Are Paid Surveys a Waste of Your Time?

By Robert Thompson

Recently ,while visiting one of my favorite business forums,
I ran across some interesting comments concerning paid
surveys. The gyst of these comments was that taking online
surveys is a waste of time. Here is my answer to those
comments...

.... Just because you didn"t earn any money with surveys,
that doesn"t mean that they are a waste of time.

Like any other online opportunity, it takes time and effort
to build an income with surveys. Many people who have
failed, say the same thing about SFI, Goji, Empowerism, and
dozens of other online stay at home job opportunities. But,
thousands of members of these same companies are making good
money every month. Try to convince them that they are
wasting their time, and they will laugh at you. Meanwhile,
their bank accounts just keep filling up with cash!

Survey takers can earn a solid second income. It may not be
more than a few hundred dollars each month, but it"s enough
to pay the light bill or the phone bill, or maybe both. It
takes time to build up a steady stream of business, but the
same thing applies regardless of what business you choose to
pursue.

The biggest downfall that new survey takers face, is a lack
of knowledge of the activity itself. Hopefully, the
following will give you a good starting point.

To earn money with surveys, you consider doing the
following:

1. Study. Don"t expect things to be all rosy just because
the ad looked good when you signed up. Take the time to
learn the mechanics of the survey business. This will allow
you to identify your particular niche.

2. Continually update your registrations as your survey
company updates their data base. New marketing firms are
looking to test their products all of the time, so the data
bases will constantly grow.

3. Create a seperate Email account just for survey business,
and make sure that you turn off all of the spam filters for
this account. Often, surveys will trigger a spam filter, and
you will never even know that someone wanted you to take
part.

4. When you fill out a questionaire for a potential survey,
you might find out that you don"t qualify for that
particular survey. Send a thank you note and ask to be
considered for future surveys.

The magic words, "Please and Thank You" never go out of
style.

5. When you are offered surveys that result in points,
coupons or drawings, fill them out! These are often used as
qualifyers by different companies. By completing them, you
show that you are serious about participating, and as a
result, you increase your chances of being contacted with
cash offers.

6. Be truthful and give complete demographic information
when applying. Don"t pretend to be a 24 year old woman, when
you are actually a 35 year old man. These companies have
junk filters too, and they can see through this nonsense in
a New York Second.

7. Search for forums that concentrate on surveys. You will
be pleasantly surprised by what you find. There are folks
out there who are willing to share what they have learned.
Take advantage of that help to refine your survey skills.


One of the keys to running a successful stay at home job, is
to establish multiple streams of income. Each of these
streams might only provide a few dollars each month, but
with enough different sources, you will find that you are
able to earn a substantial second income. Paid Surveys can
provide a terrific income stream, that will continue to grow
as you become more knowledgable and experienced with them.

You may not get filthy stinking rich by completing surveys,
but if you follow these seven steps, you stand a good chance
of earning enough to pay a couple of extra bills each month.
Besides, its fun!