Survival Guide to Online Surveys

First of all, I would like to congratulation Lee, a frequent poster of great information and one of the moderators on the forum, for winning $500 in a sweepstakes drawing! From Lee:

I just won $500 from IPSOS I-SAY Insights 4 Mobile Forum!

Hello Insights 4 Mobile Forum participant,
 
Thank you for your continued participation in the Insights 4 Mobile Forum. Everyone who completed the BroadBand Landline survey last month was entered into a draw and we are happy to announce that you are the lucky winner of US $500. Congratulations! 
 
Now that’s a big win! Congrats, Lee. I’ll think about that every time that I fill out a sweepstakes entry. There is hope for us all.

On another note, I was able to help Suzanne, one of our readers, with a problem she was having at Onlycashsurveys this week. She posted this comment on the blog:

After doing numerous surveys, I finally had earned enough to request a payout.   They said it would take 4 weeks – ok by me.  After the 4 weeks, I got a form letter saying it was denied due to irregularities in my account and ‘most likely’ due to a violation of terms.   I can honestly say I did a good job on all the surveys, took my time on them, and answered thoughtfully, so there were no ‘irregularities’ or violations. 

I sent an email to Onlycashsurveys on her behalf and found that there had been some sort of processing error with about 20 members. They corrected the problem and stated that a payment was being sent to her account.

I’m bringing this to your attention because over the years, I have developed valuable relationship with a few survey sites. I’m not implying that I can help with every problem that you may have, but I can try to resolve an issue after you have hit a dead end. The online survey sites that I could help with are: OnlycashSurveys, SurveyHead, ClearVoice and in some cases, OTX. Leave a comment on the blog and I’ll see what I can do.

Saw this video yesterday and thought it was so cute:

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I’ve been hearing friends talk about Facebook for a couple years, but I thought it was something that I would never join. The main reason being that my children had forbidden it. OK, forbidden is a strong word, but they strongly suggested that it would be embarrasing for Mom to be on Facebook. As time went on, almost everyone I knew who was in my age bracket had jumped in. And the stigma of “moms on Facebook” has relaxed a bit. So reluctantly, my children (ages 21 and 24) relented and said that the world wouldn’t end if their mother joined FB. I’ve had a personal FB page since August, and I must say that it’s been lots of fun. I’ve reconnected with lots of friends I had lost touch with over the years and I enjoy keeping up and seeing pictures of others I don’t see often enough. It’s been a good thing.

So now I’ve put up a Facebook Fanpage for Yourfreesurveys (and this blog). In the same way that it has been a good thing for me personally, I think that a Fanpage will be a great way to connect and communicate with members of Yourfreesurveys and my blog subscribers and readers. So far, I’ve put up a little information about the website and started a couple of discussions for everyone to join in on. One discussion category is “Ask Heath”, where you can post questions or concerns or ask me to review a survey site, etc. The other is a discussion about how Yourfreesurveys works and how to get started. Anyone can start a discussion, so I’m hoping that you will find it helpful. Post a comment with suggestions on what you might like to see there.

If you aren’t already a member, it’s easy to join. And it’s free. Click here to set up your page. If you are already on FB, put Yourfreesurveys in the search box and become a fan! (Our page has the blue and orange Youfreesurveys logo with the check mark). Invite your friends to become a fan as well…the more the merrier.

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I’m sure that everyone was confused by the blog post from Sunday. So was I, as I didn’t write it.  It seems that my blog account was hacked by a spammer. When it was discovered, I deleted the post, but not before it had been sent out to the feeds and subscribers. I apologize for the inconvenience. We’re working on making sure that this can’t happen again!

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Yourfreesurveys is updating the logo for the website. Mark sent the choices over this morning, so I thought I would let you guys take a look and vote on which one you like best. If you subscribe by email and can’t see the picture, click here to view it.

So what do you think?

And another question. If you could design you own survey website, what are the most important elements that you would include? Can’t wait to hear the answers! Send an email or post a comment.

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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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It’s Friday, so I thought I would post a couple of updates/survey news items that don’t really have a theme, but worth noting nonetheless.

1) Jim wanted to let everyone know that he won the $500 sweepstakes from MyView. He has the money in hand through Paypal. We should all remember that the next time we don’t want to do another sweepstakes entry Congratulations, Jim!

2) After my rant about Survey Spot the other week, I felt it necessary to pass along some positive developments on their part. I was credited for most of my missing points since the switch and I’ve heard from several other people who have as well. It looks like they are working hard to get their issues resolved. And as most of you probably have heard, they are doing a special January promotion through the end of the month which will credit you 50 points per survey. I’m also finding that the new Paypal feature pays fairly quickly. It sounds as though they are listening. Not there yet but working on it!

3) The Paypal option may not be totally off the table with MyView. Kevin received an email from them asking why he preferred Paypal over a prepaid visa, and he said that his response from them lead him to believe that it’s not a done deal. So maybe there’s still hope that we won’t lose that option. We’ll see.

4) As always, leave a comment or send me an email with questions or ideas for future posts. I love getting suggestions from everyone and find it very helpful to know what’s on your mind.

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Just a quick post to follow-up on the Does Age Matter in Qualifying for Online Paid Surveys? from yesterday. Received lots of great information from our readers that I thought I would share with everyone. You can see the comments on the post here, and I’ll relay a few of the emails which came in to me below:

From Dan:

Happy New Year!

