I'm a bit jaded, I feel like I should jazz this post up with some buttons instead of the regular hyperlinks but I don't know. I don't want this to feel like an ad post - but I don't want it to be bland either.
Feel free to leave feedback on what you think of the posting format (or anything at all) after you read it!
PS: Sorry it's up so late, it took a LOT more time than I realized and came out a lot less condensed than I'd hoped hehe
Also, a few of the payment totals and Proof of Payment links may not match up yet either (off by a few dollars, or $10 in the case of Wanelo) this is because I was so busy creating this post today, that I didn't have time to update my picture files.
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~*~Gift Cards and Gift Sites~*~
These are the sites I've been working with that offer their rewards in gift cards and prizes.
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iRazoo
~*~Gift Cards and Gift Sites~*~
These are the sites I've been working with that offer their rewards in gift cards and prizes.
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iRazoo
I am really glad that I took the time to check out iRazoo. The site is simple, easy to use, and everyone can easily earn 3 cards totally $15 a month from them without ever referring a single person to the site. Remember $15 a month is $180 a year! I personally plan to save these cards up (and those from SwagBucks) for gift occasions like birthdays and Christmas, or use them for emergency purchases.
How it Works: Each day you can earn 300 points using the search function on their site and visiting the results that pop up. 8 points are awarded for answering yes or no to "would you recommend this site" and 8 points are awarded for leaving a comment about the site. You have to remain on the site for 30 seconds before you can vote, but you can do things on other tabs on your browser during that time so it's not a big deal. It's really a pretty quick process and every 10 days you'll reach the 3000 points required for a $5 Amazon card.
Referral Bonus: 50 points per referral!
Earnings: Since I signed up on 10/16 I've earned one $5 Amazon card and am at 2048/3000 for another $5 Amazon card. I requested my card on 10/24 and as soon as I get it I'll post the proof!Even though I hit a little bump in the road with Swagbucks (they accused me of "over clicking" because I was supposedly looking at too many of the sites pull up in my search) I would still recommend them. I signed up with them on 10/16/09 but I didn't actually start utilizing the service until the next day but I still managed to request my first $5 Amazon card from them on 10/28.
While I prefer the sure fire earning from iRazoo, I would still suggest Swagbucks as well. With Amazon cards priced at 45 Swagbucks earning two a month should be pretty easy, even without referrals. I feel that between the two of them, I should be pretty well set for Christmas and birthdays all throughout 2010.
How it Works: Use their search function for the chance to win Swagbucks. You won't always win them, but if you do a few searches in the morning, afternoon, and evening, you'll probably get 2-3 wins in that time. They also have contests, reward codes, and other ways to earn. I typically just search and enter the special codes from Twitter or their blog when I find one though.
Referrals: They have two ways to earn through referrals. You can become an affiliate and earn $1 per referral or you can just refer members to the site and earn Swagbucks every time they earn Swagbucks - up to 100 from each referral. Overall that's a far better reward, but that's only true if your referals stick with the site long enough to earn more than 9 Swagbucks (equal to $1 worth of a $5 Amazon card.)
Even though it's risky I prefer to just go for straight referrals instead of doing the affiliate thing.
Earnings: Since 10/17 I've earned $5 Amazon card and 7/45 for another $5 Amazon card. I requested my first gift card on 10/28 and as soon as I get it, I'll be sure to post the proof!
I personally enjoy this site because it takes me longer to log in than it does to earn my points. You get two points for logging in each day, 2 points for answering the daily survey question, and 2 points for each person you refer to the site. Another thing to note is that the day you join you get to play a one time only game to catch bonus points! I caught around 30 hehe
You cash in your points for a variety of prizes (although since they're in their early stages many prizes are not yet available) such as Ipods (200+ points), video games (100+ points), gift certificates (250+ points), sporting goods (varies widely) or you can even use your points to donate to several different charities (5+ points)!
Even though most of the better prizes aren't up for grabs yet, I like the idea of being ahead of the curve so that when they are available I'll be closer to getting them than newer folks will.
The downside to Lockerz.com is that you have to be invited through their website by a current member so if you'd like an invite please request one from me here.
Referrals: 2 points per referral, once you refer 20 members you get double points for a year!
Earnings: 120 Points since 10/7
ClubBing.com sounded like a really great site to me initially, but after tinkering with it for a few days I found the point earning to be really monotonous. I was really excited because they offer some really great prizes like Microsoft Office, video games and more. The initial earning was simple, but as it went on and I completed some of the easier games I found that they don't seem to reset leaving you with games that aren't worth the time for the amount of tickets you earn.
