THE WEGO HEALTH AWARDS...PLEASE ENDORSE ME :)...

Endorsements are now open for the Wego Health Awards.

If you missed my last post I was excited to announce that I have been nominated and shortlisted for the WEGO Health Best Chronic Illness & Illness Recovery Blog Award in the 2018 WEGO Health Awards.

WEGO Health is a mission-driven company connecting healthcare with the experience, skills, and insights of patient leaders. They are the world’s largest network of patient leaders, working across virtually all health conditions and topics. Click here to learn more about their Patient Leader Network. The WEGO Health Awards were created to celebrate those who tirelessly support the mission of WEGO Health: to empower the patient voice. With 16 award categories, the WEGO Health Awards are the only awards across all conditions and platforms, that recognize the over 100 thousand inspiring Patient Leaders who raise awareness, share information, and support their communities – but often without recognition.

This year, the 16 WEGO Health Award winners will be honored and I’m now looking to my incredibly supportive network to help endorse me for this award. There are two easy ways to endorse that only take seconds of your time!
1) You can click on my endorsement badge located on the right-hand side of this page.
2) Click here to be taken to my WEGO Health Awards profile where you can click “Endorse” under my nominee photo

If I have ever supported you, made you laugh, or inspired you to keep fighting – please consider endorsing me for this award

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HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON THE INTERNET...

How to make money on the internet. This great graphic on Pinterest from Twitpic explains it all in a very easy way.

MAKING MONEY FROM HOME ON PINTEREST...

Making money from home, a board full of making money ideas on Pinterest.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM CHOCOLATE...

Watching the 2nd episode of Give it a Year on ITV this week was one I didn't want to miss as I enjoyed the first episode last week. This week Karen Brady meets more brave people who decide to go it alone and start a new business. Two sisters embark on making their own chocolate so bespoke that the boxes would start at £15. Their ambition was to be in top stores in London like Selfridges, Fenwicks, and Harrods. One year on the ambitious pair already had their bespoke chocolates in Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, and Fenwicks. Anyone who has ever thought of starting their own chocolate business would be inspired to give it a go after watching this program.

If you love chocolate like me then you need to know about craft chocolate online.  They say chocolate arouses our passions and tempts our senses. Chocolates are loved by most and they come in various forms ranging from dark chocolates to milk chocolates and they leave memories of happy moments.

Chocolate is tasty and delicious but making your own chocolate at home can easily be done if you know where to buy your ingredients. Before making your own you need to check that you have the right equipment to make your chocolate in.

Some essential tools include digital thermometers, various sizes, and shapes of molds, a dipping fork and other utensils. Buying the right products to make your chocolate is also something that you need to investigate. Principally start your chocolate making with buying cocoa beans from a reliable source.

With so much chocolate available on the high street you will have to think outside the box and develop a recipe that will be unique as well as tasty.

If you get the right ingredients and utensils, making edible gifts really doesn’t get much easier than making craft chocolate bars.  Get your juices working on handmade gift ideas you could make with your own chocolate. You could start a new trend and even put kits together for people to create their own chocolate.

After making the chocolate, the next challenge is where to store it as they advise you not to store in a refrigerator full of other foods. They suggest you store the chocolate in a tightly closed container away from direct sunlight. This will help your chocolate to last longer.

Chocolate making is an art and a science. The best way to create your own delicious chocolate whether you want to make it for personal use, for friends or even to sell is to go to Craft Chocolate UK who say they ‘make the dreams of chocolate lovers to come true’ by teaching the art behind the chocolate making. For anyone looking for a place in the craft chocolate art, Craft Chocolate UK are the ones to contact.

Anyone can put a few ingredients together but knowing how to make it the correct way has to be the best way forward. All this will take time and money but if two sisters on a £5,000 loan can get their chocolates in 3 top department stores within 12 months it makes you realise that it's worth giving it a go.

TOP FIVE FREELANCE WEBSITES FOR JOBS...

Upwork is a very popular site for freelancers as you choose your own clients and projects. They say that clients are now posting jobs in hundreds of skill categories, paying top price for great work. The greater the success you have on projects, the more likely you are to get hired by clients that use Upwork so create a great profile and start working. Companies Odesk and Elance merged to form Upwork.

Freelancer would be my second choice. It is very similar to Odesk where you can find just about any job you can imagine ranging from delivery to website development. Again, you simply fill in a profile with your skills and Freelancer will match you to the right jobs. Membership is free but you can only bid for a job 8 times a month.

