Good Information on Paid Online Surveys - Why Is It Hard to Get, What Do You Need to Know?

You really can make money with paid online surveys. There are thousands of new surveys being made every week and many millions of dollars are being paid out to compensate survey participants every year. It is possible to participate in legitimate paid online surveys and make money.

But there is so much sales hype and misinformation out there that it's hard to know what to believe. It is difficult to get a handle on what is reality and what is just BS.

To see what I mean by misinformation, follow the links at the bottom and click on "Scam Alert!" on the navigation menu. There are a couple of good examples there.

1. Good information on paid online surveys is hard to get because of the way people get paid. There are five ways that someone can make money with paid surveys:

** The large companies that commission the surveys use the info to make money by being able to make better decisions about new products and services and how to best spend their advertising and promotion budgets.

** The survey makers charge the large companies a fee and make money by getting the survey done within budget with something left over for them. (To many of them survey participants are just an expense to be reduced.)

** The cheapskate survey makers who don't pay their survey participants or don't pay them well always have to replace the many that drop out. They pay recruiting fees to recruiters, for example, those that offer "free lists" of survey makers. The recruiters make money by recruiting (the recruits hardly ever do!)

** There are paid survey membership sites that maintain lists of survey makers for their members and make money by charging membership fees. New members pay a small one-time membership fee in order to get a copy of their list.

** Finally, the survey participants (like you and me) get paid fees for participating in surveys and filling out the questionnaires.

In the larger picture then, there are four different parties struggling for part of the original opinion survey budget: the survey maker, the recruiters, the membership sites and us survey participants. Each of these talks from his own particular perspective and interests, making it confusing, and hard to get good information on paid online surveys if you don't know the players.

2. Some (about 20%) of the survey makers play it straight and offer legitimate paid online surveys, paying participants a fair amount, on time and in cash or equivalent. Those are the ones we definitely want to find and deal with!

Another 40% of survey makers pay, more or less. They chisel off as much as they can for themselves but recognize that they have to pay participants or lose them. Most of these are O.K. to deal with. You don't make as much and sometimes you have to wait a while to get paid, but, in the end, it's probably worth it.

The last 40% of survey makers includes the no-pay/low-pay operators and the sales companies who call themselves survey makers so they can get your contact info and try to sell you everything under the sun. Mostly these don't pay us at all and are just time-wasters from our point of view.

3. The paid survey membership sites try to develop lists of the better 60% of survey makers, to keep their members happy so they can earn their membership fees.

4. The recruiters work with the lower 40% (and some of the less-attractive middle tier) of survey makers to recruit people like us. They get paid on a per head basis or with a percentage of the survey fees. A $10 survey becomes a $6 survey to us and the recruiter gets $4.

Being recruited is a situation we generally want to avoid. One way or another all recruiting fees come out of what should really be paid to us survey participants. The survey maker who gets new participants that way is paying recruiters instead of paying us!

5. The good survey makers don't pay recruiting fees; they don't have to. They don't look for us; we have to look for them.

6. The best way we can find them is through the paid survey membership sites. Oh,we CAN do it ourselves, but it takes a long time during which we could have been making money with a good list. Generally it is well worth the membership fee to get a good list up front and start making money now.

So that is the information on paid online surveys that you need to know.

Now, pick a good paid survey membership site with a strong money-back guarantee and a low refund rate under that guarantee. Low refund rates mean that their existing clients are making money with their lists. High refund rates mean that their existing clients are NOT making money and demand their membership fee back!

Choose a membership site with a strong guarantee and a low (3-6%) refund rate. Sign up with them, get a copy of their list and then sign up with all of the survey makers on that list. You will have positioned yourself to be amongst the happy clients of a good site with a good list. And, you can't lose; you have a guarantee.

Free Paid Online Survey - What Is It and How Do You Make Money With It?

In regards to a free paid online survey, the first question that comes to mind is, "How can something be 'free' and 'paid' at the same time?" O.K., the answer to that is simple. 'Free' means free to take. It does not cost anything to take legitimate free paid online surveys.

If anyone tries to get you to pay to take an online survey, run (don't walk) away. You will have been talking to some kind of scam artist, not a legitimate survey maker.

