Survival Guide to Online Surveys

Not sure what happened with the email subscription service (Feedburner) this morning. For some unknown reason, they sent out one of my blog posts from April. I thought I was in the Twilight Zone when I got a Survival Guide email and I hadn’t written a post for the day yet. Oh well, stuff happens. Please ignore the repeat and I apologize for the confusion.

I also have good news on the Dailysurvey issue. The daily surveys are up and running at Yourfreesurveys again. So I thought it might be time to revisit the issue of playing by the rules.  survey sites are becoming more and more savvy about people who try to beat the system. New and improved tracking systems for offenders are popping up everyday. And who can blame them! For all of the moaning and groaning that I do about various survey sites, it’s not fair to the company that pays you for doing surveys to be cheated by unscrupulous people trying to beat the system. In the end, the companies sponsoring the research lose, because they end up with faulty data. Survey site owners, in turn, end up losing money which can be reflected in the amount of money paid to you and me.

It is difficult when you are first getting started to know what the rules are. Some newbies make innocent mistakes because the rules aren’t particularly clear. Above all else, READ the terms of service and rules for each of the survey or gpt sites that you join.

Here is a list of infractions that will result in your account being banned and loss of all of your earnings:

1) Not being truthful with your sign up information.

2) Creating multiple accounts.

3) Taking more than one “daily survey” from a particular source in a 24 hour period.

4) Completing the same “offer” at multiple gpt or survey sites.

5) Some gpt and survey sites will ban you for logging into your account from a friend’s computer or using a public computer or proxy server.

6) Rushing through the process of answering a survey. If a survey takes an average of 30 minutes and you finish in 5 minutes, this could be considered fraud.

The vast majority of online paid survey respondents are hard-working, honest people who are trying to make a little extra money. They answer the questions honestly and thoughtfully and provide a very valuable contribution to market research for thousands of products and services. The few bad eggs ultimately hurt the rest of us.

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ACOP was one of the first survey sites I reviewed on the blog and it made it my original Top Ten survey Sites, coming in as number 5. My latest Top Ten list includes acop as well, although it has slipped to number 9. This is not to say that it’s not still a great site, because it is. My one and only complaint with them is the frequency of the surveys sent.

I generally get about 2 surveys a month, and they are often higher paying ones. I’ve also gotten several products to test which is always a plus. But in terms of overall money earned, the lack of surveys keeps acop from being higher on my list.

When I first started with this website, there was no real way to keep up with the surveys that you had taken. You took a survey, and your check was automatically mailed to you. Not that this a bad thing, but there was no real way to keep up with your earnings, and getting $3 and $4 checks seemed kind of silly. In December, however, a few days after you complete a survey, your account will be credited for the full amount of your incentive. There is no minimum for withdrawal, so you can wait until it reaches a more substantial amount before you request your check. Sounds like a better plan to me. And a survey site always gets a high rating from me if they actually listen to complaints and make changes for the better. Now if only they would offer Paypal, I might but it back in the number 5 spot!

It may sound like I’m being a little nit-picky, but that’s not my intention. acop is a very well respected and reliable survey sites. Not only do they pay, but they pay relatively quickly. In a perfect world, they would send more surveys and offer Paypal as an option. But it’s not, and ACOP is a survey site that everyone who is trying to earn money online should join.

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While browsing the very long list over at the survey Police Website, I stumbled upon a Yahoo Survey Panel which is open for new members. Knowing that the Yahoo! brand is certainly well known and reliable, I figured that a survey panel with the mega-name back-up would be legitimate.

I couldn’t find much information about it with a google search (maybe I should do a yahoo search, huh?). But I did find a few people who claim to have gotten sparse email invites, but with relatively big payouts. I haven’t gotten one yet, but it appears that when they come, it can pay up to $50.

The sign up took about 20 minutes with the standard fare of profile questions and information gathering. Answering the  questions will give you a chance in a sweepstakes for $1000.

The information provided during sign up says that you can expect about 1 survey a month based on your responses, although what I read online seems to point to 1 to 2 per year. There is no member area, as all surveys are sent by email.

