How to Find Progressive, Green Hosting for Your Websites

As I've mentioned before, I plan on moving this blog and creating other websites as my knowledge about web design improves. I am currently reading articles at Associated Content to learn simple, low-cost ways to build sites. If you would like to view these articles just visit my profile at Digg.com!
Since I am just learning, I will lay this out so that others who are just learning can follow along easily. In order to build sites one needs web hosting. Hosting companies provide you the server space and bandwidth necessary to build as many sites as you'd like. Since the inception of this blog I have been carefully researching companies. There are a lot out there and I needed to make sure that I found someone who catered to their clients and had excellent support. I am also interested in a company that is eco-concious and affordable. It is important to me that any site that hosts my blog and other websites be progressive both socially and environmentally. It takes a huge amount of server power to host so many domains, and that equals a lot of electricity.
I have found that ThinkHost is the perfect fit for me. Not only do they have a great support package for us newbies but they are also green; getting their energy through wind and solar power. Socially, they favor grassroots causes, providing no-cost hosting to environmental groups and community non-profits. They have no shareholders and no debt. The revenue made is distributed among the staff, goes back into the business, and is donated through their free web hosting. With no corporate "fat cats" they are free from pressure to compromise for the sake of profit. Their staff is active in environmental, social and political issues as well.

Because everyone is trying to do their part to be green I have provided a link to ThinkHost below so that you can get started too!



It is an affordable,eco-friendly opportunity! If you are an online store owner you should know that ThinkHost provides a free shopping cart with their web hosting package. They have many other freebies available to everyone. Take a peek!

A Recap of Today's Activities

I wanted to give a quick overview of what my day looked like today. This is a typical day for us.
10am-2pm Working at GBB- Cutting fabric for patterns, assisting customers, keeping track of the brood!

3-4:45pm Writing articles for AC, cleaning house

The rest of the night was devoted to dinner-making, bedtime routines, and surfing the Net for ideas!

I wrote and submitted 3 articles today and one yesterday. I've started writing 20 other articles that I plan to finish and submit by Thursday.

Here are my earnings so far for July:
CashCrate: $15.78
AC: $3.45
ChaCha: $23.80

Right now it doesn't look like a lot, but it is better than nothing. Also, I am monitoring other signs that things are moving in the right direction. At CashCrate, I've gained 6 referrals now. AC articles are quick to write and people have already begun to view the one article that I have published.
I'll keep you posted as things grow!

Keep Going

It is hard for me to keep steam behind an idea in order to see it get off the ground. I haven't the patience, at times, for anything less than instant gratification. Well, then this venture is giving me a tutorial in how to wait, how to plan, and how to enjoy each step along the way.

I have offically begun using my ChaCha access as a fully-trained Guide. As an added surprise, it has turned out to be a lot of fun. I have been proposed to. I have answered questions pertaining to, shall we say, male anatomy. I have assisted someone in finding the State Attorney General's office phone number for reasons of emanicipation. A varied lot to be sure. And I've made about $30 in a couple of hours (probably about 3). Not bad.

Associated Content accepted my first article for $3.44 upfront payment. This does not include payment for page views. If I could get over my writer's block and write 8-10 articles per day, that would be some decent money as well.

CashCrate is something that I do every now and then between article writing and ChaCha. I have about $20 in my account. I have four referrals who are now earning money with me!

It's been exciting to see things begin to flourish. I have been pretty neglectful in the past two weeks as business is booming at the boutique. I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to look after my time investments like I should. I think that's what makes this even better though. The fact that I haven't been entirely attentive or involved and things are still beginning to happen however slowly. I promise to see this through and I hope that you'll stick with me as well on this adventure. Thank you!

About My Work-Out-of-Home (WOH) Job!

Okay, so you caught me. It's not coffee time here. I had my cup on the road today in between running errands this morning. I also wanted to confess that I'm not just lazing around all summer on the Interweb. I do have a very part time job that I adore! I work in a local, mama-owned baby boutique aptly named Garden Baby Boutique. The owner sews (of which I am eternally jealous) the most beautiful and unique pieces. She also takes custom orders and just has an uncanny knack for choosing the perfect coordinating fabrics and colors. Many customers come in with only a vague description of what they are looking for and they trust in her to flesh out the gritty details and provide a quality product that they will love. She completes her custom orders so quickly that long-time customers know that calling two days before an event requiring a one-of-a-kind look is no problem for her. She is beyond accommodating and wonderful to work with and for. Somehow, she never fails to please.

She keeps her store stocked with local artisans and her own line of children's clothing, personalized baby blankets, bibs, burp cloths and diaper bags that are gorgeous enough to double as regular bags as well. Combine these baby must-haves with Melissa and Doug wooden toys, puzzles, and art supplies and she has a winning shop that appeals to a variety of people. Especially the littlest ones!

Earn Extra Money with CashCrate

Another online avenue for income is the get-paid-to (GPT) market. In my endeavor to raise some extra cash I am only blogging methods that I have researched, used, and found effective. I'm also only interested in free, or very low cost, options. We're trying to make money here, not spend it. To this end, I have found that there are certain sites to stay away from (I'll save that for another post) and a few that are worth the time and effort.

