Paid-To Spotlight: Swagbucks

If you've read my blog for a while, you know by now that I am a huge fan of paid-to sites. Click here to read an overview about Paid-To Sites, and be sure to read the posts I've made about SendEarnings, TreasureTrooper, and MyPoints. Today I'm writing about a point-based site (much like MyPoints) that pays out in gift cards and rewards. Today's Paid-To Spotlight is Swagbucks!

Swagbucks has a lot of easy ways to earn "Swag Bucks," or points that are redeemable for gift cards and prizes in the "Swag Store." To the left is a screenshot of the list of options available for earning SwagBucks, nicknamed SB. Most of them are self explanatory. Here is a quick rundown of each:
- Coupons give you SB for printing and redeeming grocery coupons
- Daily Deals is essentially SB for shopping sponsored sales
- Daily Polls is a fun little poll for SwagBucks members to vote in every day for 1 easy SB
- Games is a place to play games and earn SB
- NOSO is a "No Obligation Special Offers" path that gives you 2SB daily just for clicking through it
- Search is a SwagBucks-sponsored search engine that pays SB randomly for using it to search (there is also a toolbar for this purpose). This is an excellent way to get easy SB - search at least once a day!
- Special Offers are offers from sponsors that you can complete for SB, such as watching advertisements, signing up for newsletters or even purchasing a free Netflix trial.
- Swagbucks TV has short ad-supported clips about various topics that pay you SB for watching them; you will get 3SB once you watch 10 videos! (You don't actually have to watch the entire video - it should credit in the first minute or so)
- Tasks are basically random un-skilled internet jobs that you complete for SB such as Image Searching certain objects, confirming addresses, identifying blurry pictures, or typing descriptions of images. You can complete as many as you like for SB.
- Trade In enables you to recycle various items (Cell phones, games & consoles and books) in exchange for SB
- Trusted Surveys are sponsored market research surveys that pay you SB for completing them. You receive 1 SB daily just for viewing your available surveys.
-Invite & Earn *NEW FEATURE ALERT* Gives you 1sb just for inviting someone from twitter, facebook or other social networking sites to join Swagbucks!

Of these, there are 5 that you can complete daily for quick SB.

1. Download the SwagBucks toolbar for your browser. Every day that you use the browser, you earn 1SB just for loading the toolbar.
2. Earn 1SB each day by voting in the Daily Poll
3. Earn 1SB just for checking the Trusted Survey dashboard each day
4. Earn 2SB daily by clicking through the NOSO - just keep clicking "next" or "skip offer" until you reach the end of the path to collect your 2SB.

5 . Earn 1SB Daily by inviting at least 1 person to join Swagbucks using the "Invite & Earn" feature.

Total: 6 SB per day, aka 180 SB per month!

If you do those every day - it takes about 10 seconds total - along with a couple of searches each day using the SwagBucks search engine, maybe a survey or 2 a month, watch a view video ads .... it adds up FAST and you'll start to see why SwagBucks is one of the top 5 most popular paid-

to sites. It takes 450SB to get one $5 Amazon Gift Card, and it took me 2 months exactly to reach that level doing basically the bare minimum with those 5 SB per day, plus about 5 referrals that I got through Facebook. Pro Tip: One of th e best ways to earn SB is using the Search feature - just type in search terms until you win! Searching can win you anywhere from 5-50 Swagbucks at once!

Oh, but I forgot one of the best features. Swag Codes. If you follow SwagBucks on Facebook and Twitter you will occasionally get codes worth SwagBucks - or links to their blog entries with codes worth SB. You can also find codes using the "Swidget" - on the right hand side of my blog! Click "Codes" to see if there is an active code. If you find a code - it typically looks something like "MadeUpSwagCodeX195" - copy and paste it into the "Enter your Swag Code" box on the homepage and click GIMME! They expire quickly, so get 'em while you can whenever you see them! There is usually one per day, and they are typically worth around 3-8 SB. So if you check online every day for those codes, you could get around another 150 SB per month. If you just completed a couple of offers and surveys on top of that, you could easily get a $5 Amazon Gift Card per month - MINIMUM. The average SB user, from what I've gleaned off their facebook page, typically earns a $5 Amazon Gift card every two weeks.