My third choice would be Fiveer which is popular as you can sell gigs to others at the minimum price of £5. It’s different from the other two as you do not bid for proposals on those sites. Instead, you have to sell gigs and potential clients look through all the lists of gigs in their chosen category. However, Fiveer is a great place to start getting a few freelance jobs under your collar.

ProBlogger site is always full to the brim of blogging jobs but also a great site to access tips, courses and topics on everything to do with blogging. I’m sure most of us bloggers have heard of Darren Rowse founder of ProBlogger at some point or another.

My final choice would be Linkedin which they say is the biggest social networking site for professionals with jobs being posted daily. You can also develop a large following through Linkedin who know what sort of work you are looking for. If you find a position fitting right for your field, then you can always apply for it and it is completely free.

A NEW YEAR AND NEW WAYS TO MAKE SOME EXTRA CASH...

With Christmas well and truly behind us now and all the credit card bills coming in, it's no wonder that this is the most popular month for people to seek out ways to make some extra cash to help pay off their bills.

To kick start the new year I thought I would give you some quick and easy ways to get some quick cash back.

Please tell me that most of you already use a cashback site as this is the quickest way to get some 'cash back'. Most of the transactions you will have bought through this site over Christmas will now have gone through so your total amount of cash back should show on your statement. One of the best cash back sites is Top Cash Back which is the UK's highest paying cashback site.

Another quick return is to sell any unwanted gifts online through Ebay, Craigslist or Gumtree, even Ebay offer free listings or nothing to pay until you sell for January.

Pop over to The Money Saving Expert's site and head to the 'Boost Your Income' forum boards which have lots of ideas on how to boost your income.

According to Save the Student site the best survey sites are - Toluna, Vivatic, MySurvey, Valued Opinions, IPSOS, Global Test Market, The Opinion Panel, You Gov, Pinecone, One Poll and more.

Changing your bank account or credit card can also give you instant cash and the best site for these deals is The Money Saving Expert.

Check out the site Task Rabbit which lists jobs such as picking up parcels, flat pack assembly or moving and packing jobs in your area.

Finally, watch TV and get paid for it. At this time of year the nights are long and we do tend to sit in front of the TV for longer so why not make some money while you are watching by joining The Viewers you can earn £40-£70 for a group discussion on specific programmes.

FREE EBOOK ON HOW TO MAKE £1,000 A MONTH TAX FREE FROM HOME...

Get this FREE Ebook from Money Magpie on How to Make £1,000 a month, tax free- from home.

In this free ebook you will be shown how to make up to £1,000 a month profit. Not just for one month but for every month to come through Matched Betting.

In the book you will find out exactly what Matched Betting is, how to make sure you never put your money at risk and how to make a consistent profit from the process.

TOP TEN WAYS TO SAVE MONEY THIS WINTER...

In case you haven't already heard these I thought I would give you what they call, 'the top ten ways to save money this Winter.

Of course, this list has been adapted by Confused.com so some of the pointers may not surprise you.

1. 'Give yourself a quick financial review', ie check your direct debits and other payments in your account are up to date. With the renewal of some magazine subscriptions coming up around Christmas this is one worth reminding yourself of. They say 'move payments as close to payday as possible and it will be easier to work out how much money you have left for the rest of the month'.

2.  'Be disloyal' – to your cards and accounts that is. With apparently 106 of the 228 credit cards on the market being accessed only via the internet application, it pays to shop around for the best deals.

3. 'Balance transfers', and the best way to do this is to go to Confused.com who offers a free Card Matcher tool that shows you how likely you are to be accepted before you apply.

4. 'Savings Bonus' apparently savings top the list of 'Brits' financial woes', according to the survey by Unbiased, with 39 percent of those polled admitting this is their top concern. So, study, study and study some more by looking for the best savings.

5. 'Tax-Free Savings' which again I am sure we have all got ISA's but if you have any money in your current account at the end of the month, Confused.com say you should transfer it to an instant access cash ISA. 

6. ' Use it or lose it', by that they mean some packaged current accounts offer such as travel insurance, breakdown etc if not being used can be bought cheaper.

7. 'Switch Current Accounts'. They say that you can actually 'make money' by switching your current account. Some banks, for instance, are offering new customers cash to switch their main account, which can come in rather handy coming up to Christmas. There are some stipulations but just look on Confused.com website for details of this one and others that are available.

8. 'Earn as you spend'. They say that a cashback credit card means you can earn money every time you spend which can be as much as 5 percent in some cases. 

