I first came across Ciao about 2 years ago when looking through a 'making money from home' magazine that I had subscribed to. The author of the magazine gave a great review of the site and explained it well. Like most people in life, I wanted to make money as simply as I could without having to work a hard days graft and as the author had explained that it was a consumer review and survey site, I thought it was something I would like to try.

Unfortunately I didn't own a PC back then but I soon learnt that you don't really have to as most libraries in the UK now have PC's with Internet connection that you can book a 1 hour slot. However, when it comes to Ciao an hour is not enough, so I found myself deleting my old account and decided to save for one.

You might think 2 years is a long time for saving to get a PC but it isn't when you still have to pay all your usual bills and you only work part-time. Anyway, 2 years on, I now have a PC and have rejoined Ciao to see how it all works and what you can actually get from it, now I find myself writing my own review of the site in all its glory and glum.

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ABOUT CIAO
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For those of you who have arrived at this Website wondering what the hell it is all about, then let me share. Ciao is a consumer review site with many other aspects to it. You probably arrived here because typed in a product in one of the many search engines and then see 'REVIEW' in a link somewhere on the first page and thought to yourself, 'Well I want that product, lets read reviews on it to make sure it is actually what I want.'

But there is more like I have already mentioned. All the reviews you read on the site are written by people like you and me (the consumer) and for writing the review you will get paid for reads and rates on the review. You might be thinking, 'Yeah, that sounds easy, there is so much to write about.' Well sorry to disappoint you, it isn't as easy as you might think.

I will explain the ratings system later but one of the things you will notice if you decide to become a member is that people do read, rate and comment on your review. Many newbies find this daunting (I know I did) and don't bother to stick around. Thats the wimps way out and if you want to make this site work for you then you have to be able to take constructive criticism along with being able to talk extensively about the product you are reviewing, have fairly good English and grammar skills and be prepared to spend a decent amount of time on your reviews.

Another aspect of the site are the 'Surveys' and is definitely the most easiest way of making money on this site. Surveys don't come all that often but from other survey sites that I have also joined, what they pay isn't to bad and the good thing is it is real money and not some reward instead, like many others offer.

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THE SITE & NAVIGATION
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Arriving at the home page you will see the site is predominantly white with grey tabs that take you to a section of the site regarding that category. This will lead you into a list where you can decide what you want to read about. The amounts of product and services is endless so typing in the search bar what you want that lays just beneath the tabs will save you a lot of time.

I find the navigation to this site not as easy as it could be. This isn't due to the way it is laid out though, because I personally like that, but it is the amount of links that are on any given page. This can be quite confusing if you are new to the site and I must admit I think this is another reason why people get put off signing up.

If you are not a member and finding it confusing already then becoming a member will only make it more difficult because of the 'My Ciao' area. However, this is a large site so you wouldn't expect anything less and once you have got to grips with the common basic page layout it does get a lot easier to navigate your way around.

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SIGNING UP
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Joining Ciao is very similar to most sites and is very easy. First on the home page you need to click the 'Join Ciao' link, then fill in a registration form. You will then receive an email with a confirmation link back to Ciao. Like I said many sites are like this and I think it is the best way for it to be.

I think the hardest part is probably choosing a username, that might sound silly as you already have one that you commonly use across the whole of the web, but when you think of the amount of users there are that have already joined this site there is a good chance it has already gone, so it might take you a couple of tries before you actually get one that you want.

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EARNING MONEY
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There are quite a few ways to earn money on Ciao. I have listed the main ways below.

Surveys

This is probably the main reason people sign up. I was lucky and had already learnt about the review side but it was the surveys that made me join. Surveys come fairly regularly with Ciao unlike some other well known survey and consumer opinion sites.

I received my first survey on the very day I signed up which I was happy with. However, since I have been using it more, I have found them to be less frequent and overall I would say they amount up to 1 or 2 surveys every other week but sometimes less.

The average amount of money you can expect to make is between £1 - £4 per completed survey. Ciao does state it pays up to £10, but I have yet to receive one of that value. The amount of time each survey takes varies depending on how much they are going to pay for completion. So, for a £1 survey you can expect it to be around 20 minutes of your time and for the higher end, anything up to an hour. This does also depend on your connection and provider.

One of the things I like is that surveys are sent to you via the email address you signed up with so you don't have to go searching for them.

One of the things you must remember to do, is fill out the bit in the 'My Ciao' section. This will ensure you only get surveys that matter to you. Well that is what Ciao says, but I have received many surveys that I have not fitted my criteria. Maybe Ciao could work on fixing this so you don't spend 20 minutes of your time filling the survey out and then end up being told you don't fit the criteria.

Writing Reviews

Here's another way to earn money on Ciao. You wont earn loads, but this is one them things that the more time and effort you put in to this side of Ciao then the potential for earnings could actually be worth your while.

