May 2015

Hello again, savvy savers! I hope this morning finds you well rested, and ready for a new ahead! For this weeks Thrifty Thursday’s post, I wanted to change gears this morning, and focus on the ways in which we can all make a few dollars, not by selling goods, but by capitalizing on our talents and abilities, using Fiverr.com.

Why Fiverr.com?

• If you don’t know what fiverr is, you can signup on their website to list “gigs,” small, composed videos you create, educating people on some sort of activity, and in exchange you are paid $5.00!
• Once you sell enough gigs, you become eligible to offer higher priced gigs and can make more money.

How to Start a Fiverr.com Account:

1. The first step is signing up on their website at www.fiverr.com. 
2. Once you’re logged in, you need create a gig.
3. Under the new and improved Fiverr (V2), you click the Sales link in the top navigation.
4. Next click on “My Gigs” from the right hand side of the page.
5. Now you should see a big green button that says “ADD A NEW GIG”.
6. Start by creating a gig title.
7. It’s important to remember that when you’re first getting started on Fiverr, you can only sell 5 dollar gigs. 
8. Sell something you think is valuable to somebody else but won’t take you forever to complete. 
9. Fulfilling orders means delivering your gig on time within the time frame you specified. 
10. In order to complete your gig listing, you need to pick a category and provide a description. 
11. You will then be able to complete a listing, and that’s it!
12. You can list up to 10 Gigs at a time.
13. You’re now a Fiverr! 

Here are also a few Fiverr Tips:

• You may think 10 orders and excellent ratings is difficult to accomplish. 
• Another thing to note is Fiverr will allow you to upload a video into your gig gallery.
• Fiverr claims that gigs with videos are viewed almost 3X more often than gigs without video. 
• Once you have uploaded either a picture or video to your gig gallery, you can tag your gig with up to 5 keywords and provide any special instructions to the buyer.
• After you publish your gig, it may need review before going live on the website.
• My very first gig was automatically reviewed but approved within 24 hours.
• After your gig has been approved and is listed as active in your Fiverr dashboard, you should start promoting it to your friends, family, and anybody else you think might be interested in buying your product or service. For instance, if you’re on Twitter, tweet it. Tons of friends on Facebook? Post it!
• Fiverr charges a fee. Fiverr takes a 20% cut on every gig. Therefore, your $5 in your pocket payout is now $4, but still a fair payment. 

What would make good Fiverr.com gigs?

• Are you a homeschooling parent, an educator, or an instructor? Consider showing others learning/teaching techniques or sample lesson plans.
• Are you an awesome home chef? Post a recipe.
• Can you juggle? Demonstrate a trick.
• Are you an awesome storyteller? Record a story.
• Are you a crafter? Show a demo on a DIY crafting project.
• Are you a seasoned married couple? Share a video on advice and practice living.
• Topics are limitless!

So, if you are interested in making money on Fiverr, give it a shot and you may surprise yourself. Do your homework though, and really think about something you can sell that provides value to the world around you. You may only be a few minutes away from being 5 dollars richer! 

So, for today I challenge you to create a Fiverr.com account, create a gig, post a video, and wait for the gigs to come in! 

Here’s to saving,

Hello again, savvy savers! So, for today’s Wednesday Ways To Save, I want to focus on ways that you can help generate extra funds in your home, and that is with in-product testing!

Companies are willing to send these products out to “guinea pigs” like us so that they can get a general idea of how well the product will go over once it’s released. And if there are any potential problems that they weren’t aware of before, these can be dealt with beforehand. All they want in return for sending you the product is for you to try it and let them know what you think.

So, why product testing:

• I’ve been testing products for money for the past 7 years and love doing it! 
• I get about 4 to 5 full size products and sample products to test a month. 
• I get the first exclusive look at up and coming products, which I can help companies tailor products that others will enjoy, too!
• I also participate in at least 1 paid sponsorship per month; the trial experience pays generally range from $5.00-$150.00 for participating.
• Even if I am not paid for a product test, I am able to keep the product, which helps to generate “funds” to our home, too!
• It’s a win-win!

The reason for product testing is that Top Brands would like to know what consumers think about new products they’re developing to be sent to stores but before they do that they need your opinions.  This way it’ll save the various companies both time and money if the product doesn’t do well, after the initial testing and marketing drives. 

Please note, majority listed here are survey panels meaning you’ll receive paid surveys from Top Brands and also receive products to test at home depending on your demographic.  Also, you do not need to be a blogger to sign up with these companies!

