One thing that I recommend to people working to make money online is to write about what you know, whatever that might be.

It’s not a guaranteed money maker, but it will help you come up with more frequent and fresh content for your sites to generate traffic.

Last Friday I launched a new site that I will be providing weekly progress updates here and daily notes on my Work At Home Network discussion forums. The first posts will be added tonight and I’ll provide a link from here.

For my own ease in analyzing traffic, the site url won’t be provided for at least a month or two.

I’ll be providing an in depth analysis of all the stats compiled from Google analytics and any income generated from the site.

It may fail. It may succeed. We’ll just have to see.

See you tonight.

Edited on 03/03 to add: Taking longer to get to this than planned. This little experiment should be up soon.

Not that we need more reasons.

Who wants to deal with this at 6:30 in the morning or whatever time you have to get going for work.

First, we have to shovel out of the driveway and warm up the car.

And then it’s out onto the highway dealing with people who drive too slow or too fast for the conditions. Naturally, I drive just right, LOL.

Now, it might be different if work paid me for the extra time. But somehow I don’t think they will.

Yeah, I’d much rather just let it all melt while letting my sites earn money in perfectly sunny cyberspace.

This has been around for a little while, but I just stumbled across it last night.

For those looking to make a few extra bucks, check out the Google Local Business Referrals program. I don’t know how long they will be doing this and there is no guarantee that you’ll be accepted into the program, but it may be worth a few minutes of your time to register your interest.

Here are the highlights of what you do and what you earn, taken from the Business Referral Representative Frequently Asked Questions:

• What will I be doing as a representative?

As a Google Business Referral Representative, you’ll visit local businesses to collect information (such as hours of operation, types of payment accepted, etc.) for Google Maps, and tell them about Google Maps and Google AdWords. You’ll also take a few digital photos of the business that will appear on the Google Maps listing along with the business information. After the visit, you submit the business’ info and photo(s) to Google through your Local Business Referrals Center, and we’ll pay you up to $10 for each listing that is approved by Google and verified by the business.All you need to be a successful Business Referral Representative is a passion for helping local businesses succeed, a love for the Internet (some knowledge of Google is great, too), and access to a computer and a digital camera.

• How much will I be paid? How will I be paid?

You can earn up to $10 for each approved, verified referral you submit. This includes $2 when a business referral is approved by Google; and $8 when an approved business verifies that the information you submitted is accurate. Referrals are approved by Google based on the completeness and quality of data supplied by representatives. Businesses verify their information either by sending us a response postcard or verifying their information online. As long as your earnings total at least $25 a month, you’ll receive a monthly check.

• What are the eligibility requirements for the program?

To be eligible for consideration as a Google Business Referral Representative, you must be authorized to work as a contractor in the U.S., be at least 18 years of age, and be able to complete an IRS Form W-9. You must also have access to a computer and a digital camera.

This obviously won’t make you rich and from what I’ve read so far, that $8 verification carrot is the hardest part to get.

Verification occurs when Google approves your referral($2 to you) and then sends the business a postcard for them to return verifying the info that you provided for Google Maps.

It looks like the average verification percentage seems to run an average of 5%-10% with the highest I’ve seen at about 25%. The high end is achieved by those willing to do a little follow up to make sure the businesses received the post card, filled it out, and sent it back in.

This means your actual income is most likely to average between $2.40 to $4.00 per business referral.

I did sign up and was approved. I think it will be an interesting project and it can also lead to making quite a few business contacts in your own community.

Best of luck to those who decide to give it a shot.