I was blown away with how much money I was able to accumulate over a year as we prepared for our dream Disney vacation. The extra cash offset our expenses by THOUSANDS of dollars!!
I have shared our savings success in real life with any one who will sit still long enough. But it can be a bit misleading to tell someone, “I did it and you can too!” without following up with the how-to.
We all need details, right? So, I am writing this for my friends and you can benefit, too (hopefully). Here’s the beginning of the rundown on how to make some serious cash with Swagbucks. View this as a sort of primer for Swagbucks.
This post may include affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase based on my recommendation, I get a small remuneration at no extra expense to you. I only recommend things I use and believe to be a blessing.
Getting Started with Swagbucks
Note: This post includes links to Swagbucks. If you click those links and sign up for a new account, I will have a small monetary benefit. I need to let you know that before you move forward for legal reasons. I am not paid to advertise with Swagbucks. And I would not tell you about any program that I don’t use and love.
I can (and will) do a whole post on what Swagbucks is and how they can afford to give you money and stay in business. But today, I am going to give you what you need to know to get started making cash with Swagbucks.
First things first, run over there and get an account set up (go ahead, I will wait…). You set up your account using any email (or through the dreaded Facebook). Mine is set up with an email account I use specifically for deals. Don’t worry, they actually don’t spam you with email offers (ever!).
Now that you have an account, check out these three points to get you started.
What to FOCUS On to get Cash with Swagbucks
Swagbucks has two markers of success for you to stay on track (and get that cash!): the to-do list and the goal. These renew each day and they are what you want to accomplish each day. Don’t worry if you drop off and don’t do it every day. Do it consistently enough and you will start to see your earnings increase BIG TIME! This post will cover how to do the To-Do list.
Swagbucks To-Do List
The To-Do list is found on any page on the top bar. Once you click on the message “Earn X SB & Get X SB” (from a desktop or mobile) your to-do list will appear. The list is relatively consistent (meaning it doesn’t change very often). Currently the list looks like this:
As you can see, once you have completed a task for the day, a check mark appears next to it. The check mark will show up if you refresh the page.
The no-brainers on this list are the daily poll, add In-store deal, the daily search, and the deal of the day. It takes seconds to answer the day’s poll question, conduct a search and check out the daily deal.
Go ahead and download the Swag button, too. I think you get Swagbucks for downloading it the first time – it comes in handy here and elsewhere.
The tasks on your To-Do list which require a bit more of your time and attention are Daily Discover, Daily Watch, and Gold Surveys. I have a couple of tricks to help you accomplish these in super short order.
Daily Discover
The easiest of the three tasks to accomplish is the Daily Discover. The discover section of Swagbucks is where Swagbucks offers you specials, deals, and coupons.
They pay you in Swagbucks (500 Swagbucks is $5.00) for accepting and completing these offers. Some of the offers are AMAZING and you will definitely want to take advantage of them. I have done free trials on a number of products and have found the offers both straightforward and easy to cancel when the trial is over (check the fine print on how to earn SB through them before you sign-up).
BUT, since we are just focusing on getting our To-Do list done each day, the easiest way to get that check mark on Daily Discover is to do something easy.
I like to “print” coupons. My current favorite way to get this check mark is to use AdGate Media to “print” coupons because they give you 2 SB to do this. And doing this task qualifies me for a bonus SB every day. See AdGate Media as an option when you click from Daily Discover from your To-Do list.
Once I am on the AdGate offer page, I look for the most efficient way of getting that check mark. I like the coupons offer because it refreshes every day (and **psst** I don’t actually have to *ahem* print coupons – I just have to click to print all and hit the print button).
Once AdGate tells Swagbucks that I “printed” my coupons, I close the print window. Then I go back to the AdGate page and click for my Free Daily Reward.
This whole process takes longer to explain than it takes to actually accomplish, seconds really. And I have actually earned 2-3 cents – not blowing the doors off today, but it adds up. Do this simple task 350 times in a year and you will earn $10.50.
I wish I could get paid for all the 20 second tasks I do.
Daily Watch
The Daily Watch is the trickiest and easiest way to earn Swagbucks each day. This one is the moving target of Swagbucks and it is the one that I assume is the most controversial with the advertisers and Swagbucks corporate. It is the one that they randomly will take away from you for a little while. I won’t go into all the details, but I am just warning you to NOT count on this to be easy all the time. Sometimes it is super difficult to make it work.
BUT it is ALWAYS easy to get that check mark. And that is what we are talking about today. So the basic truth is: Swagbucks pays you SB to “watch” videos. And to get that check mark, you need to “watch” some videos. I like to accomplish this every day by watching nCrave videos. From my To-Do list on the homepage, I click Daily Watch and this screen pops up. I click the big watch button.
Once I am on the Watch page, I have the choice of watching sponsored videos or nCraves. I always choose nCraves because they are easier. Look for the symbol with arrows going in a circle to watch nCraves that will run automatically on your desktop. These are “run all day” options, meaning you can turn your desktop on and leave the room to accomplish other tasks while the videos run. I often set it up in the morning and let it run on my laptop throughout my day. Word of caution, this is a best case scenario and it does not always work.
REMEMBER we are just focusing on getting that check mark on our To-Do list right now. So just choose a nCrave, let it run through
a playlist of videos and you are good to go for the day. If you want to leave it running after that, it will usually run until you stop it. Once it is up and running, you can monitor it and it looks like this:
Gold Surveys
Last on the To-Do list are surveys. You get a check mark for attempting a survey and a check mark for completing a survey. Surveys are the most hit or miss option on Swagbucks. If you go in thinking you are going to earn the bulk of your cash by completing surveys, allow me to disabuse you of that notion.
I prefer to think of the surveys as a little bonus every once in a while (like hitting a little windfall on a slot machine). They are usually pretty easy and sometimes fun, and every once in a great while, you get rewarded a little bit for doing one.
BUT we are talking about what gets that check mark here. And the one you want to focus on getting is the Attempting a Gold Survey one. You will click that one and it will show you a list of survey options. I tend prioritize the low-time, higher payout ones.
On this list, I would likely try for the 6 minute, 40 SB survey FIRST. If I don’t qualify for the survey, it has not taken a crazy amount of my time. And if I do qualify for and complete the survey, I will get the bonus of 40 SB!
If I have a little bit more time and really want to try to get the check mark for the Completed Gold Survey from my To-Do list, I would then try the 5 minute, 25 SB survey. If I didn’t qualify and get both Gold Survey check marks, I would just try again the next day.
The To-Do List in Summary
You might be tracking along with me here and might start to think, “Um…she just gave me a crazy explanation of how to earn 5 CENTS!”
Yes, I did.
But hidden in all these tasks are the real ways to make cash with Swagbucks. The items on the To-Do list are Swagbucks’ way of showing you what they have to offer. They are the appetizers, if you will. You can really start earning cash with Swagbucks as you explore each of these options.
I will defend my treatise on earning 5 CENTS by saying that you have the potential of earning more through some of the tasks on the To-Do list, just not every day and every task. You can earn SB when you search, so the Daily Search can net you up to another 25 cents. You can earn by continuing to watch videos throughout the day. Any of the offers on the Daily Discover can bring in a good amount with a small time investment. You can also earn when you qualify for and complete the surveys.
In the next post I am going to give you the rundown on how to reach your Daily Goals and why that is the key to unlocking your Swagbucks earning potential.
