My Survey Earnings (April 2013)

This is the third month that I'm sharing my survey earnings. I have stopped using a couple sites because I didn't feel they were worth the time. I also added a new one. Read on to find out more about the sites I'm using.

Shop Update, Goals, and New Items

I finally have a total of 60 items in my shop. Of course, as soon as I say that a purchase will be made and that statement will no longer be true. That isn't so much of a problem in my eyes though! I 've made 5 more sales since my last update when I hit the magical "50 sales milestone".

I noticed lately that people were mostly buying two things: sunglass cases and loom knit bags. I've been working on making more of those items, but instead of loom knit bags (which can take some time), I'm concentrating on getting more sewn fabic bags listed. I love picking out fabric and sewing the bags. They're a lot of fun.

This is the count for what I've sold so far:
Eyeglass cases - 8
Bags - 12
Scarves - 28
Headbands - 4
Coaster sets - 3

Scarves take the cake in my shop, but while the weather is hot, I won't be making or listing anymore than I have (there are 16 right now!).

Here's what's new in my shop right now:

Bright Orange Woven Eyeglass Case

I'm pretty surprised how much people like these things. I'll make every color of the rainbow if I have to.  I have 12 available right now. They're great for protecting eyewear.

Blue and Teal Fabric Tote

These simple totes are great. I made a couple to keep already. During the summer, I live at the pool and the lake and these are perfect for carrying my outdoor essentials (usually sunscreen, a magazine, my phone + headphones, a snack, etc.).  I add 2 pockets to these bags - pockets are a must!

Lime Green Sunglass Case

Goals for this month:
-Get to 70 items listed! I'm slowly working up to 100. If this was the only thing I worked on, I could definitely  get there quicker. A lot of my time goes to my beauty blog.

-Be more active on social media! As a blogger, social media is half of my job; I'm constantly updating to stay relevant. For my Etsy shop, I tend to neglect that aspect.

If you're a shop owner, what are your goals for the month?

50 sales!

I've reached a milestone in my shop recently - I hit 50 sales! That's a small amount for some shops, but a huge victory for me. I never considered the idea that I'd stick with my shop for so long. I opened it randomly because I had a bunch of handmade scarves on my hands that I had no idea what to do with. I figured there was no harm in listing them. Now I have expanded my inventory to include sunglass cases, bags, headbands, and household items.

I've thought about closing shop a couple times when things got slow, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I love creating my crafts and sharing them with people. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment when I list these items I've actually made myself and then when people buy them, it makes me so proud.

I look forward to the next 50 sales and expanding my shop even more. I've now starting adding sewn tote bags that I think people will love for summer. I have my eye on a couple more sewing patterns as well. I won't be leaving the loom knit/woven items behind though. My looms are still being used like crazy! Sometimes it's just fun to change it up a little.

Shop: sparkleknit.etsy.com

Twitter: @sparkleknitshop

Facebook: Sparkleknit

My Survey Earnings (March 2013)

Last month I shared my earnings from the survey sites I signed up for. I want to continue to share my earnings with you to show you that you can make a little extra money from these sites, so I'm doing a monthly update. Here are my current earnings.

Inbox Dollars
Total Amount Earned: $14.59

 

I like this site a lot. I've earned money using their search, taking surveys, and reading email. I'm about halfway to cashing out. If you sign up, you automatically get $5!
Sign up


Vindale Research
Total Amount Earned: $18.40

I earned pretty quickly at first and now it has slowed down. I still like this site though. I earned $5 just for referring someone. I also earned by taking surveys and reading emails.
Sign up


Swagbucks
Total Amount Earned: 1780 swagbucks






This site is my favorite, as I've said before. It's so easy to earn "swagbucks" and there are tons of ways to earn them. Besides that, it's a fun site! I earn the most by searching the web.
Sign up


Hits4Pay
Total Amount Earned: $7.44

This site requires the least amount of effort. You just read emails from your inbox on the site. You click on the link in the email, it takes you to the advertiser's site, you view it until you're credited, then you go to the next one. It's too easy!
Sign up


Cashcrate
Total Amount Earned: $0.79



I haven't spent much time with this one, obviously. I've heard it's a good site, but I'm not really getting into it. There are a lot of offers, but I don't want to sign up for a million things. I might just forget about this one.
Sign up


I-Say
Total Amount Earned: 505 points 

I've been signed up with I-Say for a couple years. I've already cashed out for $65 worth of rewards. I opted for both Paypal and Amazon credit. I've also been able to try cool products in exchange for my opinions! This is a really great site. You even get  points for every survey you don't qualify for.
Sign up


Total earned: $64.07

The total amount includes the cash and point value of everything I've earned so far.
I don't have a lot of time to commit to surveys, which is why I'm only signed up for these few reward sites. There are tons of these sites though. If I devoted more time to them, I could earn more quickly.
Since I'm not dependent on this money, I'm going to let it build up over time. I'm in no rush to cash out yet. It's almost like keeping a rainy day fund or a savings stash!


