All about ICT and Youth Empowerment: Ways to Earn

Ways to Earn – Posting

Citizens can earn in a variety of ways on empowr. This module will cover how citizens can earn by posting.

We’ll cover how to earn from posting blogs, photos, videos and status updates, as well as how Biggest Fans Online (BFOs) and Communities work.

Earning From Your Posts

You earn based on the number of unique views you receive for the first 24 hours after you have posted your content.

Views for all posts only count if they are viewed on other citizens’ newsfeeds or by having someone visit your "Unread Stories" page. For videos, they must be played on the newsfeed or “Unread Stories” page to count as viewed.

In order for someone to get to your “Unread Stories” page, they must click on you when you show up in their BFO (Biggest Fan Online) Bar.

What are BFOs and how do they work?

Your BFOs are the people that have done the most for you that are online right now.

Go to your newsfeed and scroll down – you’ll see your BFO Bar appear:

By clicking on your BFOs, you’ll be taken to their Unread Stories page. By visiting your BFOs’ Unread Stories page, you help them earn and further build your relationship with them by sharing their posts.

The farther to the left that someone appears in your BFO bar, the more than have done for you:

By doing more for others, you are more likely to show up in their BFO bar, which means you will get more views and earnings.

To become someone's Biggest Fan Online (BFO):

1. like, repost and comment on their posts from the newsfeed or Unread Stories page
2. purchase their products
3. bid on their auctions

How to Post: Blogs

Creating a New Blog and Blog Posts

What’s the difference between a Blog and a Post? A blog is where people go to read your posts. A blog may contain multiple posts.
Think of the blog as a book and the posts in it are chapters of the book.
A blog is typically about one subject matter and may contain as many posts as you like.

When we create new posts we can earn from these posts within the first 24 hours from them just being shown in our friends and fans news feeds.

Blogs can be created by clicking on the "Blog" tab on your left navigation bar.

You can include pictures, text, video and links to other web pages in your blog posts. empowr makes it easy to search images from Google, Yahoo, and Wikipedia directly in the editor, but you can add images from anywhere to your posts, including uploading your own images from your computer. Use the "Search" area at the bottom of the Editor to find great content for your posts.

If you did not create the content in your post, make sure to give credit to the source you got that content from. Give credit to a source you got your content from by putting "Credit: http://www.YourSourceSite.com" at the bottom of the post with your borrowed content.

When saving your blog post, make sure your title makes sense and accurately describes to a reader what they can expect to find in that post.

Limiting how much of your post can be viewed for free

When you are saving a post, empowr will automatically insert a green dollar sign ($) after roughly 1/3 of your content. This symbol signifies the "paid" part of a post - if you sell the blog in the marketplace then only people who have bought it will be able to read past this point. You can manually place the dollar sign at any point in your post by finding it in your blog editor toolbar.

If you place the "quot; sign at the end of the post, the entire content will be visible to anyone who visits your post - or if you are not selling the blog, then citizens will be able to click "Read More" to view the rest of your post for free.

Editing a Blog Post & Blog Setting

You can edit your blog posts any time. Just visit the "Blog" tab and select the blog and specific post you want to edit from the drop down menu.

To change the title of your blog, go to the "Blog" tab, select the blog you want to edit from the drop down menu. At the top right of the blog click the "Blog Settings" link or click “Edit” next to the title.

The blog setting dialog box will appear – make your changes and hit “Save.”

While you’re there, be sure to give each blog a unique photo that corresponds to the content within it. By doing so, your blog posts will stand out much more in the feed each time you publish a new post – making it much more likely your post will be viewed and shared by more people.

Blog Standards and Guidelines

You may not blog about any subject that infringes on a copyright of any other party.
You may not blog about subjects that promote or incite terrorism or criminal offenses.
You may not post blogs that promote online gambling, sports books, bingo or poker.
Blogs promoting tobacco products are not allowed.
Adult content with a sexual emphasis is not allowed.
You do not make money asking others to visit your blogs.
You cannot create a blog post for one single picture. Provide quality content in your posts.

Once a blog or post is deleted, there is no way to recover that blog or post.

Blog Post Promotion

Promote your blog URL on relevant forums, Google, Facebook, and Twitter or anywhere else on the Web! Each blog and blog post has a unique URL at the bottom of the post, or in your blog settings.

Note: you do not earn from non-empowr citizens liking, sharing or viewing your posts. You earn when empowr citizens like, share or view your posts in their feed or your Unread Stories page.

Only people who have an empowr account and are actually logged in to it will be able to view your full blog or posts, unless you have placed the "quot; symbol at the very end of your post.
Ads are another way to promote your posts on empowr.

Search Terms in Posts

Blogs do not have search terms, posts do.
The Search Terms you choose help readers find the posts that are relevant to them.
When you publish a post on empowr, that post is shown automatically to all your friends and your fans AND people you don't even know based on the search terms you choose.

Search terms that you choose for your post will be rated by other empowr citizens when they categorize and rate your post.
Your post's Search Terms (tags) can be edited at any time and will update when the edited post is published.
Click on the "Need Ideas" button in the "Blog" tab on the left navigation bar to view a list of the most popular Search Terms in your country.

Organizing Blog Posts

You can drag and drop blog posts in the "Contents" area of your blog to arrange the order of the posts within that blog.

Each post has its own unique URL. This URL can be found at the bottom of each post.

You can include links in your posts to other blogs on empowr or to any website that does not violate empowr standards.

