The M Society

Have you questioned whether paid surveys are legitimate and worth the effort? There are some market research companies that really do pay you for answering questions, provide gifts for your service, host sweepstakes and drawings, as well as do other nice things to reward you for your efforts. Since there are so many companies out there, you will need to know how to spot the good ones from the bad ones. This article may help you.

First, you will need to know the types of surveys that a company will offer you. You can usually find that out the same day you register. Some companies may want you to shop with their advertisers, while others may want only your opinion. Requests to take surveys are emailed to you with a link to click. Depending on how you intended to receive your surveys when you registered, there are additional options to take surveys via the mail or over the phone.

You will also need to decide which surveys will be worth your time and in some cases your money. Now you may be wondering, “Why would I have to pay any thing to take a survey?” Unfortunately, there are companies who disguise themselves as genuinely wanting your opinion when they rather convince you to buy from one of their advertisers. They aren’t interested in giving you any money; instead they hope to take yours. More on that later.

The positives to online survey taking are as follows:

The time it takes to complete most surveys is usually under 15 minutes. However, there are those that will take about 20 to 30 minutes to finish. Depending on the interruptions you have around you, your own patience, and other factors they may take longer to complete. It’s best to take surveys when you aren’t feeling rushed or pressured. Some market research companies will allow you to begin the survey, then come back later when you log into the survey site.

Unlike those surveys of yesteryear where you had to fill out bubbles, write on black lines, or sit in front of someone writing down everything you say, there is usually no writing involved. Yet, there will be times when you may have to type one or two sentences describing how you feel about a product or give a reason as to why you responded a certain way.

Most online surveys are easy to navigate. Many can be completed rather easily with a simple click of a button, you are on to your next page.

One of the great things about survey taking is the opportunity to make a difference. Companies are really concerned about what a consumer thinks about their product. They know that if they release a product out into the marketplace without proper research done, they could literally lose thousands of dollars. When you respond to the company’s survey, always tell the truth and answer questions as best you can. You just don’t know how significant your opinion might be to them and everyone else who buys the product in the future.

There is money to be made when you take surveys it all depends on which company you register. Although the money isn’t much, it may mean a lot to you. This is the main reason why most people take surveys. Companies normally pay between $1-$5; however some will pay more, although rare, it does happen and when it does you will notice that when you click on the link that appears in your email requesting you to take the survey, the quota may be met already. People will not pass up an opportunity to make a $1, so check your email daily and if you can log in often throughout the day, do it.

There is free software you can use for a limited time that will automatically fill out the registration forms for you. Be sure that when you choose to download the software onto your computer it is free of spy ware. Your virus protection software may alert you to any potential threats, so if you see a warning, don’t bother downloading it.

The negatives to online survey taking are as follows:

The money offered by market research companies is usually not enough to make a living. You may register with 50 companies and find that most will not have a paying survey available to send you everyday. Regardless of what anyone tells you, you will not be able to pay your rent taking surveys unless you win one of the sweepstakes offered by the company. Many of the sweepstakes do not have large prizes.

The higher paying surveys can be as long as one hour. If time is a concern for you, you may not want to participate in the longer surveys. Questions may seem redundant. The best advice you may want to consider for lengthy surveys is not to state every product, place, or thing you may own or know about. Most likely the follow-up question will ask you to rate each or compare. Remember the more you divulge, the more questions that will be asked.

The survey screening process is also lengthy at times. You may be asked many questions, only to find out you don’t qualify. It may be a certain age, gender, or race the company may be interested in, don’t be offended. Surveys are always politically correct.

Survey taking may be a problem for someone who can’t stand to look at a computer screen for long or sit. Each company has a different style when creating a survey. Sometimes the font is small and the click through process can be tedious. You may want to start with the shorter surveys first.

Don’t try to complete surveys when you are tired. When you do, answers may be invalid causing you to miss out on a survey that could have potentially made you money.

Website links at some survey sites are broken occasionally, which causes survey takers to miss out on money. This isn’t good when you have a lot of surveys to complete and not a lot of time to complete.
There are some companies that have a payment threshold meaning you will have to take a certain amount of surveys before they send you your payment. Know what that limit is by checking the site’s Facts and Questions section. Don’t expect your $5 to be automatically sent to you either. You will first need to log in to the site to check your balance, and to find out how much money you will be required to make before they send out your payment. Some companies will not send a check out to you until you have reached $50.

Another negative to survey taking are the lack of survey opportunities that pay. Some companies may not send surveys out for weeks at a time. If the company isn’t making money, neither are you. The best way to see if a company is worth joining is look at the website, see how often they pay people, look for any payment limits, and find any fine print that lists contact information.

As mentioned before, there are some companies that simply aren’t offering legitimate surveys. Rather, they are just marketing businesses who have partnered with advertisers to try and get you to buy their offers with the hopes that a free lap top, Ipod or something else “free” will get you to spend and spend a lot. From book club memberships to online tutorial lessons, they want you to complete all kinds of offers. Unfortunately, for the next few months you will be paying for merchandise you really don’t need, nor want. You see most of the advertisers have certain membership requirements you must complete before they are willing to opt you out of their programs. You must also fulfill the requirements of the contract before you will receive a free gift at least that is what the marketing company claims. However, there are numerous complaints from participants that never did receive the laptop, Ipod, camera or any other big-ticket item. Rather, some survey takers were lucky to receive a can of infant formula or a $25 gift card. Remember the companies that offer free gifts to lure you into taking surveys are only interested in you buying their products. The companies that offer “true” survey taking opportunities won’t ask you to buy anything, nor will they ask for credit card information. They will ship anything they want you to try for free.

The best paying surveys can be found by surfing the net and searching an Internet forum. Buying a database of surveys isn’t necessary.

Once you decide that survey taking is for you, get yourself a separate email account. Your mailbox will become filled with junk email.

Survey taking can be a great experience for you when you know what you are doing. Be smart and don’t fall for those free offers and trials, they really aren’t free. Do your research, ask others online what their experiences have been like, and most of all get paid while you are having fun!

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