These are amongst the most important 5 tips that
will ensure that you get paid for filling out surveys on a regular basis so as
you can create a reliable second income.
#1 Do
Your Homework.
OK it looks like you've decided that you want to
get a second income and then perhaps make enough to quit your job.
It's a nice thought and it is achievable but the
fact is that most people who do surveys earn a secondary income because of two
reasons. The first is that to get paid for filling out surveys can take time
(some surveys can take up to half an hour or more)and that is often a resource
that people have and secondly it's fairly easy money except beware there are a
lot of scams out there.
How do
I recognize the scams?
A scam is roughly defined as a product,
enterprise or service that does not provide either the value it should or no
value at all to the consumer. Whilst this is a very wide definition it covers a
lot of the scam accusations that abound in the paid survey market.
While there are 'rip off' survey sites that will
literally take your money and run there are sites that do pay money but have
misled their customers by either falsely claiming exaggerated incomes or late
payment for completed work. As a result people feel cheated.
You should not have to pay for filling out
surveys - remember, it is 'You' that is supposed to be getting paid! There are
however some reputable sites that will supply a good number of free survey
sites that should get you started.
#2 How
much time will you dedicate?
This depends entirely on you and your
circumstances. To be fair, it is unusual to find individuals who have been able
to quit their day job by filling in surveys but it is not unusual to find
individuals who make $750+ per month for about 2 hours work a day - not bad for
a second income.
The time that you also dedicate should be
'costed'. By this I mean if a survey company emails you to spend 30 minutes on
filling out a survey for $7 and you have a choice of doing a focus group survey
for $30 for 40 minutes and you can't do both - choose the money! Be effective
with your time.
#3 Keep a tally!
When you get started - things will probably be a
bit slow at first because you will find that you have to register with each
company before you will get any surveys emailed to you - be patient. However,
it is vital that when you do start create a tally sheet in either a notebook or
on excel.
This is vital - you need to keep track of the
surveys done for payment and assessment (of the survey company as well). You
should include the date, the name of the survey company, and the type of
survey, how long it took you, when you submitted it, how much you should
receive and most importantly when you got paid. By doing this it won't take you
long to work out which surveys to do and which to avoid! In addition you will
also get a better idea of your cash flow - after all this is supposed to be a
second income isn't it?
#4 Focus
groups and surveys.
A focus group is not a survey in the strictest
sense. A survey is where you get paid for filling out surveys on a one to one
basis - that's the end of it. A focus group is different from the point that
the 'research' is focused on some 'aspect' of research that a company wants to
find out about a product and service.
There is a common misconception that as soon as
you sign up to a survey site - you will get higher paid focus group work as
well. Let me give you an example. A company is looking to interview 'graduates'
from college on their perception of how easy or difficult it was to pay back
their college loan and the client behind the focus group is a bank looking to
tailor more affordable loans to students. If you don't have a college degree or
haven't taken out a college loan - do you think you will qualify for that
survey?
The same criteria can also be applied to some
surveys i.e. a survey requiring responses from Moms on a new type of baby food.
Do you think as a male college student - your input is wanted?
This is why it's also important to understand
where to 'market' yourself in doing these surveys and focus groups - it will
help you get more money in the long run.
#5
Pitfalls to avoid!
If you get a survey request in the email - don't
sit on it and say 'I'll do it tomorrow' what you may not realize is that a
1,000 other people may have got the same request and the company is looking for
the first 100 responses. You may still do it but get a reply thanking you for
your participation but they filled their quota. Be aware that this is also a common
ploy with scam sites but if you're keeping your tally sheet you may soon find
out the ones that are most likely to do this.
The other major pitfall is the 'incomplete
survey'. So many people make mistakes - even though many of the surveys are
very basic to fill in. Survey companies are businesses as well - please
remember that. They won't pay for incomplete - period! The information you
will have provided to them is useless! Always take care and be accurate.
