Update: YouData.Com

I received this in my email on Friday night.  I couldn't stop laughing, just the thought of someone sending 49 cents is hilarious to me. When I got home I logged into PayPal and found this:

So I finally found a legit place to make money online!  Hold that thought, there is a little problem with YouData.  I earned this money and now have to wait until other offers are listed on my account.  I logged in again today and nothing.  This is the problem with good sites they only have a few offers available, but they do pay real money.

I will keep an eye on my YouData account and I will keep you all updated.

Update: YouData.Com

I got a chance to look into YouData.com today and I have a good feeling about this one.  I also read some other bloggers that have used it, other bloggers that I trust.  The initial sign up and survey takes about 15-20 minutes and then you are off to making money.  The only problem is that the site is fairly new and they don't have many ads to view right off the bat.  Once I was done with my profile, I spent 1 minute looking through ads and earned 50 cents.  The site told me to come back later when more ads should be available.

I can't personally confirm it, but another blogger I spoke to said that she gets paid weekly on Fridays and they do not have a payment threshold.  She has made something like $10 USD over the course of a month.  Not bad for spending only 1 minute a day, 25 days per month.  If you figure it out for her time she is making a little over $20 per hour.  Not something to make a living off of, but the automatic deposits to PayPal are nice.  I will post a picture of my PayPal next Friday to see if this is legit or not.

Case Closed: Superpoints.com

Superpoints.com Redemption Threshold by Membership Level

It is official, I am closing the case on Superpoints.com.  I was looking through the site when I stumbled on the picture you see above.  It seems at my current membership level, I can only cash out once I reach 2,500 points.  At the next level (Refer 2 Friends), I can cash out at 1,000 points.  If I refer 5 friends I can cash out at 500, which was my previous goal.  The reason I am closing the case is because requiring referrals is ridiculous and pointless.

I know that I can make fake email addresses and fake Superpoints accounts, I am not going to do that because it isn't worth my time just for $5.   I'll let the account sit and months from now collect all my lucky mails and see where that puts me, but I am putting no more effort into that site.  I can't say whether it is a scam or legit, but I am going to call it a scam regardless.

Stay At Home Mom

Ashley (my fiancee) mentioned the other day that she would like to start looking for a job 10 weeks after Tobias is born.  She would like to work 2nd shift so that I can be home with Tobias, but hopefully still have enough time to spend together.  While I would love to have a 2nd source of income, I don't want her to get burned out.

We got to talking about possible stay at home ideas.  We all look for ways to make money online in our free time, but what if you can dedicate 30-40 hours per week?  Many respectable companies, like Verizon, employ stay at home moms to field customer service phone calls.

We will be looking into various places to find work over the coming weeks and we will share with you our findings.  If anyone is aware of a good place to start looking, please let me know.

Update: Bing Rewards

Ashley's Bing rewards Search and Earn

 

My Bing rewards Search and Earn

 

In the Bing Rewards rules it states that multiple people in the same house can indeed earn rewards.  Ashley and I both have a Bing Rewards account and we earn our points each day.  Her account always seems to make more credits than mine does, so I looked into it.  She can earn up to 20 credits daily and I can only earn up to 10.  Also her daily rewards tend to be worth 1 more point than mine are.

 

Also on my account referral offers keep disappearing and reappearing with different values.  Microsoft must be restructuring this program. 

If you signed up for this program, let me know how many you can earn each day.  Also, if you have multiple people in your house get them to start earning you points.  I just cashed out 250 Microsoft points today and a friend of mine earns for me and is sending me 125 later on today.

SwagBucks.com: Is it a Scam or Not?

SwagBucks.com Logo

I completely forgot about SwagBucks.com, I had tried them out a few years back and gave up.  I gave up because I moved and didn't have internet for awhile.  This is just like CashCrate or Superpoints in that they give you points for doing certain things.  I received a birthday email containing 50 SwagBucks which reminded me about the site.  I have left the account sit stale and it has 110 offers sitting in my email ready for me to bang out.  I currently have 134 SwagBucks and need 450 to get $5 from Amazon.

As always this site rewards for referrals so I have my referral link below.  I will update you all as I progress.