They do have "double ticket" days, so I'm planning to stick around and use those days to continue earning. If worse comes to worst I'll just donate my earned tickets to a charity on their.
How it Works: Play games, earn points, trade them in for prizes!
Earnings: 1,979 tickets
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~*~GPT Sites~*~
GPT sites require patience! The money adds up, but it adds up slowly. I operate under the fact that every little bit helps, because quite honestly, every little bit does help.
These sites will also offer quicker turn around times if you are able to round up a few referals through message boards or websites that you're part of.
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TrekPay
~*~GPT Sites~*~
GPT sites require patience! The money adds up, but it adds up slowly. I operate under the fact that every little bit helps, because quite honestly, every little bit does help.
These sites will also offer quicker turn around times if you are able to round up a few referals through message boards or websites that you're part of.
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TrekPay
TrekPay is an interesting twist on most PTC (Paid To Click) sites. Instead of being awarded for each click, they award you credits and convert a portion of those credits into cash once a week. While the credit to cent ratio seems a bit low, I really feel that you make more in a week with TrekPay than you do with any other PTC.
I like them because unlike every other PTC Site, there is NO timer on how long you have to look at the site to get credit. They do expect you to look at it briefly though to make sure that if their symbol appears on the page you click it... but the symbol is rarely there and all you really have to do is scroll up and down once to check then move on to the next link.
Referrals: You get credit for advertising purchases made by your referrals (10%) and you also get extra credits when they sign up. As far as I can tell it's just 15 credits per referral once, but I could be wrong - the site doesn't really disclose it either.
Earnings: $3.05 since 10/1/09 in the following breakdown (70¢, 70¢, 71¢, 94¢)
Cash out Req: $5
I really haven't but an adequate amount of time into CashCrate, so I haven't cashed out yet, but I did once back in 2008 with them so I know they're legit. I'm actually adding them to my list to focus on more from now on. Last month I only did a few offers and one survey so I didn't take advantage of CashCrate's full earning potential. Purely based off their surveys you can earn up to $1.60 a day, or $48 in a 30 day month without any referrals which is pretty impressive. Time to stop slacking on this one!
If you do choose to do offers, I would suggest using an alternate email when you sign up with CashCrate and do the offers (not your usual one) because I usually see an influx of spam once I start doing the offers. This is easily solved by having a secondary email though!
How it Works: They have hundreds of "offers" available on their site and pay you varying amounts to complete them. They also offer two surveys paying 80¢ each daily and have a referral program as well.
Referrals: They pay you 20% of your level one referral earnings and 10% of your level two earnings. On top of that, when your direct referrals reach $10 you earn $3! It's a pretty great referral set up over all if you can get folks to sign up.
Earnings: $7.23 since 9/24 but I didn't put any real time into earning with them this month
Cash out Req: $20
NeoBux has been a pretty good experience for me. It fits the standard PTC model, you earn up to 1¢ per ad that you view for 30 seconds. Some ads pay less for shorter views and some pay more for longer views, although I've never seen one for more than 30 seconds.
Since I signed up on 9/21/09 I've earned a total of $3.56, but I invested $1.50 of that back into "renting referrals" to increase my earnings. They don't offer a lot of ads, usually 5-8 a day if you check back often so it is a slow earning process. Referrals are definitely the way to go with a site like this since they speed the process up tremendously although it still takes a bit of patience. Remember, every penny counts!
Referrals: As a regular member you get a 1/2¢ per referral click, but this quickly adds up and multiplies. If you choose to become a paying member (which I have not, and probably will not) you earn 1¢ per click.
Earnings: $3.56 earned since 9/21 (I reinvested $1.50 for additional referrals though.)
Cash Out Req: $2 (I have reached this amount, but am waiting to cash out until I've earned a bit more.)
SuperNovaBux is a newer PTC that is pretty much set up exactly like NeoBux in terms of the basics. However, the ads are a lot less frequent. I only get two a day to be quite honest, but I expect that to go up as they age.
How it Works: Sign up, click ads, wait 30 seconds then click the matching numbers at the top of he ad and earn 1¢.
Referrals: Earn 1¢ per referral click, and 1/2¢ for each click their referrals make.