After the 'free' part, (free describes your cost to take the survey) comes the "paid" part. Paid is what you get when you submit the completed survey questionnaire. You get paid to take surveys which do not cost you anything to take. Thus 'free paid online survey'. Clear?

The online part means that you sit down at your computer, go online and take the survey online. You don't have to go anywhere, just connect to the Internet to take the free paid online survey.

So how do you make money with a free paid online survey? The short answer is that you find good surveys to take (good ones being those that actually pay, in cash or equivalent), and then you take a lot of them. Like, take a $10 and a $25 survey every day (will take you less than half an hour) and you will make over $1,000 a month.

Now it should be pointed out that, while the idea is simple enough in concept, and the opportunity is real (survey makers really do pay out millions of dollars every month to pay free paid online survey participants), there are still some important tricks to the trade. Mostly these are about 'sandtraps' to be avoided.

First point: Out of all the surveys available out there only 1 in 5 will be a legitimate paid online survey, the kind you really want to take. 2 will be O.K. to marginal; won't pay as much but will still be worthwhile. And 2 will be disguised sales pitches or charity work (no pay). These last 2 are to be avoided.

Second point: Surveys are offered to people based on their demographics. Surveys are aimed at specific population groups defined by gender, age, location, income groups, education groups and special interests. For example, a survey may be aimed at affluent women over 40 who live east of the Mississippi in the U.S.

So you won't qualify for all surveys. This means that to get a large number of surveys to take, you will need to sign up with a large number of survey makers. There are plenty, 800+ in the U.S., 3,000+ worldwide. To make any real money you will need to sign up with 200 or so good ones.

Third point: It's not easy to get a list of good survey makers. The "time wasters" groups makes by far the most noise and spend the most on recruiting 'fresh meat' - to replace those that just quit! The survey makers you want don't recruit; you have to find them...

There are NO 'free lists'. Lists are paid for either by the user or by the survey makers who must recruit because of high turnover. If you don't pay for your list of survey makers, you can bet that the survey makers on the list you get are paying the distributor of that list to recruit YOU!

Fourth point: The best way to get a good list is to join a paid survey membership site. These sites maintain lists of good survey makers for their memberships. For a small membership fee you get a copy of their list. You generally get this fee back with what you make from your first 2-3 surveys.

Fifth (and final) point: Here's your 'free paid online survey' success formula.

A. Only deal with paid survey membership sites with STRONG money-back guarantees.

B. From within this group with strong guarantees, pick one with a low refund rate. The refund rate reflects the opinions of present members. Low refund rates mean happy clients. High refund rated mean unhappy clients, standing in line to get their money back! You want to be with the happy clients.

C. Set up a separate e-mail address for your paid survey business. Expect some trash in any list you get. Use the spam filters and ability to blacklist addresses to control it. Treat it like your Grandmother treated beans straight from the thresher. Sort out the sticks and rocks, throw them away. Keep the beans.

D. Once you pick your site and get your copy of their list, sign up with ALL of the preferred survey makers on that list. Use your paid survey business e-mail address in all of your applications.

For more details and info on how to take a free paid online survey and make money, follow the links below:

An 'Online Survey Earn Money' Plan for Easy Extra Cash Income!

The old consumer opinion survey, which used to be taken by going door-to-door or by setting up survey takers in front of supermarkets or shopping malls, has changed. It has "morphed" into today's free paid online survey, and uses the speed and low cost of the Internet to measure consumer preferences.

The large volume of surveys creates an 'online survey earns money' home business opportunity.

Surveys are a large business on the Internet today, with thousands of surveys being taken every week. To get people to respond and fill out the survey questionnaires, many surveys are taken on a paid basis, paying people to respond. Almost all surveys today claim to be paid surveys, but about 40% of them are not really paid.

Participants sign up with various survey makers, giving their contact info and demographic data (age, gender, zip code, etc.). They need the demographic info because each survey is aimed at a specific sub-group within the population. A survey on cosmetics, for example, might target women 18-50 who live in the midwest.

Surveys pay participants anywhere between $5 and $150, with most between $10 and $25. A $10 survey will take 5-10 minutes to fill out; a $25 survey might take 15-20 minutes. Take a couple of 'online survey earn money' surveys for $10 and $25 each every day for a month and you would make over $1,000 for your participation.

