Saturday 26 August 2017

Mintvine - Earning Mintvine points via Engageme.tv

If you're getting a bit fed up with doing surveys on Mintvine but still want to earn points, Engageme.TV is a good way to do that.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a quick way to earn points, but if you're able to leave it running while you do other things then the points soon add up.

To access engageme.tv, first go to the Mintvine site and click on 'Offers':


Once on the offers section, you need to click 'Adwall':


You'll then be given the option of choosing an Engageme.tv category - different categories have different amounts of ads. I usually choose Food and Cooking to start, but often change througout the day.


Once you've clicked on a section, engageme.tv will start running. DO NOT LOG IN! For it to run with Mintvine, it needs to say 'Earning with: Other' and logging in won't give you a Mintvine option.

Points wise, you'll get 1 point for every 3 ads you see. Unfortunately ads don't always show, so you may need to keep an eye on it to start, and change categories if you're getting no ads.


Not on Mintvine? Join me here.

Read Jade's fab Newbie Guide to Mintvine here.

Engageme/tv not working for Mintvine? Try it for Grabpoints instead here

Friday 25 August 2017

Swagbucks - new Swago board starting 28th August 2017!

It's that time again, Swagbucks fans - a new Swago board!

What's Swago? It's a little like bingo for Swagbucks, where you have a board and certain things to tick off - it could be visiting a website, watching a video, completing a survey, inviting a referral etc. - and if you achieve certain patterns you could get a bonus of up to 300sb!

It's usually pretty easy to complete, and there are plenty of people in the Facebook group who are willing to help, so sign up to the board now!

How do I join?

Click here and then click on the 'Join Now' button:


You should then see this screen:


Then simply visit the Swago page at 5pm on August 28th to get started! You have until 8pm on September 4th to submit your board and you can only submit it once, so keep at it until you've done as much as you can!

Here's what you can expect to be doing:



Not a Swagbucks member? Join here :)

Not in the Facebook group? Why ever not? Come and join us here!

Want to know more about Swago? Read Hannah's fab post here.

Thursday 24 August 2017

An open letter to Prolific Academic


*** EDITED TO ADD: Credit where credit is due, Prolific reached out to me not only here but also on Reddit, Facebook and by PM and email, and their response was brilliant. They hadn't removed posts on Reddit at all, there was a delay in them showing and I jumped the gun - sorry guys! I have to say they've been fantastic in trying to resolve this - the referral system is back up and running and it sounds as if they have a lot of great plans ahead, so I'm perfectly happy to continue recommending them as one of my top 3 earners :) ***


Hi, I've been a Prolific member for some time and a great advocate of your platform. While your referral system was working I sent over 160 referrals to Prolific. However I notice that as of around the end of July, your referral system stopped working. Considering that since the 1st August I have gained 157 Swagbucks referrals (http://nikkersuk.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/the-end-of-summer-may-be-here-but-you.html) and over 200 Mintvine referrals (https://mintvine.com/users/register/d800dcae12047d0653eeaa9e5) I reckon I have missed out on AT LEAST 100 Prolific referrals. All of this with no notice from you guys that the referral system wasn't working.

And then, upon being informed that there was an error, you inform us that the referral system has been disabled! How is this acceptable to loyal members that are promoting YOUR platform?

But it doesn't stop there. This morning I notice that you have changed the referral links for members to gain referrals - again without notifying us. Not only this but you actually got the link wrong in your own system! Maybe you should tell your techy guys how to spell 'participant'? Many people are now sharing incorrect referral links, which not only makes them look stupid and makes you look unprofessional (it gives a 404 error), but also wastes everyone's time.

I'm shocked and saddened at how badly you have treated your loyal members and until something is done about this there is no way I can promote your website to the 50,000+ members of Facebook groups I admin.

I look forward to hearing back from you. https://www.prolific.ac/participants?ref=C4UOZOGG

Wednesday 23 August 2017

Engageme.TV not working for Grabpoints? Try this!

This is a guest post from Rebekah Critchley, a member of our Facebook group dedicated to Swagbucks, Mintvine, Prolific and more - pop over to the group and thank her for taking the time to write it! It was written in response to a number of members saying they could not get Engageme.tv to work with Grabpoints.