Blog Media

Video

Tip: Integrate your favorite YouTube video clips into your blog. Here's how:

Visit YouTube.com.
Search for keywords relating to your favorite videos.
Choose a video and click the "Share" button below it.
Copy the URL from YouTube and paste it.

If you'd like a video to play automatically in your post, add "&autoplay=1" (without quotes) after the YouTube video code when inserting the video in your post.

To have background music only, set the size of your video to 3x3 pixels and the video won't show, only the audio will play.

Images

Images may be uploaded to your blog posts in two ways; either by copying and pasting directly into the post, or by using the "Insert Image" link.

How to Post Photos

To post photos, click on "Add photos/videos" or the camera icon within the status box. A window will the appear for you to select the photo from your computer or phone. Click "Post."

If you would like to create a photo album, click "Create photo album" instead.

How to Post Videos

To post a video, click on "Add photos/videos" and then click "Add video." Add the video url in space provided and click "Post."

How to Post Status Updates

To add a status update, begin writing in the status text box. If you want to share your status with only certain groups, make your selection from the drop down, and click "Post."

Maximizing Your Post Earnings

There are a few things to keep in mind when guiding clients to earn from posting to their feed...

1. Build their friend and fan base - we must interact with our friends and fans to stay in their top stories and BFOs, so our activity shows up in our friends and fans feed. This means when we like, comment, message or visit a friend’s profile the system will show us that persons activity. So, build a fan base and stay active.

Getting Started - Video 2A

Getting Started - Video 2B

Getting Started - Video 2C

2. Post regularly through the day - posting quality, unique content often will help us earn more.

Getting Started - Video - 3A

Getting Started - Video 3B

Getting Started - Video 3C

3. When one is a Power User, earnings from posting content increases, because of the increased distribution you get (and hence more views).

4. New content only generates earnings within the first 24 hours as long as they are viewed from your friends/fans' newsfeeds or Unread Stories pages.

Clients who aren't earning usually have issues that can be traced to one or a combination of the following:

1- Their earnings are "OFF", or their account is not optimized for earning

2- They are not posting frequently enough throughout the day

3- Their posts are low-quality and not getting viewed by enough people

After the first 24 hours you will not earn from that post unless you have created an ad for it; you then have the potential to earn from that post via ad clicks.

Posting and Sharing Limits

Based on your Power Level, there are limits on the number of posts you earn from and gain network value from sharing each day.

Why set limits?

Setting these limits creates a level playing field, so that people can focus on the quality of their posts, rather than quantity.

As a result, empowr citizens have more free time to spend with the people they care about, rather than being put in a position where they feel they need to be on empowr all day long in order to earn.

Note: Citizens still have the freedom to post and share as much as they’d like on empowr – there is NO limit on this. What is limited is how many posts you can earn from and gain network value from shares each day.

How do you know what your daily limit is?

Daily limits are based on your Power Level. To see these limits by Power Level, click “Get More Power” on the left navigation bar.

This page details the many benefits of being a Power User, as well as the privileges extended to each Power Level. Scroll down to the bottom to see this breakdown, which includes daily limit information.

You can also check your limits from your status bar. Click the empowr "e" at the bottom of your status bar, and a window will appear telling you how many posts count towards your limits for that day. You can even decide which posts you want to count.

The most important things to understand about theses limits are:

There are no limits on how much you can share and post
There are only limits on how many of those posts you can earn off of
This does not limit the earning potential – only the amount of posting you need to do to earn.

Sharing Content with Select Groups

To maximize your earnings from posting, you want each post to be viewed by as many citizens as possible. That being said, there are times that you may want to limit who can view your posts to a specific group, such as your family and/or friends. empowr has a feature that will allow you to categorize your friends and then choose who can see your posts.

How does this work?

First, everyone has the option to only post with people categorized as friends. When adding a citizen to your network, you’ll first be prompted to categorize them as a friend or a fan. Add them to existing categories or create a new category.

You can decide to post certain items so only friends, only fans, or only select people in one of your categorized groups can see your posts. See below for where to select who sees your status updates, videos or photos.

Another great component of this feature is you can also decide to only view posts on your homepage from these same friends, fans or from one of your subcategories. Simply select the groups you would like view on your newsfeed.

Hashtags

You can insert hashtags in your status updates and other content you post. To begin a hashtag, type the # symbol. To end a hashtag, press the space bar twice.

Introducing Communities

Communities are a social tool that allows empowr citizens to Collaborate, Share and Profit with each other through engaging in the businesses, groups, causes and interests that they are already a part of or are looking to establish right here on empowr.

Who Can Create A Community?

Only Power Users may start and have the role as admin in a community.

From the home page, click “view communities”. Once on the main Communities page, you may create a community based on the category that best represents your group.

You will enter your Community information and add any admins that you want to work with. You may also set who will be “controlling admins.” Controlling admins are the only ones allowed to add/remove other admins in the community. Remember, you cannot use “empowr” in naming your community.

If, for any reason, you stop being a Power User at any point in time, you will have 7 days to regain your Power User status before you are removed as an admin to all Communities that you are in.

If you are in any Communities where you are the only admin or all of the admins lose their Power User status, then that entire Community will be suspended and no one will be able to access it.

How Do I Login To My Community?

From the home page, click “View Communities”. Click on the “Communities I Admin” tab to see a list of all communities you admin. Click on the link for the Community you wish to log into.