I’m sure quite a lot of folks, when first looking into online income, have their doubts about the amount of time spent versus the financial results.  While it’s been said that you’ll never quit your day job…the idea that online surveys are only for stay-at-home moms, retirees, students, or anyone else that only has a minimum of hours already demanded of them…is just plain false.

I’m a full-time employee and run my own part-time business as well.  But in the meantime, I’ve found that I can spend just a few hours a week in my downtime on surveys and other sources of online income, and still bring in a worthwhile paycheck in the process.

I had a coach tell me once, “if it’s no longer fun, than don’t do it.”  Might sound counterproductive to working hard, but the premise behind the sentiment is that you’re not going to do your best if you’re not enjoying it.  I’d say the key to online surveys is to treat it like a hobby, and not like a part-time job.  While it’s true that for many (including myself several months ago when I was out of work) that online income can be a viable part-time job, the most important aspect is to optimize your time to get the most bang for your buck.

Tip #1 – Find your niche.

Sites like GetPaidSurveys.com have done a lot of the heavy research for you and provided a great list of the most respectable online survey panels available.  At the same time, though, I think many would agree with me that some panels tend to work better for specific demographics.  As an individual, I spent a good amount of time with all of them (I would say at least 6 months) to test the waters, but don’t be afraid to drop (or de-prioritize) the ones that aren’t offering enough qualifying surveys for you.  I have a list of survey sites that usually offer me the best pay and/or the best ratio of completions, so I start with those first, and then only attempt the rest after I’ve gotten through those best companies.  Your list is going to be different depending on your age, your race, your gender, whether you own a home or have kids, etc. – so don’t be afraid to experiment and try them all, and then pare down your list as you see fit.

Tip #2 – Small and steady rewards do add up.

I find there are some days or weeks when I’m just swamped with ‘real life’ and can’t even think about taking a survey.  Don’t sweat it!  You don’t need to attempt every single survey you receive (though, of course, some panels tend to send you more invites if you have a good survey history).  However, don’t overlook the simple and quick daily point earners, either!  I’ve developed a routine where I’ll check my survey email account before I even get out of bed in the morning – this is when I usually do my quick point earners – I’ll vote on the Toluna quick polls, do any daily sweepstakes or contest entries that various sites may be offering at the time (for instance, the SurveySpot sport-related contests, or the MyPoints daily spins), and the “get paid to” click emails from various other sites (if that’s your thing).  I find that even those weeks when I’m too busy to take a single survey, I can still earn a few bucks in the background by just doing these quick point earners.

Tip #3 – Double dip.

I think it’s safe to say most of us have at least some downtime at work, where we’re sitting in the office and waiting for the next project.  Instead of aimlessly browsing the internet, chatting on Facebook,  or playing games – why not make some more money?  There have been days when I’ve made a serious chunk of spare change while ‘on the clock’ – so if you’re like me and have periods of inactivity in the office, use the time wisely!  There’s a certain satisfaction knowing you made enough extra money on online surveys that afternoon to pay for happy hour that night!

Do you have other tips and tricks to making money on online surveys while juggling your career, your family, and your free time?  We’d love to hear them!

Lightspeed was my first paying panel when I started in the world of online surveys, and I have steadily made money with them ever since.  Here are a few tips and suggestions to make your experience with Lightspeed enjoyable.

• Tip #1 – Be patient…because yes, sometimes you will screen out 10+ minutes into a survey.

One of the most common complaints many have about this panel is screening out after you’re 1/3rd or more into a survey.  This can be really frustrating, but I find the rate of this happening is still much lower than my rate for completions, so I’m still taking ‘the risk’ knowing I may occasionally waste a few minutes each month and disqualify.

• Tip #2 – Have a good internet connection and enough time.

Lightspeed is one of the survey panels that usually won’t restart surveys if you loose your connection or time-out on a page.  Since my home wireless network can be a little unreliable, I try to wait until I’m at work or elsewhere to attempt most surveys with them.  I also make sure I can allot the full time to a survey in one sitting – other panels I can usually get up and walk away from if I need to, but I’ve had several instances of timing-out with this one if I sit on one page too long.

