Earn Money From Sharing Videos?

February 24, 2007

Recently, there have been a couple of video sharing sites which rewards people for sharing their videos. Most of these sites allow people to earn money from the Google Adsense clicks accumulated from the ads being displayed on the same page as one’s video.

Users get to earn a percentage of their referrals’ Google Adsense earnings as well. Hence, it functions as a referral program as well.

I also came across a script selling at around US$197 which enables people to set up such video uploading websites.

Now we all know that Google Adsense earnings are quite low and with the gaining awareness of Adsense, it makes it extremely difficult for people to generate a stable income from Google Adsense.

Coupled by the fact that with so many such similar sites springing up, to be able to command a reasonable traffic flow to one such site would be extremely challenging. Furthermore, everyone who sign up as a member knows for a fact that they will earn money through the Google Adsense clicks accumulated. Hence, it provides little incentive or reason for them to click on others’ ads.

Hence, personally I feel that the business model of such websites is rather weak.

Nonetheless, as video sites look for ways to attact higher-quality content, they are dangling cash, usually offering to cut creators in on the advertising revenue their work generates.

I recently came across one video sharing website – http://www.metacafe.com. It pays creators US$100 when their video has been viewed 20,000 times, and US$5 for every 1,000 additional views.

Hence, it pays video creators based on how many viewers their work attracts. This, as compared to the above mentioned websites which pays video creators based on how many adsense clicks it generates, is certainly more viable and practical.

It also promotes creativity and innovation of videos, which will in the long run generate a constant flow of traffic to the website.

Not surprisingly, the website’s alexa ranking is 136 when I last check. Very impressive I must say.

Other sites like TurnHere and ExpertVillage.com, offer upfront payments for videos on assigned topics, like a tour of Golden Gate Park in San Fransisco, or an instructional video about skydiving.

And in January, Mr Chad Hurley, a YouTube co-founder, announced at the World Economic Forum that his site, now owned by Google was exploring similar ways to ‘reward creativity’.

Web opportunites certainly promise to be more exciting and lucrative as avenues open up for ordinary individuals to showcase their talent and creativity and get rewarded at the same time.

If you have an interesting video to share, why not head on to http://www.metacafe.com now?

And if you become famous one day, do remember to treat me to a cup of coffee one day if you heard of it first here.

Have a great weekend folks!

Is it True That All Online Business Opportunities Are Scams?

November 15, 2006

First of all, there aren’t as many scams on the internet as the over-hyped “kings of exaggeration” mainline media would have you think. If that’s the case, why do so many people cry scam? Well, I’m not denying that there are indeed some unscrupulous merchants out there intent on cheating your money.

However, many of those who claimed to be scammed are those who never even bother to really take on the opportunities they were presented with. They go into every business opportunity (both online and offline) thinking that they are going to be a millionaire overnight.

And when they do not, they cry scam! They simply expect other people to do the work and bring in the profits for themselves. Now if you belong to this category, here’s the shocker: No one is going to do that for you! You’ve got to take charge of your own success and wealth!

Read more

Why The Internet?

November 11, 2006

Well, there are a couple of reasons why I feel the Internet has the ability to generate passive forms of income streams for everyone. Firstly, the amount of internet users is increasing exponentially every year. Sooner or later, every single household will have a computer and internet connection.

Furthermore, the connection speeds are getting faster as well. Wireless broadband access are also starting to surface and Singapore is soon going to offer island-wide wireless access.

Thus, the internet is becoming a must for every business, both online and offline.

For every business to become successful, it needs to have excellent marketing. Thus, we shall now compare traditional marketing with internet marketing:

Traditional marketing encompasses using snail mail to reach out to consumers. This is slow and entails high maling costs. It is limited to geographical bounaries and the business week and hours. There are high entry costs and high cost of failure.

Internet marketing uses emails which are fast, cheap, efficient and reliable. It can be made available to the whole world and it is available 24 hours, every dingle day.  There are low entry costs, thus it levels the playing field and makes it possible for almost every one to enter the market. There is also low cost of failure as compared to traditional marketing.

Remember, marketing is the oxygen of any business and the Internet has indeed revolutionized the concept of marketing. Still, there remains many skeptics and I shall attempt to dispel some myths in the next post.