3. Online Surveys and Focus Groups: Sell Your Opinions
Your opinion is more valuable than you think. Many companies pay large sums of money to learn more about the motivations and preferences of their target audience.
Online Survey
You can take online surveys in the comfort of your home whenever you want - during business hours, during lunch or dinner, when you have time to spare at night, or late at night.
Time Investment
While your answers need to be honest and reasonable, you shouldn't pay attention to online surveys - music for multitasking listeners. And you can invest as much or as little time as you like. Individual surveys can take anywhere from a few minutes to 20 or 30 minutes to complete, and you can do as much or as little as you want in a single session.
Earning Potential
Online surveys will not make you rich. If you sign up with several survey companies and are diligent about completing assigned assignments, you can earn more than the minimum wage - maybe $ 10 per hour. But there is nothing to pay attention to, especially if you can complete other tasks when you enter your survey account.
Leading Online Survey Options
The online survey landscape is quite crowded. This is one of the most prominent and potentially profitable opportunities for US-based consumers:
Survey Junkie.
Survey Junkie is a popular online survey site with lots of survey taking opportunities. You will earn points for each completed survey and can withdraw your account balance after reaching 1,000 points ($10)
American Consumer Opinion.
American Consumer Opinion sends users one screening survey per month and about one complete survey per quarter. Screening surveys pay less than full surveys - no more than $ 0.50 each. Each complete survey can cost up to $50.
Opinion Outpost.
Compared to American Consumer Opinion, there are generally more opportunities at Opinion Outpost. However, the overall income level is lower.
Swagbucks.
Swagbucks offers many opportunities to earn extra income online, including paid surveys. Narrowly targeted surveys take a while, but some of the more basic opportunities - which take only a minute or two to complete - yield almost nothing. Learn more about Swagbucks in our Swagbucks review.
Online Focus Groups
Online focus groups are closely tied to online surveys, and in some cases, the same companies organize them. Like face-to-face focus groups, online focus groups require more time and concentration than online surveys. Configurations vary, but you'll usually have to join a panel and get involved in a number of issues per week or month. Online focus groups are often more selective than online surveys - if you don't meet certain demographic or income criteria, you might not be eligible.
The result: The pay is much better, as are the opportunities for gifts and freebies. With effort, you can earn $ 500 and maybe more per month in cash or a similar award.