• Tip #3 – Speaking of technical difficulties…

The “Contact Lauren” link on the survey pages is completely bogus -  I don’t think anyone has had any luck using that email for problems.  However, Lee has pointed out that dropping a line to costumer service at Perks.com (the company that manages Lightspeed’s payments) has been more productive for other users, so that’s something to consider if you do run into any technical issues.

• Tip #4 – Check the website.

I’ve noticed recently that Lightspeed is not always emailing me about all available surveys.  I’ll log in to take one and find two or three waiting!  So it might be worth your while to add Lightspeed to the same bookmark folder that you keep daily panels like Surveyhead and MyView in, and check it once a day for bonus chances to earn some cash.

• Tip #5 – And the usual:  fill out your screeners!

Lightspeed is a bit different from other panels in that they frequently rotates in new screeners and polls to their site, rather than just hosting a standard set of profiles.  Be sure to go in and fill out any new questionnaires that mention future “matching“ to surveys.  I have noticed a direct correlation between how often I answer the “sweepstakes-only” prescreeners and how many more surveys I receive, so it’s definitely not a waste of time.

Perhaps the number one complaint that frustrates survey panelists is getting disqualified from a survey. I hear comments like:

“I answered several questions and then It tells me that I am not qualified. Are they just using my answers and not paying me.”

Since I hear so many comments similar to this, I thought it would be good to address this issue on the blog. First, let me start off by saying that GetPaidSurveys.com is a review site, and has no control or involvement in any of the surveys offered by the panels listed on our site. That being said, we feel that the survey panels listed on our site represent some of the best online paid market research panels available on the Internet. Some are better than others, and that is why all the panels have user ratings and reviews.

There are several reasons why you may not qualify for a survey, but the bottom line is that if the survey panel cannot use your answers, then they cannot compensate you the full amount for the survey. The good news is that most survey panels will offer you a small compensation for your time; some offer small cash amounts, others give sweepstakes entry. Here are several scenarios that may occur that would result in someone not qualifying for a survey.

Typical Survey Panel Scenarios that Result in Not Qualifying for the Survey

1. You get disqualified from the survey after spending up to five minutes answering questions. An example might be that the survey panel was looking for 26 year old single males from Michigan that go to the movies at least once a month, and saw Iron Man 2 in theater last week. You may be 26, you may be from Michigan, you might be single male, and you may go to the movies once a month, but you may not have seen Iron Man 2 (Good flick by the way). In this case you may spend several minutes answering background questions on the survey before you get disqualified. Final Verdict: You do not fit the specific qualifications for the survey study.
   
2. You immediately get disqualified from a survey after saying your age, race, marital status, etc. In this case there may have been lets say 100 slots for each age group, and while the study was still open, your particular age group slot was filled. Final Verdict: The survey study was filled for your particular demographic.
3. You spend over five minutes answering survey questions and then get disqualified. This is the scenario that can really frustrate individuals. This can happen for several reasons, but the usual verdict is that you were not really concentrating on the survey study. Many survey studies have special techniques to detect whether the survey panelist is really engaged and taking the survey study seriously. If they feel that you are not really taking it seriously, they may abruptly disqualify you, even after you have spent several minutes on the study. Here are a few examples of survey panel quality control scenarios.
   • Question number 50 stated “Answer C for this question for quality control purposes.” But you answer D. You are not reading the questions.
   • The survey should have taken 10 minutes for the average person to get to question 30, but you did it in 4 minutes. You were rushing.
   • The survey may asked you how you “Did you eat dinner at a fast food restaurant last week?” You answer yes. Then they ask how many fast food dinners did you have last week, and you answer none. Your answers are inconsistent

   Now these are just a few reasons why you may get screened out from a survey, but the bottom line is that not qualifying for every survey is normal and sometime a little frustrating, but hopefully it will not discourage you from taking more surveys. To better ensure that you are getting survey studies that are more in line with your background, it is important to fill out the profile surveys in the member’s area of the panel(s) you join, and of course take your time to answer all the questions carefully. This will increase your chances of getting survey studies that are more in line with your demographics.

