Get Paid for Your Opinion: Earn Money Taking Online Surveys

Get paid to take surveys — This idea of earning real income by taking surveys online was unheard of a few years ago. Today, it’s legitimate and numerous individuals have already earned thousands of dollars doing so. There are certain groups of people who really benefited from this new earning opportunity such as stay at home moms, students, retired employees and even those who have a regular day-time job but are looking for ways to augment their income.

How Do Paid Surveys Work?

The mechanics of paid online surveys are pretty straightforward. You begin by finding and signing up for a paid survey site. Some of the well-known paid survey sites are Global Test Market, Survey Spot and Survey Savvy. After you complete the registration, these sites will send you an email if they have a survey that matches your profile.

As you can see, those who get paid to take surveys are answering real market research questions from real companies and real brands. Also, you will be taking surveys as a qualified respondent because your profile (interests and buying behavior) fits the required characteristics of what the survey provider is looking for.

How Do You Get Compensated?

There are three methods for you to get compensated when you take paid surveys. The first one is through cash. A survey can earn you anywhere between $1 and $50. The second mode of compensation is by earning points which you can use to redeem rewards. Global Test Market uses this method of compensating their members. Once a member reaches 1,000 MarketPoints, he or she can exchange his or her points for rewards. Lastly, you can also be compensated through sweepstakes. Members of Survey Spot can win up to $10,000 in their quarterly sweepstakes.

Promptness in Taking the Survey

When you receive a survey in your email, make sure that you answer it and submit it promptly. Once the company who commissioned the survey has acquired enough data from a certain number of respondents, they will stop the survey and you’ll lose the earning opportunity.

Also, if the paid survey sites see that you are not taking the surveys they send you, they will lessen the number of surveys they allocate to you or stop sending your surveys altogether. This is because those who really want to get paid to take surveys and do on a regular basis.

Taking surveys is not difficult, but it’s not easy as well. Make sure that you can dedicate the needed time to accomplish surveys if you really want to earn from them.

How to Avoid Paid Survey Scams

While there are many honest-to-goodness paid survey sites, there are also fraudulent ones. You have to be aware of the warning signs, the red flags that will indicate that you are being scammed.

First, most legitimate paid survey sites such as Global Test Market, Survey Spot and Savvy Survey offer free membership.

Second, if the offer or compensation is too good to be true, then there’s a good chance that it is indeed too good to be true. Look at industry standards. If a certain paid survey site promises you the moon and the stars, then be cautious.

Third, legitimate paid survey sites should not ask for your credit card information or your social security number. They don’t need these data to do business with you. Identity theft and credit card fraud are still rampant and scammers can pretend as paid survey sites just to defraud you.

Also, don’t forget to read the fine print and the terms and conditions of these paid survey sites. It’s human nature to skip these terms and conditions because no one really wants to read all the legal stuff. When it comes to getting paid to take surveys, you cannot not read the fine print. If there’s something that you do not understand, feel free to contact the site managers or administrators to clarify certain points. This will also give you a gauge of the level of support the site gives to its members. It’s a measure of how prompt they are or if they even reply at all.

People who get paid to take surveys do get financial rewards, but you need to know the basics before you engage in this earning opportunity.