9. 'Spending abroad'. Chance would be a fine thing for me at the moment but plenty of you go on winter sun holidays so they are saying you should plan which cards to use abroad by looking on their site as some can charge a fortune to use abroad. 

10.  'Money Saving apps', apparently there are a number of clever smartphone apps that can help you budget from iXpenseit which allows you to set up a budget and record your daily outgoings to a category, which makes it good for tracking your spending. It's not for free though, so check out the free ones first.

More information on all of the above is available from www.confused.com

                    

                    

                    

                    

MAKE MONEY FROM HAND MADE SOAPS...

Homemade soaps have become big business now with top department stores stocking different types. They can easily be made at home with the following recipe.

Homemade Lemon Soap Recipe

2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh lemon verbena leaves in 2 tablespoons of warmed glycerine.

Keep in a warm place for an hour or two to infuse.

Finely grate two tablespoons of unscented left over soap and melt it in the top of a double boiler or in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water.

When the soap is melted add to the infusion, 1 tablespoon of clear honey and a few drops of natural food colouring.

Pour into glycerine greased moulds and leave to set.

For homemade lavender soap use 4oz old soap or soap flakes and 1 tablespoon beeswax and ten drops of Lavender Oil.

Melt the beeswax using a double boiler like above, add the soap and stir until completely mixed then add the lavender oil and pour into glycerine greased moulds and leave to set.

One of the best sites to find different recipe ideas and lovely image ideas is Pinterest 

This amazing 'Homemade exfoliating coffee and cinnamon soap', the recipe is just one amazing idea from a Pinterest link I found but there are literally over one hundred pins on homemade soaps. 

With Christmas now, a matter of a few months away it would be a great time to give this a go as they also make great Christmas presents. 

MAKE SOME MONEY FROM OLD TAX DISCS...

I know it seems unreal but old tax discs are passing hands on ebay from £200- £400 for 10 discs from the same car and single old car discs selling from £250.

So check your desks and anywhere you keep your paperwork for you car and hope you didn't throw away every one you have. They are selling to collectors so it's up to you if you sell now or keep them for a while longer as they say the value will only go up.

A recent survey showed that 48% of people just simply threw away there tax disc every time it ran out but some kept hold of them as a keepsake so this means that there are less tax discs in circulation.

Ebay is definitely the site to sell them on.

WHAT IS A SOLOPRENEUR?

What is a solopreneur  - well according to Wikipedia the word does not exist, but some say it means starting out on your own.

It takes a lot of guts to set up a business on your own and can be extremely lonely but more and more people are giving it a go.

Research says that they are seeing a huge growth in the number of fifty something's (women in particular) who are setting up as one man/woman bands,

Many who start up don't know their own value but setting the right rate is the key first step and something you should review and research well before going on your own.

If you cannot stand to work alone at home and only need a desk then there is always the option to hire a desk, companies like neardesk.com, and deskcamping,com to name a few can help with available spaces where you can work from.  Of course a library is another good free place to set up your space and not feel alone. The Independent Newspaper has written a great article on 'Don't want to work alone, rent a desk instead'.

One important thing to remember when you are working alone is to make sure you have time off, book it into your diary, have a coffee break and a lunch break otherwise you will just burn out and begin to think it was not the best idea to work alone.

Don't forget when you start up that you need to register your business with HM Revenue. Another place for advice when setting up is the Gov UK who offer free help for start-ups.

GETTING INSPIRATION FOR MAKING MONEY...

So, if you are like me and you seriously want to make some extra money then I bet you are continually either searching on the internet or reading books or magazines on the subject.

I've always been interested in making money even as a youngster I would do extra jobs around the house to make a few pence, and I am sure had my health been better then I would definitely have pursued more routes into money making schemes.

Now in my mid 60's I still have the mind and drive to try and find something that could bring in extra money, but the chronic pain I suffer from a spinal problem slows me down. I can now only make extra money online using my laptop and computer which was the reason why I started this blog.

At first I planned to just write articles on different ways to make some extra money but I soon found that I would soon run out of ideas for posts on the subject. So while sitting in the car the other day on a journey from the East Midlands down to Brighton, I began to plan a new type of blog.

I still want to include different ways of making some extra money but I am going to concentrate mainly on what I do each day to try and bring in some extra pennies.

https://www.park-resorts.com/ownership/search/

Today for instance I have been scouring the internet looking at the cost of second hand static caravans and the costs of pitches, gas, electricity and insurance and if after paying all that you could still rent your caravan out and make some money.

Most of the online forums I read like 'Money Saving Expert' and 'Money Magpie'  say that it's hard to make a profit renting out a caravan but you could certainly make enough to cover all your expenses of keeping one on a park.

