Niall Doherty's Blog, page 188
May 23, 2019
eBiz Weekly #21
Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archiveThis week:
24 weird ways people make money online
How important is it to have a .com domain name?
$3.6 million per year doing SEO for lawyers
Big library of free stock music
Get More YouTube Views
Earn money making animated GIFs
Show this to your boss who wants you in the office every day
$150 in 3 hours testing websites
Is freelance web development still a viable path in 2019?
How to figure out what’s true online
24 weird ways people make money online
Here’s the article I promised you last week.
Some fun ones in there, including:
A Jesus impersonator earning at least $22,500 per year.
Paralyzed people in Japan controlling robot waiters for $9 an hour.
The guy who did a deal with the Cameroon government and was earning $70 million per year.
A 16-year-old who acts as gaming buddy and sounding board for teenage boys for $20/hour.
A podcast that puts you to sleep… and pulls in at least $25,000 per month.
Check out the full article and let me know what you think.
I’d also love if you could share it on social. Here are quick links to share on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter.
How important is it to have a .com domain name?
Important, but not as important as you might think.
GrowthBadger surveyed 1,500 people and found that .com domains are still tops when it comes to trust and memorability, but a bunch of other TLDs still fared quite well.
(I personally believe that most people overrate the importance of their domain name when just starting out. It’s rarely going to make or break a business.)
$3.6 million per year doing SEO for lawyers
With a minimum client engagement of $10k per month, the agency profiled here is making a killing doing SEO for lawyers.
An excerpt:
One of the biggest advantages of having a hyper-specific niche is that your process creation, SEO strategy, and acquisition all target the same persona/avatar. For example: when doing keyword research, we can create one expanded editorial calendar that will appeal and apply to most of our prospects. Instead of throwing paint against the wall with our marketing budget and hoping that we attract, we throw the paint directly at personal injury lawyers.
Lots of other great concepts shared in there – e.g. warmth and competence, heads up vs. heads down, scheduled social syndications, working with competing law firms (see the comments).
I highly recommend you give the full article a read.
Big library of free stock music
I’ve seen this referred to as “Unsplash for music.”
Literally thousands of tracks you can use in your video, game or UI project in exchange for a link. So good I went ahead and canceled the paid service I was using.
Get More YouTube Views
Brian Dean delivers with this list of 17 ways to get more views on your YouTube videos.
(I plan to go through and apply those tips to further boost my Tai Lopez scam video, which is averaging ~400 views a day since posting.)
Earn money making animated GIFs
Doesn’t look like there’s huge earning potential though. The top two GIF-making freelancers I found on Fiverr:
fellowbeing has almost 200 orders in ~3 years, selling for $5-50 a pop.
balutheanimator has almost 100 orders in 1 year, selling for $15-50.
Show this to your boss who wants you in the office every day
Google has employees in 150 cities and more than 50 countries. They recently surveyed 5000 of them and reported:
We were happy to find no difference in the effectiveness, performance ratings, or promotions for individuals and teams whose work requires collaboration with colleagues around the world versus Googlers who spend most of their day to day working with colleagues in the same office.
(Not that remote work is without issues. Google notes a few in the report.)
$150 in 3 hours testing websites
On Reddit, referring to UserTesting.com:
I recently got back into it and was easily getting approved for some pretty great offers. I did 2 60 minute sessions today for $60 a piece and a few more tests for $10 a piece. In total this took me under 3 hours of my time.
FYI, when testing websites on UserTesting you need to record your voice and sometimes use a webcam. Also sounds like the offers can be hit and miss and they’re mostly for people in the US who are full-time employees.
Let me know if you give it a try.
Is freelance web development still a viable path in 2019?
This question was asked on Hacker News last week.
My favorite answer:
I’ve been freelancing for 7 years, and the market has never been better for reliable web developers. A knowledgeable full-stack dev can earn above SV-level salary as a remote freelancer.
However, if you’re marketing yourself purely as a “web developer”, you’re already commoditizing your skills. Instead, become an expert in a specific type of business/client and sell your ability to solve problems in that business domain. Your clients should not care about the tech you’re using. You need to instead be seen as the expert who solves their problems with tech.
If you go this route, not only is freelancing viable – I think it’s the best way to maximize your earnings as a developer.
(Note the similarity between this advice and that of the SEO for lawyers guy earlier.)
How to figure out what’s true online
One of the most important things nobody really teaches us growing up: how to ask and answer the question, “How do I know this is true?”
The ability to discern fact from fiction is crucial to success in business, and this 12-minute video by Smarter Every Day will help you hone it.
The three steps covered in that video to figure out if something is true online:
Find out who’s behind the information. Are they an expert on the topic?
What’s the evidence supporting the information? Is it sufficient?
What do other sources say about it?
Closing it out this week with a related quote from everyone’s favorite rogue scientist, Richard Feynman:
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.”
Thanks for reading.
—
Niall Doherty – Kuta, Bali
eBiz Facts
By the way...
Freedom Business Builder
FBB is a private community of online business builders. Our 300+ members range from people just starting their first online businesses, to experienced online entrepreneurs earning thousands of dollars each month. More info here.
Travel Hacker’s Toolkit
Check out the top resources I recommend for the traveling online business builder. Cheap flights, a jet lag app, free VPN software, and more.
Great Value Courses
My go-to websites when looking to learn or enhance a skill are Skillshare and Udemy. Both have thousands of courses on many different topics, rated and reviewed so you can easily tell what’s best. Udemy is pay-per-course, whereas Skillshare is a subscription model (my preference).
Start Earning Online
Check out our free crash course to help you build an online business, consists of 11 videos and accompanying articles.
Facebook and Twitter
If you enjoyed the above, come follow eBiz Facts on the socials. We share this kind of content daily on Facebook and Twitter.
May 21, 2019
25 Weird Ways People Make Money Online
Over the years, we’ve seen people make money online in all kinds of weird and unusual ways. Below is a list of our favorites, in no particular order.
Jesus Impersonator – At least $22,500 per year.Paid To Eat – Up to $10,000 per month.Paid To Study – $253 per video.Paralyzed people controlling robot waiters – $9 per hour.Turbulence Forecaster – At least $1,000 per month.Binge watch superhero movies – $1000 in three days.The Million Dollar Homepage – $1,037,100 in 4.5 months.Virtual Bridesmaid – $300 per engagement.Wedding Speech Writer – $75 per speech.Online Research Studies – Up to $350 per study.Framing Tweets – $25,000 per month.Blogging about paleo diets for dogs – At least $6,000 per month.Mock Online Juror – $1 per minute.Teaching Ukulele – At least $3,000 per month.Gamer Girl – At least $20 per hour.Helping Chinese people fake riches – $1,500 to $3,000 per month.Domain Squatting – $70 million per year.Whispering and making other pleasurable sounds – Up to $130,000 per year.Paid To Lose Weight – Up to $10,000.Pretending to be interested in renting apartments – At least minimum wage. – $100 minimum for winning a contest.Ethical Hacking – Up to $500,000 per year.Search Engine Evaluator – Up to $15 per hour.Talking people to sleep – At least $25,000 per month.Selling blank books on Amazon – $6,000 to $11,000 per month.Honorable Mentions
Jesus ImpersonatorAt least $22,500 per year.
User SoCalChrist on Fiverr dresses up as Jesus Christ and makes short, customized videos for $10-45 a pop.
He racked up almost 9000 customer reviews in his first four years on the platform, which means he earned at least $22,500 per year.
“Jesus” also makes money online through his Patreon and by selling merchandise on his website.
Paid To Eat (Mukbang)Up to $10,000 per month / $1,500 a night.
There are numerous people in South Korea who make a living by live streaming themselves eating meals.
The top-ranked stars make as much as $10,000 a month, and that’s not counting sponsorships from food and drink brands.
On Facebook, Business Insider posted a video of one 14-year-old who earns up to $1,500 a night eating dinner in front of a webcam in South Korea.
Paid To Study (Gongbang)$253 per video.
A South Korean YouTuber who goes by the name The Man Sitting Next to Me broadcasts himself studying for up to three hours per day.
Money is earned through YouTube ads, which one calculator estimates to be $253 per video.
Paralyzed people controlling robot waiters$9 per hour.
This month a Dawn Ver Beta cafe was opened up Tokyo, Japan for two weeks. It used Orly Lab’s robots to serve customers and the most brilliant part about the cafe is that all of the robots were remotely controlled by severely disabled people, for the sole purpose of helping disabled people gain more independence in their lives.
There were 10 people working at the cafe. The employees suffered from diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other spinal cord injuries. They operated 4-foot robots called OriHime-D, from their home and were paid 1,000 yen ($9) per hour.
Turbulence ForecasterAt least $1,000 per month.
My name is Peter, the founder of Turbulence Forecast. I’ve been forecasting turbulence for over 13 years, and I will personally give you a one on one briefing of what you might expect on your upcoming flight via email. I write each and every forecast personally, with over 8,500 written so far. No questions asked refund policy!
Peter charges $25-56 per order.
8,500 orders in 13 years works out to ~650 per year. At his lowest price point that’s well over $1000/month.
Binge watch superhero movies$1000 in three days.
From a March 2019 report on INSIDER:
CableTV.com is offering to pay one Marvel fan $1,000 to watch 20 Marvel movies back-to-back.
It would take you over 40 hours to do. CabletTV.com told INSIDER that the candidate would have three days in which to complete the task.
The chosen fan would also need to live-tweet their experience and would receive more Marvel gifts.
The Million Dollar Homepage$1,037,100 in 4.5 months.
In August 2005 a college student in the UK set up a webpage consisting of a million pixels in a 1000 x 1000 grid, with the intention of selling each one for $1.
The idea went viral. This was the result:
Via Wikipedia:
On 1 January 2006, the final 1,000 pixels were put up for auction on eBay. The auction closed on 11 January with a winning bid of $38,100 that brought the final tally to $1,037,100 in gross.
(The same guy went on to create the meditation app Calm, which achieved a $1 billion valuation in 2019.)
Virtual Bridesmaid$300 per engagement. https://www.healthywage.com/weight-loss/success-stories/another-10000-winner/'>2
HealthyWage is a website where you can place a bet that you’ll lose a certain amount of weight by a certain date.
Achieve your goal, and you get paid.
Fail, and you lose your stake.
At HealthyWage, success rates vary, with between 25 percent and 40 percent of participants actually winning their bets, [HealthyWage co-founder David] Roddenberry said. That doesn’t mean he’s betting on their failure. Revenue comes not only from participants but also from sponsors and other fees, he said, so his incentive is not to have people fail.
Pretending to be interested in renting apartmentsAt least minimum wage.
Yardi Matrix will hire you to pose as a person interested in apartment rentals. Your job is to call apartment complexes and ask them simple questions about their apartments, no selling involved.
