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Earlier this morning, I discovered a new site called Writers:Share (apparently the colon is supposed to be part of the name) that claims to pay writers for making comments on topics that are posted by the site. Currently their topics are leaning toward workplace clothing, fashion accessories, credit cards, debt management, and home furnishings. The four main categories listed in the sidebar include fashion, homes, money, and food.

After making a comment that gets approved, they will pay £1 (currently worth about 2 USD) each for up to 50 comments. After that, the rate increases to £1.50 per comment with a £50 bonus being paid after your 500th comment. Payments are processed via PayPal every Friday.

Regarding length, the site owners are looking for something in between the typical blog comment and a full-length article. According to their examples, it seems that they are seeking informative blocks of writing that read more like short blog posts that are three or four paragraphs long and fall within the 200-400 word range. They do point out that our writing should be unique (no duplicate content), so we will not be able to get away with copying and pasting text from other sources.

The company appears to be based in the UK (United Kingdom) and has established an active community on Facebook. Writers:Share states that they donate 25p for every comment to their favorite charity organizations. Currently these include WWF (World Wildlife Fund), Red Cross, Garden Africa, and Shelter. As of this writing, the site is reporting total charitable donations of £185.24.

WritersShare is registered under the domain writersshare.co.uk and is using the WordPress blogging format to post its comment topics and program updates. According to the archives, the site has existed since March 16, 2008, making it slightly less than two months old.

At this point, my information on this program is still rather sketchy because it is so new and I do not yet have any direct personal experiences with the company to report. If the site turns out be legitimate, it might be a good way of making some extra money while practicing my article writing and commenting skills. Meanwhile, if any of you happen to have some experience with WritersShare, please let me know about this in the comment section. If I can gather enough reliable information on this program and perhaps even receive some payments from it, I can write up a full review article so that our readers and search visitors will have the chance to check out another work-from-home opportunity.

The GPT program SendEarnings.com released the May edition of its monthly newsletter last week, announcing an improved site design and some additions to its Cash Shopping section. After logging into my account earlier this morning and completing a few offers and surveys, I did notice a change in the design — it’s nothing terribly drastic, but the contrasts among the existing colors seem a little more pronounced and give the site a more pleasing look. They have also made it easier to navigate to the “100% Free Offers” after logging in, which is a good thing because this is usually the section that I concentrate on first. Meanwhile, here is the actual text of the newsletter:

New Design

At SendEarnings®, we’re consistently working on new ways to make your membership experiences even better. Along with our new design, we’ve enhanced our Cash Shopping section to give you even more cash back for your purchases. In addition to more cash back, for the month of May you’ll also earn Sweepstakes entries for your purchases. Check out our new look, browse our featured stores and enjoy your cash back!

Cash Shopping

Along with the new look of SendEarnings, we’ve also added a featured stores section to our Cash Shopping. These are displayed on the first page when you visit Cash Shopping. Here, you’ll find the best deals and get the most cash back for your purchases.

Visit Cash Shopping and see how easy it is to get cash back. Simply choose a store, make a purchase and automatically receive cash back credited to your SendEarnings account. When offered, get extra savings by using the coupon codes that are listed with stores on our featured stores page.

Coupon codes are like an electronic version of the coupons you would cut out of a newspaper and use when purchasing items at a store. Coupon codes are displayed along with some listed stores and, just like paper coupons, are used to save you money when you check out.

Shop, save and get cash back by visiting Cash Shopping. New deals are always being placed, so be sure to check back often!

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Last month I received my first check payment from Treasure Trooper for the previous month’s earnings:

Of course this is good news, not only because I have opened up another revenue stream, but also because I have now confirmed that the company is legitimate and not a scam, which means that I can promote the site in good faith and collect referrals.

Treasure Trooper is one of the largest GPT (Get Paid To) websites currently in existence and pays you for completing offers, filling out surveys, doing product trials, and signing up for various memberships and subscription services. They accept members from all countries, although there is a tendency for members based in the USA to receive more offers. The site is recognizable by its “Indiana Jones” theme where members try to collect treasure such as coins, gems, and pearls as shown at the bottom of this screenshot of my account:

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The paid surveys and offers program SendEarnings is now confirmed as paying, as I have now received my first check from them for my previous earnings:

This first payment has also qualified me for the Gold Membership, which means more earnings from referrals, additional sweepstakes entries, and the chance to receive free referrals from the pool of unreferred members who join the program. Meanwhile, SendEarnings has also begun sending out monthly newsletters, the latest of which I have reprinted below:

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AdBux, the popular GPT (Get-Paid-To) program that appeared to be heading into recession and slow payouts back in February has released a relatively long newsletter today in celebration of its first anniversary since the initial launch. In addition to touting its continued presence and success among a plethora of copycats and clone sites, AdBux has also announced several significant changes to its business model that are designed to improve the program’s sustainability and provide members with more earning opportunities.

