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Get Paid To Take Surveys
There are several companies that I've done paid survey work for, but this one is by far the best and most reputable. The company is called Survey Savvy and I've actually gotten physical checks in the mail from them. The key to them is to be very thorough when filling out your profile, because you want to come up for getting as many survey invitations as possible. They have a lot of sub-profile things you can fill out, and if you really want to get on as many panels as possible, it's worthwhile to fill them out.
Signup Link: Join Survey Savvy Here
How To Keep From Getting Annoyed
If you choose to enter the world of doing paid surveys, reading emails for money, looking at ads for cash, etc., you're getting into some interesting territory in regards to the Internet. SurveySavvy is the absolute, most legit, straight up company I've done this with, and can't recommend them enough. They don't spam you, call you, etc.
However, the same can't be said of other companies. Consider how most of these firms actually make money, which is by collecting data from you during the survey process, then using that information to serve you advertising on a silver platter, and it's advertising very targeted to you because you TOLD THEM you were interested in the subject during the survey process.
These companies will commonly send you multiple emails per day, and some will even demand your phone number in order to solicit you via telephone. It's one way that many companies are able to legally get around the Do Not Call List.
So, how do you do this type of work online, collect your money, but avoid the constant barrage of emails and phone calls. Well, I've got some suggestions for you.
First of all, if you choose to do this type of work, it is imperative that you get yourself a brand new email account that you will use ONLY for online surveys and associated type work. There are some places that will not allow you to register if you have a Hotmail account or email from a similar provider, which is why I heavily suggest using Google's Gmail service. Just go to gmail.com and click the sign up button in the lower right corner. It's totally free, you no longer need a Gmail invite to sign up, and Gmail has INCREDIBLE message filtering capability, which totally rocks for automatically sorting mail for survey and PTR (Paid To Read) work.
If you don't want to create a web based mail account, you can use Outlook or whatever you're using for mail to set up filters and have mail from certain survey companies go into selected folders for reading when you get around to it. Contact your ISP or local computer geek for assistance on setting that up if you need it (please don't contact me for computer help, I honestly don't have time in the day to do that sort of thing like I used to, sorry).
OK, so email overload is taken care of. Now, for telephone. The secret to success with avoiding telemarketing calls, even those you legitimately signed up for, is to simply have a dedicated phone number, just like you did for email. I actually accomplish this in two ways. Some online paid programs request a cell phone so that they can send you text messages with offers, and they'll pay you for these. So, I actually have a totally seperate cell phone I use for that. It's a prepaid Tracfone that I picked up for $15 at a grocery store. Every few months I have to pick up a recharge card, and I have to use or lose the minutes on the card, so I use the phone to make a few long distance calls to friends or family to burn up the minutes right before the end of time period. You could just go this route by itself and it would work for you.
If you have no intention of signing up for offers that require SMS text messaging, then just get a new landline number, for FREE. Free is good. To do that, just check out GrandCentral.com, another Google service. They will give you a free phone number anywhere in the country. It's awesome! I have several phone numbers from them for various purposes, including this kind of stuff. One Grand Central number is actually my primary phone I give out, and it forwards to my cell and office numbers.
Grand Central is currently in beta mode, but it works flawlessly for me. They require that you have an invite to the service, which you can obtain from an existing user. People give them away all the time on forums, Craigslist, freecycle, and other places. Each user has 10 invites they can give away, and you get ten invites when you sign up, so be sure to return the favor to other people. As of this writing (Jan. 11, 2008), I still have 5 to give away, so contact me as a last resort if you can't find one somewhere else and I'll send you one.
If you're also concerned about giving out your address, you can deal with that concern pretty easily, also. Simply rent a Private Mailbox (PMB) at your local mail store. The UPS Store is a common place to do this, and there are lots of small independent shops all over the country. I use my PMB for ALL my mail, business and personal. It's a great way to protect your privacy.