   There may be times when you experience a technical glitch during the survey, and you may be unable to complete the survey or submit your answers. In this case it is important to record the time, information about the survey study, and what occurred. If you submit this information to the technical support staff of the survey panel, they can sometimes recover your answers or offer you some form of compensation.

   Of course there are some survey panels that are more efficient in their disqualification processes and ability to match their member’s profiles with appropriate survey studies. This is partly due to the fact that some survey panels redistribute surveys from third parties, which means that you may have to answer screener questions that sometimes duplicate information in your profile surveys. This can be a little frustrating, but using third parties allows survey panels to offer you more survey studies.

   Have you had good or bad experiences with qualify for specific survey panels? We would like to hear your feedback.

Since the merger with Greenfield and Your2Cents, Toluna has updated their website with a wide variety of ways to earn points.

• Tip #1 – Understand the value of your points

Currently, Toluna’s cash-out threshold is 60,000 points, or $20.00. If you do the math, you realize that equals 3,000 points per dollar. The key to maximizing your earning potential on Toluna is to spend an appropriate amount of time given the points offered. Toluna offers quite a few 900 point surveys that can take anywhere from 5-50 minutes, but remember that they’re only worth $0.30! Many of those same surveys are offered by other panels that pay anywhere from $0.50 to $1.00 – so it might be best for your time if you skip those offers and take them elsewhere.

• Tip #2 – Easy Points

While those 900 point surveys may not be the best value for the time, there are quite a few very quick and easy ways to rack up small amounts of points each day:

• Sponsored polls. Log in to your account, and click ‘Sponsored’ under the ‘Explore’ tab a few times each day. You’ll find quick polls that pay anywhere from 15 to 150 points each for just a few seconds of your time. I find that I can make anywhere from 200 – 900 points each day doing these polls; while it’s not a lot of points, it a much better investment of time than languishing over a 30 minute survey offering a similar payout!
• Opinion topics. Do you like to write? Toluna also offers 100 points per opinion topic you post, using 80 or more words. So if blogging, ranting, and reviewing comes easily to you, you can easily rack up an extra 5,000 points each month by posting these quick topics.

• Tip #3 – Find the Higher-Paying Surveys

You don’t have to wait for the email invites anymore. Once logged in, click on ‘Account’ and select ‘My Surveys’ from the left panel. After answering the screener questions, you’ll be presented with a survey opportunity, listing the point value and time estimate. Here’s the best part: if you don’t like the offer, simply click ‘refresh’ on your browser! You’ll answer a new set of screeners, and be taken to a new offer. You can do this as many times as you need to find a good survey.

• Tip #4 – Don’t Forget the ‘Usual’ Point Earners

Toluna is like many of the top survey panels in that they will compensate you for your time spent filling out profiles or for inviting your friends. You will receive 600 points per profile you complete, as well as an additional 2,000 point bonus once you complete all of them. You will also earn 500 points for every friend you refer who completes advanced registration.

Surveyhead has rapidly moved into fourth place as one of my best earning survey sites over the past year. I earned $261.80 and received $211.30 since February 5, 2009 and here are a few tips for achieving results comparable to mine.

• Tip #1 – Complete Your Profiles

Most people have no problem filling out their profiles on Surveyhead because you receive $0.20 for each of the nine profiles you complete, in addition to the $5 that everyone earns upon registering. They also remind you to update your profiles after each survey, so at least several times per year you should mentally remind yourself to check and see if any of your personal information has changed and update the appropriate profile; although, I have found that I have received plenty of surveys from Surveyhead relative to any other panel that I am a member of and usually Surveyhead pays slightly more.

• Tip #2 – Check For Surveys on the Website

You will occasionally get survey invitations through your email account, but I have added Surveyhead to my Browser Menu bar (Internet Explorer 7) so that I can check it early and often. There are only a few sites that this is absolutely essential and this is probably the best one of those few.

