Why are companies willing to pay you to complete online surveys?
All around the world companies are constantly launching new products and services and these same companies are desperate for people to tell them their thoughts and opinions on these new products and services. They want to know if people will want them, how much will people be willing to pay for them, and if not then why not.
In order to obtain these opinions, companies approach market research organisations and pay them to conduct surveys on their products. These market research organisations used to have to send people out on to the streets to question passers-by on their opinions in order to complete the surveys. Although this still goes out most market research companies now prefer to use the internet to find out peoples opinions as this is more cost-efficient for them.
When people join a survey company online they have to register which involves giving details on their age, where they live, if they have children, occupation, etc. When the company comes to carry out a survey on a new product, such as nappies, they will look up each of their member’s details and contact those with young children to find out why they prefer one brand of nappies to another. By being able to target the audience for the survey in this way they can get opinions of the people who are most likely to buy the new product.
To encourage people to participate in the online surveys the market research companies offer incentives for people to complete the surveys. These incentives can be money, vouchers, CDs, entry into prize draws amongst others. Although the surveys are interesting it is unlikely that the market research companies would be able to find enough volunteers online to meet their target if they did not reward the participants. By doing so the participants are rewarded for completing the online surveys, the market research companies get their surveys completed and can then analyse the information and feed the results back to the company who requested the survey and let them know what people really think of their product.
How much can you make from completing online surveys?
The rewards and incentives paid to participants for completing surveys vary depending on the market research company, the length of the survey, and the time taken to complete it. Some companies will pay you cash for completing surveys using Paypal or straight into your bank account. Others offer vouchers, such as Amazon or luncheon vouchers, whilst some offer CDs, entry into prize draws, and all sorts of prizes and rewards for completing their surveys.
It is possible to get paid reasonable amounts of money from completing online surveys if you join several different survey companies. However, it is unlikely you will earn enough just from surveys to be able to give up your current job. The money can help boost your income though if you are a student a stay-at-home mother, or are retired and could certainly be worth your while.
In general for completing each survey you will be paid between £1-£5 which is enough to buy yourself a coffee. Other surveys do pay significantly more but it just depends on the individual survey itself. Each survey company should be able to offer you at least 2 surveys a month some offer you much more than 2 a month but just to get some average figure let’s say you receive and complete 2 surveys a month. So if you join 10 survey companies and complete 20 surveys a month you should be able to earn about £750 a year, which is not bad for just a couple of hours each month. Obviously, if you want to make more you just join more survey companies.
There are lots of different online survey sites out there and the main ones can all be found fairly easily using Google. Sites that have good reputations for being straightforward and decent payers include Prolific, Qmee, and Crowdology.
Some surveys offer follow-up surveys or telephone surveys or an invitation to a discussion group. If you are lucky enough to be invited these offer significantly more rewards as they are really keen to find out your opinions and are willing to reward you appropriately.
