You most probably have heard of online surveys or have even participated in at least one survey. Paid surveys have become more popular today than they’ve ever been before as more people understand just why they NEED to share their opinions. Today millions of people from all walks of life all around the world are able to participate in survey panels, passing on invaluable data to manufacturing companies, thanks to the World Wide Web. But just before getting to the benefits of online surveys, it may be helpful to start from the very basic point; what online surveys really are?

What they really are?

Well, the simplest way to define what surveys are is to give them a broad definition that caters for all types of surveys because there are different types of surveys used today. A survey is simply a data collection technique designed to collect information from a large number of subjects. Surveys may include polls, mailed questionnaires, telephone interviews, or face-to-face interviews. So what about online paid surveys? Well, just from the name, these are web-based surveys meaning they are done via the internet and those who participate stand a chance to get some compensation for participating in these surveys. Just like many other things in life, surveys also vary in type and there are quite a number of different types of surveys intended and designed for different purposes. However, we will focus mainly on online surveys because of their rapid gain in popularity and simply because they’re most preferred for data collection today.

Types of surveys

Below are the four main types of surveys:-

• Mail Surveys

• Telephone Surveys

• Face-to-face interviews/Surveys

• Online or Web-based Surveys.

Online Surveys: - These are surveys that are conducted on the Internet. Market Research firms post their poll forms or questionnaires on the World Wide Web and allow people to use them in giving their views about a particular topic or subject. Online Surveys or Web-based surveys are having a profound influence on today’s survey process. The World Wide Web has truly democratized the survey-taking process since it has allowed just about anyone the ability to conduct a surveys unlike the trend just a few years back when only survey professionals and large organizations had the monopoly of conducting surveys. For that reason, the range and quality of online surveys vary considerably not to mention the convenience and flexibility that they have.

Why you should participate?

Paid surveys are rapidly becoming the most preferred means of data collection today, thanks to the Internet. This is because the Internet has made surveys available to almost everybody who can log on to the Internet from almost every country in the entire world. Collection of consumer information is the main stronghold of the entire market research industry. Market research firms design and conduct data collection, by use of surveys and that is where the consumer comes into play because he/she is the source of the data. Not until lately, production firms had to try and make the best possible estimate of how to make the best goods and services to meet their consumers’ tastes, which was way too difficult for most production companies. But all that has been turned around and the consumer now can directly influence how or what he wants from these companies simply by participating in research projects. Companies today go full lengths to make or produce goods that have been customized to meet what the consumers’ preferences are. For that reason both the production companies have found it easier to make the best possible products for their target market, and the consumer is most at home with the products these companies produce for him/her to use.

How can you participate?

Participation is simple and quite interesting because you will not only learn something from participating in research projects but also get some reward for it. Marketing research firms pay consumers to participate in surveys, and focus groups. Let’s first cover how to find good survey companies, how to join their panels and start taking surveys.

How to find legitimate survey companies.

This marks the very first step into the survey world. If you do it right and find good survey companies, then you can rest assured to have a great experience taking online surveys. But on the other side, there are illegitimate sites all over the internet that will end up frustrating you and maybe even duping you off your money. Don’t start raising your eyebrows, because you’re just about to learn how to spot these sites that are making people regret after joining them. The internet has thousands of sites that are designed to fool people and con them. For instance, it has survey sites that are claiming to make people rich overnight just from taking paid surveys. Paid surveys are rewarding and can make you some easy money but can’t possibly be a "dream job" or full time occupation and it's unlikely that anyone can earn a living from paid surveys. Be wary not to fall victim to scam sites that are all over the Internet. Please read the seven steps below on how to find legitimate survey sites and also how to spot bad ones. To start you search for legitimate surveys sites, simply go to Google and type "paid surveys, or online paid surveys", and you’ll get millions of paid survey sites. This is where the road gets blur and tricky, but don’t be alarmed because you only need at least five legitimate survey sites for you to get started. Some people may prefer to join hundreds of survey sites, but to really have the big bang for you time and effort in taking surveys, you’d rather join at least the best top-ten panels, than join 300 sites some of which may only be mirror or partner site to the major companies. This is because there is a lot of affiliation on the web today. The drastic merging and partnering of web companies most often leads to situations where less popular sites work in partnership with the major one so as to survive the competition. On further searching you may find other "middleman" sites that offer links to hundreds of paid survey site for free. These "middlemen" get paid commissions to solicit referrals to other main survey companies. Some of the sites on their lists are usually outdated but you may as well give it a shot since you’ve got nothing to loose. Just make sure you don’t give them your money for these lists in the name of "membership" because all you’ll get is a list to other sites. Always be wary too when you spot sites that claim to pay you anything like $250 an hour for taking paid surveys. They usually have lots of exaggerated promises just to sway you into signing up using their lists. Some of these sites will even try to make you pay a fee which they may call "membership fee, one-time fee or entry fee". Please always try to avoid such sites because all you will get after paying the so-called membership fee is a list of other survey companies which you can find for free with a little search over the internet. Such lists are sometimes a mere outdated collection of affiliate links to other paid survey sites. Legitimate paid surveys companies run free-to-join panels and will never make willing panelists-to-be pay anything. Go to Google and try to read more about paid surveys scams by typing "paid survey scams" into their search box. Below are seven major steps and guidelines that will help you find great survey site that will pay you well and make you a great experience.

