What Are GPT Sites?
GPT stands for Get Paid To - As in Get Paid To take surveys, complete offers and try new products or services.For years people have been filling out free surveys on the internet trying to make a few extra dollars. The problem with this has always been that there are so many scams out there that if you completed 10 surveys you were lucky if you were paid on 3 of them. This proved to waste more time than it was worth just to earn a few bucks. GPT Programs have put an end to this problem.GPT Programs make their money through advertisers. Advertisers pay them to recruit new members to try their products or services. They act as a middle man between the advertisers and us. You sign up for free at GPT sites then browse their various offers, completing the ones that look interesting to you. Each GPT site lists their offers and how much you will be paid.
Two Types of GPT Offers:
Freebies and Trials
Freebies are 100% free and do not require a credit card. They are typically surveys, requests for more info, or signing up for a newsletter. These usually pay anywhere from $.10 to $3.00, occasionally more, depending on the offer you complete.
Trials are products or services that you are paid to sample or try. The payouts are much higher, however they do typically require credit card number or a small fee up front.
You should ONLY do free or trial offers that you are truly interested in and always use your real information.
Choose a GPT site to start with. I highly recommend taking a look at http://makemoneywithawahm.blogspot.com/ first to see some of the sites that are available. Once you are acquainted with the first site that you signed up with try another.I suggest starting with Freebie offers, only moving on to the higher paying trail offers once you feel comfortable.Finally, when you feel confident with GPT's start looking for referrals. This will significantly increase your monthly earnings.
Before you start completing offers I highly suggest spending a little time getting set up. This might seem tedious but in the long run it will save you an enormous amount of time and frustration. There is a lot of information in these tutorials. Don't worry if it seems overwhelming at first. Just start out slow and before you know it you'll be a gpt expert!
First:
Set up several junk email addresses. Freebie offers will result in a TON of junk email. You won't want these clogging up your personal email account. While filling out surveys and freebies you will want to change your email address often so that survey companies recognize you as a different user. (Don't worry, the administrators encourage this as it will help increase your approval rate). There are numerous survey companies that host many different surveys. You may fill out several surveys hosted by the same survey company. They won't necessarily recognize that you are filling out separate surveys and may think that you are cheating. For this reason it is important that you change email addresses often. Some people recommend that you change your email account for each and every offer that you complete. I don't believe that's necessary but you should make sure and change your email address when you are filling out surveys from the same company. The problem of course is that it can become extremely time consuming to open all those new email accounts. Here is the solution:Open an email account at Gmail. Create an email account with the maximum number of characters (which is 30), by combining words and names until you reach the full 30 characters long. Gmail allows the use of periods in the address. Doing this keeps the address valid but makes it appear as a completely different email address.When completing offers place a period in your email address, moving the period when filling out each new offer. ie: If your email address is yourmail@gmail.com each of these addresses will appear to be a unique email address, however they will all be delivered to the same address at yourmail@gmail.com
y.ourmail@gmail.com yo.urmail@gmail.com
you.rmail@gmail.com your.mail@gmail.com
Once you have placed a period after each letter in the email address, add another one, like this:
y.o.urmail@gmail.com y.ou.rmail@gmail.com
y.our.mail@gmail.com y.our.mail@gmail.com
In this way you'll be able to utilize the same email address over 100 times.****This doesn't allow work so it is still best to get a lot of different e-mail addresses.****
Next:(Optional)
Download Roboform. This is an AWESOME time saver! Roboform stores all of your frequently used information then fills out your registration and checkout forms with one click of a button. It also creates passcards, storing your usernames and passwords allowing you to sign with a click of a button. Download the free version. You can upgrade to the paid, more customizable version if you find you'd like to store more passcards.
Next:
Addendum: Filling out freebie offers will result in a barrage of telemarketer phone calls. Having a free voicemail box allows you to sign in online to listen to your messages at your convenience instead being bombarded with sales calls on your home phone.Many people have been having trouble recently finding a phone number in their area code through Private Phone(no longer available). If they don't have a number for your area code try this site: Aim Phoneline.
