3 of 15

Write now Article Tools

As more and more people turn to the internet to earn a little extra money, very often the first work they sign up for is to complete online surveys. Unfortunately being new to the earning potential of the internet, a few of these online career seekers fall to some of the scams carried out by survey sites.

It is highly possible to earn a small but regular income from completing surveys online; however there are some tips and advice that may help you to avoid the survey scams.

Once you start to look for ways to earn money from home on your computer you see the advertisements everywhere. How you can work in your pajamas and earn $100's a day just completing surveys in your spare time. Of course all you have to do is sign up with this company and pay the fee of....STOP! This is how these scam companies make their money; they charge you a fee for a list of survey sites that you can obtain through a search engine for free. Do not ever, under any circumstances, pay any money upfront to anyone.

The next step you must undertake is to start searching through all the survey sites out there, and there are a lot of them. This involves a little time and effort but much easier in the long run than just signing up for every survey company you find! On each website read through their conditions, not every survey group pays for your contribution. Ignore any company that only enters you for a prize draw.

Avoid the sites whose payout threshold is very high, usually this will take around 2 years to reach. It would appear a lot of these companies work on the basic idea that people get tired of the repetitive style of questionnaire's and leave before receiving their payout. The other alarm warning sign is that in today's fast moving internet world, will these companies still be around in 2 years or so?

From the research you probably have a list of companies you are interested in, now is the time to return to the search engines and look for forums. Try to discover if there are groups who are not paying out when thresholds are met. By reading people's experiences you will collect information on different groups.

It is time now to sign up for several of your chosen sites, in the early stages it is going to be trial and error as to which survey companies will suit you best. There are now hundreds if not thousands of people completing surveys every day and unfortunately you are going to have to find the one's that are for you demographically. Some companies cater more for young families with children and others prefer the retired person, which is why on the forums you will hear of people saying they earn $200 a month and someone else says $20.

There are a few companies who will regularly time you out after you have completed 50-80% of the survey, if this happens to you, leave them. This is another form of a scam, you have given the replies they wanted, but they had no intention of paying you. A genuine site will always say you can return to the page where you stopped.

Try the various companies that you think will suit you best for 2-3 months and stay with those that impress you. Always remember to check your email regularly and try to complete each task as soon as you receive it. Some surveys are only open until they have their required quota, so speed is of the essence.

If you are looking to earn extra money online and are prepared to work a few hours every day then you can find success with completing surveys.

Learn more about this author, Lucy May.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Everything you need to know about doing paid surveys?
We want to hear your view. Write now!