Survival Guide to Online Surveys

Or not.

Jim sent me an email about BigSpot:

Hi.  I thought this was kind of strange, but I saw a survey site advertised on television.  I thought you might want to check this one out.  It is http://www.bigspot.com/ .  I checked it out and I wasn’t impressed with it.

I had actually given it a brief look, and like Jim, wasn’t impressed. This time, I decided to go all in and register with BigSpot. After all, they are spending the big bucks on advertising.  I see that darned commercial every time I turn on my TV.

I looked all around the website before I joined and couldn’t find a FAQ section. Surely there would be one there after I joined, right? Nope. I got a list of survey sites that were “offered in my area”, all of which are readily available elsewhere. I checked under the terms and conditions and found this:

Description of Services

The website provides you with potential opportunities to earn money and prizes by participating in market research surveys hosted by our clients. There is no fee to use our service on the Website. The Website does not administer any individual survey; it merely facilitates access to them. Not all market research panels allow panelists to exchange their points for cash, some offer you the opportunity to use them for merchandise, services, or contest entries.

I never received a confirmation email and of course opted out of the survey sites listed, as I am already amember of all of them. I suppose on a positive note, at least you don’t have to pay for this list as many other survey sites require. But for all of you reading this blog, I can’t imagine what the point of joining would be. There is no review of the survey sites or descriptions, just links to join. No incentives from the site itself  are offered.

My advice would be to skip it.

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Always on the lookout for ways to increase my earnings/benefits from online paid surveys and related endeavors, I was interested to read TidyClean’s post on the forum yesterday:

Just Wanted to Let Everyone Know that the month of January I Received (6) Full-Sized Products for Testing. I know these products were worth around $3.50 on Average so that comes up to $21 Extra for the Month.
Let’s Everyone Else Keep Track Also. I would like to Know..I got mine from Viewpoint ~ Survey Spot ~ My Opinion Now ~ Pssst. And they were All Full Sized Products for Testing.

With my survey inbox being less than stellar at the moment, I was anxious to check out Pssst with which I was unfamiliar. I signed up with the panel and it seems very professional and legitimate. From what I can tell, you won’t be paid cash for product testing or opinions, but they do send out products for testing and review on occasions and free coupons to try out products. From my welcome email:

Welcome to Pssst… Your membership has several benefits. In addition to an occasional glimpse behind the scenes at General Mills and new product news, you may also receive product samples and great coupons from time to time. Additionally, we may request your opinions about new items we´ve shared with you.

To begin, go to pssst.generalmills.com. On the member login portion of the site, enter your email address and the password you selected when you joined. Doing so will take you to your Pssst… Personal Page. Your customized page contains information about activities available to you as a member.

You may find links to print and use electronic coupons for new or specially promoted brands. We encourage you to send these coupons to family and friends so they can try the products, too.

Thanks again for joining. We have lots more planned, so be sure to watch your email for news from Pssst….

From which survey sites/panels do you receive full sized product testing?

The snow/ice storm forecasted for my area turned in to a rain/flood watch event. So no worries about losing my power or computer today. A life vest may be in order though….At least I don’t have to worry about this:

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Thanks for being so understanding about the delay in the results. I appreciate all of your efforts!  The contest was very successful in increasing participation and getting some new members on-board.

1 $75 prize: Anne (Yoga Princess)

1 $50 prizes: Dan Lambskin

3 $25 prizes: Penny, Kristen, Justin Anderson

5 $10 prizes: Daubs, Jennifer Haun, IndianBoy, Toni, Dazzler

10 $5 prizes: FritosFan, Rakhi, Damian, Brandon Bishop, Carole, bcarlsonb, stevew, Tuckster, toto123, Mhayne

Congratulations to all of the winners this time! I’ll be sending you an email later on tonight to verify your Paypal account email.

They’re calling for snow and ice again tonight. Keep your fingers crossed that I don’t lose power again!

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I’m sure that everyone thought that I had disappeared into thin air. Well, no, but my computer did. We got so much snow and ice in my neighborhood over the week-end that my power went out, but not before there was a bit of a power surge which wiped out most of the information on my computer. Thank goodness for Carbonite back-up, as I was able to recover my lost information. I’ve only gotten Internet back up today, so I’m working as hard as I can to get everything back up and running.

