Check it Out: Can U Believe It: Get $ 4 Txts

Imagine getting paid to send 
text messages. It seems too easy, right? There's got to be a catch. If not, I'm questioning why I'm not living in a much nicer house and driving a much nicer car at the rate my wife fires out texts to her friends and family.

TexTango, a San Diego-based mobile advertising company, has released a new smartphone app that enables users to get paid for each text message they send. Here's how it works: Users who download the free TexTango app are given a selection of advertiser messages to choose from. Every time users text with an advertiser's banner ad attached, that advertiser pays them — sometimes a couple of pennies per text, sometimes more. The more targeted your demographic, the more money you earn.

With Americans now sending and receiving over 1 trillion text messages each year, it sure seems like the market is there to support this business model.

Everybody Wins
TexTango benefits both retailers and consumers. Retailers who sign up for the service are able to select which users they wish to target, as users fill out a complete demographic profile before downloading the app.

"Our advertisers know exactly who is seeing their ads and how many times they're being viewed," said Kris Golshan, TexTango's vice president of business development, in a TexTango press release. "In a digital world where there's so much 'noise,' it's hard to get your message out, much less into the hands of your target consumer. Companies using the TexTango portal have the ability to bull's-eye their ideal demographic, providing the comfort of knowing their message is being seen not only by the users, but also by their social network of friends — a true viral marketing portal."

Consumers win by being paid to send text messages. In addition, consumers have the ability to choose what advertisers they want to stump for. If they'd rather not include an ad from a certain brand in their message, they don't have to.