One of those sites is CashCrate. CashCrate is a GPT site that offers surveys to it's users. After each survey you press Submit and CashCrate pays you the rate that was posted for that survey. You NEVER need to give out any credit card information. You can make decent money filling out only the free surveys. The site is extremely user-friendly and it's very easy to see what you have earned. Your cash out options begin when you have earned $10. I have seen this company issue real checks and I will post my first as soon as I have it in hand.

http://cashcrate.com/660351

Please click on the link above to sign up with CashCrate. It's a neat way to make some extra money. I have a lot of fun with it!

I'm also here for those who sign-up through me. Answers to any questions, tips and tricks, and personal attention while you start making money online is available to you!

Jessica

Becoming a ChaCha Guide

Now that I think of it, my first foray into an online income started with the innovative company, ChaCha. The reason I had forgotten this is because I haven't actually used my account yet. To get you started I'll give a quick overview.

ChaCha is best described as a human-based, portable search-engine. As a user you would text any question you have to 242242 (spells chacha). Only standard text fees from your carrier apply. In a few minutes you have answer sent back in text. This is what the Infoseeker sees. As a Guide you are on your computer and logged into the Universe. A doorbell sounds and a pop-up gives you the option of answering a query. Using the resources provided by ChaCha you quickly search the Internet for an answer. You reply back in a box and ChaCha sends a tiny url to the user as well. It's a nifty invention for both Infoseeker and Guide. As a guide you are paid .20 per answered query. Since answering a query takes under 3 minutes you can answer many and the money adds up quickly.

You must apply and receive an invitation to test. After you accept the invite you take the 3 subject Fitness Test. Once the test is passed you take the simulator test and get to see how the Universe really works. Answer 15 questions and wait approximately 24 hours for the results to be sent via email. I know many people who are Guides and doing great. You only work when you want to and you can do other things on your computer while in the Universe. It really doesn't get much better for the Internet-addicted!

To apply please visit www.chacha.com

You can use my email as a reference during the initial application. Just comment below with any questions and I will email you.

I'd love to assist you in passing the exams. Using my email will give you a one-on-one start to the world of ChaCha.

Happy ChaCha-ing

Jessica

Submitting to Associated Content

If you find yourself sitting around, reading all you can about earning money online you'll never make a cent. With some things (and this would be one of those things) you just have to jump right in.

My first leap into online income was in the form of writing for Associated Content (AC). I had read some great things about AC and (finally) decided to sign-up and start submitting. Content Producers (CP) are paid upfront for their content writing and published articles continue to earn Performance Payments per one thousand page views. Each one thousand page views will earn the CP $1.50. Although this doesn't sound like much, if you do it right AC can work very well for you. Keep in mind that you are writing content. People will be doing searches looking for information on a certain subject. If you plan your AC articles, titles, and keywords right then the search engines will point the searcher to your article. So, forget everything you learned in your Creative Writing classes and think like a searcher. Do your research by finding out what people are searching for now. If you are a fast, accurate writer it is possible to turn out between 10-12 articles per day.

To get started visit: http://www.associatedcontent.com/
To view my profile and articles click here.

Oh, and thanks for looking!

From time to time, I will link to my articles from this blog. Enjoy!

Jessica

Getting Started

I'm just sitting down to my first cup of coffee this morning. I wanted to share with you what the purpose and goals of this blog will be. I have an enormously blessed and happy life. Two gorgeous kids and a tireless, handsome guy to share everything with. In February I left a perfectly good job. Not a great job; not my dream job. In fact, it was only good in regards to the pay. I couldn't continue my twelve hour days supporting something that I do not thoroughly believe in. The same week we signed on a new house I quit my job. With no prospects for full time work, I became a substitute teacher. This has gone very well. This is what I would legitimately call a perfectly good job. But not in regards to the pay. I pinch my pennies and do my best but in the end I wonder if I can really come out ahead.

Now, it's summer. The substitute gig won't be back until September. I'm home with my children and that makes me unbelievably happy. Still, there's the niggling thought in the back of my head that I need to figure out a way to earn income while I'm at home. This blog will record my very newbie efforts and, hopefully, help someone else in the long run.

When I say "newbie" I really mean it. I'm not at all Internet savvy (I do have commonsense, however) and most of my earnings will come from online methods since the goal is to stay home. I am such a bonafide newbie that I'm actually impressed with myself for setting up this blog so well. Once, I've learned a bit I may move this blog to my own, hosted website; we'll see. When I read other blogs that talk about feeds, keywords, page views, etc my eyes kind of glaze over. Here, I 'd like to decode that mystery for everyone and give it all meaning.

At the same time, I'll be posting tidbits about our family, our busy life, and home improvement projects with our new home. I'd love feedback and welcome comments and suggestions. If you ever need clarification concerning a topic; please let me know. Let's get started right away. I have a nice smattering of options to share already. I think that no matter what your personal goals are you can find something that's right for you! Good luck, to all of us.