by Tora

Created on: March 24, 2009

A lot of changes have been made to the MyLot community since I joined in December 2006, but one key fact has remained the same despite the additions of new features and site redesigns: it is one of the few online communities that consistently rewards its members for their participation on the site.

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical when I first found MyLot. I had just started trying to make money online, and I still hadn't figured out a lot of the obvious warning signs of scams. However, since MyLot was absolutely free to join, I figured it was worth trying out.

In my first day on MyLot, I posted a few dozen responses to discussions that other members had started. I was a bit dismayed when my earnings didn't update as I posted, but quickly figured out that it was because MyLot only calculates members' earnings once every 24 hours. When I logged into my account the next morning, I had earned a total of 78 cents. It wasn't a whole lot, but I was thrilled by the progress and happily set about posting in just about every discussion I came across. I also spent a bit of time uploading photos to my interest categories, which helped increase my earnings by about a penny apiece.

MyLot has a fairly low minimum payout amount of $10. I'd earned more than double that by the end of January, and MyLot sent my first payment to my PayPal account on February 9, 2007. Since then, I've received five other payments for my participation.

Compared to other sites that pay for writing, like Associated Content and Helium, MyLot does not pay very well at all. Although MyLot doesn't disclose the algorithm that's used to calculate members' earnings, I've been able to estimate that I average somewhere between 2 and 5 cents for each post that I make. While it's not a bad rate to be earning for conversational postings on discussions, I've found that I prefer to focus on opportunities that give me a chance to reap residual rewards instead.

MyLot also recently added a new way for members to earn for participating. Called "Tasks," these are small assignments that members can accept and complete for bonus payments. Among some of the ones that I've seen available are downloading the eWoss.com toolbar and writing a one-paragraph review of it, researching websites and submitting their contact email addresses, and researching NCAA ticket prices. Tasks pay significantly larger amounts than participating in discussions or uploading photos does, but there have been very limited opportunities to accept tasks when they are posted. Although the one task I completed credited to my account within a few days with no problems, I have seen complaints from other members that the ones they completed are still pending.

I'm not anywhere near as active on MyLot as I was when I first joined, but I am still earning a few cents here and there for sporadic participation. I also have a couple of active referrals, so I earn 25% of what their activity earns them. Despite the fact that I've moved on to other pursuits, MyLot is still the only online community that I will recommend to anyone who's looking for a way to earn money from having casual conversations.

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