Earnings: $1.025 since 9/28
Cash Out Req: $2
__________How it Works: Sign up, click ads, wait 30 seconds then click the matching numbers at the top of he ad and earn 1¢.
Referrals: Earn 1¢ per referral click, and 1/2¢ for each click their referrals make.
Earnings: $1.025 since 9/28
Cash Out Req: $2
ClixSense
ClixSense is also a very standard PTC program, but I actually like it a bit more than NeoBux style programs because it seems to offer more clicks through out the day. They claim that you can find ads for more than just 1¢ but so far that's all I've come across - and quite honestly because there are so many I'm quite fine with it.
In two days with ClixSense I've earned 40¢ just by checking in and clicking periodically.
How it Works: Sign up, click ads, wait 30 seconds and move to the next ad. You can also pay $10 to upgrade and get more ads but I don't intend to do this. I may however earn the $10 then use it to upgrade if I feel that it's worth it to do so after that long.
Referrals: You don't really earn for your referrals as a regular member (you get 1¢ when they sign up). You do however get $2 if your referrals upgrade their account. If you upgrade your account then you receive 10¢ for each referral, $2 if they upgrade, $1 if their referral upgrades, commisions on clicks made by your referrals, and so on.
$10 for all those benefits may be worth it in the long run, but only if your referrals invest also... I'm jaded but unwilling to donate right now since this blog is aimed at earning without paying for a turn around.
Earnings: 40¢ since 10/28
Cash Out Req: $10 by check only, however when you cash out they charge a $3 processing fee so I suggest waiting until you've accumulated much more than $10.
YouDataIn two days with ClixSense I've earned 40¢ just by checking in and clicking periodically.
How it Works: Sign up, click ads, wait 30 seconds and move to the next ad. You can also pay $10 to upgrade and get more ads but I don't intend to do this. I may however earn the $10 then use it to upgrade if I feel that it's worth it to do so after that long.
Referrals: You don't really earn for your referrals as a regular member (you get 1¢ when they sign up). You do however get $2 if your referrals upgrade their account. If you upgrade your account then you receive 10¢ for each referral, $2 if they upgrade, $1 if their referral upgrades, commisions on clicks made by your referrals, and so on.
$10 for all those benefits may be worth it in the long run, but only if your referrals invest also... I'm jaded but unwilling to donate right now since this blog is aimed at earning without paying for a turn around.
Earnings: 40¢ since 10/28
Cash Out Req: $10 by check only, however when you cash out they charge a $3 processing fee so I suggest waiting until you've accumulated much more than $10.
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There are two downsides to YouData that I've come across so far though. To start with there aren't very many ads at all, I usually only see one every other week or so for a total of 10¢. Second, they pay every week no matter what your balance is, but they deduct a few cents for paypal processing. I rather let it add up to something more than 20¢ and then cash it out, but maybe that's just me.
Referrals: You can earn up to $1.00 per referral. This is similar to how Swagbucks is set up, you get 1¢ per ad that your referrals view, until you've earned $1.00.
Earnings: $2.24 earned since 9/21 (I've already deducted the processing fees.) YouData Proof of Payment
Cash Out Req: None, sent automatically each week.
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~*~Misc Programs~*~
This includes review sites, snail mail sites, and much more.
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CloudCrowd
CloudCrowd is a new up and coming program that is accessed through FaceBook (don't worry it doesn't actually show anything on your FaceBook page). They pay you the next day for all work completed by 5pm Pacific the prior day. They're currently experiencing a lot of growing pains though that are upsetting some of the early users. I personally haven't experienced anything negative though, and I feel that they should be given some slack since they're only a month old.~*~Misc Programs~*~
This includes review sites, snail mail sites, and much more.
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CloudCrowd
I still consider this one a good egg and I'm looking forward to seeing them get the bugs worked out so that work will be up 24/7 again.
Work: Workers do random tasks that are posted for the payment listed. It's similar to Mturk but on a much smaller scale and the work only comes from CloudCrowd, it is not posted by external providers.
Referrals: The referral system has some great potential. It goes three levels deep and you earn a percentage of what your Crowd does on each level. Level one is 10.1%, level two is 3.2% and level three is 1.5%.
Earnings: $35.49 earned since 10/6 Cloud Crowd Proof of Payment
Cash Out Req: None, sent automatically, the next day.
Do you get paid to read the junk mail that comes to you door each day? I do! PeopleString has proven to be a pretty impressive setup, although it's a bit slow to start. Once you sign up you are sent a postcard in the mail to validate your address. This took about 3 weeks to reach me and I was losing hope.
