Make Money Taking Surveys with Focus Line

I found another awesome survey site called Focus Line Surveys. It's very similar to Surveyhead, which explains why its awesome. If you haven't heard of Surveyhead, read my post about it here. I think the two sites might be run by the same company. If not, then Focus Line must have stolen Surveyhead's layout.

Anyways, like Surveyhead, this site offers you a free $5 for signing up. You also get $.50 each for the three profile surveys. This puts you $6.50 closer to the payout, which is (like Surveyhead) $25. I'm assuming the surveys come just as often, possibly even the same surveys. You can earn the cash out with both pretty quickly.

Payment is made via Paypal a few days after you request payment. As of now, there is no referral program, but it's still a good paying survey site. Surveyhead and Focus Line are both great.

Get Paid to Test Software with uTest

Would you consider yourself to be pretty tech and internet savvy? Ever been called a computer geek or nerd? If you can say yes to either one of those questions (or both) then you might be interested in a company called uTest. The concept is simple; you test, and they pay.

uTest pays you for finding bugs and errors in software and computer programs. Most of the software is web-based so it will not require you to download anything to your computer. You get paid for each bug you submit. You can even make money with very minimal computer knowledge.

uTest pays via Paypal at the end of each month. The pay rates are pretty generous too (I made $17 for submitting 4 bugs :]). If it sounds like something you might be interested in, check it out here.

Making Money Online: Is It Really Possible?

Many people have doubts that you can actually make a decent amount of money online. But with the right sites and a bit of motivation, it's quite achievable. I think the first step is finding out what works for you. It might take a week or two, but it'll be well worth it. If you're still having trouble believing you can make money online, consider this:

In less than a month I recieved a little over $60 in my Paypal account (which was then transferd to my bank account). I also recieved about $10 in checks, and I have another $15 in checks on the way in the mail. There's also another $30 or so that I should be recieving probably before then end of the month. So if you do the math, that's about $115 in a month which is especially nice as the holiday season approaches.

Still having doubts? If I can do it, I'm sure anyone can. I'm not saying it will be easy at first; it will take a bit of work, of course. But an extra $100+ is definately worth a few hours of easy work, at least in my opinion.

If you're having trouble getting started, feel free to leave me a comment or email me.

How To Get More Referrals

If you’ve signed up for some of the sites that offer referral programs, you’re probably wondering how the heck you’re supposed to get referrals for them. Referrals are a great way to increase you earnings without doing much work. You don’t even have to be very active to make money, if you have enough active referrals. But obviously, you can’t make money from referrals if you can’t get any. I’ve come up with a list of ways to get more referrals and improve your referral earnings.

Invite family and friends. This is probably the most obvious one. Inviting family might be rather iffy, because most sites won’t allow more than one user with the same physical or IP address. Friends are easier though. If you tell your friends about a cool way you found to make money, most of them will probably want to check it out. This is especially true if you can show them the results (money or prizes) that you’ve gotten from it.

Link together your profiles. For any site that gives you a personal profile that other users can see, you might want to add your referral links and banners. This is especially effective for sites where the people who view your profile will have similar interests (Mylot, Associated Content, etc.)

Join referral exchange sites. These are sites that allow you to trade referrals with other people. You sign up to a site for someone, and in exchange they sign up for one of your sites. This is still somewhat iffy. I’m checking out a few referral exchange sites, and if I find a good one I’ll let you guys know.
SearchBigDaddy: This isn’t exactly a referral exchange site, but it seems interesting. This is another site that “rewards” you for searching, but not with money or prizes. Your reward is being able to list your links in their search results. When you sign up, you also receive a free top keyword position. With this, you can have the site of your choice appear at the top of their listing for whatever keyword you choose. The earlier you join, the more likely you are to get a good, highly searched keyword. The whole system is somewhat confusing, but it can’t hurt to have a few more links out there, right? Who knows, this might be the next Google ;]

Post on message board and forums. You can add your referral links and banners to your signature on various message boards. This is a great way to get referrals, since many people will see your posts if you’re an active forum member.

Getting referrals can definitely be a challenge, but it is worth it. Referrals are a near invaluable resource. Knowing this, you should treat them as such. Many sites will automatically add referrals to your friends list. Leave them a friendly message, and thank them for using your link. Let them know that you’re willing to help them get started. This will also increase the chances that they remain an active member. You may also want to ask them how they found your link; this will help you to find which methods are most effective for getting referrals.
On this note, I’d like to thank everyone who has signed up using one of my referral links. I plan to offer some sort of contest/raffle soon for those who have signed up with my referral link for more than one site. Stay tuned for more information.

