Tip #9: Free Gas

If you want to earn some free gasoline, there are multiple ways to do so. Going back to the secret shopping methods - there are several companies who shop gas stations. Find them. They often pay $10-$15 not for gas but to check out the dirty bathrooms and the stors. So, you do a little work and you get most of your tank of gas paid for. Then, get a rewards credit card from your gas station - i.e. Exxom, BP etc. They often offer 5% cash back or points for free gas. While you won't make a killing, wouldn't you like to break even and not pay for something in life!

Tip #8: Free Food

As we are well aware, you can buy just about anything online now a days. That includes groceries. Many online grocers including Peapod and Safeway offer new customers free food by giving free delivery and $20-$30 off a first order. Often times, to entice the customer to come back, they will give a few additional coupons (obviously time is placed on usage). However, if you can get $100 worth of groceries for $50 - and be able to apply coupons, won't that make your life easier. Sure, you will need to order everything via the Web but think about it this way. You can it brought into your house, don't waste gas, make better use of your time, and get a 30-40% break at a minimum. While this system can't last forever, if you can do this a few times, you can possibly reduce your grocery bill by 100-200 per year!

Every penny helps right?

Tip #7: Build A Custom Search Tool

Have you always wanted to build your own search engine to find a specific topic. Well, now is the opportunity that you can do this! Both Yahoo and Google offer their users the ability to create custom search engines. You can build your Website (for example www.ineedanincome.com) and then place the search box as part of the Internet. You can make your own Web presence or you can make it look exactly like Google would - a simple box. Then, you would try to market the site on listservs and mailing lists. The catch to making money is signing up for affiliate or revenue sharing programs. The more people that come to the Website (and it can't be you clicking), the more likely revenue will flow in. For every click a user initiates, you will be paid a few pennies or even a few dollars. Both Google and Yahoo! will send you a check when the amount reaches over a $100 in revenue.

While this may require a little tech savvy - won't it be pretty cool to have your own "search" solution and make a few dollars too.

Tip #6: Market Research

Every area of the country has a market research firm. You should search the internet and look for one of these companies. Sign up for a few firms. Each firm has at least 10-20 studies conducted a month. Using their database, they screen for potential candidates to participate. You will probably get 3-4 phone calls a year which can pull in $50-$150 per study. Even if you get 3 surveys a year, this is $450 a year potential that is considered an honorarium income which oftens means cash and not accounted for by the tax man.

So look for a market research firm today and sign up for a study.

Tip #5 - Change in your Chage

I know this sounds like a silly tip but you cannot believe how easy this one is. Every time you go to the store and use cash, you probably get some change. Why not deposit that change into a jar instead of leaving it all over the place. I guarantee you every month, you will probably collect $10-$20 just in loose change. I know that every six months, I go to the local bank with a big jug (they always laugh) and start emptying the jug into the coin counter. Needless to say, I usually have about $100 worth of change. It's your money, why not save it in one place because it will add up fast.

Tip #4: Self Publish

There is not one person I know that doesn't have something to say or something to write about. If you are an expert at something, why not write about it. For example, if you love to knit why not write a how to guide on how to knit or a blog about knitting. Or if you are gadget guru, why not build a gadget guru blog or ezine that people can come to. Some of the best marketers out there say that products sell ok, but information is a hot commodity. If you are reading this article, you obviously already learned that because you are looking for what - information.

Self publishing can be a slow to earn income revenue earner but it has the potential to be a steady one. If you write a blog on restaurants in an area and then advertise the blog in that area, you guarantee yourself an audience - the metropolitan region. If you write an ebook on 101 ways to impress a girl or guy for a first date, you know you have a market - the single person who is looking for ways to land the relationship. Or even better, how about ways to earn residual income - aha! That is what this blog is about.

How is it then that people can make money from self-publishing. Well for bloggers, its pretty much through ad revenue. So Websites such as Google or Yahoo send you a check in the mail for every so many impressions or for how many referrals you give their site. A person with a niche could make $30-100 a month but that requires about 2000-3000 hits to a Website. That means you need to self advertise some too!

