Online Survey Report - One Month Later

After a month in the paid online survey game, I can tell you unquestionably: you can get paid to take surveys online. But lets get realistic. While the ads scream about making $100 an hour, I haven’t seen anything remotely close to that.

While the money hasn’t been big, it sure has been easy.

I didn’t sign up with any of the pay-to-play services that promise to hook you up with the survey companies. (I checked a bunch of them out, tho.) After hearing back from a slew of helpful Gnomies, I decided to sign up with two free services they recommended–Survey Savvy and ESearch, instead. And I hooked up with PollCast for SMS surveys.

So far, the PollCast SMS surveys are my favorites–they’re fast and fun to complete. PollCast has sent me a total of eight one question surveys, so far. All have been multiple choice questions. I just need to answer with an A, B, C, or D and respond to the SMS. Bingo, I’m 25 cents richer. One month later, thanks to PollCast, I have the proverbial change for the parking meter or a couple of cheap cups of coffee. Total time invested: eight minutes.

The web-based Survey Savvy and ESearch surveys are more intensive and can take a reasonable amount of time to complete. It’s taken as much as ten minutes or so to complete one of these online surveys. On a positive note, this has been simple work, so far. (Picking one brand over another isn’t that tough a job.) But it can be frustrating to get deep into an online survey only to find out that you’ve been disqualified for one reason or another. Disqualification = no pay.

Some online surveys will tell you right up front that you’ll be paid a set amount, say three bucks or so. Other surveys will enter you into a drawing, where you might be eligible to receive ten bucks or more. “Might be” is the key phrase. Might be, might be not is more like it.

I’ve filled out a bunch of surveys where I was eligible … alas, I’ve invested my time, but I haven’t won any drawings. Yet.

I’ll keep at the online paid survey game, for as long as it holds my interest … All in the name of research, coffee, and food for the parking meters … :)