Check out these posts too:
February's earnings
How to earn money from home

Whimseybox - Feb 2013

Whimseybox is a monthly craft box. You get a box for $15, mailed to you every month with a project inside (as long as you're subscribed to the service). Keep reading to find out more.

Reversible Fabric Totes

Last month, I shared this Valentine's tote I made. I kept the bag for myself and since then, I've made 3 more.   These totes are ideal for carrying just about anything. They're reversible and include a pocket that can hold cell phones, pens/pencils, sunglasses, etc. I'll be using mine as a pool bag this summer.

I've already listed one of the bags in my shop: Chevron Reversible Tote Bag

Here's a preview of the most recent bag I've made. 

These totes are perfect for carrying books!

You can see the pocket in the picture!

For future bags, I'm thinking of adding an additional pocket so that there will always be a pocket on the outside as well as the inside.

Here's a sneak peek at the fabric I'm using for my next bag:\

I think it will be a great bag for spring and summer and can't wait to see how it turns out. 

My Shop

 Etsy

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My Survey Earnings (Feb 2013)

In my last blog post, I shared the various ways I earn money online. I mentioned that I would do monthly updates on what I've earned on the survey/reward sites I'm signed up for.
These are my earnings for February 2013 along with my thoughts on each site:

Inbox Dollars
Amount Earned: $11.02
How I earned: Reading email, clicking ads, completing surveys, searching the web

This site is great. When you don't qualify for a survey, you can "Spin to Win" for various rewards. You get daily emails that you just have to click on to earn money. You also get daily survey opportunities. It's really easy to earn money on here and it doesn't require tons of time.

Vindale Research
Amount Earned: $13.20
How I earned: Surveys, completing offers, reading email

I've earned the most on this site so far. There are evaluations that pay out well (you usually have to pay for a service/product and evaluate it - depending on the evaluation, you could earn back the money you paid plus more). There are plenty of studies (or surveys) as well that don't cost anything. You also get daily emails that pay you just for looking at them.


Swagbucks
Amount Earned: 1,260 SB
How I earned: Watching videos, daily polls, completing offers, searching the web, etc.

This site is my favorite. It's easy and fun. You earn swagbucks just for doing simple things, like taking the daily poll or visiting a facebook page. There are so many ways to earn swagbucks including everything I mentioned above plus taking surveys, shopping, completing tasks, etc. I could already redeem my points for a $10 gift card but I'm saving them up for now.

Memolink
Amount Earned: 764 pts
How I earned: Joining, taking a survey, completing my profile

I haven't gotten into this site much. It doesn't seem like it's as easy to earn on this site nor are there as many opportunities to earn like the other sites. I have a long way to go before I can cash out.

Cashcrate
Amount Earned: $0.45
How I earned: Cash tasks

I've barely earned anything on this one! Like Memolink, I haven't spent much time on it. I have to test it out a little more to see if I like it and how easily I can earn on it.

Hits4pay
Amount Earned: $5.20
How I earned: Signing up, reading email

At first, I was confused by this site. You're supposed to get paid for reading emails, but after opening them and clicking I wasn't getting credit. I went back to it and now it's working, so I'm a little behind on this one. It's easy to earn money on here; I'll stick with it for awhile.

Total cash earned this month: $29.87

That's not a bad amount and that's not even counting the sites that pay with points. If you include Swagbucks, which is worth a $10 gift card (1000 points), that adds up to $39.87! Pretty good for my first month on these sites. It's great to make a little extra money this way if you have some time.

There may be a couple that I won't continue with if I don't think they're worth it. I don't want to spend too much time on these sites. It's nice when you're able to do more than just surveys to earn rewards because surveys can eat up a lot of time. Many of them can take 30-45 minutes. I definitely don't want to devote that much time to a survey. Of course there are surveys that take less time too.

I'll be updating again next month on my earnings with these sites. If you're looking to join any of them, I would recommend Swagbucks, Inbox Dollars, and Vindale. Let me know if there are any survey/reward sites you like that I didn't mention!