Another approach is the ebook self-publishing market. The company that I recommend you self publish with is Lulu.com. They take 20% of the profit from your publication. So say you write a novella that is 400 pages. Well to get it into one of the big publishing houses may take years but once you are done with it on Lulu, it could be posted and up for sale on Lulu.com and even Amazon.com in a matter of MINUTES!

So let's say you want to sell the book for $12.50, that means you will get a profit of $10.00. Say you sell 10 copies of your book a month. That is $100 a month or $1200 a year!

It may take a little work but once written and a little advertising is done, this is a revenue stream that simply requires you to put it on autopilot.

Suggestiona
Check out Lulu.com to start writing your next book today!
Or begin publishing your first blog on Blogger.com or Wordpress.com

Tip #3: Secret Shopping

There have been so many stories about people who entice individuals on the Internet to sign up and pay for services online to become part of quote “the secret shopping world.” The scams include enticing and provactive advertisements that seek to attract applicants by offering lucrative pay and Secret Shopper Jobs. These ads will charge a “small fee” ranging from $20 to $50 for registration and promise you the best Secret Shopper positions available in your area. These companies are either vehicles for information provided by companies offer FREE information on their own Websites or provide very out of date information to just lure the information seeking, thurst quenching potential shopper in the door. To convince you further, they will also post “testimonials” of previous applicants who had “made it big”. Victims of these sites believe that they can make $100,000+ and get thousands of dollars worth of freebies but at the end, they lose their pants and get no where. 

Truth be told, secret shopping has gotten a pretty bad reputation and for those who real secret shoppers, they know the business is not an easy one. It takes a lot of work and practice to become an expert. 

Victims of such scams who responded to the Ads are likely to receive worthless information regarding Secret Shopper companies. There is not much one can do because there is no refund and phone calls or emails are never answered. One should remember that genuine Secret Shopping Companies never charge fees to the applicant. Websites such as Best Secret Shops do not charge you a dime other than to provide you with the tools to learn how to become a professional secret shopper (i,e, education) and Web tools to manage your shopping experience. They NEVER charge you a penny even to promote shops. The revenue comes through education - which is something that even the most seasoned shopper can always use. 

While applying for a Secret Shopper Job, if you come across a hiring company advertisement with the promise of instant riches, beware. You cannot and never will make millions with a Secret Shopper Job, which is only meant to be part time. Earnings, for example are rarely more than $20 to $40 per assignment, especially if you are a beginner. Very experienced shoppers have the potential to make a couple of hundred dollars for a shop - but there is a catch! In order to make money, you need to spend money. Ah ha! That is what the advertisements do not say. The eBook, The Successful Secret Shopper: Tips, Tricks, and Advice provides current and future shoppers with the roadmap to succeeding in the secret shopping world - from hints on how to get the best shops to way to manage income and taxes. This is the most comprehensive and concise roadmap manual that one can have if they are regulars in the secret shopping business or about to embark on the journey. 

Filled with great stories, tools, tips, tricks, advice, and the most comprehensive list of companies available - that pay well too - this book is a must have. 

For the price of completing ONE OR TWO SECRET SHOPS, you get a priceless education that will help you become a master secret shopper. 

To purchase The Successful Secret Shopper: Tips, Tricks and Advice go and Purchase the book at Lulu.com

The book cost $12.50

BestSecretShops.com offers you a list of 155 legitimate secret shopping companies. Start applying today and also buy the book. These two sources come hand-in-hand and can make you some residual income. 

Websites Mentioned

• The Successful Secret Shopper: Tips, Tricks, and Advice
  An e-Book available via Lulu.com, Amazon (Kindle), and Google. The book is $12.50 and offers you a great way to make money online using Jake Allan (that's me) system to succeed at Secret Shopping. 
  
• BestSecretShops.com
  A blog-based site offering potential secret shoppers great education, secret shopping company reviews, and the most comprehensive list of resources for the secret shopper on the Internet.