Be truthful. Many surveys are constructed with a
verification process. Have you ever noticed when filling out a survey how
similar some of the questions are? These are often the important questions for
them and they want to be sure of your responses. A lot of people are caught out
'spamming surveys' because they are only interested in ticking boxes for the
money. If you want to continue getting paid for filling out surveys please
remember that you can get blacklisted by some of the companies - so why risk
it?
Finally did you know that the Average income from
doing online surveys is $1,127?
Paid Opinion Survey - Golden Key to Getting Easy Money For Surveys
The Opportunity:
Paid opinion surveys are a huge business on the Internet. There are literally
thousands of surveys being made every week. Recent changes in the economy,
stock market uncertainty have intensified the need for more info causing more
surveys to be made. All that makes it a great time to get money for surveys,
right now!
Large companies must know what their ultimate
customers, the consumers of their products and services, are thinking. They
have to correctly measure public opinion to plan their market strategy for the
months ahead. To measure public opinion they hire market researchers who use
paid opinion surveys as a major tool.
With all the surveys being made, there is no way
to find enough volunteers to take the time to respond. That's why there are
paid opinion surveys. These create the opportunity to get money for surveys by
taking these different paid opinion surveys.
How It Works: You don't make a lot
of money per survey, but then it doesn't take much time either. A survey that
pays $10 might take 7-9 minutes to fill out the answer blanks. A $25 survey may
take 15 minutes or so. If you take a $10 survey and a $25 survey every day, you
would be taking in over $1,000 in a month's time!
So what do you need to participate in paid online
surveys? It's easy. You must be a consumer (if you buy food and clothing, you
are a consumer!) You must be 18 or over, have Internet access and have the
computer skills needed to to send and receive e-mails. That's it! If you
qualify you can sign up for paid opinion surveys.
There are over 700 survey makers in the U.S.
(3000+ worldwide), but only about 20-40% are worth signing up with. 20% offer
legitimate paid online surveys that pay well and pay on time. 40% pay less, but
the upper half or better of these are O.K. - they pay enough to make it
worthwhile.
The remaining 40% are to forget. Many are more
sales companies than survey makers. Their real objective is to sell you
something. If your object is to make money, then these just waste your time.
The Secret to Success is to get a
good list of good survey makers and then sign up with 100-200 of these. Signing
up is easy. It's done online and only takes a few minutes. But you must sign up
with these survey makers individually; they are all competitors with each
other. They do not share lists of survey participants.
The best way to get a good list of survey makers
is to join a paid online survey membership site that maintains these lists for
their membership. For a small fee you join and get access to their list. You
get your membership fee back with the first 2-3 surveys you take.
What to Avoid: There is no such
thing as a "free list". All lists are paid for, one way or another.
If not paid for by prospective survey participants, they are being paid for by
recruitment fees paid to recruit you! Good survey makers don't need to pay
recruitment fees. Those that pay recruitment fees don't pay participants.
Summary: Get a good list of good
survey makers, sign up with all the survey makers on that list and get lots of
money for surveys by taking paid opinion surveys!
If you are in need of extra cash, you definitely
should try online surveys. I have received a few checks and PayPal payments
from online surveys, which proves to me that paid surveys are legit. You just
need to do your research to find the survey programs that are not scams. There
are several online sites that list legit surveys as well as those that you
should avoid. Before you sign up for surveys, check out the web site Survey
Police. This is a great website with a wealth of information about different
survey companies. Survey Police helps you identify online survey scams by
listing the survey companies that have been verified and no verified. I cannot
say enough good things about this site, which is a great resource for those who
wish to complete surveys. You should never pay to join paid survey sites or to
take paid surveys. Advertisers should pay you for your honest opinions.
You can easily make money from the comfort of
your home once you have signed up for a few surveys. The more survey sites you
join, the more money you will make. For example,
Cash Crate, they offer 2 daily surveys that pay
80 cents each. You do not have to enter any information or sign up for
anything. Some survey sites give cash, rewards, points and/or entry into their
sweepstakes to win prizes.