Then:(Optional)
Download CCleaner. It's free. This will help you to clear your cookies quickly. Keep ccleaner open and use it to clear your cookies between each offer. To clear your cookies simply click "Run Cleaner." Keep in mind that when you clear your cookies it will usually clear your log-in cookie as well, which will log you out of the GPT website that you are working in. To prevent this from happening open ccleaner, click "Options" then "Cookies." The box on the right is your "Safe Box." Click on the GPT site url in the box on the left and add it to your safe box on the right. This will prevent you from being logged out every time you clear your cookies.
Finally:
Sign up for a free Paypal account. Many GPT Sites will give you the option to be paid by check, some by WebCertificates, almost all of them offer payment through Paypal, and some ONLY offer payment through Paypal. Paypal is quick, safe, easy and convenient. To accept Paypal payments you will need to make sure your Paypal account has been verified. To do this you will need to link your Paypal account to your checking account.
To maximize your profits and to ensure you receive the highest possible approval percentage on your completed offers follow these steps.
Use your main email account when signing up for GPT sites. You want them to be able to contact you when they're running a hot offer or important notices.If you have a web accelerator turn it off.Never use false information when filling out offers or surveys. This will get you banned from GPT sites.Don't try to work every GPT site you find. Sign up for several, then work with them for awhile. You'll find that a few of them will become your favorites. Concentrate most of your efforts on those. However, get ALL of your referral links out there. Just because a GPT program didn't work well for you doesn't mean it won't become someone else's favorite! You can earn referral commissions even if you aren't actively working a site. There's nothing cooler than coming back to a GPT site that you haven't signed into for a month, to find that your referrals have earned you $20!Offers can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days to credit, so if one doesn't credit right away don't panic! Just keep checking back.Most GPT Sites only allow U.S. Citizens to complete offers, however many do allow international members to earn money by referring other members. Check individual GPT Sites for more information. One GPT site that I am aware of that allows international users to complete some offers is Instant Profitz.All GPT Sites that I am aware of allow only ONE account per household. This does NOT mean one account per computer. GPT sites regularly check IP Addresses. If they find more than one account on a single IP Address both (or all) accounts will be deleted and you will lose all money earned. DO NOT sign into your account using anyone else's computer and DO NOT allow anyone else to sign into your account. Some sites will not mind if you simply check the status of your account from another computer but others do. Just stay on the safe side - only sign into your account from your own computer.Remember to check your inbox at each GPT Site. Site owners often post promo codes - these are codes that when entered give the first X number of people an extra dollar or extra points. Site owners also often post deals that are approving fast or high paying deals.Use either Internet Exlorer or Mozilla Firefox to complete your offers. (Preferably IE) DO NOT use AOL or Netscape. They generate a non-static/dynamic IP address. This may cause the system to show you as having multiple accounts, which is against the TOS at all GPT sites. This will result in your account being frozen and most likely completely deleted, in which case all your earnings will be forfeited.Accept all cookies. This does not compromise your computer's security. To accept all cookies in Internet Explorer:On top of the browser click on "Tools" and then "Internet Options"A new window should pop up. Click the "Privacy Tab," there should be a bar under "Settings," lower the bar to "Accept All Cookies."To accept all cookies in Mozilla Firefox:On the top of the browser click on "tools" and then "Options."A new window should pop up. Click the "Privacy" and then the "Cookies" mini-tab. Make sure the "Allow Site to Set Cookies" box is checked and the two boxes below are unchecked. Also, make sure they setting "Keep Cookies" is set to "until they expire."Disable all Pop-Up blockers. This will not compromise your computers security. To turn off your pop-up blocker in IE:To accept all cookies in Internet Explorer:On top of the browser click on "Tools" and then "Internet Options"A new window should pop up. Click the "Privacy Tab," there should be a bar under "Settings," lower the bar to "Accept All Cookies."To accept all cookies in Mozilla Firefox:On the top of the browser click on "tools" and then "Options."A new window should pop up. Click the "Privacy" and then the "Cookies" mini-tab. Make sure the "Allow Site to Set Cookies" box is checked and the two boxes below are unchecked. Also, make sure they setting "Keep Cookies" is set to "until they expire."You will need to submit a W-9 tax form at each GPT site once you reach $600 in any given year. At the end of the year they will report your earnings to the IRS. When completing your taxes GPT programs are considered "misc. earnings". Contact the IRS for more information on how income from these programs will effect your filing status.