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/goober814

Reinvesting Money Earned Online

There are an awful lot of people online trying to earn money everyday.  Everyone that I know starts with the get paid to sites such as MegaTypers, Superpoints, CashCrate, and the like.  Out of those people, most of them gave up when they didn't make much and quit trying.  A few people I know took the money from those things, blogs, and selling items on eBay and reinvested the money.  Those few people are the ones that I looked to when I started and said, "That's what I want to be."  Now those people are making a living on the internet and have quit there days jobs (except for one of them).  That one that didn't quit his day job is smart and he only works the minimum hours to get health insurance.

Now when I say reinvest this is where it can get a little foggy.  Some people take the money and buy items to resell on eBay and others went into stock trading.  Auctions and stocks can be some of the most difficult ways to make money.  eBay particularly because of the sheer amount of competition and stocks because of our economy.  One of my acquaintances did it right (in my opinion), he took the money that he made and bought a domain name and web hosting.  He created a site, referred to as a micro niche site, and sold eBooks. Basically he took a very specific subject that people are interested in and found someone that wrote an eBook on the subject.  He studied the eBook and the subject for awhile and then created an information site that answers the basic questions people would have.  He sold advertising space on the site and earned money from that and then he also earned money from the eBook sales.  Anyone that needed more information would buy the eBook.

This wasn't an overnight success and this certainly isn't the last the internet heard of him.  He did a lot of work to get traffic to his site and worked on it constantly.  When he started to make money from the site, he reinvested into a total of 5 more of these sites.  At any given time he has 5 active sites and up to 5 sites ready to go when something goes wrong. 

His income isn't anything to shake a stick at either, he is currently making a minimum of $45,000 yearly.  That number fluctuates, but he hasn't made less than that.  That is how much he needs to live comfortably and any additional money is reinvested into his "company".  In his eyes the greatest part of this is that he is making money on autopilot and doesn't have to do much work each day.  He is able to work 40 hours a week at his day job and still makes money while on vacation.  I can't say that everyone would succeed at this, but it is definitely something to think about.  I would like to get into something similar, but I just need to earn the capital before I start.

Project Payday

I haven't looked into this yet, but I have an iffy feeling about this one.  I think they pulled me in because they don't claim you are going to make thousands.  They are talking about making a little over $200 in the first month and never really making over $2500 a month.  I will take a look at this over the next few days and hopefully be able to provide a review for it.  If you would like to check it out for yourself, head over to:

http://www.projectpayday.com

Update: Superpoints.com - Halfway There

I am halfway to cashing out for $5 on SuperPoints.  It doesn't even seem worth it, but I just want the money for peace of mind.  I am still having nothing but bad luck earning points with surveys.  I am just relying on LuckyMail and the Super Lucky Button to earn points now.  I am still looking for more sites to try and I will need some time to sit down and look into them.  Once I find something worthy of writing about I will post up an article.  I am still having great luck with Bing Rewards and I have earned around 800 points between Ashley and I.  I haven't spent them yet, but I am thinking about a Gamertag change.

Update: Amazon Mechanical Turk

So I decided to do a little "turk-ing" last night and I figured I would test out how much I am really making per hour.  I picked a HIT that had a lot available and they each paid at 5 cents.  The only issue with this HIT was that it required more work than I'm used to for these types of HITs.  In 1 hour I did 125 of them and I was on a computer with 1 monitor which slowed me down a bit.  Today my account was updated and $6.25 was added to my account.  This surprisingly isn't too bad for working on the internet, now keep in mind that this is money that can only be used for shopping on Amazon.  

My only suggestion is that once you find something you are good at, stick with it and keep going.  There are jobs out there for people with specific skills that pay more money, but I haven't found anything within my skill set at this point.

I would be curious to know if any of my readers have tried this yet?

Update: CashCrate.com

Well it seems that CashCrate.com may just be another one of the sites with a plethora of offers, but no real way to make consistent money.  I tried a couple of offers today and I will see where that takes me, but I have a feeling I will be giving up on this site completely.  It is another one of those refer people and make money sites and if you don't join in the beginning it is hard to make any money.

Update: MySurvey.com

It has been confirmed that MySurvey.com is no longer accepting U.S. residents, but as far as we know it is still accepting international users.  I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you, but I will try to keep an eye on the site and let you know if and when they start accepting U.S. residents again. 

If anyone has sites they would like to recommend for me to try, please leave them in the comments section below.

