RapOets

Make Money Online (for friends and family Only!)

2012-01-07T22:15:00.000-08:00


Let the words in this article be like dollar$ on the way to your wallet

Make Money Online
(for friends and family Only!)

As an unsigned recording artist, most of my fans are actually friends and family members. One of the benefits of that is knowing everyone reading my blog and listening to my music genuinely loves me, wants me to succeed, knows I appreciate everything they do, and probably expects me to win some grammies even more than I expect myself too. You also keep me accountable - LOL! For that very reason - even though the theme of this blog is earning a living an an unsigned lyricist - I'm very careful not to recommend tactics that I haven't personally benefited from in the long term.

When I switched from my technology day job to full time MCing, 3 years ago, I tried, failed, and succeeded with many different ways to make money. For example Amazon.com was - and still is - one of the most popular ways to make money online. I've had great experiences shopping there for the most part. However, legislation passed last year prohibited CT residents from earning money through the Amazon affiliate program. Although I tried it for a couple years (it didn't pay very well to be honest), I can't recommend something that most people won't make a dollar off of, even if I DO LIKE the company.

On the other hand, a company I'd never heard of 3 years ago, has turned out to be one of the best paying and reliable sources of income I've used to make money online. In fact, I got $5 in ten minutes from them earlier today - which is the same rate as making $30/hr - without having to go to an office or do any type of customer service work. (Screenshot below)

So if you're wondering...
How Do I Make Money
(like that),

I'm about to show you one of the simplest ways to
Get It

Firstly, make sure that it aligns with your money making goals. Just yesterday someone who I've worked for in the past offered me a lot of money to do a short animation. Although he was dissapointed, I had to tell him I couldn't do it, because it would take a few hours away from my personal goals, but when he needs recording or performance talent, he knows who to call. My goal in life is creating more understanding between people through recorded and live performances featuring my original lyrics.

So any tactic in my overall strategy has to:
1. provide more time for recording and performing
2. enhance my skills at recording and performing
3. benefit others who are passionate about recording and performing
4. benefit others through the use of recording and performing techniques
or 5. benefit others without taking more than a few hours away from recording and performing

Today's tactic fits, because it doesn't even take an hour (it's usually 5-15 minutes).

This survey company has been a reliable source for me since I joined 3 years ago

Here's why online surveys have been effective for me:
1. I researched and found that some people do make a living exclusively from surveys
(although I don't wish to make all my money from surveys, the demand is certainly there)

2. The reason I'd never heard of surveys (like I'd heard of Amazon.com) is the demographic
(the people who pay - A LOT - for these surveys are mostly large corporations, not consumers)

3. I researched to find the survey company with the highest success rate for average people
(as soon as I joined I started receiving surveys)

4. The pay rate is comparable to a $30/hr job
(in my experience, surveys tend to pay between $1-$10 for 5-15 minutes)

5. If you're not eligible for a survey, you find out QUICKLY, so you don't waste time
(each survey starts with 1 or 2 questions to determine if you're eligible or not)

6. Adjusts to your schedule - there's no minimum requirement, or penalty for ignoring surveys
(I receive a few surveys every couple days via email, but if I don't have time, I just ignore them. I've been a member of this program for 3 years, and sometimes igonored surveys for several months, without penalty)

7. It's FREE!
(LOL - it doesn't cost anything to join, and you can sign up in a few minutes from any computer)

8. I get to help friends and family get paid too!
(I also get paid both when people join through my link, and when they get paid for surveys)

What more can I say? Try it and see for yourself

When You Give Me Some Heat #metaDay 1

2012-01-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

#MetaDay Metaphor Day 1 "Give me Some Heat" - Robert Kiyosaki

I love metaphors. They entertain, captivate, and make complex concepts easier to... GRASP. Did you CATCH that? LOL Besides teaching my proteges to use metaphors, I also use metaphors to teach my proteges. Though I don't have time to mentor every upcoming lyricist in need of one-on-one coaching, or fit in everyone who wants to take my group workshops...

Now that I've got over 2000 followers, the least I can do is give y'all a weekly "Metaphor Day" (the @rapOet twitter tag is #metaDay) - a small taste of Edutainment for you to - ENJOY!

It's the 1st day of the year, and appropriately, today's metaphor has to do with the correct way to GET STARTED! A common misconception among rappers is that they should get a record deal and THEN learn how to rock a crowd. It's not just rappers though, I've seen children in my public workshops argue that when their classmates are nicer to them, THEN they will improve their own behavior. Surprisingly, it's not just rappers or teenagers. The most common misconceivers of this common misconception are grown men and women (bosses, teachers, parents, you name it). It amazes me how often I hear adults argue that IF they had time they'd exercise more, or IF they had money they'd eat healthier, or WHEN they get more respect they'll start showing more respect to the people around them.

Really?