A great deal of money is budgeted by the survey makers to pay survey participants. There are 800+ survey makers in the U.S., over 3,000 worldwide. Just one, Greenfield Online, paid out over $4.2 million to its survey participants in 2007! Check it out. Click on the link above and see for yourself!

To make money with paid surveys, here is your 'online survey earn money' plan:

1. Get a good list of legitimate paid survey panels that offer legitimate paid surveys that actually pay. The best way to get such a list is to join a paid survey membership site that maintains such lists for its clients. For a small one-time membership fee you can get a copy of their list.

[Avoid "free" lists. These are being paid for by recruiting fees paid by the low-pay/no-pay survey makers you want to avoid!]

Pick a membership site with a strong money back guarantee and a low refund rate. A low refund rate means happy clients. (High refund rates mean unhappy clients demanding their money back. You don't want to be one of these!)

2. When you pick your membership site and get access to their list, set up a new separate free e-mail account. Then sign up with all of the survey makers you can using that new e-mail address. There are always some sales companies disguised as survey makers that seem to get through and get on any list.

A good list will have more than 50% good survey makers. The rest will just need to be culled out. If any survey maker sends you more sales offers than surveys, put them into your spam box.

To make good money with your 'online survey earns money' plan you should be signed up with 150 to 200 survey makers. You won't qualify for all surveys and there is no way to know which survey maker will have surveys that fit your demographics. The best answer is to sign up with all of those on the list!

For more information on how to make money with your 'Online survey earn money' plan, you can follow the links below:

Take Online Surveys For Cash - Get Paid For Survey While Taking A Paid Survey At Home

You CAN take online surveys for cash. You CAN get paid for survey work. You CAN take a paid survey at home and get paid for it. That said, it should be pointed out that the paid survey marketplace has been substantially infiltrated by sales companies that find the "Paid Survey" flag to be a flag of convenience.

Real survey makers, the ones that offer legitimate paid online surveys, enjoy generally good reputations. They pay in cash or equivalent, and respect the privacy of their survey participants. There is trust between them and those who take their surveys. They usually do not actively recruit new survey participants.

But in recent months and years a new group of pseudo-survey makers or outright sales companies have used the name "Survey Maker" and claimed to offer paid surveys to would-be survey participants. The real intention of many was not to offer paid surveys at all, just to sell various products or services to those who signed up.

Apparently it can be a profitable venture. So much so that the pseudo-survey makers can actively recruit new hopeful survey takers. They do this through agents that get paid recruitment fees for finding and recruiting "new meat" to exploit. Some do a pretty good job of faking it.

So while you CAN still find the real survey makers and take online surveys for cash, you have to cull your list of survey makers with a heavy hand. It's not hard to get paid for survey work or take a paid survey at home. It IS hard to sort through the pretenders and wannabes and find the real survey makers.

As a rule of thumb, any supposed survey maker that sends you more sales offers than invitations to take surveys is highly suspect. To get paid for survey work you will need to stay focused on surveys and rate all survey makers with which you have signed up by the number of actual, paying surveys they send you.

You should not have to buy anything in order to take a paid survey at home. Ethical survey makers ask your opinion. Sales companies try to influence you to buy their wares. The two activities are hardly compatible. But some survey makers do try to supplement their income by selling things.

The best advice is to avoid these. If they don't offer you online surveys for cash within 6-12 months, you should resign and take them off your list. If they bombard you with offers, let them know that you only want to get paid for survey work and not to buy things. If they persist, cull them out.

Some will keep on sending you sales offers, cluttering up your inbox. Ask them to quit, and to take your name off of their lists. If that doesn't work, note their e-mail addresses and "blacklist" or block them at your e-mail service provider. They won't help you with your paid survey at home business.

Start with the best list you can get. (Usually from a paid survey membership site with a good money back guarantee and a low refund rate.) A good list will have over 50% good survey makers. Even with a good list you will need to sort and cull out the sales outfits that sneak in!

