Topics

Most of the E-Poll survey topics have to do with entertainment and advertising. Some of the surveys will ask you if you watch particular TV shows (particularly cable shows), so if you’re a big TV-watcher, you will probably do well with E-Poll. I watch a lot of reality TV and talk shows, so I’ve gotten a lot of surveys related to those topics. The most fun surveys will ask you to watch a TV show and then voice your opinion about it after it’s over. Although these surveys are long (ranging anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour), they are entertaining and you get to see some TV shows before they actually air on TV. Other times, they will ask you to watch a TV show at home on your television when it airs. After you watch it, they send you a survey the next day or so for you to take and review the show. Sometimes they will also send you a DVD of a TV show or movie to watch at home, but that’s only happened to me once or twice.

Other surveys can be on the tedious side, however. These involve being asked if you’re familiar with a particular celebrity, character, or TV show. If you say you’re familiar with them, you will usually then be asked a long series of boring, repetitive questions about how you feel about the particular topic. The questions that ask you to assign certain personality characteristics to each person or TV show are the dullest, in my experience. These particular surveys can be pretty long depending on how familiar you are with the topics being discussed and sometimes I just skip them entirely because they don’t reward you very much for taking them.

Invitations

Survey invitations are sent to your email address when there is one available to take. They list how much the survey is worth and occasionally list the topic. The frequency of survey invitations really depends on the person and their demographics. For myself, I receive at least a couple surveys a week from them. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less. Surveys that have you watch a TV show and review it are rarer and I usually get those every couple of months or so. Surveys fill up quickly, so it’s best to take them as soon as possible. Most surveys range from 10-15 minutes to an hour or more if there’s a video to watch.

Website

The website itself is straightforward and easy to navigate. There is a simple profile section that you can update whenever you like. The questions are short and include your gender, marital status, ethnicity, education, income, and employment status. You can view your survey and reward history by clicking on the “activity summary page” link on the main page or the “Order History” link on the “E-Poll Rewards” page.

Rewards

E-Poll uses a points system to reward survey-takers. Most surveys are worth 500-1000 points. Some pay less and some only reward you with sweepstakes entries. Points are added to your account immediately after completing a survey, which is a plus. You can view the number of points you currently have by logging into the E-Poll website and clicking “E-Poll Rewards” at the top of your account.

Rewards include gift cards and PayPal. Gift card options include Amazon.com, Best Buy, Target, Home Depot, and restaurants. A $5.00 gift card (or PayPal deposit) is worth 3500 points (the lowest amount you can cash out for), while a $30.00 gift card (or PayPal deposit) is worth 17250 points (the highest amount you can cash out for). Unfortunately, it takes 6-8 weeks for rewards to be processed and sent. This is one of the drawbacks of their reward system. In my experience, it does take a few weeks to receive your reward. Other than it taking a while to receive a reward, I haven’t had any issues cashing out for Amazon.com gift codes or PayPal deposits.

Support

Technical problems are rare in my experience. I usually use Firefox to take their surveys and watch any videos I need to watch. I haven’t had any issues so far with that. A fast internet speed is pretty much required to watch any of the longer videos. If you experience any problems, you can email their support department and they will usually respond within a couple of days or less, in my experience. There is also a Help Center with various FAQs sorted by category if you need an answer to a general question.

Conclusion

All in all, I recommend giving E-Poll a try, especially if you watch a lot of TV shows and movies. Having cable will also help a lot since many of the TV shows asked about only air on cable. Although they don’t pay as much per survey as other survey panels, most of their surveys are generally fun to take, especially the ones involving reviewing new TV shows or advertisements.

For current members of E-Poll, how is your experience with them? Any comments and tips are most welcome.

Mindfield Online has completely revamped their site and now offers checks, PayPal and Amazon gift cards and is much easier to navigate. Beginning May 1st, 2012 the threshold to cash out your account using the Standard Check option was increased to $10. The cash out threshold using the Standard Check option will be further increased to $20 on July 1st, 2012. Most survey panels are now realizing that the cost savings of using PayPal outweigh tedious and time-consuming check cashing policies. The minimum cash out threshold for Amazon gift cards or PayPal is still $5.

There are 11 Profilers that I recommend updating at least once per year. Mindfield does not remind you to do this, so you should be proactive in doing so. They have an excellent Survey History, so there is generally no confusion concerning completed surveys. Although I have challenged them in the past, they usually are correct.

Mindfield Statistics

Since February 18, 2008 I have attempted 449 surveys, about nine per month. Of those 449 attempted surveys, 347 were not credited for various reasons, leaving 102 completed and credited, about 23% completion rate, or about two per month. I was disqualified from 168, about 38% disqualification rate. The surveys had reached their quota 116 times, about 26% over quota rate, which usually means you did not start or complete the survey before your demographic was filled. 55 surveys were recorded as ‘Did Not Finish’, about a 12% incompletion rate, which I find rather difficult to believe. Eight surveys were closed before I began them, less than 2%. My conclusion is that the qualification and completion rates on Mindfield are much lower than on other sites, which mostly explains why Mindfield Research Online, in spite of an excellent new website and great customer support, will never be more than average, with regards to earnings, for me personally.