You can make anywhere from $100-$300 a month
doing Surveys. Now don't get me wrong, it does take some time to get started
because some of them take 2-6 weeks to pay after completing but once you get
started the money will start coming in slowly but surely. Always check your
email and the survey sites for available surveys. In your spare time, you could
be earning that extra cash in no time. This is truly a great way to earn money
by giving your opinion on something.
My top
10 paid surveys
1. Survey
Savvy
2. Opinion
Outpost
3. Survey
Spot
4. Pinecone
Research
5. Global
Test Market
6.
Clearvoice
7.
Cashcrate
8.
Your2cents
9.
Viewpoint Forum
10.
Mysurvey
Survey Savvy- you can expect to receive an
average of $2 to $20 per survey. If you get a pre-survey to complete and then
do not qualify, you will be entered into their monthly sweepstakes drawing for
fifty $10 prizes. Survey Savvy pays by check.
Opinion Outpost- most of their surveys averages
between 10 to 100 points depending on the length of the survey. At 10 points =
$1, most surveys pay between $1 to $10 dollars. Opinion Outpost pays by check,
you can expect to receive it within 6 weeks by mail.
Survey Spot- you will usually receive a couple
surveys a week. On average you can earn between $3 to $10 for each survey and a
chance to win $1,000 in a quarterly prize giveaway. After you order your check,
you should receive it in 4-6 weeks.
Pinecone Research- Known for one of the most
reliable survey companies online. Payout is $3 for each 15-20 minute surveys.
To sign up for Pinecone Research you need to locate a Pinecone banner.
Global Test Market- Most surveys pay about 50
points, which is $2.50. You can cash out when you earn 1000 points, or $50,
which you can exchange for cash, payout is by check. On average it will take 15
minutes to complete each survey. You are rewarded with market points, which can
be redeemed for cash. You will receive points for every survey you take even if
you do not qualify.
Clearvoice- If you qualify and complete a survey
you are rewarded between $1 to $20. If you attempt to take a survey, but do not
qualify, you will still be rewarded with a small cash reward that is typically
around $0.25. Once your account reaches $10 you will be eligible to redeem your
earnings for a wide variety of rewards.
Cashcrate- As mentioned above, Cashcrate offers 2
daily surveys that pay 80 cents each. You do not have to enter any information
or sign up for anything. Some survey sites give cash, rewards, points and/or
entry into their sweepstakes to win prizes. Also, you can earn extra cash by
referrals. You can earn 20% of what your referrals make and 10% of what their
referrals make. You'll also receive a $3.00 bonus for each referral who earns
their first $10.00.
Your2cents- You can earn $1.00 to $5.00 per
survey that you qualify for and complete. If you do not qualify for a survey,
you will be rewarded with an entry into the $5,000 cash giveaway and/or a small
cash reward. You can request cash payment in the form of a check once you have
accumulated $5 or more.
Viewpoint Forum- Earn 20 to 50 points for each
survey, which last from 2 to 15 minutes. You will need at least 375 points to
cash out that equals a $10. Referrals will earn you 100 points per person. You
will receive up to 5 referrals. Also, you can submit your ideas to their weekly
poll and earn an extra 50 points. At this time, they are no longer accepting
registrations without a referral. You must be referred by an existing member or
receive a special invitation from Viewpoint Forum or one of their affiliates.
Mysurvey- First Survey Company I signed up with.
Mysurvey usually sends out a couple of surveys a week. You are usually awarded
10 points per survey. You can also refer your friends and earn 150 points for
each referral. You can turn your points into charity donations, prizes or cash.
Four things to remember to be successful:
- Take the surveys as soon as you receive the email invitations. You can increase your chances of completing and earning even more great prizes, rewards and cash.
- Be sure you fill out your member profiles and keep them up-to-date. The amount of surveys you will receive depends on your profile and the current studies being conducted, but in general you should expect to receive at least 4 to 6 invitations per month from each survey site.
- You should never pay to join a paid survey site.
- The more survey sites you join, the more money you will make.
So if you love giving your opinion, sign up for
online surveys and earn extra cash in your spare time.