Understanding Survey Software Features

If you take a look at the features that different survey softwares offer, you will quickly realize that understanding all of them is no mean task. But it is very important that you do because only then you can choose the right survey software. It is important for one other reason, it determines your price. More features invariably means more dollars. So if you don't choose the right survey software, you might end up paying more for features you don't need.

While it is impossible and not even worthwhile to look at all the features, here is a look at some of the important ones. Chances are that these are the ones will make or break your decision. The features have been divided into 6 categories based on their function in the process of conducting an online survey.

Survey creation

• Images, sounds, video - This allows you to insert images, sounds, and videos in your surveys, and can enhance the appearance of your surveys. However, use it only when necessary since it increases the time it takes to download and display your survey, and certainly don't overdo it.
• Question library, response library, sample surveys - These allow you to create surveys quickly since you don't have to create them from scratch. They are a must if you do a lot of surveys regularly. And they don't impact the price that much, so you might as well opt for them.
• Skip logic - This allows you to skip questions depending on the answers to previous questions. Most survey softwares allow either AND or OR logic to decide whether to skip or not, but some allow a combination of any logical conditions. It might sound like a "nice-to-have" feature rather than a "must-have", but you will be surprised how often you need to skip questions in your surveys.
• Data piping - This allows you to use the answers to some questions in the following questions. This is a very neat feature and it allows you to "personalize" your surveys. For e.g., you can say "Thanks Steve" instead of only "Thanks" if you know that the name of the respondent is Steve from a previous question. It also allows you to ask questions like "What do you like most about Coke?" when the respondent has selected Coke as his/her favorite drink in the previous question.
• Advanced survey creation features (spell check, auto-correct, thesaurus, import from MS Word) - These are fairly advanced features and not really required in most cases, especially if you don't do surveys regularly. You can spend the time to spell check the survey yourselves. However, if you do a lot of surveys, then you might want these features. But they will impact the price quite a lot since they are considered as "premium" features.
• Branding (your logo and background color) - This allows you to place your company logo and use your company website's background color for your surveys. This is good enough in most cases, but not if you are looking to customize each and every aspect of the survey. It is quite an important feature since it gives your respondents the feeling that they are still on your website.
• Advanced survey presentation features (pre-designed editable survey templates, new templates, full-customized look) - These are fairly advanced features and allow you to customize almost every aspect of the survey. Survey softwares do this in a variety of ways: they have pre-designed editable templates, ability to create new templates, or create surveys with a full-custom look. These features are also considered as "premium" features and will impact the price quite a lot.

Survey Distribution and Tracking

• Handheld device - This allows you to distribute your surveys on hendheld devices. This method of distributing is not as common as the other methods like placing link on website, embedding entire survey in websites, sending email invitation with link, or embedding entire survey in emails and newsletters. But it is definitely becoming popular because of the convenience it offers for taking surveys "on the road". As of now though, it is considered as a "premium" feature and will impact the price.
• Track respondents - These allow you to track your respondents after they receive your email invitations. The simpler ones allow you to maintain an email list and send email invitations to all or some email addresses in the list. The more complex ones allow you to create an "audience" from the list in a variety of ways. They also allow you to track who read your email invitation and clicked on what links, who took the survey and who didn't, send reminders to the ones who didn't, etc. All these complex tracking activities fall more under the realm of "campaign management" than conducting surveys though. If you need these features, you are much better off going for a full-blown campaign management solution than a survey solution with half of what you need.

Taking Survey

• Password protected surveys - This allows you to protect your surveys with a password. The respondents have to know the password to be able to take the survey.
• Save and continue later - This allows your respondents to save the survey and continue later. It is a very good feature to have especially if your surveys are going to be long. Some survey softwares make the respondents explicitly save a link and bookmark it to continue later. These don't work that well compared to some others that don't require the respondents to do as much.
• Response validation - This allows you to validate the responses your respondents enter. These features are very important since they ensure that your respondents enter “valid” responses and increase the quality of the results. Always prefer survey softwares that have more types of response validation.
• Respondent uniqueness control - This allows you to ensure that a respondent takes the survey only once. There are a few ways to do this and not all of them are "full-proof". If you want to strictly enforce respondent uniqueness, make sure that the survey software allows you to send unique URLs to every email recipient. It is the only "full-proof" method of enforcing respondent uniqueness.

