CHAPTER THREE
MAKE MONEY WITH PAID SURVEYS
This chapter will outline the ways to make money with paid surveys. You will find tips on how to make the most of your paid survey home business, and practical information on the best way to keep track of the survey sites you sign on with. By the time you finish this book I want you to be able to run your home based paid survey business with efficiency and ease.
How Much Money Can I Make With This Business?
There are sites out there that will tell you that you will make thousands per every month participating in online surveys. Remember that this is not a get rich proposition, nor is it an executive position. While it is possible to make an extra amount of money each month to help out, anything above that will take hard work, diligence, and longer hours than you may want to put in if you are a stay at home mom.
When you are participating in online paid surveys, a lot will hinge upon your personal profile. Where you live, your age, and even your interest preferences. It will also depend upon whether the companies needing information are interested in hearing from you according to your profile. When you fill out your profile, make sure you check everything you are even remotely interested in or know anything at all about. You will be unable to alter your gender, age, and location, and they are also factors in which surveys you will be eligible for.
My advice is to sign up for every survey site you possibly can. The more you are affiliated with, the better your chances are of being eligible for more surveys. Remember, as I said before, make sure you set up a separate email account for your paid surveys, otherwise you will find yourself in a world of confusion. Also keep in mind that focus groups will pay you much more for your opinions than regular surveys so sign up for those too.
You should also realize that it will take a bit of time for these companies to get to know if you will be a dependable survey participant, so if you don’t get as many surveys as you expected, hang in there and over time you will build up a reputation for being reliable. You will have some months when you will make a little and other months where you will make much more. It all depends on the surveys available to you at the time.
I’m sure you noticed that many of the survey sites offer a chance to win cash and prizes instead of giving you cash per survey. It is up to you whether you want to participate in these surveys. I would say when you are starting out, sign up for all of them. Later on, if you feel you are too swamped with this type of survey, you can choose to drop some of them.
The Difference Between Focus Groups and Paid Surveys
A paid survey is usually short, very few of them will take you over 15 minutes to complete and you will participate online. You will be invited by email to take the survey, fill it out and get rewarded. A focus group is a bit different as they are usually conducted over the phone or at a physical location. A focus group will usually pay a good deal more and it is usually disbursed in cash.
When you are asked to test a product, the product is sent to you to use for a certain amount of time. When that time is up, you will fill out a form that comes in the mail, is available online, or you will be asked to write a review on the product. Compensation for this type of survey is usually the product, but there are times when you will also make a nominal fee for participation.
Academic Research Panels
The following sites are accepting people to be on their research panels. This may just be the niche you have been looking for.
Can I Make a Living Taking Paid Surveys?
There are many factors involved but the bottom line is: If you are signed up with only one or two paid survey companies, you will never make enough money to quit your regular JOB. For each site that you are signed up with, you will be offered anywhere from 1 to 4 surveys each month. On the average, each completed survey will pay you between $1 and $4 each.
Let’s go with $3 per survey. You have signed up with 10 survey sites, and each one sends you 3 surveys a month, you will of course make $90 during that month. On the other hand, if you signed up with 100 sites, and each one sends you 3 surveys each month, you will make $900 that month. You can also make cash by surfing the internet and reading emails. Some of the paid survey sites offer these opportunities as well.
Other Ways to Earn Cash Taking Paid Surveys
Another way to make money with paid surveys is to get involved with offers and surveys that promote specific products or services. These are called “Get Paid To” or GPT sites. GPT sites feature market research and offers for products and services. This will make your income go up as much as $1,000 a month. If you take advantage of multiple sites and sign up for offers.
However, these sire may require you to use your credit card for some of the offers. There are times when you are asked to buy something to get paid. You will need to keep track of the products or services you have signed up for, and make sure you cancel any free trials you do not want to keep when the trial period is over. You really need to keep track of when you signed up for these free trials so that you will not end up paying for something you do not want.
Be aware that by visiting and using these sites you will get marketing phone calls, mail, and, email. If you shop online these sites can save you a good deal of money and supplement your income as well. There are ways for you to cut some of the privacy factors as well.
The decision on which way you wish to make money online is up to you. Try the different types of making money to see which ones you prefer. All paid for survey, and GPT sites are free to join, so you have nothing to lose by trying them. I have never paid for a list so I don’t know if they have a different list than the free lists. That would be a personal choice too, but I would try all of the free lists before I thought about paying for a list. Have patience, nothing good ever happened overnight.
What to do After You Have Signed on With Paid Sites
Make sure you bookmark all sites that require a members login. It is wise to record all of the sites you belong to as it can get quite confusing otherwise. You will also want to check your accounts on each site at least one or more times a week. You may not get paid from some sites unless you log in and tell them you want to cash out. Get familiar with each site and take note of how you are paid from each. If they pay in points, you should see what your points can be exchanged for and what amount you will need in your account before you can cash out.
Some sites will feature daily awards for members. These rewards may be small, but they are something and do add up over time. You will want to keep track of these and visit these sites for at least a few minutes every day. This can only add to your income.
(For tips on the best way to make money with paid surveys see Chapter 2– Tips to make your survey experience successful.)