The Holidays have now passed, and all that’s left is the shouting. The shouting, that is, of credit card statements that are now appearing thanks to those last minute gift ideas! If you’re like me, you wouldn’t mind making a little extra money any time of the year, but especially right now. It’s suddenly winter, so more time is spent indoors than out, and much of this free time is spent in front of a computer, smart phone, tablet, or television. Why not earn a little cash while sitting around doing normal activities? My exact thoughts were, “Sign me up!” Here’s a little disclaimer: don’t expect to be able to retire because of these opportunities. You won’t get rich. These will take effort. But in these times we live in, who doesn’t want to have a little extra spending money in their pocket?
Let’s start with the easiest thing to do first. By show of hands (don’t get creeped out, but I can see you through your screen), how many of you search for things on the Internet? I thought so. Whether we’re looking up the number for a local pizza joint, or shopping for the best price on a case of motor oil, the easiest way to find anything is by searching online. Next question: Of those who search the Internet, how many of you use Google as your search engine of choice? A clear majority, just as I suspected. Last question for the group: How many of you have ever used the search engine Bing? If you haven’t, it’s time to try “Binging” something. Why, you ask? Because Bing will actually pay you to use it! To sign up for Bing Rewards (it’s free to sign up), visit http://www.bing.com/explore/rewards/. If you have a Microsoft account, sign in with that. If you don’t, you can create one using your existing e-mail address. There’s no need to create a seperate @outlook.com e-mail address if you’re not already using one. After signing up, change your default search engine to Bing, and start searching! Bing gives you credits for searching the Internet while using their service. You can get credits for making thirty searches per day on a computer, and twenty per day on a mobile device. You can also earn credits by completing trivia questions correctly, trying new features that Bing has released, or referring friends to Bing Rewards. These credits can be redeemed for chances at giveaways of Microsoft products (Microsoft owns Bing), or for gift cards from retailers such as Amazon, Starbucks, Fandango, Macys, Burger King, GameStop, Sephora, and Toys “R” Us. If you’re feeling philanthropic, credits can go toward donations to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Teach For America, or toward free Microsoft Surface tablets for your local school. It takes a while to accumulate the credits needed to redeem for gift cards, but hey, what’s Google giving you to search with them?
Did you know that you can get paid to keep apps on your phone? It’s true! You can earn cold, hard cash for participating in a study called Media Insiders. From their website: “Media Insiders is an ongoing research initiative by Symphony Advanced Media to help media companies better understand how consumers use, view and share TV, social, digital and mobile media. Active Media Insider Members provide important insights that help our clients make informed decisions about how they deliver content, entertainment, and information to you.” Here’s how they collect the data they’re seeking: “Active Members run Media Insiders application(s) from their personal devices to capture data utilized for research. Data is currently compiled from Media Insiders Mobile (MIMobile) app measures activities conducted on a device, such as sharing, viewing, clicking, chatting, downloading and more. The app also listens for TV shows, and using technology of Gracenote, Inc., identifies which TV shows was captured. Media Insiders PC-Connect app captures web pages visited, videos watched, and ads viewed. This information is compiled to help media companies improve their programming and advertising. Facebook and/or Twitter tokens are used to understand how consumers use social media as part of their everyday lives. Surveys: Media Insiders Members are periodically asked to share their opinions via emailed or mobile ready short surveys.” You earn points by keeping their app running consecutively on your phone and/or computer. These points can be redeemed for actual cash or gift cards from stores like Amazon, Starbucks, Nine West, Bass Pro Shops, and Hyatt. If you’re interested, you can visit their website to learn more: https://www.mediainsiders.com/. Another similar option (if you have an iPhone) is Nielsen’s Mobile Panel. You can earn up to $50 per year with them for simply keeping their app running on your phone. Click here if you’d like more information. In an age where our every move is already being recorded, I can understand why participating in a program such as this won’t be for everyone. It’s truly an easy way to make money by not putting forth any extra effort, however.
Another way that people claim to make money online is by completing surveys. I went to the trouble so you don’t have to: don’t get sucked in! It’s true that you can make A LITTLE money through surveys. The money you can make isn’t worth all the hassle (for me anyway). If you’d like to see for yourself, two of the better ones I’ve found are Swagbucks http://www.swagbucks.com/ and InboxDollars: http://www.inboxdollars.com/. Both offer paid surveys, paid e-mails (you earn money for reading e-mails), and paid videos (you earn money by watching videos). Just a word of caution before you jump in with both feet: it’s possible that you’ll complete a thirty minute long survey, only to find out that you didn’t qualify for the survey because of the truthful answers you gave. For that effort you get paid all of nothing.
There are numerous other ways you can make money on the Internet. The methods described above are among the easier ways to make some extra cash to pay your weekly coffee bill or win some cool prizes along the way without making major changes to your daily routine. You won’t get rich doing them, but why not take maximize your free time by earning a few extra bucks along the way?