Response Collection

• Email notification upon response submission - This allows you to get email notifications when a respondent completes a survey. It is the only way to get the responses with survey softwares that don't store them in a database. But it is also offered as an addon by those that do store them in databases.

Survey Analysis

• Graphical reports - This allows you to graph the results and not all survey softwares have this feature. If you like to see results in neat-looking graphs, make sure that the survey software has this feature. Check out the sample reports; most companies have them on their website. Or better yet, try out the product and generate them yourselves!
• Advanced analysis features (cross-tabulation, sub-set analysis, 360 degree feedback, etc) - These allow you to perform advanced analysis on the results. Cross-tabulation allows you to relate the responses of one question to those of another. Sub-set analysis allows you to perform analysis on a sub-set of the responses by filtering out certain responses. These are definitely "premium" features and will impact the price.
• Export data - This allows you to export the responses so you can do analyses in your favorite tool, like Excel or SPSS. Make sure that the survey software has this feature, especially if it doesn't natively support the advanced analyses that you want to do.

Paid Surveys: FAQs - How and Why People are Taking Surveys Online

Anywhere you go online nowadays, you will see an ad offering to pay you cash for your opinion. Whether it's a paid survey or focus group, the idea is the same - market research companies want your opinion and are willing to give you cash and free merchandise for you to spend your time filling out their surveys.

In this article, we will review the most frequently asked questions about paid surveys.

What is a paid survey?

A paid survey, or "market research survey", is a series of questions that are presented to either an individual, or group of individuals, to see how they perceive and respond to certain products or services. Each and every person fits into some type of demographic (segments of human populations broken down by age, sex, income, etc.), that certain products or services are marketed to. For instance, athletic equipment may be marketed towards a younger, physically active demographic, while luxury cars might be marketed towards a higher income demographic. These online surveys are offered for free as a means to understand certain markets better.

What is a focus group?

A focus group is another type of survey where a group of individuals are invited to discuss a certain topic related to the company that sponsors the focus group. You may or may not know the point of the discussion and they are often hosted by a moderator that will guide the discussion. These focus groups can be held at a physical location or online and usually lasts between 30 minutes to 2 hours. The compensation can range from up to , depending on the topic and time involved.

Why is my opinion so important?

Companies spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars on advertising for new and/or existing products and services. These "advertising campaigns" can sometimes be a complete waste of time and money if the company does not research the market that they are trying to capture. So it makes sense for a company to see how it's products or services are received by the public, before it invests the money and time on advertising. This is where the market research survey comes in, and this is why your opinion is so important.

I understand all that, but why would they pay me money?

The answer to this question is very easy and boils down to one thing; Your time is worth their money! Think about it this way...if you are going to introduce a new type of tennis racket into the market, but you're unsure if it's needed or wanted, would you rather spend thousands of dollars on advertising, or simply pay 50 tennis players and find out their opinion about tennis rackets?

Okay, so how much can I really make taking paid surveys?

Compensation from survey companies can range from $1 up to $75 per survey, and most surveys take around 6-12 minutes to complete. There are some companies that offer points for completing a survey, and those points can then be redeemed for gift certificates, merchandise, cash and prizes. You can even be entered into raffles for prizes after completing certain surveys. No matter what the compensation, all legitimate survey companies will tell you up front, before you begin the survey, what the compensation will be. The more you take, the more you make.

How am I paid, and is that money taxed?

The market research company that sponsors the survey or focus group will send you your compensation, usually by mail. The money that they tell you the survey is worth is the amount you will receive by check. It is entirely possible to receive multiple checks from multiple research companies at various times of the month. Since you will be operating as an independent contractor, you are responsible for filing taxes on all the money you have earned, which most likely means adding the income to your personal filings.

Is there a limit to the number of paid surveys I can take?

There is no limit to the amount of surveys or focus groups you can participate in online. You can offer your opinion every day, all day and get paid for it.

Who is eligible to take a paid survey?

Almost anyone is eligible to sign up for and take online surveys, although some companies may have certain age restrictions. Some companies will allow surveys to be completed by people 13 years of age or older, while other survey companies require you to be 18 years of age or older.