I think that if it was done up into something really 'different' and 'unique' ( I will search Pinterest and Houzz for inspiration) that you could definitely make some money as well as enjoy some free holidays.

I will write more on this at a later date but for now just being by the seaside has already inspired me into thinking about a static caravan holiday home as a potential money making business. 

#HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM OLD BOOKS...

Pick up your old books from car boot sales, used book stores, charity shops (Oxfam have a great range) or online but first make a note of the ISBN number then compare it with similar books selling on Amazon or Ebay.

If your in a book shop you will have to make sure you have your mobile with you to scan the ISBN number.

If you find an old book without an ISBN on it then research it and think of taking the idea of the book and rewriting it to sell on Amazon Kindle.

Always keep your eyes open for old textbooks as these can fetch a lot of money.

Abe Books have a section for you to find out the value of your old book even if they do not have an ISBN number in it.

Some companies that will buy your books include Zapper, We Buy Books, Amazon, FatBrain, Momax, or Ebay.

TURN YOUR COMPUTER INTO A #MONEY MACHINE, BOOK REVIEW...

Turn your Computer into a Money Machine by Avery Breyer, 'How to make money from home and grow your income fast, with no prior experience' 

He says imagine being able to earn a bit or a lot of extra money each month, without having to get another job !!!!!!!! Yes please......

Avery's system (that's what he calls it) is easy to set up and can be done in one week and can put cash in your pocket quicker than other options, plus has very little start up costs. He says he's 'earned money everywhere from home, on his couch in suburbia to a cozy coffee shop overlooking a gorgeous marina in the tropics', and this book will show you how...

It all started when Avery joined an online community of people who were all about learning how to earn a living from any where in the world, using nothing but their laptops and the internet.

It didn't take him long to figure out how to earn more money and so he tweaked the method he learnt to maximum effectiveness and it worked.

A great book which you will find difficult to put down, so don't read it if your tired as your adrenaline will definitely kick in while reading it. Good luck...

MAKE SOME EXTRA MONEY WITH TOP TEN BEST PAID #SURVEYS IN UK...

The Top 10 Best Paid Survey Sites is a company based in UK. It has a customer base of over 100,000 and works with some of the biggest market research companies 

They have a large team who are dedicated to recruiting survey panelists and growing the list of trusted survey companies to provide quality customer service. Each team member has their own skill set, creating an overall complimentary team of hard working individuals.

With an article only yesterday in The Daily Mail about dodgy survey sites, where people were giving sites all their bank details which were then hacked, so it's important that we note the genuine ones like Top 10 Best Pain Survey Sites. 

It's simple to just sign up and start earning straight away. 

#HOW TO MAKE SOME EXTRA CASH THROUGH PARTY PLAN COMPANIES...

The best of party plan is that you can do it as and when it suits you best. My first business that I set up was a jewellery party plan business which I mostly did at night. That way my husband could look after the children and the evening parties brought far more customers than the day ones.

Some of the latest party plan companies are:

Girlie Gardening 

The start up kit contains £400 worth of gear, including welly warmers and lip-balm and watering cans. Training is done on the phone and you are given a manual with advice.

The Body Shop at Home 

The start up kit has over £500 worth of products. Training is given.

Party Lite 

Nothing to pay to start this business up selling candles and accessories. They ask you to hold your own party and the sales from that will pay for your starter kit. (sensible idea) Cash and business rewards even holidays. The products are very nice.

Neals Yard Remedies

Starter kit is £80 - loads of potential with rewards and plenty of training and help.

Jamie at home 

Support and training given. A good time to join this business and Jamie Oliver is very popular at the moment.

Find a Party is a great site with a directory of party planners and vendors. 

Of course there are many more including Tupperware who was one of the first party plans to start, but the ones above looked very interesting to me. You could also do what I did and think of something you would like to sell and set your own party plan business and watch it grow.

I hope this has helped some of you who may not have thought about doing something like this to earn a bit of extra money.

HOW TO MAKE #MONEY FROM ENTERING COMPETITIONS ON YOUR COMPUTER...

Would you like to earn a little bit of extra money simply by using your computer? Well, this is an extremely easy way to earn some extra money, simply by sitting with your laptop, tablet, or computer once a day and checking out what is available online.

We've covered blogging and article writing which is one of the biggest money makers online at the moment, but if you are not that keen on this sort of work online there are other ways to make some extra money.