Get Paid To Socialize with MyLot

Do you enjoy talking to people with similar interests and hobbies? Do you like meeting new, fun people online? More importantly, would you like to get paid for it? If the answer is yes, you might want to consider signing up for MyLot. With MyLot, you’ll earn cash for simply talking to other people on message board threads.
You’ll also get paid for starting your own threads AND for referring your friends to join you. More friends will translate to more posting, which translates to more money. There’s no way you can go wrong. When signing up for MyLot, you are asked to add some of your interests to your profile. The more you add, the better.
And don’t worry, there’s no need to have intelligent, in-depth conversations to make money. You get paid per post, no matter the length, as long as you don’t spam of course. Most people on MyLot are there for fun, friends and a few extra bucks.
Realistically, you won’t become a millionaire from MyLot. You’ll probably earn more money from the other programs you’re (hopefully) participating in. But MyLot is definitely a fun and easy way to earn another $10 - $20 each month. That’s $120 - $240 each year, which is definitely a nice bonus.
If you want to check it out, sign up here.

Making a Budget and Sticking To It

As much as some may hate to admit it, saving money is a HUGE part of making money. Like they say, a penny saved is a penny earned. It may be cliche, but it's true as well. However, if you're like some people I know, you want to spend money the second you earn it. The thrill of having the money can only be beat by the thrill of spending it. Not that this is bad necessarily... we all know buying new things can be very fun.


For a while, I was the exact opposite. I hated spending money, unless I really needed to. I wasn't really making much, so I figured I should save what little I did have. But then I ended up with money sitting around doing nothing, while I wasn't being able to buy the things I wanted. I began to wonder, "What's the use of having money if I'm not going to spend it?" Over time I figured out that the best way to manage money was somewhere in the middle: a combination of spending and saving along with some simple cost cutting methods.


If you've been following the organization tips outlined here, or doing somthing similar, you're already on the right track. You cannot possibly manage your money if you're not keeping track of it. There are a few important values to consider when deciding how and when to spend your money:


How much you have. Of course, you don't want to go out spending more than you have to begin with. Knowing this, it is very important to know how much you have at all time. While knowing about how much you have can be nice, knowing exactly how much is much better. You could be greatly over or underestimating your balance. For example, I went through all of last week believing I had ten dollars less than I actually did. Of course it was a pleasant surprise to find 10 extra dollars, I was also rather frustrated to know that there was 10 dollars that could had been used for something besides just sitting around unused.


How much you want to spend. Now I don't mean you should go out and spend all your money once you hit this number. However, it is convenient to know how much you need for the things you want. Not all of these have to be set for the same length of time. In fact, I believe it is better if they aren't. Look at it this way. You can spend months saving up for everything you want, go out and buy them (hopefully not spending all of your money), and then have nothing left to save up for afterwards. Alternately, you can have a variety of short and long term goals. You will save up for one thing, buy it and then start saving for the next. Each item you buy is a measure of your success and motivation to keep going. Also, if you decide you want something else then you can just add it to your list instead of adding it to a neverending grand total of money you need. Personally, I would prefer one thing from my list every couple of weeks than everything in a few months. But of course, it's up to you.

Either way, you should never ever EVER spend all of your money at once. I know it may be tempting once you have just enough to go out and buy what you want. A part of budgeting is controlling this impulse. Try to wait until you have a bit more than you need before you spend money.

Besides the things you want to buy, you should also remember to count any other costs. If you buy your own lunches at school, don't forget to count the cost of lunch each week. Also make note of any monthly subscription fees (iTunes, Netflix etc.).


How much you want to (ahem, have to) save. As I said earlier, you will absolutely have to save some of your money. There are two main ways to do this; by percentage or by dollar amount. That is to say, you can either save x% of the money you make or make sure that you always have x dollars set aside. If you're going with the second option, you may want to increase the amount as your earnings increase. Now I know some of you are thinking, "What's the use of having money if you aren't going to spend it?", like I thought earlier. Well, it's never a good idea to be completely without money. If nothing else, think of this as your emergency money. You never need to worry about needing money for last minute necessary purchases. Saving is also a good habit to get into, since you'll be doing it for the rest of your life ;)


How much you expect to earn. This will be either the simplest or most complicated number you have to keep track of, depending on your spending and earning habits. It will probably also be the one you update most often. The calculations are simple enough, at least. Just add up all the earnings you have "pending" or "processing". This includes checks that are on the way, Paypal and bank deposits that are pending as well as other expected earnings. For example, if you submitted 5 articles to Associated Content last week, you could add another $15+ to your expected earnings.



