General Advice

- Before signing up, do some research on the site. Visit some specific forums like Get Paid Forum, GPTBoycott Forum, etc.

- Stay away from sites that promise to pay too much for every email. How much does an advertiser need to pay to send an email worth $1 to 1000 people? There are only a few reputable sites that pay more than 1c for an email or banner click.

- Stay away from sites that have a very high payout. Especially if you are not from a country allowed to search. How many 0.25 cents clicks do you have to make to reach $30? If the site has a such high payout rate, it should have high value emails and banners (high being 1 cent)

- Use different passwords for different sites. That way if your password gets stolen, you will not loose all your earnings.

- Keep your antivirus and spyware protection updated. You can find free software online. Use it! Remember you will be receiving lots of emails and visiting lots of sites, and it takes one dishonest "advertiser" to break havoc in your life.

- Don't pay to join a site. Even autosurf sites give you the option of free membership. You should be a free member for at least a while before you pay any money to upgrade. None of the honest sites will ask to pay to become a member.

- Get one or two email addresses for these sites. Gmail is great. Hotmail usually bounces, and Yahoo is starting to bounce too. Don't use the address where you get your personal emails because they will probably get lost among hundreds of PTR emails.

- If you belong to a country different from USA, or not in Europe, read through the terms and help pages before joining a site (you should always read them no matter where you live!). Many sites have banned people from certain countries or limit them to advertising redemption because of cheating.

- Be patient. Many good sites go down. Many scams are born every day. Many honest webmasters find it difficult to pay on time. Many cheaters get good sites into trouble. Many things can happen. Just do your homework, and be patient. The good ones always come through.