Want to know how to make money living abroad – easily? One of the hardest things about moving abroad for expat life after having a solid career for many years is relinquishing financial independence. Losing your own income stream takes a long time to adjust to when you suddenly become 100% dependent upon someone else. Even though in marriage everything is “ours”, there’s something to be said for having the freedom to splurge on whatever you want without permission: the new dress, the new shoes, or even a posh coffee. Discovering how to make money as an expat wife without giving up the expat life can give back some of that control.
Some expat spouses may carry on with their career in the new country they call home, while others have fewer choices due to logistics with children, limitations as a result of the type of Visa, or even the financial worth after factoring in taxes, childcare and fewer days to go on holiday. For an expat wife or spouse, finding ways to make extra money living abroad might seem impossible. After all, expat life is really about the experience of living abroad.
Either way, as both an expat spouse and stay-at-home mom, doesn’t the option to make some money without all the strings attached that you can call your own sound a-m-a-z-i-n-g? It might be to support the morning run coffee habit, a passionate cause, or perhaps to just offset the overall higher cost of living.
Whatever the motivation, there is an easy way to make money living abroad, or anywhere really: user testing.
User testing is a legitimate way to make extra money living abroad. In fact, as a digital marketing professional, user testing is in my DNA. I used to fly to various countries for Nike to get first-hand feedback from users. And then software companies came along to simulate user testing from home, a coffee shop or pretty much anywhere a user can test from their phone, computer, or whichever device requested for the test.
User testing is so important for major companies these days that the minimum payout for a user test is typically $10 for just 15 minutes. Expect more for longer tests.
Imagine getting the kids off to school or summer camp, sitting in the carpark waiting for traffic to die down, and killing time with a user test while making money at the same time? EASIEST $10 YOU’LL EVER MAKE.
How to make money living abroad just got easier.
My favorite company to use for paid user testing is usertesting.com. There are other companies to try such as UserZoom, but since I was a former client of usertesting.com, I can vouch for their organization 100%.
How To Make Money Living Abroad With UserTesting.com
While user testing doesn’t sound glamourous, it’s so easy to make extra money living abroad this way. If you are looking for a way to earn money as an expat to regain some independence, make your own schedule, and even treat it as a hobby, then signing up for usertesting.com is worth trying. Personally speaking, it’s the fastest and easiest way to make money as an expat wife when I need cash for a hubby gift, a splurge on myself, and to pay expenses for this blog.
If you want to earn extra money from home or anywhere, follow these steps.
First, go to usertesting.com and check the list of countries that they seek testers for and sign up. You can find the list just above the footer on the page. Follow the very clear instructions, and you can be making your first cash within a day. 😳
Steps to make money while living abroad with usertesting.com:
- Install the application by following the steps to sign up online.
- Complete the trial user test (read tips below before you take the first test).
- Wait for results of your test which should be within 1 business day.
- Create your account upon confirmation that your test was accepted.
- You need a PayPal email address. This is where you might think your PayPal account won’t work where you live but PayPal is global. My USA PayPal account works like a charm in the UK, even with an England postal code.
- Update your profile. This is super important because the profile is used to match against specific personas that brands are looking to complete the user test.
- Watch the usertesting.com videos to become a 5-star tester. The better ranked you are, the more tests will be sent your way. Big brands seek out higher star testers, and if you perform really well on a test, the brand typically requests you back.
- Review the usertesting.com recorders so you’re familiar with how it works before you start testing. This is where you learn where and how to install recorders for your smartphone so that you can then truly make money from anywhere.
- Log into your dashboard and wait for the tests so that money can start posting to your PayPal account.
And trust me. You won’t wait long to start making money. Within 20 minutes of setting up my profile, I was asked to do a live test for up to 60-minutes for a $60 payout! 🙌
Tips To User Test To Make Easy Money As An Expat
Follow these tips before you get started so that you get accepted and start earning cash.
- Remember to always complete the video recording; to include the written questions at the end. It’s annoying to the client if you don’t!
- Most tests take 15-20 minutes to thoroughly complete though can vary.
