A few years ago I saw a current affairs programme that recommended Web sites where you can earn money for yourself or for charities by doing surveys or taking part in other online activities. Survey panels that I belong to include:
- Pure Profile: This is my favourite. Each time you log in, click 'Nextbutton' to see what surveys and other offers are available. You will qualify for more surveys if you log in and check the NextButton at least twice a day. The surveys will be more relevant if you regularly check whether there are more questions to be answered in your Profile Dashboard.
- Australian Meal Panel: For Australians only. Do a short monthly survey about food and receive $5 cash (plus $3 if you send in supermarket receipts). When asked for the 5 digit pin, enter 82322.
- My Opinions: For Australians only.
- Rewards Central: For Australians only. You can also send (online) five free SMS text messages per day.
- Your Voice: For Australians only. I occasionally earn $50-$70 for a survey here, but overall I earn faster with Pure Profile.
- Valued Opinions: Separate sites for residents of Australia, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, New Zealand.
- My Survey: This link is for Australians, but at the bottom of the page are links for other countries.
Many surveys are targeted to specific groups, so you will increase your chances of being invited to do a paid survey if you answer the questions in your 'profile' or 'welcome survey' when you join. You may want to set up a free Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo address that you use only for surveys.
Genealogists for Families members with some spare time may find surveys a good way to fund extra Kiva loans. Can you recommend any other survey sites?
Do they then drive you mad with phone calls & emails? I had no idea these were "out there". My reflex is to say "no" to surveys, other than, occasionally, university-based ones.
ReplyDeleteNo, you do not get bombarded with calls or emails if you join the 'safe' survey sites. If memory serves me correctly, you can generally leave 'phone number' blank and/or tick 'No phonecalls'. If I did quote a number it would have been an old work number, as my home phone is unlisted and totally private. I have not had a problem with spam from the sites I've listed, but to be safe I use a separate email address for surveys.
ReplyDeleteWith Rewards Central you can receive advertising emails (usually just a few per week) and get paid for that too. Pure Profile pays better than most sites for their surveys, and they also pay you about 10c to look at a Web page (usually one or two per day). Of course you don't have to study it closely - just click - but some are relevant based on answers to your profile questions.
A lot of the surveys I do are conducted by Universities and 'distributed' via these sites.
Some sites pay cash. Some let you choose a gift card (Coles/Myer, Amazon, WISH cards for Woolworths/Caltex, etc). All the info you need will be on the site in FAQ, Help or whatever.
If you want to start with just one, I'd suggest Pure Profile. You are not going to make a fortune, but you will certainly be able to fund a few extra Kiva loans.
I've been a member of Valued Opinions for about three years. They are good at regularly sending survey invitations, although I'm often screened out early. Perhaps I'm in the wrong demographic! Through Valued Opinions I have also tested a product sample, which was fun and paid much more than usual, and been on a slightly longer-term internet panel wasn't too onerous and scored me two gigantic baskets of chocolate. I have found their surveys to be a good mix, including non-commercial surveys like a road safety survey looking at how I interpret road signs, which I thought was interesting and worthwhile. I've been taking my rewards as iTunes vouchers. I've never had a problem with spam or phone calls.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing this post I signed up to PureProfile. They seem to want an awful lot of personal information before they start paying anything! I do like how they will credit you with something even if you are screened out. So far I have earned a grand total of $1.55 which doesn't feel like much... We'll see how it goes.
Thanks for the descriptions of the sites.
Shelley, thanks very much for your comments. I know what you mean about all the profile questions, but it really is worthwhile answering them. Since I did so, the survey invitations I've received have been more relevant and interesting, and I've been screened out less often. I am *so* envious of your payment in chocolate!
ReplyDeleteIn recent months several team members have told me that they have been able to fund an extra Kiva loan with the money they've earned from - in particular - PureProfile and the Australian Meal Panel. Personally, I am earning about $25 per month with PureProfile, $8 per month with the Australian Meal Panel, and smaller amounts with the other survey panels.
ReplyDeleteI've been using PureProfile ever since Judy mentioned it, but I'm not earning anywhere near $25 per month. In fact I'm not quite up to $15 in a few months.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wait for them to notify me that there is a survey, but other times (like today) I went to the site independently and there was a survey waiting, worth 20c - $1.40. After asking a few demographic questions they asked which of several TV shows I'd seen then the next question was how many times in the last 30 days had I eaten at (or from) a Fast Food Outlet. As it happens, in this 30 days I hadn't. I was then thanked for my participation and credited 20c. That was the only survey waiting for me today.
I don't think it has caused any extra spam so I'm happy to do it. Sometimes I've completed a whole long survey (maybe 20 minutes or more) but more often I've been filtered out early either after answering about age or location.
You should definitely log in to PureProfile each day, as there is usually an invitation to look at a Web site or two (each of which earns you about 10c-20c). It all adds up. Initially my earnings were much less than they are now. I think I get more invitations now because PureProfile have seen that I answer surveys responsibly and don't just zoom through ticking boxes at random. You are less likely to be screened out if you answer all your profile questions now and then keep them up to date.
DeleteLike Kerry, I've been using PureProfile for a few months and found I've made very little money. I don't wait to get email notifications but log in several times a week to see if there's a survey waiting for me. This past month I've only had four surveys to complete and got screened out of three of them. At this rate it's going to take me at least a year to get enough for one loan!
ReplyDeleteI've filled out my profile fully, the problem just seems to be that I've never purchased the relevant product or service recently enough. I don't find I get bothered with spam, but I'm really feeling that it isn't a worthwhile use of my time for the small amount of money I'm making.
Kirsty, I'm not sure whether you saw my reply to Kerry's comment before you posted yours. I agree that you have to pick when to do surveys and when to ignore them because you are busy. One thing I didn't mention... Some survey sites pay you for referring other people. (Know any stay-at-home Mums or Dads with spare time?) I don't think PureProfile is doing that now, though they used to. Many of the Australian survey sites do (look for a link to 'Referrals', or read their FAQ).
DeleteThanks for the reply Judy. I don't think there is a referral option on PureProfile. Perhaps the UK version of PureProfile doesn't have as many surveys as the Australian one. Just thought I'd share my experience for others members of the group who were thinking about trying surveys.
DeleteI did sign up for a couple. Overall I'd prefer going to the dentist. I have made something like $1 for the time it's taken to fill in the various surveys. Will see how it evolves. I may as well give it a go...may help fund my genealogy fixes.
ReplyDeleteOh... ouch! :-) Which survey panels are you using at the moment, Pauleen?
DeleteNote: this suggestion only applies to Australians. - If you use Rewards Central, log in and go to Earn - Email rewards - then '8046 Our 10th anniversary giveaway'. At the moment that lets you order some great things free (except for postage). I ordered the free sticky notes, tote bag and mouse mat, all customised to advertise Genealogists for Families and the blog's URL. Then I explored the rest of the site and ordered a free pen, free bumper sticker and free T-shirt, all customised for Genealogists for Families. (Watch for a blog post soon with the design I created for the T-shirt, which I will wear at Congress 2012.)
ReplyDeleteI may use some of those items for a prize draw, or auction them at the next meet-up and put the proceeds towards more Kiva loans. Are there any other team members willing to order freebies and do the same?
For reasons that escape me, I didn't mention GTM, but in terms of earnings they are in my 'Top 4' survey sites. I've earned $175 (seven Kiva loans!) and they pay in real money, not shopping vouchers. People in 49 countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Czech Republic, Netherlands, NZ and Australia) can join. I have sent invitations to some of you, but if anyone else is interested, let me know your email address.
ReplyDelete