Online Surveys that PAY- Easy Money for YOU.

Have you heard yet about online surveys and market research focus groups? There are ads all over the Internet for surveys companies. The trick is to know how to tell which opportunities and which are legitimate. Legitimate surveys come from companies wanting to know what consumers think about their products, their new product ideas, what your frustrations are so they can develop products that will sell. Some of these surveys will come directly from the companies, while many companies large and small opt to hire market research companies to conduct the surveys. You will find opportunities for online surveys, telephone surveys, in-person interviews and focus groups.

Legitimate companies do not charge you to join in order to get surveys. There are so many free companies that pay, so there is no sense in wasting your time paying a membership fee or paying for a list of companies.

Online surveys can pay out in checks, PayPal, Gift Cards/Certificates, or points to exchange for cash, merchandise or gift certificates. Get signed up with these companies and enjoy a lot of "fun money" and things. I've gotten everything from cash, Amazon.com certificates, Target gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, gift cards from restaurants and stores, to household items like a Bissel carpet cleaner. Once you start getting checks in the mail, packages and gift certificates in your email you'll be hooked on surveys!

Most surveys are fairly short - 20 minutes or less, and these ones pay anywhere from $1 - $5 on average. The more of these you complete, the more likely you will be to get chosen for a focus group. Focus groups are online sessions that last usually anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours and pay up to $150, sometimes more.

How do I get started? See below!

1. Open a free email account at Yahoo, Gmail or another service that you use exclusively for surveys. The reason I recommend this is that once you sign up, along with surveys, you may be receiving some "junk" email. While I've found the vast majority of the companies don't send junk mail, as you learn, you may give out your email to a place that sells email addresses.

2. Open a PayPal account. PayPal is an option that many survey companies use for payment. If you don't already have an account, sign up. It's a terrific service that's free. You can also apply for a debit card from them for easy access to your cash.

3. Start a spreadsheet. Not required, but I highly encourage it as it will allow you to see what you're earning and keep track of payments due and/or points you accumulate. Put as much or as little information as you want to track. I do a list by survey date, company, survey topic, payment amount, payment method and date payment received.

4. Keep a PAPER notebook. This is for your login name and password information for your email and survey accounts. It's best not to keep those on your computer incase you ever get hacked.

5. Start signing up for companies! Start with some on the following list, and continue searching the internet for more opportunities. There are many sites and blogs out there that list these companies for free.

6. Check your mail. Once you sign up, you'll receive email invitations to participate in surveys. Many of the companies also have web sites where you can log in, see your points or cash balance, request pay outs and take more surveys. Check your email daily or several times a day if you have time, and log into the sites at least once a week.

7. Get paid! Some companies pay via PayPal per survey, meaning you will get a PayPal payment shortly after completing the survey. Other companies have pay out thresholds where they will pay you when you reach $5, $10, $20 etc. Check each company's policy to see how their pay outs word.

Links to legitimate survey companies - check back, more will be added soon! I will only list companies from which I have received actual payment.



Survey Savvy
Opinion Outpost
Share your opinion at GlobalTestMarket

TestSpin
My Survey
Lightspeed
Survey Spot
Ipsos




Find reviews of some of my favorite companies below!

MyPoints is one of my top favorites. I've been with them the longest of all the survey or paid to read email companies. My Points is a little different as it is not all surveys. When you sign up, you'll receive emails from them on behalf of their advertisers. It's simple. All you need to do is click on the link in the email to go to the advertiser's site and you get points. You receive 5 points just for looking at the site, and more points if you actually shop there or complete a certain task. NEVER once have I gotten any type of virus or issue from clicking their links.



They also send survey emails for which you can receive more points. You can also refer friends to receive points. If you do your online shopping through MyPoints, you get points for every dollar you spend. Shop at popular online sites to rack up the points. They also offer a MyPoints Visa card where you earn points for every dollar you spend.

MyPoints has been completely reliable. I highly recommend this company!

The rewards are awesome! The reward partners change from time to time, but I have received gift cards from Target, Starbucks, Baja Fresh, Red Lobster, Kohl's and many other of my favorite stores.

I LOVE MySurvey! They send survey invitations quite frequently and they pay out very quickly. With MySurvey you can elect to receive a check in the mail, or you can trade in your survey points for many different prizes like iTunes gift cards, iPods, electronics and other fun stuff.

MySurvey is also one of the fastest to pay when you cash out. Cash out is low at just $10 and when you request a payout the checks come quickly!