Mindfield Research Online also has a Transaction History page which shows only completed and credited surveys. I have 102 recorded as having been completed and credited on the Survey History page. 50 of these were for $1, 23 were for $2, 12 were for $3, three for $4, four for $5, three for $6, four for $7 and two for $10 with one survey ‘Pending’ for $1; therefore, the average amount for surveys completed is $2.26, which is not too bad considering that very few Mindfield surveys run more than 30 minutes.

On the Check History page, it notes that I have cashed out 25 times, mostly for $5 or $10 checks until PayPal was added in February 2010. The Amazon gift card option was added on July 26, 2011 and I have used that once. My recommendation is to cash out via PayPal as soon as you reach $5 because there is no real advantage, other than simplifying your bookkeeping, in waiting longer. My best monthly earnings with Mindfield are $20 in February 2009, $17 in May 2011, $12 in both June and November 2010, $16 in April 2012 and $10 in January 2012. The monthly average for my earnings over the past four years is $4.51.

Conclusion

The most frustrating aspect of Mindfield Online, aside from not qualifying for very many surveys, is waiting for the incentives to be credited to your account, which generally takes from six to eight weeks and sometimes longer. Currently, I only have one pending survey from March 26 that I am waiting to be credited, so they have improved in this respect. All in all, Mindfield Online is one of the best panels in terms of having a great website that allows you to track your surveys, earnings and checks/PayPal disbursements very easily in a number of ways, great customer service that always replies quickly with accurate helpful information and surveys that are well-designed, easy to navigate, not too long and fairly compensated. Mindfield Online is considered a ‘keeper’ by virtually everyone that takes paid online surveys.

Do you have any comments about Mindfield Online? We’d love to hear them, leave your thoughts below!

About 15% of my earnings are from product tests and Invoke Interactives. I do not keep track of prizes or free products, but I do include contest wins. I only add in points accumulated after they have been redeemed due to the difficulty of calculating point values. This month’s product tests include a $300 brand-name printer with 16 ink cartridges that I get to keep after four weeks.

1. MySurvey
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $925
   • Total Earned This Month: $36.86
   • Monthly Average: $18.50
   • Last Payment Received: $15 on March 15 and $20 on March 21
   • Last Payments Requested: $10 on March 26
   • Joined: February 2, 2008
   
   

   In March I completed 13 surveys out of 14 attempted for 4055 points ($36.86). That is an average of $2.34 per survey completed. Five (5) points ($0.05) are awarded for survey disqualifications. Only five of the surveys I completed were for more than $1; however, I did complete the Business Diary for 2000 points ($18.18) on March 10 and the AdSelector survey for 1000 points ($9.09) on March 7. The product tests are the main reason I stay with this site.

   
2. Opinion Outpost
   
   
   • Total Earned: $1332.40
   • Total Earned This Month: $44
   • Monthly Average: $26.65
   • Last Payment Received: $50.50 check on March 9
   • Joined: February 4, 2008
   
   

   In March I completed 39 surveys for 440 points ($44) out of 132 attempts. That is an average of $1.13 per survey completed. Opinion Outpost has merged with SurveySpot, which means that all of the surveys now come from the same company; however, Opinion Outpost has added PayPal and also allows you to cash out at 1000 points ($10) now.

   
   
   
3. GlobalTestMarket
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $1137.40
   • Total Earned This Month: $26.75
   • Monthly Average: $23.21
   • Last Payment Received: $50.50 on March 8
   • Last Payment Requested: $50.50 on March 4
   • Joined: March 1, 2008
   
   

   In March I completed 15 surveys for 535 points ($26.75). That is an average of $1.78 per survey completed. I was able to complete one survey for 60 points ($3) on March 28, which was the highest paid survey from GTM last month.

   
   
   
4. Toluna
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $862
   • Total Earned This Month: $20
   • Monthly Average: $17.24
   • Last Payment Received: $20 check on March 7
   • Last Payment Requested: $20 on March 7
   • Joined: February 11, 2008
   
   

   This site requires the most amount of time and effort relative to my earnings. I am now skipping all surveys for less than 3000 points ($1). I guess I am only willing to do enough work to earn $20 per month or so.

   
   
   
5. Surveyhead
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $733.85
   • Total Earned This Month: $14.60
   • Monthly Average: $19.70
   • Last Payment Received: $25 PayPal on March 2
   • Joined: February 2, 2009
   
   

   In March I completed 12 surveys for $14.60. That is an average of $1.22 per survey completed.