Try not to get swayed into paying any membership fee. That is the first red light right there!

Make sure the survey site you intend to join has some working means of contacting those who run it, i.e. there should be a way to contact those who run the site, company owners or customer staff.

Try to find out about the site’s web reputation by visiting forums and asking others about that particular website. Type up the sites name into Google and find out what others are saying about it.

The site should be hosted by an actual market research company with a web presence. Be wary of sites hosted on free hosting servers and sites with advertising all over them. Some of these websites will just collect your email address and start spam feeding you with ads.

These is not a very strong way of distinguishing scam sites from legitimate ones, but always be careful on sites that make exaggerated earning claims of making you rich from surveys, "dream job" or paying you on an hourly basis. Legitimate surveys sites will most often only pay you for surveys you participate in.

Try to find the company’s "about us" or "our services" page and read it carefully. Don’t forget to read the fine print on their "Terms of Service, Terms of Use, or Policy" pages as well.

Finally, always follow what you conscience tells you. If the deal sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Joining the panel and getting started.

By this point you should have already found the sites that you intend to join, please read the section on "How to find legitimate survey sites" if you haven’t found one yet Joining panels is usually simple and fast for most survey sites since they’ll most likely only require your email address and personal details like names, age, gender, country/city of residence and such like stuff.. Assuming that you are already at the site’s main or home page, first try to read as much as you can and see what the site offers. This is the place to make good use of the headings and the introductory text all over the page. Keep in mind that you as you read through, you should also be checking for signs that may trigger suspicion about the sites legitimacy. From the main/home page of the site try and find a link to their "Sign up" page, some may refer to it as "Join, Join Us, or Register" etc. Clicking on it should bring you to a page with at least a form for you to use. Go ahead and read their Terms of Service first before you start filling up the form. If you can abide by their terms then try and find their "Frequently Asked Question’s" page if they have any, and read it through. Finally, it is always nice for any legitimate company website to have a working contact system, also check out for this. If none of these gave you a reason to be suspicious about the site, then go, ahead and fill the registration form and submit it. Some sites may need you to confirm your registration by checking your email address while some may not. By this point you should be able to take surveys if they have any, or you have to wait for them to send you email invitations when they have any available.

What you need to know about paid surveys.

Paid surveys have been around for quite some time now and are known as a simple and quick way to make money online. You do not need any special skills or be a web expert in order to get impressive rewards or payment from taking paid surveys online. While this is true, you’ll often see websites that promises exaggerated payments like $250 an hour for participating in paid surveys online. These exaggerated sites may occasionally sway some new web surfers into believing that they’ve stumbled on the jackpot of riches. Most if these sites that promise such unbelievable amounts of payments in most instances are "middlemen-owned" sites and they just want to sway you into signing up so that they can get paid a commission for that. Some sites have gone to extents of trying to make their visitors to pay a fee for them to earn membership. These sites promise that you’ll make $250 an hour and will even try to make you believe it by displaying some "cooked" testimonials, proof in form of a check’s image or paypal payments. Some will even guarantee that if you don’t earn a certain amount of money within a given time, they’ll refund your money. Please don’t let your money go down the drain so easily like this. Most of these guarantees, testimonies and proofs are only meant to sway you into to paying a fee you will kiss goodbye because chances of you getting it back are one in a million. Experienced web surfers say that when it comes to the Internet, only one rule applies best, "If the deal is too good to be true, then it probably is!" These scam sites have caused quite a scare to many would-be-survey-takers and if you and I keep off them and raise awareness throughout the Internet, then we may just be able to lessen the damage they’re causing.

The good part of almost everything is that there is always the other side of it. So does it apply to the Internet, we have really bad sites and as well as REALLY GOOD ones! Typical online survey companies that are really into market research will not make you pay anything to be a member but will pay you for you time and efforts in their projects. These companies will in most cases pay up to $80 a survey but what do you have to lose, you’re not only making a free $80 but also helping improve consumer products and services by giving your much valued opinions to production companies. Some sites offer other forms of rewards like credits or points which can be accumulated to a certain threshold before payment is made for the completed online paid surveys. Gifts and prizes, vouchers, and discounts at shopping malls and stores are also a great way many survey takers benefit from participating in paid surveys.

As we round up, please also note that you should be quite aware of sites that don’t respect user privacy. Such sites will lead to lots of unbearable junk mail in you inbox. This is a major problem on the internet today because even respectable companies share their customers’ details with other companies they’re affiliated with and you’ll definitely get some unsolicited emails from other companies to mess up your mornings. Real honest survey companies would never reveal your personal details to outsiders though, even if they’re affiliated or not. Please try to find their "Privacy Policy" and read it well. It is recommendable that you open a free email account and use that email address for all your survey work. This will lessen the disk space usage of you email provider since some companies will really pump you up with tons of email surveys, and it will also help stop mixing up survey emails with your personal emails.

Hopefully, you have at least learnt something about surveys from this article, please if you found it helpful, do pass it on to a friend so he or she can also get something from it. Now it’s your turn to act. Go out there, find good market research firms and start giving your opinion to help improve the goods and services that you and I’ll use tomorrow. Thanks for your time.