From the website:

Help shape Yahoo!
For a limited time, we’re inviting our members to help shape the future of Yahoo! by joining the Yahoo! Network Research Panel.As a member of this panel, you’ll get the opportunity to participate in research studies that refine our newest product ideas, keep our brainstorms on target, and help us understand what our users really need from the internet. As a panel member, you’ll have the opportunity to see (and weigh in on) our ideas in development long before any other user.

Getting started
You’ll sign up with a 15 minute questionnaire which tells us about yourself and your Internet habits. We’ll use this information to offer you only those studies that you’ll find most relevant and interesting to participate in.

Once you are on the panel we’ll email you at the address you specify to alert you to study opportunities you might be interested in. These invitations will come to you about once a month, and you’re free to participate in as many, or as few, studies as you’d like. And of course, you can choose to leave the panel at any time.

I can’t tell you how payment is made just yet because I haven’t completed one to date. I’ll keep you posted though as to whether this one is worth the effort!

Now this is an unlucky bride!

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I get lots of email with questions about Paypal. I’ve written a couple of posts about the merits of using Paypal and some of the ways to protect yourself from scam artists who use the Paypal name to rip you off. Most of the questions I receive, however how to do with the basics, so I will address those issues in this post.

How do I withdraw funds from Paypal?

You can withdraw funds via check or electronic transfer to your bank account. Please note that to withdraw funds, you must confirm your primary email address.

Checks: Check withdrawal process takes one to two weeks to complete A $1.50 processing fee for each check withdrawal
Electronic Transfer: Withdrawal by electronic transfer to bank account takes 3 to 4 business days to complete
There is no charge by PayPal for an electronic transfer.

To withdraw funds from account: Click https://www.paypal.com/WDFUNDS or copy and paste the entire link into the address bar. Choose your withdraw options from the list and follow the directions

 How do I receive funds from a survey site that has a different email address for me that my Paypal account email?

I’m going to use Yourfreesurveys as an example here to answer this questions. But this applies to most survey sites who pay to our Paypal account. If payment if made automatically, your earnings will be sent to the email address that you used to register with that site. You can link (add) any email address that you choose to your Paypal account email so that whenever a payment is made to any of the addresses you list, your funds will go into your Paypal account.

To add an email address to your PayPal account:
Sign in to your PayPal account;
On the main menu, select My Account > Profile > Add or Edit Email;
Click the Add button;
Enter the email address you wish to add to your PayPal account (the email
address registered in Yourfreesurveys) and click Save;
PayPal will send a confirmation email to you. Click on the confirmation link
within the email;
Enter your PayPal password and click Confirm

Hope this helps to clear up some of the basic questions about Paypal. Please leave a comment or send me an email if you need any additional information!

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Maria forwarded an email with an invitation to join Zandl Group, a hip online paid survey panel on the cutting edge of trends. From the website:

ABOUT THE ZANDL GROUP


We are a New York-based market research boutique agency specializing in non-traditional, ethnographic approaches that thoroughly immerse our clients in their consumer’s world.

*ABOUT THE survey AND PANEL


Our online panel of thought leaders consists of keen cultural observers (ages 21-39) who have been hand-recruited and pre-screened to be directional and trend-forward. Their backgrounds are in diverse fields with particular emphasis on academia, the arts, entrepreneurship, blogging, entertainment, retail and technology.

Sadly, I may be too old and uncool to join Zandl Group. On Wednesday, I will be turning 50, so that pretty much puts me in the over the hill group, in terms of just about everything, but certainly as it relates to trends and activities in youth culture. I wonder if watching American Idol counts? I did send an email to membership@zandlgroup.com and heard back right away with a list of questions to answer: age, birth-date, etc. We’ll see if I make the cut.

The information that I found online about this survey panel suggests that you may need to be between the ages of 21 and 39 to join. Here is the information from the email that Maria forwarded:

“Join this survey site, do 1 survey and make $10 paid 2 ur paypal account!

 Click on the link below so you can take the Zandl Lifestyle Survey. 
This survey will remain open until May 31, 2009 at 12pm EST.
 
After completing the survey, I will email you with PayPal information so you can claim your $10 (this will happen within 2-3 business days). Let me know if you have any questions by emailing me at:  membership@zandlgroup.com If you have friends who might be interested in joining, feel free to forward this email or let them know they can email me at the address above.”