The basis of budgeting is balancing these numbers. Ideally, your projected earnings will be enough to cover your expenses. This is definitely not always the case, especially not when you're just starting off. Knowing this, you want to make sure you're always getting the most for your money. I'll provide some tips for this later. For now, be sure to follow these tips to better manage your money.

Another Way to Earn Money by Searching

If you liked the program I wrote about the other day, called Scour then I’m sure you’ll like this as well. If you didn’t see that post, Scour is a program that rewards you for searching the web through their website. For more detail read the post here. Anyways, I’ve found a similar program called SwagBucks. By searching with SwagBucks, you receive well…Swag Bucks. You can then use these to buy a variety of items ranging from gift cards to video games and consoles to guitars and drum sets. The search results are powered by Google and Ask.com.
There is no voting and commenting on results like with Scour, but Swag Bucks are offered in higher denominations than Scour points are. Rather than a single point per action, you can receive up to 100 Swag Bucks in a single search. Each Swag Buck you win also enters you into a contest to win a new Nintendo Wii. They also have a referral program that allows you to receive matching Swag Bucks (you receive a Swag Buck for each one they earn) up to 100 Swag Bucks per referral. You can also earn Swag Bucks by turning in old cell phones and mp3 players or by buying from SwagBucks’ partners.
SwagBucks is a pretty cool site, and a nice supplement (or alternative) to Scour. Try them both, and see which one you like!

P.S. SwagBucks is partnered with many other sites (such as WWE, Avenged Sevenfold, etc.). Searching these sites with your SwagBucks account will also earn you Swag Bucks.

Win AWESOME Prizes with PayByOffers

The site I mentioned at the end of my post yesterday has got to be one of the coolest sites ever. It’s called PayByOffers, and it’s another site where you earn spendable points. What makes this site special is the amount and variety of prizes they offer. There’s Paypal cash, of course. There are also video games, movies, website hosting, online game cards, and all sorts of gift cards. As if that isn’t enough, PayByOffers will also buy almost ANYTHING for you, from eBay or another site. They do have some offers that require a credit card/ purchase, but there’s also plenty of 100% free offers that can rack up points. Fast.
You can also get paid for every person that you refer to the site, and every person that they refer, AND every person that they refer. It’s a three tier referral program. They’re even holding a referral contest now in which the top prize is $500. Even if you don’t think you’ll achieve that many referrals, this site is worth joining just for the awesome prizes. You can earn points by taking surveys and signing up for newsletters and other free offers. For the few minutes you spend doing that, you get almost anything you want FREE. The site is relatively new, but has already given out tons of money in cash and prizes. If you want your share then sign up here.

P.S. They also provide these really cool pre-made buttons and banners for referring people. Since the site is pretty new, try to get the word out and you can rack up the points from your referrals.

Two Interesting New Oppotunities

Alright, these next two sites (or at least the first one) may seem rather childish. But bear with me because they can actually pay off in the long run.

The first site is a bit strange. Perhaps you remember reading those “Weekly Reader” magazines in elementary school. They covered current events, as well as science, technology and other topics. Anyways, this website, WRINSIDERS, is run by the publishers of that magazine. You earn points by taking quizzes, playing games and filling out surveys. It’s pretty easy to earn points on the site too. Without any real effort, I made over 6k in my first few days.
The downside of this site is HOW you get to spend your points. There are really only a few options. You use the points to “buy” sweepstakes entries for 10 points each. The sweepstakes are for things like gift cards, PS3’s and video games. They just recently added auctions in which you bid points for various items. You can also use them to “buy” coupons and special promotions for your favorite stores/items. The final way in which you can use your points is to purchase items for your virtual room, but if you’re on this site you’re probably more interested in the other two. It might not be the most “exciting” opportunity out there, but if you’re feeling lucky then check it out here.

Now, one of WRINSIDERS’ partner sites is called SayNation. Earning points on this site is MUCH more rewarding. The majority of the points you earn here will be from surveys. Unlike other survey sites, these are specifically aimed at a younger crowd. You shouldn’t have any trouble qualifying for most of them. Most surveys will earn you 1k – 3k points. These points can then be used to buy real world items and money. Not sweepstakes entries. You actually BUY the items. 29k gets you $25 via PayPal and with the number and value of surveys they offer, it shouldn’t take you too long. They also offer gift cards, books, movies, video games and other cool stuff. This site also is specifically aimed at teens. Also, when you refer someone you BOTH get points for it. This is a fun site that is DEFINITELY worth looking into, so check it out here. (If you would like to credit me for your referral so we can both get some extra points, my referral code is 3135294545.)

I also found another site that offers really cool cash and prizes that you buy with points. I’m checking it out at the moment, and if it’s good I’ll tell you guys about it sometime this week.

Get Paid to Write Questions for Trivia Wars

Are you a fan of shows like Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit? If so, then you might just be interesting in writing questions for Trivia Wars. Trivia Wars is a website that offers trivia games for nearly every subject imaginable. They’ll pay you to submit high quality trivia questions, so they can keep their site running.
The first step in working for this site is of course registering. When you go to register, you’ll get the option to become a Trivia Wars Writer. Make sure to check the box, and fill in all of the required information (availability, areas of knowledge, etc). After this, you’ll have to play around 20 games of Trivia Wars to get the hang of the type of questions their interested in.
Then they ask that you submit a sample of your work; 5 questions about a single topic. The process might sound long and tedious but you should be able to finish all of this in about 30 minutes. They should get back to you in a few days.
They’ll pay you .35 to .45 cents per question, more or less. They claim you can make $10- 17 per hour writing questions for them, so it can be very profitable. Even working only 1 hour for 5 days a week would give you an extra $50 each week. They pay by check, which are mailed monthly I believe. If you think this is something you’d be interested in, check it out here.

Earn Money for Searching the Web

Everyone uses Google, Ask.com or some other search engine to find what they’re looking for online. If you’re a student, you probably have to search the web often for research. Since searching the web is something you do often anyways, why not get paid for it?
With Scour, that’s exactly what happens. You get PAID to search the web, like you normally do. The search results are really good too; they combine top results from Google, Yahoo and Windows Live Search. It’s not just website results either. You can also search for images and video.
Now here’s how the reward works. You receive points for searching and also for voting and commenting on search results. They also have a referral program that allows you to receive a whopping 25% of the points your referrals make. So if you refer a few friends who search regularly, you’ll be racking up the points in no time at all.
Once you accumulate enough points, you can cash them in for a $25 prepaid Visa gift card or money through Paypal. It may not sound like much, but that’s $25 more than you would normally earn for searching the web. It’s definitely worth looking into, so check it out here.

Get Paid for Making Mobile Content with Playscreen

Ever wish you could make your own ringtones, wallpapers and videos for your cell phone? Well now you can! Not only can you make them, but you can also get paid for them! With Playscreen (formerly known as MyNuMo), you can upload and create pictures, audio etc. easily through their built in tools.
From there you can edit your uploaded content and add keywords so people can find it easily. After that, it's simple. Your submission will be reviewed and added to the site, and from there anyone can buy it. They also provide cool promoting tools and widgets so you can advertise on other sites.
Playscreen pays you via PayPal when you earn over $10, which shouldn't be too hard depending on how hard you try. You'll make 20% of each sell as pure profit. That's more than most music artists recieve from a purchase of their ringtones. And even though you're only making 20%, $10 isn't hard to achieve at all. For example, if you're selling wallpaperss you'll recieve 20% of $2 or $0.40. That means after just 25 sales, you'll be ready to cash out!
That's not even counting videos, ringtones and anything else you might want to sell through Playscreen. This is definately a cool and unique way to make some extra cash without a lot of extra effort on your part. Even if you don't think you'll be good at it, it's definately worth checking out!

Make Money Taking Surveys with Surveyhead

This is probably one of my favorite survey sites that I’ve tried so far. I haven’t been paid by them yet, but I’ve already accumulated over $14. They offer surveys far more often than most of the other sites I’ve been using, and they pay through Paypal so it will be much faster than having to wait around for a check. One of the few things I dislike about this site is that you have to wait for quite a bit for your earning to actually be credited to your account. They maintain a status of “Pending” until someone verifies them. But, I think it’s well worth the money, especially since you’re saving the time most sites would take to send a check (4-6 weeks). The surveys offered are pretty good as well. They’re usually about TV, movies, video games etc. and you might get to see some exclusive previews.
Bottom line is, I strongly suggest that you check Surveyhead out. (It’s open to anyone over 14).