Update: MySurvey.com

I attempted to join MySurvey.com and found that they are not accepting new registrations.  I will look into this and update all of you once this is solved.  My apologies if that has inconvenienced you in any way.

Update: Superpoints.com

Current SuperPoints balance

 

So I have decided that I won't be completing any more offers or surveys for SuperPoints.  I get about 2 emails a day from them and every other one is a survey.  I have attempted 10 surveys all together and have never once been accepted to complete a survey.  I have also done offers to install games on my computer today (which are probably riddled with spyware) and I have never received the points.  I will not put anymore effort into this offer, but I will not close the case until I get my $5.  It might be awhile judging by how slowly I get points.  Also, I haven't won anything with the Super Lucky Button in days now.

Make Money on the Side, Easy - MySurvey.com

Incentivized surveys or online surveys as they are most commonly known have been a great way to boost ones income. These are usually done by websites that are given the task by companies to ask people of their opinions. Usually on a certain product or service that has or has yet to come out. Online surveys are VERY easy to do and are generally done in one’s free time. 

Online surveys are usually done by stay-at-home mums, students, the elderly and those willing to give their opinions. You get paid a small amount by some surveys, typically $0.50 - $2 at the most. But there are those companies that are willing to pay you more for the work that you put in - usually $2 - $4 more for the same amount of time.

The money that you receive is not what you would normally get through a nine to five work day but it’s certainly uplifting to know that your opinion is much sought after. Imagine that, people are willing to pay you for your opinion!

MySurvey is a worldwide group of consumers from all over who influence future products and services by volunteering to participate in consumer research.

I've used the Australian version of this online survey website and I can vouch for its efficacy. So far I've netted (not grossed) over $95 in over 3 months. Now I know that’s not a lot, but it has its perks. The points that you get can be converted to either;

• PayPal cash; 
• Facebook Credits;
• Amazon e-certificates;
• UNICEF
• And much more!

What is interesting about this website is that they ask for your personal details once you’ve finished signing up. The thing is that they are surveys as well. Now, before you get hesitant you can rest assured that it is completely normal for them to ask you this – unlike others. Plus you get points immediately for giving your personal details.

Your home address, phone number, medical history, annual salary, etc. are required for them to direct you to more personalized surveys that match your lifestyle. So pretty much, the more you tell them about yourself the more likely you are to get surveys. Especially the bigger ones that ranges from $3 - $6.

All in all - try it out for yourself - it’s a good way to earn money on the side without it getting too hectic.

Other versions:

• MySurvey Ireland
• MySurvey USA
• MySurvey UK
• MySurvey Asia – Also has links to European countries at the bottom

About Earl A.

Earl A. is founder and editor of Just a Thought and Epic Theatrical Music. Learn more about him here.

Update: Superpoints.com

In the last week I have received about 7 emails from Superpoints.com.  I currently have 88 points (88 cents) in my account.  Spinning the Superlucky button takes far too long and doesn't earn a whole lot.  I tried a survey and kept getting denied and finally completed one for 42 points.  My goal is to get 500 points and quit, then I will be able to cash out for $5 on Paypal.  Once I receive the $5 I will close the case on Superpoints.com.

Take It Offline

Everyday there are millions of people trying to make a living on the internet.  I'm sure a lot of my readers are in the same boat.  Sometimes staring at a computer screen day in and day out can get a little tiring.  The best thing to do when you are getting burned out is to, take it offline.  Take the drive, motivation, and energy that you use to make money online and bring it to the real world.  There are many things you can do to make a quick couple dollars.

• Collect scrap metal, whether it be aluminum cans or copper wire there is money to be made on scrap.
• Sell services on Craigslist; offer to rake leaves for a fee, offer to drive someone that has no vehicle, offer to haul away junk that might make you money.
• Sell old/new stuff on Craigslist or eBay, I'm sure we all have some junk that is worth some money.  You know what they say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."
• Find part time jobs or gigs that are within your talents.  If you build, take pictures, sing/act, or have a technical skill there is always someone out there who needs you.

Yes, I know I said take it offline and then 2 of my items included being online.  The goods you are selling or the services you offer are offline and the time spent on the computer can be short.  If anyone wants to add anything leave it in the comments section below.