This was really bad timing for the contest, so I’m making that my first priority today. I will announce the winners tomorrow, and the winners accounts will be paid by Paypal after I verify Paypal account emails. I am so sorry for the delay, and for not being in contact until now. If you have sent an email to me since Friday,  I haven’t received it yet. I’m working on retrieving and setting up my email accounts today as well. Please bear with me while I try to recover

And the moral of the story is to be careful what you wish for…I have been wanting a great big snow storm and I got it. And it was beautiful! I didn’t bargain for the power, computer and Internet issues, though.

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Penny Lane posted about a relatively new survey site over on the forum called VizuPanel. I had heard good things about this one and had it on my list to review. Although I haven’t reached payout yet, Penny Lane had this to say:

I just cashed out for the first time with Vizu Panel after reaching $25. I’ll post again when I receive it in paypal. I’m very happy with this site so far (as long as I get paid). It’s very similar to Surveyhead so you should probably just register with one or the other.

Most surveys that I receive pay $1 and take 15 or 20 minutes to complete. You’ll get survey emails, IM’s (if you give them your ID) or you can log in to the site to see what’s available. It gives you percentages for qualifying for each survey. They credit you $5 for registering with them (like SurveyHead and Yourfreesurveys). Payment is by Paypal when you reach the $25 cashout threshold.

I’ll let you know if I make it to payout! Let us know your experience if you are already a member.

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I’m sure that many of you received the email about the upcoming changes with MySurvey. On the heels of Toluna, Greenfield, and Your2Cents it makes you wonder if there’s just going to be one great big survey site this time next year!

MySurvey.com & Lightspeed Join Forces

In the June 2009 Edition of Opinion Matters we let you know that the parent company of MySurvey.com became part of WPP’s information, insight and consultancy division, The Kantar Group. Another very similar online panel, Lightspeed Consumer Panel, is also a part of The Kantar Group. Because MySurvey.com and LightspeedPanel.com are owned by the same company, we are able to join forces to make your membership a more rewarding experience. Watch for exciting changes over the next few months, including more ways to share your opinions through surveys from both MySurvey.com and Lightspeedpanel.com.

I’m bigger fan of MySurvey’s than Lightspeed at the moment, but both are good quality survey sites in my opinion. It  isn’t clear yet if they will remain separate entities under the parent company or merge the two. If so, I think they should call it LightMySurvey Yes, I know, that’s lame.

My only concern is that the bigger the panel, the less personal connection you will have in terms of solving issues, etc. Which survey site do you prefer, Lightspeed or MySurvey?

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In case you missed it!

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What do you get when 3 surveys sites are merged? A big mess. Anne sent this email the other day:

Would/could you investigate Toluna, formerly Your 2 Cents. On 12/16/09, I had over 44000 points and now my balance is ZERO! I have contacted the help desk numerous times and receive a reply stating they are working on the problem.
I am aware of the merger with Greenfield, but Toluna seems to be in a state of flux ever since. I apologize for bothering you about this, but I am sure you can understand how frustrated I am to have all my hard work simply obliterated.

Yes, Anne, I certainly do understand your frustration. The changes are confusing and annoying. Here are a few things to keep in mind. Some of these came from the Toluna Blog which is good to check if you are experiencing problems:

1)  The option to redeem points for sweepstakes entries will be restored soon. Any existing, unused balance of bonus dollars earned by former Your2Cents members is temporarily unavailable while we upgrade our systems. Please know that these will be restored. We apologize for these inconveniences and thank you for bearing with us as we build a foundation for better things to come! (From the Toluna Blog)

2) We are aware that some users are receiving a message that they have exceeded their survey limit. This message is an error and we expect to have this issue fixed soon. (From the Toluna Blog)

3) We are receiving an unusually high number of help desk requests as a result of the merger of Greenfield and Toluna. Due to this increase, it may take longer for you to receive a response from the Help Desk than normal. (From the Toluna Blog)

4) When those surveys come in, don’t forget the points system:

$1.00 = 3000 pts.
$2.00 = 6000 pts.
$3.00 = 9000 pts.