1. Most personal trainers advise us not to exercise more than 15-45 minutes, 3 times per week. Now that's only about 1.5 hours per week. People say they don't have time to exercise, yet according to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (28 hours per week). Someone please tell me if there's a law of physics that prevents people who can watch TV for 28 hours every week from exercising for 30 minutes.

And you don't need to go to a gym. Push-ups and Chin-ups have always been the best test of fitness (requiring you to lift your whole body). You can also do Squats and Planks if you want more variety. Once you can do a few dozen of each, you can add weight to each exercise by lifting household items in your hands or a backpack. If you don't want to hit your local park monkey bar for Chin-ups, you can find a doorway in your house with a ledge above it, OR spend $20 on a removable pull-up bar.

It's easy to find household items to lift though - you can even lift the chairs you sit on to watch television, the very television you're watching (during commercials), or the kids you're watching television with (during commercials). Speaking of which, research shows that American parents spend an average of 3.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children, yet their children spend 1,680 minutes per week watching television. Still think MORE time is what you need?

2. The top nutrition programs guide us to eat less by about 200-500 calories, at least 4 days per week, so in order to improve health, you actually need to SPEND LESS MONEY! For example, the average American drinks 526 12-oz sodas per year (1.5 cans per day). Drinking water instead cuts over 6,000 calories per month, saves $20 per week, and keeps off more of the calories you burn exercising. Even if you don't want to lose weight, eating healthy is not expensive, as demonstrated recently, In "A cost comparison of more and less nutritious food choices in US supermarkets", where David Katz at the Yale University School of Medicine found that people spend more OR LESS on healthier versions of most foods.

In truth, unhealthy and surplus food costs alot more than healthy or reduced eating. Americans and Europeans spend $17 billion a year on petfood (4 billion more than the estimated annual additional total needed to provide basichealth and nutrition for everyone in the world) .Americans each consume an average of 260 pounds of meat a year (that's 40 x the average inBangladesh). We also eat out regularly, paying for convenience - yet research shows that 19% of restaurant food items had at least 100 calories more than listed and only 7% of the 269 foods tested were within 10 calories of what the restaurants stated

Whether vegetarian or carnivorous, a few affordable foods like salmon, tilapia, tuna, eggs, frozen vegetables, and whole wheat bread are all you need to eat healthy. Strict vegetarians can use items such as canned beans, organic tofu, and quinoa for affordable protein sources. It's true that white rice lasts about a year longer than brown rice in the pantry, but brown lasts 6 months to a year, so if you can afford to buy rice twice a year... you're good.

There's lots of extremely low calorie ways to add flavor to healthy foods too. You might already have the best spices in your pantry, including cayenne, cinnamon, garlic powder, mustard, onion, cumin, oregano, and paprika. Still - by far - the most affordable health item is your health itself. If trends continue at the current rate, 100% of Americans will be overweight in just over 30 years. There will be 7.8 million more people with diabetes, 6.8 million cases of coronary heart disease and stroke, and 539,000 extra cases of cancer. Parents should know that being obese increases a child's risk for serious medical problems (including asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, breathing problems, bone conditions, gastro-intestinal diseases, early puberty, poor self-esteem, and depression). Medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy, and one of the largest expenses for most Americans.

So much for the argument of not having time to exercise or money to eat healthy. I'll leave it to you, to figure out why disrespecting others while waiting for them to show you respect first... is not a good idea - LOL! If you wait until your frostbitten to throw wood in the fire, you're gonna need A LOT MORE wood to warm things up. Don't be afraid to start giving what you want to receive, instead of waiting for someone to give it to you first. As Meek Millz put it, "Scared money don't make no money!"

Robert Kisosaki writes in our metaphor of the day, that waiting to be rich before you invest or save money is like "the Guy sitting with firewood in his arms on a cold freezing night, and he is yelling at the pot-bellied stove, 'when you give me some heat then I will put some wood in!'"

From the heart of the New York Tri-State - New England area, this is your favorite MC, wishing you a WARM winter

Over Analyzing

2011-10-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

As an instructor I've realized a theory on overanalyzing things. When I was in 1st grade, a teacher told us, "there's no such thing as a stupid question" which I believed until I started leading daily workshop classes a couple years ago. Although I still believe no question is inherently stupid, the context CAN make it stupid in my opinion. So if I'm about to get hit by a car, but instead if jumpin the #^@! out the way, I start tryin to figure out the make & model of the car = STUPID! right? lol

But that doesn't mean it's inherently stupid to know the make & model of a car... especially if I'm a dealer or mechanic, for example. If you follow me, I look at "overanalysis" the same way. It only exists in CONTEXT. So if analyzing something is distracting you, risking your safety, or otherwise moving you AWAY from your next GOAL, it's OVERanalyzing (and stupid lol); but if it's clarifying your path, increasing your certainty, and otherwise moving you CLOSER to your next GOAL, analyzing is great.

real Cypher on BET - YES for Real - Shady 2.0

2011-10-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Eminem with Slauterhouse and Yelawolf on BET's 2011 Cypher

Just watch this - period

Troy Davis - So What Can I Do?