Do I need to fit a certain profile to participate in a paid survey?

When you register with a market research company, you are asked a preliminary set of questions to figure out what type of profile you have. That profile will be used to determine what surveys and focus groups you will be invited to participate in. Since there are hundreds of research companies that sponsor surveys, the more you sign up with will increase the number of paid surveys offered to you.

What kinds of questions are asked on paid surveys?

You are asked a wide range of questions, such as where you prefer to shop or what kind of shampoo you use. You will be asked about products that you have tried and what products you continue to buy. The questions on research surveys are given to better understand the different markets the company is trying to capture, which is why your answers are so valuable to them.

Will I be ever required to pay to take an online survey?

There are many paid survey opportunities on the internet, and they all are offered 100% free of charge. However, there are a few paid survey directory websites ("paid survey programs") that charge a fee to join. They have spent their time researching all the paid surveys online to find the legitimate ones, and have listed them all in one spot. The one time sign-up fee that is charged by these websites are to maintain their directory and keep their paid survey list up to date and accurate.

Are these paid survey programs worth the money?

Yes. In our opinion, they are very worth the money. These paid survey programs have established relationships with hundreds of survey companies (more than we offer) and provide an invaluable resource for you to find quality paid surveys in one convenient location. For your initial sign-up fee, you get access to every paid survey company in their directory and save you time by weeding out the scams and fraudulent survey companies.

I heard that paid survey programs are a scam - Is it true?

The simple answer is no. But of course, nothing is that simple. A lot of people want things for free, and when they have to pay, they end up expecting the world. They want to sign up, pay the money and then go to their mailbox and start collecting checks. They don't realize that there still is work involved. But the underlying point is that these paid survey programs deliver on exactly what they advertise - access to their database listing 100's of market research companies. Remember, the bottom line is that if you don't like what they offer, you are entitled to your money back and they deliver on that, too.

How to Create a Survey

Determine Your Data

The first thing you must determine is what kind of data you are trying to collect and to what purpose the data will serve. Typically, surveys are conducted to address a specific problem: lack of school attendance, drunk drivers, fixing the town clock, constructing a nearby highway, safety concerns at the Local Park, etc. After you have determined the general theme of your survey, you must speculate as to what type of results you may acquire, and what exactly you will do with the information. Without knowing these two parameters, it would be impossible to move forward with survey creation.

Determine What Type of Survey System You Will Use

Now that you know exactly what type of information you are attempting to acquire, you must decide on a survey method:

Face-to-Face interviews are no longer the primary choice of survey companies and for good reason: they are expensive. If you choose this method of survey delivery, you must solve these potential problems: finding good interviewers, educating your interviewers in all aspects of the survey and the community being surveyed, hiring a supervisor, establishing the geographic area to be surveyed, creating a game plan or 'survey route', be prepared for follow-up interviews in case the subject is unavailable, and troubleshooting potential questions that interviewees might have during the face-to-face interview. The above list of potential problems is by no means complete. You must carefully design and construct a face-to-face interview because it is such a costly mechanism for collecting data; you must do your best to perform the survey right the first time.

Telephone surveys are a much cheaper method of survey. You can choose to purchase a list of phone numbers for a general area or you can work within a specific area code and use RDD (random digit dialing). RDD solves the problem of unlisted numbers because it targets all phone numbers within a specific area code and prefix range. To properly conduct telephone surveys, interviewers will need to be well-versed with the survey material and the community being surveyed. Potential problems with telephone surveys: interviewers rephrasing or failing to properly convey the survey question, unlisted phone numbers, call backs or having to reschedule.

Performing a Mail Survey is perhaps the least costly of the survey methods. Generally, a list of residents is first established for the area to be surveyed - this can be purchased or built. A good Mail Survey will then use a series of mailings to contact, survey, and return the necessary data to the survey company. Potential problems for conducting a Mail Survey: lost-in-the-mail surveys, undeliverable mail, and potential for incorrect subject providing data (a teenager jokingly fills out and returns a survey intended to collect data from a senior citizen).

