Earn More part 1: ICS

The unfortunately named Instant Cash Sweepstakes is a recent discovery of mine. I normally steer very, very clear of survey-type sites (and anything containing the words "instant" or "sweepstakes"..."cash" I like), but I'm really impressed with this site so far. It's self-contained (no pop-ups or constant redirections), well-designed (unlike every other survey site that hasn't been updated since 1998), quick, easy, and even a little bit fun.

The basic concept of survey sites is you're getting paid a little bit to help with various company's market research. It's usually a mind-numbing clusterfuck trying to fill one out, and then you realise you could have spent the same amount of time rummaging through couch cushions and gotten more money. That's usually when I start breaking stuff.

ICS has only 3 questions per survey, and you can only fill out 5 surveys every three hours. You either get paid in "tickets", "coins" (which you exchange for...tickets), money (starts at 1-3 cents at a time; increases the higher your level), or a combination thereof.

The best thing? You get rewarded for being smart and answering properly. They have "Trust Levels" which increase with every survey you submit that appears honest (they periodically have surveys which ask you about your profile info to make sure you aren't mindlessly clicking.) If you come across the same survey twice, fill out the same answers each time. You can write surveys, too, which I like. It flexes the writing muscles. :D

I really just wish they had picked a better name. It's like they picked the 3 top words associated with spammy, fake, spyware-laden, pop-up redirection sites. CLICK THE PONY AND GET $100

You know what I'm talking about. Anyway, it's worth a look.