Swagbucks: Tips & Tricks!!!

I recently purchased my 11th amazon.com giftcard from Swagbucks for 2010. I already had one from the end of 2009 so my Christmas budget is really shaping up!! When is the last time you could say that by March 3rd you had $55.00 in "savings" marked for Christmas?

What is Swagbucks?

Swagbucks is an amazing search engine that rewards you with points called Swagbucks (These are traded in for prizes.) There is a wide variety of prizes to choose from but most people that I know choose the $5.00 Gift Card to Amazon.com. It costs 450 Swagbucks and really it's not that hard to get to 450 bucks between swagcodes and searches. You get 30 Swagbucks when you join.

I first heard about swagbucks last April and refused to sign up for it because I thought it HAD to be a scam....until July when the "What If's" got me. I didn't really use it very much until September because I was a little bit lost...

Several of my friends and family recently joined Swagbucks and I don't want you guys to be as lost as I was for so long...and since I love Swagbucks and love you..I want you to be successful and to love Swagbucks as much as I do!! I have compiled my best tips & tricks for maximizing your Swagbucks every day to help you get as many gift cards or prizes as you want :)

Swagbucks is totally free. I have NEVER spent a dime towards earning Swagbucks. I have received around $100 in giftcards without altering my own behavior very much...this is a reason why I think everyone should be Swagging!

**Swag Codes are codes that are put out by TSG (The Swag Guy!) as a treat!!! They give out a range of Swagbucks codes now...sometimes they are worth 10 Swagbucks, sometimes they are worth 7, 13, 25, whatever. These codes are put out on Twitter, in Facebook, on the blog, in newsletters, in the form of a swag hunt etc.**

**A Swag Hunt is an awful lot like an easter egg hunt for letters that go into the code**

Tips for getting more out of using Swagbucks:
*Be sure to upload your picture to swagbucks before April 1. Everyone who uploads their picture by then is being rewarded with 13 extra swagbucks. This is not immediate and they won't be awarded until some point within the first few days of April. Just realize that they have disabled this feature for right this second and they say it will be back soon. Here is the blog post about it. If you upload an indecent or inappropriate or illegal picture...expect them to deactivate your account right away.

*Try changing all of your bookmarks (or at least the most frequently used bookmarks) to swagbucks searches for that extra little chance to win...instead of going to facebook directly - go to swagbucks and then search for facebook.com :) Sometimes you win, sometimes not. Then bookmark that search as facebook and delete your old one :) I have earned over 200 swagbucks this way in the past week!!
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*Set Swagbucks.com as your homepage or a search for your old homepage as your homepage ;) That way every time you open your browser - you get a free search. Gmail has earned me at least 100 swagbucks alone!!!

*Check out the no-obligation offers each day. They change on a daily basis and as you are looking through them you will be awarded with 3 swagbucks for just looking & considering their offers!! (You can skip them all, all the way through - usually there are 6-10 offers) Here is the link to their special offers section.

*Check out all 3 walls on the special offers page. There are several "Free" offers available. On wall 2 I spent 2 minutes watching the karate kid trailer and earned 2 SB!!! They also offer tasks for you to do that are totally free and only take time for you to earn swagbucks. The one task available to me is for 45 minutes of my time for 31 swagbucks. I don't have that much free time - so i'll skip that option!

****As with ANYTHING on the internet.... ALWAYS be wary of signing up for anything that asks for identifying information....don't automatically assume they are scams. I post several affiliate links here and would never scam you or allow you to be scammed!!! Advertisements are not bad! Mailing lists are not bad. I get random high value coupons in my mailbox each week because I have been added to mailing lists!!! Use common sense and trust your gut!! Read the fine print! ****

*Search until you win in the morning - it doesn't matter what you search for - try a few searches or if you do a lot of searching throughout the day try your search on swagbucks first - it uses ask.com and google.com as the actual "engine" behind it so frequently it works just as well as google.com by itself!!!

*Search until you win in the evening - same rules apply as above. I use Swagbucks as my regular search engine and once in a while i pop over to google depending on what i'm looking for. In the morning and in the evening I do sit down and search for random things until I win at least once so I can get that extra 20 or so swagbucks a day.

*Be sure to become a fan of swagbucks on facebook - frequently there will be a swagcode announced there or a swaghunt will be announced. (PS - NEVER post an active swagcode ANYWHERE. They WILL Deactivate you!!!)

*Be sure to follow swagbucks on Twitter.

*Grab the swidget from swagbucks (Or just use mine - you can search with it or check it for swagcodes - mine is at the top right of my main page)

*Read the swagblog daily - there are frequently codes in the blog!

*Sign up for the Newsletter! - There is almost always a code in the newsletter!! (I can't link this one!!) on the main swagbucks page scroll down on the left till ya see "Newsletter" with the mini envelope beside it. Click there and a javascript window opens asking for your email addy.

*Submit Poll ideas - They award swagbucks for and poll ideas that you submit :) You can submit them to the email address: pollideas@swagbucks.com I can think of at least one person who is hillarious enough to rack up some swagbucks this way.

*Share swagging with your family and friends and help them figure out how to sign up because when you refer someone - every time they win swagbucks - YOU DO TOO!!!

*Download the swagbucks search bar (For IE and Firefox) or install the Plug Ins for your browser!! Then use it to search - the search bar also tells you how many swagbucks you have and they sometimes send you codes right to the swagbar!!

That is all I can think of. Veteran Swagsters ... do any of you have more suggestions????

You can go here to join.