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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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.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM PINTEREST...

The money site Lifehack say there are several ways you can make money on Pinterest.

The first one is to follow your passion then build your audience then sell to them. Get followers to your boards then create a mailing list. They say that you don’t need that many followers to your account to sell to your audience. So, for instance, if your passion is floristry then you could write lots of posts on your boards on the type of flowers to buy and then sell them to your followers.

Another way they say you can make money on Pinterest is by targeting a group then build your Pinterest followers like above. Then select the companies offering products that appeal to your audience. So with the example above you could approach companies that sell flowers. You then need to share your Pinterest accounts statistics with the companies that you approach and ask for sponsorship maybe by offering them to put their brand on your site for a year.

In order to make any money on Pinterest, people have to be able to find your pins and boards so Lifehack stresses that you must use SEO strategies. That way you will also be found on other search engines like Google. Make the most of your About profile and use keywords you would expect searchers to use to find you. Another tip is to us Sep strategies on your pins. Each pin allows you 500 characters (around 100 words) of description, so make the most of it by adding keywords and links. Include keywords naturally, rather than in a spammy way.

Another great well to sell on Pinterest is to have a competition for people to get some of your products and create interest.

Pinterest is all about pinning so an easy way to get people is to be very active and pin others pins, in particular, those people in your target audience. That way they will notice you and they may then start following your boards.

Another way to make money is to teach your money making ways to others by writing an ebook or course to explain to others what you have learned and how you have succeeded. Create a board dedicated solely to ways to make money. One board on Pinterest on money making ideas has over 100,000 followers.

Cash Blog site says that you can also make money by cashing in on the social media goldrush by becoming a Pinterest consultant. This requires a little marketing but the multitude of freelancing platforms make it easier than ever to connect with companies that need your help. They say that you can use your personal presence on Pinterest as an example of what you can do. Highlight your pins that have done well on your account like blog posts, infographics, quotes etc. When you get about 200-300 followers then start applying to Pinterest Group Boards as this is the best way to grow your followers and get traffic to your blog.  Use the Pinterest search function or pingroupie.com to search group boards in your field. Or just look up what groups your competitors belong to and apply there too. Also, apply to Pinterest tribes to get more pin exposure and traffic with the help of other bloggers.

It is important to optimize your profile with keywords as this will make it easier for people to find your content when they are searching on Pinterest.

Then create great blog posts that have at least one affiliate link in it. Then pin an eye-catching graphic to your Pinterest boards that lead to your affiliate blog posts. Canva is a great site to create eye-catching graphics. It’s free and they also have a Pinterest template to help you get started. Keep in mind that you must always disclose your affiliate link in the pin’s description. You can do this just by saying ‘affiliate’ or ‘affiliate link’ in the Pin description.

FREE TICKETS FOR THE THEATRE & OTHER EVENTS IN THE UK...

If you live in London then this great way of getting free tickets for the theatre and other events is perfect for you.

The company Central Tickets, have a FREE membership as a seat filler. By becoming a member of Central Tickets you get the opportunity to attend an amazing selection of different events including the West End theatre, fringe theatre, dance products, operas, classical concerts, pop and Jazz concerts, comedy nights, movies, sporting events, informative talks and workshop for a fantastic price.

Your ticket is completely FREE, all you pay is a small booking fee per ticket to Central Tickets to help cover their running costs. Your first year of membership is completely FREE and they don't even take any bank details from you. Other ways to get ticket offers from them are -

Share a video trailer on social media for the show
Write a brief review of the event
Answer 6 multiple choice questions about the event
Purchase a programme
Purchase drinks
Purchase snacks or food
Purchase merchandise

You could start a blog and write reviews of all the events you attend and make money from your blog. It's a win, win situation as you will be able to attend a wide variety of events in London at a heavily discounted rate. Even your family and friends can save hundreds of pounds a year. They obviously have a few T & C's which are -

Not share your account or forward our emails or ticket offers to anyone.

