My Personal Experience With Making Money By Taking Surveys
Posted by Gordon on
June 3, 2008
I recently wrote a post about making money by taking surveys and I wanted to touch on that topic again by sharing my own experiences.
Some people seem to do well with taking surveys for money. I’m sure my personal experience would have been better if I had focused on it more instead of being involved in too many things at that time.
Still, my name was drawn as a cash prizewinner 3 different times for $100.00 each time. I took part in lots of surveys that paid anywhere from $5 to $30 for 10 to 45 minutes of my time.
I also participated in three different focus groups where I was paid $50 for each focus group. That was a lot of fun to share my opinion and hear other people share theirs as about a dozen people spent 2 hours participating in panel discussions.
One of the focus groups was about a new style of packaging for a well-known product. We were shown various designs and colors of packaging and asked to comment on what we liked (or disliked) and why. The product package really was changed to the design and color combination that the group liked the most. Sales probably went up; too bad that little focus group isn’t getting a commission on those increased sales!
I tried to look for surveys that paid cash (instead of prizes) or offered a cash drawing. As I saw it, that was the best way to make it worth my time.
Most of the cash surveys were in the $5 to $10 range, but surveys that offer larger amounts of cash did come along every so often.
The surveys with a cash drawing only paid if you won the random drawing. The odds of winning varied depending on how many people participated.
Taking surveys is an easy thing to do. The hardest thing about it is getting signed up with enough companies (guidebooks have a list of companies) to find the ones that you want to work with.
As I mentioned in the earlier post, it is a good idea to get an email account that you use only for announcements and invitations related to surveys. You will most likely get a lot of email for surveys that are not your time. You will learn which messages to read and which ones to delete right away.
I stopped taking surveys after about nine months because I was involved in too many other things at that time. I made the choice to focus on a couple of home business activities that were a better “fit” for me.
All in all, making money by taking surveys was a pleasant experience. It provided some needed cash and gave me an insight into that particular type of income opportunity.
Can You Really Make Money By Taking Surveys?
Posted by Gordon on
May 29, 2008
If you’ve seen the ads that say you can make money from home by taking surveys and wondered if that’s really possible, I want to tell you that yes, it is possible. However, my positive response also comes with a caution because the money you make might not be as much as the ads claim.
There are a number of guidebooks that tell you which companies are looking for participants to take various surveys. Sometimes the surveys are seeking public opinion about this or that. Other surveys ask for feedback on products and/or services that you are familiar with.
For taking a survey and sharing your opinion, you might get cash, an entry into a random drawing, or points.
Of course, getting cash is the best, but that is only available for certain surveys.
The only people eligible for these types of random drawings are the people who completed a survey (drawings are not open to the public at large). The winner might be awarded either cash or prizes.
Keep in mind that you have to do something (answer survey questions) to enter this type of drawing, whereas with most types of drawings, you either buy a raffle ticket (money goes to charity) or simply fill out an entry form.
Prizes are okay, if it’s something you really want anyway, but sometimes the prize is a low-value item that only serves the purpose of keeping things legal. So, they’re telling the truth (barely) when they say, “Take a 5-minute survey to become eligible for our prize drawing.”
When you earn points for taking surveys, you collect a number of points and then redeem them for whatever item they offer that you want.
All in all, you might need to take a lot of surveys and answer lots of questions to rack up any significant amount of cash or worthwhile prizes. Some companies only offer surveys now and then, so you’ll probably want to get signed up with several companies in hopes of making the income a little more consistent.
It could take a bit of effort to sign up with lots of companies to see what’s what and then weed out the ones that just aren’t worth your time.
Also, I strongly suggest getting an email account that is only used for your survey-related email. There will be lots of email about all kinds of surveys once you sign up with a few companies and get your name out there. You will get to know which ones have the best potential and which ones to delete right away.
Even with the best guidebook available, trying to make money by taking surveys won’t be the right income opportunity for everybody. Come to think of it, there’s not one single type of home business or money-making opportunity that’s right for everybody. We each have to find the best “fit” for us, our current situation, our desires, as well as our preferred approach to a home business.
