Money Makers: Definitions and Explanations

I'm taking a week off from posting about different sites to give you some definitions and explanations of various types of money-making sites.

Survey Sites
These sites have several types of rewards. Some surveys earn entries into drawings, some earn points that can be redeemed for products or cash, some pay cash outright, and some provide extra bonuses in the form of test products. Sites are generally up-front about the rewards offered for a given survey.

Focus Groups/Taste Tests
A subset of survey sites, these sites are much higher-paying, but opportunities come less frequently and require a higher time investment.

Mystery Shopping
Mystery Shopping isn't exactly so much a money-maker as it is a way to get paid for things you like to do. The amount of effort involved in the evaluation for a shop doesn't make this a high-paying-per-hour effort, but you will often get your meal reimbursed and sometimes a small amount extra. If you like to go out to eat and shop, then looking at the mystery shopping opportunities I profile might be worth your while!

Services
These are sites that allow you to use your talents and abilities to provide services to others. These include online tutoring and homework help sites, as well as sites that act as connections between freelance workers and people looking to contract freelancers for certain projects.

Paid-To-Click (PTC)
These are sites where you are paid in points or cash to read emails and click links confirming you read them, or to view online ads. They take very little time, but the payback is small - pennies per click. Many PTC sites have survey or GPT elements.

Get-Paid-To (GPT)
These are the trickiest sites to work with. Payout varies greatly depending on effort and time invested. These are sites where you are paid to complete certain offers. These sites often are the target of complaints. A big reason for this is that they are often very picky. If you don't follow the terms exactly, you don't get paid. They intentionally make it difficult for you to get the money. That being said, if you follow the rules and keep track of everything carefully, they are a valid source of extra cash.

In my money makers posts, I will only showcase sites where I have actually received a payout. I will try to be upfront as far as the time invested compared to the payout received, so you know if it's worth your effort.