So... let's go down the checklist. Confirmed legit? Check. Easy to earn rewards with minimal effort? Check. Um.... that's all I need to be convinced! If you want to read more about the site and how to get the most out of it, click here: http://swagbucks.com/g/tips

Ok. Ready to join? Click here to sign up! See you there!

20+ Ways to Earn Money Online That You Haven't Tried Yet

As my semi-regularlish readers have probably noticed by now (that is, if they exist, and I hope they do) I spend a lot of time hyping up paid-to sites as a good way to bring in extra spending cash. But paid-to sites are, admittedly, a rather slow and time-consuming activity. Of course, they do pay off - as the $20 in amazon gift cards from Swagbucks.com I redeemed to day show, or the $34 check from InboxDollars I got in the mail this week will demonstrate (pics of that coming asap) - but surely, some of you must be thinking, surely there are other ways to earn money using the internet.

And there are! There are lots of ways to earn money using the internet, and some of them don't even involve taking your clothes off! (That's a joke! But seriously, taking your clothes off on the internet can be a great way to earn money, and I won't be covering that topic in this blog. If you're really curious, do email me.) The internet is a fabulous resource for us broke college students, since no matter how broke we get, we all still manage to have internet access. There is wi-fi on almost every college campus these days, not to mention libraries with free internet, and friends and neighbors who can't figure out how to protect their internet and thus are inadvertently providing free internet to the rest of their apartment building (let's not lie, we love those people). So with this wonderful, free resource at our fingertips, how can we put it to work to earn us money in some ways that DON'T involve filling out surveys and offers, trying to refer our address books for referral rewards, or clicking on hundreds of paid emails? Read on.

The Basics
Craigslist is the #1 most basic site to use for earning money online. Many of you are probably rolling your eyes right now because this is just so obvious, but there are probably at least a few things you have yet to take advantage of on Craiglist. We've all scored a cheap TV or sold our minifridge to a stranger on Craigslist, but here are a few new ideas to try:

1. Post your resume up in the "Resumes" section with a title describing your skillset. You never know who is looking for someone to help with basic computer coding, or photography, or theatre or whatever else you're majoring in or good at. Just in case they are posting ads instead of looking at resumes, though, continue on to the
2. The Gigs Section has a few specific skillset categories: computer, writing, event, etc - and it's worth looking at just about all of them. There are loads of people out there with money willing to pay you to set up their event, or write some copy for them, or fix their computer or model for a painting
3. If you don't find anything there, head to the Jobs and Services sections. While there are some postings that are offering jobs, it's a good idea to make a post advertising your own services as well. Here, you'll need to be a bit more pro-active in advertising the things you can help with. Try to find something specific that people might want that is not already posted about a zillion times: Moving/lifting boxes? Organizing a cluttered room? Setting up a website? Writing a press release? Putting up flyers around campus/town? Hauling something in your pickup truck? Painting? Photographing? Modelling? Marathon training? Whatever you can do, whatever skills you may have, post a detailed and professorial explanation of how these skills could benefit your potential employers, along with a pricing range (or "flexible/negotiable pricing" if you aren't sure how to charge yet) and some contact information. Try to sound as reliable as possible - Craigslist is a bit of a last resort for some, and you want to seem like a good investment. As for my personal experience with Craiglist jobs? I got an internship for this summer in the field that I'm majoring in (fashion design) through Craigslist, as well as a few other random jobs for other skillsets I have (makeup artist, social networking, etc).
4. While you're on Craigslist, there are some other lesser-used ways to earn money on the site. Be sure to check out the Rideshare section if you're considering any sort of travel. You can save big on gas money by, say, sharing a car to New York.
5. The Free section of the For Sale category is a personal favorite of mine for finding 100% free items (for those of you familiar with Freecycle, it's the same concept).
6. You can find fun free events and even classes in the Community category, as well as garage sales if you're looking to score some stuff on the cheap.

All in all, Craigslist is an excellent first stop online for earning and saving money. But let's dig a little deeper, shall we?

Similiar to the categories on Craiglist that offer skill-based opportunities, there are entire websites focused around certain skill sets. As an added bonus in addition to the cash you can earn on these sites, many of them are great for resume-padding! Imagine how amazing winning a logo competition for XYZ corporation out of 100+ entrants will look on your resume as a graphic designer.... read on!