   
   
   

Do you have a list of favorite survey panels? Please leave a comment below and let us know some of the survey panels that work best for you.

I did about average with most survey panels this month. My top earners were SurveyHead, Global Test Market, Valued Opinions, MySurvey, and Toluna. I think my current personal favorites are Global Test Market and Valued Opinions because I get the most surveys from them and qualify for most. SurveyHead has also been worthwhile for me.

I also received a good amount of product tests this month including popcorn, crackers, tissue, toilet paper, personal care products, and cat litter.

Rankings are based mainly on what I earned for the month from each survey company, as well as the number of survey invites.

Here are my current top earners for March:

1. SurveyHead
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $725.00
   • Total Earned in March: $18.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $25.00 PayPal on March 22, 2012
   • Joined: August 15, 2008
   
   

   I did pretty well again with SurveyHead this month. I took part in a few surveys worth $4.00 to $5.00 each and also participated in an in-store survey using my iPhone that paid $10.00. Although survey rewards can remain pending for a long time, I still enjoy participating in their surveys. I like that they don’t use a point system; it makes things less confusing because I know exactly what I will be paid for each survey right off the bat.

   Here is a screenshot of my latest SurveyHead redemption:

   

2. Global Test Market
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $450.00
   • Total Earned in March: $15.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $50.00 check on February 29, 2012
   • Joined: September 21, 2008

   I’m still really loving Global Test Market. I’m already very close to cashing out again, which is awesome. I continue to get a lot of surveys from them each week and I’ve noticed more higher-paying ones have popped up recently that I’ve qualified for. I really can’t complain about them at the moment as they’re doing very well for me. I can’t wait to cash out again with them.

3. Valued Opinions
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $490.00
   • Total Earned in March: $12.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $20.00 Amazon.com gift card on March 13, 2012
   • Joined: September 5, 2008
   
   

   I’m still doing pretty well with Valued Opinions. I receive a lot of surveys from them each week and qualify for most as long as I get to them on time. Their surveys can fill up really fast. I have a lot of survey money pending with them right now, but I’m hoping to cash out again very soon.

   Here’s a screenshot of my latest Valued Opinions redemption:

   

4. MySurvey
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $600.00
   • Total Earned in March: $10.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $25.00 Amazon.com gift card on November 25, 2011
   • Joined: October 22, 2008
   
   

   I honestly haven’t been getting many surveys from MySurvey lately, which has been disappointing. I used to get a lot from them each week, but the number has really dwindled the past couple of months. Although I took part in a couple product tests from them this month, I didn’t earn very much from them. I also haven’t cashed out with them since last November as my focus has been on other survey panels.

   Even though they’ve been slow, I still enjoy taking their surveys for the most part. I will be cashing out with them very soon.

5. Toluna
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $920.00
   • Total Earned in March: $8.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $20.00 check on March 23, 2012
   • Joined: August 15, 2008
   
   

   I’m still not a big fan of Toluna, but I do go there to look for higher-paying surveys, product tests, and those hard-to-find online focus groups. It can just be frustrating and time-consuming to sort through all the surveys on their website that pay very little for the time invested. I did cash out with them recently, though. It took quite a while to earn that $20.00 check because they’ve been so slow for me lately, but I managed to do it. Here’s hoping some high-paying Invokes pop up next month.

I did make a little over $100 this month, despite not spending much time on surveys. This was partly due to two research panel opportunities, which paid $30 between them. Sadly, there were no product tests for me this month.

My top five survey panels for March were:

1. SurveyHead
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $21.50
   • Total Earned since Joining: $105.90
   • Date Joined: November 2, 2011
   
   

   The two things that I really dislike about SurveyHead are that they take a LONG time to move surveys from “pending” to “earned” and that they change “pending” to “invalid” with no explanation. Any contact with support gives a message that their customers are allowed to throw out surveys that don’t meet their needs, but it is very frustrating to spend a lot of time on something and then not get paid when you know you did the work correctly. Of course, this only seems to happen on the long surveys worth $3 or more, which makes it very frustrating. On the other hand, this doesn’t happen often, and the number of surveys that I do qualify and get paid for definitely adds up quickly. When I actually spend time on their site, I can easily earn $25 or more in a month. One of my highest earning sites for sure.

2. Opinion Outpost
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $15.50
   • Total Earned since Joining: $353.60
   • Date Joined: December 13, 2010
   
   

   Opinion Outpost has rapidly gone downhill in my estimation. A few months ago, I was earning $40-60 a month with them, and now I’m lucky to get $20. The majority of the problem is that they’ve reduced the points values on their surveys, so that half-hour surveys are now sometimes only worth $1 instead of the $3 I would have expected a few months ago. Besides that, I run into technical glitches, survey errors, etc., more often, which leaves me taking many screenshots and having to contact support to get each and every one resolved. Support usually does do a good job in resolving the issues and crediting me for the points, but having to do this takes up my time and leaves me not really wanting to spend time at their site.