This one is a lot of fun. Simple surveys, and they pay out on time via check. I've received several checks from them in the time I've been a member. Their customer service is also extremely responsive and helpful.

Another GREAT survey company. They send survey invitations all the time. Cash-out is at $50, and if you try to qualify for all the surveys they send, it's not hard to get there. I just received a check from them recently. They pay quickly once you cash out.

SurveySavvy is a great company. I've been a member for a few years now and have cashed out many times. They pay by check, and you can request a check any time you have funds in your account. They pay quickly and send lots of surveys.

Lightspeed is a very reliable survey company. I've been a member for several years. I get a good number of survey invitations each month and have successfully cashed out many times. They pay by PayPal or in Amazon.com gift certificates.

Ipsos is a worldwide leading market research company. i-Say panel members earn rewards for each survey they take.

* Earn reward points for taking surveys - Points will be deposited one to two days after survey completion.
o Once you've earned 50 (or more) points, you can redeem your points for merchandise and gift cards offered by popular retail merchants.
o Click on the link below to view your reward points account, redeem rewards or to see what you can get for the points you earn.

Someone recently turned me on to Swagbucks. It's easy to win. You use their search engine to look for things online and you're awarded Swagbucks which you can redeem for gift certificates and prizes! Check it out!




I am stashing away lots of Amazon gift cards from here to use for holiday shopping. This is a great program and SO easy!

Inbox Dollars is similar to MyPoints in that they send you emails and you click on the links to visit their advertiser's sites. They also have surveys and other offers you can complete to earn points towards cashing out. Cash out is at $30 and it doesn't take long to get there if you click on all the emails.

I will try to record all of them as they come and update often.

July 2009: The month has barely begun and I've gotten $10 in Amazon.com gift cards from Swagbucks.

June 2009: $40 from My Survey. LOVE them.

May 2009: I was literally sick for a month and a half - April into May. I don't think I did a single survey during that time. I did, however, earn bunches of Swagbucks and cashed them in for Amazon.com gift certificates!

April 2009: $25 Opinion Outpost, $10 My Survey

March 2009: $20 from My Survey, $11 Survey Savvy,

February 2009: $29 from Opinion Outpost, $20 from My Survey

January 2009: Got $50 from MySurvey, $10 from SurveySavvy, $10 from SurveySpot

December 2008: Still skipping a lot of surveys because I have no time! Still, got $30 coming from MySurvey and $27 coming from Inbox Dollars!

November 2008: Received a $19 check from Opinion Outpost and $20 from MySurvey and $11 from SurveySavvy!

October 2008: Boy, I've skipped WAY too many surveys. I have my email set to put all survey invites in a folder and there are 400 unread in there! Still, got $50 in October - $30 from MySurvey and $20 from SurveySavvy.

September 2008: Got $14 from SurveySavvy and have $20 on the way from MySurvey. Because of the DNC here in Denver, I've been really busy and have skipped a ton of surveys in August, but I expect next month's payouts to be pretty good since I have more time now.

August 2008: Got a $30 check from MySurvey today. Another timely payment from them. Waiting on checks from Lightspeed and Opinion Outpost - will post when I get them. Happiness!

July 2008: Got a check yesterday for $60 from MySurvey. LOVE them. I requested it last week and it came really quickly. Just need $1 survey before I can cash out for yet another Amazon.com gift certificate from TestSpin. Also got $6 this month from Pinecone. I have survey $$ in several of my accounts that I haven't bothered to cash out yet. When I do, I'll update the totals. It's looking to be a good month!

June 2008: Ok, so I've been bad about updating my cash. Over the past few months, I've received payouts from Opinion Outpost, MySurvey, GlobalTestMarket, Lightspeed, SurveySpot and Greenfield Online to the tune of several hundred dollars. Do surveys - it's worth it!!

March Total so far: $48.53

Been a lazy survey month. I've skipped a LOT. Still, I have gotten $28.53 from Viewpoint Forum and $20 from MySurvey. More to come!

February Total so far: $76.70

2/7/08

$10 Check from MySurvey

2/2/08 - In the past month I've deleted way more survey invites than I clicked on and still received:

$20 PayPal from Lightspeed
$15 PayPal from Pinecone
$5 Check from Buzzback
$10 Check from Synovate

2/22/08
$11.70 Check from Opinion Outpost
$5.00 Check from Buzzback