1. Helium is one of the biggest paid writing sites. You can submit articles, which are paid for on a per-article basis dependent on the quality and popularity of the article - each article is "Rated" by the other members of the site and its readers. There are also writing contests, and requests for certain articles. It can be a bit confusing to get started earning on Helium, so visit the FAQ's For New Members page to get started.
2. AssociatedContent.com is a site for writers that is owned by Yahoo!. You can write content about whatever you want - reviews, op-eds, guides, etc. Original content qualifies for up-front payment, but you can even publish articles that have already been published elsewhere, in which case the amount you receive per article is based on page views. You can sign in with a Yahoo ID to get started!
3. To save space in this blog post, here is a link to an article linking 55 other paid-to-write websites: Click Here Now, moving on.
4. Demand Studios offers paid work for more than just writers: publishers, filmmakers, copy editors, and more can find opportunities here. Essentially, the site provides content to other sites - such as YouTube and eHow - and as a paid member of the site, you help to provide that content. You must apply to the site to be a part of it. As taken from the site itself: "Once you are approved, writing for Demand Studios is easy. First, claim titles you want to write by searching within categories or sites you are interested in. These titles are yours alone and you have seven days to submit the completed article. After review and fact checking by a copy editor, your article is published and payment is processed."
5. Seed.com is similiar to Demand Studios in that it is a content-producing site for other sites. It is part of the AOL corporation and provides content for a myriad of AOL-family websites. Seed offers opportunities for writers, photographers and filmmakers to produce content for money. Essentially, the site posts an "Assignment", which anyone can respond to with their own original content. Some or all of the responses are chosen, and those that are chosen receive money from the site. To read more about the site and how it works, read the How It Works page, or read this skeptical About.com article.
6. 99 Designs is a design site - graphic design, web design, even t-shirt design and more. Essentially, a company hosts a "design contest" describing what they are looking for with the price they are willing to pay. You, along with other designers, submit your best work in hopes of "winning" the contest. If the company picks your design, you get paid -anywhere from $5-$5000 dollars. Easy enough, right? To get started, register for the site and then click "Browse Projects." Once you find something good, click on it, read the brief - which contains specific information about the desired content, examples of content that the customer likes, and more - and then create and submit your design. Good luck!
7. crowdSPRING is a logo/graphic design and writing site which has worked with well-known companies such as Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, LG and more. Registering is quick and easy, and once you've activated your account you can build a portfolio, browse projects and submit your designs. You'll be paid for your work when a company chooses your design. Right now, most of the projects are offering $200-$5000! Visit the Help center for more information.
8. LogoTournament is a site for paid logo design. Its title is fairly self-explanatory: company posts looking for logos, designers submit logos in a tournament-style bidding process, one designer wins cash. Heck, even if you don't win, you might create some goodies to put in your design portfolio. Click "Signup" to begin.
9. UpHype this is a site where you can post about "Hyping" sites up (via social networking, flyering, voice-overs, blogging or whatever other promotional ideas you can think up) for $8, $16 or $24 a pop.
10. TaskArmy is a site where you advertise your skills for "tasks" that are paid upon completion, rather than involving a bidding proccess. Some of the skillsets paid for here are web development, web design, web marketing, data entry, translation and copywriting. Post up a short "ad" offering a specific service for a predefined price, and a company will select you and pay you for your service.

But I Don't Have Skills

Let's say you're not able to write or design graphics, or you can't think of anything to post on Craigslist. Fear not, my skill-lacking friend! There are still options for you.

1. Fiverr is the most amazing site for making a quick $5 for doing whatever the heck you want - literally. You post a quick "ad" describing what you're offering to do for $5 - it can be ANYTHING, be creative! - and someone with $5 to spend pays you for your random, inane or useless offer. Literally, the first ad I saw when I clicked on the site was "I will film my Bird playing around your Ad or Message for $5." If you exist and have the internet, you can make money on Fiverr. (Bonus: this site is excellent for entertainment when you're drunk and it seems like a good idea to spend $5 to watch someone do cartwheels while singing Happy Birthday to you. Just sayin'.) And as if one website for making $5 doing whatever you wanted wasn't enough, here are some more:
2. GigMe5 is pretty much the exact same as Fiverr.
3. JustAFive you guessed it - exactly the same as Fiverr.
4. Fourerr this one is for $4 instead of $5, because variety is good.
5. GigBucks Here you can offer "gigs" for $5-$25 and get paid out via PayPal. How's this for Inception - one of the ads I saw offers "The Best Ads to Post on Fiverr" for $5. Ooooh!
6. TwentyVille Like Fiverr et al, except for $20 instead of $5!
7. TenBux You can post offering your services for either $5 or $10.
8. Zeerk Post your services for anywhere from $2-$100.