Per the Yardi Matrix website:
Surveyors will be paid $6 per hour and a piece rate of $.50 for surveys marked Done, $.30 for surveys marked Wrong Number, $.20 for surveys marked Part-Done, and $.07 for surveys marked Answering Machine or No Answer. You will receive at least minimum wage in your jurisdiction for all hours worked; however, you can earn more depending on your speed and efficiency.
Paid To Name Stuff$100 minimum for winning a contest.
On Squadhelp you can suggest names for products or businesses. If your suggestion gets picked, you get paid.
$100 is the minimum prize, though several folks on their leaderboard have apparently earned more than $20,000 with their mad naming skillz.
Ethical HackingUp to $500,000 per year.
Freelance elite hackers can make more than $500,000 a year searching for security flaws and reporting those issues at big companies like Tesla and organizations like the Department of Defense, according to new data released by ethical hacking platform Bugcrowd.
IJet and Tesla pay hackers $1,000 to $15,000 for finding problems, depending on the severity of the issue. Mastercard pays up to $3,000.
Search Engine EvaluatorUp to $15 per hour.
A company called Appen will pay you to search the Internet all day.
From the Appen website:
Appen independent agents conduct in depth internet-based research and provide information evaluation for leading companies from around the globe. Ideal candidates are self-reliant, self-motivated, are very internet savvy, have a broad range of interests and enjoy online research and evaluation.
Glassdoor reports that the average salary for an Appen search engine evaluator is $15 per hour.
Talking people to sleepAt least $25,000 per month.
Twice per week, Drew Ackerman publishes the Sleep With Me Podcast, which receives more than 2 million monthly downloads.
Per Wikipedia:
Sleep With Me Podcast is meant to distract listeners, keeping their minds occupied when they experience insomnia, while gently lulling them to sleep.
The podcast is monetized in a variety of ways, but the biggest income source is likely Patreon, with more than 5,000 patrons on there pledging a minimum of $5 per month.
Selling blank books on Amazon$6,000 to $11,000 per month.
In an interview on Side Hustle Nation, Rachel Harrison-Sund revealed that she earns a substantial income selling “blank” books on Amazon.
Think journals, diaries, planners, notebooks and sketchbooks.
From the PDF highlight reel that accompanies the interview:
Rachel said her process is very similar. She starts off browsing Amazon and other marketplaces online, as well as browsing physical bookstores for what’s selling. A tip that’s worked well for her is to add some “millennial speak” style catchphrases in the title. An example being a daily planner she published last year called, “Get Shit Done.” This book bought in between $6k-$11k a month for the first few months.
We’re not certain but most likely this is Rachel’s book on Amazon. You can see a bunch of similar titles from the same author here.
Honorable Mentions
The following are some noteworthy suggestions we rejected from the above list for one reason or another, but still thought you’d find interesting.
YouTube videos for cats
There are videos on YouTube especially for cats, like this one:
That video is monetized with ads, and according to one calculator, it has earned an estimated $12,558 in ad revenue.
The real earnings from the video must be far less, however, because ain’t no cat going to click on no YouTube ads.
Remote MatchmakerNot online work but it’s too quirky not to share.
A company called Tawkify will pay you to play cupid.
Via a job posting on We Work Remotely:
Save TobyYou’ll scour your city to find and screen quality, eligible matches for our clients. Our intuitive matchmakers handpick each candidate based on our “VIP” approach to compatibility: Values, Individual lifestyle and Personal preferences.
Back in 2005 someone created a website called SaveToby.com.
Wikipedia tells the story:
The website claimed that the owner found Toby wounded outside his home, and nursed the rabbit back to health, not believing it would survive. However, it did, and he was unable to afford to care for him. The website then claimed that, unless he received $50,000 in US dollars to pay for its care, he would eat the rabbit. The money could be either donated directly, or through purchasing “Save Toby” merchandise.
It’s unclear if any money was ever collected via the website, and it’s widely believed that the entire thing was a hoax.
Trading a paperclip for a houseVia Wikipedia:
One red paperclip is a website created by Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald, who bartered his way from a single red paperclip to a house in a series of fourteen online trades over the course of a year.
However, Kyle did not accomplish his feat online.
He traveled to several states in the US and Canada in order to complete his trades.
Do you know some weird ways to make money online?
Let us know in the comments below.
(Special thanks to Hazel Lau for her help putting this article together. Give her a shout if you want to generate leads for your local business.)
24 Weird Ways People Make Money Online
Over the years, we’ve seen people make money online in all kinds of weird and unusual ways. Below is a list of our favorites, in no particular order.
Jesus Impersonator – At least $22,500 per year.Paid To Eat – Up to $10,000 per month.Paid To Study – $253 per video.Paralyzed people controlling robot waiters – $9 per hour.Turbulence Forecaster – At least $1,000 per month.Binge watch superhero movies – $1000 in three days.The Million Dollar Homepage – $1,037,100 in 4.5 months.Virtual Bridesmaid – $300 per engagement.Wedding Speech Writer – $75 per speech.Online Research Studies – Up to $350 per study.Framing Tweets – $25,000 per month.Blogging about paleo diets for dogs – At least $6,000 per month.Mock Online Juror – $1 per minute.Teaching Ukulele – At least $3,000 per month.Gamer Girl – At least $20 per hour.Helping Chinese people fake riches – $1,500 to $3,000 per month.Domain Squatting – $70 million per year.Whispering and making other pleasurable sounds – Up to $130,000 per year.Paid To Lose Weight – Up to $10,000.Pretending to be interested in renting apartments – At least minimum wage. – $100 minimum for winning a contest.Ethical Hacking – Up to $500,000 per year.Search Engine Evaluator – Up to $15 per hour.Talking people to sleep – At least $25,000 per month.Honorable Mentions
Jesus ImpersonatorAt least $22,500 per year.
User SoCalChrist on Fiverr dresses up as Jesus Christ and makes short, customized videos for $10-45 a pop.
He racked up almost 9000 customer reviews in his first four years on the platform, which means he earned at least $22,500 per year.
“Jesus” also makes money online through his Patreon and by selling merchandise on his website.
Paid To Eat (Mukbang)Up to $10,000 per month / $1,500 a night.
There are numerous people in South Korea who make a living by live streaming themselves eating meals.
The top-ranked stars make as much as $10,000 a month, and that’s not counting sponsorships from food and drink brands.
On Facebook, Business Insider posted a video of one 14-year-old who earns up to $1,500 a night eating dinner in front of a webcam in South Korea.
Paid To Study (Gongbang)$253 per video.
A South Korean YouTuber who goes by the name The Man Sitting Next to Me broadcasts himself studying for up to three hours per day.
Money is earned through YouTube ads, which one calculator estimates to be $253 per video.
Paralyzed people controlling robot waiters$9 per hour.
This month a Dawn Ver Beta cafe was opened up Tokyo, Japan for two weeks. It used Orly Lab’s robots to serve customers and the most brilliant part about the cafe is that all of the robots were remotely controlled by severely disabled people, for the sole purpose of helping disabled people gain more independence in their lives.
There were 10 people working at the cafe. The employees suffered from diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other spinal cord injuries. They operated 4-foot robots called OriHime-D, from their home and were paid 1,000 yen ($9) per hour.
Turbulence ForecasterAt least $1,000 per month.
My name is Peter, the founder of Turbulence Forecast. I’ve been forecasting turbulence for over 13 years, and I will personally give you a one on one briefing of what you might expect on your upcoming flight via email. I write each and every forecast personally, with over 8,500 written so far. No questions asked refund policy!
Peter charges $25-56 per order.
8,500 orders in 13 years works out to ~650 per year. At his lowest price point that’s well over $1000/month.
Binge watch superhero movies$1000 in three days.
From a March 2019 report on INSIDER:
CableTV.com is offering to pay one Marvel fan $1,000 to watch 20 Marvel movies back-to-back.
It would take you over 40 hours to do. CabletTV.com told INSIDER that the candidate would have three days in which to complete the task.
The chosen fan would also need to live-tweet their experience and would receive more Marvel gifts.
The Million Dollar Homepage$1,037,100 in 4.5 months.
In August 2005 a college student in the UK set up a webpage consisting of a million pixels in a 1000 x 1000 grid, with the intention of selling each one for $1.
The idea went viral. This was the result:
Via Wikipedia:
On 1 January 2006, the final 1,000 pixels were put up for auction on eBay. The auction closed on 11 January with a winning bid of $38,100 that brought the final tally to $1,037,100 in gross.
(The same guy went on to create the meditation app Calm, which achieved a $1 billion valuation in 2019.)
Virtual Bridesmaid$300 per engagement. https://www.healthywage.com/weight-loss/success-stories/another-10000-winner/'>2
HealthyWage is a website where you can place a bet that you’ll lose a certain amount of weight by a certain date.
Achieve your goal, and you get paid.
Fail, and you lose your stake.
At HealthyWage, success rates vary, with between 25 percent and 40 percent of participants actually winning their bets, [HealthyWage co-founder David] Roddenberry said. That doesn’t mean he’s betting on their failure. Revenue comes not only from participants but also from sponsors and other fees, he said, so his incentive is not to have people fail.
Pretending to be interested in renting apartmentsAt least minimum wage.
Yardi Matrix will hire you to pose as a person interested in apartment rentals. Your job is to call apartment complexes and ask them simple questions about their apartments, no selling involved.
Per the Yardi Matrix website:
Surveyors will be paid $6 per hour and a piece rate of $.50 for surveys marked Done, $.30 for surveys marked Wrong Number, $.20 for surveys marked Part-Done, and $.07 for surveys marked Answering Machine or No Answer. You will receive at least minimum wage in your jurisdiction for all hours worked; however, you can earn more depending on your speed and efficiency.
Paid To Name Stuff$100 minimum for winning a contest.
On Squadhelp you can suggest names for products or businesses. If your suggestion gets picked, you get paid.
$100 is the minimum prize, though several folks on their leaderboard have apparently earned more than $20,000 with their mad naming skillz.
Ethical HackingUp to $500,000 per year.
Freelance elite hackers can make more than $500,000 a year searching for security flaws and reporting those issues at big companies like Tesla and organizations like the Department of Defense, according to new data released by ethical hacking platform Bugcrowd.
IJet and Tesla pay hackers $1,000 to $15,000 for finding problems, depending on the severity of the issue. Mastercard pays up to $3,000.
Search Engine EvaluatorUp to $15 per hour.
A company called Appen will pay you to search the Internet all day.
From the Appen website:
Appen independent agents conduct in depth internet-based research and provide information evaluation for leading companies from around the globe. Ideal candidates are self-reliant, self-motivated, are very internet savvy, have a broad range of interests and enjoy online research and evaluation.