One last word about signing up for survey companies...It's time consuming. Having complete profiles with them is the key to getting paid, and unfortunately it's very time consuming. Some of them can feel like a never ending job application. For example, I've already spent about 90 minutes total today signing up with a few more companies. So, BE PATIENT.
With those tips in mind, let's get to some other survey companies...
Other Survey Companies
- Paid Marketing Panel - This company offers an interesting way of doing things. Like I always say, read the fine print! Here's how this company works. They will give you $100 for visiting there web site each and every day for 90 days. If you miss a day, you forfeit your hundred bucks. Also, by signing up with them you agree to receive email promotions and even telemarketing calls from them. See my note up above for how to agree to these type of conditions but not get annoyed by it. This company isn't for everybody, but it you're willing to take the 2 minutes a day, every day, to login to their web site, it's an easy way to collect $100. Also, be sure to UNCHECK the video games offer checkbox at the bottom of the signup form. Click here to sign up.
- Survey Adventure - This company is a bit more of a traditional survey list. They provide a free list of other focus group and survey opportunities. Give them a try, but when you go to sign up for the survey companies on THEIR list, be sure to do your due diligence and read all the terms, conditions, and other fine print for each individual survey company. They have a pretty comprehensive list, and I suggest NOT checking off any of the additional offer boxes on their initial signup page.
- Mindfield Online - Another outfit that I've been with for a number of years. They pay kind of on the low side, but they DO pay, in cash. Worth looking into.
I go the following information from one of our readers the other day, and she asked me to share it with everybody. I gave it a quick look and it looks like a good program - they're pretty selective about who they admit. Thanks, Lynette!
I thought that I would contribute towards your
newsletter on legitimate jobs online...
I have doing this online opinion survey job with
http://knowledgepanel.com/ for the last 5 years.
It's NOT a (make alot of money), a month thing, you
get paid when you reach 100,000 points or you can save
up to get a bigger check.
I know that you said the adding up points is a waste
of time, which you may be right...but never the less I
have received real checks from them. It takes awhile,
It pays $100.00 for every 100,000 points. They give
you anywhere from the average of 1500 points per
survey, all the way up to 10,000 points per survey.
They take an average of 15 min to do, some less. They
don't bombard you with a lot of surveys and they don't
call you. You will have to do most surveys in order to
stay in with them. But it's real money, and they pay
out right away when you check (Cash for Points).
Here is what they say on there web:
The Deal
Your Rights & Responsibilities as a Panel Member
KnowledgePanelSM is the first and only consumer
research panel that represents all segments of the
U.S. population by giving them a voice over the
Internet. By completing KnowledgePanel surveys, you
have a unique chance to make your feelings heard among
key decision makers in government and industry.
As a member of this Panel, you have both rights and
responsibilities; we take these seriously and hope you
will as well.
Panel Member "Bill of Rights"
We at Knowledge Networks™ agree to:
* never try to sell you anything.
* never misrepresent ourselves or what we are
doing.
* provide your survey responses and other
information to our clients in anonymous form only,
unless you have given your express permission. (We
generally do not seek such permission.)
* make sure that your KnowledgePanel survey
workload remains reasonable.
* provide ongoing support and technical advice
relating to Panel participation.
* respect your decision to not answer survey
questions if you so choose.
* do our best to be sure your participation in
KnowledgePanel is a pleasant experience.
Panel Member Responsibilities
As a member of KnowledgePanel, you agree to:
* check your email for new surveys at least once a
week.
* report any technical problems that may prevent
you from responding to surveys.
* answer all survey questions truthfully, unless
you feel uncomfortable doing so. (Please notify us if
this is the case.)
* keep confidential the details of KnowledgePanel
surveys, especially company names and the content of
video and/or audio selections that are part of a
survey.
* refrain from taking unfair advantage of your
Panel membership in any way.
Contact KN
If you have a question, try checking the FAQ section
of this Website.
If you can't find the answer there, you can contact
Knowledge Networks at:
support@knowledgepanel.com or
1-800-782-6899 (M-F: 9AM - 9PM; Sat-Sun: 12 Noon -
5PM).