Apps that reward
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to get paid just for using your mobile? In fact, there are plenty of apps for Android and iOS that do just that. And because there are lots of ways to get paid these days (such as PayPal, Google Wallet, Amazon credit or iTunes vouchers), it’s never been easier to earn cash or rewards for completing some easy tasks. You won’t get rich quick by using these apps, but you could earn enough to pay for a few great nights out, or even a new phone.If you are keen to make spare cash by using apps, make sure you read their privacy policy first and check out what type of information is collected. It’s also important to only download apps from trustworthy and reliable sources such as Google Play or the Apple App Store, and never download any app from a link in an SMS.
AppTrailers (iPhone and Android)
AppTrailers shows you short video trailers of new apps you may want to download and install. Each trailer that you watch earns money, and if you actually download and use the recommended apps, you can earn even more. The more you watch the more points are awarded, which can then be redeemed using PayPal or converted into gift cards. It’s a fun and convenient way to earn money, and is extremely simple and intuitive to use. If you love apps too, it’s a no-brainer.
Instant Rewards (iPhone and Android)
Instant Rewards is an incredibly popular app at the moment, and lets you choose either an Amazon gift card or cash via PayPal as a reward. The app includes several ways to make money, for instance by watching app trailers, liking a page on Facebook, or taking short surveys. The company claims that it pays out more than competing apps, but you could always install several different ones to see which is the best.
Roamler (iPhone and Android)
If you have ever heard of the term “mystery shopper”, you’ll be instantly familiar with the idea behind Roamler. It’s all based around anonymous product and service testing, to check a brand or product success in the marketplace. Roamler has turned the idea into quite a fun pastime that you can perform on a social level. It’s actually quite addictive, and the more you do, the higher your experience level becomes, leading to larger payouts for completing tasks.
Assignments might include things such as taking a photograph, filling out a checklist, or reviewing a product’s presentation – some of it is at home and some tasks need you to go and find the items, for example in stores or restaurants. Roamler is a lot of fun, and offers users rewards for continuing to interact with the app, and the tasks are mainly things that we spend our time doing anyway.
You can find out more about Roamler at http://www.roamler.co.uk.
Surveys and polls
These type of apps typically payout for completing online surveys or polls on a variety of topics. The reason is that many firms pay a lot for market research, and what better way to collect it than an army of smartphone users? Survey apps typically pay out different amounts based on factors such as the length of the survey, how many qualified people are taking a survey, and whether it requires special knowledge or expertise.Maximiles (iPhone and Android)
Maximiles is a survey website and a mobile app, which allows you take surveys and short polls to earn points. Furthermore, there are plenty of different types of rewards, such as DVDs, magazine subscriptions, gift cards and more.
MySurvey (iPhone and Android)
MySurvey is one of the most popular online survey companies, and it’s hard to beat MySurvey in terms of reliability because it’s one of the first survey panels that started paying people for their opinions. The first step requires you to sign-up on their website by filling out some simple forms.You will be asked to fill out some of your personal details and demographics. Once this is done, you can start answering different surveys right away.
Freelance work and blogs on a smartphone or tablet
Aside from the small selection of apps that we have listed, which could help you earn some well deserved extra cash, there are other ways to use your mobile phone with even higher earnings potential. Here are just a small selection of ideas.Create a blog and get Google to pay you
These days, it’s extremely easy to create a professional-looking, interesting blog (as long as you have something vaguely interesting to say, of course!) using free tools like WordPress and Joomla. You could start by purchasing a website domain name through a company such as GoDaddy, and set everything up there in just a few clicks. Alternatively, take the quicker route and have your blog hosted on sites like WordPress.com – you can always move it later on.
If you do decide to start a blog with the aim of making money, you need an interesting topic or at least something interesting to say that will get readers coming back for more. But the great thing about blogging is that it’s easy, quick, and with a bit of luck can build up an audience in no time.
How do you make money this way? You could either sell advertising space to companies that wish to put a banner somewhere on your site. Another way is to create a Google Adsense account and get ads automatically displayed on various pages, which means every time someone clicks on an advert, Google will pay you — typically a small amount — but this could reach hundreds of pounds every month with a bit of work and promotion on social media sites.
The beauty of blogging is that you can do it on your smartphone or tablet, using apps such as WordPress that let you blog directly and publish, or just use a standard word processor to create the content and upload it later on. You can blog about any topic imaginable – shopping, technology, student life, movies, or video games – the possibilities are endless.
There are thousands of resources online to get started writing a blog – you just need a little inspiration to get going, but when you do, why not get paid to write for fun?
Freelance writing or web design…
If you don’t fancy starting a blog and trying to figure out how to earn money from it, you can use popular freelancer sites such as PeoplePerHour and Freelancer.com to generate some extra income. If you have any in-demand skills (such as writing short articles for blogs or web design), there are literally thousands of jobs popping up each day.
The amount you get paid varies, but if you can find several small jobs that pay regularly, you can be earning hundreds of pounds quite easily and do the work when it suits you. Many of these freelance jobs (such as travel writing) only take a few hours each, and can be done on a tablet, laptop or smartphone – literally anywhere in the world. Imagine that you have successfully bid on a job to design a logo – there’s no reason you can’t do that on your smartphone with image editing apps and a little skill.
Most of the freelancer sites work like this – you register your details and create a profile, outlining what skills you have. You can then bid on jobs against other people, and typically have a limit to how many you can bid for each month. It’s not always the cheapest bids that win either, as the people that need the work doing will look at your previous work and how highly rated you are. The more work you do and receive positive feedback, the higher your rating will be. They also pay out directly to your bank account or PayPal, but note they tend to take a percentage of the work (up to a certain amount each month).
For this type of work, it usually takes a little while to get going if you’re new, but once you’ve completed a few jobs (usually at a lower rate, to begin with), you gain feedback, ratings, and can start to charge more. It really is a great way to generate additional income, and established freelancers can earn thousands every month, depending on what type of job is required.
For more information about freelance work, it’s worth checking out popular sites such as: