Hello Dear Respondent:)
Do you want to know how to make money with online surveys?
And you wonder why I called you a “respondent”?
No worries, it’s not offensive:) In fact, a respondent is a person, who is chosen and have agreed to give his or her opinion on 
different social, political or marketing related topics.
For example, if you participate in a survey for usage and attitude towards yellow cheese, you become a respondent.
You may answer questions, like how much yellow cheese do you eat per week, where do you buy it from and which brands are your favorite ones.
OK, you know what a “respondent” is! But if you want to be such to participate in studies, it is good to know
What Is An Online Survey? What Is An Online Panel?
The companies do a lot of research. Their primary purpose is to find the answers to business questions, like how their products perform, how their competitors act and how the consumers evaluate their ideas for future products?
In the past, the interviews with the respondents have been conducted mainly face-to-face or through the phone. But in the Internet era, more and more surveys are done online. It is quicker, cheaper and more convenient.
For the purpose, online panels are created. Imagine
each panel as a pool of people
who have given their agreement to be periodically contacted and included in different research projects.
You are together with thousands of other members. Such panels might be owned by marketing research companies, or by independent panel service providers.
For you, it does not matter.
You can be a member of both types of panels,
and you can work for as many groups, as you want! All that matters to you is what are the requirements and what are the perks? I bit later I will cover that for you.
Each time a survey has to be conducted, based on its specifications, the panel owner invites a certain number of people with
a profile that matches the requirements of this project.
If we use the “yellow cheese” example, the goal for such a study could be that at the end we have a sample of 500 interviews with male respondents, who eat yellow cheese at least once per week.
If you fit into that profile, you might receive an invitation from the panel owner to participate in this survey.
So, you sit at home, in front of the computer, complete questionnaires and get paid for that! How does it sound to you?
Are you in? Do you want to do this? Fine. Let’s see
What Are The Main Requirements To Be A Panel Member?
1. First of all, you should be eager to express your opinion – either on social, political (e.g., which party are you going to vote for in the next elections), or business issues.
Your opinion is vital to the companies, but at the same time is not considered on an individual level.
They will analyze the aggregated data. For example, they are interested in the fact that 54% of the respondents like brand X. No personal data quoted.
Don’t be afraid to express your opinion!
2. You have to show your desire to become a panel member, by
submitting an application
form with some personal information about your location, age, sex, etc. This is for internal purposes only.
For example, if for a particular project only 25-45 years old male respondents are eligible, the panel manager should know whom to invite.
The registration is free – remember the idea is that you get paid, not the opposite!
3. You have to be active and try to accept invitations to participate in the studies. The more you are busy, the more you will be considered willing to cooperate. But of course, you can always ignore an invitation – it is up to you to like or dislike an individual project!
And the more qualitative data you submit, the more this will be appreciated, and you will be rewarded with more research sent to you!
4. If you are open to communicating alive, you might be offered to participate in video discussion groups. This is when you are “put together” through a video connection with 6-7 other participants and discuss a specific topic for 1-2 hours.
Of course, here the level of payment is even higher vs. completing structured questionnaires.
You are free to unsubscribe from a panel at any time – no additional strings here.
There might be specific requirements depending on the panel provider, but I depicted you the standard rules that you will most probably face.
WATCH this short video on marketing research process:
As we know all this information, it is time to learn
How To Make Money With Online Surveys?
The most secure way is to be willing to participate as much as possible and to deliver qualitative and consistent answers to the questions asked. Then you will get more invitations and more money!
When I said money, the paying system differs from panel to panel, but here it is how it usually works:
1. You get
predefined for each survey number of points.
Their quantity depends on factors like length of the questionnaire, how complicated/delicate the topic is, etc. Thus, for longer and more complicated survey, you will get more points.
Then periodically your points are exchanged for cash and transferred to your bank account.
On some projects instead of cash, you might be rewarded with vouchers, which are sent electronically to your email.
2. You invite friends and receive points for each subscription;
3. You spread the word in social media.
Where To Find Online Panels?
There are two ways to find panel opportunities:
1. To do your research on the search engines. Just type the relevant keywords there.
For example, if you 
write in Google “join online research panel,” you will see a lot of suggestions there. And don’t limit just to the first page. There are exciting offers on pages like 4, 5 or 6, as well.
Just play with the results and see which suggestions suit you most.
2. To read reviews, or summarized information about online panels. Again the place is the Internet.
For example, if you type in Google “reviews paid online research panels,” you will see plenty of rankings and reviews of the kind “the best-paid survey sites.”
An example of summary approach you may find HERE.
What Is Next?
OK, my dear respondent:)
Now you are armed with all necessary knowledge how to make money with online surveys. It is all about adding one more way to bring money home!
Not enough? I know that income is never enough.
I will share my
personal approach.
While conducting surveys is only a supporting family budget approach, I have found another opportunity, called WealthyAffiliate.com, which allowed me to quit my 9/5 job and work from home, taking care my of three kids and wife.
Explore this opportunity HERE.
But the most important is to TAKE ACTION! Your destiny is in your hands!
I hope you find helpful the guidance about a couple of ideas how to support the family budget to earn money, working from home.
I would love to hear your ideas and intentions about making your life even better than now:)
Please, leave your comments below! Sometimes chatting may give you some food for thought!
To your beneficial research projects!
Tony
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