Glassdoor reports that the average salary for an Appen search engine evaluator is $15 per hour.
Talking people to sleepAt least $25,000 per month.
Twice per week, Drew Ackerman publishes the Sleep With Me Podcast, which receives more than 2 million monthly downloads.
Per Wikipedia:
Sleep With Me Podcast is meant to distract listeners, keeping their minds occupied when they experience insomnia, while gently lulling them to sleep.
The podcast is monetized in a variety of ways, but the biggest income source is likely Patreon, with more than 5,000 patrons on there pledging a minimum of $5 per month.
Honorable Mentions
The following are some noteworthy suggestions we rejected from the above list for one reason or another, but still thought you’d find interesting.
YouTube videos for cats
There are videos on YouTube especially for cats, like this one:
That video is monetized with ads, and according to one calculator, it has earned an estimated $12,558 in ad revenue.
The real earnings from the video must be far less, however, because ain’t no cat going to click on no YouTube ads.
Remote MatchmakerNot online work but it’s too quirky not to share.
A company called Tawkify will pay you to play cupid.
Via a job posting on We Work Remotely:
Save TobyYou’ll scour your city to find and screen quality, eligible matches for our clients. Our intuitive matchmakers handpick each candidate based on our “VIP” approach to compatibility: Values, Individual lifestyle and Personal preferences.
Back in 2005 someone created a website called SaveToby.com.
Wikipedia tells the story:
The website claimed that the owner found Toby wounded outside his home, and nursed the rabbit back to health, not believing it would survive. However, it did, and he was unable to afford to care for him. The website then claimed that, unless he received $50,000 in US dollars to pay for its care, he would eat the rabbit. The money could be either donated directly, or through purchasing “Save Toby” merchandise.
It’s unclear if any money was ever collected via the website, and it’s widely believed that the entire thing was a hoax.
Trading a paperclip for a houseVia Wikipedia:
One red paperclip is a website created by Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald, who bartered his way from a single red paperclip to a house in a series of fourteen online trades over the course of a year.
However, Kyle did not accomplish his feat online.
He traveled to several states in the US and Canada in order to complete his trades.
Do you know some weird ways to make money online?
Let us know in the comments below.
(Special thanks to Hazel Lau for her help putting this article together. Give her a shout if you want to generate leads for your local business.)
May 16, 2019
eBiz Weekly #20
Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archiveThis week:
Big milestone for eBiz Facts
Survey Sites
Remote job opportunities
The critical question
Shameless hosting promotion
Weird ways to make money online
Big milestone for eBiz Facts
As noted in my latest Momentos, for May 13th:
Marking this day. Received a payment of $827.50, bumping me over $1,000 affiliate income for the first time in a single month. Feels good, all the work starting to pay off. Still lots more to do though. $1,000 next month isn’t guaranteed. But this boosts my confidence, validates the plan I’ve been busy executing.
In case you’re unfamiliar, that plan looks like this:
Find keywords related to online business that have lots of organic traffic, low competition, and which can be easily monetized. (Monetization is a must to make eBiz Facts a sustainable endeavor.)
Prioritize those keywords, so I know which opportunities to tackle first.
Get busy creating the absolute best and most helpful content possible for those keywords.
Publish and do some basic promotion.
Wait a few weeks to see how Google responds. (Ideally my content will rank high for the target keywords without any extra work.)
If the results are promising, double down to secure even better rankings. Otherwise, chalk it up as a learning experience and move to the next keyword on the list.
There’s a lot more to it, but those are the broad strokes.
Hopefully, that helps you understand why I published 20,000+ words of content and a 15-minute video about Tai Lopez at the end of February.
And why I just spent 50+ hours testing and researching one of the worst ways to make money online…
Survey Sites
Yup, survey sites.
They’re just as bad as you thought they were.
But tons of people search for info on these every day, and the top search results are so unrealistic and misleading that I knew I could do better.
Here’s what I came up with: Best Survey Sites 2019
That’s an article summarizing what myself and a VA learned from 50+ hours testing and researching a bunch of survey sites.
I’ve also posted individual reviews for 6 sites:
InboxDollars
PaidViewpoint
Qmee
Survey Junkie
Swagbucks
Respondent
To save you from having to read through all that content, I’ll quote one of the FAQs from the main article here, which sums up my thoughts on survey sites after all that testing and research.
Are survey sites just a big gigantic waste of time?
They can be.
When doing any kind of work online, you want to be doing one of two things, ideally both:
You want to be EARNING
And you want to be LEARNINGWe’ve yet to find any survey site through which you can earn more than a little extra pocket money each month.
Which would be fine if the work was actually a valuable learning experience.
But it’s not.
Given that:
Survey sites ARE a big gigantic waste of time you let them take you away from the many other types of online work where you can earn good money and/or develop some solid skills that will serve you well in future.
Survey sites are NOT a waste of time if you use them while chilling out watching Netflix or listening to a podcast, and you reserve your full attention for more demanding/rewarding kinds of online work.
Another way of putting it: You can indeed earn money from survey sites, but you can’t earn a living.
Remote job opportunities
In contrast, you can earn a living online from a remote job.
Here are a few juicy opportunities I found this morning:
Accounting Lesson Writer for CPA Review (international)
Admin Support Superstar (worldwide)
Content Marketing Manager (worldwide)
Content Writer at First Beat Media (multiple countries)
Facebook Ad Manager (worldwide)
Front-End Web Designer / WordPress Developer (worldwide)
Graphic Designer (worldwide)
News Writers (worldwide)
UI/UX Designer (worldwide)
The critical question
One of my favorite podcasts – How I Built This – asks each guest how much of their success is due to luck and how much is due to skill.
Almost all of them say luck was at least half the battle.
Of course, everyone gets lucky to some degree. But some people get a better return on their luck.
The critical question is not “Are you lucky?” but “Do you get a high return on luck?”
Yes, [Bill] Gates was lucky, but luck is not why Gates became a 10Xer. Consider the following questions: Was Gates the only person of his era who grew up in an upper-middle-class American family? Was Gates the only person born in the mid-1950s who attended a secondary school with access to computing? Was Gates the only person who went to a college with computer resources in the mid-1970s? Was Gates the only person who read the Popular Electronics article? Was Gates the only person who knew how to program in BASIC? No, no, no, no, and no.
“Return on luck” is a concept I always try to keep in mind.
On a long enough timeline, you and I are going to get very lucky a handful of times.
We’ll either be ready to make the most of those opportunities, or we won’t.
Shameless hosting promotion
I don’t use Bluehost myself. I use Dreamhost and I’ve been happy with them for years.
Everyone promotes Bluehost though because they’ve got a really good affiliate program. They asked me to be an affiliate and made me this fancy custom landing page.
In fairness to Bluehost, they are a solid, low-cost option if you’re looking to build a basic website.
HostingFacts takes a data-driven approach to testing a bunch of different web hosts and ranks Bluehost top of the heap.
Weird ways to make money online
I’m working on an article with that title, have collected more than 20 examples so far, including a 14-year-old South Korean boy who gets paid $1,500 a night to eat dinner in front of a webcam.
(Seriously.)
I should have the full article finished and published next week, will share it with you then.
In the meantime, hit reply and let me know of any “weird” ways of making money online you’ve come across.
Thanks for reading.
—
Niall Doherty
eBiz Facts
P.S. I’ll link my latest Momentos here again because this is where I usually mention them and for some reason they tend get more clicks than anything else I put in these emails 
Momentos
These are my Momentos, vignettes I write daily and publish twice a month. They’re incredibly self-indulgent and I’m surprised anyone reads them. There’s one for every day since February 27, 2013.
Patrons get to read each new batch before anyone else.
Full archive here1
Came home from a nice dinner at a nice restaurant to find a lizard the size of my hand in the kitchen, light blue with red spots, took a bite at a clothes hanger when we tried shooing him out the window. Now there’s a young Balinese man here with a plastic bag tied to a big stick, chasing the thing across the ceiling.
2
Helmet laws aren’t enforced in Bali, see loads of people scooting without them. Tourists, too. Many of them no doubt the same folks who shun non-organic food and are super concerned with their chakras. Meanwhile they’re five times more likely to be killed in a traffic accident in this country than in the UK.
3
We really are living in the middle of a jungle here in Ubud. Squirrels scurry up trees outside our window, geckos live behind our fridge, fireflies hang out in the bathroom, there was a snake on the path earlier this evening, and every night there’s a concert of chirps, croaks and clicks coming from all directions.
4
There are almost a thousand monkeys in here, scattered around 700-year-old temples and gigantic trees that look older still. The monkeys eat sweet potato and sport little mohawks. The males have big balls and tiny penises. There’s a blind monkey named Nelson in a cage all by himself. It’s better that way.
5
A quarter hour north of Ubud there’s a particularly nice stretch of rice fields. So nice that everyone with an Instagram account flocks there to take a billion photos. Couple that with the ridiculous heat today and the donation requests every hundred meters and I’m wishing I’d never been.
6
Every time I do it, I’m less stressed while getting more important work done. What is it? Not checking email or any other messages until the afternoon. Simple, but powerful. And I’ve known this for years. Yet I often go months without doing it. It’s as if I want to be distracted most of the time.
7
Add bats and a mongoose to the list of animals I’ve seen in Ubud. The bats were flapping about the field next door before the sun came up this morning. And the mongoose was snoozing on a table in a cafe in the middle of town. First time seeing one. Mad yokes. Like a cross between a fox and an otter.
8
I spend a lot of time thinking about how to earn money from this site, but in a way that adds significant value to the world, and doesn’t require me to sacrifice my integrity. Been working on reviews of survey sites lately. That’s been a bit of a tightrope. Think I have it figured out now.
9
Today there was a man ploughing the rice field next door. Barefoot in the mud, in 30°C / 86°F heat and direct sunlight, pushing some big contraption of a plow with a cranky engine. Hard, physical labor. He was out there for hours. Probably earning pennies. I’m living such a charmed life.
10
Putting together a post about weird ways people make money online. The Million Dollar Homepage was a famous one back in the day. Looked that up, learned that the guy who made it is the same guy behind the Calm app, which is now a billion dollar company. Wow.
11
Here we go again, moving to a new place, pack and unpack, get used to the new surroundings, go buy a bunch of household things we’re lacking, stuff we’ll have to leave behind in a few months, wrestle with the wifi, think ever more seriously about stopping all this madness and settling down good and proper.
12
Starting to fantasize about having my own place, setting everything up just right. Simple things like an extra shelf here, a few coat hooks by the door, nice kitchen equipment that’ll last a while. When you constantly move around, you’re constantly compensating for lots of little inconveniences.
