Get Paid for Surveys: is This a Job for Me?

By: Alan Lim

There are many advertisements on the Internet today that offer home workers the opportunity to get paid for surveys. Typically, the solicitation will encourage the home worker to apply for one or more positions with duties of providing opinions about a particular product or service. The work is described as easy and profitable and requires a low investment to begin--typically in the $40 to $80 range. The companies mentioned in the solicitation are those with name recognition and are often for products used on a daily basis in Western society. The information says that companies would rather pay real users for their opinions than to set up artificial testing laboratories that don't display how people actually will react to the product.

What does it pay?

To get paid for surveys is the whole point of choosing this type of work at home method. Often though, respondents will decide to do the survey work without having a clear idea of how much money realistically can be achieved. This may be a totally different figure than what the solicitation quotes as payment that can be earned. In choosing a survey company to work for, be sure you get some realistic figures about typical earnings then relate these to your own situation.

Can I do the work?

In most instances, to get paid for surveys, you must complete the surveys online with a response about your experience with a product. This type of work is within the capability of anyone who can read and follow written instructions. However, you must be cautious when accepting a survey job that it is not just a thinly disguised solicitation to get your email address in order to send you unwanted materials via email. Review the offers carefully and make sure you understand what you are agreeing to review for the company.

Are there hidden fees?

If you think you can get paid for surveys without any expenditure of funds, you probably are being unrealistic. However, to get started in the work will probably mean very minimal outlay and most surveys only require than you have the persistence to wade through the unwanted offers while retaining those that will be profitable in the long run. Fees can include shipping and handling costs to accept a 'free' products; fees to purchase a list of companies needing survey takers, and fees to provide membership in survey forums.

Is the work sustainable?

As long as there are companies advertising on the Internet, you can get paid for surveys. This may not be the advertising method of priority for the company, but it does get the company name out to thousands of people during the course of taking the survey. This is a type of advertising that is beneficial to the company.

Surveys are usually fun to do when it's a product you either really like or really hate. You will feel like you are making a difference in company policy about a particular product. You are told that your opinion helps the manufacturer shape product lines and product characteristics.

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