Making money online.

Everyone wants to make a little money on the side by working from home. There are a prolific number of work-from- home jobs advertised on the net, with offers that promise much, but sadly deliver very little.

Many of the ads are from survey sites looking for people to take online surveys for market research purposes. Of course there are companies willing to pay for this type of market research, but it is time consuming, and the rewards are often not all that fantastic. If you enjoy taking surveys, and get a kick out of giving your opinion, and also realise that you will not get rich overnight, then it can work for you to make a fair amount of extra cash.

However beware, there are a lot scammers out there with great pitches offering easy money for you by just sitting at home, relaxing on the couch filling out surveys.

It really does seem too good to be true – and it usually is!

How do the scams work?

• The scammers use spam and promise easy money for little effort. You are usually asked to pay a low price of maybe $25 to get more info, and get onto a survey panel. Their goal is to get thousands of people doing the same thing for worthless information.
• They also earn commissions from some survey companies for passing on your information (called referrals) and you may actually hear from a genuine company, and assume that it is part and parcel of the $25 you paid up front.
• You may, of course never hear from anyone at all, and your 25 bucks will be gone with the wind. Genuine companies never ask for a sign-on payment.
• Studies have found that the more hype scammers put into their online survey ads, the more response they get. It is actually as if people really want all the high flying stories about online surveys to be true, even if the promises about online surveys and the rewards are not very realistic.

Some ways to help identify and avoid a fake online survey site.

• Only register with online survey panels which list a privacy policy on their site.
• Look for panels approved by the US Better Business Bureau.
• Be careful of sites which ask you to receive information for special offers and other survey panels on the registration form. They may sell your information to other companies who will send you spam.
• Sites which are obviously not genuine are those who offer outrageous incentives such as free vacations, expensive products, and large sums of cash. You might also be told how easy it will be to earn up to $600 per week just working from home a couple of hours per day. This is just not possible by completing online surveys.
• Sites which ask for ultra-personal information like your bank details, credit card numbers, or even names of family members – are a huge no-no! A genuine market research company will never ask for this type of information.
• Some sites tell you that by taking surveys you will soon be able to give up your day job and work full-time from the comfort of your home. You cannot get rich taking online surveys, but you can definitely earn a decent amount of cash on the side.
• Do not respond or click on e mail “survey invitations” that feature ads to win exotic products, or cash and other rewards. These mails do not come from legitimate market research companies.
• Some research companies may ask you to download software after you have registered. This may not be a good idea unless you know that a reputable firm is running the site. A less ethical site may track your browsing habits and sell the information to marketers.
• To make extra certain that you deal with a legitimate survey panel site, check if they are registered with marketing associations such as Council of American Survey Research Organisation (CASRO) or American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR)

Survey panel rankings.

Listed here are five survey panels who have received favourable reviews from users, which has resulted in top ranking positions.

• Pinecone Research, a top site where you earn points which can be redeemed for cash or gifts.
• Knowledge Panel offers 1000 points per survey, with a special $10 reward for an introductory survey.
• Darwin’s is a top payer that pays up to $25 per completed survey. You need to request an invitation to join their panel.
• Panel Polls is an opinion site for families, moms, dads, and teens from the age of 15. Points can be redeemed for cash or gift cards when value is $10 or more.
• SurveyLion also has a good ranking and completed surveys are paid in the $3 to $10 range.

You can earn money on the internet, working from home completing online surveys. The trick to success is to keep your wits about you when choosing which sites to sign up for. You can actually sign up for as many sites as you want to, but do spend some time researching the sites you are interested in.

It may be a bit time-consuming, and also be a bit daunting when all you want to is get on with taking surveys. But in the long run, you will save time and effort by not signing up for any dodgy sites that have promised much but delivered almost nothing.

Marketing is big business.

Successful marketing makes the world go round, and marketers are anxious to know what the consumer wants, and what their buying patterns are. This where you come in – your opinion counts.

Marketers are interested in what you think, enough so that they are prepared to pay and reward you for sharing your thoughts. You can supplement your income with cash and prizes, and enjoy yourself while doing so! It is up to you to protect yourself from scammers by being cautious when choosing a survey site.