photo by jenn_jenn’s

So its been a little while since I started my money making mission.

Disappointing, probably sums up my progress so far, I have little to show for the time I have put in. But there is a little cash in the piggy bank. Its easy to get down about this but I’m an optimist and realistically I was not expecting to become a millionaire over night. As long as I keep posting regularly (at the moment it has had to be weekly due to other commitments and lots of work), then I will be able to create a useful resource with lots of content. Until that unknown point of time comes, I will just have to wait. Hopefully with a little patience and a bit of effort the pennies will turn into pounds.

So my earnings so far -

Adsense

So far earned: $5.58 (approx £2.29)

Received: $0

Money4Banners

So far earned: £25 (approx $50)

Received: £25

As you can see money4banners has been the most successful to date, we wait to see and hope more different sources of revenue appear in my reports. From now on I will publish my reports monthly on the second Saturday or Sunday of that month. Hopefully January’s report will make good or better reading!

Apologies in advance if posts become sporadic, I may be limited on time and internet access for 3 weeks. I will try my best to write something useful!

Best of luck,

Martyn

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photo by robertgaal

Some may have noticed a little change. ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’, but if it is, hoping things will get better won’t solve the problem. So I have decided to remove BlogRush, the concept was good, but as I explained previously, the results were poor and have continued to be poor. But rather than remove a valuable connection to other similar blogs, I have decided to replace it with another blog network.

Entrecard

The basics, well think of it like a virtual business card. As in real life you can hand your business cards around to other businesses/blog owners who have the Entrecard widget. For this you earn credits, 1 for you and 1 to the person you give your card to. This is done by clicking on ‘Drop yours’ at the bottom of the widget. Feel free to do it on mine, but first you must create your Entrecard. You don’t need to be creative as there is a ‘card creator’ using some simple templates. The usual option of uploading your own is available to you also.

But also you can use your business card as an advert, you can place it on different blogs, this costs you credits. The amount depends on the popularity of that blog. Sadly it is not all that simple because thankfully the blog owner gets to review your card, before it gets displayed. Therefore cutting out spam and we should be pleased with that!

The reverse is also true, other bloggers can advertise on your site earning credits for you to spend!

Whether it will gain me valuable traffic, I will wait and see. Unlike BlogRush it is going to be more labour intensive, but that may be key to its success as it will be more of a ‘network’ of bloggers interacting.

Fingers crossed for Entrecard!

Martyn.

photo by JasonRogers

Cheap train tickets anyone? A month doesn’t seem to go past without another, “Train ticket prices set to rise by [insert inflation busting value here]%”. True, UK train ticket prices are generally rising, but as with flying there are some bargain offers to be had.

Here’s my top 5 tips:

1.) Buy Early

Cheap tickets are available on most journeys and routes. But as with airlines, these tickets are often loss leaders to the train operating company. Therefore always aim to book your tickets at least 3 weeks if not 4/5 weeks in advance, as these seats are limited per train. Remembering peak time tickets are most sought after by bargain hunters/experienced rail travellers.

2.) Split Your Journey

Experiment online, often there are silly things when buying your ticket. For instance a ticket booked for a train between Cardiff and London can cost a lot more than a ticket between Cardiff and Bristol, then Bristol and London. Even though you may stay on the same train all the way through! Just remember booking a ticket which starts or ends beyond where you are getting off is against the terms of travel, so even if it is cheaper, don’t do it! I will give you an example I just looked at. A ticket booked from Cardiff to London costs £19 but splitting the tickets on the same train costs £3 Cardiff – Bristol and £10 Bristol to London. In total £13 a saving of £6! Without even having to change train!

3.) Don’t Book For Peak Times

May sound obvious, but it’s worth remembering. If you have to catch a train during peak time, split your ticket as in tip 2.). So that you only pay peak prices when you are doing the section of your journey that is at peak time.

4.) Get a Railcard

With up to a 1/3 off on many journeys a young persons railcard (student railcard), will save you a fortune or at least the cost of it. That assumes you travel often by train or travel large distances.

5.) Travel For Only £1

You may have heard of MegaBus, well there’s MegaTrain as well who offer tickets from as little as £1. As in tip 1.) the tickets are limited, but if you book early, you could find some astonishingly cheap tickets.

As long as you plan head and are willing to put a little time into experimenting on National Rail Enquiries website. You to could be sitting on a train smugly thinking the person opposite you may have paid twice as much for the same journey!

Happy travelling,

Martyn.