PayPal Celebrates and Fancy Leads A Money-Making Revolution


Making money is the backbone of business, of course, but in recent years some are revolutionizing approaches to monetizing businesses and accepting payments for products and services. Here are some ways you may already be making money in your business. If not, it’s food for thought.

PayPal Keeps Evolving

PayPal pays its dues. Ranking as one of the top tech purchases in Silicon Valley history, Ebay’s acquisition of PayPal ten years ago is paying off. The company celebrates half a trillion in online earnings this year. Many businesses use PayPal for transactions, and not just for Ebay auctions. Venture Beat

Getting it together. PayPal is a money-making machine serving potentially millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs. But why stop there, says David Marcus, company president, in a recent post. The payment transfer giant is making some changes to simplify operations for those who use the company’s services. PayPal Blog

Fancy Builds A New Model

Curating for dollars. Move over Klout and Kred. This new social site is giving a lot more than points for your influence. Instead, New York-based Fancy will reward you with earnings for some of the products you share with friends on Facebook and Twitter. Gigaom

Very Pinteresting. The social site that might get the biggest run for its money from New York-based Fancy is Pinterest. While Pinterest is now well-known for its ability to drive massive amounts of traffic to e-commerce sites, Fancy will soon offer something more. Forbes

Online Advertising Struggles

Neck and neck. A recently announced $6.3 billion loss by Microsoft in its purchase of aQuantive in 2007 shows how competitive the online advertising business has become. Microsoft had made the purchase in an effort to compete with Google and Yahoo! advertising products whose popularity persists with online businesses.  Reuters

A dangerous game. But counting on revenue, at least from online advertising services like Google AdSense, remains risky business. Online entrepreneur Holly Hanna tells us first hand how quickly and sometimes arbitrarily online advertising arrangements like this can come to an end. Listen to her personal story. The Work at Home Woman

AdSense alternatives. Of course, Google AdSense is not the only game in town. Here are at least five alternatives your business might want to consider when looking for ways to advertise online or to monetize your Website or content as an additional source of revenue. Techno Buffalo

Other Opportunities

Fiverr flirtation. Users of the site that allows freelancers to offer a wide range of services to clients for $5 aren’t breaking any sales records yet. However, 60 percent of Fiverr users have earned at least $100, while 27 percent have earned more than $500. There could be a business model here. US News & World Report

App advertising is apropos. While privacy advocates may be concerned about the adware in an increasing number of free apps, the trend might also represent a future means of advertising and revenue for small businesses. Does your business have a free app for download? Does it offer you a means of communicating with customers? All Things Digital

Killing cash. Tech giants and startups alike are encouraging customers to move away from cash to paying for products and services using their smartphones. And it’s not just larger businesses that are benefiting from the change. Your small business will have many opportunities in a new, cashless market. CNN Money

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  1. I love using Paypal. Sadly, not everyone is up on the times. I tried using Paypal recently, only to find that they did not allow me to pay with Paypal. I thought everyone at least had the option. Oh well, maybe someday. Thanks for the great roundup!

  2. Thanks for including my article about being banned from Google Adsense. I’ll have to check out Techno Buffalo’s Adsense alternatives =)

  3. In fact, now that Visa’s V.me is beta testing on buy.com, PreyPal is fast approaching its “use by” date with any online business of any substance outside of PreyPal’s effectively mandated place on the ever atrophying eBay marketplace.

    As for PreyPal at Home Depot or any other physical point of sale—LOL …

    And, as for the eBay marketplace …

    “Shill Bidding Fraud on eBay: Case Study #5”
    http://www.ecommercebytes.com/forums/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=167554

    eBay / PayPal / Donahoe: Dead Men Walking