Thanks for your recent posting on the age factor. IMHO, this is one of the most insidious types of nasty discrimination going. I realize that all decisions require some form of discrimination to decide between  alternatives, but pollsters – to some degree – seem to have not realized that my generation controls considerable resources and, the related opinions. 

However, there are any number of surveys that have given me the “down-and-out” on the age question: mostly citing “we have all the opinions needed on this …”

Keep up the good work. You write well, and are performing a valuable service – especially for us only occasional survey takers.

Marge wrote:

I appreciate the work you are doing to keep us up to date on survey news. I do have some input however.  I received quite a few surveys while I was still 79, but the minute I turned 80, the surveys have dwindled to almost nothing.  Do they think all 80 year olds become idiots all of a sudden???
I am glad you covered this topic, so others might know.
Thanks again for all your input.

And Marjean had this to say:

In answer to your question if Age matters in qualifying for surveys – Yes I do think that age has a definite effect on whether I am qualified or not. I am 70 years old and consider that I am quite “with it” physically and mentally but, although they never say, I am quite convinced that there is a definite bias against us seniors when it comes to the surveys.

I would think that the survey masters know that seniors are the single most numerous demographic, especially with the “boomers” coming of age. 

Thanks for letting me sound off.

Hopefully, the market research analysts will come to realize that our seniors probably have more to contribute than many of the youngsters out there. As I have been under the impression that surveys virtually stopped after age 65, I’m encouraged to  know that there are surveys available (albeit not so plentiful) even into my eighties. Thanks so much to everybody who shared their experiences!

Don’t miss any survey news! Subscribe by email or RSS to receive each new post. Don’t forget about our Holiday Blog/Forum contest. Click here for details.

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I’ve gotten lots of comments and emails about Nielson Homescan since my posts a few days ago, and it has been a mixed bag to say the least. It seems to be a love it or hate it scenario with the hate it winning in the end. But I thought I would give you a snippet of the pros and cons from our readers since I gave up on Nielson Homescan long ago.

Granny313 sent this:

The nielscan homescan now offers you a debit card so you can use it any where it does take a little bit of time but i feel its worth it.

Jim wrote:

Hi I read your review of nielsen Homescan with great interest.   I thought about joining it but after reading your review I’m glad I didn’t join.  I belong to Shoppers Hotline  and I do all my scanning in a similar way, but after reading your review I’m glad I chose Shopper’s Hotline.  They also work on a points system but it is quite different.  When you amass  625 points you get $10.00, 1375 points is $25.00 and 2500 points gets you $50.00.  The money is transferred onto a reusable debit card.  Seems like a much simpler system to me.

It looks to me like Shoppers Hotline is invitation only, but I have read some good reviews about it. Let us know if any of you have experience with it!

Karen had this to say:

I agree with this.  After 3 years with Homescan, I’ve recently decided to stop all activities that pay with gifts instead of money.  This includes zoom and Opinion Square.  In my time with Homescan, I’ve gotten a sewing machine, a pizza stone, a paper shredder, a small shop vac and a pedometer.  This my sound like alot but I probably put in 2 hours a week on scanning, transmissions, surveys and extra diaries.  Even at minimum wage, I’ve earned much more than the value of these items.  I found the sewing machine online for $100.00 and the shredder for 40.00.  I don’t like trying to find gifts I might use and picking things sight unseen.  I thought I might win one of their many sweepstakes but after scanning everything I bought and never missing a transmission, I haven’t.  Goodby Homescan.

Thanks for your helpful emails.

This is just a sample of some of my emails from readers, click here to see the comments about Nielson Homescan on the blog.

And those of you who have been reading the blog for a while know that I am a winter weather geek. Start talking about snow here in North Carolina and I go bonkers. And talk of snow this close to Christmas has me giddy and jumping up and down around the Christmas tree. But I’ve lived here all my life, and know that all of that excitement about a “major snowstorm” could turn into a great big fat bust in the blink of an eye. So I’m cautiously optimistic that we may see a little snow around these parts. Woohoo. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll report on my pity party on Monday

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You asked for it, you got it! It’s contest time again! We’re offering another Blog/Forum contest for the Holiday Season. The rules are the same as before.

1) Subscribe to the blog by email = 1 entry

2)Register at the forum = 1 entry

3) Post a comment to the blog = 1/3 entry

Comment 3 times to earn one entry to the contest, with a limit of 3 comments per  day. Comments must be relevant to the topic of the post or to a previous comment (posting “great post” isn’t really a comment). Comments can be made to any blog post. Subscribers can access the blog directly HERE to post a comment.

4) Write about the contest on your blog with a link back to us = 5 entries ( This needs to include an introduction in your own words about the blog. Copy and pasting the rules will not count without writing something about it in your own words.)

5) Post a reply or comment on the forum = 1/3 entry

3 comments = 1 entry, limit 3 comments per day (relevant content as discussed in #3)

6) Digg , Stumble or submit a post to Technorati = 1 entry

Every post that you submit to stumbleupon.com, digg.com or Technorati.com will earn 1 entry to the contest. You can use the archives to submit as many posts as you like.

The $300 will be rewarded in the following increments:

1 $75 prize

1 $50 prizes

3 $25 prizes

5 $10 prizes

10 $5 prizes

The contest will end on January 31 and the winners will be announced on February 1. Payment will be paid directly to your Paypal account. The more entries you have, the better your chances of winning! Good luck, and let the posting begin!

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