The most important of these changes is the move toward a revenue sharing model similar to what has been implemented by Take the Internet Back. Instead of promising to pay X amount per click (or offer, survey, etc.), members earn shares for each action, and the tally of these shares can be converted to cash at a rate that is determined by the actual revenues of the company. This model is more sustainable because the administrators can vary the amount paid per share according to real current profits as opposed to promising fixed payments to members at some future date and risking the possibility that actual revenues will be insufficient to make the promised payments.

AdBux is also planning to add a few other interesting features to the program, such as a question-and-answer section similar to Yahoo Answers that will allow members to earn shares for providing information to other users. Also in the works is an in-house search engine that will attempt to generate revenues from advertisers based on a PPC (pay-per-click) model. Games, charity donations, and the possibility of new payment processors are other ideas that are scheduled for future implementation. For the full details on the upcoming changes, you can read the actual text of the latest AdBux update below.

Updates and Announcements

On this day, AdBux celebrates its 1 year birthday. In one year we have surpassed everyone’s expectations and we plan to be here for years and years to come. Our last newsletter that we sent out back in February discussed our plans for a future re-launch and a pause on payments. That re-launch was originally planned for today but because of certain specifics regarding the new incentives and changes coming, we decided to postpone the launch until May and payments will be restarted (or just starting for some) in June.

In the past year we have gone through many trials, troubles, and issues. We’ve been accused of scamming people, other sites infringed on our copyrights (*cough* Bux.to *cough*), multiple server issues, payment processor problems, security issues, cheaters, and more. But everything that we have been through only made us stronger.

AdBux will continually be the forefront of everything it creates. WE created what you see all over the net, the assortment of PTC sites, the copy cats and the clones. We were the first of our kind. The upcoming incentives and changes you will see take place over the next quarter will be originated by us and guaranteed to be copied by others. But, that’s the way business is. We have to try to keep a competitive edge or else!

Just to give you a taste of what you can expect:

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The program called Take the Internet Back (TIB) is expanding beyond its usual email routine to include paid offers and surveys similar to sites such as SendEarnings and Treasure Trooper. As a paid email site, TIB has been one of the easiest of this genre of programs for me to accommodate. All of the mails that are sent have a nice, conspicuous confirmation link at the bottom that can be clicked on for immediate credit. There is no timer, nor is it necessary to log into the account to receive the mails, so the time cost is practically negligible.

The program is free to join and is open to all registrants. Points are earned for each mail that is credited, after which the points are converted to cash earnings based on the company’s advertising revenue. Extra points are awarded for referrals; surprisingly, I have not collected any of these yet, perhaps because too many visitors have already signed up. Nevertheless, the latest admin update that arrived over the weekend explains the new features and is posted after the jump.

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After pulling out the old scanner and fiddling around with IrfanView, I finally got some suitable pictures of the last two paid survey checks saved, along with some other images for use with later posts. The first check was from Opinion Outpost, which lately has rivaled GlobalTestMarket for being the highest paying survey company currently in my repertoire. This time I saved up $50 worth of points before cashing out.

Additionally, I have received $10 PayPal payments recently from Lightspeed and Creations Rewards, along with two more $5 payments from Pinecone Research.

Meanwhile, check payments are beginning to arrive from my relatively recent discovery of Livewire. This company works somewhat differently from most of the others that I have had experience with so far. They do not have any kind of system for members to log into accounts or accumulate points. Instead surveys are sent by email on a first-come-first-serve basis, and if you manage to complete a survey, the incentive amount is sent to you as a separate check. After initially receiving a $4 check from them that I have since deposited, this $10 payment arrived a few days ago and gave me a chance to scan the image.

Livewire accepts a broad range of demographic profiles but is geographically limited to United States residents. Unfortunately, they do not seem to have any kind of referral or affiliate program. However, their “projects” as they call them are easy to complete, and I have not had any problems with them regarding crediting or payments. Yes, for curious searchers out there, this means that they are not a scam. Meanwhile, if you happen to live in the USA and want to sign up, you can do so at www.joinlivewire.com.