Seriously, I Can't Think of Anything to Post on Those Sites

Ok, ok. So you want people to pay you to do something completely unskilled, that you barely even have to think about, right? Well, ask, and ye shall receive, or whatever. Anyway, there are sites for that too!

1. Amazon's Mechanical Turk or Mturk for short is an Amazon site that provides money for unskilled internet labor - the kind that can't be automated, but is completely and mind-numbingly easy. Sign up, set up your payment information, and go find a low-skill task such as identifying whether or not photos are blurry, or verifying an address of a company on its website, or putting stuff into categories. Each task will take a certain amount of time and will pay out anywhere from $.05-$1.00. The good news is that there is no minimum payout - Amazon will pay you whenever you're credited for completing a task. The bad news is that this is not going to get you a lot of money quickly. Its great for when you're super bored and feel like doing something mindless on the internet for a small amount of money.
2. YouData is an "Attention Payment Site" - literally, they pay you money for your attention, aka watching or looking at some advertisements. Sign up, fill out your "Me File" where you create a profile that advertisers will use to match up appropriate ads that might appeal to you, and then sit back and wait for someone to pay you to watch their advertisement. Again, this won't get you rich quickly, but there is no minimum payout (I set mine up to pay out via PayPal) and it is a completely mindless way to earn a small amount of cash quickly.
3. Swagbucks and InboxDollars also have "Cash Tasks" and "Cash TV" which are essentially the same as Mturk and YouData in that you earn money for completing tasks or watching advertisements. I know I said I was branching out from paid-to sites in this post, but I'm just putting that out there.

So there you have it. 20+ sites you can use to earn money online, no matter what your abilities. As long as you have the internet, you can earn some extra cash, and you don't even have to resort to paid-to sites. Now, what are you waiting for? Get to earning!

Do you have a site like these that isn't listed in this post? Or do you have experiences or tips for using one of the sites in this post? Comment or visit my facebook page and let me know!

5 Ways to Make Extra Money at College

So, The Broke Student Guide typically covers ways to save and get things for less money. But what about when you need to make some money - fast? Here are a few tips to help you out! Try one, two or all of these next time you need to make a quick couple of bucks.

1. Donate plasma. Donating plasma is just like donating blood, except you get paid for it! Most cities have a plasma donation center. Donating plasma is fairly easy - as long as you don't mind needles - and you can do it up to twice a week after you pass a screening and fitness exam which takes about 2 hours (additional visits take much less time). You can make roughly $200 or so extra a month donating plasma. Plus, as a bonus, you'll be helping out patients who need plasma for medical reasons! For more information and to find a donation center near you visit this site: http://www.bloodbanker.com/plasma/ or try googling "Plasma Donation [Your City]"

2. Paid studies and experiments at your university. whether Most universities that do academic research host paid studies that you can participate in for cash. For example, the psychology department at Indiana University offers up to $10/hr for certain studies, and they are always looking for demographics like people who smoke pot, drink often, don't drink at all, have good hearing, etc. You'll be helping with ground-breaking academic research AND earning cash. To find these studies, try looking around your school's Psych department building or Googling "Paid Studies at [My University]." The link to Indiana University's paid studies can be found here: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/busey/PaidSubjects/

3. If you have a marketable skill, earn money by offering your services. Marketable skills can be anything from tutoring in a subject you're great at, to cleaning houses, walking dogs, babysitting, making websites, creating artwork, or mending/hemming clothing. If you can't think of any skills, how about helping people move for $8/hr? I guarantee you'll find some takers at the end of the semester. Or how about putting up flyers around campus for clubs and organizations? You can advertise your skills online at put up an ad on your local Craigstlist or school classifieds - and while you're looking around in the classifieds, try to respond to any ads for "odd jobs" that you could do. You can also put an ad up at http://www.fiverr.com/, a website for exactly the purpose of getting people to pay you $5 for whatever random skills you may possess.