Freebies are a great way to start out. These are various offers that do not require a credit card, making them completely risk free. There are MANY free offers that pay anywhere .40cents to $6.00 (occasionally more). These typically involve requesting more information about a product or service, requesting a free life insurance or auto insurance quote, asking for more information about a home based business, etc. As I said, this is a great way to start out. Once you see how you can earn money you may choose to venture into Trial and Product Offers, but initially starting out with freebies is a great, risk free way to learn the ropes. Here are some tips to help you get started.
BIG TIME SAVER
Some surveys have lists of offers that you need to click yes or no that seem to go on forever! To save time and answer NO to every offer on the page press ALT and the = button. This will fill in all of the radio buttons with NO. This will only work if you have Roboform.Make sure to read the instructions carefully at whatever GPT site you're working with. Most will typically give instructions on what you need to complete to earn your reward. Some require you to complete the survey, others only require that you enter a phone number. If you fail to read the instructions you may end up spending 5 minutes on a survey that you could have received credit for just by submitting your email address.I can not reiterate enough how important cookies are to your approval ratings. Make sure to read this tutorial to find out why.Clear your cookies in between EVERY offer that you complete (but NOT during)Since many surveys are owned by the same company, and therefore considered to be in the same "family". When completing these it's important to use a different email address.NEVER pay to do surveys! Any website that asks for money to take surveys is a scam. And NEVER pay for survey lists or ebooks that tell you how to earn money taking surveys. You don't need to pay for that information. If you don't find all the information you need on this website (for free), just email me and I'll either be able to answer your question or find the answer. Joining GPT forums is also a great source of information. Google it. You will find TONS of GPT forums.Leave your survey window open for a few minutes after each offer to make sure you get credited properly.I'm not comfortable giving out my social security number online so I skip the offers that require a SS number. That's a personal choice - you'll have to decide what you're comfortable with.Don't complete a large number of freebie offers all at one time. Do 10 to 15 of them at one sitting then come back later to do more.Some free surveys ask if you'd like to sign up for trial offers like Netflix or Blockbuster, etc. Don't do this! If you'd like to try these offers complete them through a GPT site where you'll be paid to try them.Many surveys have an asterisk next to several of their survey questions. These are the questions that have to be answered in order to complete the survey. Save time by only answering the questions with asterisks.
Many survey's lead you to believe that you need to complete seemingly endless pages to receive credit, but who wants to spend15 or 20 minutes on a survey only to earn .40 cents to a dollar? On many of the free survey's all you need to do is submit the second page (which contains your email address, phone number, etc). Other survey sites do require that you complete several pages, but not all, and some require that you reach the end of the survey. Many GPT sites give you clear instructions on how far you need to go on any given survey to receive credit, however for those GPT sites that don't this guide will help you save time by knowing just how far you need to go to complete an offer. Until you become familiar with these I highly recommend that you print this list out and have it handy for easy reference while filing out freebie surveys.
Big Buck - Continue the survey until you see the message in black at the top that reads, "Thank you. Your information has been received successfully..."
Brand Survey Panel - Submit 2nd page
Consumer Beat - Continue the survey until you see the message in black at the top that reads, "Thank you. Your information has been received successfully..."
Consumer Expression - Continue the survey until you see the message that reads, "Thank you. Your information has been received successfully..." There will be an additional survey beneath this message. You do not need to do the underlying survey.
Consumer Promotion Center - Submit the second page.My Elite Rewards - Submit 2nd page.
My Insider Deals - Give your info and choose an offer on the 2nd page. Submit, and your done.
My Select Gifts - Submit the 2nd page.
