How to make money and get free stuff online

More survey madness!

2007-09-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

In my travels I have actually found several other great sites. I haven't had time to try them all, and I really haven't felt a need to since Survey Scout is working so well for me. Just figured I would clue you guys in. If anyone tries any of these sites out, shoot me and email or comment and tell me what you thought.

Paid Surveys Etc.

Paid Surveys Online

Express Paid Surveys

Maximum Paid Surveys

Get paid to take surveys? Its not a trick!

2007-09-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

I could try to write a ridiculous article about how your going to turn into a Millionaire by just signing up for Survey Scout, but I think we all know thats not true. I also know that there are hundreds of sites out there that claim to show you all the secrets to making millions. Those sites might work, but the one site that I have tried and that I have made money from, is Survey Scout.

First, let me explain exactly what Survey Scout is. Simply put, its a site that sorts through all of the garbage survey taking sites, and selects the best ones for inclusion into its database. Sure, you could do a lot of searching and come up with some sites that will actually pay you to take surveys, but why do all that work when you could already be making money? The best part is, Survey Scout offers their services for a simple one-time fee of $34.95. For this small one-time fee they give you a database of proven sites that pay you for your opinion. In addition, you get free access to several other databases that provide information work-at-home jobs, pay-to-shop sites, and other moneymaking opportunities.

Now that you know what Survey Scout is, let me tell you my experience. I signed up out of complete boredom. I figured, I can always use some extra money, why not give this a shot? I was a little apprehensive about shelling out my hard-earned cash; it's been my experience that there are a lot of shady businesses on the web that promise millions and deliver squat. After some thought, I figured, what do I have to lose? Well, I did have $34.95 to lose, but what if I could actually make money filling out surveys?

After the sign-up, the folks at Survey Scout were nice enough to let me in on some useful tips and tricks to make my experience as easy and painless as possible (and you definitely should check them out before you start taking surveys). Once I was in, I started signing up for sites and filling out surveys. Within 2 hours, I had made back my registration fee of $34.95, plus a little spending cash. I don't want you to get the wrong idea, I worked during those 2 hours doing as many surveys as I could, but I made about $50 (thats $25 an hour), not bad if you ask me. I felt a lot better having done that, I wasn't another sucker, I was actually starting to make a little money, and I was hooked. It was like an extra job, that I could work whenever, and wherever I wanted.

Now, here is my little disclaimer: You will have to put in time to complete surveys and whatever money-making opportunities some of the sites offer. This could really turn out to be a full-time job, and you might even be able to make some good money. The thing is, I have a life outside of my computer, and a job too. In fact, I'm a full-time student! But as you may have guessed, you only need to "work" as much as you feel like. I've actually found out that this can work with my lifestyle, it's almost a high-paying job with super flexible hours. If I have free time between a class, before I go to bed, or when I wake up, I'll sit down for an hour and do a few surveys. If I don't have time, I don't. With a small investment of time, 3-4 hours a week, I have been able to make on-average $75 dollars per week. That may not seem like like too much, but if you do the math, thats about about $20-$25 bucks an hour. If I put in more time, or if I find some great high-paying surveys, I make more. If I'm busy for a week, I don't do anything, and its still waiting for me the next week.

Its been about a month since I've signed up for Survey Scout, and I still haven't gotten through the first page of survey sites. There are literally hundreds of sites in their database, its almost impossible not to find a site that pays good, and that you can enjoy using. Unless Survey Scout disappears out of thin air, I can definitely see myself using it for years to come. If you had asked me about Survey Scout 2 months ago, before I signed up, I would have laughed and said "I'm not going to get suckered in to paying them my hard-earned cash." Little would I have known, that thousands of dollars are floating around online, just waiting to be claimed, and all for just filling out a survey.