So I am here to tell you today about a new work around for Engageme.tv on Grabpoints!

Lots of people are earning money for Grabpoints by signing in to Engageme.tv, connecting the two together and running videos on the Engageme.tv website (Nikki is writing a blog post about this at the moment that will be linked from here when it's finished).

A few people have found that this doesn't work well for them though so this guide is a work around should that fail.

If you are not yet on Grabpoints start here. If you are scroll down ...

There are 2 routes to sign up to Grabpoints. As of writing this Swagpoints has Grabpoints up for 256 points.

* Route 1 - Swagbucks home page ---> Discover page --->Revenue Universe:
   Scroll down until you see Grabpoints as can be seen below.



* Route 2 - Referral ---> Using a referral / invite code gives you a 500 point start on Grabpoints, so please feel free to use mine. Sign up via Grabpoints.com and here is my referral id: CIUU3V. Thank you so much if you do!

Ok so once you are signed in to Grabpoints  the screen will look like this:



On the left hand side click on Watch Videos:




This will bring up the following page:




Click on any one of the 3 videos that have 5 points next to them. This will then open up a window in engageme.tv.




On this screen you can see the points you are accumulating circled in Red and the video count in a orange rectangle:




The points will update on Grabpoints after every set of 5 you have accumulated. So at 5, 10, 15, 20 etc.

This can be see like this on your earn history.:




Occassionally you may encounter a problem with the video count not moving on. In this instance it is best to just go back to the watch video page and just choose a different one.

As you can see from my picture you can earn 5 points within 6-20 minutes or so but it does vary. I would say an average of 10 minutes to work through from 1-3 and then get awarded your 5 points.

Here is a print screen of my current status. This gives you a rough idea :-)




For those of you who may not be on Swagbucks yet it is fab! Lots of opportunities to earn through doing surveys, downloading apps, opening links, playing games, search the web aaaand the best watching videos! The points soon add up and you can cash out to Paypal and Amazon. Here is my referral should you wish to use it :-) : http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/swaguserRebC. If you do sign up through it thank you so much!

Hope that the guide helps and happy earning to you all! x

Tuesday 22 August 2017

The Swagbucks / MSE double Swag Bucks bonus is in!



Morning people - hopefully lots of you waking up to your Swagbucks double points bonus from the MSE offer early in July :)

If you don't have the points and you think you should have, here's what to to http://nikkersuk.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/swagbucks-i-didnt-get-my-double.html

If you don't have the points and don't know if you should have them, these are points from a Money Saving Expert offer which ran from 4th - 11th July 2017. The offer was double swagbucks for the week on certain activities done on Swagbucks UK. If you were not a member then, you aren't due the points. If you didn't click on the link to activate the offer, you also aren't due the points. Some people who did click the link got a confirmation email, some didn't (I didn't) but it is worth checking your emails from around 13th July when confirmation emails seem to have gone out.

There is a little confusion as to what and wasn't included in the offer and whether everyone has actually received the points they were due - from my point of view I'm happy with what I have received and life is too short to be counting every last point to see if I got the right amount, you may feel differently (especially if the difference is quite large) in which case if your totals don't tally up, I would suggest following the steps at http://nikkersuk.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/swagbucks-i-didnt-get-my-double.html to claim any you feel you are due.

Missed out on this offer because you're not a Swagbucks member? Some members gained an extra £20-30 in swagbucks! Come and join me now so you don't miss out next time!

Monday 21 August 2017

Piggybank empty? Treats to buy? Earn some extra cash with YouGov

This is a guest post by Jo, who is one of our Facebook Group members - pop along to the group to thank her!


Are you interested in earning a little extra pocket money from home? Do you want to have your say on the day's hot topics or the latest new thing?

Yes? Well here's how you can make £50 every few months, without even having to get out of bed! Although you should try to, because if a spaceship were to land in your garden, you'd miss out...

One popular money-maker is from survey sites that reward you for simply giving your opinion. Your opinion - alongside your demographic - is valuable to organisations, so don't give it away for free. I'm a member of a few good research panels and one of my favourites is YouGov.

Why is YouGov one of the best sites to join?

YouGov runs its own research rather than just feeding out the same surveys from other companies like many sites do, which means you're paid better. You get points for every survey and when you have 5,000 points they reward you with £50 cash!