Being very creative in my own right makes this the one side of Ciao that I love (as you can tell), it lets me express myself and my opinions. The good thing about this, is being able to write about practically anything and everything you want and earn money for it.

No matter what your opinion about something is, why not share it with the rest of the world? There is plenty to write about on this site but you have to remember that not everyone will share the same opinion.

My first review was a pile of junk just like I'm sure many other members was on their first, but the good thing is people will leave you comments on how to update your review and make it better. Like I said before, you have to be able to take constructive criticism of your review otherwise you wont last and many don't just on this basis alone.

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RATING REVIEWS
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One of the main things about Ciao is the reading and rating of reviews. If nobody read or rated your own review you wouldn't earn any money neither would they on their own review. If you want to receive more ratings, then be willing to read and rate others reviews.

It is simple to do and most of the reviews I read and rate are ones that I am generally interested in or are members that I have added to my 'Circle of Trust' (more on this later). Simply select the review you want to read and at the end of the review is a list of click-able options. These are as follows:-

OFF TOPIC: I rarely use this as I am sure many other members don't but it is used if the subject in question is in the wrong place or the author of the review has actually not bothered to talk about the product at all and decided they will talk about something entirely different.

NOT HELPFUL: Another one I rarely use, but this is for the reviews you read that are really not helpful in anyway shape or form. Good example is someone reviewing a mobile phone and all they have said is how good or poor it is without even discussing anything about its functions.

SOMEWHAT HELPFUL: This is used when the review you are reading is very poor with information and no real content about the product or service. Most of my first reviews were rated this as I didn't realise the amount of information that is required when writing.

HELPFUL: Rate a review as helpful if again, they have failed discuss certain aspects of the product or service. Many think this is a bad rating, but it isn't, it just means there is more that you haven't discussed.

VERY HELPFUL: I use this one the most as most authors soon take on board your comment and then start to realise what is needed. A very helpful review is one that has discussed as much as the author knows and has expressed their honest opinion on it without leaving much, if anything out.

EXCEPTIONAL: Reviews that are rated as exceptional tend to be the ones that include all the above and more. People ask, 'what do you rate as exceptional?' But that is a hard question to answer and until you have read plenty of reviews you just start to understand and know.

I have given you a simple guide to the above and I am sure many will disagree with my opinion on it. It is important that you read and rate other peoples reviews on this site and rate as you see fit. It is also important that you read reviews carefully.

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TRUST
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As I have only been here for just a couple of months, I still don't know what to make of this. It is supposed to be used for the members that you enjoy reading the reviews of and I am sure most people add other members on this basis. However, I have my concerns over it regarding a couple of issues, one that relates to Ciao itself and the other concerning members.

Firstly Ciao clearly state that your account will be deleted if you are suspected of being part of a 'Clicking Cartel', but surely if you are adding members to your circle of trust you are bound to end up being part of one whether it is intentional or not.

Secondly I feel members only add other members to their trust just because they speak to them on regular occasion or something that I have noticed is that older members of the site will intentionally talk to a newbie just to gain their trust.

Be careful who you add to your circle of trust and don't expect them to return the trust back, after all you are only supposed to add the members that you like the writing style of or what they write about etc. etc.

As it stands you are only allowed to add 100 members to your circle of trust so choose wisely, if you have to remove someone then be nice and let them know first. If someone adds you to their circle of trust you will get 80 community points which brings me to the next subject.

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COMMUNITY POINTS
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At ciao, alongside earning money, you also earn community points. These are warded for several different reasons and they are as follows:-

Writing a review.
Rating and commenting on other members reviews.
Receiving reads, ratings and comments on your own reviews.
Being added to another members circle of trust.

Although these community points have no monetary value, they do show the status of a member and there overall input to the site. The overall status is represented by a coloured dot next to the members name. I have listed the dots and amounts of community points that are needed to gain that coloured dot below.

Level 1: white: 1-1000 points
Level 2: green: 1 000-4 999 points
Level 3: blue: 5 000-9 999 points
Level 4: violet: 10 000-19 999 points
Level 5: red: 20 000-49 999 points
Level 6: orange: 50 000-99 999 points
Level 7: bronze: 100 000-250 000 points
Level 8: silver: 250 000-499 999 points
Level 9: gold: over 500 000 points

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CIAO COMMUNITY
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I have been a member of quite a few sites and the community here is quite friendly overall with a few minor exceptions. The reason I say that, is the fact that some people, I guess like most things in life, take it all to seriously. I don't see life like that so I take it all with a pinch of salt. If you really wanted to get to know someone here though it is very simple to do as Ciao offers a guest book facility which comes in 2 forms which I have listed below.