About a week after I got it though, I found out that I had 9 more pieces of paying mail headed my way! That's an exciting thought for me. You can earn 25¢ or more per piece depending on what it is... one of the pieces coming to me pays 50¢!
How it works: Sign up, answer a few questions, then enter the confirmation number that you get on your postcard. Each piece of mail from them will include a code that you enter on their site to get credit.
Referrals: As a standard member you get 50¢ per referral plus 5% of their earnings. You also get 2% of the earnings from folks on the 2nd-6th levels of your down line. This is another one of those programs where you can pay to upgrade your status and earn more, but it's rather costly so I won't ever do it.
Earnings: $11.10 earned since 9/29 (not including the mail that's on it's way to me)
Cash Out Req: $25, sent automatically once a month for standard members.
IMReportCard has great earning potential, but honestly it can be a bit of a rough start. The site is all about rating online marketing sites and programs, and things of that nature so that users can utilize the information to make decisions about whether or not they should get involved in a program.
How it Works: You get paid for doing different things on the site such as commenting on programs, grading sites, and reviewing other comments. The hard part is that you can't do anything until you've had one of your own comments posted and approved. You have to have first hand experience with one of the programs, and most of the easy ones like TrekPay are closed for commentary.
Once you get a comment approved though, you can take advantage of all the other ways to earn on the site and it really adds up quickly - plus it's a really informative site.
Referrals: Their referral program is great (if your referrals get a comment posted) because you earn 100% of what they do. That means if they leave a comment and earn 50¢ so do you!
Earnings: $4.01 earned since 10/3. I didn't invest as much time in the site this month as I meant to. I was doing some comment reviewing everyday, but I started slacking - I plan to spend a few minutes there every day next month though.
Cash Out Req: $20.00
LiveOps launched a freelance Independent Contractor site recently called LiveWork. I really profited from this site last month, but unfortunately they ran into a few of the same problems that Cloud Crowd did. People were taking advantage of the system so now they're having to rework all of their applications and it's taking a while for new projects to come up.
How it Works: Sign up, create a profile, and start applying. Keep in mind that the older jobs probably aren't active anymore. If you apply and don't hear back, send a mail to the provider who posted the job.
I worked on the query projects writing 5-7 sentence answers in response to search queries. Each answer was paid 64¢ and once I got the hang of it I was able to do 12+ an hour giving a decent $7 or more an hour.
Earnings: $68.48 earned since 9/24 LiveWork Proof of Payment
IMShopping is a site that allows you to ask and answer questions about shopping suggestions, pricing, product quality and much more.
How it Works: The standard user has the ability to earn money by answering questions that have a green tip box on them. So long as these questions get more than one answer, the winner of the "Best Answer" title is awarded the tip!
I personally made $24 in tips doing this because almost half of my answers won which is pretty great.
On top of that, IMShopping periodically hires regular users to become Shopping Assistants which means that you then get paid for every answer you give, whether it wins "Best Answer" or not! I just got offered this position last Wednesday and I have a training session this coming Tuesday so I'll have more updates then.
Earnings: $24.00 earned since 10/3
Cash Out Req: $40
Wanelo was a huuuuge part of my earnings last month, primarily because I put the most amount of time into it though. They've since put limits on the earning potential but you can still earn $40 a month from them which is pretty nice overall. The site itself is wonderful and I'd recommend it to any parent out there. You'll get tons of great info on what items to buy and avoid for your little ones and yourself!
How it works: For the details please view this post. With the new restrictions, you can basically do 10 reviews per week, and every Friday you'll receive a $10 deposit from them via paypal. They only pay in full 10s though, so if you do 9 you'll have to do another and wait for the following week to earn your $10.
They also have special contests that allow you to earn more, and surprise rewards in different categories as well. I won a $5 award from them for "Favorite Collection" once!
Earnings: $105 earned since 10/15 Wanelo Proof of Payment
Cash Out Req: None, automatically sent weekly as long as you've completed 10 reviews that meet the requirements.
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~*~Surveys~*~
Surveys can take a bit of patience and a lot of dedication. The key is to not give up on them... it's like a seed - you have to plant it and nurture it and then it will give you fruit, shade, and happiness as it grows!
