It is my intention in the following review, to give as clear as possible account on what it is like to be a member of Ciao and the way that you can earn moeny for writing on line.... The Function of Ciao. From a member’s point of view, Ciao is a website where I can write reviews and read (and give ratings) to other members’ reviews and earn money at the same time. There are thousands of products to read and write about. It is not just for members but also for the benefit of consumers who have to make decisions on a brand of product they are interesting in purchasing. What makes it particularly useful is that actual users of the products write the reviews on Ciao, and this provides honest, unbiased opinions together with prices and suggestions of where to buy. Earning With Ciao. Writers of reviews earn money in return for their efforts. Ciao also sends out to its members online surveys on behalf of other companies and pays a small about of money for completing these surveys. Personally, I have completed surveys from 50 pence up to £2.75 and the length of time the survey has taken averages around 20-30 minutes. One good thing that I have noticed is that I have not got any extra spam from doing the surveys, but I use a hotmail account just in case. You will get paid every time a member rates your review as “helpful”, “very helpful” or “exceptional”. If your reviews are rated as ”somewhat helpful”, “not helpful” or “off topic” you will not get anything. You get so many pennies (see site for rates) every time you receive a positive rating, but when you think there are hundreds of members on the site writing and reading reviews, this can soon mount up. It all depends on what you are prepared to put into reading and rating as well as writing reviews as to how much you will earn. Obviously, the more active you are, the more you will earn. I usually wait until my account reaching £25-£30 and then cash in. When I have been active on the site, this amount can accrue for me in about a month. You can request payment once your account goes over £5. Payment is made by electronic transfer directly into your bank account – you give details of this in your Ciao account on secure pages. It may not sound much that your ratings get paid in pennies, but it does add up once you have learned (or you already know) how to write good reviews. However, there are some products that do not pay anything especially if there are lot of reviews already written on them. There are “£” signs at the side of the product name on the product page, indicating how much is paid on each specific product review – the more £ signs there are, the more the product review will pay.

Writing, Editing, Finding Reviews to Write About and Making Friends in the Ciao Community. 1. You will need to browse through the thousands of products on the site until you find one you can write about and click on the link ‘write a review’ which is on the product page. You will then be taken to another page where you can write the review. 2. Think up a title. If you can, make it something memorable – you may notice other writers, they have created some quite catchy tittles. 3. Further down the page there is a list advantages and disadvantages (relating to the product) with boxes you can check (by a click your mouse). 4. Then there is a larger main box* where you write of your experiences of your chosen product. I always try to write my review at a minimum of about 200 words in short easy-on-the-eye paragraphs. To me there is nothing worse than reading huge blocks of text, particularly from a computer monitor. 5. Somewhere through this procedure you will need to give your product a star rating of how good you consider your experience of ownership is. 6. Finally you will have to check a box that states that the review is your own work (i.e. it has not been plagiarised) and click submit. *When writing in the main box, you will find that you cannot check for typing errors. The way I tend to overcome this, is to write my review in my word processor (Word) and then when I am satisfied with spelling/grammar etc, I copy and paste it into the box. But do not worry, if after you have submitted it, you notice an error, when you are signed into your Ciao account, there is a link you can click on to edit your review. What if own a product you wish to write about but it is not listed? At the bottom of the page listing products there will be a link titled “Product not found?” Click on this will take you to a page where you can do a more specific search and then if it doesn’t come up with this search, there will be a link titled “Suggest a Product”. Click this and follow the instructions that usually asks for a product description, product name and if possible enter a website link to it (URL). Then just sit back and wait for an email stating that your product is now included in the Ciao database. I have found this may take anything from 24 hours to about a week. However, there is such a vast selection of products on Ciao, that most people would have them in or around their houses. There is certainly no shortage of material to write a review on. To give an example, products include on-line shops, computers, their software and components and hundreds more from chocolate biscuits to cars, to domestic appliances. Once your review is up on the site, you will notice that you will receive ratings and comments. Members will be rating from “Not helpful” up to “Very Helpful” and if it is very well written, you will get an “Excellent” from some. The higher the rating, the more payment you will get. There is also a link so that you can read the comments that people have left about your review. I find the comments most useful as it has helped me not only improve my writing skills, but also to make many on-line friends. Once you are a member, you can create your own “About me” page. This is where you can upload a picture of yourself and write something about yourself that would include your interests, where you are from and whatever else you want to include. On your main page will be a list of all reviews you have written. Here you also have a space where you can add any friends you make on Ciao. This is referred to as your Circle of Trust (C.O.T) from here you get a link directly to each of your C.O.T members, and you can click to go to their home page containing their details and reviews. Here you can then click on another link so that Ciao can inform you via email whenever they write a new review. Also on your main page are links to your private and public guest books where messages can be left for you. When you get an email stating that one of your C.O.T. member have written a review, you can then click on the link and be taken straight to the review on the Ciao site where you can read, rate and comment on it. Community points are also something that is added to your account depending on your activity on the site. Some users deem these to be very important. A coloured dot is added beside your user-name to indicate the number of points you’ve accrued, but to be honest, I rarely take any notice of what colour my dot has turned, although I have received notes of congratulations in my guest book which gives the whole Ciao experience a very friendly feel and a strong sense of community. If you like to write fiction, poetry or just opinions, there is another place on Ciao called the Ciao Café where you can write about anything you choose and get involved in the community spirit. At the time of writing (November 2005) I have been with Ciao about 6 months and have made lots of friends. If like me you work alone most of the time, it is really great to open your guestbook and find chatty messages from your on-line friends. I hope this article has been of some help