PTRE stands for Paid To Read Email programs. Online companies that pay you to read email that they send to you. You get paid when you click a link in the email and visit the site that theyre advertising, usually for a set amount of time.

Here are steps you should take before joining a PTRE program:

• Check the Programs Terms - Some PTRE programs dont pay until you accumulate $200. Its unlikely youll ever reach that amount, especially with what some of these companies are paying per email read. I personally dont join a program thats payout minimum is higher than $10, unless they offer bonuses. Youll also find what countries theyll allow you to join from.

• Signup Bonus - Do they offer you a sign up bonus when you first join? This can be important, especially if their payout minimum is high. Some companies will either offer a signup bonus or a referral bonus of a set amount.

• Categories When you sign up do they offer to send you emails to categories youre interested in. Most programs allow you to pick from a list of categories that they want to receive emails about.

• Payment Per Email Read - Realistically you can earn between .025 and 3 cents per email link. Many programs will offer to pay you more, but never do or if they do youll only get one email per month from them. Programs will often send more than one link advertisement per email and/or a few emails to you per day.

• Point Emails - Most programs also offer you points to read emails. Points are usually redeemable for advertising on the programs site and/or entries to win prizes.

• Referrals - See how much commission youll make on the people you refer to the PTRE program. Also see how many levels deep their referral program goes. Referrals do help, but be realistic on how much youll earn on your downline.

• Payouts - Most PTRE programs offer you advertisement options before you reach the cash out level. In other words, if the minimum cash payout level is $10 you can often redeem $2 for an ad campaign on their site.

• Advertising - Whether you pay cash or use your points to advertise on a PTRE site its a good investment. Most programs offer targeted advertising. The people that receive your ad have requested the category your offer belongs to. You can also track your stats to see how well your campaign did.

Here are 3 other ways PTRE programs also offer to make you some money:

1. Paid To Search - Get paid to search from the programs site or from search sites their affiliated with. Many times youll receive paid search links in your email.

2. Paid To Click - Get paid to click on banners and/or links in the programs paid to click section. You usually have to stay on the visited site for a set time to receive credit (an average of 30 seconds).

3. Paid To Join Offering a set amount of money for you to join programs, services, newsletters and other related offers. Some programs even pay you a commission to shop from their site.

You wont get rich with PTRE programs, but you can earn a few bucks, plus quality advertising for your site. Just make sure you dont get carried away and join too many programs or youll be clicking emails for an hour a day.

For a list of quality PTRE programs with full descriptions visit http://www.links2see.com/email.html

This article was posted on August 21, 2003