Funding My Hive Goal: Exploring Prolific, UserTesting, and Dscout

In a previous post, I mentioned my goal of hitting 10,000 Hive by the end of 2024. I also shared that I planned to invest some of my own money to reach that target. However, my wife isn't always thrilled about me using our paycheck for crypto when it could go towards our retirement accounts or the stock market.

To address this, I've come up with a plan to earn extra money through various websites. Keep in mind, your results may vary based on your location and the specific sites you use. I'm based in the United States, and it seems like these sites tend to work best here.

My favorite site so far has been Prolific. It's a survey site and has been the most consistent for making a bit of extra money. From what I've heard, there's now a waiting list, and it can take quite a while to get accepted. Luckily, I got in a few years back, though I didn't use it much until recently.

I've been more active on it in the past week, and the surveys have been pretty consistent. While there haven't been any huge payouts, I did get one survey that paid $12. It was time-consuming and boring, but most surveys fall between $0.50 and $2. Over the past three days, I've managed to make $60, with another $25 or so pending acceptance from the universities and companies funding these surveys.

Another site I've tried is UserTesting, but I haven't been nearly as successful with it. It seems like you'd make more money on this site if you have a background in coding or something similar, which I don't—my background is in education.

Most tasks on UserTesting involve either testing applications or reviewing websites and user interfaces (UIs). They typically record your screen and voice while you discuss what you're seeing, any questions you have, and any concerns about the UI or website. Essentially, you're helping companies or individuals improve their websites or applications.

Dscout has been the most fun for me, though the work can be spotty and sometimes hard to qualify for. They have "express missions" that pay between $5 to $30 and are typically easier to qualify for. These missions usually take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes to complete and involve taking pictures, answering questions, or recording short videos where you discuss a given question.

They also have regular missions that can pay anywhere from $10 to $300. These missions require more time and attention, as you need to complete daily tasks and avoid missing any checkpoints, which can lead to disqualification. The most recent mission I did involved online shopping. Each day, I had to perform specific searches, review the websites that came up, and discuss which ones I found the most effective and which ones were the most distracting. It's a way to help companies improve their user interfaces and overall user experience.