You have probably seen my Swagbucks icon on the sidebar of my blog. I have been asked multiple times about Swagbucks, so I thought I would put my 'scoop' on it here in the blog. Let me know if you have any questions!
Swagbucks is a search engine that rewards you for searching. You simply use it like Google or Bing or Yahoo, and you earn "Swagbucks" when you do. You accumulate the Swagbucks in your account until you have enough to go shopping in the Swag Store, and then you redeem them for various gifts and prizes. You DO NOT earn Swagbucks every time you do a search, but it is not hard to earn Swagbucks at least once a day. The prizes in the store are varied, but I just keep it simple--each time I earn 450 Swagbucks, I redeem it for a $5 Amazon gift card. In the year and a half to two years that I have used Swagbucks, I have earned $100 in Amazon gift cards. It is not tons of money, but $5 is helpful! Once you redeem your SB for a gift card, they will put a gift certificate code in your account that you then enter into Amazon. Sometimes I enter them in my Amazon account right away, and sometimes I let them stack up in my Swagbucks account. There is no expiration date for the Amazon gift cards.
My advice on using Swagbucks--
When you first use the computer in the morning, use Swagbucks to search for something. You can use it to search for "Yahoo" or "Facebook" or "MSNBC"--you do not have to be running a serious, intensive search. Try a few different things until you are awards Swagbucks, then go about your business. If you aren't awarded Swagbucks within a couple of searches, try again later. By the way, Swagbucks are normally awarded in smaller increments--7,8, 10 SB, but on Fridays they are given away in higher amounts. So Friday is a great day to search.
You can also earn Swagbucks by downloading their search toolbar--they will often release a code in the toolbar that you can enter to earn SB. Other ways of earning a SBs are completing their daily polls, filling out their surveys, and completing their special offers. I don't do any of those on a regular basis, but I will occasionally check them. Swagbucks will send out codes in an email newsletter, or in their blog. They just launched Swagbucks television, and in it they will ask you to view a video, looking for a word or phrase that is used as a Swagbucks code.
The easiest way to earn Swagbucks, though, is through referrals. Yes, in the end, it's a pyramid scheme! :-) You earn matching Swagbucks for each of your referrals' first 1000 Swagbucks. Once your referral reaches 1000 SB, you do not earn matching points--but until then, you rack up! 1000 SB will buy you two $5 Amazon gift cards, which is nice:-)
If you are interested at all, I would suggest you sign up and try it out. You may find it completely worthless, but it might work for you. Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope this rambling hasn't confused you too much! In case you missed it up above, here is my referral link. Happy Searching!