Opinionnaire - Continue the survey until you see the message in black at the top that reads, "Thank you. Your information has been received successfully..."
Opinion Direct - Continue until you see the message in black at the top that reads, "Thank you. Your information has been received successfully..."
Rewards Gateway - Submit 2nd page.Survey Networks - Continue the survey until you the message in black at the top that reads, "Thank you. Your information has been received successfully..."
Winning Surveys - Continue the survey until until you see the message in black at the top that reads, "Thank you. Your information has been received successfully..." (I've actually had these surveys approve after the 4th page, where it asks about your housing 'own, rent, etc.' You may want to experiment with these. Complete a few of these through the 4th page and see if they credit. If they don't credit for you, you'll need to continue these until you reach the "Thank you...." message.)
Trial Offers and Product Trial Tips
Although you can definitely earn several hundred dollars a month filling out Freebie Offers, you can really kick up your earnings by completing trial offers and product trials.Trial offers and product trials require little or no money up front but do require a valid credit card or debit card number. As long as you cancel the trial before the trial deadline your card will not incur further charges. If you fail to cancel before the deadline you are basically agreeing to continue with the service and giving the company permission to charge your credit card a fee, usually on a monthly basis but this can sometimes can be weekly or annually. Again, you should ONLY complete trial offers that you have an interest in. You should not simply do offers just to make the money, these advertisers are looking for legit leads. So make sure not to just do a trial offer and then cancel it as soon as it approves. At least give it a try!I don't feel comfortable giving out my credit card number for Trial Offers and Product Trials so I use pre-paid Visa or Mastercard giftcards. Because of fraud occurring at alot of GPT sites lately, some of them no longer allow pre-paids so make sure you can use them at the site you are on.Keep accurate records. This will prevent unwanted credit card charges. It will also help you in the event your offer fails to approve for some reason. In that case you'll need to submit a manual credit request (more on that later), but in that case you'll need this information. Some people like to keep a notebook on their desk to write down pertinent information about each off they complete. I prefer using Excel. By using Excel I'm able to quickly sort by my "Cancel Date" field. This makes it fast and easy to check every morning for any trial offers that need to be canceled that day. Or if I don't remember if I have completed a particular offer, I'm able to sort by the "Company Name" field to quickly and easily find that information.This is the information that I keep on each trial offer that I complete:The GPT that I did the offer throughThe company nameCompany email addressCompany phone numberAny other contact information I find on their websiteThe date I signed up for the trialTrial length and date the date to cancel by. The general rule of thumb I use is this: if I decide not to keep the service, on a 7 day trial I cancel on day 5, on a 10 day trial I cancel on day 8, and on a 30 day trial I cancel on day 25.Fee for activation or Shipping and Handling charges if that applies. For example: You may want to try a weight loss product which is free but requires you to pay $3.95 for S&HReward for completing the offer - Using the example above you would earn a reward of $19.00 for trying the weight loss product.My net earnings for this offer. Again, using the above example my net earnings would be $15.05. You will want this information for a few reasons:To keep track of all of your expenses so you have a clear idea of how much money you are actually making.For tax purposes. The GPT site will be sending you a payment of $19 for this offer but you really actually made $15.05. You certainly don't want to pay taxes on the entire $19!Monthly or weekly fee if you fail to cancel.The actual date you canceled on.The name of the person you spoke to.Cancel confirmation number.If this all looks a bit overwhelming to you don't panic! You'll have the hang of it in no time! It only takes me a few minutes to look-up and record all of this information. Not bad for a net profit of $15.05!NEVER repeat the same offer at different GPT sites. Keep track of your offers.
When you do trials make sure you do not cancel before you have received the product, or before logging into their website and taking a closer look at what your membership involves.