3. Valued Opinions
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $9.00
   • Total Earned since Joining: $27.50
   • Date Joined: November 7, 2011
   
   

   I still have not cashed out with Valued Opinions, despite having earned enough. The problem is that most of my funds are still “pending.” I’ve also experienced some issues with “pending” amounts disappearing without a trace. Support is lacking as I am having a hard time getting a response. I sent a message two weeks ago, and got an autoreply saying that they’d get back to me soon… no response yet. I’ve tried calling twice and only got a message. I left a message this time, we’ll see if I ever get a response. It’s a shame, as the amounts that Valued Opinions pays for a completed survey make them worth the time… if they don’t disappear!

4. Ipsos I-Say
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $6.25
   • Total Earned since Joining: $74.05
   • Date Joined: January 26, 2011
   
   

   I-Say is one of my least-favorite survey sites, as their survey values vary dramatically. Some surveys are worth the effort (I once had a 1-hr survey for $11.00), but a lot are not (such as the many half-hour surveys for $0.90). I’ve been picking and choosing so that I only take the surveys that are worth my time. The nice things about I-Say are that many (not all) of the surveys you disqualify from give you 5 points ($0.05), and they also award bonus points for completing a certain number of surveys. The more you complete, the higher your bonus gets.

5. MyView
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $4.00
   • Total Earned since Joining: $58.50
   • Date Joined: September 21, 2011
   
   

   I only took a few surveys here this month, as I was busy. That may change next month.

Over the next couple of months, I plan to cut the number of survey panels I use dramatically, and focus on the top few money makers. I think that will let me use my time more efficiently, and also help reduce the survey burnout that’s been building up.

My highest moneymaking panels have been OpinionOutpost, CVSResearch, SurveyHead, GlobalTestMarket, and PineCone Research. We’ll see what happens!

• Day 1: Complete Your Profile Surveys
• Day 2: Get Organized with Free Resources
• Day 3: Understand Survey Disqualifications
• Day 4: Fit Surveys Into Your Daily Routine
• Day 5: Take Advantage of Special Survey Opportunities
• Day 6: Maximize Your Earnings

• United States Paid Surveys
• Canada Paid Surveys
• United Kingdom Paid Surveys
• Australia Paid Surveys

• Note: Since GetPaidSurveys is located in the United States, we’ll be using US Dollars (USD) in the examples below. However, if you do not use USD, the numbers will be different for your local currency. You can still use the general principles we’re discussing for your survey taking strategy, and do the calculations for your own exchange rates.

Get Started with Valued Opinions

1. Join & Log In
   If you are not already a member of Valued Opinions, you can join by going to the Valued Opinions Registration Page and filling out the registration form. When registering, remember to use your dedicated email address for surveys, as mentioned in our bonus tip on Day 1.Once you are a member, go to the Valued Opinions sign In page and log in. Be sure to bookmark the sign in page or add it to your favorites so you can easily access it in the future.
   When you log in, you’ll see your “Dashboard” page. This page is the main hub of the Valued Opinions web site and everything is neatly organized so you can easily find what you’re looking for.
   
   On your Dashboard, you can check how close you are to the $20 cash out, check what surveys are currently available for you, see the status of your profile, and get help with the website if needed. You can also participate in the Quick Poll at the bottom and comment on it if you so desire.
2. Add Valued Opinions to your whitelist
   Valued Opinions will notify you of new surveys via email. To be sure you don’t miss out on these surveys, add the email address “isabel@valuedopinions.com” to your whitelist in your email.

• Complete Your Profile Surveys
  As we discussed on Day 1, profile surveys are very important. You’ll want to fill them out immediately to get the best results and the most surveys.To access your profile surveys, go to your Dashboard page. In the “Personal profile” section in the upper right, click the “Update and learn more” link. This will take you to your “Personal profile” page, where you can take part in various profile surveys that will help Valued Opinions find surveys that match your demographics and interests.To take or update a profile survey, simply click on the profile links under the “Personal profile” section.
  Note:: When taking your profiles, the first two profile surveys (“Profile” and “More About Me”) will save your information so you won’t have to re-enter it when you update your profile later. The other five profiles will appear in a separate window or tab, and you will have to re-enter all your information when you update those profiles.

  After you have completed all of the profile surveys, it is time to relax and wait for Valued Opinions to find some surveys for you!

• Check for Surveys
  Valued Opinions sends notifications via email to let you know when surveys are available for you to take. The email will list the survey topic, reward for qualification and completion, survey length, and availability. To take the survey, click the “Start your survey” link in the email. You can take the survey at your convenience, but be warned that surveys fill up quickly, so it’s best to take them as soon as possible.
  
