|
|
|
|
Home / Business / Home Business
Paid Surveys: Online Opinions
By:Alex Ruban
There are now a momentous number of opportunities on the Web to be a part of paid survey and make money at it. A staggering number of Internet sites offer not only cash but also give certificates and goods for you to take their paid survey and offer your opinion on the subjects they are surveying about.
Many, if not most, of these paid surveys are legitimate paid surveys. They actually pay you what they promise you, although some legitimate sites can offer a frustratingly low likelihood of earning anything because they either pay you by entering you in a drawing for the chance to be paid, or you must qualify for each survey and you never seem to be part of the demographic they're seeking. Some paid surveys require that you join a focus group so that you can study the pertinent product thoroughly.
One of the most common ways to find paid survey is to visit Web sites who have been paid by the survey firms to allow pop-ups when you visit the site. Of course, many of us block pop-ups, so this is becoming a less effective way for paid survey sites to find participants. A pop-up survey might ask you to provide personal details such as your name, your address, your phone number and e-mail address.
The problem is that all too often they are not gathering this info to pay you as much as they are gathering it for the purpose of selling it to marketing firms that will start e-mailing you about other products, sending junk mail to you, or even telemarketing you. The firms offering the paid surveys might also be the marketing companies.
A way to proactively find paid surveys is to actually pay for access to a directory or database of firms that pay you for your paid survey opinion. What happens here most often though is that your payment is happenstance - the result of your being the winner in the drawing upon completion of the survey. With no way of even knowing if there legitimately was a drawing.
A focus group is your best choice for actively seeking legitimate fruitful paid surveys. You will spend more time taking the survey, but you're more likely to be well paid. A focus group is a gathering of marketing firms and consumers. Here the consumers are asked to give their opinions about a specific product or products. You might spend a whole day in this focus group. You might even spend an entire weekend. But you will almost assuredly be well paid for your effort, time and opinion.
There area some paid survey scams out there and you should never pay upfront to take part in a paid survey scheme. Here are some of the things to watch for, the things that would generally indicate a high probability that the paid survey site is a scam:
Almost anyone with any Internet savvy can put together a paid survey Web site in just a few hours. The scheme behind these thrown together paid survey scam sites is to ask you to pay for membership after which they direct you to someplace else on the Internet where you'll supposedly find many opportunities to be paid for your opinion in paid surveys.
What actually happens when you pay these paid survey scam sites is that the links they give you are useless and broken, many times for companies that no longer exist or never did at all. Or you'll be redirected to a site that is another paid survey scam that also wants money to offer you paid survey opportunities.
Most of these paid survey scam Web sites charge at least $30 and as much as $100 upfront for what they say is access to a paid survey directory of sites that pay you well for your opinion. The reality is that what you are really going to find once you pay are directories that are out of date - whose links don't work, phone numbers are disconnected and e-mail addresses are bogus.
You will find no customer service or technical help or support whatsoever. You will never get a refund and if you can even find an e-mail address to request one you won't get a response. The paid survey scam sites are designed poorly, with navigation that is confusing and pages that just don't work.
To reiterate, if you're out there on the Web looking to make money from paid surveys, don't ever pay upfront.
(c) 2005, Free Paid Surveys Online Directory. Reprint rights granted so long as article and by-line are printed intact and all links made live.
Article Source: http://www.dailynewarticles.com
Alex Ruban is the owner and editor of Paid Surveys since March, 2003. His site provides information about hundreds of free legitimate paid online surveys, polls, and focus group providers along with detailed reviews, descriptions of each program, paid survey guidelines and useful tips.
More Articles from Home Business Category:
Start a High Profit Painting Business
Working From Home: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Learn The Secrets To Help You Get Paid For Surveys Right Now!
Online Home Business Office for Away From Home Dads
Tax and Other Financial Benefits of Home Ownership
Work At Home Businesses And Lifestyle Changes
Buy Wholesale Watches Online
The Internet And Work At Home Business
Fire Your Boss And Choose The Freelancing Lifestyle
How To Promote Your Freelance Work
Using Your Passion To Fuel Your Success
Ways To Work At Home And Make Money Online
How To Start a Freelance Home Business
How To Build A Profitable List
Financial Management For Freelancers
|
|
