David on Finance

For those wondering what a “snowflake” is, Dave Ramsey came up with the “Debt Snowball” solution to paying off debt. The basic premise is that you keep putting all the extra money towards the smallest debt, and when it’s paid off, move to the next one. This creates a cascading effect that keeps you motivated and gets the debt off fast. Snowflaking is the art of adding small amounts of money to your debt snowball. There are a LOT of ways to make extra money, but this page will record the opportunities I find the most attractive for people who don’t want to start blogs, businesses, or sell things. These are all things anyone can do; all they require is a web browser and a little free time!

1. Kluster - Kluster is a very interesting new idea. It leverages the power of collaborative thinking to allow individuals and businesses to make decisions. Think of it as a brainstorming think-tank that people can hire part-time. Right now, there are two options to make money; KNews, a collaborative news production, and NameThis, a collaborative naming application. In each one, you can submit ideas or invest in others’ ideas, and earn both “points” and money if your idea is chosen. The points are used to make more investments later, and the money you earn is a percentage of the ad revenue for that page calculated on your point investment. I earn anywhere from $1-5 dollars per day just investing in others’ material, and that should grow as the site becomes more popular. When the site was set up as a place to get input on business ideas, I made upwards of $80 on my ideas alone. Hopefully they’ll open that back up soon.
2. MySurvey - A lot of survey sites are scum, but this one has been around awhile, is listed with the BBB, and seems to pay decently. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, and the awards here are moderate enough to cause no worry. Surveys earn you points, and each point is worth about a penny. I earn anywhere from 70 to 500 points per month; you can earn more if you are in a particularly valuable survey demographic and willing to take lengthy surveys. They have a good selection of merchandise you can buy with your points, or you can request a check. Referrals earn 150 points. It seems like a sustainable website, and while it won’t make you thousands of dollars, it can provide a few good-sized snowflakes to get out of debt faster! Not to mention it’s a great way to get “extra” things like iPods or TVs!
3. Associated Content - This one takes actual work to make serious money on, but if you enjoy writing, and can do a bit of research to make a good article, this can provide steadily growing income for you. Basically, you write an article about a topic of your choice. As people visit it (thereby earning AC ad revenue), you earn money from it. The earnings potential is infinite, but it requires a lot of work on your part. Format your articles so Google can pick up interesting keywords, submit your articles to any blogs you write, and use social networking to promote your articles. The more they get read, the more money you can earn. The brilliant thing is that you can write a few killer articles, and they can earn you money for years to come. Some other tips: be sure to include a picture (use stock photos if you must), properly reference any resources, and do not plagiarize!
4. Inbox Dollars - You can’t make a ton of money on this, but I tend to make a solid $5 per month. You may say that isn’t a lot of money, and you’d be right. However, for just clicking links in emails, taking the occasional survey, and signing up for offers online, it isn’t a waste of time. Besides, $60 per year is better than nothing, and as you’ve learned in snowflaking, every little bit does indeed help! If you’re really ambitious, you can earn more through referrals, gaming, and other options, but like I said, $5 per month for clicking on an ad or two each day is not a bad deal. Besides, over time I get ads that are more relevant to me, and some have even caused me to sign up for a product (and therefore make more money).
5. UTest - I hesitate to mention this, because it does require a certain amount of technical prowess, you must be able to write well, and be willing to actually work for your money. UTest is a software testing site. Companies contract with UTest to have their users test software, websites, or web applications. For each bug or valid complaint you come up with (that the company verifies and approves), you earn cash. As a software developer, I think the site is brilliant; you pay people to find your bugs. Users earn money, businesses have better software, and UTest rakes a profit off the top; everyone wins here. If you have plenty of free time and don’t mind doing actual work, you can rake in some serious snowflakes here!