Here’s how to sign-up:

1. First, you’ll need to sign up with a company that offers product testing at home. 
2. Once you do this the company will send you emails to fill out screeners to see if you’ll qualify for their up and coming product testing. 
3. Once you fill out their screener survey, they’ll let you know at the end if you qualify or not.  For example, let say the company is looking for people to test out their beauty product, if you don’t use a certain beauty product they want you to test then you won’t qualify.
4. Once you get the approval to test, the company will ask for your address to send you the product to test for a week or two. 
5. Then they’ll follow up with you with an email asking questions about the product you’ve tested.  Once you’re done, you get paid!

Here are companies that I have worked with:

FREE HCD Research Online Surveys – HCD is a very good survey site, they have really neat surveys that don’t take very long to do. You get paid by a check or depending on the survey you can get a gift card.

National Consumer Panel – Earn valuable points, which are redeemable for electronics, household items, jewelry, toy, gift cards, and more

Earn FREE LOreal Products for becoming a Gold Rewards Members! You can earn Free products, coupons and more!

Toluna – Get paid for your opinion. Surfers who participate in this offer can receive a free membership to the Toluna online survey panel.

Smiley360 is another great site to test free products!

Ipsos I-Say Panel – You can earn points for taking surveys Earn points for every completed survey. The more surveys you take, the more points you earn. Cash in your points for American Express gift cards, Amazon gift codes and more, and they also do product testing if you qualify for them. Ipsos is a very good survey company!

Pssst Generalmills -Pssst is fantastic, they send out full size freebies and coupons for freebies.

VocalPoint – Vocalpoint offers fantastic samples throughout the year!

Kraft First Taste – Kraft First Taste sends out coupons for a full size products, along with high value coupons throughout the year!

PopSugar offers fantastic freebies! They even send out full size freebies.

Bzzagent.com -Bzzagent is really neat because they send you a full size products and you review it – Along with other perks that you can receive just by being a member.

Influenster.com – You can earn fantastic samples and so much more! – Registered members “play the game” by unlocking badges that reflect your lifestyle, expertise and power to influence. By earning badges that tell them more about you, Influensters can increase their chances of being selected to receive a themed VoxBox (complimentary packages of products to test & review), rewards (bonus giveaways/discounts) and other special promotions targeted toward our most influential members!

Toluna– I get quite a bit to test with Toluna Panel and the pay is good! When you sign up, click the “Rewards” tab and then click “Test Products” tab.  You’ll also get product test invites in your email.  Also Toluna has high paying focus groups. Pay by Cash and Gift Cards.

Pinecone Research– Pinecone Research is the most Top Rated Product Testing Company and I receive about 2 to 3 products a month. Pay by Cash, PayPal, Gift Cards, Merchandise, Music, and More!

Valued Opinions–  I mostly receive beauty products to test with Valued Opinions Panel. Also offers to join high paying focus groups. Pay by Gift Cards.

Nielsen Home Scan Consumer Panel–  You’ll get a free scanner to scan all your household purchases with Nielsen Home Scan Consumer Panel and you get rewarded for it by getting free electronics and more!  Pay by Free Merchandise.

ACOP– I get a few products from ACOP Panel but their pay is good.  Also offers to join high paying focus groups. Pay by Cash, PayPal, and Tango Gift Cards.

In Home Product Testing Panel– I don’t get much from In Home Product Testing Panel, only every few months and they pay with Target gift cards. Pay by Target Gift Cards.

BuzzBack Panel– I get mostly beauty products from BuzzBack Panel but not many. Pay by PayPal and Gift Cards.

L’Oreal Product Testing Panel– I get new products from L’Oreal to test but for some reason it’s hard to qualify for some of their testing. Pay by Free Beauty Products.

BzzAgent–  BzzAgent is my favorite!  I get so many free stuff to test that I’ve lost count!  Great company!  Doesn’t pay but I love getting so much stuff each month. Pay by MyPoints rewards to redeem for free merchandise, gift cards and more.

Global Test Market–  I mostly get household items with Global Test Market but the pay is great! Pay by Cash.

 Smiley360– I recently signed up with Smiley360 and already tested a couple of things with them.  Doesn’t pay though. Pay by Free Products.

McCormick–  If you like the McCormick brand of foods and seasonings, they offer to review their products and you’ll get paid for it.  They also have contest at times too. Pay by Amazon Gift Cards.

Johnson & Johnson Friends & Neighbors–  I use to get products to test from them quite a bit when my daughters were babies and toddlers, but not so much anymore since my daughters are older.  This name brand company is prefect for mothers with young children. Pay by Cash.

MyView– I’ve done MyView through other survey panels and I had opportunities to do product testing with them. Pay by Gift Cards.

Swaggable:  I get so many free stuff to test that I’ve lost count!  Great company!  Doesn’t pay but I love getting so much stuff each month. Pay by MyPoints rewards to redeem for free merchandise, gift cards and more.

So, today I challenge you to look into the above list and see if you can start product testing today! 

Here’s to saving,