Online surveys are the latest form of survey methods. Internet surveys can accomplish in a matter of days what would normally require weeks or even months for a traditional survey method to accomplish. There are many online survey companies who can readily provide an audience for practically any type of survey you wish to conduct. Potential problems with online surveys: potential error for incorrect subject providing data, survey fraud, and lack of interest in the survey itself - subjects may be completing surveys strictly for monetary gain and have no real interest in the survey's general theme.

Formulate the Questions

Now that you know what type of data you are seeking and what method of surveying you are going to use, its time to write the survey questions.

Questions should be asked in a clear, unbiased manner. They should not formulate an opinion within the question itself, and they should have a distinct choice for an answer that clearly allows the subject to choose between beliefs, ideas, or opinions; the interviewee must know exactly which choice they are making when they answer a question.

Put the Survey In Motion

At this stage, you will have a complete survey in hand. Now it's time to create a game plan. You will need to develop a realistic schedule for:

Interviewing Subjects (or delivering the survey)

Performing Callbacks (or rescheduling an interview)

Collecting the Data

Organizing the Data

Preparing an in-depth report on the data collected

Each stage represents its own problems, and must be thoroughly thought-out before you actually begin the survey process.

By following the above guideline, you should be able to formulate and deliver your own survey. If the survey to be conducted is extensive, it is recommended that you hire a company to assist you in developing and implementing your survey.

4 Top Highest Paying Surveys For Cash Reviews

The Secret Is Out!

Thousands of people just like you are earning thousands of dollars by going online and filling out monthly surveys for market research companies every day. If you need extra cash to pad your budget this is the way to do it.

There are surveys ranging from interests in cars and home buying to the soap you use to wash the dishes. Every possible item in the market today has a survey for you to take and get paid for it. If you are interested in taking surveys or would like to make more money than the surveys you are already participating in, you will want to know more about where to find the best survey sites that willingly pay the highest rates per survey. Hundreds of survey sites can be found that report to be free membership to join but the downfall with the free survey sites is the bait and switch and you will just end up getting a whole lot of advertising spam in your email. Also, these sites usually only pay you a few cents per completed survey that may not be worth your time and energy. Top paying survey sites will guarantee rates ranging from $10 to$45 per survey. Just take a few minutes of your time to review the top paid survey sites that you can start earning more cash every month.

The four top ranking survey sites reviewed her are only available on the web and if you already belong to one or more of these sites then you can attest to the legitimacy of these companies. Joining just one of the top survey sites when you are just entering the survey taking field is highly advisable and once you start making money join more survey sites, you will see how the process works and watch the cash roll into your bank account every month.

The number one ranking paid survey site being reviewed here is MoneyMakingTaking Surveys. The reason why this site takes number one spot is there is excellent evidence by other people already using this site making plenty of cash. The survey lists are updated every day and provide the latest survey offers with higher paying rates. They make it easy for you to earn more money with less effort.

The second pick of the top survey sites is Paid Surveys Etc. that offer you the opportunity to join not only surveys questionnaires but focus groups as well. Focus groups can pay you $75 to $150 for an hour of your participation to give your valued opinions. Easy to use, responsible member support this company gives you the chance to even watch movies and videos for cash. How much more fun can that be?

Survey Scout is another good company that gets the third best bets to make money online with paid surveys. One of the best features of this site is the highest paying surveys are ranked from top to bottom in their best survey lists. Although the site does not update their listing as often as the others there is still numerous high paying survey offered that you could earn more money than many other sites.

Finally, Express Paid Survey is one of the few survey sites that has a complete list of surveys for you to choose. Their selection offers a great variety of survey topics and an endless supply of surveys to take every month. Even though some of the survey links are no longer valid, there are so many surveys in the lists that out number the valid survey links to supplement your income.

Hopefully, you have found this evaluation of the top survey sites to your benefit and save you time and energy to hunt down the best paying sites. By working with any of the four sites mentioned, you can start right now and begin earning more money every month.

Mail Surveys - Best Practices

This Article discusses best practices to consider in the administration of mail surveys. There is no single idea that alone will dramatically improve response rates. Rather, it is a combination of properly planned steps that can result in overall enhancement. By keeping these practices in mind, it will help insure a quality experience for both the survey participants and the company on whose behalf the survey is conducted, as well as potentially improve response rates.