·         There is a website and an app for iOS and Android.
·         Most surveys take only 6-10 minutes
·         Rewards are reasonable, usually 50p, or for longer surveys 75p - £1.
·         Unlike many sites, you are rarely disqualified from a survey
·         Points are awarded immediately (except in rare cases).
·         Invites are sent by email and notifications from the app.
·         Surveys are reasonably frequent, without being overwhelming.

But what is YouGov? Will I get my reward?

YouGov is a well-known independent research company; it's not part of the government, despite its name. You may have seen its polls quoted in the media, particularly around election time.

You get a chance to have your say on current affairs and politics, as well as general topics such as brands, new products and services. Maybe even spaceships. It's very established; I've been a member on and off for over 10 years and have received many payouts.

OK, that sounds great! How do I join?

You can sign up on the website or mobile web here.


After signing up, if you'd prefer to use the app, you can download it for iOS or Android, and log in with the same details.

It's important to complete the registration survey fully in order to start receiving relevant surveys. YouGov has a good data protection policy and won't share your personal information with the companies you do research for, not even if they're visiting from outer space.

I'm all signed up! What now?

Survey notifications are sent by email and on the app. Or you can go directly to the site or app and find them there. They are on the right of the My Feed page on the website, or tap the notebook icon at the bottom of the app. Surveys are reasonably frequent, without being overwhelming.

As with any panel, the number of surveys you receive depends on the demographic requested by the organisation running the research, so there'll be times you receive fewer surveys. This is normal. Unlike seeing spaceships in your garden.

Click image to enlarge


And here is the app screen, showing the survey page. The £ icon on the bottom right takes you to the settings cog wheel. You can also see a survey notification at the top of the phone.



Do I need to check anything else or look for spaceships?

·         Yes! Always check T&Cs and settings on survey sites to make sure there are no surprises.
·         Adjust your privacy level - by default all members can see your anonymous profile feed (see later). On the website, find it in: My Profile > Privacy Level (on the right of the page), and click on 'Invisible'. I've shown this on the picture below. On the app, tap the £ icon at the bottom of the screen, then the cog wheel at the top, go to 'Privacy Level' and select 'Invisible'.
·         Set survey frequency to 'As often as possible'. You have to go to the website for this; it's in My Account (on the menu on the left) > My Settings (look for this on the right of the account page).

Click image to enlarge


What's this about the profile feed and social?

When you log in, the first thing you see is your Feed. I've shown this in the first picture above. There are lots of unpaid polls here. Some add to your profile and may lead to more surveys, but these ones usually turn up at the end of paid surveys anyway. In general, unpaid is poor value - complete a few useful-looking ones, and move on.

Underneath that is your Profile Feed. As a new member, this is fairly empty, but it'll soon fill up with all your opinions and attitudes once you start completing surveys. Other members can see and follow your anonymous profile feed, unless you make it invisible as suggested earlier.

NOW FOR THE BEST BIT WHEN THE SPACESHIP TURNS UP (Cashing out)

When you get to 5,000 points, you can cash out your well-earned £50. You'll be paid by BACs to your bank account. If you prefer, you can enter monthly prize draws for a chance of winning cash or points.

Look, look! Tips, tips, tips.

·         Be consistent and truthful or you'll be screened out or even banned.
·         Want to earn more? Change your settings to get as many surveys as possible, (see above).
·         You don't have to do every survey, but missing lots means YouGov may send you fewer.
·         Check your profile privacy setting, otherwise members can see some of your views, (see above).
·         The polls in the feed are fun but unpaid - do a few, but spend most of your time elsewhere.
·         And finally - keep your eye on the £50 end goal - it'll be worth it!

This all sounds great - what's the downside?

THERE IS NO SPACESHIP.
Oh, and it might take a few months to get to payout, but keep going because when your £50 arrives it feels more awesome than an actual spaceship, and you can buy chocolate...

Interested?

I make an extra £50 in just a few months, and you can easily do this too, simply by spending a short time every week completing quick, reasonably paid, varied-topic surveys, with none of the frustration of being regularly screened out.