Although a survey for 1000 points seems like a good thing, it’s not. $.30 surveys that take 30 minutes are a bad thing.

So here’s my take. Whenever survey sites merge it becomes a logistical nightmare during the transition. And Toluna has had a one, two, punch with first taking over Your2Cents and then swallowing up Greenfield. I am confident that the points issue will work itself out, but it could be a month before they get it all sorted out.

How have your experiences been since the merge with Greenfield?

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Damian gave me a heads up about this new survey site. And new it is. There is very little information to be found about BeHeardWorldwide but I didn’t let that deter me from giving it a go. What I found was a very well laid out and user-friendly website. Good graphics, check. Simple and easy to understand sign up process, check.

Of course, the first thing I did was to check out their privacy policy. I found a simply worded and straight forward explanation which didn’t leave me confused and bewildered as so many other survey sites do. So I’m confident that my information won’t be sold to third parties. That’s a good thing.

The FAQ section states that you will receive no more than one survey a month and the you will know the reward for a particular survey upfront. From the website:

What you think matters to us, and we want to hear from you. As a member of the Be Heard Worldwide community, you’ll be rewarded for expressing your opinions on a wide range of interesting topics. In fact, your opinions are so important to us that we’ll reward you with CASH, COUPONS, GIFT CERTIFICATES or other great gifts for most surveys that you complete.

It’s too early to tell if this will be a survey site that will be profitable, but I’m satisfied that it’s worth a try. I’ll keep you posted on my experiences with it and I hope you will do the same!

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I had a request to check out Consumer Expressions. How hard could that be? Let me count the ways for you…

1) At first glance, there is no FAQ or How It Works section.

2) In order to join, you have to go through page after page of offers and silly questions.

3) You have to answer yes or no or you will be taken back to the first page to find what you missed. On one occasion, I was asked to complete an answer for a question that wasn’t even on the page!?

Sorry y’all. I quit after 3 pages and 45 minutes. I saw all of the “earn $1000 Best Buy, Walmart” etc. that I ever want to see. As you know, all of these require participation requirements. The good news is that if you complete the registration process, you will be entered for a chance to win a Lexus. The bad news is that it looks like I won’t be getting a new car.

Please let us know if any of you are a member of Consumer Expressions. I would love to hear about what happens if you can make it through the sign up process!

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I moderate the comments for the blog which means that I have to review them before they are posted. If you have posted before and your comment has been approved, your comments don’t have to be moderated again. I probably get 300 comments a day, most of which are spam. If anyone needs Viagra or a mail order bride, I can hook you up But I digress. Sometimes new survey site owners will post comments about their websites and I check them out before allowing the comment to be approved. I received this comment earlier in the week:

Hey I caught your blog on Amazon.com and knew your readers would benefit from something I’ve been working on for awhile. The is URL attached to my comment for my site, MyOpinionIs. It’s now public and has been tested bug free.I’ve had a site up for awhile and we offer free Amazon gift cards that we deliver via e-mail for doing surveys. So, if anyone wants to start now –do the surveys, build up points until you reach the 200 point payout threshold and then request a $20 survey to be sent out to your e-mail address cashing in your points. It’s pretty common to see this these days with those sites, SurveySpot, BigSpot and and others paying out cash for doing surveys. Enjoy!

Sounds good, right? Well, that depends on your definition of a “survey site”. MyOpinionIs doesn’t fit my definition. I joined the site which was easy enough. All you need to do is put in your email address and choose a password. From there you will see a list of “surveys”. I took 2 of them. The first one being; (2 Points) “When Will You Die? Take the quiz and find out when and how it will happen!” Oh for heavens sake! What a waste of my time. They ask lots of lame questions to get your information. In the end, you have to agree to 3rd party emails and completion of an offer that requires purchase. All that for 2 points.

I also took the $1000 BestBuy “survey”. I’m sure that you know where that one went. For 8 points, you’ll need to complete 13 sponsor offers. Not a chance.

Aren’t you glad I checked that out before posting the comment???

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