You are supposed to complete offers that you are legitimately interested in. This is absolutely not hard to do... with the hundreds of offers, products and services listed on GPT sites I never run out of things I am truly interested in finding out more about. By participating in product trials I'm able to try out scores of products and services not only for free, I actually get paid to do it! Not a bad way to earn extra money! When you do an offer and cancel before receiving the product then this lets the advertiser know that you only did the offer for the incentive. The advertiser can revoke your earnings.To Avoid being wrongly charged I STRONGLY recommend using a prepaid Mastercard or Visa giftcard for any offer that requires a credit card. You can buy these at Wal-Mart, CVS, Longs, etc. But I have found the most convenient place to order one is online at Simon.com. I DO NOT recommend pre-paid credit cards as they often allow insufficient charge purchases. Unlike prepaid credit cards, prepaid gift cards can not be recharged so they need to be replaced after they've been used up. This is a very minor inconvenience when you consider the amount of earnings you can achieve using these cards and the fact that this all but eliminates any risk of being charged any unauthorized charges. Purchase a Simon Gift Account and have it delivered via postal mail within 7 days for $6 or purchase a virtual card which will be delivered via email within 24 hours for $2.More about pre-paids. I have found very few offers that have not allowed me to use a pre-paid gift card, but there have been a few. In my experience when this has happened I've been able to use another prepaid card. One note about pre-paid gift cards is that some merchants do not like them. Some believe they are fraudulent. I don't see a problem with them at all though. Anytime I have found a trial offer or product that I've liked and would like to continue using I simply change my billing method at the end of the trial.
To RecapHere's a list of important downloads to help you stay organized and keep your survey taking efforts running smoothly.
Improve your Crediting: A Cookie TutorialCookies are the main tool for tracking your activity on GPT Sites. Each GPT site has their own cookies that determine if you're logged in to their site. Third-party vendors (ie. all of the GPT Sites advertisers) use their own cookies to track the progress of your signup or sale at their site. If any of your settings interfere with the cookies, you may not get credit. You MUST have cookies ON, or you will not receive any credit. Even if they are on, you may still have some problems.Cookies are bits of data temporarily stored on your computer that save your linking settings, track your progress and allow sites to communicate with your computer. This is not "hacking" or anything shifty like that; it is a necessary tool for navigating any site where your information needs to follow you around (shopping being the most obvious application... if your shopping cart doesn't follow you from page to page, it would be basically impossible to make any online purchases).Cookies are necessary in order to track your completions. If you use shopping cashback from GPT sites, be sure to use their link again for every new shopping cart transaction. This will refresh the cookie just in case it was corrupted in the meantime. For other offers, it compiles data on what steps you have completed and communicates that to merchants, who can then pass on reports of your completion progress to the GPT site. If these are disrupted, they and consequently the GPT sites cannot credit you. To ensure this does not happen, complete any offer or purchase before navigating elsewhere, and before you clear cookies. Clearing cookies is usually not necessary. However, past navigation at a site stored on a cookie may sometimes interfere with your current navigation on that site - in that case, it is advisable to delete them (clear your cookies) before restarting navigation on that site. This is advisable when doing some of the freebies - sometimes the offers are different but the site is still the same. Cookies may show that you have navigated there before, even without any activity, and prevent proper crediting. Even cookies from a previous user of your computer may affect your current tracking.For example, Person A signs up at a Site, unbeknownst to Person B. Person B sees the offer requirements on a GPT: "be a new customer." He signs up, but without clearing his cookies. Through no fault of his own, Person B will not get credit for the offer because Person A already signed up using the computer's IP address (and MAC address, if advertisers are even more specific). Clearing cookies is NOT turning cookies off; it just deletes all previous cookies in the cache but leaves it open to save more cookies afterward.Your browser and Internet settings may interfere with cookies and offer tracking as well. Firewalls and the security settings on your browser may prevent cookies from saving properly, as well as other more technical issues. For some offers, it is advisable to use IE; others, Firefox. It is also advisable to put your browser on a low security setting, as any higher security setting may delete your cookie and break link tracking. Whatever you choose to do is your own choice - we can only offer some suggestions. If tracking is broken, the merchant may not pay for your transaction, even if we show proof, so