The Money Desk

Real ways people make money online. No hype, real numbers. Side hustles, clipping, homes & lifestyle. Reply CR for info

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Off topic for a minute. I run this account and a full time job, and the only reason I keep up is a stack of prompts that do my admin for me: inbox triage each morning, meeting notes into action items, the weekly report drafted from my own notes.

I put the 40 I actually use into one PDF. Link below.

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 25: still $0 paid.

New mistake: three clips got submitted to the wrong campaign. An old campaign tab was still open and we pasted into it. One video can only sit in one campaign, so those views won't pay where we meant.

New rule: read the campaign name before every submit.

What's the silliest way you've lost money?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 24: 110 clips pending. 0 approved. $0 paid.

Our best clip this week hit 810 views and earned nothing. The campaign only accepts a submission within 30 minutes of posting, and we got there after the window closed.

New rule: the post goes live only when someone is ready to submit it.

What deadline cost you money?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 23: 109 clips pending. 0 approved. $0 paid.

This week one campaign stopped taking clips mid-run (brand reviewing budget), and we killed another: our best clip did 842 views against a 3,000-view payout minimum.

New rule: read the payout minimum before editing a single frame.

What rule did you learn the expensive way?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 22: 107 clips pending. 0 approved. $0 paid.

The editing isn't the bottleneck anymore. The bottleneck is a 30-minute submit window and a "hold to confirm" button that a human has to press.

So the new rule: we only post when someone is free to submit within minutes.

What's the most boring bottleneck in your side project?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 21:

100+ clips submitted to paid campaigns. 0 approved. $0 earned.

This week's lesson: a clip only counts if it's submitted within 30 minutes of posting. We missed that window on 4 posts. Those views now pay nothing.

Fix: we post only when someone can submit right away.

What's the dumbest way you've lost money on a technicality?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 19:

101 clips submitted to paid campaigns. 0 approved. $0 earned.

Best clip so far: 728 views in 24 hours. Payout needs about 1,300.

Today's change: a podcast campaign paying $3 per 1,000 views, double anything else we hold. Same work, twice the rate if one lands.

Would you switch to the higher rate or keep stacking clips where you have history?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 18:

93 clips submitted to paid campaigns. Still 0 approved.

Our best clip so far: 679 views in 24 hours. The payout minimum on that campaign is about 1,300.

So today's change isn't more volume. It's posting into pools that just reset, where nobody has views yet.

Would you chase new pools or stick with one campaign?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 17:

93 clips submitted to paid campaigns. 0 approved so far.

Our best clip on a $1.50/1K campaign hit 412 views. The payout minimum is about 1,300 views.

Volume isn't the bottleneck. Getting one clip past the minimum is.

What got your first clip over the line?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 16:

A campaign paying $3 per 1,000 views just closed. Our result: 0 clips approved, best one 266 views.

The minimum was 2,000 views per clip. A high rate means nothing if your clips can't clear the minimum.

Would you pick the higher rate or the lower minimum?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Clipping test, day 15:

90 clips submitted to brand campaigns. 0 approved, 0 refused, $0 paid so far.
Best single clip: 812 views.

The costly lesson: some campaigns only accept a clip in the first 30 minutes after it goes live. Miss that window and the views count for nothing.

[Chamath Palihapitiya @chamath]

I like Will’s writings - I always learn something that helps me refine my mental models.

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

BOXABL's next homes go way beyond the Casita.

Phase 2: a living room that opens into two bedrooms and a connected bathroom, all built from modules that stack together. https://t.co/6XDrFMs16a

Would you live in one?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Day 13 of testing clipping from zero.

90 clips posted. 0 approved. $0.

Biggest lesson so far: our best clip has 257 views, and most campaigns pay nothing under 1,000–2,000.

So we're cutting fewer clips and spending the time on the first 2 seconds.

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Day 12 of testing clipping from zero.

88 clips submitted. 0 approved. $0.

What I missed: every campaign has a minimum payout. At $0.50 per 1K views, a $1 minimum means 2,000 views. Our clips average ~130.

New rule: fewer clips, newer campaigns. A 2-day-old podcast campaign has 6 clippers. A home brand has 869.

Would you rather be early or big?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

This multi-bedroom BOXABL home folds up for shipping.

There's a hinge line built into the floor, so it leaves the factory finished and folded.

Footage: https://t.co/6XDrFMs16a

Folded homes: smart idea or gimmick?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

BOXABL's 3-story home stacks together like Legos.

20x20 box downstairs, 20x30 upstairs, 10 ft ceilings. BOXABL 3.0, still a concept inside.

Footage: https://t.co/6XDrFMs16a

Would you live in a home made of boxes?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Day 11 of testing clipping from zero.

82 clips submitted. 0 approved yet. $0 paid.

What I've learned so far: the brand reviews in batches, so "pending" can sit for days. The one big brand campaign we clip for has 866 clippers and the average payout is $12.69.

It's a volume game, not a get-rich one.

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

BOXABL fit a kitchen, bathroom, shower and bed into one tiny box.

It's called the Baby Box. https://t.co/6XDrFMs16a

Could you live in this?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Home builders realizing a whole BOXABL house folds up in 23 minutes…

Footage: FaZe Rug at the BOXABL factory. https://t.co/6XDrFMs16a

Would you live in one?

[The Money Desk @MoneyDeskDaily]

Day 10 of testing clipping from zero.

74 clips submitted. 0 approved, 0 refused, $0 paid so far.

What got views: TikTok photo slideshows (378 best) and Boxabl clips on TikTok (~260).
What didn't: our YouTube Shorts (0 to 11 views).

Next: fewer formats, more of what works.