by Candida Eittreim

Created on: February 11, 2007   Last Updated: April 12, 2011

Many people are looking for safe ways to make money online. Is such a thing possible? Yes. I make over $700 a year just on surveys alone. This doesn't factor in the extra $500.00 to $1,000 from writing for sites and focus groups. How can you find the best sites? I'm going to help you by giving you links to sites that have paid me well over the last years.

The first site is one of the oldest most respected survey sites online. It is free to join, there are no pay for clicks, nothing but real surveys. Check out www.mysurvey.com. You'd be surprised how quickly the points for cash mount up here. Download their tiny messenger applet and you'll never miss a survey. I love the opportunity here to test products at home and then offer my input and get paid for it. The staff is responsive and can easily be reached by phone or e-mail.

The next site is also a site that pays you cash, in addition to drawings for prizes. I've made over $300 here alone in a year. There are no catches here either. Just straight surveys for cash or drawings. Go to www.surveyspot.com.

Lightspeed offers great surveys, drawings and cash. You have a choice of redeeming points for cash or rewards. They joined forces last year with intelliquest and offer some survey respondents with extra income opportunities by joining private focus groups. Again I've made well over $400.00 since joining Lightspeed. To join go to http://us.lightspeedpanel.com.

If you enjoy an odd mix of community and writing, this may be the site for you. You get paid for commenting on others works and images, creating groups and writing. The site has some major troll issues and serious personality clashes. But if you can avoid this, you'll earn and possibly like me, make valuable friendships here. Just ignore the Jerry Springer scenes that flare up, and concentrate on some amazing writing and images. There are groups on every subject under the sun, but for me the cooking groups, which include some well known names make the place shine. Politics is HUGE and heated here. It is definitely not for the ill informed or faint of heart. Stop by and visit www.gather.com.

Bottom line here is it takes time and making a few, hopefully not serious mistakes to get going with earning real money online. Avoid the pay us first sites like the plague. Stick with these first few sites and see how it goes. As I'm currently testing 5 more new sites, I'll add another set of links to let you know they passed my do they really pay test.

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