  Not all surveys will have email notifications sent, so you can also access your current surveys by logging into the Valued Opinions website and checking your “Dashboard” page.
• Take Surveys
  To take a survey, either click on the “Start a survey” link in the email notification you received from Valued Opinions, or log in to Valued Opinions’ website and click on a survey link. Surveys will be listed by name and reward, so it is easy to identify which survey you want to take. Simply click the survey link to take the survey.If you do not qualify for a survey, you may be taken to a page which will allow you to try another survey.If you qualify for a survey and complete it, you will usually be taken to a page that asks you to evaluate and rate the survey. Simply complete the evaluation to finish the survey.
  
• Check Your Survey History
  You’re likely to be mostly concerned with your reward history. Check this by clicking the “Rewards Statement” link on the dashboard page. At the top of the “Rewards Statement” page is a bar showing how close you are to being able to cash out for $20. Next is the “All Transactions” section, which lists all of your surveys that have been credited, along with the date, survey name, amount rewarded and survey number. This section also lists the reward redemptions you have made and your rewards balance.
  
  Tip:: You can sort by month by using the dropdown menu on the top right if you want to view transactions for a specific month.
  The “Pending Credits” section below “All transactions” lists the surveys for which you have not yet been credited. You will receive your credit when these surveys close.
  • Note:: If a survey does not show up on the Rewards Statement page, you can check its status by clicking the “Participation history” link at the top of the page. This page lists all your surveys, including those you did not complete, so it is easy to find the status for your survey.
• Claim Rewards
  To claim rewards, click the “Claim rewards” link at the top of the page.
  • Note:: Remember that you need at least $20 in your current rewards account to be able to cash out.

  

  On the “Claim Rewards” page, you first choose your reward. You can pick from several offered rewards including Amazon.com and Macy’s gift cards, and a VISA prepaid debit card, among others. Once you’ve chosen a reward, you will be asked to confirm your details and choice to finalize the order.
  • Note:: If you selected an electronic gift card, you should receive a gift card code nearly immediately in your email inbox after confirming your selection. If you selected a physical gift card, you should receive it within 28 days.

Now that you’ve learned more about Valued Opinions, be sure to participate!.Tomorrow

Hopefully you enjoyed today’s lesson. Be sure to check your email tomorrow for our final lesson. If you’d rather read ahead, you can look at it now by clicking here.

Product Tests

In a product test, you will be sent a product to evaluate for a certain period of time. Sometimes this is a single product to try for a particular period of time, like using a new shampoo for two weeks. Sometimes you might be sent two possible formulas or types of a product to see which you like best. The product tests will always come with instructions on what you should do with this particular product. When you’re done with the test, you often take another paid survey to take to give your feedback for the product.Most of these tests tend to be things like household products and food, and by taking the tests you get to try interesting new products. In addition, you usually get to keep any remaining portion of the product you’ve been testing, which saves you the money you would have spent on purchasing the item.

Usage Diaries / Journals
These diaries are useful to researchers. They typically require only a few minutes of your day, but will be spread out over a period of weeks or even months, and you will receive your reward after completion. Usage diaries might be tied to a product test, where a manufacturer asks you to record every time you use an item. But more often, you might be asked to record every time you do a certain thing in your daily routine, or every time you purchase a particular item. Two examples of this:

• Example 1: For a week, after every time you change your child’s diaper, write down the number of wipes used in the diary. At the end of the week, mail the diary back, and you will be paid $10.
• Example 2: Once a week, log in to a website and list every time you bought a greeting card that week. At the end of 2 months, you will be paid $25.

1. Focus Groups: Interactive Online Surveys (“Invokes”)
   One kind of focus group is an Interactive Online Survey, a special survey where several people will be invited to go online and answer questions about products during a live session. Multiple participants are online together at the same time, often in a chat room, and interact with each other as well as the moderator. This ends up being more of a brainstorming session than a traditional survey, and can be very enjoyable.

• Tip: Sometimes short surveys that are worth little to nothing are really pre-screen surveys to determine if you are eligible for an Invoke or other similar survey. So, if you get a short survey that is worth little to no points but is on a topic that interest you, it may prove worthwhile to take the survey.

• Focus Groups: Online Communities / Discussion Forums
  Another way focus groups can be set up is through online communities. These are invitation-only private website forums with a limited number of members. You log in at your convenience during the week and offer your comments about product ideas, and can usually see and comment on other participants’ responses, leading to discussion on the product. Generally, these sites reward you after a certain amount of time, which will be explained when you sign up. For instance, you might be offered $10 to visit the site once a week for 4 weeks, with the payment at the end of the 4 weeks.

Today’s Recommended Survey Panel: Toluna

Toluna offers a different experience, with the ability to earn points not only for surveys, but also by participating in community activities.

