It’s not like writing for a book, or publication, a newspaper or magazine but blogging is prevalent on the Web because we love sharing, reading and hearing about new experiences. And unlike freelance writing, you don’t answer to a client’s demand or write to adhere to a blog’s direction or scope.

Still, it feels good to be paid to write articles, and you don’t have to manage a blog to actually make money out of your writing.

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Writers would understand how difficult it is to write a convincing piece on something they don’t really fancy or have enough knowledge or understanding about. But with the 20 sites here that pay for your writing, you can choose to write about how-to’s, reviews, tech, ‘serious’ pieces or offer your writing services for hire.

Recommended Reading: 20 Websites To Sell Your EBook

1. Squidoo

Squidoo is a publishing platform and community where you can share personal write-ups through their website. Articles on Squidoo are called ‘lenses’ or pages. Once you’ve posted a lens, ads of similar or recommended products of what’s written is placed around your lens.

The ads will consist of products which are sold via their affiliate programs with Amazon, eBay and a few others. You keep half of whatever Squidoo makes off your lens which is then payable to you via PayPal or donated to a charity of your choice.

2. HubPages

Like Squidoo, in HubPages, you write ‘hubs’ or articles about an original and useful topic. Once you’ve posted your article, ads related to what you wrote are placed. These ads are generated from Google AdSense, HubPages Ad Program and/or affiliate programs such as Amazon and eBay products.

Once your article(s) earns the minimum amount on Google AdSense ($100) or HubPages Ad Program ($50), you can chose to cash out your earnings through PayPal.

3. ContentBLVD

ContentBLVD connects blog owners to writers. To be a writer for ContentBLVD, you have to send in an application and meet its criteria, one of which is living in and being eligible to work in the U.S. Once you get in, you can start writing articles based on the topics or assignments as required by ContentBLVD’s clients.

If your content gets used, you will be paid between $12 to $48 per piece. For now, ContentBLVD is still in beta mode (at the time of this writing) but it is worth checking out if you want to quit writing spam assignments.

4. Helium

Helium is a writing community where you can choose to write about your own topic or write for one of Helium’s clients under their assignment dashboard. One way to earn money through Helium is with their assignment-based articles which are sold to publishers or brands who need content for their websites and products.

You can also earn money via their Ad Revenue Sharing program where they pay you based on the amount of traffic your personal article brings to their site. You can cash out after earning the minimum of $25.

5. Triond

Triond is another writing community where you write articles that are then posted on other popular websites. Triond allows you to post audio, video and pictures together with your written articles which are then published to relevant websites based on what you’ve written.

You can then track your article views, comments and earnings via your user dashboard. You can cash out 50% of the advertising earnings from your articles every month.

6. Epinions

If you love writing reviews (and who doesn’t?), check out Epinions. You can write positive or negative reviews about products available for purchase on web stores all over the internet. From the reviews, you earn Eroyalties credits through the Income Share program, which is redeemable in US dollars.

The program rewards reviewers who help other buyers make their decisions on buying or not buying the product based on your review. US residents can redeem their check with a minimum balance of $10 while non-US residents must have a minimum balance of $100.

Recommended Reading: Online Shoppers: Why Online Reviews Can Save Your Day

7. Fiverr

Fiverr is a place you where you can ‘sell’ your writing skills or services (among others) for a fixed price of $5 – you get to keep $4. When someone buys whatever you’re offering to sell, they’ll pay to Fiverr first. Once you’ve completed the task at hand, $4 will be credited into your account.

You can then withdraw your earnings via PayPal. Unlock ‘levels’ by selling more and more often on Fiverr, and more opportunities and tools will be opened for your use.

8. Yahoo! Contributor Network

Writers can sign up for free to be a Yahoo! Contributor where you can find daily ‘assignments’ to write about. Many of these assignments offer up-front payments ranging from $2 to $25 (and sometimes more). Otherwise, you can create and earn from your own content as well, with payments ranging from $2 to $15.

All payments are processed through PayPal. The content you write is shared on other Yahoo subdomains like Yahoo! News, Shopping, Voices, Sports, etc which gives you very good exposure.

9. Demand Media Studios

You need to apply to write for Demand Media Studios but once accepted, you’ll be given tasks or assignments which they require you to write about. These assignments will be based on subjects which you are interested in or have knowledge of. This is determined when you first apply for the assignment.

We also have reason to believe that content on eHow originates from here, giving you and your articles even more exposure. Your articles that get published will net you from $15 to more than $30.

10. Digital Journal

Digital Journal is a community with a rather serious tone. You can contribute by creating blog posts and interacting with groups by discussing and debating the latest news and important blogs. The more you contribute, and the more attention you bring to your post, the more you can earn from the site.

Payments are done via PayPal. In order to begin contributing, you must apply to be a Digital Journalist by submitting a sample of your writing. For more details on how this works, hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.