13
Marking this day. Received a payment of $827.50, bumping me over $1,000 affiliate income for the first time in a single month. Feels good, all the work starting to pay off. Still lots more to do though. $1,000 next month isn’t guaranteed. But this boosts my confidence, validates the plan I’ve been busy executing.
14
In a cafe, trying to get some work done, but there’s a lady doing yoga to my right. Seriously. She cleared space between tables, put on headphones, and has spent the last twenty minutes doing full-on yoga without a care in the world, as if she’s in a park or something. She probably thinks she’s edgy and enlightened. I want to flip a table and scream in her face.
15
We’ve got an overachieving rooster next door. Not content when crowing when the sun comes up, he gets crowing at 4:30am. I used to have the same problem with a rubbish truck years ago. Woke me up the first few mornings after moving into a new place. Then I never heard it again.
Best Survey Sites 2019
Today you’re going to learn which are the best survey sites online, so you don’t waste massive amounts of time on the crappy ones.
Because, yes, it’s true: you can make money online simply by filling out surveys while binge-watching Game of Thrones.
All the gritty details are below, but if you’re in a hurry, here’s our shortlist of the best survey sites…
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
Table Of Contents
Best survey site – overallHighest earnings per hourBest survey quantityBest payment optionsQuick payoutBest mobile appBest for outside USA
Best affiliate program5 things you should know about survey sites12 survey site hacksHow to spot fake / scam survey sitesFrequently Asked QuestionsHave you used any survey sites?
Our survey site reviews are a combined effort between Niall Doherty (founder of eBiz Facts), members of the Freedom Business Builder community, and a hired freelancer named Hannah based in the USA.
Our process for reviewing a survey site looks like this:
We ask Hannah to sign up and test out certain parts of the site.Hannah documents her work and tracks her progress.We scour the internet for additional information about the site and carefully note our findings.We write a draft of our review.We send the draft to our Freedom Business Builder community and ask for feedback.We make our final edits and publish the review.Note: We may earn a commission if you decide to join a survey site via a referral link. Read our full disclosure here.
Best Survey Sites – Overall Respondent and Survey Junkie
Your earning potential on any survey site comes down to two primary factors:
How much you can earn per hour, on average.How many surveys are available for you to answer each day.If you can earn a high amount per hour and there are endless surveys available, you can earn a lot of money.
Unfortunately, we’ve yet to find a site that offers lots of surveys AND a high hourly rate. It’s always a trade-off between the two.
Respondent scores poorly on survey quantity, but its unbeatable hourly rate means earning $100 or more on there each month is quite doable, even without a big time investment.
Respondent – Key Points
Earnings Per Hour 1
$20
Payment Options
PayPal
Minimum Payout 5
$20 for every referral who completes a paid survey.
Overall Rating4/5 6
Join Respondent For Free
Read our full Respondent review »
Meanwhile, Survey Junkie offers the most balanced mix of earnings and quantity that we’ve seen from any survey site to date.
Survey Junkie – Key Points
Earnings Per Hour 7
$2.50
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards (US only), bank transfer (US only)
Minimum Payout 11
$1.50 per new account.
Overall Rating4/5 12
Join Survey Junkie For Free
Read our full Survey Junkie review »
Best Survey Site – Earnings Per Hour Respondent
Respondent scores poorly on survey quantity, but its unbeatable hourly rate means earning $100 or more on there each month is quite doable, even without a big time investment.
Respondent – Key Points
Earnings Per Hour 13
$20
Payment Options
PayPal
Minimum Payout 17
$20 for every referral who completes a paid survey.
Overall Rating4/5 18
Join Respondent For Free
Read our full Respondent review »
Best Survey Site – Survey Quantity Swagbucks
You won’t earn a lot per hour answering surveys on Swagbucks, but if your goal is to spend 10 hours per day answering surveys on a single platform, this is the best place to do it.
Swagbucks – Key Points
Earnings Per Hour 19
$1
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 23
$2.20 per new verified account.
Overall Rating2.5/5 24
Get Your $5 Sign-Up Bonus
Read our full Swagbucks review »
(Of course, given that you’re likely to earn 2.5x more per hour on Survey Junkie, we’d recommend you choose that instead of Swagbucks and earn just as much in far less time.)
Best Survey Site – Payment Options Swagbucks
Swagbucks excels with their payment options, too.
While you must earn at least 2,500 SB ($25) before you can cash out with PayPal, you can redeem as little as 200 SB ($2) for cell phone data and as little as 300 SB ($3) for popular gift cards.
Above: The lowest priced rewards available on Swagbucks.If you want to be able to spend your hard-earned SB on anything you please, your best option is to choose a Visa reward card.
Above: Visa reward cards on Swagbucks.Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Best Survey Site – Quick Payout Qmee
We’re not big fans of Qmee, but if you’re looking to earn $0.25 in a hurry – I dunno, maybe you need a quarter for the parking meter? – this is the best survey site for you.
Qmee – Key Points
Earnings Per Hour 25
$1
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 29
Up to $1 for every referral who cashes out.
Overall Rating2/5 30
Join Qmee For Free
Honorable mentions here include Respondent – also a $0.01 minimum payout, but it usually takes a while to qualify for a survey on there – and Swagbucks – you can cash out for cell phone credit at $2, and select gift cards at $3.
Best Survey Site – Mobile App Swagbucks
Swagbucks wins here simply because they offer no less than 10 separate mobile apps: ten for iOS, and ten for Android.
The best rated Swagbucks app is Swagbucks LIVE, a trivia app which awards prizes in the form of SB (which can then be exchanged for cash or gift cards).
Best Survey Site – Outside USA Respondent
While most survey sites are notoriously USA-only, Respondent is a rare and welcome exception.
We tested Respondent in several different countries ourselves, and had one reader in Australia earn $110 in 45 minutes using the site.
Respondent – Key Points
Earnings Per Hour 31
$20
Payment Options
PayPal
Minimum Payout 35
$20 for every referral who completes a paid survey.
Overall Rating4/5 36
Join Respondent For Free
Read our full Respondent review »
Best Survey Site – Affiliate Program Swagbucks
Referring other users is how some folks earn BIG money from survey sites. We’ve read of some affiliates earning $10,000 or more per month from survey sites.
Swagbucks has one of the best affiliate programs in the business.
Most affiliate programs only pay you once a sale is made, but Swagbucks pays you $2.20 a pop just for sending them new users who sign up for a free account.
Swagbucks – Key Points
Earnings Per Hour 37
$1
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 41
$2.20 per new verified account.
Overall Rating2.5/5 42
Get Your $5 Sign-Up Bonus
Read our full Swagbucks review »
That’s not to say it’s easy to earn money as a Swagbucks affiliate. Becoming a successful affiliate marketer usually requires quite a bit of work up front.
Learn more about affiliate marketing »
5 things you really should know about survey sites
Best case scenario, you’ll earn $100 per monthYou will not be entertainedThe rich get richerRejection is part of the gameOther ways of making money on survey sites are usually a waste of time
Best case scenario, you’ll earn $100 per month
Online surveys are one of many ways to make money online, and perhaps the easiest way to earn a few bucks when you’re just starting out.
However, due to it being unskilled work – which means every Tom, Dick and Harry can take a crack at it – expect your earnings from survey sites to be low and/or inconsistent.
For example, Respondent offers the highest earnings per hour of any survey site we’ve tested – average rate of $20 per hour – but you’re only likely to qualify for a handful of surveys on there each month.
You can answer far more surveys on a site like Survey Junkie, but your average earnings there will only be about $2.50 per hour.
We’ve yet to find a site that offers lots of surveys AND a high hourly rate. It’s always a trade-off between the two.
All that to say, survey sites are never going to pay your rent. But they can put a few extra dollars in your pocket each month, if used intelligently.
Follow the recommendations on this page and you can expect to earn an extra $30 to $100 per month from survey sites, putting in 3-5 hours per week.You will not be entertained
Let’s be real: this kind of online work is fairly boring and tedious, especially if you’re putting in several hours a week.
The best way to handle this is to combine your survey sessions with binge-watching a show on Netflix, or listening to your favorite podcast.Earning a few dollars per hour while re-watching Stranger Things ain’t a bad way to spend a lazy afternoon, right?
The rich get richer
Companies use survey sites to gather information about certain markets. These companies want to know if people will buy their product or service.
If you’re considered to be part of a “rich” demographic – for example, you earn more than $50k a year, own property, and drive a nice car – you’re also considered more likely to buy high-end products and services.
Therefore, more companies want to hear from you, and so you’re likely to be offered more (and higher paying) surveys on survey sites.
Meanwhile, a 20-year-old unemployed college dropout has to make-do with infrequent, low-paying surveys. Few companies want to hear from him, because he’s nobody’s ideal customer.
This leaves us with a paradox:
Generally speaking, the people most desperate to earn a few bucks from survey sites are given the least opportunities, while folks who are already fairly wealthy receive the most.(You might think you could just lie on your profile and get at the best surveys that way, but survey sites are adept at spotting this kind of thing – their business depends on it – and are quick to blacklist dishonest users.)
With this in mind, if you are desperate to earn a few bucks online right now, survey sites are probably not your best bet. Consider freelancing or finding a remote job instead.
Rejection is part of the game
One of the most frequent complaints you’ll hear about survey sites – apart from the low pay – is that you can spend up to 20 minutes filling out a survey, only to then be disqualified and left with nothing to show for your efforts.
The more time you spend on survey sites, the more likely you are to experience this.
This is because, in the beginning, you’re usually offered the surveys that best match your profile. Once you’ve gone through those, many sites will offer you a steady stream of random surveys on the off-chance that you’ll qualify for them.
So the smart play is to limit the amount of time you spend on each survey site. A maximum of one hour per day per site is a good rule of thumb.Other ways of making money on survey sites are usually a waste of time
Apart from answering surveys, many survey sites also offer additional ways to earn money online.
For example, you might be invited to make money by:
Performing searchesPlaying online gamesWatching videosFinding and entering special codesShopping onlineAs a general rule, you should avoid all of these.
At best, you might earn a little money – though rarely as much as you’d earn if you spent the same time answering surveys.
At worst, you’ll be duped into spending $100 to “save” $30, or something equally ridiculous.
12 Survey Site Hacks
Use the tips below to maximize your earnings on survey sites.
Distract YourselfDo NOT sign up to every survey siteMaximize sign-up bonuses and to-do listsFill out your profile and keep it updatedKeep your answers honest and consistentHack your email notifications
Answer surveys as soon as possibleBe wary of the estimatesSpeed up repetitive data entryCash out as soon as you canAvoid the other ways of earningSet a target rate and test
Distract Yourself
Answering surveys is fairly boring and tedious work, especially if you’re putting in several hours a week.
The best way to handle this is to combine your survey sessions with binge-watching a show on Netflix, or listening to your favorite podcast.