PUBLIC GUEST BOOK: Most members will use this to thank you on a rating or comment. It can also be used for general chat.

PRIVATE GUEST BOOK: I think this is a great feature, because if you do not wish to disclose private information then you can leave a message here so no other member apart from the person you are sending it to can read it.

One of the things that I don't like about this whole guest book thing, is that it is not easy to navigate, by that I mean which ever guest book someone leaves you a message in, you then have to click on their name then click 'send them a message' to reply. The whole thing could be made much simpler by having a reply link next to the message in question saving you from having to go through an annoying process.

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CIAO CAFÉ
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What a great asset this is to ciao. Although I have not written many reviews here, I do like this section of the site a great deal. Here you can write reviews on anything that isn't a consumer product or service. It is a place of sanctuary for the members of Ciao to talk about what ever they wish.

It includes, 'Creative Writing' through to, 'Everything That Begins With A-Z' and so much more. One of the reasons I like to read articles in here from other members, is the fact it gives you a real insight to the feelings and facts of the members at Ciao.

Unfortunately you won't earn money from writing here and I do believe it could actually make or break you on this site, but it is a true asset to Ciao and I wish the whole site was more aimed at this section of the site. It provides you with laughs and sad true life stories which to me just shows you how much of a community Ciao has.

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'MY CIAO'
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This is your very own section of ciao and is probably where most people spend their time as it holds the guest books and everything else you need to know about your Ciao'ing. It has tabs just like the rest of the site and I have listed them all below.

SETTINGS: In this area you can change settings on your account, like what email alerts you receive and changing your password. You can also request your payment from here.

SURVEYS: Here you can edit your personal interests for surveys that you receive and I highly recommend you do this before you do anything else on this site as there is nothing worse than receiving surveys for which you have no clue about (although this does still happen).

ACCOUNT: This tells you exactly where your money has come from. Whether it was for a rating or survey and whether you have requested a payment. Basically it is a statement of your time at Ciao.

PERSONAL HOMEPAGE: One of the things I like about Ciao is the fact it gives you a web page for yourself. Here you can put information about yourself and what your favourite things are too. If you understand about Internet scripting you can also do this page in HTML which I think is a great idea.

REVIEWS: When you first arrive at the 'My Ciao' area you will already be greeted with this page. It lists all the reviews you have written, how many people have read them and you can also edit any reviews that you have saved to draft before publishing them.

STATISTICS: This lists all your activity on the review side of Ciao. How many ratings you have received, how many you have given out, any comments you have left and any received. I'm sure many members forget about this but I often look at it to see if I missed a recent comment on a review that I wrote ages ago. It is also good if someone leaves you a message in your guest book referring to comment you made on one of their reviews, so you can go back and check without much hassle.

FAVOURITES: Another great thing about ciao is the fact you can add reviews you like to this section. The link can be found at the top of the review you like. Lets say someone has written about a website you are interested in but you haven't time to go there now, then saving it to favourites is a great way to find it quickly without having to search hard for it again. You don't only have to save single reviews either, you can do it with whole categories if you want.

BUDDIES: This section lists who has added you to their circle of trust and which members you have added to yours. Very straight forward and self explanatory.

GUEST BOOK: This is also self explanatory as obviously this is where your 2 guest books are.

AUCTIONS: Another great thing about this site is that you can add your Ebay auctions to this site. Once you have given your ebay username and password it will list all your current auctions.

MY OVERALL OPINION

Ciao is a great site for several reasons. I think the main reason has to be for the consumer as it does give you a great insight in to a product or service even if some reviews can be misleading. You will get to know a lot about the product or service you want to purchase just by reading the best reviews that are on the site.

One of the other reasons I find myself saying that this site is good is because although the whole thing is based around consumer reviews the overall community here is excellent and you can really get to know people here, plus with planned 'meets' you can even get to meet the people that you enjoy reading reviews of.

You won't earn loads of money here, I've been here since the 29th of June 2006 and made £20 which I think for a fairly new member is not bad, but it is certainly not a wage. I think new members are put off by older members commenting on their reviews after it has been rated 'Somewhat Helpful' and that is a shame because if only they took the constructive criticism and learnt, they too could be earning a small amount of pocket money.

One of the things that does disappoint me about this site is the lack of ways to get paid. The minimum payout is £5 which is fine and I have no quibbles with, but the only way you can get paid is by having a bank or building society account. Well I have a building society account and when I filled out my details it would not accept my roll number, so it looks like I will have to open a bank account to get paid. It would be nice if they offered more ways to get paid, like via cheque or even Paypal.

My final words are feel free to join, read and rate reviews and if you find writing reviews is not for you then forget about that side of it, but don't delete your account and stay signed up to the surveys so you can still earn a little cash from what I think is a great site.