Always attend any events that you book with us.

Always direct any enquiries to us, not the venue.

Accept the seats you are given, graciously. Be friendly and respectful towards all staff.

Don’t mention complimentary tickets in or around the venue.

Do not make any social media posts referencing free tickets.

Read the collection instructions on the booking confirmation.

Collect tickets at least 30 minutes prior to the event beginning.

Show a printed copy or screen shot (using a tablet or smart phone) of your confirmation booking to collect tickets.

Always collect your own tickets, do not send someone in your place.

Dress smart-casual.

Be willing to stay for the entire show.

Applaud heartily and generously.

We also ask you to bear in mind that as the account holder with Central Tickets, you are responsible for the behaviour of your guests.

Booking fees for cancelled bookings are non-refundable.

If you cancel more than 3 bookings per year, your membership will be withdrawn.

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.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR HOME POSTCODE...

According to Money Magpie you can make money from your postcode, and one such way is to add your address to the Free Postcode Lottery.

It is totally free and you could win £800. Jasmine Birtles (founder of Money Magpie) says there is no catch, all you do is sign up with your email address and your postcode and then check back on the site every day to see if your postcode has won.

It couldn't be easier, just don't forget to check the site daily.

The reason there is no catch is that of the way the website works which is that the more people who check the site every day, increase their traffic, which then increases the amount of money that they can make from advertisers. Simple really.

They are on a win, win, business and are making a huge profit from people just checking the site where you get a share in that profit by winning a prize here and there. The site also has lots of other ways you can make money which I will post about on another day.

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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.

HOW TO MAKE SOME MONEY FROM A SPARE ROOM IN YOUR HOME...

Following on from my previous post about working from home or finding a desk somewhere else to work from. What about expanding the idea and if you have a spare room at home which could double as an office space or desk space for someone else then you could advertise this as office/desk space to rent.

It targets the growing army of freelance workers, looking for a short-term, space to work in. Prices seem to start at £17.20 but there are a number of websites who offer this so it would be best to research price in your local area first. Some of those websites include Office Genie, Desk Near Me, and Deskcamping to name a few.

The best thing is that you have the property to yourself in the evening. Obviously wifi would have to be available but how many houses can you think of that don't have wifi. Some US companies have even jazzed up their rooms with yoga mats, settees and flip-boards.

Having somewhere easy to park and no fees for a parking space is another factor in the why this has become popular and ideal for someone who is setting up on his/her own in business.

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...

TOP FIVE UK WEBSITES ON "MAKING EXTRA #MONEY"...

These are my top five UK websites which have the best information on 'Making some extra money'online or from home.

The Money Saving Expert site is the UK's biggest consumer website, with about 15 million users a month. The founder and editor Martin Lewis created the site in February 2003 for just £100. The site's ethical stance and consumer revenge approach have made it the UK's official No 1 money site. It has won many awards and is now a constant port of call for consumer and policymakers alike.
It also has a great forum which covers lots of online making money boards.

Moneywise is another great site for information on making money and has a free guide on 50 ways to make money. Since its launch in 1990, Moneywise magazine has informed and educated millions of people about how to make the most of their hard earned money, by helping people to identify the right investment products.

Money Magpie written by Jasmine Birtles who is a journalist and TV presenter. She set it up in 2007 and is said to be the country's leading site for sale and legitimate money-making opportunities.

My Family Club has lots of information and making money from home and was set up to help families save, manage and make money. It was set up by Gemma Johnson six years ago when she was on maternity leave and found it a struggle to manage on a reduced budget due to the decreased income and increased outgoings that a new baby brings. Something which I am sure resonates with many a new Mum.

Finally, Survey Money Maker  is another great site which it says is the internet's best guide to making money online. It covers survey sites that you can make money from in great detail.

GET PAID TO #WALK...

If you haven't already seen the article on The Money Saving Expert's website about how you can get paid to walk, then keep reading and I will go through it with you.