Reserve your full attention for more demanding/rewarding kinds of online work.
Do NOT sign up to every survey site
We’ve seen many other review sites recommend that you sign up for as many survey sites as possible “to maximize your earnings,” 43 but we strongly believe less is more in this line of work.
Only a select few survey sites are worth your time.
Assuming your goal is to earn as much money as possible in as little time as possible, we recommend signing up for ONLY these three sites:
RespondentSurvey JunkieSwagbucksTo earn most efficiently, spend a maximum of 90 combined minutes per day on those sites, starting at the top of the list and working your way down as you notice the best opportunities drying up.
(If you have more time available to earn money online, check out the other ideas listed here rather than settling for ever-diminishing returns on survey sites.)
Maximize sign-up bonuses and to-do lists
Many survey sites offer a sign-up bonus and easy cash for completing simple “get started” checklists.
For example, Swagbucks offers a $5 sign-up bonus, while Survey Junkie will pay you $1 just for completing basic profile info.
Above: Sign up to Swagbucks and you’re rewarded with an immediate $5 bonus.Fill out your profile and keep it updated
Companies pay survey sites for access to specific types of people who will answer their market research questions.
For example, The Home Depot might want to hear from people who own their own homes or work in the construction industry. Anyone beyond that isn’t going to be in their target market, so they won’t want to hear from them.
Therefore, it’s very important that survey sites know your demographics and interests. Only through that knowledge can they match you with the right companies.
If a survey site does a good job of this, it’s a win-win-win:
The company wins because they get feedback on their product/service from someone in their target audience.You win because you get paid for your opinion.The survey site wins because the company pays them for the service and will probably keep doing so.Do you see now why it’s important to fill out your profile on a survey site and keep it up to date?
It’s simple: with an accurate and up-to-date profile, you’re far more likely to receive relevant, high-paying surveys.
Keep your answers honest and consistent
You might think you could just lie on your profile in an attempt to get at some of the better, high-paying surveys.
Don’t do it.
Survey sites are adept at spotting this kind of thing – their business depends on it, after all – and they’re quick to disqualify and sometimes even blacklist offenders.
Qmee, for example, shares why their users can sometimes be disqualified from surveys:
Many survey providers have techniques to detect whether you’re really engaged and taking the survey seriously – if they don’t feel you are, they may abruptly decline you at any time. Here are a few examples of survey quality control scenarios…
Question number 4 said “Answer C for this question”. But you chose answer D. You aren’t reading the questions properly.The survey should have taken 7 minutes to get to question 12, but you got there in 2 minutes. You were speeding through the survey.The survey asked “Did you go to the theatre last week?”. Your answer was yes. Then they ask “How many times did you go to the theatre last week” and your answer was none. Your answers are inconsistent/illogical.
Hack your email notifications
It’s best to use a temporary email address when signing up for survey sites, so your regular inbox doesn’t get cluttered with notifications.
If you use Gmail, here’s an easy way to do it:
Say your regular email address is corneliusfudge@gmail.com.
Any emails sent to the following addresses will also arrive in your inbox:
corneliusfudge+surveys@gmail.comcorneliusfudge+bestsurveysites@gmail.comcorneliusfudge+blahblahblah@gmail.comUse a version of your email address like that when signing up for any survey site.
Then create a simple filter in Gmail so any emails sent to that particular version of your address skip the inbox and go to a special “surveys” tag or folder.
Once you have that set up, check your account settings on the survey site and make sure you’re opted in to receive email notifications of new surveys. (Many sites will alert you to particularly good opportunities via email.)
Then you can kick back and let the emails pile up away from your inbox. Batch process them once a day or whenever is convenient for you.
Answer surveys as soon as possible
The highest paying surveys are always the most popular and so tend to fill up fast.
If you do see a high-paying survey available – either via an email alert or when logged into the survey site – make sure to respond ASAP.
Be wary of the estimates
Most survey sites will provide an estimate for how long each survey will take you to complete.
As a general rule, you can expect each survey to take 3-5 minutes longer than what you see listed.
Above: The Survey Junkie dashboard, showing time estimates for each survey.Speed up repetitive data entry
Many surveys start out asking you the same basic questions, such as age, sex, address, race, income, etc.
Instead of typing out the same answers to these questions each time, use software like aText (Mac only) or RoboForm to speed up the process.
That said, be careful not to go too fast through each survey, as this appears spammy and may result in your account being blocked. Slow down and carefully consider your response to each novel question, and make sure to answer everything as honestly as possible.Cash out as soon as you can
Some of the survey sites we’ve used and researched seem to offer users LESS surveys once they’re close to or over the minimum payment threshold.
As such, you should know what the minimum payment is for each survey site you use, and request payment as soon as you reach it.
Avoid the other ways of earning money offered by survey sites
Apart from answering surveys, many survey sites also offer additional ways to earn money online.
For example, you might be invited to make money by:
Performing searchesPlaying online gamesWatching videosFinding and entering special codesShopping onlineAs a general rule, you should avoid all of these.
At best you might earn a little money – though rarely as much as you’d earn if you spent the same time answering surveys.At worst you’ll be duped into spending $100 to “save” $30, or something equally ridiculous.Set a target hourly rate and test each site for yourself
We’ve gone to great lengths to give you realistic estimates of how much you can earn for each hour you spend answering surveys on a particular site, but we still recommend that you run your own tests to see if they’re worth your time.
For example, maybe you feel Survey Junkie is only worth your time if you can earn $3 or more per hour on there while watching Netflix.
If so, line up your favorite show, set a timer for two hours, and see if you can hit your target.
This simple test will give you a strong sense of how much you can earn long-term using Survey Junkie. If you can’t hit your target rate in those first two hours, it’s unlikely you ever will.
But hey, at least you won’t have spent much time figuring it out!
How to spot fake / scam survey sites
Three ways:
They ask you to pay to joinYou should never have to do this. There are plenty of legit survey sites out there that pay you to join (Swagbucks is a prime example). You shouldn’t have to pay anything.They ask you to enter your bank information or social security number
Never share your bank account details or other sensitive private information with any survey site. If a particular survey requests this info, close out of it.The surveys dry up as you get close to payout
This may not be a scam but we’ve seen it a lot and it’s something to be wary of. If in doubt about a particular site, check our review (full list here) to see if it has a reputation for this kind of thing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you really make money doing online surveys?How do survey sites work?What kind of survey questions can you expect to answer?How much do online surveys pay?Which survey site pays the most?How do survey sites pay you?Which survey sites are legit?Which survey sites are scams?Are survey sites just a big gigantic waste of time?Can you automate the work?I got scammed by a survey site. What should I do?Which survey sites have you reviewed at eBiz Facts?Why haven’t you reviewed [insert name of survey site here]?
Can you really make money doing online surveys?
You can make money, but you can’t make a living.
Follow the recommendations on this page and you can expect to earn an extra $30 to $100 per month from survey sites, putting in 3-5 hours per week.
One notable exception: top survey site affiliates can earn BIG money.
We’re talking $10,000 or more per month.
That’s not to say it’s easy to earn money as an affiliate for survey sites. Becoming a successful affiliate marketer usually requires quite a bit of work up front.
Learn more about affiliate marketing »
How do survey sites work?
Companies pay survey sites for access to specific types of people who will answer their market research questions.
For example, The Home Depot might go to a survey site and have a conversation like this:
– Hey, we’re looking to survey Americans aged 25-60 who own their homes. Can you help?
– Sure thing. Approximately 20,000 users of our site fit that demographic.
– Great. We’d like to ask them 10 questions each. How much would that cost?
– Let’s say $1 per completed survey, and we’ll split that 50-50 with the respondents. 44
– Awesome. Please send us a contract and we’ll get this rolling.
That’s pretty much it.
The company pays the survey site, the survey site pays you, and everybody goes home happy.
What kind of survey questions can you expect to answer?
When you first sign up for a survey site you’ll be asked a bunch of basic questions to figure out your demographics and establish your profile.
Stuff like:
Date of birthGenderLevel of educationZip codeOnce you have your profile filled out, you’ll mostly be answering surveys related to various products and services, your daily routine, your habits and preferences, etc.
Above: Part of a paid survey we answered on Respondent, asking our opinion on scheduling software.How much do online surveys pay?
It varies a lot.
Expect most to pay pennies, though some higher-end survey sites like Respondent can pay up to $300 for a single survey.
Of course, you also need to take into account how long it takes to complete a survey.
Earning $1 for a 2-minute survey is better than earning $5 for a 2-hour survey.
We’ve gone to great lengths to give you realistic estimates of how much you can earn for each hour you spend answering surveys on a particular site.
You can see our top recommendation here »
Which survey site pays the most?
Based on our experience and research, Respondent pays the most of any survey site we’ve reviewed.
You’re likely to earn an average of $20 for every hour you spend answering surveys on that site.
Join Respondent For Free
How do survey sites pay you?
It depends on the site, but most pay by PayPal and/or gift cards from the likes of Amazon, Target, Apple, etc.
Note that most survey sites require you to earn a minimum amount before you can cash out, and it might take 7-10 days for your payment to be processed.
Which survey sites are legit?
Here are the best survey sites we’ve found:
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
Which survey sites are scams?
Survey sites that are outright scams don’t last very long.
Companies and users alike figure it out pretty fast and cease using the site.
Here are three ways you can usually tell if a survey site is a scam…
They ask you to pay to joinYou should never have to do this. There are plenty of legit survey sites out there that pay you to join (Swagbucks is a prime example). You shouldn’t have to pay anything.They ask you to enter your bank information or social security number
Never share your bank account details or other sensitive private information with any survey site. If a particular survey requests this info, close out of it.The surveys dry up as you get close to payout
This may not be a scam but we’ve seen it a lot and it’s something to be wary of. If in doubt about a particular site, check our review (full list here) to see if it has a reputation for this kind of thing.
Are survey sites just a big gigantic waste of time?
They can be.
When doing any kind of work online, you want to be doing one of two things, ideally both:
You want to be EARNINGAnd you want to be LEARNINGWe’ve yet to find any survey site through which you can earn more than a little extra pocket money each month.
Which would be fine if the work was actually a valuable learning experience.
But it’s not.
Given that:
Survey sites ARE a big gigantic waste of time you let them take you away from the many other types of online work where you can earn good money and/or develop some solid skills that will serve you well in future.Survey sites are NOT a waste of time if you use them while chilling out watching Netflix or listening to a podcast, and you reserve your full attention for more demanding/rewarding kinds of online work.Can you automate the work?
Somewhat.
If you use survey sites a lot you might find yourself answering the same basic questions over and over, such as age, sex, address, race, income, etc.
Instead of typing out the same answers to these questions each time, use software like aText (Mac only) or RoboForm to speed up the process.
