$40+ Per Audio Hour with Focus Forward Transcription

I've been waiting to hold off on posting too much about this so I could ensure that the company I've been working for actually paid, but as promised, I received my first direct deposit!

If you can type fairly quickly (at least 65 WPM), have good grammar and spelling skills, and have a good sense of hearing, check out Focus Forward Transcription:

http://www.fftranscription.com/join-team.html

Perks of this job:

• $40 paid per audio hour: On average, this works out to about $10 per hour, though if you are a more efficient transcriptionist, it may work out to more.
• Fairly steady work: I have only been with Focus Forward for a couple of weeks, but I have consistently been assigned the amount that I have requested (between one to one and a half audio hours per day, with some extras on the weekend). This may change, but currently, they seem to have plenty of work available. (Note: When you first sign up, they may take a few days to get you an assignment since they try to assign new transcriptionists easy files to begin with.
• Set your own schedule: Focus Forward has a scheduling calendar where you can put the amount of time you'd like to work each day, so you can work when you please. They ask that you are available for at least 4 audio hours a week, which works out to about 20 hours, and the turnaround for projects is usually 24 hours (Protip: Start your scheduling low so you can get a feel for how much work you can handle, instead of promising too much and under-delivering).
• Opportunities for extra pay: Assignments that are more difficult or have a less than 24 hour turnaround are offered and pay an extra 5-10%. Furthermore, if you are able to transcribe in Spanish, you will make about double ($93.44 per hour - though I am not sure how many Spanish-speaking transcription opportunities there are).
• Independent Contractor: While working as a transcriptionist for Focus Foward, you are an independent contractor and are responsible for filing your own taxes. This means you may be able eligible to get tax write-offs for costs related to your work, or possibly incorporate yourself for more tax benefits (Note: I am not a tax advisor. You will have to look into taxes related to your specific work situation with an actual tax professional).

FocusFoward does prefer experienced transcriptionists, but if you can pass the test without experience, you should be fine. I don't know if they allow retests, so you will want to be careful your first time around. You can check out my previous post on Scribie to practice some transcription since they provide feedback once you are accepted as a transcriptionist, though you can also find plenty of information about transcription with a little time and research.

To read more reviews of working with Focus Forward Transcription from Real Ways to Earn Money Online (a fabulous and extremely helpful blog, btw), click here.

Earn More Money Daily with the New Clixsense Daily Bonuses

Clixsense has added new bonuses so you can earn more money each day and be rewarded for consistent use. You can now make a 7% or 16% daily bonus each day. Check out the message from Clixsense below:

Earning While You Wait: 4 Money-Making Savings and Investments

Now that you've earned some money, what are you going to do with it? (And no, I'm not talking about upping your Starbucks habit.)
Traditional bank and credit union savings accounts typically provide dismal returns at best, ranging in the .005% range, and CDs through these institutions are hardly much better. Given that these rates hardly keep up with inflation, using your savings this way is almost guaranteed to lose you money. Fortunately, there are other options that will help you keep more of your hard earned money.

1. Finding specialized savings programs through a credit union: Though the average savings accounts through banks or credit unions are not fantastic, there are sometimes a few gems that can be found. For example, Schools First Credit Union offers a "Summer Saver" account for school employees, giving returns of 3% without locking in your funds like a typical CD of similar interest would. Individual credit unions serve a variety of employment and geographic groups, so it is worth a look to see if you may qualify for a specialized savings accounts.

Don't fit into a qualified group? Fortunately, there are still more options for the average person.

2. SmartyPig Savings: Backed through BBVA Compass Bank, SmartyPig is an online savings account that returns 1% interest. Unlike most regular savings accounts, you can not dip into your funds and must cash out all of your funds if you want to use your money, but unlike CDs, there is no set amount of time that you have to keep your funds deposited and no penalty for withdrawing them at any time. SmartyPig also has the extra benefit of allowing you to cash out your money on a special SmartyPig debit card which can pay you 1% back on all of your purchases. Finally, there is a social element to this account, where you can set a specific goal and amount for your savings account and share it with friends. You and your friends can choose to donate to each other's goals, sharing the wealth and helping you all succeed. They even have a referral bonus where each friend who uses your referral code to use a SmartyPig savings account will give you an extra $10 towards your goal. Better interest and much more fun than your typical bank savings.

