Can You Really Earn Money Taking Surveys?

I'm here to uncover the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to surveys. I'm someone who has experienced all three sides and can advise honestly. The first thing you have to understand about surveys is that there are two types. Didn't know that did you? Well there are "real surveys" and what I'd like to call "offers" and you can make money with both. But the kind of money that is advertised can be misleading and flat out over exaggerated. Here are some explanations of them both:

Offers

The surveys that you see people shoving down your throat with an affiliate link are not real surveys in my opinion. They're offers. I'm stating this because of the process to take the survey, what the survey entails, and the amount of money involved. Let's say you sign up for a site like Cashcrate or MonsterPaysCash. You will be paid for every offer you complete. There are free offers. An offer would be like you signing up to receive more information from an online school. You would be transferred to their sign up form where you will be required to put in contact information that has to line up with the information you signed up with for the survey company; and of course be expected to receive calls, emails, and letters regarding enrolling. You will essentially be spammed. The way this can really benefit you is if you were planning to sign up on your own. Then it would be like, you're getting paid to do something, you were going to do in the first place.

Ever been to those websites that promise free merchandise like a free ipod or laptop just by taking their so-called survey? Right! You understand that they are not surveys. They take your information and get you to go through pages of worthless information with nothing but offers on them. You constantly have to click "no" to each each offer that pops up on the page. After about 5 minutes of clicking no to each offer they jam in your face, you finally get to the end and they hit you with the bombshell. "You must click "yes" to at least one offer." That's right you soon realize that the free laptop isn't free at all. You've wasted your time and may have to spend money on an offer that you wouldn't have chosen otherwise.

Well that's exactly how these offer surveys work as well. They may pay you .50 cents - $2 dollars to sign up with an offer that's free because it gives that sites traffic and great advertising. And may also pay you $25-$40 to sign up for trial offers such as Netflix or Video Professor. Here's the trick, you really don't want Netflix or Video Professor, so you must remember to cancel with them before they charge you (possibly being charged for shipping) just to collect the fee Cashcrate pays for the sign-up.

It may sound easy and if you have the time and organization to cancel all the offers before they charge you,  can even seem fun. But if you neglect to read the offer's fine details which sometimes state that they can charge you a certain amount at the time of signing up, or that sometimes the survey company holds payout money for a while even after you sign up with the offer, then it doesn't sound as sweet. Besides that, who knows what these companies do with your information.

Once you sign up, you can refer others and if you have a good amount of people under you making offers and actively referring as well, you can probably get to the point where you don't have to do much. That's why people post screenshots of their paychecks and create blogs just centered around sites that has paid them.

Real Surveys

When new products in technology, food, laundry and other categories surface, what kind of process do you think actually occurs before the cashier passes it through the scanner at the check out line? Sure there are many phases, but one of the most important phase start with you. That's right, you reading this article. Products are tailored by the way we think, act, and live our lives. And the main method companies use to find out this information is by partnering up with market research companies and getting the help of average Americans willing to participate in surveys. The compensation varies from survey-to-survey and from company-to-company. But for most, if you are qualified for the survey, you are compensated.

To be qualified for a survey, you have to meet the requirements of the survey. For example, If a healthcare company is doing research on Type 2 Diabetes and need participants for online studies, then only those with that illness will qualify to take the survey.

Websites that attempt to charge you a fee to take a survey or for a list of survey companies are not legit. Legit market research companies are free to join and will only contact you when a survey is available. The best resource for learning about legit paid surveys is Connies It's Free forum. There are many research companies listed will give you a great start for making some extra bucks.