That said, be careful not to go too fast through each survey, as this appears spammy and may result in your account being blocked. Slow down and carefully consider your response to each novel question, and make sure to answer everything as honestly as possible.I got scammed by a survey site. What should I do?
That sucks 
InboxDollars Review
Earnings Per Hour 1
$0.50
Payment Options
Gift cards, check.
Minimum Payout 5
30% of referred person’s earnings.
Overall Rating1.5/5 6
View Best Survey Sites
Or join InboxDollars and get a $5 sign-up bonus »
What is InboxDollars?
InboxDollars is a long-established website / app which pays you for completing a variety of activities, such as answering surveys, watching videos, reading promotional emails, and playing games.
We’ve spent 5+ hours using and researching the site ourselves. This InboxDollars review will help you decide if it’s a good way for you to make money online.
Table Of ContentsWhat is InboxDollars?Is InboxDollars a scam?How does InboxDollars work?6 ways to earn on InboxDollarsHow much does InboxDollars pay?How does InboxDollars pay?InboxDollars Gold MembershipInboxDollars WinIt code
InboxDollars sign upInboxDollars login3 InboxDollars hacksInboxDollars appInboxDollars affiliate programIs InboxDollars worth it?Sites like InboxDollarsHave you tried InboxDollars?
This review is a joint effort between Niall Doherty (founder of eBiz Facts) and a hired freelancer named Hannah based in the USA.
Our process:
We hired Hannah to sign up to InboxDollars and test out certain parts of the site.Hannah documented her work and tracked her progress.We searched online for additional information about InboxDollars and carefully noted our findings.We wrote a first draft of this review.We sent the draft to our Freedom Business Builder community and asked for feedback.We made our final edits and published the review.Note: We may earn a commission if you decide to join InboxDollars via a referral link in this review. Read our full disclosure here.
InboxDollars scam?
A few of the most popular things people search for in relation to InboxDollars:
InboxDollars scamIs InboxDollars legit?Is InboxDollars a scam?InboxDollars complaintsIs InboxDollars safe?InboxDollars has been around since the year 2000 and has partnered with the likes of Netflix, Target, H&R Block and Walmart.
They are also accredited by the Better Business Bureau and hold an impressive A+ rating.
However, users of InboxDollars give mixed reviews.
Many see the site as an easy and reliable way of earning a little money online, but we’ve also seen frequent complaints from users, more so than with other survey sites we’ve reviewed.
Common complaints about InboxDollars include:
It’s difficult to qualify for surveysOne user mentioned applying for 38 surveys and qualifying for only 7.Surveys tend to “dry up” the closer you get to cashing out
In other words, you might earn your first $15-20 quickly, but it can be a struggle to reach the $30 minimum required for a payout.Accounts closed for no obvious reason
InboxDollars seems to occasionally kick users off the site without providing any explanation.
Given all that, we’re hesitant to recommend InboxDollars.
You’re much better off choosing an alternative from our list of top-rated survey sites…
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
How does InboxDollars work?
First of all, please note that InboxDollars is only available to people living in the USA. 7
Countries Available
USA only.
Once you sign up, InboxDollars pays you for completing simple online tasks.
Above: The InboxDollars interface.Ways to earn on InboxDollars
Confirm your email and complete your profile
When you sign up to InboxDollars via this link, you’ll receive a $5 bonus for confirming your email address.
You can also earn an additional $0.50 by completing a to-do list on your dashboard.
That will get you to $5.50 in earnings in only a few minutes.
As soon as you sign up for InboxDollars, you can begin answering surveys for money.
Above: A selection of surveys available to complete after signing up for InboxDollars.The official word:
Most online surveys for money pay from $0.50 to $5.00 and take 3 minutes to 25 minutes to complete. There are some online surveys that pay $10, $20, or even more if you match the demographic profile they are looking for.
(Don’t get your hopes up here. As you’ll see below, you’re likely to earn only $0.50/hour answering surveys on InboxDollars.)
Watch videosInboxDollars partners with advertisers to bring you video content. When you videos on the site, partners pay InboxDollars and you receive a portion of those earnings.
Unfortunately, InboxDollars will only pay you $0.01 per video (or series of videos) watched, regardless of length.
Above: Examples of videos InboxDollars will pay you $0.01 to watch.Play gamesAs with watching videos, InboxDollars will pay you a tiny amount for time spent playing some of their free games.
They also offer up to 18% cash back on every dollar spent on premium games, which isn’t so much a way to earn money as it is to play some premium games at a discount.
Accept special offersYou’ll be pitched free and premium offers once signed up to InboxDollars, like a cash reward for signing up for a free trial of a product or service, or cash back for spending a certain amount at an online store.
This seems to be the best way to earn money with InboxDollars, but only if you’re smart about it. (See our InboxDollars hacks for best practices.)
Above: Examples of offers on InboxDollars.Read emailsInboxDollars can send you regular emails, usually promoting some third-party product or service. For each one of these you open, you get paid $0.02.
See our top-rated survey sites
Or join InboxDollars and get a $5 sign-up bonus »
How much does InboxDollars pay?
Your earning potential on any survey site comes down to two primary factors:
How much you can earn per hour, on average.How many surveys are available for you to answer each day.If you can earn a high amount per hour and there are endless surveys available, you can earn a lot of money.
Compared to most other survey sites, InboxDollars scores poorly on both counts:
Earnings Per Hour 8
$0.50
Survey Quantity 9
poor
The scores there would be much higher, but you’re likely to be disqualified from most of the surveys you apply for. Disqualifications can even happen after you’ve spent 20 minutes answering a survey, which is frustrating.
Best case scenario, expect to qualify for a maximum of 5 surveys each day, and probably less as you get closer to the $30 payment threshold.
Above: A selection of surveys available to complete after signing up for InboxDollars.However, answering surveys isn’t the only way to earn money on InboxDollars. You can also get paid to:
Watch videosPlay gamesRead emailsAccept special offersAs noted above, your earnings for the first three will be miniscule, to the point where it’s hardly worth your time.
You can occasionally earn some decent money from the special offers, but only if you’re smart about it. (See our InboxDollars hacks for best practices.)
See our top-rated survey sites
Or join InboxDollars and get a $5 sign-up bonus »
How does InboxDollars pay?
Payment Options
Gift cards, check.
Minimum Payout 12
30% of referred person’s earnings.
The InboxDollars affiliate and referral programs are how some folks earn BIG money on the site.
You can apply for the affiliate program here, but note that it “requires a minimum of 300 user registrations (US & UK only) per month.”
No details are provided about commissions.
The referral program, on the other hand, is far more transparent and accessible.
Essential info for InboxDollars affiliatesYou will be paid $1 for each of the first five “officially activated” people you refer to InboxDollars.For every person you refer beyond those first five, you will receive 30% of whatever they earn (their earnings from signup and profile surveys excluded).For more details, see here.
Keep in mind that it’s not necessarily easy to earn money as a InboxDollars affiliate. Becoming a successful affiliate marketer usually requires quite a bit of work up front.
Learn more about affiliate marketing »
Is InboxDollars worth it?NO if your main interest is earning money from answering surveys. (There are far better sites for that.)MAYBE if you’re smart and selective about signing up for the offers available on the site. (See our tips here.)
Overall Rating1.5/5 13
View Best Survey Sites
Or join InboxDollars and get a $5 sign-up bonus »
Sites Like InboxDollars (but better)
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
Your InboxDollars Review
Have you tried InboxDollars?
Please consider leaving a review below – good or bad – doesn’t matter so long as it’s helpful to our visitors. Thanks for your support!
Qmee Review
Earnings Per Hour 1
$1
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 5
Up to $1 for every referral who cashes out.
Overall Rating2/5 6
View Best Survey Sites
Or join Qmee for free »
What is Qmee?
Qmee is a popular website / app which pays you for answering surveys and searching online. Qmee also helps you save money when shopping online.
We’ve spent 5+ hours using and researching the site ourselves. This Qmee review will help you decide if it’s a good way for you to make money online.
Table Of ContentsWhat is Qmee?How does Qmee work?3 ways to earn money on QmeeIs Qmee safe?How much does Qmee pay?How does Qmee pay?Qmee sign upQmee login
3 Qmee hacksQmee extensionQmee appQmee affiliate programIs Qmee worth it?Sites like QmeeHave you tried Qmee?
This Qmee review is a joint effort between Niall Doherty (founder of eBiz Facts) and a hired freelancer named Hannah based in the USA.
Our process:
We hired Hannah to sign up to Qmee and test out certain parts of the site.Hannah documented her work and tracked her progress.We searched online for additional information about Qmee and carefully noted our findings.We wrote a first draft of this review.We sent the draft to our Freedom Business Builder community and asked for feedback.We made our final edits and published the review.Note: We may earn a commission if you decide to join Qmee via a referral link in this review. Read our full disclosure here.
How does Qmee work?
First of all, please note that Qmee is only available to people living in the countries listed below.
Countries Available
Australia, Canada, UK, USA.
Once you sign up, Qmee pays you for answering surveys and searching online, and also offers you discounts on certain purchases.
Here’s an official video from the site explaining how it works:
How to use Qmee to earn money
Qmee searches
Lots of people are curious about Qmee searches, and yes, Qmee does pay you for searching online and clicking on certain results.
Above: Two 8-cent search results showing the Qmee sidebar after searching for “digital camera” on Amazon.Note however that Qmee does not reward you for any and all searches. The rewards can be quite random and inconsistent, and you’re never going to earn much money doing this.
We’ve seen users reporting that they earn as little as $5 per year clicking on Qmee search results.
To get Qmee searches showing in your browser, you will need to download the free Qmee browser extension after you sign up.
Qmee surveysThis seems to be the best way to earn money on Qmee, though the earnings are still quite low.
Above: Surveys available on Qmee.You basically answer the questions in each survey, and so long as you don’t get disqualified you will be paid the amount promised.
Users report earning an average of $1 per hour answering Qmee surveys.
Shopping discountsThis is more “saving” than “earning” but also worth mentioning.
Once you install the Qmee browser extension, as well as rewarding you for certain searches, you will also occasionally see some discount offers in the Qmee sidebar.
Above: A $30 discount offer on a camera via the Qmee sidebar.From Qmee.com:
When searching with Qmee, it works in the background to show you relevant results on the left hand side of your screen when you’re using your favorite sites. We give you cash rewards for shopping on your favorite sites and engaging with your favorite brands, we display price savings when we find you a better deal so you don’t have to go to different sites to compare, and we offer you money saving coupons and deals on the items you’re shopping for.
Be careful here that you don’t end up buying stuff you don’t need just because there’s a discount available!
See our top-rated survey sites
Is Qmee safe?