Update: Bing Rewards

I logged onto Bing Rewards today since my day has been reset, so that I can do a little more research for you guys.  This may vary by account, but I would need some input from others to confirm.  I am eligible for 13 credits a day.  3 credits for the daily offer (usually just click on a link and view information) and 10 credits for doing 20 searches on Bing.  This takes me 45 seconds to complete for the day.  Since I figured that for Microsoft Points, 1 credit is 1 penny, I will use that to calculate.  It is early for me, so bear with me if my calculations are a bit off.

In one hour there are 80 units of 45 seconds.  In 45 seconds I earned 13 credits (or .13 cents).  If I multiply .13 by 80 I get $10.40 per hour.  Surprisingly for an online gig this is a pretty high money vs time.  Now the part we all need to understand is to earn "1 hour of pay" you would need to do this 80 days straight.  This can really deter you from doing this offer, but when you think about it, how hard is it to get 45 seconds of each day to do this?  To cash in on 100 Microsoft Points we are looking at a little over 9 and a half days.

When you first sign up for the program there are quite a few extra offers, so the first 125 credits can be earned fairly quickly.  If you have 45 seconds of your day to spare, why don't you give it a shot?

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9778718&rrid=89C1F86E-6CB1-4E04-8ECB-C0888CB06622

Update: Bing Rewards

Just as an update, about 2 minutes after I submitted my redemption for Microsoft Points I received them.  This makes this particular offer even sweeter, as my only gripe was waiting a few weeks for an email with the redemption code.  I currently have 75 points left and when I get back to 125 I will update how long it took to redeem.

I just got one of the guys at work to start doing this offer and he mentioned that you can sell the points on ebay for about $0.99.  I am not sure of the legality of this, so I will not endorse this idea in any way.

Bing Rewards

Bing Logo

 

Offer valid for U.S. residents only, must provide a valid U.S. mailing address.

 

This isn't really a work from home, earn your living type offer, but more of a nice way to save money.  The whole premise of this program is that you use Bing to search, find deals, check the weather, and many other things.  You are given points for various tasks, usually things like search 20 times and get 10 points.  I use this program to get Microsoft Points for my Xbox 360, it is a nice way to shave a few bucks off of game purchases.  I have compiled a list of rewards  that my readers might be interested.

• Free Redbox Rental - 99 credits
• 100 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 - 125 credits
• $5 Groupon eGift Card - 523 credits
• Xbox LIVE 1 Month Gold Membership - 999 credits
• $2.50 Amazon.com Gift Card - 275 credits
• $5 Amazon.com Gift Card - 525 credits
• Hulu Plus 1-Month Subscription - 694 credits

So lets figure that 1600 Microsoft points retail for $19.99, and Bing Rewards gives them away for 125 credits. When purchased 80 points are worth $1,  or 1.25 cents each.  So for 125 credits you are receiving 100 Microsoft points, making the Bing Rewards points worth 1 cent each.  This makes sense because Bing is a Microsoft product, and obviously Microsoft points are as well meaning that Microsoft does not have to pay for these rewards.  

A Redbox rental is worth more that 99 cents so this is also a good deal.  As far as products from retailers such as Amazon are concerned, the rewards have a little extra tacked on, such as the $5 Amazon.com Gift Card.  The 5 dollars Amazon gift card is 525 credits, which means to us that we are "paying" an additional 25 cents to buy these rewards.

I have personally used this service over the last year and cashed out on around $32 worth of Microsoft Points, but I don't do it religiously everyday.  After my Xbox LIVE account was hacked, I stopped using it (About 6 months ago) and just started using it again on Saturday.  I currently have 200 points racked up and will be buying 100 Microsoft Points.  In the past, the points are emailed and I usually receive them within 2 weeks of redemption.

The time spent on Bing each day is around 2 minutes and my average points earned in 5 minutes is around 20 credits. Theoretically, this is around $6 dollars an hour even though it can't be earned consistently.  Sweepstakes are offered as well, but I don't do the whole luck thing.

This program also has a referral program that gives 25 credits for each 5 people referred.  As always, I will post my referral code below.  This program would also go great with Amazon Mechanical Turk in that you can earn money with MTurk and also use gift cards from Bing to shop on Amazon.com.

 

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9778718&rrid=89C1F86E-6CB1-4E04-8ECB-C0888CB06622