3. Betterment Investing: Investing in bonds and stocks can be lucrative, but without the time or know-how to do it properly, it can also be very risky. Betterment helps you lower the risk while still earning decent interest by allocating your funds for you. You can pick your level of risk by allocating the percentage of your funds you would like to go to stocks or bonds, and Betterment does the rest. They even provide projections for your account based on the risk level you decide, showing best/worst/average outcomes, as compared to different risk levels you can choose to take. Their fee is 0.35% as long as you deposit $100 a month, though you are able to withdraw your cash whenever you like, meaning your $100 is unavailable only for a few days while it is in transfer back to your bank. Of course, this is still the stock market, so there is the risk you could lose some of your money, but I've kept positive returns based on a 70% risk rate, so all in all it seems like a pretty good deal.
(EXTRA BONUS: If you sign up for Betterment through the link on this blog HERE, Betterment will deposit an extra $25 to your account. Must make an initial $500 deposit and not withdraw the funds for 90 days).

4. Lending Club: Lending Club is a peer-to-peer loaning platform which cuts out the middle man (banks) in loaning and allows investors to collaborate their funds to provide an individual with a loan. Most of people asking for loans are using the funds for debt consolidation, though there are also others for businesses, special projects, house renovations, etc. The majority of investors place $25 in each loan, distributing the risk for each individual investor. The loan platform decides the interest rate based on a borrowers "grade" ranging from 3-25%, and allows you to see pertinent factors like the borrowers income, debt-to-income ratio, credit lines, credit score, and so forth. Just like a regular bank, you are partially protected by the fact that the platform screens candidates and approves a loan application, along with the fact that these loans do affect credit scores and the platform will go to collections on defaulters.
Prosper also serves as a peer-to-peer lending platform, though Lending Club is what I have been primarily using and seems to give better returns. Sites like Lend Academy can also provide information on informed investing and help you decide how to allocate your investment funds.
(For those investing in Bitcoin as well, BTCJam is a useful peer-to-peer lending platform for the alternate currencies).


And, of course, when doing any kind of saving or investing, it's good to have a system in place of how much and how often you will deposit your money. Check out the 52 Week Challenge HERE for some inspiration.

Good luck and good savings!

Beyond the Dollar: Earning Bitcoins Online

With the value of Bitcoins steadily rising (and the value of the US dollar only going on the decline), now is the time to look into earning more than just straight cash. For a while, Bitcoins were only available through straight purchasing or mining, but now there are plenty of opportunities on the internet to earn Bitcoin. Below are a few examples of the kinds of ways you can earn Bitcoins online.
(To learn more about what Bitcoins are, look HERE. You can get your own Bitcoin wallet at Blockchain, Coinbase, or through various other websites).





Paid-To-Click (PTC) Sites: Click ads, earn Bitcoins, refer others and earn a small percentage of their earnings. As simple as that. Given that Bitcoin PTC sites are fairly new and not too highly saturated, there is potential to grow a referral base and bring in some residual income without too much investment. Using a Bitcoin PTC site also has the benefit of exposing you to other Bitcoin business opportunities through the ads.
Example:

• BTCClicks: Straightforward and simple site, click ads and earn Bitcoins. After posting a few cheap ads on Clixsense and Nerdbux (totaling about $15), and have gotten 42 referrals, most of whom have been actively clicking and earning money. This is my first payment proof:
  
• CoinAd: Another Bitcoin PTC site, though this site offers a lower referral commission rate than BTCClicks. However, there are plenty of ads to click at competitive rates, so if you have time for PTCs, this site is not a bad choice.

Faucet Sites: As far as I can tell, this constitutes as a site that gives you Bitcoins basically just for showing up. I can only assume they are doing this either out of the goodness of their hearts, or because it generates ad revenue from website traffic, but I don't see much potential for malicious activity since most will only ask for your Bitcoin address (something you would have to give to anyone paying you Bitcoin) and for you to create a username and password. The payouts are not tremendous, but you can't beat free!

