Looking for Some Testers - Make Money on RateItAll

There is some big RateItAll news today - I think we're ready to launch a trial of the rewards program I referenced in a previous post.

We're tentatively calling this thing the "RateItAll Economy," and the idea is pretty simple - if you contribute to the RateItAll community - whether it be by creating Weblists, creating new listings for existing lists, creating a user profile with a picture, or referring friends, we want you to share in the advertising revenue associated with those contributions.

(We're working on incorporating the posting of reviews into this program, but that part isn't quite ready yet.)

Google Adsense

The RateItAll Economy leverages an advertising network called Google Adsense. Google Adsense allows Web sites to make money by displaying targeted advertisments from Google's base of advertisers. Google then shares the advertising revenue with the Web site who is displaying the ads.

So what we're doing is taking this Adsense program one step farther. We're going to allow every RateItAll member to submit their own Adsense account number to their RateItAll registration information. Once an Adsense account number is associated with a RateItAll reviewer account, that RateItAll reviewer will immediately begin sharing advertising revenue on qualifying pages.

Making Money on RateItAll

So what can you do to earn money under the RateItAll Economy program? Here's the initial list:

1) Publish a Weblist

Publishing a Weblist entitles you to a 50% share of the Google Adsense advertising that occurs on pages that you create within your Weblist, and on your main Weblist page.

Those RateItAll members who already have published Weblists will be eligible to immediately begin earning money on those lists.

(Note: You are not eligible to earn Google Adsense advertising when someone else submits a new listing to your Weblist)

2) Add a New Listing

Adding a new listing to any existing RateItAll ratings list (RateItAll, Weblist, Local) entitles you to a 50% share of the Google Adsense advertising that occurs on that page.

New listings must be approved by RateItAll staff or Weblist publishers to qualify, and must include a complete item description.

3) Create a Profile with a Picture

Creating a user profile that includes a picture entitles you to a 50% share of the Google Adsense advertising that occurs on your user profile page. The picture doesn't have to be of you.

4) Refer Friends

When you refer friends to join RateItAll using the Refer A Friend tool on your user profile page, you are entitled to a 10% share of the Google Adsense advertising that occurs on all of the qualifying pages that your friend contributes.

For example, when a friend that you referred publishes a Weblist, your friend would earn 50% of the Google Adsense revenue associated with those pages, you would earn 10% of the Google Adsense revenue associated with those pages, and RateItAll would earn the remaining 40%.

In my personal opinion, the referral feature has the potential to be the real money earner here, as it has the most potential to scale - in other words, folks who are successful in referring new RIA members can build their own mini-empires of revenue earners.


How to Get Started


Apply for a Google Adsense account by clicking the Adsense Icon at the bottom of this post:




- For "Account Type," select "Individual."

- For "Website URL" type in the web address of YOUR profile page (for example http://www.rateitall.com/castlebee, http://www.rateitall.com/irishgit, etc.). The easiest way to get this address is to go to your profile page on RateItAll, and just copy/paste the URL from the address bar.

- For "Products" select only "Adsense for Content"

Once you have been approved for an Adsense account (usually within 24-48 hours), log into your Adsense account HERE, and then click the tab at the top that says "Adsense for Content."

Scroll down to the section that says "Your Adsense Code." The second line of this code will say "Google-Ad_Client = 'pub-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'

This number is your Google Adsense ID number - carefully write it down.

Now go to your User Profile page and click on the link that says "View and Change Your Registration Information."

You will see a field that says "Google Adsense ID." Fill in your Google Adsense ID number that you wrote down earlier (just the number, not the "pub" or the quotation marks).

Hit submit. You are now earning money. You can check your stats by logging into your Google Adsense account - they update every couple of hours.

It sounds complicated, but this whole sign-up process should only take you about ten minutes.


Questions?


I am REALLY excited about this program, and it feels great to be able to allow every RateItAll contributor the opportunity to share in the site's success.