4. Sell any extra stuff you might have lying around. Some things you might sell include clothing, textbooks, CDs, video games, DVDs, action figures, key chains, jewelry, unused makeup, purses, or shoes. There are loads of ways to sell your extra stuff. You can have an old fashioned yard sale, or sell your items to stores that buy used items such as Plato's Closet or your local comic book or video store. If you have access to a camera and can take pictures of your stuff, you can sell it online at Ebay, or Craigslist . If you're absolutely desperate and have low standards, people will also buy your used underwear. (I've never tried this, but apparently you can get $30 for a pair of your panties on Craigslist. Hey, if the demand is there, why question it?)

5. Paid-To Sites Online. I talk about these a LOT, and even though they are not the fastest way to earn extra cash - typically it takes about a month or so to get the first check from each site - there are so many options available to anyone with an internet connection! Here is a list of the ones I use (they are all legit).
- Treasure Trooper. Get paid to do offers, take surveys, and click links, as well as get cash back for shopping online.
- SendEarnings. Get paid to click on links in emails, take surveys, complete offers, use grocery coupons, get cash back for shopping online, and more.
- InboxDollars. Get paid to click on paid emails, watch videos, complete offers, take surveys, complete tasks, and more.
- SwagBucks. Earn cash and gift cards by taking polls, watching videos, searching the internet, playing games, using grocery coupons, taking surveys, and completing offers.
- MyPoints (comment to request an invite to this one). Earn points by clicking on paid email links, playing games, taking surveys, and shipping online.
- CashCrate. Get paid to complete offers, take surveys and shop online.
- Mturk. This is a website owned by Amazon where you get paid to complete simple low-skill tasks such as identifying whether or not photos are blurry, or verifying an address of a company on its website.
-YouData is a site where advertisers target paid ads to you. Fill out a profile answering questions about yourself (try to be as open to everything as possible - the more things you're into, the more ads you'll get!) and then you'll be given some videos or text ads tailored to you. You'll get cash just for looking at the ads. They pay out via paypal with no minumum!

And there you have it. 5 easy ways to earn extra money in between sleeping and studying. For a few more suggestions, check out this link: http://www.walletpop.com/2011/03/03/college-students-guide-to-making-money-online/
Did I miss something? Comment with your experiences earning extra money at college, and any suggestions I can add!

Paid-To Spotlight: MyPoints

I recieved this $50 gift card to Macy's a couple of weeks ago in the mail from Mypoints. It's already been spent on Christmas presents! This was actually the second $50 gift card I've recieved this year, the first also to Macy's, and also from Mypoints.

Mypoints is one of my favorite paid-to sites because they pay out in gift cards, and have cards available to a huge amount of retailers in amounts starting from $10. It seriously takes hardly any time to get to that first $10 level, but I always hold out for $50 cards! To redeem a gift card, you need a certain amount of "points,"
which you can earn in a variety of ways. I get the majority of my Mypoints points through paid-to-click emails. They send me emails with deals from their sponsor sites, I click to visit the site, I get 5-10 points. Easy! They also have surveys, and the best thing about their survey is that you get 10 points even if you don't qualify to take the survey. Not qualifying takes much less time than qualifying, so typically I'll click around just to get my 10 points!

Another great way I get points is through shopping online. I already shop online, and Mypoints has some of the best sites, in my opinions, as sponsors. For example, you get 2 points per dollar you spend on Ebay. Ebay, people!! Who DOESN'T shop on Ebay? Why not get points back for it??? Mypoints gives you points for shopping everywhere from Barnes & Nobles to Urban Outfitters. They have SUCH a huge selection of sites to earn points from that I typically do most of my holiday shopping just by clicking through their list! Some of the retailers even give you 10 points PER DOLLAR. Imagine how many points you could rack up on a hoilday shopping spree!

They also have games for points, a "daily spin-n-win" that I almost never win, a
search bar, and this one magical little box that occasionally pops up when surfing on the site that has yes/no questions for 5 points each. When I find that box, I quickly gather about 100 points in less than 5 minutes, but I have never seen any way to find it - it just appears randomly!! Sometimes it has tons of offer and sometimes only a few - but after you fill them out, if you click refresh, THE BOX DISSAPEARS. It's so random. I love that little box.

Mypoints has gift cards for every category of retailer imagineable - everything from resteraunts, gas stations, clothing stores, to hotels and travel packages. You can even donate your points to charitable organizations like the Red Cross! And it really doesn't take much time to rack up the 7,000 or so points needed for a $50 card (only 1500 point for a $10 card - it's been 2 weeks since I redeemed for my $50 card, and I'm already at the $10 level again. SO fast!)

