Get the truth about the paid-to-read industry!

Can you really get $5 for reading one email?

Have you seen the web site that promises $1000 per month from reading email about an hour a day? Well, the "system" boils down to signing up with paid-to read (PTR) companies that pay $3, $5, $10 per email. $10 PER EMAIL? Let's see...$10 email to 1000 members. Even if only 50% actually click, that's still $5000. Hmmm, OK. Now, let's look at the ad prices listed on the site. $10 email to all 1000 members ------ $2.99. You get the point.

So, what's the bottom line? Sustainable advertising. In order to survive, a paid email site must bring in more money from the ads (and sometimes other sources) than it pays out to its members to read them. An easy way to avoid potential problems is to simply stay away from sites with high per email rates and ridiculous pay-outs.

Unfortunately, it isn't always easy to spot a paid email company you should avoid. Some start out well but grow large and become unmanageable. Some have severe membership problems (cheaters). Others have trouble attracting good advertisers. Still others have webmasters/webmistresses with problems that if put in a movie would win an Oscar.

So, why even bother with this soap opera? If you have something to advertise (your web site, an affiliate web site/opportunity, or e-Bay), it's a great way to get the word out. Also, you do learn about other opportunities to join and interesting things to buy. Finally, it is a good way to earn a few extra dollars.

My advice: take a look at the sites listed below. I have kept the number of high search sites to a minimum. It's impossible to support too many by trying to get through hundreds of search links per day. Please keep in mind that paid-to-read email involves some risk. I've minimized that quite a bit by staying with sites with low to medium pay-outs and a history of actually paying. Read Surfing and Reading Made Easy and i HATE PAiD EMAiL for additional information. Here are a few quick links to get your feet wet:

Been Paid :: See which sites have actually paid its members.
PTR Scam Sites :: List of known scam sites.
Get Paid Forum :: Huge board. Informative and entertaining. Here's a great post listing scam PTR sites.

Since you will be opening quite a few email messages, computer protection is a must. Some "weird-ware" exists in PTR (especially with a few paid-to-promote pages), check Computer Protection for various downloads to keep your computer safe.

Note: PTR companies are International (unless otherwise noted) but some place restrictions on certain countries. Check individual sites for details.

Check back often for updates. Visit Cammie's Get Paid Experiment! for comments on these paid email sites as well as industry news and information.