Make Money from Home with Unwanted Gift Cards

Now that we have survived Christmas and all the gift opening, meals, and merriment, many of us ask, what do we do with it all? For some of us though, we may be wondering what to do with unwanted gifts and gift cards. What do you do with the gift card from Home Depot when you live an apartment? Or with your iTunes gift card when you don't have an iPod or MP3 player?

It used to be that you would have to use unwanted gift cards on items you really didn't need or you would just throw it in a drawer, never to be seen again. Not anymore! Now you can make money from selling your cards! Or you can swap them for cards you really do want! OR you can make it easy and sell your card in exchange for Amazon cards! I typed in a $25.00 Home Depot card and it gave me a value of $21.00 for an Amazon.com card! To change cards automatically into Amazon.com gift cards, just click the advertisement below!

If you want to sell or trade your gift cards, you can browse cards by starting here:  

Plastic Jungle makes it possible to get what you really do want while helping others with your gift cards! This is the busiest time of year for Plastic Jungle and it's a great way to save money too by purchasing gift cards at 10% - 40% less than what you would normally pay for it!

To sell your unwanted gift cards, buy discounted cards, or to swap gift cards with others try 

Holiday Season and Work

I recently read an article by Chris Brogan that said he chooses not to slow down during this time frame, as the new year ends. It made sense, all the things he said about productivity and how it is a momentum. I decided I would plug through the end of the year too and try to improve my online visits to my information about Alzheimer's, Online Business Tips, and poetry. But then it occured to me, that I don't want to be that person. I don't want to be that person who works through the holidays, losing out on time with my boyfriend and family. Time that we won't get back. Life IS too short.

Yes, I want to be successful with my blog. And I want to make a full time living through online means, but I am a strong believer of things happening when and how they should. I believe in God and that he has a plan for us already. Because of that belief, I choose to shut my computer off, enjoy the Christmas holiday my family celebrates, and let work go for now.

Don't you worry though. I have things in the works and you can be the first year I will be back stronger than ever. It is important to slow down now and then, regroup, and remember what matter mosts to you. I think most people will find it is not being a success. You can't take it with you and it's no fun to spend it alone.

So, I will see you soon! Happy Holidays!

Wrapping Christmas Gifts and Thinking About How I Quit Smoking

Today while I was wrapping my Christmas presents, I decided to use up some paper I received from an ex smoker. You can imagine my disgust when I started wrapping and my hands yellowed from the layers of residue on the paper and my nostrils flared from the stale dank smell of smoke. I won't lie, I was also puzzled by the fond feelings it brought up of smoking. Even now, 5 years later, I still want a smoke from time to time, but I don't. I let it go and it the feeling leaves.

And it's just that, a feeling. It's not a pain or an almost crippling craving that I experienced the first 3 weeks of my quit. It passes and it happens less and less so that now, 5 years later, that fleeting moment only occurs once every couple of months. I forget whast it was like to quiut smoking or that I even smoked at all.

When I quit, my health improved. I have the energy now that cigarettes stole from me. I have the empowering knowledge that I concquered that dear friend. That one friend who killed me with each encounter. Some friends just need to be cut loose. You're better than that doormat cigarettes turn you in to. You call the shots.

If I could quit smoking after 20 years, you can. I loved to smoke and I know you do too. But I also know it is killing you. Just read my story about how I stopped smoking to see what I did. It might help you and it might not, but at least you are trying to stop and that is what matters. There are many ways to stop smoking. Below are various products that I promote. Some I have tried and some my friends tried. Just Keep Trying! Good luck.


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Google Alternatives for Search Boxes

I have been searching for a search box to take the place of Google's Custom Search for a long time now. I've come across a couple that I hope will be good.

One of them is 7Search.com  Everytime someone uses it and clicks on a result, you earn money. Try mine. I like it, it's easy to install, but I hate their advertising on the bottom of it. Most of my viewers don't have a website so to have the words "Earn $ money $ with your website" directly under the search bar makes it look untrustworthy. I understand their reasoning. They do it to attract more people like me, who have a website and doesn't want to use Google Custom Search.