- Carefully read the scenario so that you answer the question(s) asked. If you don’t answer the question, you might not get paid for the test.
- If the user test specifically includes an expected duration for the test, like a 45-minute test, you might miss out for a bonus payout. Longer tests are paid at higher rates.
- New user tests appear in the dashboard and will ding whenever a new one appears. Users logged into the dashboard take precedence over those that are not.
Tips To Earn Even More Money While Living Abroad As A Tester
If user testing is more than just a small fun fund and something that you need to rely on more heavily for an expense or quick big purchase, then consider seeking to become a 5-star tester. Even if you don’t have 5-stars, follow these tips to avoid getting a low rating. Lower raters receive fewer tests in their dashboard.
- Get in the mindset.
- Don’t rush.
- Follow instructions.
- Talk out loud and provide relevant examples. For example, I completed a test for shopping online and had, in fact, gone shopping for Royal Ascot that morning – both online and in-store. I related that shopping experience to testing for this company so the client knew I had an extremely relevant and fresh perspective to offer.
- Pay attention to your audio. Are you covering the phone with your hand so they can’t hear you?
- No distractions. Complete the test in a quiet space and if you get interrupted be sure to click the pause button.
- Turn off notifications.
- Make sure your phone (if testing mobile) is well charged! Any phone with less than 20% battery cannot take a user test.
Show me the money.
By the first day I had completed my first user test and on the 7th day immediately following that test, money was transferred to my PayPal account.
What’s the catch if making money is so easy?
I’ve heard others say user testing is a scam and not worth it. As a customer and a client of usertesting.com, I attest that this organization is neither. But I also understand the “it’s too good to be true” sentiment that can get tossed around when someone shares an easy way to make money as an expat. So, what’s the deal?
Each test includes a screener.
If you don’t pass the screener, you can’t take the test. So, if you see 20 user tests in the dashboard, it doesn’t mean you can take all 20 tests. You have to meet the criteria first so that they make sure the tester has a background that matches what the client wants. This can make usertesting.com feel like a waste of time if you fail to meet a screener a dozen times in a row. But, the screener takes 5 seconds (if that) to complete. If you need to earn extra money living abroad, those 60 seconds every morning to make some cash seem worth it.
No taxes are withheld.
This means you need to determine and pay any tax liabilities on your own. If you’re making money for a light fun fund then this won’t matter. But always keep track and always check to be sure you don’t need to file taxes in your local or foreign country for the payouts received. Set an annual reminder in your calendar to check your payouts on PayPal for including income in expat tax reporting.
Payments are sent exactly 7 days, to the hour, from the day the test was completed.
Don’t expect payment before that. So, if you really need the cash for a specific purpose by a specific day, you need to factor that into your schedule for taking user tests.
Customers can reject your test and therefore not pay you.
Clients are looking for authentic feedback, not for someone to just fake their way through a user test. They might reject if you didn’t answer the question(s) behind the purpose of the user test, if you didn’t complete the test (make sure to answer the last questions of the test) or if there were technology problems (sound muffled, poor quality, etc).
After you complete the first test, it’s reviewed by UserTesting.com to be sure of its quality and so that you can receive your very first rating. Usertesting.com will inform you of what you did well and how you can improve. This first test can take up to a week, but then once that’s over, testing is free game!
How much many can you really make?
How much money you make will all depend on what you want to get out of it. I casually test when I want to build a small fun fund or pay for blog expenses, while a friend of mine easily cleared $600 in a matter of 3 weeks.
I made over $600 in three weeks for my Xbox One. – Anonymous, USA
Meanwhile, his wife was doing so well that the company mailed her state-of-the-art microphone equipment.
Final Thoughts On How To Make Money Living Abroad
As a digital marketer with usertesting.com experience in the USA, I never previously gave it a thought over how useful of a company they are for people to make money living abroad anywhere. Now I know how to make money as an expat wife, without compromising my expat life.
Whether you’re not working at all and grappling with a lack of financial independence as an expat spouse, stay-at-home-mom, or simply need to make some extra money, this is a convenient super-easy way to make money living abroad. All you need is a device and the rest is up to you!
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