The ultimate side hustle is earning money online doing tasks that hardly pass for work, like watching ads and getting paid through M-Pesa. But is it a legit way to make money online?
Many people in Kenya are looking for ways to earn money online and get paid through M-Pesa. Naturally, folks are attracted to the side hustles that involve the least amount of work. Or those that don’t feel like work.
That’s why ‘watch ads and get paid through M-Pesa’ gets an average of 1,000 searches in Google every month.
Here on this blog, we are all about earning money online. The question we and many others have is, can you make real money by watching ads? Is it a legitimate way to earn a sustainable side income?
We did some research. This article summarises what we found out.
How to get paid for watching ads online
There are apps that pay people for watching ads and other menial tasks like completing surveys, reading emails, and playing games. But from our research, none of these apps pays through M-Pesa.
You are typically paid through PayPal, gift cards, and virtual Visa cards. So you will have to transfer that money to your M-Pesa if that is where you prefer to manage or spend it. Transferring the money to your M-Pesa is most straightforward when using the IntaSend virtual Visa card.
So which apps pay people for watching ads online?
Swagbucks
The most helpful tip I got about earning money doing simple online tasks with Swagbucks is to let it pay you for doing things you already do.
I like this advice because if I thought of these as tasks you get paid for, I would quit because the reward is low. Swagbucks will not make you rich.
These tasks include browsing the internet, taking online surveys, answering trivia questions, shopping online, and watching ads and movie trailers.
You may wonder how online browsing and shopping can earn you money. Because shopping usually means expenditure, not income?
The secret is you have to be using the Swagbucks search engine. So, for example, when you click through from the search engine to Amazon, Swabucks will get a commission from the purchase you make there. They will then pay you a part of that commission.
All it takes to start earning on Swagbucks is registering for an account on their website. You will also want to download their app because there are tasks you can only access on the app. Registration is free on Swagbucks.
So how much can you earn on Swagbucks?
To give you an idea of potential earnings on Swagbucks, watching a 30-minute video in full will earn you USD0.01 - USD0.02. A survey typically pays USD1,00. Note that you are paid through SB points that you can redeem with gift cards.
There are many other ways you can earn through Swagbucks. Make a cent here, two there, and the odd one or two dollars from a survey, and soon you will make the USD15 minimum cashout amount.
InboxDollars
When you hear that InboxDollars has paid out over $80 million since 2006, it is easy to assume that is where you need to be to earn money online.
Depending on how much time you are willing to put into tasks like taking online surveys, watching ads, and shopping, you could earn money on InboxDollars.
But if you take anything from the $80 million figure, it should be that InboxDollars is a legitimate, legal business. It should not be that you will earn enough to retire on.
Tasks on InboxDollars include browsing the internet using an assigned web browser. So when you need to buy something online, instead of going through Google or the marketplace’s app, you access it through the InboxDollars search engine.
After you join, other tasks you can do to earn money with InboxDollars include playing chess, sudoku, word search, and other games, watching ads, and taking surveys.
InboxDollars has a referral program where you can also get paid for bringing new people to the platform. You get paid a fraction of what the people you recruit earn on InboxDollars.
If you enjoy learning and don’t mind spending your free time answering trivia questions, you could monetise that interest with InboxDollars. Correct answers can earn you a scratch & win opportunity.
MyPoints
One of the ways you know that what you are being sold as an easy way to make money online is a scam is when you are asked to pay something upfront.
I have been asked to buy a gift card or some USD50 software that I supposedly would need for a job I am being offered. So you will know MyPoints is for real when you get $10 as a ‘welcome to MyPoints’ gift.
By the way, Swagbucks also gives you $10 for signing up. In fact, the three platforms - Swagbucks, InboxDollars, and MyPoints - and a couple of others are part of the same company - Prodege LLC.
That’s why the three companies operate the same way. The tasks are largely the same - shopping through their search engines, playing games online, watching ads and videos online, and completing surveys.
So we could keep going with this and make it a long list, but we will be repeating what we already said. Companies like iRazoo, FusionCash, and Grabpoints all pay people registered on their platforms for playing games, shopping through their search engines, and taking surveys.
Is watching ads online for money a worthwhile side hustle
We have answered the question we asked at the start. That question is whether you can get paid for watching ads online. The answer is yes, you can earn can some side income this way.
From the research I did, the income you get from watching ads, answering trivia questions, and and the small commissions you make from the commissions you help these companies make is to little to make it worthwhile.
Forget that the money you get is so low, some of these companies charge $3 for a withdrawal. So if you withdraw $15, you will be losing 20 percent to the withdrawal fee, which is a lot. And it can take as much as 16 days to finally see the money after withdrawing.
We can think of more sustainable and lucrative ways to earn money online and get paid through M-Pesa. For example, you could try your hand at freelance writing or virtual assistance.
If you establish a presence on a platform like Upwork, you will have access to plenty of jobs that are posted by employers from across the globe. With hard work and a few free courses, you could grow and earn enough to make it your full-time job.
The cherry on top is that with Upwork you can get paid through M-Pesa. If you enjoy the thrill of getting paid every time someone makes sale from your recommendation, you could consider dipping your feet deeper into affiliate marketing.
Maximize your gains from watching ads online for money with IntaSend.
While we don’t consider watching ads online to make a side income, we think it is a good pastime. For example, you could take a survey, watch a few ads, or answer a few trivia questions while waiting in line at the bank.
Those 30-minute videos are an excellent way to pass the time on your commute to and from work. If you are a movie buff, watching trailers of upcoming movies is a great use of your time.
Do you buy a lot of stuff on Amazon? You can earn a few dollars by just using a specific browser to access the Amazon website.
The money you will earn will not change your life, but it can be enough to spoil yourself or save up for something you have had your eye on for a while. Speaking of that, seeing that you won’t get paid directly into your M-Pesa, the next best thing is an IntaSend virtual Visa card.
Some companies that pay for watching ads make e-payments directly into your Visa cards. So the IntaSend virtual Visa card will save you from moving your money through a few places and getting charged fees at every step.
Sign up for IntaSend and enjoy a better way to pay and get paid from anywhere in the world. Once you sign up, applying for a virtual Visa card takes only a few minutes.
