'We Reward' App Allows Users To Earn Money
BOSTON (CBS) -- Point, shoot, and make money. All you need is your smart phone to save money on things you buy everyday, like buying a bagel or a cup of coffee.
Ted Murphy is the founder of WeReward. He showed us how he takes a picture of himself with a company's product in front of their logo and then posts it on social media.
"WeReward is an application that basically allows you to earn money for doing things in the real world," he explained. "You could get a free lunch. You could get free products."
Here's how it works. A list of restaurants and places in your area will pop up on your smart phone. They are ranked by the number of points you can get at each one.
WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben reports.
You can earn points by taking your picture enjoying various products. The points equal money – basically a penny a point. For example, 105 points translates to $1.05.
It then asks you if you want to share your picture on social medial like Twitter or Facebook, but that's not required.
For example, one woman snapped a photo of herself with Cheez Doodles. Another man took a picture of himself eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Taking a photo with that piece of candy would earn him 50 points, which is equivalent to 50 cents.
The idea is to do this with all your mundane purchases so you accumulate points quickly.
Murphy showed us the tally of his rewards. "I've got 2231 points in my account which equals $22. If I want to get my money I basically hit 'cash out' to Paypal."
Mario Ricciardelli of Marblehead said he got $25 back for "for not doing a lot of work."
It's also prompted him to try some new establishments. "You just pop open the app, and say what's around here, and you see a big reward for checking in somewhere, and you go there and its kind of fun."
Ricciardelli has been using his rewards to fund his kid's iTunes account.
Babson College marketing professor Glenn Kelley says this way of creating buzz for a product is the wave of the future.
"Who are you going to listen to? Your friend or relative or somebody that you trust and know very well, or are you going to look at a TV spot or a magazine ad or a banner ad and say 'Oh gee, I better check out that product?'"
Murphy added, "The advertisers benefit because it's real people with real experiences."
WeReward also offers rewards for products and services other than restaurants.