At the outset, surveying companies should accept that most properly administered mail survey projects are fairly complicated. If done correctly, they are far more involved than simple print, mail, tabulate and report. Companies might want to consider the factors mentioned below when planning a mail survey:

1. Is the length of the survey instrument appropriate for the audience?

2. Is there a well-written cover letter and instructions?

3. Is there a method of reaching someone in the event of support issues?

4. Is the mailing envelope properly identified?

5. Is the mailing being sent out by 1st class USPS?

6. Is a business reply envelope being used?

7. Are awards or other incentives needed?

8. Will online survey hosting increase the response rate?

Design of the Survey Instrument:

The length of the survey instrument must be appropriate for the audience. A survey participant who pays $50.00 for a product that is readily available from multiple vendors and that is not a priority item to the participant will be less likely to complete a longer questionnaire than a participant who purchased an expensive car or an enterprise product. This is a matter of common sense. Consider how much time you would be willing to spend responding to a questionnaire - given the subject and offered incentives, if any. In many cases, a one-sheet questionnaire printed on both sides (called "duplex" printing) is the appropriate length. This still might be too long depending on the subject of the survey.

To some extent, consideration of length is accommodated by the topic. For example, there are only so many questions that can be asked about the taste of toothpaste. Yet some companies might include six or seven basic questions, 10 demographic questions, and another bank of questions on buying habits. Before you know it, the questionnaire is close to four pages long. If this happens, the surveying company might want to consider using incentives to actually keep the costs down (more about this later).

Packaging the Survey Instrument:

There are certain best practices a surveying company should consider relating to the packaging of the survey instrument. This starts with what the participant first sees when he/she receives the mailing. The mailing envelope should include the logo and colors of the surveying company so that the participant views this as an "official" mailing. Printing of color logo will increase the costs of the project, but is something that should be strongly considered unless color logo is an expensive add-on given its design.

Use of windows envelopes are preferred; although labels can be used if need be. The advantage of a window envelope is the personalization of the cover letter without the need for and cost of a match with the mailing envelope. We recommend the use of a clear and concise, personalized cover letter signed by a person of high authority at the surveying company. The letter should set forth the purpose of the survey, confidentially requirements, support information, and the end date of the survey. Instructions on completing the survey instrument should be included on the cover letter - - or even better at the beginning of the instrument.

Except for rare instances, the use of 1st class USPS and business reply postage are important practices. Each will add to the cost of the project - and can result in significant cost increases - but they each can have a significant impact on response rates. Use of bulk rate postage can also result in delays in receipt of the mailings for varying percentages of participants.

Use of Incentives:

Deciding whether or not to use incentives is for the most part a budgetary consideration; although in certain instances, it can also have a customer-relations element attached to it. Assuming large quantities of available sample, one can always send out more mailings instead of offering incentives. However, the key consideration is whether the use (and costs of administration) of an incentive saves money by producing more completes at a lower overall cost than sending out additional mailings. If the survey population is limited in size, then awards might be needed to produce an adequate number of completes for actionable data. Keep in mind that there might be quality of data issues relating to the use of incentives. A surveying company should consult with an experienced survey company regarding the use of incentives and what the options might be.

Coordination of Mail Surveys with Online Survey Hosting:

It is not uncommon for surveying companies to consider the use of online survey hosting in conjunction with a mail survey. If this is done, best practices suggest a variable insert of a unique login id into each mailing along with survey login instructions. It would also be correct to variable insert a tracking id onto the questionnaire to de-dupe responders who complete both the mail survey and online survey. Technical support should also be available for online responders.

As is the case with incentives, the use of an online survey is primarily a budgetary consideration. That is, will the use of an online survey enhance overall response rates to offset the added costs of offering this option? If not, then the use of an online survey might not be justified unless it is desirable from a client-relations standpoint. Also, keep in mind when calculating the comparative costs that mail surveys have data entry fees while online surveys do not.

In summary, when conducting mail surveys, a surveying company should carefully consider each and every step of the survey administration process. That includes length of the survey instrument; packaging of the survey materials including mailing envelope and type of postage; formatting and personalization of the cover letter; survey support options; use of incentives; and viability of coordinated online survey hosting.