1. Join & Log In
   If you are not already a member of Toluna, you can join by going to the Toluna Registration Page and filling out the registration form. Toluna’s registration process is very simple. Be sure to register with your dedicated survey email address, as mentioned in our bonus tip on Day 1. Also, Toluna allows you to connect with your Facebook account if you’d prefer to login with those credentials instead.Once you are a member, go to the Toluna Member Login page and log in. Be sure to bookmark the login page or add it to your favorites so you can easily access it in the future. We’ve found that Toluna tends to have many more available surveys on the website than the invitations they send, so this is a good site to check often!
2. Add Toluna to Your whitelist
   Toluna sends out many of the larger point-earning surveys directly via email, so make sure to add the email address “SurveySupport@toluna.com” to your whitelist in your email.
3. Fill Out Your Interest Surveys
   Currently, Toluna has 12 Interest Surveys (their name for profiles) that members should fill out in order to be matched to upcoming survey opportunities. Most Interest Surveys only take a few minutes, and pay 100 points upon completion.
   • Tip: Toluna occasionally adds or updates these Interest Surveys. Longtime members should watch for the opportunity to earn an additional 100 points by filling out a new or updated Interest Survey.
   
4. Understand Toluna Points System
   Toluna uses a point system which allows you to cash out for $20 once you have reached 60,000 points. 3,000 points equal $1 on Toluna, which is good to know when choosing which surveys (or other point opportunities) to participate in.

1. Take Surveys
   1. By Email:Toluna still sends out frequent email invitations to surveys. Be sure to take these surveys as soon as you can. We’ve found that these surveys often offer high points, so they tend to fill up fast.
      As you can see, the email invitations are fairly straight forward. The emails will generally list the topic, the survey ID number, the estimated length of the survey, and the points awarded on completion. Just hit the “Start Survey” button and you’re on your way!
   2. On the Website:
      After logging in, hover over the “You” category at the top of the website, and then select “Your Surveys”, as seen here:This will take you to the survey start page. You’ll see a list of statements that may or may not apply to you; choose whichever do apply (some will fill in automatically based on your previous responses), then click on the “Update my profile & start a survey” button, as shown below:
      
      This will take you to your next survey. You’ll see the topic of the survey, the points awarded, the time it will take to complete the survey, and the survey ID number. Be sure to write this ID down in case you have any questions about it later!
      
      If you are satisfied with the reward and time and want to take the survey, click the “Update my profile & start a survey” button to begin.
      • Tip: If you’re not interested in taking a specific survey, you can either hit the refresh button on your browser, or the “My Surveys” button highlighted on the left side of the screen. This will enable you to start over and try to join a different survey.

• Other Point-Earning Opportunities
  Taking surveys isn’t the only way to earn money at Toluna. There are some usual bonuses you can find on many survey sites, such as the 500 points you will earn for joining, plus 100 points for each Interest Survey you complete. You can also earn 500 points for each friend you refer who signs up with Toluna and completes his or her Interest Surveys.But Toluna also offers several other unique point earning opportunities that may be of interest to you:
  1. Sponsored Polls & Surveys
     Toluna has two different sections on its website where users can take quick surveys or polls (usually under a minute) that pay anywhere from 15 to 250 points per survey. Now, keep in mind that 30 points equals 1 cent, so these should not be relied upon solely for income. However, these may be a good way to spend a few minutes of downtime at home or at work when you may not have enough time to complete a full survey.You can find the “Quick Surveys” section listed underneath the Explore navigation bar on the top of the home page. You’ll be taken to a section listing all of the available Quick Surveys. Click on any or all of the surveys that interest you!
     
     • Tip: Many of these Quick Surveys are used as screening questions to invite you to full surveys. If you’re not interested in taking a full survey but wish to take more Quick Surveys, simply close the survey box before it redirects you to a full survey, and you’ll be returned to the Quick Surveys main page.
  2. Social Points
     Toluna also acts as a social network, allowing users to try to earn “social points” through the creation of opinion topics & polls, and advancing levels. Points earned are based on the popularity of your content, and as you earn more points you level advances. More details about this can be found by reviewing the tutorial in the members’ area.
  3. Product Tests
     Toluna has recently opened up a product test section, where users can register to be randomly selected to test the products listed. You can find this section by clicking on “Test area” under the “Rewards” tab.
• Redeem Rewards
  You can check your account balance at any time by selecting “Your points” from the drop-down menu under “You”. Here you will see a listing of all of your Quick Survey, Sponsored Polls, and Social Points, followed by your Survey History and points.
• Claim Rewards
  When you are ready to make a claim, select “Your rewards” from the drop-down menu under “You”. Then you can select from the available reward options, including Facebook credits, song downloads, and money in the form of a check.