If you found my blog useful, it'd be great if you were to choose to use my referral link to join - thank you if you do, you are awesome and I'd buy you a spaceship if I could.

Sign up on the website or mobile web here: https://yougov.co.uk/refer/Rx-tus5G6l4G3NVodTYkjQ/

I get 200 points after you complete six surveys in return for telling you about the site. Thank you and I hope you enjoy being a member of YouGov.


Jo

Want to be part of a fantastic community of 4000+ members, all there to help you to make the most out of surveys sites and apps like this? Join the Facebook Group now!


Sunday 20 August 2017

Swagbucks minitip - Earn Swagbucks from Just Eat!

How many of you on Swagbucks order food through Just Eat




Did you know that you can get SB for this if you order through Swagbucks instead of using the Just Eat app? 

You can do this on a phone or on a laptop/PC. 

The payout varies from 1% to 2% but it's a nice few extra sb in your pocket and might make you feel slightly less guilty about that double doner kebab :)

Simply search for Just Eat via the Swagbucks app and order that way, or on the laptop go to Just Eat and activate the 'Shop and Earn' button that pops up if you have the Swagbutton installed (you do have the swagbutton installed don't you?)

Swagbucks pend for 32 days but they're a nice little surprise when they pop into your total :)



Not on Swagbucks? Join me now - I make a minimum of £100 a month on this website, often more!

Saturday 19 August 2017

Swagbucks MSE Offer - I didn't get my double swagbucks - what can I do?

Early in July 2017, Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert website offered a Swagbucks offer for new and current members alike. The premise was that on certain 'transactions' on the website for a week, members would receive Double SB, credited to their account on 20th August 2017. The offer was here but is now expired, obviously.



No doubt this brought in a whole slew of new members, good for Swagbucks and good for MSE, who would be making money from this deal too.

However, as is often the case, not everything went as it should.

Members were directed to a registration form that once activated, gave no indication that the member had actually been registered into the scheme. No emails were received. It wasn't clear what was and wasn't included in the offer. Confusion ensued.



A week or so later, people started receiving emails. Well, SOME people. These emails confirmed that the member was indeed registered into the double SB deal. All good, right? Well, all good if you actually received the email...



And tomorrow it's time for the double SB to be added. It is expected that some people will receive their SB, but some probably won't .

So what can you do?


1) Be patient. The Swagbucks day runs from 8am UK time to 7.59am the following day. Don't jump the gun and expect your double SB at 8.01am. Give them time, there will be millions of Swagbucks to be sent out and we don't know how automated their systems are.

2) Keep an eye on the Facebook Group - people will be posting in there whether they have received their SB. PLEASE don't start a million new posts saying 'Where are my Swagbucks?' - find a thread that is already there and add to it.

3) Keep an eye on the Swagbucks Facebook Page - there may be announcements on there. You can also post a message to Swagbucks on there if you're worried.

4) If all else fails, and by 7.59am on 21st August you don't have your SB, then the only thing left to do is to ticket it. Choose 'Customer service questions' and then under 'area of the site' choose 'Promotional Bonus' and include the following screenshots:

  • The original offer (the first two screenshots above)
  • The email you received



REMEMBER TO RESPOND TO THE AUTOMATED EMAIL THEY SEND YOU - EVEN IF IT'S JUST TO RE-ITERATE THE INFORMATION YOU'VE ALREADY SENT

Unfortunately no-one really knows how many SB they are due, as the original offer was so vague, but if you definitely registered then you need to ticket to ensure you at least get some.

Good luck, and please let us know in the Facebook Group any responses you get and whether you're successful.



**Update 20th August 2017 from the Swagbucks Facebook page: **



So hang fire on your ticketing until after the 21st has finished.

** Update 21st August 2017 from the Swagbucks Facebook page: **


So it looks like people should be credited by 8am on 22nd - let us know in the Facebook group if you're not!

**Update 22nd August 2017 - BONUS SWAGBUCKS ARE IN!


**********






Thursday 17 August 2017

!!Mintvine alert!!



