Getting Started Part I: Setting up your Paypal account

Basically, I am going to show you web sites that you can sign up with and do things to get paid.

The first thing you're going to need is a Paypal account. But not just any Paypal account. There are two types of Paypal accounts: Business and Personal. If you are a seller or buyer on Ebay, you probably already have a Business Paypal account. However, you are going to need to get a Personal Paypal account for the programs I am recommending. Why is this? Because if you cash out on a given program, if you get paid to your Business Paypal account, Paypal is going to tax you 2.9% + $0.30 of the amount you cashout. Lame! But if you cash out to your Personal Paypal account, you will get every single penny that you earn! If you already have a Personal Account, just skip to the next post!

This is why I strongly suggest you get a Personal Paypal account. You're going to need to create a new email address to go with this account. I recommend Yahoo over Hotmail for this, since Hotmail will erase all your email if you don't log in every 10 days. Yahoo lets you slide for a few months. However, GMail is also fine if you can get an account there. So go to the free email site of your choice, and sign up for a new email (it may take many tries to find a user name that's not already in use - if that is the case, try adding your favorite numbers after your preferred name to see if you can come up with a unique name). This will be your email for your Personal Paypal account.

After you've got this new email address ready, go to Paypal.com and click on the Sign up Now button. The first choice you will make is to select Personal Account - as of this writing, that will be the default selected type, so just make sure your country is correct and hit the Continue button.

If you already have a Paypal Business account, you're going to need another checking (or savings) account to sign up with Paypal Personal. If this is your first ever Paypal account, then just use the checking account of your choice. I believe, but I am not 100% sure, that if you have a checking and savings account at a given bank, then your checking account could be hooked up to the Business account, and your savings account could be hooked up to your Personal account. If anybody has done this, please contact me and let me know. If you only have one checking account, and it is connected to your Business Account, go ahead and open a new checking account at another bank. Pretty much every bank out there has some kind of Free Checking account, so this should not be a big deal. Just pick one that's physically close to you, and make sure that when you sign up there won't be any monthly fees. Don't get any perks - you just want the basics. In my case, I used a bank at the local Wal Mart, Woodforest National Bank. Be aware of this: some banks will charge you an annual fee for having a debit card; that's the way Woodforest was. I found out I was going to be charged, so I just went in and had the account representative destroy my debit card and cancel that feature - that way there will be no fees associated with the account. Make sure you ask about this. Then you can just go the bank physically and withdraw money when the time comes...

Of course, you're going to have to give Paypal your account number and bank routing number. You can find those on your checks, or you can give your bank a call and find out this information. Be sure to have your social security number, drivers license, etc ready when you call your bank, as they will probably ask you for this and other personal information to validate you. After you enter this info into Paypal, Paypal will make two small deposits into your account. This will take a few business days. If you have online banking associated with your account, just check every day for the 2 deposits. If you don't, then call in and ask the representative what the deposits were. Once you get these 2 numbers, enter them into your Paypal Personal Account - then you are verified!

That's all for part I. Next I'll post about the main programs out there that I am making money with. Note that you will be able to sign up for these programs and start building up your balance before your Paypal account is verified.