Paid Survey at Home - 7 Secrets for Making Money with Paid Online Surveys

As in most things, it looks easy when you know how...

A gread deal of money is being paid out every month for participating in paid surveys at home. One survey maker, Greenfield Online, says that they alone paid out over $4,200,000 in cash to survey participants in 2007. There are over 700 survey makers in the U.S. and over 3,000 worldwide.

Surveys are made because large companies must have consumer feedback to make correct decisions, survive and grow. Consumers like you and me get paid for surveys online to get us to take the time to fill out the survey questionnaires and give them our opinions.

As commerce grows and product life-cycles speed up, there is more and more demand for up-to-date-info. This means even more surveys, and more use of the Internet for its speed and low cost. Market researchers can get answers to their paid surveys online within a few hours. The companies that ask for the info are happy to pay...

Unfortunately for many, those that get paid for surveys online generally follow the 80-20 rule: 20% of the survey participants make 80% of the money (and vice versa!).

Many in the 80% who are only making 20% of the money give up, complaining that you can't make any money with paid surveys. They blame the system for their failures.

The reality is that there IS money to be made, you CAN get paid for surveys online and get paid for paid surveys at home, but you have to go about it in the right way!

[Ever watch fishermen? A good fisherman goes out, comes back with his boat full of fish. The same day a novice, inexperienced fisherman goes out, comes back with nothing, and says "They aren't biting today" or There's no fish in this lake."]

The difference is in understanding how things work and what you need to do to get good results.

Here are seven secrets to get paid for surveys online and make money with paid surveys at home:

1. Get a good list of survey makers. 20% of the surveys made are legitimate paid online surveys that pay on time, in cash and pay well. 40% are second tier, don't pay as well, but still are worthwhile to take. The rest are useless time-wasters that will never pay or will try to sell you things.

A good list is one that has more 1st and 2nd tier survey makers than it does the time-wasters.

2. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. (Old Trojan saying.) The time-waster "survey makers" pay recruiting fees to get new recruits to sign up with them. No list on the Net is free. If you are not paying for it, the time-waster survey makers are. "Free list" purveyors get paid for new recruits that use that list.

3. The best way to get a good list is to join a good paid survey membership site. For a small, generally one-time fee they will give you a copy of the list they maintain for their membership. You make that back with your first 2-3 paid surveys. Some sites are better than others, so choose carefully.

4. Only deal with paid survey sites that have a strong money back guarantee. From amongst these, pick one with a low refund rate.

[The guarantee tells you they believe in and stand behind the quality of their service. The low refund rate tells you their present clients get paid for surveys online, make money with paid surveys at home and are happy. High refund rates mean many unhappy clients demanding their money back!] 

5. When you pick your site and get your copy of their list, plan to sign up with at least 150 to 250 survey makers. You won't qualify for all surveys, so you need to have your data on file with many survey makers. If they only send you two or three surveys a year, they are still worthwhile and will make money for you.

6. Whatever list(s) you get, expect to have to sort it with a heavy hand to get out the trash. Those that send you more sales offers than surveys to take are wasting your time. Leave them in your spam filter file to be deleted after 30 days. (Check often to make sure there are no survey invitations, just in case). 

7. Be diligent. Check your in-box twice daily. Respond to all surveys quickly. Don't let survey invitations languish in your in-box. Be responsive and you will not only get paid for surveys online, you will also get more surveys to take.

Do it right and you will make money. Most survey-takers report incomes of $200 to $600 a month. Many report incomes of $1,000 a month and more.