So, how do you sign up, you ask? Where's the link? Unfortunately, this is one of those sites that's so great you have to know someone to get in. Luckily for you, you know me!! All you have to do is comment with your email address - or email me personally at corosaun (at) indiana (dot) edu -- and I'll send you an invite. Hurry! They have amazing deals for Christmas!!

Paid-To Spotlight: Treasure Trooper

Treasure Trooper

For my first Paid-To site review, I'm going to start with Treaure Trooper. Treasure trooper is my favorite paid-to website- mostly because they've made me the most money! See those pictures? I've made almost $300. (And if you don't believe me, there's a 100+ page thread on the TT forums filled with "proof" pictures from members!) TT pays its members for surveys, "offers" such as signing up for newsletters or clicking through a series of advertisement links, cash shopping, and cash clicks. They also have an awesome referal program, so if you can get several of your other broke college student friends to sign up, you'll be making bank in no time. Click here to read Treasure Trooper's "How It Works" page.

Here's the rundown on TT.
When Do They Pay? They pay out the 15th of every month as long as your earnings are over $20.

How Do I Get My Money? You can choose to have your money directly deposited into a paypal account, or you can request a check by mail. Both options have worked for me.

Does it cost anything? Not at all. There is a 100% free offers page, and everything else but the cash shopping is completely free on the site.

Favorite Feature: I love the "Cash Clicks" section. You get paid .05 for each click, so depending on how many are available, you can make a little bit each day EASILY. The catch is that the Cash Clicks don't count towards your minimum $20 to pay out, but they DO get paid out after you hit $20 in offers, surveys or referral money. Referral money is my second favorite feature - sign up everyone you know, and check out TT's Tips on Getting Referrals . You'll earn 10% of their money, and another 5% of THEIR referral's money.

Tips: I have lots of tips for making the most out of TT. Go ahead and join TT so you can explore the site, the tips will make a lot more sense that way.

1. The Quarter Bin is filled with quick-approving offers worth .25. These offers never fail to approve for me, and they're pretty quick! Just enter your accurate information, keep pressing "no" and "skip" for something like 8 pages, then at the very last page, click on at least 2 offers. Just click on them - don't fill anything out, you don't need to in order to get credit. Within an hour you should be approved! They add up fast!

2. On the "Offers" page, search for keyword "email address." The offers typically say something like "Complete the entire survey using a UNIQUE & VALID email address and select 'Yes' to at least two offers in the registration path." First, open up a new email account to handle all the spam. Then, after entering your email address, keep clicking "skip" or "no, thanks" to move through the path without registering for anything. You have to choose "yes" to a couple, but you DO NOT have to actually REGISTER for them. Keep clicking "skip" or "no thanks" until you get to the very end (it should say "Thanks" or "Gold/Silver Offers" but you will not be able to continue any further) and then go and claim your offer. (note: after you do a few of these, clear your cookies to continue being approved, because sometimes they are all from the same site. Also, it's a good idea to create several different emails, because you may find that using the same email address for too many offers results in more non-approvals!)

3. The fun thing about treasure trooper isn't the free money - well, ok, that's fun too - but they have a whole bunch of bonus stuff too! For example, after each survey, you get to play a little game to win pearls, which can then later be cashed in for prizes. You can cash in pearls, coins and other goodies that you earn by doing offers in "Mabutu's hut." Click here to read a great guide to the items available in Mabutu's Hut! One item in Mabutu's hut reads "Get all 4 pieces of the map in order to go on the $100 treasure hunt!" You WANT to do this treasure hunt. Why? Because you get $100 for completing it - no ifs, ands or buts. It's not a drawing or a sweepstakes - EVERYONE who completes the treasure hunt, gets $100. There is a thread about it in the forum if you want to check it out. The catch is you'll need to complete 40 offers to purchase all 4 pieces of the treasure map (which I haven't actually completed yet, personally, so I don't know what else you'll need to do!) but heck, isn't it worth it for all that extra money?? $100 just for doing some fun little game and more offers, which get you money anyway. Win!!

4. You may notice that quite a few of the offers available reward with "Dragon Scales" instead of cash - or even "Arrowheads." This is a fun little feature involving raising, training and fighting dragons which you can then sell for money. If you want to get involved with the feature (and it's addictive!) select the "Dragons!" button on the right hand side of the home page and start playing around! You can exchange the "Arrowheads" using the "Currency Converter" in Mabutu's Hut to dragon scales, coins, etc. There's tons of fun extras to experiment with!