It's very easy to set up just sign up to free fitness rewards app Bounts, connect it to your fitness tracker or smartphone app, and you'll earn points (referred to as bounts) when you walk, exercise, go to the gym and more. Once you have enough points then you can convert them into vouchers to be used at retailers and restaurants such as Amazon, John Lewis, Sainsbury's, Pizza Express, M&S and Cineworld. The full redemption list is available from the Bounts website.

All the details are on The Money Saving Experts site but they do have an offer available before April 12th where you can earn an extra 200 points -
"

• New users signing up by Tue 12 Apr – Sign up with email (not Facebook) and enter the referral code MSE2016 to get 200 extra points after your first activity.
• Existing users – get 50 extra points. Go to the ‘Challenges’ section of the Bounts app or website, join the ‘get up and go’ challenge and then successfully complete it (you must opt in to get the bonus). You’ll need to track three activities (typically 7,000 steps or 20 minutes of exercise) from Sat 9 Apr until midnight the following Friday."

HOW TO MAKE #MONEY FROM YOUR PETS..

PET SITTING, has become a big business all over the world. Basically, pet sitters look after other peoples pets while they are away at work or on holiday.

A lot of pet owners are reluctant to use a cattery or kennels but prefer to have their pets looked after in their own homes. There are a number of agencies that you can look at online to see how they are set up, or you could become an agent for one of the companies to give it a go before you embark further.

Barking Mad ( brilliant name ) also run a Franchise as do Pet Pals . Another company is Animal Angels and it's easy to sign up with an agency, you obviously have to provide references but there is a large choice to choose from out there. Another couple are Platinum Petcare and Nina's Nannies for Pets.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH THE #POLICE..

Did you know that you can take part in a police line-up, and get paid for it ?

All you do is find your local police station and register as a potential line up candidate.

The age group of 18 – 35 are in more demand (obviously).

But don't worry because if you get chosen instead of the suspect, they can't put you in prison.

#HOW TO SET UP ADSENSE ON YOUR BLOG...

As I am sure you will know you can make money through Adsense by placing ads on your blog, you can then earn a percentage of the revenue that Google makes for sponsoring the ads.

The companies that want to advertise pay Google, which then pays the hosting website. But first your have to set up an Adsense account. It's easy to do - first you need to have a blog or website and you must be over the age of 18, otherwise you will need to apply using your parent or guardian. If you don't have a Google account then you will have to create one to sign up for Adsense.

You will then be asked for your primary blog/website or url, even if you have more than one blog/website they just want a primary address. Then you pick the language that you are writing it in.

Google Adsense will then list its Terms and Conditions and Program Policies. It's all very straight forward basically letting you know what you are NOT allowed to do to increase your sales.

Next you just simply fill in your contact information and make sure you have your bank details in front of you when you fill this form in and check and double check for no mistakes. Next accept Adsense policies then sign up with an email account. The Adsense team will then review your application and let you know if you can join them. This can take a few weeks so don't lose heart if you don't here back straight away.

Now add Adsense to your blog - There are three place you can consider putting your ads on - on the sidebar, right at the top of your pages (under or above the header) and somewhere in the content (either at the end near the footer,before the comments, or right in the middle of the text). Your site has to be up and running for around six months before you will be eligible for adding Adsense (hence why I don't have it on this one yet).

Adding the Adsense isn't to complicated although I must admit that Affiliate links are much easier. So, here goes -
1. Log into your Google Adsense account
2. At the top, click on the option that says My Ads
3. Click the button that says New Ad Unit
4. You will then see a setup area where you can name your ad. This is just for your reference so you can name it where you are going to position it (header)
5. Choose the option that says Responsive from the drop down menu
6. All the other options leave as default
7. Click the Save & Get Code button where you will see another window pop up with html in it.
Select and copy the code
8. Now head to your blogs Layout
9. Click on add a gadget on your Cross-column
10.Now click on Adsense and enter your code. Click Save Arrangement and in goes your first advert

Adsense will only allow you to put three adverts on each blog/website so next you can repeat everything I have put above but choose the large sidebar type ad for your sidebar, and a small horizontal ad for your content.

