Paid Surveys and Focus Groups - The Secret to Free Money
Paid surveys and focus groups are a little known way for
individuals to make money for free. There are businesses ranging
from Fortune 500 companies to advertising agencies and market
research organizations who look for the opinions of regular
consumers and business professionals for their product lines or
customers. What is great is that a good number of them pay cash
to the participants and it is free of charge to join these types
of studies. Paid surveys are generally given online and can
range from $2.00 to $70.00 for each survey completed. Focus
groups are closely observed groups of participants and mostly
pay from $50.00 to $200.00 depending on the topic for 1 or 2
hours of your time.
Anyone can join up with these organizations that provide survey
opportunities, and people with specialized business professional
backgrounds such as IT, business management, law, accounting,
etc. are ideal for this line of research. Average consumers who
drink coffee, taste ice cream, buy power tools or electronic
products, watch television or own a certain type of car can
benefit from numerous surveys and focus groups. The
possibilities for different types of surveys being offered are
as endless as there are ways to create and market products to
the public. The Internet is your best source of finding places
to join for either one of these kinds of surveys, free of cost.
Some businesses advertise to do all the footwork for you and
will charge a fee for doing it. So it's a good idea to learn as
much as possible on these services in order to understand what
you will receive if you decide to pay for the information.
The paid surveys are mostly given over the Internet. With this
method you will receive e-mail most of the time with links to
the survey being given. Because they are given over the
Internet, it will take generally between 2 to 4 weeks for your
honorarium check to arrive either through the mail or by an
online payment solution like PayPal. Signing up with as many
survey organizations as you can find can result in a stream of
invitations. When filling out their online forms, give as much
information about yourself and your background to maximize your
chances. And if you are married, have your spouse sign up if
they are interested. Sometimes if one doesn't qualify for a
survey, the other may. Plus when filling out the forms for
signing up, if they ask if you can be contacted by phone for
opportunities, say yes. This can help to expose you to higher
paying focus groups.
A focus group survey is generally performed with a number of
participants consisting from 5 to 50 people that meet in a
designated place to give a more in-depth opinion on tasting
food, driving SUV's, drinking certain brands of water or the
like. Sometimes they pay cash on the spot after you are done.
One can sign up online with some of the focus groups that have
websites. There are times that you may have to call the centers
that offer focus groups to let them know you want to
participate. (If you are in a rural area, a long drive may be
what it takes to get you involved so be sure the money is
worthwhile to you.) And remember that most of the time they call
you at home, so if they do call take them up on the offer. You
will enjoy it and get paid too!