Hola mis amigos!

Keanu Reeves was soooo right. That's actually one of the sentences I was really hoping never to utter. For one thing, his fashion choices are controversial to say the least. So are his haircuts. And then there's his never-changing mask they call a face. But he was right in wondering whether to choose to believe in matrix or just go with the flow. Because it's hard, amigos. Once you're in, it seems that there's no going back. To paraphrase another guru of reality checks, just when you think you're out, it pulls you back in...

Only last week I was digging into a forced matrix system, remember? And now it seems that, just like Morpheus said, the matrix keeps on following me wherever I go. Spooky, right? But don't panic, mis amigos, it's actually a good thing. You know why? Because it's the kind of matrix that can make you some sweet money. And if there's anything better out there, be sure to let me know.

Despite the name, Mint.bz is not a company that sells be beverages or chewing gum. Nor are they into bees (bz, get it?), although I think that bees could be into them. Their fresh minty website is kind of appealing, actually. And makes me want to drink iced tea, for some reason. Apart from having a cool, though still rather basic, website, they offer a variety of ways of making money. You probably wonder why I haven't told you already what is it that they do exactly. And here's the reason, people:

"Mint.bz is a traffic exchange/cycler/matrix/ profit sharing opportunity"

See? It's kind of hard to explain it up in one sentence.

First of all, you need to bear in mind that since the JustBeenPaid has proved so popular, the matrix system will be the new "thing." I anticipate the arrival of many new programs based on a similar system. Knowing that, all of us, millionaires in spe I mean, have no other choice but to get to know the matrix really well. Mint.bz's system is pretty simple and I find their explanation of its workings more than satisfactory: "[y]ou may either invite 2 members who also invite 2 members each in order to receive the $30+ or invite 6 people to achieve the same. The best part about our operation is that, unlike other 2x2 Matrix Systems, you receive money for every member joining instantly, additional to the 2x2 earnings. OK, so that's their matrix. How about the rest, you ask?

It's rather straightforward as well, I can assure you. It all just means that you – as a Mint.bz member – are to help improve website traffic, grade ads (in a 1-10 scale), refer people (15% two-level referral commission) and, thus, earn your profits. In other words, "[t]o get paid on Mint.bz, you must be an advertiser or marketer, or simply watch ads".

It's simple, but can be rather time-consuming (even Mint.bz thinks so, I guess:  

"Please do not forget that it is your responsibility to support your down-line and assist with the building of their teams as it is your up-line’s responsibility to assist you with yours. If this duty is not maintained and complaints are sent about your lack of diligence, your account will be terminated"), which in fact is what I like about this hybrid. You may really feel like you've earned the money, you know? For example, you need to "click at least one Premium Advertiser on the left or Top Surf Bar before he is able to start his daily surf adventure." OK, I realize that it was me who put you up to thinking that good life means white sand beaches and drinks with umbrellas, but – just for a change of scenery – sometimes it's nice to feel like you actually worked for all that. Or isn't it? I'm so lost in the matrix right now...

Back to reality (I hope!): Mint.bz offers you three ways of earning money, which they call "tokens", Basic ($4.99), Standard ($9.99) and Advanced ($14.99). If you buy one of them, you get a number of credits (1000, 3000 or 5000) to use for promoting your websites (you may promote as much as 5 websites). A fixed ROI is, accordingly, 1%, 1.5%, and 1.%-2.5%. It's not much, you may say, but at least it sounds plausible, I think.

However, in order to buy the Advanced version you need to buy a membership (called Buddy, which – for some reason – I find hilarious) and that is a cost of $10 and $7.99 per month later on. Having bought your Buddy (see? It is funny!), you become a part of their matrix. With me so far? Since Mint.bz is not to launch until the 1st of May, I think that their current offer is just a taste of what they have in store. I guess there will be more Buddies to choose from, for one thing – at least that's what I'd suggest. You can never have too many buddies, right?

I know it may seem like you have to entrust them with a considerable amount of money first hand, but if you're not sure, the registration itself is free, so you can see the whole system "inside" before you decide to pay. Mint.bz website is really user-friendly, with not too many options and no flashy design that only makes reading the content harder. To be honest, Mint.bz kind of reminds me of a website made by a geek for his/her own purposes, which is a good thing – geeks usually go for simplicity and utility. The registration process itself is just as quick and painless (remember, though, that you can have only one account!): they just need your e-mail address, two passwords (one to login, another to withdraw money), the date of birth and your country.

 However, in their Terms of Agreement they also mention having to provide your name, which is rather confusing. Their system works in real-time, but withdrawals are administered manually so it may take some time. You can withdraw your earnings once your balance is over $1 and if you're using one of the following payment methods: Liberty Reserve, Perfect Money, AlertPay or SolidTrust Pay. All your earnings are stored in a "mint wallet" (sounds fresh, doesn't it? I wish money would really smell like mint!), which Mint.bz actually perceives as a way of compounding "as you can upgrade memberships or rating surf profits shares from your mint wallet".

So far it may seem that with Mint.bz the sky's the limit, right? Well, in fact that's not the case. To start with, one member may buy no more than 100 positions/tokens a day and 300 overall. What's more, as I mentioned before, you can have one account only and they seem really strict about it; they even "[hold] the right to track Member activity by both IP Address and individual browser activity" so consider yourself warned and don't try go around that rule. You also need to remember that Mint.bz is not an investment program: you really have to make stuff happen here, or – as I imagine Neo would say – "be in control of your destiny."

Whoa... That sounds so self-help bookish that I need to change the subject immediately. So... Security, you ask? Here's the problem. I couldn't find any information on how the website is secured, nor did I see any signs that it is. And, you know me, if I have a pet peeve that's the one. I'm hoping that the lack of security is just a pre-launch decision and it will change really soon or, at least, as soon as they launch their website for real. One more thing: I loved their intro information:

"we understand people need money quite a lot nowadays."

Oh yes, they do! If I had to get picky, however (and you know that it's a compulsion of mine), I'd say that people always seemed to need a lot of money. But, hey, that's just this very money maniac opinion.  

So, mis amigos, will you follow the white rabbit? Will you take the red pill or the blue one? Whichever you choose, remember two things. First, to paraphrase Morpheus, only you can discover what the matrix is. Second, wearing a long black leather coat and sunglasses is never the right fashion choice.

Hasta luego!

Yours truly,

mm_aficionado