I've told you about all there is to know. If you aren't signed up already, what are you waiting for? It's easy to do, and when it comes down to it, its basically free to join. Your membership fee can be payed off by just doing a few surveys, and then its all profit from there. You might also ask, why do I want you to sign up for Survey Scout? It's simple, I have nothing to lose if more people join, there are plenty of surveys and sites available. Plus, I've always thought of myself as a friendly person.

Get paid to play brand new video games

2007-09-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

This is a little bit different, but since I love video games so much, I thought I would share this resource with you, Gamer Testing Ground. I remember as a little kid I had always wanted to grow up and become a video game tester. It really seemed like a dream job, get paid to do what I normally do for fun all day? Of course, now I'm in college, and a video game testing job just didn't seem like a reality. When I found Gamer Testing Ground, like always, I was skeptical. Seeing as I now have a bit of extra income I decided to shell out the money (I elected for a 2 year membership since its only a few bucks more). They have a bunch of jobs that you can apply for, and for some jobs they will even provide hardware to play their games on. Unfortunately I didn't apply for any of those, but free games are fine for me (plus a paycheck). At this point I haven't gotten "hired" yet but I applied at several companies and I am eagerly awaiting a response. If your a gamer like me, this is an offer that you really can't afford to pass up. I'll post again when I hear back.

Free with participation? You've heard the hype, lets get the truth

2007-09-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've gotten the spam, seen a pop-up, or actually visited one of those sites that claims to offer you free products, gift cards, or plain old cash. Common sense would tell you that its all a scam, but lately, I have been doing some research and I am determined to take the plunge and receive a free Xbox 360 Elite. My site of choice is Gadget City, since it requires a measly 4 offers for the $400+ gaming system. Some useful forums that I've been doing research on have been:

www.anything4free.com
www.freeipodguide.com

There is plenty of great information on these sites, I found the forums to be the most useful. You have to register to post on either site, but you can read www.anything4free.com without signing up. www.freeipodguide.com actually requires you to sign-up just to read, but signing up on either site is free, so its not a big deal. There are numerous sites like this, most requiring you to complete offers (which may at times cost money) and then referring a number of friends to do the same. The number of offers and referrals required is based on the cost of the item. I picked Gadget City is because it does not require any referrals, you get to complete all of the offers yourself. Then you don't have to rely on someone else to get your free stuff. Having heavily browsed the forums, here are a few tips:

There will often be several pages of offers, with each page requiring a certain number of offers being completed. Before you start take a look at all of the pages and make sure there are offers on all the pages you are willing to do. A trick that many sites use is making the last page of offers very expensive or hard to complete.
Read the terms & conditions on the site giving out the "free" gift, some may require you to sign up for an offer for a specified amount of time, which means you have to pay for a month or two of service.
Make sure you know exactly what needs to be done to complete the offer, sometimes you may need to sign-up for a certain amount of time, or you need to make a purchase.
Many offers can be free or very inexpensive, you will end up paying a significant amount less than the product you receive, but when you sign up you have to make sure to read the terms and conditions and write down important phone numbers and email addresses so you can cancel the service after the trial if you do not wish to continue the service.
Many times, they will send you a "free" product, but charge you Shipping and Handling. Now that they have your credit info, they can continue to charge you if you don't cancel the service. Sometimes you may even need to return unused product.
You are often required to submit phone numbers and email addresses. If possible, set up a dedicated email account (and if possible phone number), as your info will most likely be sold and you will probably get lots of spam.
You will often need to wait a long time to get all of the offers approved, patience is a virtue. Since you may have to wait from the time you complete a particular offer, do them all at once to reduce waiting time.
Sometimes you will not get credit for an offer, some sites will manually credit you with proof (confirmation email, credit statement with charges), others will make you do replacement offers
If this sounds complicated, it is. They make it hard so you won't want to go all the way through with it. If someone signs up and does an offer or two and forgets about it, they still get paid, and they don't have to give away anything. Persistence is the key, know email addresses and phone numbers so you can contact them when something goes wrong.

Thats about it for now, when I decide to go through with this I'll make a post and keep everyone updated.