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Survey Spot
SurveySpot has proven to be my worst experience so far. First of all, they send you tons of surveys, but only a small percentage of them are paying. On top of that I've found that a lot of the time I get 15 minutes into a survey before they tell me that "You don't qualify" for the survey. They also don't even keep an accessible record of your completed surveys on your account. This means that you have to keep your own record, and by the time you realize that - it's probably too late for you to do so accurately.~*~Surveys~*~
Surveys can take a bit of patience and a lot of dedication. The key is to not give up on them... it's like a seed - you have to plant it and nurture it and then it will give you fruit, shade, and happiness as it grows!
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Survey Spot
They also have the longest turn around time of any site I've come across saying that it can take "up to 8 weeks" for a survey to post to your account as completed.
This is the one site that I've come across so far, that I definitely do not recommend to anyone. I've heard claims that if you do the free surveys they send you more paying surveys, but I haven't been able to see that proven. I've even done a few free ones and I still rarely get paying surveys.
This one is a no go for me. I signed up on 9/26 and I'll admit that I haven't canceled my account, but that's really only because I want to see if anything ever posts to it as completed.
I personally have gotten the most action from SurveyHead. I get a decent number of surveys from them and I've earned a fair amount of money from completing them.
The downside to SurveyHead is that your earnings don't immediately post to your account and can take up to 6 weeks to process. I've seen much faster results though which several posting in 3-4 weeks, enough so that I could cash out after I'd been with them for less than a month which is a great sign to me. This tells me that my earnings with them will only increase over time because old surveys will begin to continuously validate and post to my available funds.
How it Works: Sign up, take surveys, earn $1-$5 for each completed survey. They may take up to 6 weeks to post, but all completed surveys are clearly listed on the site for you.
Earnings: Since 9/26/09 I've had $35.50 Post to my account with another $45.70 Pending - I requested my first payment of $25.50 on 10/21/09 and am still waiting for it to come through to my paypal, once it does I'll post the proof!
Cash Out Req: $25
Greenfield Online is one that I considered giving up on but they redeemed themselves in a big way. In a little over a month with them I've only qualified for one $1 survey of all the ones they've sent me BUT I have qualified for two $30 Interactive Surveys (they take around 90 minutes) in that time frame as well.
Aside from the obvious downside of having issues qualifying for their surveys, it can take a while for the Interactive Surveys to post to your account... up to 6 weeks to be exact. That made a me a little uncomfortable with the first one, but it showed up on my account with in a week, and when I cashed out it was in my paypal a few days later. I had taken the survey on 10/5, requested the cash out on 10/14 and had the money in my account on 10/19.
The second one has taken a bit longer though, and I'm afraid I may not get credit because my computer got turned off during it causing me to miss a few questions. I had called the survey's support number and they said everything should be fine though - so I'm doing my best to wait patiently. It's only been 10 days, so I'm holding tight. Even if it doesn't come through, I can't really blame them since I missed about 5-7 minutes of the 90 minute session.
How it Works: Sign up, take surveys, earn cash!
Earnings: Since 9/26/09 I've earned $31.00 and cashed out $30. Greenfield Online Proof of Payment
Cash Out Req: None
LightSpeed Panel has proven to be a great company as well. The concept is the same as the others but they reward you in points that you can convert to cash on paypal, Amazon gift cards, and more.
I don't see as many surveys from them as I'd like, they're not as plentiful as SurveyHead but I still get a decent amount. They also don't pay quite as much as some other sites do but I've managed to earn almost enough for a $20 cash out in about a month which is pretty good.
The great part of their site that makes up for the lower number of surveys is that when you finish a survey, you earn your reward immediately with no waiting at all. You can also cash out in smaller $5 increments, but I'm holding out for the $20 even though the pricing works out the same.
How it Works: Sign up, complete surveys, instantly earn your reward points, cash them out for whatever you'd like.
Earnings: Since 9/30/09 I've earned 2100/2300 points required for a $20 PayPal deposit.
Cash Out Req: None, just accumulate enough points for the prize you want!
2 comments:
I just wanted to tell you that I think this is great! I found your blog through one of your posts on WAHM.com. The fact that you're telling of your own experiences gives me hope. :) Also your writing is very good... informative and interesting at the same time.
Wishing you continuing good experiences working at home!
Thank you so much! That's a great boost to my confidence since I'm trying to talk myself into trying out some of the freelance writing sites.
I saw that you have reviewstream on your profile, how do you like them? I looked at them last month but I haven't signed up yet. Any words of wisdom? hehe
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