Competitions is something anyone can do. You see them on the back of soup packets, in magazines, and of course online. A few useful items to buy before you start competitions is a rhyming dictionary, quote books, and any other type of competition book you can find on the shelf. Often all entering involves is filling in an online form or sending a postcard, sometimes answering a question or tie-breaker.

There are a number of excellent sites online which are well worth investing in if you fancy giving this a go. UK Competitions  is a free site to get you going but you can also become a member for access to more competitions. Competitions Time  is another free online resource who collect details of the best free online UK competitions from websites that are offering prizes for you to win with new competitions added daily. Another well known site is The Prize Finder which offers 3,000+ FREE competitions every month and they also track all the competitions you have entered. Simply Prizes has been established  for more than 15 years and has a handy handbag size Magazine with 48 pages of competitions to go through. Finally NOW Daily Magazine  which has daily competitions and prize draws to enter.

The well know Martin Lewis's Money Saving Expert's  site has a lot of information on Competitions and he even has a Comping Forum. Super Lucky Me is a brilliant site and lists UK competition companies and written by a serial comper who has won over £250,000 in prizes !!!! and has written her own book 'SuperLuckySecrets' - the essential compers handbook, no on its 2nd edition, packed with her winning tips. Another great book is 'Win Competitions Online' by David Fuentes, this book is an essential guide to take with you on a journey into the world of comping and may well be your key to a fortune.

#HOW TO MAKE EVEN MORE MONEY WITH YOUR BLOG...

So my last post was all about making money from your blog with Adsense. This post is going to give you other ideas of how to make money from your blog.

I'm sure most of you will have heard of Affiliate Marketing which to put it bluntly is where you sell or promote someone else's stuff on your blog/website and get paid for doing it. You partner with the company that sells a product or service you would like to recommend. You recommend this product or service to your followers which can be done by writing a post or popping a button or banner ad somewhere on your site or talking about it on social media. You then include a special link to the product or service which is your affiliate link. When their purchase is complete you then earn the commission.

There are lots of Affiliate Marketing programs to join and deciding on which one to use can be quite daunting. I am certainly no expert in this field and can only tell you of the ones that I have joined.

The first one I joined was Amazon Associates which is easy to set up and easy to add to your blog posts. You will need an Amazon account to start this up but as I use Amazon a lot it was easy to get this moving. The second program I joined was the Ebay Affiliates program as I am an Ebay seller and use Ebay quite a lot but so far I have to admit, I haven't had much success with it. Finally the third I joined is Affiliate Window.

The choice is yours and the list is vast, so all I would suggest is that you take your time before you commit yourself to a program. Just don't make the mistake of writing posts on products or services that you don't normally write about as this is the easiest way to lose some followers.

Another way you can earn money through a blog is to write a book on your blog. I have written three of these over the last few years. My first one was 'Over One Hundred Tips and Ways to Lose Weight' which I put together from my Weight Loss blog which was one of the first ones I wrote a long time ago.

The second one I wrote was 'Over One Hundred Tips on Baking Cakes' which I developed through my Afternoon Tea Blog. Then finally last year I spent a loooooooong time putting my latest book together which is 'Complimentary & Alternative Therapies for Pain', which I grew from my Back Pain Blog posts.

I self published all three of these books through Create Space and have them listed on Amazon and can be bought as a paperback or downloaded to Kindle. I will cover how easy it is to write and self publish a book through Create Space in a later post. Of course with self-publishing you don't get the same publicity but the feel good factor seeing your book on Amazon makes up for that. I also think that probably if I was 30 years younger and fitter then I would have approached a publisher and gone down the traditional route.

As blogging has risen in its profile more and more businesses are starting blogs. Some of these companies have internal staff take on the blogging duties but some small companies just haven't got the time or knowledge on how to get this to happen.  

So I decided to approach my hairdressers to see if they would be interested in me sorting out a blog for them.  They got on board straight away and I still write for them today ( see my website). I was then recommended to one of their customers who asked me if I could write a blog for their legal recruitment company. I also volunteered to write one for a local community project.

Some top bloggers also earn money by speaking about blogging and holding blogging classes. The site Pro Blogger has lots of information and links on making money through your blog. The owners story is an inspiration to anyone wanting to start up in the blogging world.

Finally you can actually Sell your Blog - maybe, like me, with my Weight Loss blog. You start one and then decide it wasn't giving you the excitement it did when you first set it up. Well if you have written a load of posts and it's just sitting there doing nothing then maybe it's time to sell it to someone else who might enjoy writing on your subject.

I hope you are enjoying my tips on making some extra money. Please feel free to ask any questions.