Ten Top Tips on Making The Most from Paid Surveys
1) Sign up with as many market research sites as possible. This will both allow you to receive a wide range of different topics and allow you to hit the payment threshold at each survey site much quicker meaning you will end up with a regular income stream. When registering with a paid survey site ensure you complete the initial ‘screener’ or profile survey if there is one available, this will increase your chances of being invited to surveys in the future. It’s a also a good idea to keep your profile updated in the future. Make sure you check out our Paid Survey Directory. Investing a few hours at the beginning of the process will quickly pay off as you will be overwhelmed with a deluge of survey invitations from market research companies eager to get their new panel members filling out surveys.
2) Always set up a separate email account to receive survey invitations. This will ensure that you don’t miss any paid surveys and also any offers that are sent will not go straight into your personal email account. Regularly check your e-mail so no invitations are missed or surveys fill up before you get to them. Always check your spam / junk folder for your latest surveys.
3) Fill in all profile information. It’s very important to complete your profile information on each site so that the market research company can quickly assess your profile and personalise the online surveys and focus groups that they wish to invite you to. This will make sure that you are sent relevant surveys which make your lifestyle and means who aren’t sent things which are completely irrelevant. When a market research site is selecting which group of people to invite to a survey they will always check for particular profiles. If your profile is not regularly updated its likely that you will miss out on some opportunities to earn extra money. Without any detailed profile information, market research companies are more likely to not invite you to new surveys when they are released. More often than not, surveys are only open to specific profiles.
4) Ensure all information you give is correct. There’s no point lying in the hope that you will receive more money. Giving information that is incorrect is quickly picked up as the surveys include questions aimed at verifying information that you have provided earlier in the survey and what you provided in your initial registration as well as in other surveys. Others have software that will detect straight away that you were lying and throw you out of the particular study. Focus group invitations are often provided on the basis of previous attendees performance. Researchers aren’t concerned with what your answer is, only how you have answered it and whether you have answered truthfully. The online focus group environment allows researchers to clearly identify respondents who are answering truthfully from those who are not actively participating or giving misleading opinions.
If a paid survey is sent to you that is obvious that it’s not aimed at you there’s no point lying to get the money. Many market research companies may compare your previous answers, whilst others have software that will detect straight away that you were lying and throw you out of the particular study. In some circumstances if you fraudulently provide incorrect answers, the survey provider may close your account and you may lose your rewards.
5) Don’t avoid the voucher and prize draw sites. Shopping vouchers are just as valuable as cash and can be used as presents for family members. Prize draw sites can often provide a higher chance of winning as entrant numbers are usually quite low in comparison to national bingo or lottery sites. Filling out the odd prize draw survey can, over time, drastically increase your chance of winning and the surveys are usually shorter in length.
6) Don’t forget to collect your cash. It sounds silly but it can so easily be done. You’ve gone to the trouble of completing the surveys but thousands of people forget to redeem their points. Years later they remember but it could be too late as sites very often have a redemption deadline. Furthermore, if the site closes down in the future, any money you have earned will be lost so just put in an outlook or calendar alert to remember to redeem your rewards periodically.
7) Look for online survey sites that reward you with either cash or vouchers as you will earn more money in a faster time from these. However these might not be the most lucrative. Always make sure you are signed up to participate in focus groups, telephone surveys and product testing if these options are available to ensure you earn as much extra cash as possible.
8) Keep an eye out for surveys or online focus groups that involve some kind of product testing. These kind of studies invite participants to watch an advertisement, film trailer or give their opinions on a new product to be released. These are well paid and can be great fun but aren’t as numerous as other surveys. Being an active participant in other surveys indicates to research companies that you might be an ideal candidate for these types of studies..
9) Keep a log of surveys you’ve taken. Some people keep notes or even a spreadsheet to ensure that the right amount of cash or points is credited at the correct times. Most will pay you on time but keeping your own log helps you to keep track of the surveys you have completed across multiple accounts and helps to prompt you to chase survey providers if they haven’t paid you or investigate non-payment. We will shortly be launching a new website tool to help you keep track of all the surveys that you complete so that you don’t have to.
10) Remember to enjoy the process of filling out surveys. Your responses don’t always have to be dry and boring. Injecting your personal slant on an issue gives market research companies a sense of the underlying emotions that consumers feel when trying to answer a certain question.
Remember to complete your registration at Getpaid4Surveys and you will get highest priority on receiving the latest survey requests to your inbox as and when they are released.