Up until yesterday PM, cashing out on Mintvine, it was 1000 points for £7.49 on Paypal or £13.10 on Amazon - we've said for a while they got the exchange rate the wrong way around.
It seems that they have realised this and now it is much of a muchness, with Amazon being slightly better at around £8.00 per 1000 points.
They have not alerted anyone to this. If you were cashing out on Amazon purely to get the better rate, it may be that Paypal is now better for you.
Please can you share this post anyone you think may be affected by this and I'll try and remember to bump it regularly over the next few days.
I know it's not great, but it was only a matter of time, and we've had it good for a while 

Mintvine minitip - I can't verify my mobile number!

In order to get your first cashout from Mintvine, you need to verify your phone number, but it seems that many of the members of our Facebook group dedicated to Swagbucks, Mintvine and other survey sites and apps are running into issues when getting to this step.



The problem, it seems, is that Mintvine simply cannot verify UK mobile numbers in the usual way by sending you a text message with a code that you then put into the website.

There are 2 things to try to get around this:

1) Try putting in a landline number - many members have found that this works and verifies immediately. It doesn't send a code or anything, just ticks off the verification.

2) If this doesn't work then the only option is to contact Mintvine. Their customer service is usually pretty good and they verify you manually within a few hours. You can contact them via the Help tab on the website menu.

Once you're verified you should be able to cashout with no problem.

Let us know in the Facebook group if the landline trick worked for you!

Not on Mintvine? Regular, easy surveys, offers and videos to watch, cashout at 1000 for $10 in a variety of ways including Paypal & Amazon. Join me there now!


Wednesday 16 August 2017

Running videos - is it worth the cost of the electricity?

This is a guest post by Jodie Webb, a member of our Facebook Group dedicated to Swagbucks, Mintvine, Prolific & more - come and join us and thank her!



Worried about how much electricity you're using, running videos on your phone, tablet or laptop at all hours of the day and night? It may not be costing you as much as you think!

Whether you're using Swagbucks, MintVine, GrabPoints, Perk TV, InstaGC, PrizeRebel, Earnably, EarnHoney or all of them and more, running videos is a great way to make passive income, but if you're not using your devices at the same time for anything else (or they wouldn't usually even be switched on) then it makes sense to ensure you are actually making a profit, as earnings can vary.

The amount of electricity used obviously varies by device and the cost of electricity varies by company and region - the majority of UK prices are currently around 10p to 13p per kWh (if you're paying more than that, it may be time to check out an energy comparison website and get switching to a better deal!) - so the below prices are a rough estimate.

A general rule of thumb would be between 0.25p and 0.75p to fully charge a tablet and around 0.1p to 0.2p to fully charge a phone. Just multiply that by however many times you have to charge it per day to get your daily cost and compare this with how much money you are making within the same time frame.

Used 1 full charge of your tablet to earn 50sb or 70sb from the Swagbucks mobile watch apps? Then it's probably cost you a lot less than 1p to earn 36p (50sb) or 50p (70sb). Use 1 full charge of your phone per day to run them and it could cost you around 1p for the entire week....or around 50p for the entire year! So the cost of electricity is nothing to worry about!

For laptops the usage can vary much more greatly, but you should be fine using an estimate of about 1.25p to 1.75p to fully charge it and then it really depends how quickly your battery depletes after that (or you may just leave it charging constantly). Depending on how demanding your usage is, an efficient MacBook could cost around 0.35p per hour of use, whereas a gaming laptop could cost up to 1p per hour of use. Desktops, being more powerful, can cost around 1p to 3p per hour of use.

Left your laptop running engageme.tv via Mintvine for 10 hours and earned 100 MV points? Then it's probably cost you less than 5p to earn about £80p in Amazon vouchers, so well worth it!

If you haven't joined Mintvine yet, then I highly recommend it, as in addition to doing surveys, I'm currently earning £1 to £2 per day running the engageme.tv videos that you can find under Adwall in the offers section. Join me on Mintvine now!

What's the word on the "Street ......Bees?"

A beginners guide to buzzing, by Rachel Eastop, a member of our Facebook Group dedicated to sites and apps that help you to make money online.

I'm a bit fond of survey app Streetbees. I like the app (android or IOS). It's user friendly and it's pretty. I've been off sick from work for a while following a head whack (another story) so I decided to investigate the wonderful world of online surveys to see if it is possible to actually make some cash. I signed up to lots and lots of sites as a bit of an experiment. I can't remember how I came across Streetbees (see earlier head whack mention ) but I joined up in about the middle of June. What struck me was how different the app is from every other survey site I had encountered. It's conversational. It's also yellow, with bees. Nice :)




The pros and cons - or the honey and the stings - I'm sorry. Had to be done.