Example:

• FreeBitcoin: Like the name says, you get free Bitcoins. You can come back every hour to click "Roll" to earn a small amount of Bitcoin, and if you are feeling lucky, you can wager your winnings to earn even more (I have lost the few times I've tried to do this, so I just keep mine). Any amounts which reach the cashout threshold (which is pretty low) are automatically sent to your Bitcoin wallet on Mondays. These are a few of my recent payment proofs:
  

These are just the ones that I have liked the most so far and am using regularly, but there are many more sites and opportunities out there! You can check out Bitcoinwork.info for a more thorough list of Bitcoin earning sites.
Also, it never hurts to stay informed! Follow blogs like Sit Down For Your Rights to stay in the loop!

Saving Money Through Freebies and Coupons

While finding ways to make money can be immediately gratifying, learning how to save money is just as important. Thanks to Netflix and my new fixation on the show "Extreme Couponing", I've dug up some ways to help you keep your money in your wallet.

The Krazy Coupon Lady: I have to say, I'm in adoration of this site, both for what they provide, and by how much revenue they must produce through their site (advertisers, Amazon kickbacks, and over 1 million Facebook followers?? You know they have to be raking in the money, all while helping their readers save/make money!). Their newsletter and Facebook site provides useful information to get everyday items dirt cheap or free, both online and off, and can even lead you to some good deals for you to use to resell. Using this site takes a ton of time and hassle out of having to search for coupons and sales yourself, since they do the work for you and combine the deals so you can get the lowest possible price. Definitely a go-to site for anyone who wants to save a bit of cash on their shopping (so, pretty much everyone).

FreeStuff.com: A couple minutes looking on this site got me some free contact solution (via Target Samples):


This site is so far my favorite because the majority of what they post are small, useful freebies that are just that... freebies. With good finds like this, you'll simply enter your info (mailing address, email, name, and so forth) and you'll receive your item in the mail in a couple of weeks, no strings attached. You can find other small items (like coffee K-cups, makeup, health products, etc.) usually for minimum time and effort too (again, by simply entering some info, or "liking" a company's Facebook page).
However, there are other sites that offer "freebies" that are not exactly free. For example, you may see posts like "Get a Free iPhone". Though it may seem obvious, these are not exactly free, and do take a lot of time and effort to complete other offers (usually those that cost money). This doesn't mean that they aren't worth pursuing (I have heard that often you can put in about $100 doing offers and get a product worth about $500 for "free"), but don't expect it to be a quick and painless journey.


Though they only scratch the surface of what is available out there, these two sites are great starting places to help save (or even make) you some money through coupons and freebies.

Get Paid for Listening to Music with RadioLoyalty

RadioLoyalty is a program that pays you to do something almost completely passive that you may already be doing anyways - listen to radio stations online. It's a pretty basic way to earn money as all you have to do is simply play the radio in the background (or mute your computer entirely if you really don't want to hear anything). RadioLoyalty can be accessed two ways:


1. Through an offer site: Currently, Clixsense and Treasure Trooper will give you credit for using RadioLoyalty through them. Simply open RadioLoyalty from their website and be sure to come back to the RadioLoyalty page in ten-minute increments to enter a CAPTCHA and be credited. Clixsense awards one cent per CAPTCHA and TreasureTrooper awards one arrowhead per CAPTCHA).
(Sign up for Clixsense HERE) (Sign up for Treasure Trooper HERE)

2. Directly through RadioLoyalty: By using their site directly, you can not only earn points for listening to the radio, but you can also complete other activities (like rating songs, completing surveys and offers, sharing via social media, using apps, and referring friends). They also have an app so you can earn on the go! The points you accrue can be exchanged for merchandise like electronics or Visa gift cards.
(Sign up for Radio Loyalty HERE)

Both methods have their advantages. In the past, my preference has been to use RadioLoyalty through Clixsense, since my pennies are added to my account immediately and I don't have to worry about gathering up enough points or arrowheads to exchange for something of value. However, the official RadioLoyalty site does offer pretty good prizes if you are interested in them for yourself or for resale, they provide a lot of easy ways to earn points outside of the normal survey/offer platforms, and you can accrue points without entering any CAPTCHAs, just by letting the radio run in the background. I have not used the direct RadioLoyalty site enough yet to exchange the points for prizes, but assuming that they follow through with paying out the offered goods, using the site directly may be the easiest option earn.

Whichever way you use it, this site is the epitome for earning by doing basically nothing. Check them out and start earning some (almost entirely) passive income.

New Clixsense Cashout

This has also been added to the Payment Proof section.