Zero Cost, Genuine Home-based Business Opportunities
This lens provides articles, resources, and links to businesses to help you get started with your own home-based business today. Every program or resource listed is completely free. I don't believe in the old adage, "You have to spend money to make money." It is total bunk. You can start earning an extra monthly income right now. I've joined virtually every free program out there and tested them. Those that pay, I recommend. Those that don't, I call a spade, a spade, and I counsel everyone to stay away from them. I'm tired of seeing Web site after Web site that recommends programs I know to be bad. And I'm tired of seeing people charge money for information that I truly believe should be free! So, if you're interesed in learning how to run a successful affiliate business, get paid to read e-mails/surf/promote, write freelance including blogging for money, or mystery shop, please visit this lens.
What's in this lens?
- My motto of recommendations and for this site
- Paid to read e-mail programs that pay.
- Paid to complete surveys programs that pay.
- Check scans from cash paying programs.
- Mystery shopping companies that pay.
- Personal bookmarks: Paid to blog sites that pay.
- What pays you the best?
- Recommended Reading
- Money for Nothing
- Recommended Reading II
- Somewhere, out there... there's a blog about this...
- Show me the money!
My motto of recommendations and for this site
Why I never recommend something that's not proven.
You won't find a long list of programs here, nor any links to the latest earning craze. I don't jump on bandwagons and I don't recommend untested programs, books, videos, Web tools, or untested anything.
The books you see listed under recommended reading I've read, used as references, or were the text books in one of my college courses. They are written by industry professionals and are useful references for online marketers/affiliates/advertisers of any level - beginner to expert.
The programs you see listed under the Del.icio.us modules are those of which I am a paid member. I often join a program and am a member for months before I recommend it, because I have a personal rule that I will not refer anyone to a program that I can't honestly say I know pays. In rare cases when I know the person who referred me and I know they've been paid, I'll recommend it from the start. (It's only happened twice in nearly 10 years though so don't look for the programs list to grow too quickly. You can depend on the ones that are listed there though.
Every program I list is free to join. I participate in paid to read e-mail, paid to surf, paid to take surveys, and paid to promote sites, as well as, mystery shopping.
Please, don't pay for any of the info on any of these topics you see listed here. Come here to get the information for free. I believe that the information should be free, the programs to join should be free, and learning how to make money from the Internet should
The books you see listed under recommended reading I've read, used as references, or were the text books in one of my college courses. They are written by industry professionals and are useful references for online marketers/affiliates/advertisers of any level - beginner to expert.
The programs you see listed under the Del.icio.us modules are those of which I am a paid member. I often join a program and am a member for months before I recommend it, because I have a personal rule that I will not refer anyone to a program that I can't honestly say I know pays. In rare cases when I know the person who referred me and I know they've been paid, I'll recommend it from the start. (It's only happened twice in nearly 10 years though so don't look for the programs list to grow too quickly. You can depend on the ones that are listed there though.
Every program I list is free to join. I participate in paid to read e-mail, paid to surf, paid to take surveys, and paid to promote sites, as well as, mystery shopping.
Please, don't pay for any of the info on any of these topics you see listed here. Come here to get the information for free. I believe that the information should be free, the programs to join should be free, and learning how to make money from the Internet should
Paid to read e-mail programs that pay.
This module provides links to paid to read e-mail and paid to click programs I have been personally paid by.
Paid to complete surveys programs that pay.
This module provides links to paid to complete surveys programs I have been personally paid by. It only includes genuine survey companies. There are no paid to join sites disguised as survey companies, nor are there any companies who claim to offer surveys, then merely give you a list of links of other companies to join.
Check scans from cash paying programs.
A watermark is embedded in each scan that shows up if printed. This is to protect the companies from fraudulent check cashing. I also edit my address from the check before posting it to the Internet (for my own safety and security).
curated content from Flickr
Mystery shopping companies that pay.
This module provides links to mystery shopping companies I have been personally paid by. Every company here is free to register with. There are no paid to join sites disguised as survey companies, nor are there any companies who claim to offer surveys, then merely give you a list of links of other companies to join.
Personal bookmarks: Paid to blog sites that pay.
This module provides links to paid to complete surveys programs I have been personally paid by. It only includes companies which have a guaranteed pay scale, such as a per post scheme. There are no sites listed that pay strictly off of advertising revenue, which can be iffy, at best. Many provide opportunities for writers to earn more by writing for magazines or Web partners.
- Gather
- Gather provides free blogs with photo and video options. The site also has an number of existing groups and the capability for authors to create their own groups. A member may publish publicly or privately, or to selected groups only. Every action on the site from reading an article to adding a friend or joining a group earns points. Users may cash out for gift cards or cash. There is a link and e-mail referral program. Payment is via PayPal.
- Helium
- Helium provides users a place to post articles, compete in weekly and monthly writing contests, and to write articles for magazine partners in its marketplace. The marketplace feature can pay twice. First, the user is paid by the magazine (via Helium) if their article is chosen for publication. Second, in many cases (including one that happened to me), a user who sells an article to a magazine may be offered a regular writing gig by the magazine. The referral program is by e-mail, so if you're interested in this program, please, drop me a line via this page (Squidoo), so I can e-mail you an invitation. Payment is via PayPal.