• Tip #3 – Check Your Rewards on the Website

Located under the ‘My Rewards’ tab is a well-organized ‘Account Snapshot’ of all of the surveys you have taken along with the status explanations, as below:

Cash out Threshold: This is the minimum amount you need to earn before you can cash out.
Needed to Cash out: This is how much more you need to earn before you can cash out.
Sweepstakes Entries: This is the number of times you have been entered into our cash sweepstakes.

Earned:This is the money that you have successfully earned from taking online surveys.
Pending: Before funds can be released to you, we must validate the survey data.
Invalid: We have determined that you should not receive credit for this survey due to invalid responses. Please review the Surveyhead terms and conditions.
Confirmed: We have confirmed your request to receive/donate funds. It may take up to 4 weeks until your request is fulfilled.
Requested: We have received your request to redeem/donate your reward. It may take up to 4 weeks until we can verify that this request is valid.

It is completely normal for surveys to remain in ‘Pending’ status for over a month and, sometimes for longer than six months. It is also normal to have several surveys that are marked ‘Invalid’. I earn so much money so fast with Surveyhead that I have not even bothered to email them concerning the four surveys worth a total of $3.25 that are still pending from last year. I also am not too concerned about the survey marked ‘Invalid’ from December 7, 2009.

• Tip # 4 – Be Patient!

The single most important tip that I can give anyone that is a member of Surveyhead is to be patient! Not only does it routinely take from one to two months for completed surveys to be moved from ‘Pending’ to ‘Confirmed’, but once you request your payment, which becomes available after you have $25 in confirmed earnings, it takes exactly eight weeks before your cash-out request is moved from ‘Requested’ status to ‘Confirmed’ status, at which point you will receive an email stating that “Your recent PayPal cash out request has been approved from Surveyhead. You will receive your PayPal payment to the email address provided within 2-3 days.” I have never known Surveyhead to not pay me and it is for this reason that you must be very patient with them. When your cash out does arrive via PayPal, you will often find that you have not only requested another cash out, but that you are well on your way to a third $25 cash out!

Surveyhead is one of the very best survey panels for me and has been for the past year. Many good things have come to me from answering their surveys honestly and accurately. Yes, they are very slow at confirming pending surveys and redeeming your cash out requests, but they are definitely one of the top earning legitimate survey sites out there. If you follow these simple tips, I think you will find they will also become one of your top earning survey panels.

The More Survey Panels I Join the Better Right? Wrong!

I see so many paid survey sites that boast large numbers of paid surveys in their directories, and recommend that you join as many paid survey panels as possible. While that might initially make sense, the more panels I join, the more I make, right? WRONG! The truth is that many of these paid survey sites that list hundreds of so called survey panels do not have your best interest in mind. In fact, many of the panels they list are not legitimate survey panels, but rather sites that offer you a “reward” for signing up for an offer that just results in a lot of spam in your email box. Of course the survey sites want you to join as many sites as possible, because that’s more referral income for them, but the reality is that you stand to earn more money by focusing on a handful of quality paid market research panels. That is why GetPaidSurveys.com keeps our list of panels low, and only post survey panels that offer cash rewards and respect your privacy.

Okay So How Many Panels Should I join?

My recommendation is to start out by joining five to ten survey panels as a starting base. A good place to start is by choosing some panels from the current top ten survey panels featured on the GetPaidSurveys.com home page. This list represents the top panels as rated by other survey panel members, and is a good representation of some of the better survey panels available online. The key thing to remember is to take your time and not only join the survey panels, but also take the time to completely fill out the member profiles. This is key to getting future invitations from the survey panels. So depending on the time you have, that may mean only joining a few panels per day. Once you have joined five to ten panels, then I would recommend that you pause the joining process, and focus on actually taking surveys.

How much time should I spend every day taking paid surveys online and which panels should I join?