I just added it today and have already made $.20 on 4 searches, which seems to be good, but we'll see.

The overall process has been frustrating to me. I am more frustrated with Google than anything. They are such a big corporation that they don't really care about any of the little guys. I have contacted them several times, but haven't heard back from them. I hear this is common with Google.

If anyone knows of a better Search Box that will produce revenue from search results, please let me know. I like 7Search.com, but not earning the revenue I would like.

Google Scams

I just watched the morning news and saw the segment about Google scams and what Google is going to do about them.

I am so happy that Google is going to start sueing those who pretend to represent them. The world has too much deceit and it's good to see one of the big guys caring for us.

When I first started out on the Internet, I almost fell for one of these scams. I am so happy I didn't. There were a couple red flags that stopped me from it.

The biggest clue for me was the website address. Google is http://www.google.com/. They would never have a URL address like ...googlebiz.com or getrichgoogle.com.

I have been researching a lot on the Internet and if it's one thing I know, Google offers nearly all their information for free. They offer free advertising, websites, analytics, email accounts, blogs, and more. Why on earth would they charge you $.50 for information? And why would it come in the mail? And not through the computer?

And some people, like the gentleman on the news today, think it's only $.50 so even if it doesnt' work out, I won't lose a lot. READ THE FINE PRINT. Usually if they are offering information and the enticement is the inexpensiveness, there is a catch.

I like to think people are honest, decent, and good. but lets face it folks, there are a lot of untrustworthy, greedy people out there.

So my advice to my fellow sufers looking to make a quick buck: the good things in life require work. If you have any doubts, check it out. Do a search on the company, the website address, etc. If they are trying to scam you, they have scammed others and somebody will write about it somewhere to warn others. Go to snoops.com and check it out there. Don't just jump.

Keep Track of Visitors to Your Website with Google Analytics

Keeping track of your visitors is important to all website owners. It gives you insight on a variety of statistics that can help you determine the direction your website will take. Face it, if you don't have returning visitors, then there is something wrong with your site.

But you won't even know that if you don't track who is coming and going. Google offers a free anaylytics service that I think is great! The reports show so many statistics including the basics like: returning vs. new visitors, keywords searched to get to your site, location of the visitors, what page was the entry page or exit page, how many pages were viewed by a visitor and so much more! The list goes on and on.

The setup for Google Analytics is pretty easy. You can sign in with an existing gmail account or create a new one. Once you have an account, the only step left is to paste the code into the page you want tracked. I personally pasted the code in to my main template so each page automatically will have the tracking.

Once the code is in place you will be able to monitor the visits to your site. Looking at your statistics will give you a better idea of what your current patrons are interested in, what's working and what's not.

Of course there are other companies out there that will monitor your usage. But they aren't free and I haven't found one yet that measures up to Google Analytics.

Monetize Your Website like I did

With the struggling economy, we are all worried about our cash flow, scrimping where we can, and trying to make a few extra dollars where we can. That's why I decided to monetize my website and blogs. You can read about the journey of this at my Here 2 Help Services blog...

Monetizing your site is actually quite easy. You just need to have the right starting points. I give you a review of the three top companies I use to monetize my website, Adbrite, Bidvertiser, and Share A Sale which is an excellent start! Taking on too many companies all at once just makes it more complicated.  You can read the review in full here.

The most important thing to remember when placing ads on your site, is the set up. Think out how you want to organize and track what people are reading on your site or blog. You can do this by describing the zone (or ad), with the size of ad banner and page name. Then when you look at your reports, you will see how many times the ad was viewed. This is how many times people visited your site.

No matter how much you earn, it will still be more than you started with. Who knows, maybe you will earn only enough to cover the cost of your website. But at least that is an expense you won't need to worry about.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them here and I will help the best I can. Good luck! And I hope this helped.