As always, feel free to message me here with any questions. You can also IM me on MSN IM at lawrence AT rateitall.com

Much more to follow on this subject.

I have been getting some grief about...

.... removing movie "reviews" from the Brokeback Mountain listing that were political in nature and from people who had not seen the movie.

Just to clarify where I stand on this stuff, I feel pretty strongly that a review should be of the item at hand (see the site rules.) I also feel pretty strongly that political statements, if left unchecked, can infect virtually every topic of discussion.

And that would be bad for the site, IMHO.

So you if you want to create a Weblist about moral decline or moral progress that includes the movie Brokeback Mountain, knock yourself out.

Just don't pollute a page for movie reviews with your politics.

It sounds pretty simple but...

If you haven't seen a movie, don't review it. I just had to remove about 15 bogus, off topic reviews (both positive and negative) on a movie that people hadn't seen.

The good news is, there's plenty of places to sound off on your politics.

Rethinking UP-ONLY Weblist Status

OK, in light of the recent feedback about the user page only status for personal Weblists from some respected RIA members, I've softened my position a bit.

While I still reserve the right to UP-ONLY Weblists that do not comply with the Weblist guidelines - specifically ones that don't work with a ratings format or have no theme - I will no longer be applying the UP-ONLY tag to Weblists just because they're personal.

I'm going through and releasing a few Weblists now - if you come upon a Weblist that you think should be released, shoot me a note at RIA Administrator.

Two Big Things on the Horizon

RateItAll has two very big things pending. The first is a redesign - we haven't touched the design of the site since 2000, and things have gotten very, very cluttered. We are making progress on a completely new look & feel that will hopefully make it significantly easier to find and share opinions and interact with other reviewers. Here's a sneak peek - you may start seeing changes to the site in the next couple of weeks:


I can't really talk too much yet about the second major development yet - but I think it's going to be HUGE. Without going into too much detail, it's a rewards program that will enable each RIA reviewer to earn cash for their contributions. And I'm not talking points or discounts or anything like that - I'm talking cash. A check delivered to your house every month.

Watch this space for more details.

User Page Only Status (continued)

I've been getting some (unhappy) feedback about the recent decision to assign some entirely personal Weblists and some Weblists that don't meet the guidelines to "User Page Only" status.

I'm definitely interested in hearing all viewpoints on this - as such, you can sound off HERE.

Slight Weblist Tweak

Occasionally people create Weblists that are completely personal in nature. Usually these sorts of lists are explicitly about a specific reviewer, and as such, most likely do not mean much to the vast majority of people that visit RateItAll.

Examples of these sorts of lists include Songs I Play on the Guitar, Reasons SZinhonshu is Everyone's Least Favorite Hypothetical Dinner Companion, numbah's job search, etc.

However, just because these Weblists are personal, doesn't mean they don't have value - it's just that they don't have value in the context of ratings and reviews. Where they do have value, I think, is in telling people a little something about the Weblist creator.

So what we've done is to create a "Profile Page Only" status for certain Weblists. What this means is that these sorts of lists will be accessible via the Profile Page of the creator, but comments on these lists will not be visible in the recent comments page or in the main Weblist index.

We may also use this feature on Weblists that don't exactly work in a ratings format (Choose One, Help Me Out Here, etc.)

Slight Issue with New Profile Page URL Format

I'm hearing reports that people with user names that contain the character "_" (e.g. "bobble_head") are having problems getting to their profile page.

We are working on the problem...

This is cool

ok, check it out

http://www.rateitall.com/irishgit

http://www.rateitall.com/castlebee

http://www.rateitall.com/tboneya

get it?

As you can see, there's now a much easier format to remember your user page url... this works MUCH better for one word user names.

For example:

http://www.rateitall.com/Andrew%20Scott

We're working on ways to convert this to:

http://www.rateitall.com/Andrew-Scott

But it adds complications...


In the meantime, you may want to consider getting rid of the spaces in your user name.

New Years Resolutions

Read what others have said about their New Years Resolutions on this Weblist courtesy of zuchinibut.