Many people nowadays spend a lot of time online and would like to earn some extra cash while doing it. One way of this is by joining a Paid-to-Read (PTR) program. These sites will send email ads to your mailbox. All you have to do is open the email, click on the links and you get paid! Sounds simple, right? Well I've been doing the research for you this past couple of weeks, so let me pass on the benefits of my wisdom...

• Many newbies get sucked in by promises of earning hundreds or even thousands of pounds just by clicking on emails. Forget it, it ain't going to happen. If a site tells you you'll be earning more than a cent or two per email, it's pretty certainly a scam and you'll never see any money at all. Anything over 0.5c is a decent rate of pay. Significantly more than that, and you're wasting your time.
• Before joining a PTR program, make sure you check it out first! Have a look on Get Paid Forum and Been Paid. They both have threads where people post about which sites have paid them and which sites have conned them. I really wish I'd known about these sites before I got started!
• Don't pay anyone any money! You're here to make money, not to spend it! In time you may find you're making enough for it to be worthwhile purchasing an upgrade from your favourite site, but don't even think about making a payment upfront to a site that hasn't paid you first.
• Make sure you're using a tabbed browser such as Internet Explorer 7 or Mozilla Firefox. Tabs make it much easier to participate in multiple programs at a time. Keep your email program open in another tab so the next link is always there waiting for you to click on it.
• Don't sign up for more programs than you can cope with. If your time is limited, two or three light traffic programs may be better than one heavy traffic one. Many of the links have a limited timeframe so it's better to check your email frequently rather than save it all up and do it all in one go. (It also minimises the chance of RSI!)
• Again, don't expect to make much! We're talking pocket money, no more than that. If you're good at writing, you would be better off using your time to blog and earn with Adsense. If you have skills, use them! They will pay better than unskilled tasks like clicking on links.
• If you have friends or acquaintances who are interested in earning an extra few pennies, you can refer them to your favourite programs. All these sites give you referral links that they can use to sign up, and if they become active members the site will pay you extra on top of the money you're making from your own clicks!