With February coming to a close, MySurvey.com has released their monthly edition of Opinion Matters, a newsletter that reviews the latest happenings in their corner of the survey world. For this month, they have announced the winners of several recent sweepstakes and giveaways, a few of whom asked that their names be withheld or have apparently forfeited their prizes, perhaps by not responding to the notifications in time.

Also included are a few examples of merchandise that can be redeemed for with our reward points, followed by the usual monthly survey results. This time members were surveyed about what they thought was important when dealing with the customer support departments of their favorite companies.

Meanwhile, if you would like to make some extra money by completing paid surveys and are looking for some other companies that are free to join, you can check out Survey Savvy or Opinion Outpost.

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In addition to the Internet-based surveys that can be taken from within our member accounts, MySurvey also allows us to opt in for receiving occasional surveys by traditional postal mail, also known as “snail mail”. Any completed surveys that are mailed back to the company are eventually credited to our online accounts, awarding us with additional points that can be redeemed for cash after we have accumulated at least $10.

Yesterday I received one of these postal mail surveys on the topic of communications. It is an eight-page questionnaire that spans several areas related to cable television, satellite TV, telephone, and Internet services. Although this may seem long at first, it is actually not as time-consuming as it looks because many of the questions can be skipped over if they do not apply to our household and there are only 5-10 questions per page.

Before I get into the text of the introductory letter, I would like to take this time to thank those of you who have signed up with MySurvey.com or Survey Vanguard through my strategically placed affiliate links. As you may have noticed, this site is sparsely monetized at present; the small commissions generated from your signups and purchases help to pay for necessary hosting expenses and keep this site financially viable.

Now we return to our regularly scheduled survey letter:

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One of my favorite paid survey companies MySurvey.com released its first newsletter of the new year yesterday. The company is in the process of restocking rewards merchandise after experiencing a higher than expected number of redemptions by survey participants in the last quarter of 2007. In addition to including a few testimonials, MySurvey has also released the results of the most recent member survey regarding New Year’s resolutions.

Reward News

As promised, we have begun restocking our merchandise shelves! Many of you are aware that we ran into some logistical problems at the end of 2007 with our Reward Point Redemption options. Members were redeeming faster than we could keep up, and unfortunately many merchandise options were temporarily removed. Most of our usual redemption options are now available and more are coming in every day. To view our current selection, login to MySurvey.com and click Rewards on the top menu.

Remember, each day you log into MySurvey.com you earn an entry into our Rewards Extravaganza Daily GiveAway. A new winner is selected every day to receive 10,000 MySurvey.com Reward points (cash equivalent $100). Take a look at what a recent winner had to say:

January 14, 2008 Rewards Extravaganza Give-Away Winner:

“I joined MySurvey.com because I want to have my opinion heard! Winning and rewards add to the great appeal of this site.”
Lakeesha B., Chicago, IL

You’ll also get an entry into the MySurvey.com Sweepstakes each day you login. One lucky winner receives $10,000 every other month. Here’s a recent winner:

September/October 2007 MySurvey.com Sweepstakes Winner:

“I was amazed and shocked that I had won anything! This is my first ever sweepstakes win. I am so happy to be associated with MySurvey.com. I love giving my opinion as a consumer and being involved in products and services that we use every day.”
Judith F., Tustin, CA

Each time you complete a survey you’ll be entered into our Survey Completion Bonus Sweepstakes. Each month we offer a different prize. This month 4 winners will receive $500 each! This winner received a $500 gift card:

October/November Survey Completion Bonus Sweepstakes Winner:

“Just a small amount of time has just made a very large impact on my finances. Thank you, MySurvey.com!”
Mark C., Port Charlotte, FL

Congratulations to all our winners!

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Today I received an email from Pinecone Research which seems to confirm what I had suspected may be an upward trend in the volume of market research activity over the past several months. Apparently the number of requests for surveys and product tests is increasing to the point where Pinecone is expecting an increased number of questions and surveys for panelists:

At this time PineCone Research is experiencing a high number of survey requests across many different clients and for the evaluation of many different types of products. In order to identify which of these requests is best suited to you and your household, you may be asked an increased number of questions than usual or receive an increased number of requests to respond about the types of products used in your household. We try to minimize the number of questions/requests needed to identify the various needs of our clients, but as the demand increases, so do the number of questions, as well as the number of possible surveys available to our panelists.

It is important that you answer all of the questions so that we can process your responses. We appreciate your participation and hope that you enjoy being a part of PineCone Research.

This coincides with the increase in the number and frequency of survey invitations that I have been receiving from the other companies. Of course, this is good news for paid survey participants because it means more opportunities for us to make money and receive free products.

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