Monday, November 3, 2008

Paid Online Surveys: A Brief Guide

By Jennifer Ho

Paid online surveys have been lurking around the internet for a long time now, and many consumers are participating in them hoping to get some extra cash for payment of monthly bills, everyday expenses or get a new cell phone or iPod. Companies are basically spending some time and money for researching the capabilities and potential of their products and services through these surveys which also includes focus groups. A number of paid for surveys are available in the internet and one must be able to pinpoint which site is genuine and which is fake.

Actually there is some truth behind all these paid online surveys; they need your opinion and you get paid for giving it. Companies of all shapes and sizes know just how important people's opinion is regarding their products and services so that they could continue to make improvements and changes that will ultimately give them better returns. These companies pay literally thousands of dollars for their marketing and advertising campaigns, and these surveys are part of it.

These paid for surveys are about almost anything under the sun. From luxurious restaurants you love to eat at, upcoming movies and music events, the products you buy at your favorite grocery store, and even the latest gaming consoles, the possibilities are seemingly endless. Surveys may target specific age groups, hobbies and areas of interests; all of which are aimed at improving the quality of the products and services that these companies are offering.

Once you sign-up for paid online surveys, you will be asked to fill-up some basic demographic information like your age, gender, work, and income range. Once these sites determine you are qualified for a particular survey based on the information you have entered, you will be given an email containing an invitation to participate in the survey and a link which directs you the survey site.

The rewards coming from these paid online surveys may take the form of cash, discount coupons, merchandise or points that are convertible to cash and other freebies. Each survey site will have different means of giving you incentives for participating in their surveys; some will directly give you a small amount of cash, and some will require you to earn points and exchange them for a particular gift item.

With the birth of paid online surveys also comes deceitful websites determined to lure people into scams. These websites boasts the cash incentives that can be earned from them upon signing-up. They tell you that they have a collection of paid for surveys which you can access only upon being a member.

It is from this membership fees that these websites are getting a jump at unwary consumers. Membership fees will usually range from $25 to even more than $100, with a promise that they can give their members huge monthly income that will make them leave their jobs and stay at home doing surveys.

These fake websites will do everything just to get you to become a member by presenting you with pictures of their fictitious members and the huge income they claim to have earned in just a few days. Sounds good to be true isn't it? And after joining you will discover that what they have are just fake collection of survey sites and links sending you to more fake surveys. You will never hear from them ever again after joining.

One must remember paid online surveys cannot give you amount of money big enough to make you quit your job and live on it. Although a few may give some considerable sum of money, they will always be just supplemental to your main source of income. Remember that a lot of websites in the internet are offering you thousands of dollars using their list of paid for surveys and tell you that you'll get rich in a few days; well if something is too good to be true, it usually really is, so try to stay away from these sites specially if they are asking you to pay for membership fees.

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