So I debated for a short while as to whether to post this, and decided ultimately I would take the risk of public embarassment and shunning in favor of accomplishing my goals set forth at the establishment of this blog.
You may have noticed the addition of the Swidget 1.0 at the top right of the blog. You may have even asked yourself "What the hell is Swagbucks?" Well, as delinated in the first and second posts, I've been experimenting with ways to obtain free stuff. One of the ideas I toyed with in my head was "Wouldn't it be cool if I could obtain either cash or giftcards for use on major sites to either obtain or help obtain what I REALLY want, or things that just seem obscenely cool." More importantly, I wanted something that is legit and works. Not sort of works, or halfway works, but honest to goodness gives me free moohlah for little to no effort.
Now, if you search generic terms like, "free money online" or some variation with synonyms, you'll get a LOT of junk. Things where you're afraid to click on it because you'll probably infect your computer with all sorts of malicious software. I also realize that a lot of these sites just want to spam your inbox with all sorts of crap because they get money for advertising. Well, surprisingly enough there ARE establishments out there that are willing to share their advertisement revenue with you. It's the equivalent of a symbiotic relationship, and really makes a lot of sense.
Swagbucks is one such symbiotic site. You know how Google is a multi-quintillion dollar company? They make their money through advertisements. Those 'Sponsored Sites' that pop up when you search but you probably just ignore? Yeah, companies pay for those links to be put there. Swagbucks is a search-engine combined with other optional advertising gimmicks that awards you their own 'currency' called swag bucks for using their search engine. You can redeem those swag bucks in their swag store for swag stuff. The swag stuff ranged from mechanical pencils, hats, t-shirts, all the way up to the humongous-it'll-take-years-to-accumulate-enough-swag-bucks-to-get prizes like an XBox or an iPod.
If you're thinking, "Ooooh boy, I can get a free XBox!" I'm going to hit you with the mop of reality. I average probably 25-30 swag bucks a day, maybe more depending on how much free time I have at work to do things like an occasional survey about Sapporo beer (who would have guessed that they wanted my opinion on their beer labels? Who has even heard of Sapporo beer without having been to Japan?). In about 10 days I've managed to accumulate 472 swag bucks (current tally available on the Swidget). What can I get for 472 swag bucks? Well, a $5 Amazon Gift Card is 450 swag bucks. So for using Swagbucks instead of Google for 10 days I managed to snag a $5 Amazon Gift Card. Sweet.
I'm sure you're waiting for the catch. Unfortunately, there isn't one. I almost wish there was one, but there isn't. I guess there have been some changes in the last few months, such as limiting the number of each prize available each month. People are still redeeming for their $5 Amazon Gift Cards, so I'm not too worried about those not being available. Afraid to enter your e-mail address due to spam? Aside from the confirmation e-mail, I haven't recieved a single piece of spam. They don't even require your address to register.
I'll encourage anyone reading this to sign up today by clicking here. Try it out. You can delete your account at any time, or just discontinue use. Anyone strapped for cash (i.e. college students, professional rowers, hobos) might just find this to be a useful trick to get a few luxury items (or even food, I guess. There are options for cash via Paypal for 700 swag bucks. I think the Amazon Gift Card is a much better deal.). You'll get started off with 30 swag bucks, which is 6.66(repeating, of course)% of the way towards that Amazon Gift Card. If there is enough interest, I'll post a 'How To' guide on the little intricacies of getting additional swag bucks beyond just searching without a lot of effort. Like voting in the daily poll for 1-2 swag bucks per day.
Keep it in the family.
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