A few of the most popular things people search for in relation to Qmee:
Is Qmee safe?Is Qmee legit?Is Qmee a scam?According to the vast majority of users, Qmee is safe and is not a scam.
Considering the low earning potential compared to other survey sites, we found Qmee to have surprisingly good user reviews.
For example, both the Qmee mobile apps (Android and iOS) have an average rating of 4+ stars, based on thousands of reviews.
Here is the official word from Qmee on safety:
We take your security and privacy very seriously. We encrypt all communications so that no-one can listen in. We encrypt your password on our servers so that it cannot be read by anyone it shouldn’t be. We don’t share your data with anyone else without your permission. By using Paypal to cash out your rewards we don’t hold any of your financial information. This is covered in more detail in our Privacy Promise. If you have specific questions let us know at support@qmee.com
Qmee also seems to offer better support than any other survey site we’ve seen, promptly replying to user comments on various platforms.
Above: A same-day response by Qmee support to a negative review of their Android app.That said, here are some common complaints we’ve heard about Qmee:
It’s difficult to qualify for surveysMany users report spending 15-20 minutes answering a survey only to be disqualified near the end, thus earning nothing for their efforts.Can’t cash out unless you have a verified PayPal account
This is true even if you want to get paid by gift card.Low earnings
Regardless of whether you’re getting rewarded for searching online or answering surveys, your earnings are going to be pretty low on Qmee.
Given all that, we’re hesitant to recommend Qmee.
You’d be better off choosing an alternative from our list of top-rated survey sites…
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
How much does Qmee pay?
Your earning potential on any survey site comes down to two primary factors:
How much you can earn per hour, on average.How many surveys are available for you to answer each day.If you can earn a high amount per hour and there are endless surveys available, you can earn a lot of money.
Compared to most other survey sites, Qmee scores poorly on both counts:
Earnings Per Hour 7
$1
Survey Quantity 8
poor
The scores there would be much higher, but you’re likely to be disqualified from most of the surveys you apply for. Disqualifications can even happen after you’ve spent 20 minutes answering a survey, which is frustrating.
You can also earn money from Qmee searches, but your earnings here are likely to be even lower than from surveys. Most users report earning less than $1 per month from Qmee search rewards.
See our top-rated survey sites
How does Qmee pay?
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 11
Up to $1 for every referral who cashes out.
The Qmee referral program is how some folks earn BIG money on the site.
However, you must use Qmee yourself for a while before the “Referrals” section of the site becomes available. (We’ve been unable to determine at what point referrals are unlocked, but Qmee notes that it’s “an automatic process.”)
Qmee gives you a choice of how you much you are rewarded for referring others to the site:
We’ve given you the choice of 3 different links to share which puts you in control of what happens to your reward. Take a look at each of the different links and reward options…
Link 1 – You keep all of the reward, so you now receive £1/$1
Link 2 – Your reward gets shared equally, so you and your friend both get 50p/50c
Link 3 – If you’re feeling extra generous, you can give all of the reward to your friend!
No matter which of those rewards you chose, they only apply when someone you referred to Qmee cashes out via PayPal for the first time.
Keep in mind that it’s not necessarily easy to earn money as a Qmee affiliate. Becoming a successful affiliate marketer usually requires quite a bit of work up front.
Learn more about affiliate marketing »
Is Qmee worth it?NO if your main interest is earning money from answering surveys. (There are far better sites for that.)MAYBE if you don’t care about earning much and really value good/responsive customer service.
Overall Rating2/5 12
View Best Survey Sites
Or join Qmee for free »
Sites Like Qmee (but better)
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
Your Qmee Review
Have you tried Qmee?
Please consider leaving a review below – good or bad – doesn’t matter so long as it’s helpful to our visitors. Thanks for your support!
PaidViewpoint Review
Earnings Per Hour 1
$4
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 5
20% of referred person’s earnings, up to $25.
Overall Rating2/5 6
View Best Survey Sites
Or join PaidViewpoint for free »
What is PaidViewpoint?
PaidViewpoint is a long-established website which pays you for answering occasional surveys.
We’ve spent 5+ hours using and researching the site ourselves. This PaidViewpoint review will help you decide if it’s a good way for you to make money online.
Table Of ContentsWhat is PaidViewpoint?How does PaidViewpoint work?Is PaidViewpoint a scam?PaidViewpoint PrivacyHow much does PaidViewpoint pay?How does PaidViewpoint pay?PaidViewpoint activation bonus codePaidViewpoint sign up
PaidViewpoint login
5 PaidViewpoint hacks
PaidViewpoint app
PaidViewpoint affiliate program
Is PaidViewpoint worth it?
Sites like PaidViewpoint
Have you tried PaidViewpoint?
This review is a joint effort between Niall Doherty (founder of eBiz Facts) and a hired freelancer named Hannah based in the USA.
Our process:
We hired Hannah to sign up to PaidViewpoint and test out certain parts of the site.Hannah documented her work and tracked her progress.We searched online for additional information about PaidViewpoint and carefully noted our findings.We wrote a first draft of this review.We sent the draft to our Freedom Business Builder community and asked for feedback.We made our final edits and published the review.Note: We may earn a commission if you decide to join PaidViewpoint via a referral link in this review. Read our full disclosure here.
How does PaidViewpoint work?
Countries Available
Worldwide.
PaidViewpoint pays you to answer surveys.
They offer two types of surveys:
Traits surveysMarket research surveysTraits surveys are small collections of questions that help us get to better know you and your interests. By getting an idea of your traits, demographics and interests, we can deliver you surveys which are relevant, interesting and more fun for you to answer.
Traits surveys generally pay between $0.03 and $0.10, but more importantly they help build your TraitScore.
Your goal is to achieve a TraitScore of 9000 or better. That will place you in the top 10% of PV members and means you will earn more for each answer.
While traits surveys aim to determine if you’re trustworthy or not, market research surveys are surveys ordered by clients of PaidViewpoint who are trying to understand more about your demographic, your buying habits, etc.
Each market research survey is different, but most take less than 5 minutes to complete and pay between $0.25 and $1.50.
PaidViewpoint stands apart from most other survey sites in two important ways:
Other survey sites often disqualify you midway through a survey. This never happens on PaidViewpoint. You don’t have to qualify for any survey. Answer those that are presented to you and get paid.You can sign up to PaidViewpoint anonymously, without having to confirm your name or mailing address.Here’s a quick video showing you how PaidViewpoint looks and works on the inside:
See our top-rated survey sites
Or join PaidViewpoint for free »
Is PaidViewpoint a scam?
Two of the most popular things people search for in relation to PaidViewpoint:
PaidViewpoint scamIs PaidViewpoint legit?First of all, PaidViewpoint is very upfront about the fact that you will not earn a lot of money using their site:
Everybody earns on Paid Viewpoint. But we are not a fast cash or big money site.
Their parent company – Umongous, LLC. – has received a respectable B- rating from the Better Business Bureau (though it has yet to receive accreditation).
PaidViewpoint is also part of Ask Your Target Market (AYTM), which appears to be one of the most respected market research platforms online, having worked with the likes of Samsung, Nike and NBC.
However, we have seen numerous complaints from PaidViewpoint users along these lines:
There were plenty of surveys available for me to answer when I signed up. But as I got close to the $15 payout threshold, the surveys seemed to dry up.
Furthermore, doubt has been cast on PaidViewpoint’s promise that users earn more per survey once they’ve achieved a TraitScore of 9000 or better. Nothing we’ve seen or experienced shows that to be clearly the case.
That said, many users of PaidViewpoint seem not to have encountered such issues. They continue to use and recommend the site regularly.
But if those issues worry you, you may want to choose another option from our list of top-rated survey sites…
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
PaidViewpoint Privacy
PaidViewpoint stands apart from most other survey sites in that you can use it without confirming your name or mailing address.
In other words, you can use it anonymously.
You are asked to provide your name and address upon sign-up, of course, but there’s no validation process.
The only profile information you provide to PaidViewpoint which must be accurate is:
Standard demographic information (birthdate, zip code, gender, etc.)Your phone number (to activate your account via an automated code)Your PayPal address (so you can get paid)On top of that, you should obviously answer all the traits surveys and market research surveys as accurately as possible. (Do otherwise and your TraitScore is likely to suffer.)
PaidViewpoint shares the following information related to your privacy using the site:
When you answer a research survey we provide the researcher your answers, your standard demographic information (see below) and your location down to the zip code level. We do not provide them your street address. We do not provide to them your name, phone number or email address. We do not share your IP address but we do let them see on a map approximately where you live.
Although we do not directly share your identity, there is always a possibility that Umongous Clients who receive this information from us, and/or other third parties with whom Umongous Clients share this information, would be able to deduce your identity based on the information provided, for example if your zip code is sparsely populated area and/or if the combination of your demographics and survey answers are very unique.
See our top-rated survey sites
Or join PaidViewpoint for free »
How much does PaidViewpoint pay?
Your earning potential on any survey site comes down to two primary factors:
How much you can earn per hour, on average.How many surveys are available for you to answer each day.If you can earn a high amount per hour and there are endless surveys available, you can earn a lot of money.
Compared to most other survey sites, PaidViewpoint scores well on the first factor:
Earnings Per Hour 7
$4
But not so good on the second:
Survey Quantity 8
awful
Our researcher Hannah in the USA found that there was usually only one survey per day available to her after signing up to PaidViewpoint.
She ended up earning almost $4 in less than one hour total using the site, but that hour came over a span of 9 days.
Above: Our researcher’s earnings after one hour of answering surveys on PaidViewpoint.The most we’ve heard of anyone else (believable) earning on PaidViewpoint is $6 per hour, but again that hour was spread out over many days.
Given that, you should not expect to earn very much money using PaidViewpoint, even if you have a lot of time to spare. There simply aren’t enough surveys available on there to earn yourself a quick payday.
If you really want to maximize your earnings on survey sites, see our alternative recommendations here:
Best Survey Sites
Best Overall
Earnings Per Hour
Survey Quantity
Payment Options
Quick Payout
Mobile App
Outside USA
Affiliate Program
See all our top-rated survey sites »
How does PaidViewpoint pay?
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 12
20% of referred person’s earnings, up to $25.
The PaidViewpoint affiliate / referral program is how some folks earn BIG money on the site.
Above: The “friends” section of PaidViewpoint, with all the details for affiliates.
Essential info for PaidViewpoint affiliatesYou can refer people to PaidViewpoint and start earning commissions as soon as you sign up. Check the “friends” section once logged into your account for all the info.Whenever someone you referred cashes out, you will receive 20% of every business survey reward they’ve accumulated, up to a maximum of $25 per referral.Once you’ve referred more than 100 people, you can apply for the PaidViewpoint VIP program. If accepted, you can collect your 20% commission on the fly instead of waiting for them to cash out.
