The truth about paid survey sites and how to make them work for you.
So you've signed up with a paid survey site or a market research company to get paid for your opinions. What now? What do you do to get the money raking in?
Well I'm sorry to say but it is very likely that this hoard of money you imagine collecting by taking online surveys for cash and/or testing products does not exist in the realm of market research reality.
Bluntly put, you are not going to get rich from taking online surveys for cash. Under any circumstances. I know this is an unfortunate conclusion to hear because people and companies left and right are advertising to you online claiming just the opposite but really, truly and realistically, I will reiterate (and please take my word as I've explored this subject enough to consider myself an expert): It is just not possible. Those who claim to have done it are plain and simply lying or dramatically over-exaggerating the truth.
There is a rational explanation for why all these false promises are rampantly teasing you all over the internet and after hearing the facts outlined you might achieve a much more informed and enlightened perspective on this paid survey fad.
Once you have accepted the somewhat deflating realization that taking online surveys is not a plausible generation of supplemental income and are ready to see the legitimate paid survey sites for what they really are, read on. Provided for you below will be a quick guide with a few tips on how to make your paid survey site panel membership work best for you.
Okay, now this section of the article is for serious customers only. By considering yourself as such you should possess the following attributes:
1) An understanding that you are not going to get rich from taking online surveys.
2) A desire, despite the fact as presented in #1, to sign up for or remain enrolled in a membership to one or more paid survey sites to be an opt-in panel participant for the opportunity to earn prizes for your opinion or to get paid by taking online surveys.
3) A sub sequential desire, considering the facts presented in both #1 and #2, to get the most out of your paid survey site participant panel membership which essentially translates to making as much money and earning as many merchandise rewards as you possibly can.
If you still put yourself in the serious customer category, welcome to the club. Paid surveys can be a lot of fun. You get to learn about new products on the market or in the making, watch commercials or movie trailers that have not been released and on occasion yes, you will get asked to test and keep a product at home. On top of the selfish perks, it does feel slightly honorable to be an aid in shaping the products and services of the future with your opinions.
Most legitimate paid survey sites offer either points or cash incentives for those who participate in online surveys. Some companies will offer a flat payment for each survey completed that will either go straight to your paypal account or collected in some sort of site specific rewards account. The latter option often times has a minimum dollar amount you must obtain in earnings before payout via check thru postal mail or paypal. The more surveys you take the more opportunities you have to build up the balance.
Paid survey sites that offer points for your participation typically have a catalog of merchandise to choose from when you have enough points to trade them in for what you want.
The goal for any paid survey site participant looking to make the most of an online paid survey site membership is obviously to seize every opportunity available to build up points, the reward account balance or flat dollar payouts as possible.
Below are just a few ways you can take advantage of these opportunities outlined in no particular order of importance. (Keep in mind that certain specifics will vary between each unique paid survey site.)
*Check email often.
If you want to be an active participant of an online paid survey panel you should check email at least once a day. Some survey sites are far more aggressive with their invitations than others and that may even vary beyond your control with your specific demographic profile, but you will likely find pretty regular opportunities to participate sent to your email inbox. So check mail frequently so you can participate before the surveys expire.
*Set up your email inbox to alert you to paid survey invitations.
Depending on your email account and host, you may have a way to organize your incoming mail according to certain categories you have defined. Sometimes these categories are referred to as filters.
In Google's Gmail program, for example, you can set your email to flag incoming messages from designated senders. This, for instance, alerts you when you check mail that the messages in the designated category with the designated flag (also set by you) are paid survey opportunities for you to tend to right away if you wish. This is not a necessary strategy to make the most of paid survey panel memberships but it definitely helps you keep up with the invitations and is especially helpful if you have singed up with several companies.
*Attempt to qualify for every survey you are invited to.
This is a good trick but it doesn't always apply and the times it does are unpredictable and random. But most people don't realize that some paid survey sites award points or maybe sweepstake entries for every survey attempted even if your first few answers disqualify you from completing the survey for the full incentive.
So if you start a survey and get a sense from the first few questions that you are very likely not going to fit the demographic profile of who they are looking for don't just close the window and give up; it doesn't require much extra effort or time to keep going until official disqualification and many paid survey sites will award you at least a few points for trying.. I can attest that these really do help quite significantly when trying to build up your rewards account to a minimum balance requirement.
*Sign into your paid survey site membership account regularly. Some paid survey sites will only invite you to participate in online surveys by email. The ones that apply to that are usually pretty obvious in stating that so no reason wasting your time with those until invited by email. But you will find that others and possibly the majority of paid survey sites also give you the option to check for new survey opportunities online by signing in on their site. Again, many sites just send you email invites and the opportunities listed online tell you what you already know.
But some companies, and you will learn which ones over time, you may find claim to alert you to all survey opportunities but don't. That is, after regular online checking you notice more listings than you were invited to. This is not uncommon especially when you have been less active in your participation with paid survey sites over a bit of time. So to really keep fully informed of all paid survey opportunities sign into the site as often as you can. You might also find that doing this regular check in instigates more invitations in your email possibly simply because you've shown you are still interested and active as a participant.
*Update your profiles often.
This is the most important way to keep your paid survey site panel participation active and insure you get as many opportunities as you can to get paid for your opinions. Fill out those profile surveys. It's tedious, I am absolutely aware of that fact and it does not have an immediate payout incentive (except for the occasional paid survey site that gives points for these). But it is very much worth it in the long run.
These profile surveys can be found by regularly signing into the sites as suggested above.
You will find the list of profile questionnaires available to complete is updated and changed often and many of them are open to take for a limited time only. So you must check in with the site regularly to be sure you take advantage of the profile surveys before they expire. Most take less than two minutes of your time to complete and the questions are easy because they are usually just basic profile classification type questions, extended a bit to reflect your interest more specifically.
But they are important to keep up with. Doing so not only shows your active interest again with the site but also can qualify for you to receive more survey invitations that you otherwise might be left out of.