Once you have joined several panels, you will begin to receive survey invitations via email and via the member’s area in the panels that you join. One thing that you will notice is that some panels like GlobalTestMarket and Surveyhead will have many surveys for you to take, while others like HCD Research, Epoll, and American Consumer Opinion will have fewer survey invitations. My suggestion to at first try to take most of the survey invitations that you receive that offer a monetary value, and maybe participate in a few that just offer sweepstakes entries, especially if the survey topic interest you. Once you get a feel for which survey panels work best for you, you may want to change the amount of time you focus on each panel, and maybe dedicate a little time to exploring more of the panels on our site. Most surveys take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to complete, so if you have an hour a day to take surveys, maybe focus on taking your top three or four invitations per day.

Also, just because a panel does not send many invitations does not mean its a bad panel. For instance, HCD Surveys does not send many survey invitations, however the ones that they do send are very interesting and often offer a good reward for the time spent on the panel. So when I get an invite from HCD Research, I will often do that first, then go on to some of the other panels. With a little experimentation you will find which survey panels interest you most, and which ones are the best use of your time.

In conclusion

There is no magic number of survey panels you should join, or a set amount of time that you should spend on taking surveys. The bottom line is that you should participate in the panels that you enjoy and dedicate the time and effort you can spare to participating in these panels. If you follow these basic steps, taking survey online can be both rewarding and a fun activity. You will find that you qualifying for more surveys, and get invited to more follow up surveys that yield higher rewards and bigger prizes.

Opinion Outpost is my third best earning website over the last two years. I earned and received $391.80 since February 4, 2008 and here are a few tips that I have for achieving results comparable to mine.

• Tip #1 – Complete Your Profiles

The first tip after joining Opinion Outpost is to go to

Member’s Page and log in to the Dashboard.

Then click on the ‘My Profiles’ tab.

Here you will see nine Member Profiles, including General, Health, Household, Technology, Leisure & Activities, Personal Finance, Personal Vehicles, Professional, Shopping and Travel that take about five minutes each to complete. Make certain that you update these at least once per calendar year and more often if you experience a significant change such as moving, purchasing a new vehicle, being diagnosed with a new health condition, etc. that might affect the surveys that you qualify for.

• Tip #2 – Respond to Survey Invitations as Soon as Possible

Surveys don’t close quite as quickly as with SurveySpot and GTM because they tend to fill more slowly, but I have found that by going to the website daily and clicking on the ‘Available Surveys’ tab in the Opinion Outpost Member’s Area you will often find surveys that you have not yet attempted.

• Tip #3 – Check Your Rewards on Opinion Outpost’s Website

Also located under the ‘Survey History’ tab is a well-organized listing of all of the surveys you have taken with survey status, such as:

Surveys marked ‘Closed’ means that you did not click on them soon enough. Surveys that have the word ‘Started’ beside them may have been overlooked and can often be completed, but more often they will allow you to close out the survey and click on the instant $50 reward or $750 Sweepstakes buttons that usually appear after being disqualified from a survey.

• Tip # 4 – Add Survey Email Addresses to Your Allowed List

Add the email addresses of every survey panel, such as OpinionOutpost.com to your email allow list to make certain that you receive surveys. This goes for every survey panel, especially if you were receiving email invitations and they suddenly stopped. Always check your spam filter to make sure they are being allowed!

Opinion Outpost is one of the very best survey panels for me and has been for over two years. Many good things have come to me from answering their surveys honestly and accurately. Now, you can receive Amazon.com gift certificates instantly if you do not want to wait four to six weeks for a check. If you follow these simple tips, I think you will find they will also become one of your top earning survey panels.

Global Test Market is my second best earning website over the last two years. I earned and received $408.15 since March 1, 2008 and here are several tips that I have for achieving results comparable to mine.

