot at getting a higher rating.
Getting your articles into the top five is very desirable (though leapfrogging is risky; I have experienced some of my leapfrogs tanking worse than the originals). The top five articles are more easier found, therefore they get more readers (hence you earn more).
Comparsion of MyLot and Helium
The problem with comparing these two sites is quite simply that one (MyLot) pays you an one-time upfront payment for your contribution while the other (Helium) does ongoing residual payments.
Both are "user-generated content." Both provide a writer a place to practice their craft. Yet given the style and goals of different people and their payment methods, one or the other will prove to be a better use of their time.
For my own purposes, MyLot is a handy warmup site, a place to post a few quick responses as I look around for my daily inspiration; Helium, on the other hand, is more useful for my timeless fact-based short articles.
Comparing MyLot and Helium in the end is like comparing short and long-term investments.
Happy posting and writing.
Friday, June 29, 2007
My Lot
Lately, I have been doing a lot of goofing around on My Lot. Call it avoiding work (aka avoiding writing). My Lot is what I would call a hang-out site. It is not what My Lot considers itself.
My Lot is a paid to post site. In other words, members of the site get paid to take part in the discussions. It is definitely not a get-rich-quick scheme. It pays, quite frankly, in pennies. Based on my own experiences there, I have gotten anywhere from a half penny to four cents a post. It all just depends on the length of the post (and a batch of stuff I don't know).
Anyway, if anyone wants to check out what I have been doing lately in my goofing off time, my profile is:
myLot User Profile
My Lot is a paid to post site. In other words, members of the site get paid to take part in the discussions. It is definitely not a get-rich-quick scheme. It pays, quite frankly, in pennies. Based on my own experiences there, I have gotten anywhere from a half penny to four cents a post. It all just depends on the length of the post (and a batch of stuff I don't know).
Anyway, if anyone wants to check out what I have been doing lately in my goofing off time, my profile is:
myLot User Profile
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