it is VERY advantageous for you to follow as many of our suggestions as feasible. You must keep in mind that these are NOT set in stone, and are not 100% guarantees.If you are using Internet Explorer, the program may be blocking your cookies and thus you will not get credit for most, if not all, of the offers you are signing up for. At the Medium setting, which is the default, IE blocks "third-party cookies that do not have a compact privacy policy." Often, the advertisers you can connect to on gpt sites do have a compact privacy policy, but the cookies they create or access are NOT located on their site. Instead, they are located on a third-party site that may not have a compact privacy policy.To remedy this situation, click "Tools" on the IE menu bar. Click on "Internet Options", and then find the "Privacy" tab. The slider should be then set to "Low." This should fix a majority of crediting problems. This will not reduce Internet security for you; it just allows tracking and crediting to be completed properly.As mentioned above, offers will not credit if done multiple times from the same IP address. Often cookies will also keep the signup email address or a physical mailing address, and advertisers use that information to prevent multiple signups from that particular IP, email, address, etc. Though it MAY be two different people, it is possible that it is just one user attempting to defraud a website. Similarly, certain free offers might not credit properly if you attempt to complete several offers from the same advertiser. You are not seen as a unique user, so any attempts to do multiple offers from the same advertiser - only when they are actually different from each other - should be done by waiting a period of time in between and clearing cookies during that interim.
All About Referrals
What are they, why do you need them and how do you get them?Virtually all GPT programs have nice referral systems in place that give you a percentage of everything each of your referrals earn through 1, 2, and on some GPT sites 3 levels deep. Having referrals is a great way to significantly increase your earnings. The beauty of this is that you can earn a substantial amount of money through referrals however you are never obligated to find referrals nor are you dependant upon them to earn money. It's simply another great way to earn money with GPT's.How Do You Get ReferralsI have found several ways to successfully recruit new referrals. How many referrals you are able to recruit depends entirely on how much time and effort you put into it. Try some, or all of my ideas listed below and you'll be on your way to the bank in no time to cash those referral checks!Giving Away Free Affiliate Links Webpages - The best way I have found to get new referrals is by giving away this website. Everyone likes freebies. Not only that, but I've found that poeple have been ecstatic to find a way to get started in gpt's and also to be able to have one central location to display all of their referral links. Besides all of those perks, one of the largest benefits to giving away referral links websites has been in educating people how to be successful with gpt's. It's not enough to just recruit people. If you don't teach them how to be successful with gpt's they won't be earning much money, and of course the more money they make, the more money you'll be earning in referral commissions. Where do you find people to give them away to? Keep reading...Forums - These are a great way not only to find referrals but to learn from the GPT Guru's. You'll find them to be filled with helpful people willing to share their expertise. Most forums do not allow any type of advertising or recruiting, however they do allow referral links in your signature file. I've had a great deal of success by simply placing a banner like the one below, in my sig files. I use SWF Text to create animated banners because of it's versatility and ease of use (see example below). You can download a free trial version Here and test it out yourself if you'd like. To create non-animated banners I use the free banner creator located at: http://www.bannercreator.nu/banner-maker.html (see example below) To find forums to post at run a google search for "GPT Forums" and you'll come up with dozens. Sign up for several of them and start posting. Most GPT sites have a topic started where you can post your proof of payments. This is a great way to show others that you're actually getting paid by GPT programs. Also, just join in conversations. Your banner or sig file WILL be noticed. The important thing isn't so much what you post, it's just posting. Get your signature file link seen.
Free Classifieds - I have found that free classifieds on the internet do not work well with a few exceptions. The 2 free classifieds I've had success with are Craig's List and US Freeads. ($9.95 a month for better exposure on US Freeads.) Post flyers on the bulletin board at your local grocery store or college.Hand out business cards to accountancies. You'd be surprised at how many people at my children's school or the grocery store line want to know more when you start telling them how you're earning extra money. Order some free business cards from Vista Print and get paid for it! Most GPT sites carry this offer. Note: The above information was NOT created by me.
To see a list of sites that I am a member of and recommend you can visit my other website at http://makemoneywithawahm.blogspot.com/