1. Join & Log In
   If you are not already a member of Surveyhead, you can join by going to the Surveyhead Registration Page and filling out the registration form. When registering, remember to use your dedicated email address for surveys, as mentioned in our bonus tip on Day 1.
   Once you are a member, go to the main SurveyHead page and log in. Be sure to bookmark the login page or add it to your favorites so that you can easily access it in the future.
   When you log in, you’ll see the “Dashboard” page. This page gives you a summary of your reward balance (including pending rewards), a daily quick poll, the list of currently available surveys, any profiles to be completed or updated, and offers you the ability to qualify for more surveys (if applicable).
   
2. Add SurveyHead to your whitelist
   SurveyHead doesn’t send out many email messages, but there will be a few, like the one you had to click to activate your account. To be sure you don’t miss out on these emails, add the email address “support@surveyhelpcenter.com” to your whitelist in your email.
3. Complete Profiles
   As we discussed on Day 1, profile surveys are important! SurveyHead has available profiles shown in a section on the Dashboard. There are currently twenty different profiles, and most will give you a reward varying from $0.10 to $0.25, though a few profiles only reward you with sweepstakes entries. These profiles will determine what surveys you are offered, so be sure to fill them out as soon as possible.
   
4. Check for Surveys
   You will occasionally get survey invitations through your email account (as above), but the vast majority of your SurveyHead surveys will appear on your dashboard with no email notification. You must log in to see your surveys. This is extremely important! You will want to log in to SurveyHead as part of your normal routine and check for available surveys daily if possible.
   
5. Qualify for Additional Surveys
   At times, a button will appear at the top of your dashboard, notifying you that you might be able to qualify for additional surveys.
   
   Click on the “Qualify for a new survey” button, answer any additional questions and then SurveyHead will determine whether any of the additional surveys it has are a good fit for you. If so, you will have the option to either “Start Survey”, or “Skip this survey and try another.”
   
   • Tip: If you do skip the survey, it will be available for you to take later (assuming it has not filled up). So, if a survey has a low reward for the time spent, you can just skip it and try to qualify for a higher value survey first. Don’t waste your time for a low-paying survey!
     
6. Take Surveys
   When you start a survey, you will be clearly shown the survey number, survey length and reward amount. You simply click on the “Start Survey” button to begin. Like most of the other panels, SurveyHead will often redirect you to a different survey panel to take the survey, then you will be returned to SurveyHead for the reward, and a banner along the top of the Dashboard page will tell you the status of the survey you just exited.
   
7. Check Survey History
   If you click on the “Rewards” button at the top of the SurveyHead page, you’ll be taken to the “My Statement” page, which contains a summary of your activity, as well as a detailed list of each survey you’ve taken.
   
   The “Account Snapshot” at the top gives you your totals at a glance. If you want to know more about one of the items, you can hover your mouse pointer over the “[?]” symbol and a bubble will pop up, explaining what that category means.
   Below the Account Snapshot is a list of every survey you have taken with SurveyHead, the survey number (“Transaction #”), the date the survey was taken, and the reward amount and survey status. Possible statuses are “Pending,” “Earned,” and “Invalid.”
   • Note: The “Pending” and “Invalid” statuses may be confusing. The SurveyHead blog has a nice article explaining what happens during the pending process, and what might cause a survey to be marked “Invalid”.
8. Redeem Rewards
   The SurveyHead system for redeeming rewards can be a little confusing. In order to redeem, you must have at least $10.00 in your “Total Available”. However, if you want to redeem for cash via PayPal or Amazon.com gift cards, you must have at least $25 available.

   Viewing Rewards Catalog
   The “Rewards Catalog” and corresponding “Donations Catalog” are listings of ALL the available rewards, so you can see rewards that you can work towards. If you click on “Review My Reward Catalog,” you will be shown a list of available rewards for the $10.00 redemption level. You can choose another reward level by clicking the dropdown box. Some reward levels have more than one page of rewards. For instance, PayPal is currently on the last page in the $25 rewards level.

   Redeeming Rewards
   Being able to see all these potential rewards in the catalog is nice. However, you CANNOT redeem rewards through the rewards catalog.
   If you want to redeem rewards, you have to open the “My Statement” page (by clicking “Rewards” at the top of the SurveyHead page). If you have earned enough rewards to be able to redeem them, a large “Redemption” button will appear between the “Account Snapshot” summary and your list of completed surveys.

   

   Click on this button in order to choose a reward. This loads a page that looks and functions just like the reward catalog, except that you will ONLY be able to view rewards that you have enough money to redeem, and each item will have a “SELECT THIS REWARD” option next to it. Select the reward you want and finish the redemption process.
9. Redeem Often and Be Patient
   SurveyHead is very slow at confirming pending surveys and redeeming your rewards, but they are definitely one of the top paying legitimate survey sites out there.
   The single most important tip for members of SurveyHead is to be patient. It often can take 4-6 weeks for completed surveys to be moved from “Pending” to “Earned” and another 4-6 weeks before your reward is processed. Since the process takes so long, you will want to redeem your reward as soon as you have $25 earned. The nice thing about SurveyHead is that they have many surveys, so that by the time you receive your first payment, you may already have another two or three payments pending!