$10 for a survey sounds good to me!Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all of you mom’s out there. Don’t miss any survey news! Subscribe by email or RSS to receive each new post!

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Just when you think that you know about all of the online paid survey sites in the universe, along comes another one! Mark had asked me to check out this relatively new site to report back, so I thought I would just go ahead and do a review for the blog as well.

USA Talk Now was organized by Interactive Tracking Systems, Inc., a world renowned leader in data collection for market research. The information that is collected is used only for research purposes, which is great news for all of our jammed full inboxes.

I found the registration process fairly standard for a legitimate research panel. After filling out the basic sign up, you’ll complete a member profile which takes about 5 minutes. Although there is a very well laid out website for information and FAQ’s, surveys are sent by email only. From the website:

Members invited to complete online surveys will be rewarded with cash, gift certificates or free products. Your current mailing address is required for the distribution of certain rewards. In most cases, incentives are forwarded to the member’s mailing address within 2 – 4 weeks of completing the survey.

From my research and my experience so far, USA Talk Now is a keeper. You won’t get but a couple of surveys a month (at least in my case) but it is legitimate research with reliable payment.

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During times of economic stress, many of us are looking for opportunities to make extra money online. One of my good friends, who has been out of work for several months, called me a few days ago to tell me that she had  just started as a mystery shopper in our area. My first response was one of concern as I proceeded to lecture her on the pitfalls of the countless scams surrounding mystery shopping. I couldn’t help but pop off a long list of questions. Are you paying anything upfront? Did you get a check for $4134 in the mail? Are you spending your own money? If she hadn’t been talking to me on the phone, she may have slapped me up side the head.

 No, she assured me that she had done her research. Being the most organized of all of my friends, she calmly told me that she had found an organization that was legitimate and very highly regarded. Apparently, there is an association online called the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA). From the website:

The MSPA is the largest professional trade association dedicated to improving service quality using anonymous resources. With over 150 member companies worldwide, our diverse membership includes marketing research and merchandising companies, private investigation firms, training organizations and companies that specialize in providing mystery shopping services. Our member companies work with their clients to establish mechanisms to measure and improve levels of service.

Mystery shopping is a valuable tool used by some of the largest retailers, restaurants and banks to understand and enhance the experience they provide to customers. However, it is not a quick and easy way to make a large sum of money and receive “freebies.” The MSPA has developed the following tips for those interested in becoming a mystery shopper:

• Prospective shoppers do not have to pay a fee to become a mystery shopper. Shoppers should be extremely wary of any mystery shopping offer that requests a fee.
• Visit the MSPA Web site (www.mysteryshop.org/shoppers) for a list of reputable mystery shopping companies and opportunities. Contact the companies directly, not the MSPA, for more information on how to become a shopper.
• Be patient. It takes time, sometimes months or even longer, to be contacted with an offer to conduct a shopping assignment.
• Be cautious of opportunities that offer large sums of money for simple tasks like cashing a check or wiring money. A typical mystery shopping evaluation will earn about $8 to $20. If an assignment sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

My friend has been very pleased with the process so far and has agreed to an interview about her experiences which I will post in the near future.

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What could you do with $39.95 a month? I don’t know about you, but I think I would use it to buy gas for my car, groceries, or my electric bill before I would use it to have access to a list of survey sites that I can get for free. Call me crazy, but I don’t see the point in that and can’t quite figure out why anyone would.

But now that I think about it, sites like Online survey Workers depend on those people who are just getting started and haven’t done much research on online paid survey sites. We’ve all been newbies, and we all were a little naive when we first started doing surveys for money.  It makes sense to think that a list that you pay for would be better than one that you could get for free, doesn’t it?

When I visited Online Survey Workers, I found a sample survey that would pay $15 for a 20 questions survey about prescription use, leading you to believe that the surveys offered will be similar to this one. What do you think the chances are that I’ll be paid $15 for 5 minutes of my time? My guess would be about the same chance that h___ will freeze over Am I going to spend money to find out? Nope.

Even though Online Survey Workers states that there is a money back guarantee, save that cash and join a site that provides the same information for free. And if you are just getting started, it’s always best to do some research and visit reliable forums and blogs to get a good idea of what to expect before getting started.

This bird has better rhythm than I do! Who knew! (If you subscribe by email, click on the title of the post to see the video below)

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