Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Talking About Swagbucks

Good morning, people! Who’s ready to start doing stupid stuff online for money? Yep, I keep talking about doing some more in-depth  writing about what I’ve been doing to earn gift cards, and today I’m going to start with the one that’s really been paying off for me, Swagbucks.
Swagbucks lets you “earn reward points and redeem them for free stuff” in the form of gift cards, t-shirts, music downloads, sweepstakes entries, and the like. Their “Swag Store” has a lot of items you can trade in for, much of which is very tempting. However, we have a goal and a purpose, and that is a little bit of “stupid money,” the kind of money you don’t feel bad about spending on something stupid.
First things first, if you would like to sign up, please feel free to use my referral link: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/tokarrai so I can earn a little extra. I’ll explain how that works in a little bit. You can also use my widget on the right hand side of this blog, which is also a good place to look for codes for extra points and searching.
First things first, you have to sign up. Now, with any of these sites, I don’t use the e-mail address that I normally use for everyday items, since I’m cautious of spam. Now, you do want to use an e-mail address that you CHECK, but one you don’t mind spam going to. You do want to make sure you give them good info for the address, for items that you might want shipped, and for phone number, I have a Google Voice number that’s not really attached to anything that I use.
Once you’re on, here’s where the fun begins. The first thing you want to do is hit the “Earn” at the top of the page, and go down to “Trusted Surveys.” Inside there, you have a bunch of personal info you can fill out about your hobbies, your taste in games and movies, your family life, and your work that tailors the surveys to you and earns you points. I don’t get surveys often, but they are a good source of “income” when you have the time to fill them out. Doing this gets you started on Survey Swagbucks.
Now, as you poke around, you’ll notice many ways to earn Swagbucks. I focus on  just a few, and I’m able to easily meet my goals every month. I don’t use any special “cheat” programs, like reloaders for the videos or things like that. I just go about it as honestly as I can, because I don’t want to be greedy and ruin a good thing, because they WILL kick you out if they feel you’re working the system. So here is my daily routine with Swagbucks.
Starting the day, I pull up the Swagbucks Mobile TV app on my Android Phone. I do believe this is also available on iPhone. This app let’s you play videos, and will earn you 2 Swagbucks every 5 videos, for a maximum of 50 Swagbucks a day. I prefer to watch the comedy ones, as they go by quicker than any of the trailers. I’ll just start it up at work, on my charge cable, and let it run for about an hour and a half or so until I hit the limit. I will occasionally have to restart it, but it’s just a minor annoyance.
I will also use the “Search” feature on the site throughout the day, which will randomly net you Swagbucks. I will average out 7-9, but I have received up to 35 on occasion. I don’t do it often, because it will warn you and suspect you for using a bot if you use it constantly, but it’s a nice supplement. Plus, when you use that feature, any Bucks you earn also get added to the account of the person who referred you, so that’s a nice little addition. I probably get an additional 30-40 bucks from my referrals every day, and I know that the person who I signed up under has earned over 500 from me since the end of January. So please, remember this link when signing up: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/tokarrai
When I have spare time, I will also look at Trusted Surveys and see if I can qualify for one or two.
Finally, there are little nickel and dime items, like the “Daily Poll” which is a daily question that nets you a Swagbuck, or the “NOSO”, where you look through about 5 special offers for a couple Swagbucks. I just click “No, thanks” on all of them, answer the captcha, and net a couple bucks. You also need to keep an eye on your Swagbucks Inbox, because at least daily they give you a 3 Buck task where you watch a video, click on the ad at the beginning, then tell them if there WAS an ad, and if that ad’s landing page matched the ad.
Now, things I DON’T do are Special Offers. If it asks for personal info, if it asks for a credit card number, or if it asks for me to download something, I ignore it. Remember: The goal here isn’t to earn a ton of points, it’s just to earn a little extra scratch.
Now, you have hopefully started earning some Swagbucks. Time to cash in! Personally, I focus on Amazon Gift Cards, since you can put the code into Amazon, and they will just add up in there, and never expire. One of the best deals is the $5 Gift Card for 450 points. Sure, there are larger amount cards in there for Amazon, but they are actually more expensive when you break them down, so I haven’t picked up any of those. Now, the downside with this is you are limited to only 5 of any type of gift card a month, so you’re limited to $25 a month. Plus, if you max out on a month and save up, at the beginning of the next month, you’re limited to 2 a day. These cards, after verified, can take up to 14 days to show up in your account, so don’t think you can use them immediately. However, you will get e-mail confirmation that you received the card, so you can immediately go into your Gift Cards, copy the Amazon code, and paste it into your Amazon account.
I’ve also used the Barnes & Noble gift card option, and it works the same. I have been tempted once or twice by the “Swagstakes” sweepstakes options, but those are kind of a waste of your hard earn bucks. However, if you like the lottery, it’s your bucks, do what you want.
Tomorrow, I’m going to tell you about another site I use, this one takes a little extra time, but it’s also directly through Amazon. Until then, feel free to take a look, sign up, and comment if you have any questions.
Happy Swagging!
Tony

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