Money Makers: CrowdTap
After I graduated from college, it took just over 9 months for me to find an actual, steady, decent-paying job with benefits. To make some extra cash (slowly, albeit) I signed up for a bunch of online survey sites and panels.
(If you are going to sign up with any online survey site, panel, etc make sure you check their rating with the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org before you give out any personal information!)
CrowdTap is one of the more entertaining ways to earn money for sharing your opinion. Unlike most other sites, you have to sign in with either facebook or twitter. While having access to your facebook or twitter is kind of annoying, it does allow for a really, really quick and easy sign up. I don’t think it took me more than five minutes to set up my profile. You also can earn bonus points and money by posting CrowdTap sponsored events on your FB status or to twitter.
The facebook/twitter connection makes CrowdTap feel more like a discussion among friends then some of the other survey sites I’ve participated in. And, unlike most survey sites you don’t have to spend 10 minutes answering demographic information each time you participate; CrowdTap stores all of that information and uses it to identify different actions that you qualify for.
CrowdTap rewards you for your participate in both points (which help you reach new levels and unlocks new opportunities for you to partake in) and money via an Amazon gift card when you decide to cash out. When you do cash out, CrowdTap matched the equivalent of 10% of your cash out amount and donates it to a charity you select when you sign up. That’s a nice bonus, in my eyes. On top of points you earn badges (earned when you complete a certain number of actions for one specific topic or brand) and “gold stars” when the CrowdTap monitors deem your answer as insightful or stimulating. Stars also get you an additional 400 points. Kinda makes you feel like you’re back in kindergarten, right?
There are different ways to earn money and point based on how much time you want to commit. The simplest way is by answering “Quick Hits”, multiple choice and short answer questions that get your opinions on brands and topics and then are used to target bigger actions to you. You receive points for each quick hit and you have the opportunity to win a cash prize for your answer.
Next up are discussions. Discussions are pretty straight forward; you sign up for a discussion on a specific topic and start a dialogue with other members on the site. You automatically get a certain number of points (usually 200) for providing any sort of answer to the question, but you can earn an additional 400 points for an exceptionally outstanding answer. You also earn bonus points for engaging others to participate in the discussion. Discussions can last anywhere from 1 week to a month or long. So far I’ve been involved in topics including BBQ and summer food, pets, Old Navy workout pants, and Pinkberry frozen yogurt. On top of points, you can also earn cash if you are one of the top contributors to the discussion.
As you earn a better reputation on CrowdTap, you are offered bigger actions, such as sample shares and hosted parties. For both actions, you receive samples or coupons for a free product to hand out to friends and family. CrowdTap just asks that you report back on their reactions and comments about the product. I recently hosted a Hawaiian Tropics party where all my guests got beach totes, samples of 2 products, and a bunch of coupons to use towards the full-sized products. All I had to do was report back and take some pictures and I earned $5. Plus, as an added bonus, the party host got full size bottles of the product:
So basically, you get awarded for speaking your mind and sharing your opinion, what could be easier than that? I’ve devoted maybe 30 minutes of time a day to CrowdTap and I’ve earned $20, plus got hooked up with free full-sized products from three different brands. I’m currently waiting to hear if I qualified for an Old Navy sample offer and a Pinkberry hosted party. Join me on CrowdTap and start getting your free stuff today: Join CrowdTap
(PS: They are really trying to get guys to join up right now, so have your male friends sign up too!)
In full disclosure, I do get some “credit” if you join up…for each person who joins, I get 100 CrowdTap points, and if I convince 5 people to join I get $5 and a nifty badge (I love badges!):
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