Paid Survey Tips (A short tutorial on how to get started)

The first thing that you have to realize is that you can't quit your day job to take online surveys. You're just not going to be able to make enough money to live off of. That being said, let's discuss the best ways to make the most out of the paid surveys that marketing companies offer.

When starting out, you have no clue what survey sites are legitimate and which ones are scams. Further, you don't know which ones pay the best, and which ones have the best surveys available for you. By the time you finish reading this article you'll be armed with some knowledge to help you find what you're looking for.

1. The first rule about taking surveys is to NEVER pay for a membership. What would you do if you walked into a job interview and they said to you, "O.K., we'll give you the job...but we're gonna have to charge you $50 to start work." You'd probably tell them to take that job and place it in an inconvenient area. It works the same way with paid surveys, or ANY online opportunity for that matter. If you HAVE to pay, run away.

2. Do a little research before you start. Use google, type in "paid surveys" and "paid survey reviews". You can come up with a pretty good idea of what you're looking for in a survey company, and you may be able to pick up some names of reputable companies that you can sign up with. Join forums, talk to friends, visit money-making tip websites, read ezine articles like this one. I've got a website that gives tips, reviews and a survey tutorial that you can check out: MakingExtraIncomeOnline.com

3. Don't be afraid to give out your name and street address. This was the hardest thing for me to get over, because I HATE spam. I'm also always worried about identity theft. Well fortunately all the survey companies need from you is your name (which they have to put on the check they'll send you) and your address (where they'll send the check). Sometimes they'll ask for your phone number for various reasons. I can assure you though, that this doesn't necessarily mean it's a scam. In fact, two of my favorites, SendEarnings and InboxDollars ask for your phone number.

4. Related to No. 3, NEVER give out any more information than what is in number 3. If your credit card or social security number is involved, find another site. This doesn't necessarily mean that the site is a scam...but it's best not to even try it.

5. Look how the site is laid out, look at the navigation. Does it look like it's done by a professional? If not, it's probably best to stay away from it. If the marketing company that runs the website doesn't have enough money to hire a good webmaster, they don't have enough money to pay you.

6. Don't be fooled by sites that offer you $10-100 surveys. They're not out there, plain and simple. I've done one survey that's gotten me $10, and that's the most I've ever been paid for just one. Most surveys will make you around $2-$3 and will take you from about 15-25 minutes. That doesn't mean all surveys are like that, they can range anywhere from $.50 to $10 (like I said, $10 is the highest one I've ever seen).

7. Be patient! When I first joined, I got very few survey opportunites. I almost quit trying, but something told me to stick with it. Now that I've become more involved, I actually have the ability to pick and choose what types of surveys I would like to do.

That's all I've got for today. If you have any more questions, check out my site (where there's a way to contact me) or take a look at some of my other articles about paid surveys. It's a big world out there...go make you some money.