Alice.com, a new way to shop and save!

Wow, I recently stumbled upon a new website that can really change the way we save and use coupons. Alice.com scours the internet for sales and coupons and automatically applies those savings to everyday products. They have a section for best bargains, and some of those prices are unbelievably good! Plus, they ship free!

If you sign up with this link, you will save $10 off your first $50, and it doens't have to be in one transaction, it can accumulate to that amount. They have a good selection of dry goods and non-perishable foods, and it seems to be growing every day.

One more feature I really like, you can set your own "pantry" where you list the things that you regularly use. They will let you know when they have sales you may be interested in, or you can set it for them to let you know when you should order more before running out. 

The coupon potential on this site is great! Granted, they don't double or triple coupons, but for a busy stay at home mom who doesn't like to actually clip coupons this is a great option. I recently saw deoderant for .58 cents apiece there! I'm really excited about this opportunity, I think this will be a great way to save money on groceries. The prices are so low, it might take a while to hit that first $50!  

MTurk, making money in my spare time

I'm buckling down more and more with MTurk. This can really be a profitable website for a stay at home moms. The biggest problem with me, is finding the time and sticking with it. There are too many distractions on the world wide web sometimes to keep focused. Finding work with MTurk that is enjoyable helps overcome some of those issues. Staying on task and devoting time and energy to it really brings in a decent little income. Of course, the longer you devote to it, the more money you make!

I'm setting aside at least three hours per day to work on MTurk, at least an hour and a half both morning and evening. This will leave the rest of the day to take care of the house and kids, make dinner, and focus on other online earning oportunities. Plus, setting a realistic schedule can help reduce burnout so you can work harder and more efficently. Every little bit helps when trying to work from home!

Another time zapper for me is continually checking the dashboard to see how much money I've made. This is a bad habit! Just keep plugging along is the best way to really add up some income. Plus, it makes the time go by so much faster. 

MTurk is one of my important tools in becoming a stay at home mom. I can make quick and easy money there, while waiting for my residual income from places like eHow. The combination of both types of income are handy, you know you can count on the residuals, but when something comes up you have the opportunity to make it up quickly. 

On to Infobarrel

Well, I was very excited to apply with Suite 101, but my application was denied. I think I need to strengthen my writing a little more and will probably apply with them at some point in the future. They do only accept 20% of applicants, so I really need to get a little stronger before trying again.

However. For now I am giving Infobarrel a shot. It utilizes Google AdSense as a means of payment, offering a nice share of ad revenue. The writing style seems easy to work with, and the residual income will be much appreciated. Every little bit helps when trying to become a stay at home mom. Plus, having multiple streams of residuals is always a good bet. 

I plan to go through my eHow library to spawn ideas for Infobarrel articles. Not to copy them, just for brainstorming purposes. Their writing also does not have to be in the how-to format, which opens up a lot of possibilities to write about. This is an exciting step for me, definitely a way to broaden the writing horizons! On the bright side, I had to write two sample articles to apply on Suite 101, so my first two submissions are already taken care of. 

I'll keep this updated with progress with Infobarrel. I do think this will be a great opportunity in my journey to become a stay at home mome.

Infobarrel does have a referral program, so if you are interested in writing for Infobarrel please check out this link. 

Expanding writing skills and trying Suite 101

After doing a little research, I'm finding people on WAHM.com are saying Suite 101 has higher residual income than eHow. There is an application process, and active editors involved. Eh, things could be worse. I like the idea of editors being involved, unlike eHow, to provide higher quality writing. I'm still somewhat new to writing online, but have learned a lot about SEO and article marketing along the way. I think the next logical step from eHow must be to Suite 101! 

Some of the WAHMs on the message board were posting their numbers of articles compared with the montly earning between the two sites. It was a huge difference, some of them three to four times as much residual income from Suite 101! Since there is no cost to apply, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. This could very well the the means to becoming a stay at home mom!

Straying from the how-to format is seriously going to stretch and improve my writing. It's ridiculously easy to put a how-to together into actionable steps. I've just ran somewhat dry on ideas I can do that with. I have "the list" but just have been having trouble adapting ideas I have into articles. Remove the how-to and actionable step issue, and voila, I have tons of articles ready to go for Suite 101. Problem solved!

They do have a set amount of articles they want written, but it's fairly small. I believe it's 10 articles per three months. When I was going strong with eHow, I was churning out 15 per week, so I know that won't be an issue. Obviously, it would not be wise to just copy the eHow articles to put over on Suite 101, as this hurts search engine ranking. Plus, I believe they frown on exact copies, as well. However, I plan to use the same byline, so I can modify existing articles for use on their site. 

I'm really excited about this opportunity. If I spend two hours each morning on writing, my odds of becoming a stay at home mom raise substantially. No more scrambling to find a babysitter for me, hopefully! Wish me luck!

Update on eHow earnings

I am taking a good hard look at eHow, and how much money I am currently making from my efforts there. To date, I have made almost $750 in just over a year writing for eHow. I estimate that I spent around 82 hours in my time writing there, which would make about $9.14 per hour for my work. Here's the catch, once the work is done, the earnings keep coming in, so even if I never write another article there my hourly wage is only going up. Not bad for passive income for a stay at home mom!

Obviously, the way to raise this even more is to churn out more articles. Easier said than done. I've mentioned before keeping a running log of article ideas to draw from in moments of writer's block, or to just keep on paper before I can forget. Then there's the issue of time. What stay at home mom has enough of that? There's always laundry that needs done, always dishes in the sink, always life in the way. I'm making it my goal to FIND time to write more articles, and up my passive income.

Another important thing. You can never know enough about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It's not good enough to just throw it out there and hope your writing just strikes it rich. If you are counting on this for another stream of income, make the most of it! Use Google's Keyword Analysis Tool and find the keywords that are searched for and have a decent pay per click. I was going about this wrong in the beginning, going for keywords with tens of thousands of searches AND a very high CPC. Those keywords often have very heavy competition, which means it will be hard to get on the front page of searches in search engines. 

Finding keywords with a couple thousand searches per month and a decent payout (between $1 and $5) means there is a demand for the subject, but not so much competition that your article gets buried in thousands of other search results. A little bit of homework in this area goes a very long way with passive income!

How does that work with "the list?" Finding which keywords to use for your subject is tricky. It may involve wording that you're not very comfortable with, which can show through in your writing. Take the time to MAKE it work, to make it sound natural and you will see much better rewards in your writing. Go through "The List" from time to time and do your homework, and take notes. If you think BBQ is going to provide better results than Barbeque, take note. It's the little differences like this that can make a huge difference in the long run in passive income. 

When using passive income and writing online as a means to becoming a stay at home mom, you've really got to stay on top of things. Read through everything you can get your hands on to ensure you are finding the best way to maximize your time, thus maxmizing your income.