Your add will not show up straight away so don't panic when you can see nothing showing on your blog/website. That's it, when you next check on your blog you should see your Adsense adverts. There is support from Google if you need it.

My next post will be on other ways to make money from your blog including self-publishing your own books on your blog subject.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS A #BLOGGER...

If you have been following this blog you will probably know that although I had closed my other business down due to my health, my entrepreneurial spirit would soon get the better of me and I would have to organise something else. There are some characteristics in work and life that you just can't teach. They are part of you, it's in your blood, they become who we are.

I was far from the brightest in the bunch at school and only left with two GCSE's then went straight to Secretarial College but the I had a passion from being quite young on thinking of ways I could make some extra money.

They say that 'to be entrepreneurial by nature is to be optimistic,' and that people with an entrepreneurial spirit never spend time thinking about what they can't do, but ask themselves instead 'why can't I?'

I had to take stock after I closed the last business and initially just wrote for my local Newspaper.
I'd always enjoyed typing more than anything else so my other half bought me my first laptop.
I then started to research and learn lots from the internet. I made mistakes as I went along but then didn't make them the second time around and it was during this time that I first came across 'blogs'.I loved reading other peoples musings and became fascinated by them all.

Then I decided I would start to write a blog and thought I would write about my back pain as I was sure there were many more sufferers like me who might read it. So back in 2008 'backpainblog' was born.

When I first started the Back Pain Blog  I didn't really think about what income I could make out of it as it was just something to take my mind off my chronic pain. I decided I needed to know more about pain management and how to deal with it, so I took an online Certification Study Course on 'Pain Management'. I was also went to a  'Pain Management' course at my local hospital. Then armed with all this information I could write blog posts regularly on the latest treatments, product reviews, therapies, drugs, tips and websites on back pain, Fibromyalgia and arthritic conditions.

My views were going up daily and so were my followers so I decided to start up with Adsense to bring in a bit of  extra revenue. Right from the start I did well with Adsense and decided to have a go at writing another blog.

The second blog I started was 'Tea4Two' which I started simply because I loved the quintessential British tradition of an Afternoon Tea. What I didn't realise at the time was that there was about to become a national and now international resurrection of the Afternoon Tea business.

I was totally in my element and was quite happy with the income from my small writing job at the Newspaper and my blogs. It fitted in with my quieter lifestyle and took me into another world away from my pain.

Back then the competition was no where near as big as it is now, so it wasn't really necessary to work with affiliate companies as Adsense could bring in enough money. I  also think I had lost a bit of the fire in my belly to 'make it big', but it gave me a feeling of being back in the entrepreneurial seat.

No matter how much pain I had to endure I have always been someone who would push myself to the limits to achieve a goal. At this stage in my life I had to be in 'control' of my pain, and be able to pace myself in order to succeed. I realised that as long as I had a rest when my body cried out for it that this could then give me another boost to work a bit more. I now go for complete bed rest every afternoon for a couple of hours in order for me to get a lot more out of 24 hours.

Since then I have never really looked back although I was really upset when the platform my blog was on ('blog.co.uk') decided to close down last year. By then I was rated on the first page of Google, I had a massive list of friends and followers and was gutted that it was finishing. Where to go and how to move the blog(s) was something I had to really look into.

They only offered you the choice of Wordpress to send it over to otherwise you had to sort it all out yourself. Well, I maybe a little computer savvy but certainly not knowledgeable enough to know how to change things into html and move to another site. After all I am self taught, I've never ever been on any type of computer course.

I decided on Wordpress and moved my Back Pain Blog over in September 2015. Now I have to work on getting my followers back and also getting my blog back on page one of Google.

In my next post I will go through the ropes of setting up an Adsense account and how to make some money using it.