PaidViewpoint elaborates on that last point:
To get this privilege you need to have 100+ ACTIVE friends/referrals. By active we mean that your referrals have to have been a member for more than 30 days and must be visiting the site and completing surveys on a regular basis. You can apply for it by clicking the VIP banner on your Friends page. Please note that only members who have assembled their communities in a 100% honest way without a shadow of doubt will be granted the VIP status. Please don’t try to bump your numbers by adding ghost accounts or inviting your dog to join, it won’t do any good
Swagbucks Review
Earnings Per Hour 1
$1
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 5
$2.20 per new verified account.
Overall Rating2.5/5 6
Get Your $5 Sign-Up Bonus
See all our top-rated survey sites »
What is Swagbucks?
Swagbucks is a popular website / app which pays you for completing a variety of activities, such as answering surveys, watching videos, searching the web, and playing games.
We’ve spent 5+ hours using and researching the site ourselves. This Swagbucks review will help you decide if it’s a good way for you to make money online.
Table Of ContentsWhat is Swagbucks?Is Swagbucks legit?How does Swagbucks work?6 ways to earn on SwagbucksHow much does Swagbucks pay?How does Swagbucks pay?Swagbucks sign up codeSwagbucks swag codeSwagbucks sign up
Swagbucks login6 Swagbucks hacksSwagbucks appSwagbucks affiliate programSwagbucks referral programIs Swagbucks worth it?Sites like SwagbucksHave you tried Swagbucks?
This review is a joint effort between Niall Doherty (founder of eBiz Facts) and a hired freelancer named Hannah based in the USA.
Our process:
We hired Hannah to sign up to Swagbucks and test out certain parts of the site.Hannah documented her work and tracked her progress.We searched online for additional information about Swagbucks and carefully noted our findings.We wrote a first draft of this review.We sent the draft to our Freedom Business Builder community and asked for feedback.We made our final edits and published the review.Note: We may earn a commission if you decide to join Swagbucks via a referral link in this review. Read our full disclosure here.
Is Swagbucks legit? Is Swagbucks safe?
A few of the most popular things people search for in relation to Swagbucks:
Is Swagbucks legit?Is Swagbucks safe?Is Swagbucks a scam?Swagbucks scamWe can tell you that Swagbucks is legit and definitely not a scam.
Swagbucks is owned and operated by Prodege, LLC.
They’ve been in business since 2005 and have long been accredited by the Better Business Bureau, which has awarded the company an A- rating, and notes that 500+ customers have given the company an average review of 4.1 stars.
That said, Swagbucks is NOT a very effective way of earning money online.
Even when compared to other survey sites – none of which are great for earning big money online – we find Swagbucks lacking.
Best Survey Sites
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Earnings Per Hour
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See all our top-rated survey sites »
Why so many people ask if Swagbucks is legit
Most likely, it’s because there are many misleading Swagbucks reviews online.
Many of those reviews are written to generate affiliate commissions, and so tend to make exaggerated claims about how much money you can earn on Swagbucks, in the hopes that you’ll get excited, click an affiliate link and sign up.
For example, we’ve read reviews claiming that you can earn $5 in only 30 minutes on Swagbucks. Based on our experience and research, earning such amounts is extremely rare if not outright impossible.
In summary: Swagbucks is legit, but most Swagbucks reviews are not.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
How does Swagbucks work?
First of all, you can only sign up for Swagbucks if you live in one of the following countries. 7
Countries Available
Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, USA, UK.
Once you’ve signed up and verified your account, you can start earning SB.
1 SB = $0.01 USD (one penny)100 SB = $11000 SB = $10There are several ways to earn SB, which you can then exchange for cash or gift cards.
Ways to earn on Swagbucks
Answer Swagbucks surveys
Answering surveys seems to be the most popular and most effective way to earn money directly on Swagbucks.
Above: An example of the type of surveys Swagbucks will pay you to answer.As per the official website:
Here’s how it works: brands and market research companies invite Swagbucks users to fill-out online surveys about products and services. When users complete a survey, Swagbucks pays its users between $0.05 and $2.50 (and sometimes as much as $25 – $35).
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Try products and services
Be careful here, as this is one of those “spend money to make money” type deals.
The official word from Swagbucks:
Marketers and brands literally pay Swagbucks users to try their products and services. In many cases, the amount of money that marketers pay will cover a portion of the cost of the product or service itself. However, there are some cases where companies reward users with more than the cost of the service.
Some of the best offers we’ve seen here are for Hulu ($10 reward), Bluehost ($60), and Dollar Shave Club ($15).
But again, you need to spend money on these services via Swagbucks before you can claim your reward, so it’s really only worth doing if you were going to buy them anyway.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Watch Videos / Swagbucks Watch / Swagbucks nCrave
You might get a kick out of this if you like watching videos online and discovering new content.
From the official site:
Swagbucks has a section of its website and a number of mobile apps that are dedicated to rewarding users for watching video playlists and reviewing the content of various websites.
If you’re committed, you can consistently make about $5 per day watching videos on Swagbucks. There’s a range of interesting video categories. They include Entertainment, Food, Home & Garden, Health, Tech and Travel.
Above: Example of videos you can get paid to watch on Swagbucks.Nested inside this section of the website you’ll also find Swagbucks nCrave, described as:
nCrave is your place to discover amazing videos, articles and websites on the Internet and earn SB at the same time.
Just click on the link and you have the opportunity to discover new videos and articles that are trending across the Internet. Choose one of the options in the list or just start from the top and work your way through the list.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Get cashback for shopping online
As with #2 above, this is only worthwhile if you’re going to buy something online anyway.
Otherwise, you’re spending a lot to earn a little, which is a sure-fire way to end up broke.
So please be careful here.
Here’s how Swagbucks describes this option:
Whenever you plan to make an online purchase, find the store at which you intend to shop within the Swagbucks Store Directory. Then, simply click through from the store’s page on Swagbucks.
You will then earn a certain cashback amount for any purchase made at that store’s website.
Above: Examples of online stores where you can earn cashback via Swagbucks.Two other things to note here:
The first time you make a purchase through the Swagbucks cashback portal, you’ll receive a $10 “new shopper bonus.” That’s essentially free money if you’re planning to buy something online anyway.Swagbucks offers a free browser extension that alerts you about available coupons and cashback amounts when you shop online, so you don’t have to remember to go through the Swagbucks portal and can maximise your cashback earnings.Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Get cashback for dining out (Swagbucks Local)
Another one where you must first spend to earn, but there really doesn’t seem to be any downside to this one if you eat out regularly.
As per the Swagbucks website:
The best way to save money, and essentially make money, when you dine out is to use a service like SB Local. With it, you’ll effortlessly receive cashback when you dine out or shop at any of the 1,000s of participating restaurants and retailers nationwide. And, you won’t have to show a coupon or do anything other than pay with the credit card you link to the Swagbucks Local program.
Above: How SB local works.Note that you can also get a 500 SB bonus ($5) when you use SB Local for the first time.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
Swagbucks daily poll
Swagbucks posts a new poll every day for users to answer.
Above: An example of the Swagbucks daily poll.You will earn only 1 SB ($0.01) for answering each poll, which means that answering the Swagbucks daily poll every day for a year would earn you only $3.65.
Given that, it’s not really worth the time.
Get a $5 sign-up bonus for Swagbucks
How much does Swagbucks pay?
Earnings Per Hour 8
$1
As noted above, there are a variety of ways to earn money with Swagbucks, but for this section we’re going to focus on what’s generally considered to be the most lucrative: answering surveys.
Your earning potential on any survey site comes down to two primary factors:
How much you can earn per hour, on average.How many surveys are available for you to answer each day.If you can earn a high amount per hour and there are endless surveys available, you can earn a lot of money.
On Swagbucks, as with most survey sites, those two factors can vary greatly depending on demographics.
The official line from Swagbucks:
When users complete a survey, Swagbucks pays its users between $0.05 and $2.50 (and sometimes as much as $25 – $35).
Based on our research, “sometimes as much as $25 – $35” is incredibly rare.
Instead, the average person seems to earn only $1 per hour answering surveys on Swagbucks.
That’s on the low end for survey sites. (See which survey site is best here.)
Above: Some higher-paying surveys on Swagbucks, the best paying $3 for an estimated 10 minutes (this is rare).On the plus side, there are pretty much endless surveys available on Swagbucks.
Survey Quantity 9
great
Which is how one user managed to earn more than 1000 SB ($10) in a single day.
Above: Screenshot shared by one Swagbucks user showing 1,004 SB earned in a single day just by answering surveys.Of course, there are many ways to earn more money per hour working online, but the reason many people like using Swagbucks for this purpose seems to be because answering surveys is easy and doesn’t require your full attention.
However, the same is true of Survey Junkie, and your earnings per hour there will be more than 2x what you’re likely to earn on Swagbucks.
Check out Survey Junkie or read our Survey Junkie review.How does Swagbucks pay?
Payment Options
PayPal, gift cards.
Minimum Payout 12
$2.20 per new verified account.
This is how some folks earn BIG money with Swagbucks.
We’ve read of people earning $10,000 or more per month as affiliates for survey sites, and Swagbucks has one of the best affiliate programs in the business.
Essential info for Swagbucks affiliatesYou must sign up for the Swagbucks affiliate program via Awin.Swagbucks only accepts traffic from the Australia, Canada, Ireland, the USA and UK. Anyone who clicks on your affiliate link from another country will land on the Swagbucks homepage, but won’t be able to sign up for an account.The payout is $2.20 “per email verification of new user registrations.”
That second point really separates Swagbucks from the pack.
Most affiliate programs only pay you once a sale is made, but Swagbucks pays you just for sending them new users who sign up for a free account.
That’s not to say it’s easy to earn money as a Swagbucks affiliate. Becoming a successful affiliate marketer usually requires quite a bit of work up front.
Learn more about affiliate marketing »
Swagbucks referral program
Yes, the Swagbucks referral program is different from the Swagbucks affiliate program.
The referral program is for users of Swagbucks to invite their friends.
When you sign up to Swagbucks, you receive a special referral link. Share this link with your friends, they sign up using it, and then Swagbucks awards you 10% of whatever they earn, indefinitely.
You Earn 10% of Whatever They Earn. Whenever They Earn it.
So if your friend Jane earns 700 SB in a single day, we will give you 70 SB in return. The more your referrals earn, the more you earn.
Is Swagbucks worth it?YES if you’re looking for a survey site with lots of rewards options.YES if you’re looking for a survey site with loads of mobile apps so you can earn a bit of money on the go.NO if you’re looking to earn a living working online. (There are much better options for that.)NO if you’re looking to earn as much money as possible from a survey site. (See our top rated survey sites here.)
Overall Rating2.5/5 13
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