by MJ Miller

Created on: February 08, 2009   Last Updated: March 28, 2009

A great way to make money online is with paid surveys. Some people will try and tell you that paid surveys are a scam but that is not true in most cases. I have been involved with doing surveys on line and getting paid for it for many years now and I have never once been scammed. Now, that's not to say that there aren't scams on the internet having to do with surveys. There are, but if you stick with legitimate companies, you'll be fine.

You will have to share some of your personal information to signup and take surveys. They will want to know your name, address, city, state, date of birth, etc. and the surveys can be about almost any subject including buying habits, where you shop, your preference in products, etc. If you don't like sharing this information, you won't like taking surveys. I can say that I have never been spammed by the survey sites or advertisers of any product as a result of taking online surveys. All of the companies I am associated with are very professional and honest.

The main thing to remember when you are looking for paid surveys is you don't have to pay anything to do them. ALL of the legitimate companies are free to sign up and earn with. I see a lot of ads and banners about "free surveys" but when you get there, you find that they charge a fee to join or they charge you a fee to get the "information" about the "free" survey sites. This is how some people are getting scammed. ANY site that is trying to get you to pay a fee to get the information or to sign up is a scam. NEVER pay to join a survey company or for information on paid survey companies.

Another thing to consider when you are evaluating a survey company is how much they say you can make. If they are saying you can make hundreds of dollars per month or that they pay large amounts per survey, they are a scam. Most reputable companies will pay you from 1 to 10 dollars per survey with more on rare occasions when it's a product trial or commitment to take more than one survey for the study. You will not make hundreds or more per month. If you make hundreds per year for being a member of several survey sites, you will be doing well.

You can find survey companies that are free to join on websites like www.allwebsuccess.com or do a search on a search engine and check forums and chat rooms. If you happen to be a member of the Paid to Read sites like Cash for Action, they will sometimes have a link to signup at paid survey sites and they will actually pay you a small fee for accepting the signup offer so you make money to sign up for making money with surveys. Not a bad deal. Quick Rewards actually has more than just a paid email, they have surveys right on their site.

A few other free paid survey sites are Opinion Outpost, American Consumer Opinion and Survey Savvy. I have been paid many times by these companies since I have been taking online surveys.

Since I started doing them a few years ago, I have made several hundred dollars and received several free product trials just for spending time answering questions on the internet while sitting in my easy chair with my laptop. You can too by joining reputable companies with proven track records. You won't get rich doing it but you can pick up some extra cash for minimal effort. I recommend you give it a try.

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