2011-09-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

M-1 of Dead Prez at Rally for Troy Davis

I don't believe you can ever do "too much". That's one of the reasons life is worth living! There's always more to learn and do. BUT... I do believe you can "worry" too much. AND... I also believe you can overextend yourself too much.

My tag as an MC (Self Suffice) came from realizing:

1. The world would be a much better place if we spent less time criticizing other people, or going out of our way to do the work of others.

2. Everything we see in the world is a reflection of the way we see ourselves in our own minds. So... before you attempt to criticize the work of others, attempt to set a better example through your own work.

This is why when you come to one of my shows, you will hear the crowd calling out phrases like, "Love Your Self" and "Be Your Self".

Today, on September 21, 2011 - in the United States of America - I find myself wanting to CRITICIZE the Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles. Besides that, I feel the urge to be a judge, or attorney, or the president and simply DECIDE the life of TROY DAVIS will be spared. In this moment, I gain clarity in realizing that 1. CRITICIZING is pointless and 2. DECISIONS can only be carried out by those who've made a COMMITMENT to carry them out on a regular basis, and suffered through the challenges to establishing their credibility.

So out of love for my own sanity (LOL), and respect for the lawyers, judges, and presidents who've made the COMMITMENT to do their particular job on a regular basis, I'll avoid CRITICIZING or FORCING others to do their job differently. BUT... am I helpless? NO!

Though I've spoken about TROY DAVIS with friends and family more and more over the past week, tweeted, posted, shared, and led a RALLY for TROY DAVIS (marching through our city's downtown "Main St." area) with other concerned neighbors and activists (Shout to Chris Hutchinson and DJ Toka)... I don't feel like I've done "too much". I want to do more, but I know it's pointless to OVEREXTEND myself. So what can I do?

Rally for Troy Davis in Paris, France

The answer is Simple.

The answer to "What can you do" is "Do what you do". I'm a rapper/poet/MC! So I can make sure that my lyrics continue to spread the COMPASSION and RESPECT for LIFE that is missing in our country right now.

2. And I can start by posting just 1 or 2 bars on this blog right here. Scroll down to "Comments" to see what I write.

3. And I can ask any other lyricists (singers/rappers/poets) to add 1 or 2 bars and encourage others to direct some of our words towards a collaborative poetic-blog-post FOR HUMAN LIFE. Please scroll down to "Comments" and add 1 or 2 lines about saving a valuable HUMAN LIFE.

Justice John Paul Stevens

For those unaware of the controversy about the Execution of Troy Davis (scheduled for TODAY), here are some facts:

1. Career legislators and government officials agree that Troy Davis hasn't been proven guilty of a crime, much less a crime worthy of Capital Punishment

Former President (and Georgia Governor) Jimmy Carter released a public letter in which he stated "Executing Troy Davis without a real examination of potentially exonerating evidence risks taking the life of an innocent man and would be a grave miscarriage of justice."

2. Convicting an innocent man allows the actual killer to get away with killing Officer MacPhail

Martina Correia, an active campaigner for her brother stated "This is not family against family. We have no ill will against the MacPhail family. When justice is found for Troy, there will be justice for Officer MacPhail."

3. Officer MacPhail was trying to stop Sylvester Cole from beating up a homeless man when he was killed. The man who MacPhail was attempting to stop (Sylvester) is the same one who told police that Troy Davis did the crime. For some unknown reason, Sylvester Cole was never a suspect.

4. In 1976, just six months after he joined the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens voted to reinstate capital punishment after a four-year moratorium. He recently retired and made himself available to speak about his 3+ decades of work (during which some 1,100 executions took place). I heard him on WNPR discussing why his decision to reinstate capital punishment is the only one he regrets.

In a detailed, candid and critical essay published by The New York Review of Books, he wrote that personnel changes on the court, coupled with “regrettable judicial activism,” had created a system of capital punishment that is shot through with racism, skewed toward conviction, infected with politics and tinged with hysteria.

Here's an interview with retired Justice John Paul Stevens

If you're a lawyer or professor who can't do anything to determine the innocence - or save the life - of Troy Davis, maybe you can take a few minutes to discuss the case with your colleagues/students today. If you're a painter, maybe you can paint freedom and compassion. If you're a chef maybe you can spell HUMAN LIFE with string beans, or write JUSTICE with frosting on a cupcake. I'm an MC...

If you're a lyricist, feel free to scroll down to the comments and add 1 or 2 lines (or more) to this collaborative poetic-blog-post FOR HUMAN LIFE