• Tip #1 – Complete Your Profiles

The first tip is exactly the same as for SurveySpot (and every other survey panel!) Go to http://www.globaltestmarket.com/ and click on the ‘Surveys’ tab. Here you will see 10 Profile Surveys, including Basic, Household, Employment, Travel, Vehicle, Medical, Technology, Financial, Purchases and Interests that take about five minutes each to complete. Global Test Market will send you an email reminder at the beginning of each year, so it is not necessary to update them any more frequently unless you make changes, like moving, purchasing a new vehicle, a new health condition is diagnosed, etc. that might affect the surveys that you qualify for.

• Tip #2 – Respond to Survey Invitations as Soon as Possible

The second tip is also similar to SurveySpot: click on the paid survey email invitations the very first thing each morning. Some of these will be for sweepstakes, so I save those for last. At the end of the day, if you have time, go to http://www.globaltestmarket.com/ and click on the ‘Surveys’ tab. Below the Profile Surveys you will see a section devoted to surveys that you have not yet completed. I will complete these even if they are for a sweepstakes entry because occasionally they lead to a higher-paying Invoke Interactive or product test. The only way to know is by doing them!

• Tip #3 – Check Your Rewards on GTM’s Website

It’s been my experience that you do not have to keep track of the surveys completed for Global Test Market because they credit you immediately on their website. Click on the tab ‘Rewards’ and under ‘Rewards Account Balance’ you will see ‘View Recent Market Points Activity’. There you will find all of your rewards neatly organized by transaction date, time, type (survey or redemption) and amount of points. You can also review your sweepstakes entries by clicking on ‘View Recent Sweepstakes Entries’. Note: the points balance on email survey invitations will not always reflect the most up-to-date total, so do not worry about this.

• Tip #4 – Check the GTM Blog Before Ordering Checks

Once you have reached 1000 points ($50) you may request a check, but make sure you check the Global Test Market blog located at http://blog.globaltestmarket.com/ to determine the exact dates that checks are delivered. Most people don’t even know this blog exists but it’s updated every single month and occasionally has important announcements and survey tips!

• Tip # 5 – Add Survey Email Addresses to Your Allowed List

One tip that I forgot to mention in the first article is to add the email addresses of every survey panel, such as surveyspot.com and globaltestmarket.com, to your email white (or allow) list to make certain that you receive surveys from SurveySpot and GTM. This goes for every survey panel, especially if you were receiving email invitations and they suddenly stopped. Always check your spam filter to make sure they are being allowed!

Global Test Market is one of the very best survey panels for me and has been for over two years, which is why I sometimes take surveys just for a sweepstakes entry because I know they are completely legitimate and many good things have come to me from answering their surveys honestly and accurately. If you follow these simple tips, I think you will find they will also become one of your top earning survey panels.

This post is the first of several that will include some very specific pointers on taking surveys from several of my favorite paid survey panels. These tips will hopefully help you to maximize your earnings, while spending the least amount of time possible. The first survey site that I will address is SurveySpot, my number one earner with $485.80 earned and  $445.80 received since January 30, 2008.

• Tip #1 – Complete Your Profiles and Keep Them Updated

The first thing everyone should do to increase their odds of receiving and qualifying for surveys is to go to www.surveyspot.com and click on My Profile. Here you will see 14 profilers, including Home Address and General Profile and 12 others that take from one to five minutes to complete. You need to complete these before you take any surveys and review them frequently to make certain that your information is up to date. This is true for every survey site, but is even more important for your best sites, like SurveySpot.

• Tip #2 – Respond to Survey Invitations as Soon as Possible

You never have to go to SurveySpot’s website to take surveys, but you should click on the email invitations as soon as possible. What you should watch for carefully each day are the surveys that are worth between 300 ($3) and 1000 ($10) points. Click on these first every morning!

• Tip #3 – Keep Records of the Surveys that You Complete

Even though SurveySpot has a points system now, it is a very simple, practical system where one point equals one penny and 100 points equals $1. Once you have 1000 points ($10) you can redeem your points for cash via PayPal; however, I recommend doing one simple thing before cashing out. Keep a record of every SurveySpot email invitation for points that you have completed in a special Survey folder in your email. After they have been credited on the SurveySpot website under the Rewards History tab copy and paste the survey number from the Rewards History into the Search Mail box and find the matching survey, then delete the email. Check the list of completed survey invitations against SurveySpot’s online Survey History and every other month or so contact SurveySpot with the list of surveys that have not been credited. They will generally credit you for completed surveys and give you the benefit of the doubt if uncertain.