- Squidoo
- Of course, there's Squidoo. My first payout of $10 arrived via PayPal today (June 4, 2008). This site allows you to build a blog (called a "lens") with numerous "modules". Modules are pre-scripted applications for users to add to a page. Users can have multiple lens on multiple topics, and earn money off of each one. There are no referral e-mails or links. To join, just click the "Create a Lens" link at the bottom of this page. Payment is via PayPal.
What pays you the best?
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Recommended Reading
Advertising and Marketing
No matter what home-based business you have or start, you'll need a strong reference library to consult for extended information on topics such as, setting up your business, advertising, marketing, and taxes.
Design Of Advertising (Paper Version)
Amazon Price: $102.81 (as of 12/25/2009) 
Used Price: $1.41
Advertising: Principles and Practice (7th Edition)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/25/2009)
Used Price: $1.85
Principles of Marketing (Principles of Marketing)
Amazon Price: $161.74 (as of 12/25/2009)
Used Price: $4.34
Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing
Amazon Price: $15.61 (as of 12/25/2009)
Used Price: $0.01
Marketing: Real People, Real Choices (4th Edition)
Amazon Price: $140.00 (as of 12/25/2009)
Used Price: $0.01
Money for Nothing
my Gather.com group where members report on paid to... programs they belong to
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byRecommended Reading II
Home-Based Business Development
No matter what home-based business you have or start, you'll need a strong reference library to consult for extended information on topics such as, setting up your business, advertising, marketing, and taxes.
101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women, 3rd Edition: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road to Success (For Fun & Profit)
Amazon Price: $11.96 (as of 12/25/2009)
Start Your Own Business
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 12/25/2009)
What No One Ever Tells You about Starting Your Own Business: Real-Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs
Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 12/25/2009)
Somewhere, out there... there's a blog about this...
Google blogs about home-based businesses
- Get More Visitors to your Website using Free Traffic Exchanges
- The claim that a manual exchange is far more likely to bring a visitor who will actually read what is on your web page is not always the case. Some surfers are surfing too many websites at once to ?REALLY? pay attention. ... of credits for your own surfing and the surfing of your downline. Most exchanges also allow you to purchase extra credits. I don't recommend going for a paid membership or buying credits until you have tried out the traffic exchange for free first. ...
- legit work from home, traffic exchange, free traffic, blogs, link ...
- Write Your Blog ... I spent several hours doing paid surveys and I ended up making around $2.00 an hour.. That is if I even qualified to take the rest of the survey! I cant count how many times i was over 60% done with a survey when a message pops up and says I do not ... If it is manual traffic exchange you can make some returns.. or they may look at your site for a brief moment.. but more then likely they are surfing just to get credits for there site to be seen. ...
- Music Ally | Blog Archive » Exclusive series – “The Digital Decade ...
- In the third part of our series looking back at the Decade of Digital (read part one on 2000 and part two on 2001 published earlier this week) we examine 2001: the year that the iPod launched. ... The most obvious sign of Napster's new- found status as a profits-focused business is the ?Paid Download Credits? meter which sits above the music transfers section like a reminder that the MP3s are no longer free. Underneath it all the Napster concept has been radically amended ...
- Cold Remedy: Free Flights Anywhere in the World (Plus: Live Q&A ...
- What ?The Four Hour Work Week? did for me was reignite my passion for traveling and making it more desirable with creative ways such as couch surfing. It wasn't very long after reading the book that I decided to test it out. ... May be a worthy topic for a future blog post. jig. December 23rd, 2009 3:14 am. When I read 4HWW I thought, ?wow, someone who thinks a lot like me? ? I'd already done a lot of the stuff suggested. I had a muse that paid off all my debt and for an ...
Show me the money!
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- SteveWilliams SteveWilliams Oct 14, 2008 @ 9:47 am
- I think this is an excellent page for everyone looking to make legitimate money online. Might I recommend suite 101 as well. I'm signed up there and I think it was great training for writing for the web.
Once again, thanks for putting this up!
All the best,
Steve
www.squidoo.com/noheroics
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- chrisnkay chrisnkay Oct 14, 2008 @ 1:20 am
- Great Les with a lot of great ideas. I just signed up with all of the mystery shopper programs. 5 stars for you!
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- ThomasC ThomasC Oct 12, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
- Great resource of free work at home programs! 5 stars and an Angel blessing should help your lens out some!
ThomasC
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- Teddi14 Teddi14 Jul 16, 2008 @ 5:40 pm
- I too have MyPoints. I enjoy it. I had an account with lots of points and I switched my email to a different account and it could not be verified and I somehow lost all the points. I was mad. I have another account now with points growing. I have a number of gpt/affiliate sites on my site. Look under "reward/affiliates programs" Please be sure to check out my lenses here. BTW, I found you from your gather article.
by NaturalHazard
My titles include: Queen of the Income Streams, Chugger of Copious Amounts of Coffee, Natural Hazard, DesignGrrl, The Baking Pixie, The Drinking Pixie... (more)
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