5. Qualifying for the surveys can be tricky. You don't necessarily want to bend the truth, but you also don't want to be locked out of the survey because you have no money to spend on their product. Be careful with what you put in the first few information-gathering pages of the survey. Also, every survey will ask you if anyone in your family works for a list of given industries. ALWAYS SAY NO. Answering yes to any of those options will AUTOMATICALLY disqualify you for the survey.

6. Treasure Trooper is on Facebook, and you want to be their friend. Why? First off, they post random status updates like "first 20 people to comment their favorite movie get $1." And yes - you really will get credited just for commenting. Also, the TT Facebook Application gives you a free slot machine spin every day. That's an extra easy, free chance to win a bunch of prizes including more money in your account. Make sure you add TT on facebook after you join up.

7. TT makes it easy for you to know which Offers are going to approve for you - it's posted right on the Offers page, in the left-hand sidebar. Some offers take a while to approve, or never approve at all, so try those first. Also, always make sure you are looking at "100% Free offers" unless you are willing to take a bit of a risk (prepaid Visa gift cards work well for non-free offers, in case you forget to cancel an automatic fee or the like.)

9. Have a question? Want ideas for getting referals? It's all available at the TT Forums, where members can post and share ideas with each other. They also have a lot of contests, so you will definitely want to sign up for the forums!

10. Make some money back this Holiday season by going through the TT "Cash Shopping" page and using their sponsor sites to buy gifts! You're going to go shopping anyway, why not earn some of it back?

Now that you know how to get the most cash out of the site, it's time to Join Treasure Trooper/!

Paid-To Sites Overview

One of the main ways I make money is doing paid-to sites online. Websites pay out lots of money to people for doing menial things like clicking links, reading emails, taking surveys, shopping online or signing up for offers and newsletters. This sounds strange and a lot of people are really skeptical of these sorts of sites, so let me give a brief overview about paid-to sites that might answer some of your questions.

First, WHY would a website pay me money just to click on something or take a survey? What's in it for them? Where do they get the money? The answer is that they get the money from their sponsor companies, who agree to pay out for activities completed by the members of the paid-to site. For example, if a company is looking to get more traffic to its site to increase visibility or become more desirable for advertisers, they might agree to pay $.05 per click to their site, with part of that money going to the paid-to site and part of it going to the member that clicked. This is the same way that advertisers like Google Adwords or Facebook Ads work - advertisers often pay on a per-click basis.

What about surveys? Companies pay huge money for data that they can study in order to find the best ways to advertise their product to a targeted, receptive audience. It's a huge waste of money if, say, a lipstick company is sending ads and fliers to a group of people who have no interest in lipstick whatsoever and are unreceptive consumers. It's much more effective for them to spend their money researching consumers who already purchase lipstick regularly, and then attempt to get them to switch brands or try out a new product. That demographic is MUCH more receptive since they are already lipstick users. But in order to find that demographic, companies must have a huge database of people that they can search through. The more information they have in their database, the more accurately they can target their customer: for example a Los Angeles grocery chain might want to advertise a sale on a new trendy yogurt to, say, 18-35 year old women who live in California, have no children, make over $25,000 a year, and have purchased yogurt in the past month. With a comprehensive database, this is possible.


So how does a company go about getting all this data? There are a lot of ways to go about collecting it, and one way is through these paid-to sites that do surveys. Surveys provide not only demographic information, but also can provide detailed information on purchasing habits, TV watching preferences, opinions on a new movie coming out, most popular brands, etc. Surveys can ask people ANYTHING that they want about ANY product and tell the company detailed, high-value information that they can use to target products and advertising to. Because surveys are more useful to companies than random clicks that might not result in any substantial income, surveys are higher-paid: anywhere from .75$ to a couple of dollars for 20 minutes of time spent giving your thoughts and ideas!

Now that you understand why it's very important for companies to spend real money in order to get the data that it uses to target its advertising efforts, as well as increase exposure and traffic, it's time to get them to send those dollars your way. There are several sites with a variety of paid-to activities from paid email clicks to surveys to cash shopping and games. I'm going to be reviewing and recommending my favorites each week. Stay tuned!