• Tip #4 – Answer All Surveys Consistently and Honestly

Another important tip which is relevant for all survey panels is to make sure that you carefully answer all of your survey invitations consistently and honestly, as most survey panels have questions built into the surveys to catch those whose answers are not consistently honest. Providing quality feedback will help ensure that you receive more survey invitations in the future.

• Tip #5 – Check For Past Rewards on the Old System

The final thing that I will mention about SurveySpot is to remember to check for rewards under their old system by clicking on the word ‘here’ under this statement found on the main SurveySpot online website: ** We notice that you have unclaimed rewards in our old system. ** If you cannot find this link then go here: https://www.surveyspot.com/panelist/PanelistManager to collect your rewards from the old system.

SurveySpot is the very best survey panel for me and has been from the start. If you follow these simple tips, depending on your own specific demographics, I think you will find they will also become one of your top earning survey panels.

Are you making the most of the survey panels you belong to? I have a few tips on my favorite survey sites that have helped me make a couple thousand dollars over about the past four years. In many cases, it is something you should have already known but didn’t bother to read the small print or just didn’t think it would matter. But my time is valuable, and I am sure your time is too, and I want to maximize my ability and chances to earn money taking surveys.

One of my most favorite sites is Survey Spot, although recent changes have really disappointed me. Of course you already respond to survey invites but did you know you can access far more surveys by logging into their site multiple times a day. I have found by logging into their site I can take as many as 6 to 8 surveys, one after the other. Most only offer a sweepstakes entry for completion but you can usually find a couple of paying surveys to take too. I am not saying there will be surveys to take every time you log in, but if you limit yourself only to the survey invites you get in your email then you are really missing out on some opportunities. And, another tip about Survey Spot, make sure you always play the instant win game at the completion of a survey or survey attempt. If you are like me you wonder if anyone really wins anything beside additional sweepstakes entries. Well, I am living proof that people do win the cash. Last year I was fortunate enough to win a $250 prize. So persistence can pay off.

Another favorite is HCD Research. I don’t get a great many survey invites from them but the one thing I have learned is to take the surveys just time you get the invite. HCD surveys fill quickly; either that or they have a small sample size per survey. I generally find I qualify for most of their surveys so the key is to take it as soon as you receive it.

GlobalTestMarket is also at the top of my favorites list. The most important tip I can offer for them is to complete the profile surveys. In the past they offered five points ($.25) for each completed profile and have had promotions offering the same points if you update your profile surveys. I also like the fact that when you cash in your points, you can check their blog to get an idea as when to expect your money. Each week they update their blog to tell you other weeks worth of checks are in the mail.

Back to completing profile surveys, for those sites that offer them, that is a key component to receiving survey invitations. It helps the survey panel to send out surveys to those members who meet a specific profile and of course it means it is a little less likely you will receive a survey invite for a survey you are not likely to qualify for anyway. And, without question, that has to be the most frustrating and annoying aspect of any survey….spending 10 or 15 minutes on a survey only to find out you did not qualify.

Another general tip for all survey panels is to sign up for a PayPal account. Most of the time, it takes several months to build up your account to the point where you can finally cash out. And then you find out the reward for all your hard work is still four to six weeks away, sometimes even longer…because they have to mail you a check. A lot of survey sites now use PayPal and that usually means you get your cash within a day of cashing out, certainly not more than a couple of days. PayPal accounts are free and are useful for activities other than surveys.

Finally, it is a great idea to keep a log of all surveys taken. I categorize mine by survey panel and then log in each survey taken and include the date, amount and survey number. Mistakes happen and there have been several occasions over the years where I didn’t get credit for a completed survey. I was able to provide the specific information each and every time I was given proper credit.