NickelsByEmail

I don't know what took me so long, but I finally signed up for this one.

NickelsByEmail (NBE) has been around for over 2 years, and currently has over 11000 members. The first thing that makes this site unique, is that you can click on multiple links (similar to YourPTR. The site also promises the chance to earn a nickel from each email. The chance... not a guarantee.

NBE has a low $5 minimum payout. PTCs vary between 0.1-0.25c, and some are point clicks. Points are converted weekly into cash (Current conversion rate is about $0.30 CPM).

Oh, and I was lucky enough to win a share of last week's prize pot of $21 split between 20 random members... so I got $1.05, yay!

Autosurfs - Truths and Myths

So, you're sick and tired of clicking on emails for fractions of a cent. Sometimes, you just want to sit back, and let the computer do all the hard work. Well, that's where autosurfs come in.

The idea of the autosurf, is that you don't have to do any clicking. You can sit back, and watch the pages load, and if something interests you, you can give it a click. But what do you get in return? Well, it depends on which ones you sign up for. Some offer a % return on investment (ROI) for surfing. while others generate huge amounts of traffic (100-200 hits/hour).

In the case of the former, the autosurf site generally offers a daily % earnings on investment for surfing a minimum number of sites. For instance, for a site that offer 2%, and you have an investment of $10, you earn $0.20 a day. Increase investment to $100, and you get back $2 a day (provided you surf enough sites daily). The investment, is non-refundable in most cases, and lasts a certain number of days - 30 days, or up to 1 year. You can choose to continue to invest, or withdraw, once you reach the minimum payout.

Sounds great doesn't it? Well, yes. If you pick the right autosurf; because for every stable autosurf, there's probably 10 unsustainable sites created that disappear within 6 months. The main problem with most autosurfs, is that they rely on growing paid membership and re-investment to continue. Advertising revenue tends to be low in comparison to membership investments/fees. Consider a site that offers 4% daily for 50 days, potentially doubling your $100 investment. Where does the money come from? Yes, new members. There are a few that claim to have external investment portfolios (stocks, bonds, etc), but in many cases, autosurfs tend to behave like MLMs.

For the average Joe, putting money into autosurfs can be risky. Firstly, you need to make sure that you can login regularly to surf 'n' earn. Secondly, trying to find the right autosurf requires a bit of research and luck. Online forums are generally a good place to start. Thirdly,
there may be additional charges to worry about, such as online transaction fees. The important thing to remember is to never invest more than you can afford to lose.

By autosurfing, you also build up credits for your website(s). But, if most people run these sort of programs in the background, they won't see your sites. Some people use these credits to promote Paid-to-Promote pages, which pays on a CPM basis. The problem is, many autosurfs are now banning P-t-P, due to various problems with the ads. And the last I heard, P-t-P has a backlog of payouts from May/June onwards. For those sites that use P-t-P ads, this may have some long-term consequences that should be addressed now.

Autosurf Pros:
1. Huge volumes of traffic generated.
2. Earning potential with investment.
3. Can be run in the background while you do other things online.

Autosurf Cons:
1. Low quality traffic.
2. Depletes limited bandwidth.
3. Possible hidden fees.
4. Too many scam and sham sites.

Sites of Interest:
AutoSurfGuide
AutoSurfMonitor
Is AutoSurf Traffic Good?
http://autosurf.blogspot.com/
Someone's Blog - No More HYIPs Or Autosurfs
Trap17 Forum

Actual PTR/PTC Earnings

In all honesty, you won't earn a great deal of money in PTR/PTC. I've seen people posting in forums that they're earning over $100 per month just from PTR. Well, I'm not saying that's impossible. It's possible, IF you have a decent downline. Different PTR sites have referral earnings ranging from 5% up to 30%. Some may offer higher or even multi-level referral earnings, but then, there comes the question of sustainability.

Below, I have listed a few PTRs to which I'm signed up, and the typical daily earnings (excluding referral earnings) if you're in a search country. The earnings stated also exclude PTP earnings, since that depends on how well you advertise the PTP pages. Those who aren't in a search country, will find their earnings significantly lower.

Average click value = 0.25c
Avant-Cash = 5c ($2 Payout)
Apple-Clicks = 10c ($3 Payout)
BeeHiveMail = 10-15c ($1 Payout)
Klikkini = 15c (euro) (€2 Payout)
MoraTraffic = 3c (No Min. Payout)
PolarPTR = 5-10c ($1 Payout)
Random-PTCs = 7-10c ($1 Payout)
SoRedTheRose = 5-10c ($2 Payout)

Average click value = 0.5c
AdPaid = 10c ($5 Payout)
Classical-Mail = 20-25c ($0.50 Payout)
YeahCash = 3-4c ($3 Payout)
YourPTR = 50c or more, but that's a lot of clicking! ($35 Payout)

Average click value = 0.75c
3QuaterMails = 10-15c ($2 Payout)

As you can see, most of these sites allow you to reach the stated minimum payout within 1 month of activity. Potentially, you could be earning $40-$50 per month from just these programs, without referrals. But, in all honesty, to earn that, you'll be clicking over 500 emails a day! In reality, you'll be lucky to be able to make $25 per month.

Then, why continue with PTR? For me, it's more of a learning experience. PTRs offer relatively cheap advertising, and allows advertisers to promote their website/products.
For PTR members, PTR offers a small incentive for their time. For some, PTRs are just a stepping stone before going into (riskier) online investments (such as Autosurfs and HYIPs).