11. About.com

About.com is a renowned website which you’ve probably stumbled across more than once. Because they’re so renowned, being a guide or topic writer means you have to apply to write for specific topics.

You’ll also have to go through a two-part orientation and evaluation program to learn of their editorial standards before being accepted to write for them. There is no mention about how much you can earn from writing for them but payments are done on a monthly basis.

12. Blogging.org

This is a website for people to buy and also write articles to be sold. To earn money from Blogging.org, all you have to do is contribute quality articles of specific topics. Since the other half of the website is for people to browse and purchase content, if your article gets chosen, you’ll get paid a certain amount.

Articles go for as low as $1.50 up to $20 per piece, however there is no mention on how much you are entitled to. Premium writers are mentioned to ‘earn $30/hour and payments are done weekly. Register for free to start writing.

13. Constant Content

Constant Content is a website that allows writers to get their content sold to multiple clients. There is also a Public Request System where writers can submit fresh articles to buyers who are looking for content on a specific subject.

As you write more, you can join the Writer Pool to claim exclusive projects from clients. This is a great way to build your portfolio. Each article price is determined and paid by the client; Constant Content will take 35% while the writer receives 65% through PayPal.

14. Bukisa

Bukisa’s aim is to give knowledge to others by sharing experiences. So most of their articles are ‘How-To’ guides. This is a great place to write about a something you are interested or have knowledge in.

Earnings are based on Google AdSense within your article. It’s also a community where you can meet other writers. It’s free to sign up so just give it a go.

15. Content Row

Content Row is a company that sells content written by you. However, their FAQ states that each content written is only sold to 1 customer and the customer can use their name instead of yours on the article. Technically you sell off your right of ownership to the content you produce.

However, you will earn 50% of whatever the customer pays and can write articles that are of interest to you. To be an author for Content Row, you’ll have to send in an application with 3 writing samples.

16. ArticleTeller

At ArticleTeller, you can be a writer for many customers who go to their site looking to purchase content. As a writer, you can earn stars as you write each article. These starts let you moe through four writing levels or rankings. You can earn more money per article if you’re higher ranked.

A Requester (buyer) will pay you a certain amount for the number of words you write, and you get to keep 81% of whatever they paid for the article, payable via PayPal.

17. Xomba

Xomba is a place with articles in the categories of Entertainment, Home, Writing, Science & History, News & Politics, Technology and Living. Ads from Google AdSense are automatically placed on the article you write.

Despite the flexibility of topics to write on, when it comes to payments, Xomba splits the earnings with you; you will receive 40%. Also, earning through Google AdSense means you can only withdraw your earnings when it reaches $100.

18. Wizzley

Writing on Wizzley can earn you money in a few different ways. Besides earning from Google AdSense, you can show related products sold on Amazon in your article, and you will receive a commission if one of the products is sold through the writing your article.

They even allow you to use pictures for sale from AllPosters, and if they get sold from the click of your article, you get a share of the earnings. Other similar ways to earn commission include Zazzle and Chitika.

19. Zujava

Zujava refers to their articles as Leaves which cover a wide variety of categories. Google AdSense ads are placed on your articles together with their affiliates program like Amazon where you can feature products within your article.

50% of the earnings from ads and products sold are sent to you via PayPal.

20. SponsoredReviews

SponsoredReviews is a place where advertisers look for bloggers to write about their products. This is also a site for bloggers who want to sell sponsored posts on their blogs.

Advertisers who go to SponsoredReviews have their own requirements for what they want in each post. Once you’re account and profile is on SponsoredReviews, advertisers will visit your blog and if they’re interested to buy ‘advertising space’, they’ll contact you. Bloggers can also approach advertisers directly.

If you’re thinking of getting a Solid State Drive (SSD) for your desktop or laptop computer, here are a few things you should know before taking the plunge. In general, SSD are hard drives without any moving parts. It’s like a memory card used in digital cameras (but on steroids). The lack of moving parts allows data to be transferred at maximum speeds.

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Some of you may think that it is expensive and may be unwilling to upgrade, unaware of the improvement it could afford you. Others might also feel that a 128GB or 256GB capacity is insufficient for all their programs and files. Whatever your concerns are, we will try our best to explain the common concerns one has towards buying a solid state drive.

Here are five things you should know about solid state drives.

Recommended Reading: 20+ Data Backup & Synchronization Tools For Hard Drives

1. Speedy Performance Expectations

If you are thinking about upgrading your current desktop or laptop with a solid state drive here’s what you should expect to see from the first reboot. Startups will be a lot faster, especially with the improved start up coding in Windows 8. Programs and files will launch or load faster, and your search results will also turn up faster. For those with loud laptops, you might notice the drop in the sound department, as SSD do not contain moving parts.