Pros/Honey

1. It's a really nice, user friendly app.
2. The surveys are short , a few minutes, plus they are interesting.
3. They pay well. £1 ish for a short survey (5-10) questions)
4. Other surveys pay considerably more, for example £5 for a 10 minute survey with photos. Obviously these survey amounts vary.
5. There isn't a cash out value! You don't have to apply for your money, it gets paid into your PayPal account quickly and automatically following your approved survey. I have had payments on the same day, the longest I have had to wait was following a Friday survey. I received payment the following Tuesday.
6. Helpful and friendly team. Ask, and they answer.
7. Global organisation with high profile clients such as L'oreal, Unilever, Pepsi and Vodafone (to name a few).


Cons.

1. I have found the surveys to be infrequent, it isn't going to be something you can give up work for (but none of them are)
2. Initially I had to complete a number of short unpaid surveys (similar to most sites so don't be disheartened)
3. You don't receive notifications and if you do it's too late (I'll address this at the end)
4. There isn't a clear referral stream if you are looking for passive income. I asked the team and it is project dependent.
5. The apps don't contain all the information they are supposed to such as referral data.


Summary.

It's uncomplicated and pays out without the faff. Infrequent (in my experience) but very competitive rewards. Having said that, it's a reliable return compared to some of the other sites.

My referral link is below which you are under no obligation to use but I'll love you a bit if you do although I don't know what the benefits will be ;)
I'm using Streetbees, and I think you'd love it too! Here's a referral code to get you started: 7886F4 http://onelink.to/streetbees
Lastly - to address the notifications I will be setting up a Whatsapp community group so that if we come across a survey we can let each other know. Obviously they won't be applicable to us all but it may help us to act on them sooner rather than later. If you are interested let me know by pm on Facebook and I will add you.

Hope it works for you. All the best, Rachel. 

Questions about Streetbees? Come and ask Rachel over on our Facebook Group!

Tuesday 15 August 2017

40 free swagbucks up for grabs on Wednesday 16th August!


Are you ready for an island getaway?

Want to relax and soak up the sun while the waves lap at your feet?

Swagbucks is having an Aloha Extravaganza, which is one of the easiest ways to earn SB!


(What are SB you ask? SB are points you earn on Swagbucks, a website where you can get gift cards for the things you do online - I've gotten £105 so far this month with Swagbucks and it's only the 15th! These are the best days to start!)

It takes place Wednesday, 16 August starting at 9am GMT and goes until 6pm GMT!

All you have to do is look out for the Swag Code notifications, enter the code, and you earn SB (which can be redeemed for gift cards)! There will be 6 Swag Codes throughout the day worth a total of 40 SB!

Look out for the Swag Codes all over Swagbucks! Or, if you're savvy, subscribe to the swagcodes thread in our Facebook group to get them as soon as they come out ;)

Not a member?

Sign up here to grab as many Swag Codes as you can and get your first gift card even faster!

Sunday 13 August 2017

I can't log in to Prolific - what should I do? (minitip)

Recently, Prolific updated / upgraded the front page of their website and it seems that since that has happened, a number of people are having problems logging in, especially on their smartphones.


Having read a number of these posts in our Facebook Group, here are a couple of things to try:

  1. Go into your email and find an email from Prolific - click through to the site from there and then click 'Account' - this should take you to your account page without you having to login.
  2. Go direct to the login page - prolific.ac/participant/account - and login as usual - this should redirect you to the old login page.
If neither of these things help, the best thing to do is contact them via support@prolific.ac and explain the issue you're having.

Hopefully it's going to be a short lived thing and everything will be sorted out soon.

Not on Prolific? I make around £100 a month from the site when I check in regularly - join up here.

On Prolific but not getting any studies? Read our Prolific checklist here.

Not in the Facebook Group? You're missing out on a whole host of helpful hints, tips and support - apply to join here.

Please share this post in relevant Facebook Groups or on your profile to let others know how they can get back into their Prolific account.