What Are Paid Surveys?
August 20th, 2011
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One of the most popular marketing techniques these days is making people think that they are going to get paid to take online surveys. Many websites are generating leads and gathering your personal information by advertisements claiming you will get $20, $50, or even $100 to participate in their online surveys.
These “online surveys” usually consist of making you buy something from one of their affiliates. They will pay you $20 to join book club or dvd rental program. There is usually a high payout you must reach before you can actually get a check. Usually you will have to sign up for several offers before you reach the minimum amount to request a payout. These programs are designed to keep you from completing all the steps necessary to get paid.
It is programs like these lead people to believe that paid surveys are a scam. In fact, you really can get paid to take online surveys. Unlike what the “scam” sites claim, a paid survey doesn’t usually pay $50 or more. And it doesn’t involve making a purchase, joining a book club, or applying for a credit card.
A real paid survey is simply a research study conducted by a market research company to gather information for a corporation, manufacturer, or advertiser. Big corporations spend millions of dollars marketing their products. They need to know who buys their products, what they like and dislike, what features of the product are important to them, etc.. With this knowledge they can in turn make products that people will buy. When they need one of these studies done they hire a market research firm. Most market research companies now have online panelists. When a study is done the research company will send out an email to its members asking them to participate in an online survey. This study usually consists of a few questions to determine your demographics. This is so that they can get information from the people who actually use the products. For instance, if they were conducting a study on video games they might want only males from ages 18-25 who own a Playstation. If you were a 35 year old female you wouldn’t qualify. Once you have qualified for a survey you will then be asked a series of questions related to the product. You may be asked to view a commercial, or even test a new product.
Before you take a survey you will usually be told what the compensation is for your participation. Even if you do not qualify, you may be entered into a drawing for cash or other prizes. Most paid surveys pay somewhere between $2 and $20. There are actually surveys that will pay over $100. But these are not common. Surveys that pay very high amounts are mostly reserved for those in the medical field and computer programmers. That doesn’t mean you can’t make a decent amount of money taking online surveys. You can.
The way to make sure you are always in need is to be a member of as many paid survey panels as possible. There are literally hundreds of panels you can join. Some may ask for your help daily. Others may only need you once a month, or less. Some may never need you. Being a member of 10 to 20 panels will almost guarantee you receive at least one survey invitation a day. Often more. You can join and be a member of as many survey panels as you like. Most panels take about 5 minutes to register with. Unless you are going to take the time to join a couple hundred panels, you will not be able to make a living taking paid surveys. However, if you are looking to make some extra money every month with no investment then paid surveys is a great way to do it.
By: Chris Price
About the Author:
Chris Price has participated in hundreds of paid surveys, focus groups, and mystery shops. Mr. Price is the webmaster and owner of wahmservice.com and paidsurveysources.com He is also the administrator at the Paid Surveys Forum [http://www.paidsurveys.wahmservice.com]