(Image Source: thessdreview.com)

However, to be clear, having a SSD on your system will not allow you to render a video while playing a PC game. It will also not make a game’s graphics smoother or load webpages faster. It’s important that you manage your expectations well within reason. One good thing that you will probably notice on the long run is that, SSD also uses less electrical power than conventional hard drives do – this means longer battery life for laptops.

2. OS & App Migration

If you are getting the SSD with a brand new laptop, you can skip on to the next section. This section is for those who are doing an upgrade with the SSD. You’ll need to look into the migration of your current operating system as well as your applications.

Some SSD manufacturers include disk cloning or migration software, a software that clones or migrates your entire operating system drive into your solid state drive. The box comes with the CD and a device that allows you to connect your SSD to your PC via USB for the migration process. Once you’re done, you can then install the SSD into your system and it’ll be ready to go.

(Image Source: Crucial M4)

However, migration is not recommended. Transferring all the contents without installing programs properly may lead to problems. The best way about it is to reinstall your operating system and reinstall all your necessary programs after that.

3. Prices Don’t (Really) Burn Your Pocket

When Solid State Drives first came out in the market, it was very expensive and it became the item that only enthusiasts will buy and benefit from. However, prices have been dropping year after year, and many brands have come up with consumer grade SSDs which are cheaper yet provides great performance.

You can easily tell them apart by the price when (for example) a 64GB SSD costs as much as a 128GB drive – the 64GB drive is for ‘pro’ users. Solid State Drives today come in a variety of storage capacities: from 20GB all the way to 1TB. The way to get your money’s worth is to determine the price per GB and also how much storage speed you require. The sweet spot would be about $0.80-0.85 per GB and maybe even less when it’s on sale.

Treat it as a long term investment for your system and research on particular brands and models that are nicely priced for your budget. There are plenty of websites or YouTube videos of tech experts that have performance and user reviews for popular brands and models of SSDs.

4. Storage Limitations

Ideally, 128GB (and in some situations 64GB) is enough for the operating system, programs and some games. You shouldn’t store media (like music, videos or pictures) on a Solid State Drive because the fuller the SSD gets, the slower it will run.

You won’t feel a significant change when starting your PC or launching programs, but file transfer speeds might slow down a little, which is why a SSD should be used only for the installation of operating system and applications.

Another reason not to store media on SSDs is because the more you write (or transfer files) into the drive, the shorter your SSD lifespan is. However, heavy stress tests on SSD by manufacturers have concluded that 10GB of writing every day would still need 10 years to do your SSD in.

Laptop users worried about storage space can look for a compatible laptop caddy to replace their laptop’s CD drive. This allows the user to install their existing drive, giving them two hard drives where your formatted existing drive is used mainly for storage. Alternatively, you could turn to cloud storage to save space on your system.

5. Installation & Warranty

If you know how to install a hard drive onto your desktop PC, then installing a Solid State Drive should not be a problem; it is practically the same. However, there are a few things to note when installing a SSD onto a laptop.

Laptops are all built differently and some might require you to unscrew a lot to install a SSD. Here’s where it gets a little technical. It is also very important that you access your BIOS and change or configure the SATA settings from IDE to AHCI.

It is sometimes called SATA Mode Selection or SATA Mode. Each system will name it differently but you’ll easily find it with a little exploring around the BIOS. This ensures that you get maximum performance from your SSD.

(Image Source: Tom’sHardware)

Where possible, do check with your local shop to see if they can install it for you. Asking them to do it for you also ensures that you do not void your laptop warranty.

Most Solid State Drives also come with a number of years of warranty. Obviously no one wants to go through the warranty process, so it is advisable to follow these few tips from Microsoft to ensure you get a long lifespan with speedy performance out of your Solid State Drive.

The trend these days is that if you want the answer to something, you don’t ask a grown up, you ask Google. I’m sure for most of you the Google search page is your start page, especially if your favorite browser is Chrome. Notice that the background of the Google search page is a blank sheet of nothingness, well, apart from the search bar of course.

How about we spice things up a little by adding a background or your own picture? With this Custom Google Background extension, you can customize the Google search page background to something of your liking (but only on the Chrome browser).

Recommended Reading: How To Find Your Previous Google Search Queries

Getting Started

First, add Custom Google Background extension to browser. It will ask for permission to access your data and browsing activity.

Next, you will be forwarded to the Settings page. Choose the image you want to use for Google search background from your hardisk or from a URL.

You can upload more than one image and even leave it on random mode so your background will always change as you reload the page.

Not only that, with this extension you can personalize the Google search page. Choose to hide certain elements from the search page such as the Google logo, the "Lucky" button, the footer and much more. You also can adjust the position of your image.

Bored with the current image? Just click on "change background image" at the bottom left side of the page, and it will redirect you to the Settings page and you can make your changes there.