1. You immediately get disqualified from a survey after answering questions about your age, race, marital status, etc.
   Example: The survey panel needs 100 people in each age group. The survey is still open, but your particular age group slot is filled.

   Final Verdict: The survey study was filled for your particular demographic.

2. You get disqualified from the survey after spending a few minutes answering questions. In this case, you may spend more time because you did meet several of the prerequisites for the survey, but eventually disqualify because you did not meet ALL of the prerequisites.
   Example: The survey panel needed 30-year old females who eat out at least once a week at a specific restaurant. You are a 30 year old female who eats out once a week, but you don’t visit the restaurant they were looking for, so they cannot use you for the survey.

   Final Verdict: You do not fit the specific qualifications for the survey study.

   Note: While it may seem tempting to attempt to guess what the survey company is looking for, and pretend, for instance, to have visited a restaurant that you don’t usually visit, that is dishonest behavior. These companies are paying for your honest opinions, and the results affect the company’s decisions. By being dishonest on a survey, you mislead them and may cause the company to lose money down the road.

   If those reasons don’t convince you, remember that all survey panels have a “Terms of Service” that you agreed to when registering. It generally states that deliberately giving false information WILL cause you to lose your account, all of your rewards, and may potentially have further legal consequences.

   Remember, these survey panels are run by people who are doing their best to earn a living. If you can tell from the questions that you are likely to disqualify, don’t worry about it. Remember, you can try again with another survey!

3. You get disqualified at the very end of a survey after spending 30 minutes, or longer, answering questions and receiving a “Survey completed! Thanks” message or something similar after submitting your answers. In this case, your demographic may have been open at the beginning of the survey, but was filled while you were taking the survey. The survey panel is only paid for a certain number of completed responses, so you are disqualified.
   Example: The survey panel needs one hundred 30-year-old females who eat out at least once a week at a specific restaurant. You are a 30- year-old female who eats out at least once a week at that specific restaurant. Unfortunately for you, another 30-year old female who also eats out once a week at that restaurant was taking the survey at the same time and finished the survey before you did, filling the quota. Since the quota was now filled, your answers could not be used.

   Final Verdict: : You do fit the specific qualifications for the survey study; however, someone else with the same demographics completed the survey before you, filling the quota.

Disqualification Reasons You (usually) CAN control
The scenario that can really frustrate you is this: you spend over five minutes answering survey questions, maybe even half an hour, or complete the entire survey and then get disqualified. This can happen because the quota gets filled as stated above, or it could be due to a problem with the answers you gave.

Many survey studies have special techniques to detect whether the survey panelist is really engaged and putting effort into the survey, so that the quality of the data they obtain is good. If they feel that you are not really taking the survey seriously, they may abruptly disqualify you, even after you have spent several minutes on the survey.

Here are a few examples of survey panel quality control scenarios.

• Example 1: Question number 50 states “Answer C for this question for quality control purposes.” But you answer D.
  Verdict: You are not reading the questions.

• Example 2: The survey should take 15 minutes for the average person to get to question 30, but you do it in 4 minutes.
  Verdict: You are rushing.

• Example 3: The survey asks you “Did you eat dinner at a fast food restaurant last week?” You answer “Yes.” In a later question, they ask “How manyfast food dinners did you have week?” You answer “None.”
  Verdict: Your answers are inconsistent.
  Final Verdict: You weren’t paying attention.

Courteously Requesting a Review
Occasionally, you may get to the complete end of a survey, and then get a message saying that you disqualified, or you may get a message that says you completed the survey correctly, but when you get back to your panel, you are not rewarded for the survey you just took. You are likely to be frustrated and upset. Don’t be. Survey panels, like every other website, occasionally have glitches.

The best thing to do is to stay calm, contact the survey panel, and ask them to credit your account.

1. Contact the survey panel.
   Depending on the panel, this might be via email, web form, or even phone. Remember to be courteous. You’re more likely to get a good response if you aren’t confrontational.
2. Give them the survey number, if possible.
   They deal with thousands of different surveys daily. Just saying “a survey didn’t work” is often not enough for them to be able to find the information. You can often find the number at the beginning of the survey, or on the survey history list at the panel site.
   Tip: It is a good idea to write down the survey number and points offered, along with the date and time before you start a survey, so that you have a record if you need to contact support.
3. Describe the issue.
   If you completed the survey all the way, it might be helpful to state what the survey was about (to show that you were paying attention) and mention the last few questions you answered, along with the time that you took the survey. If you happened to take a screenshot of a page (like the completion page) that confirms your story, you may want to include it.
4. Request that they look into this.
   The survey panel should then check your account, and may be able to view or recover your responses. In that case, they will more than likely be able to credit you for completion. They will be more likely to do this if you have a history of being a good survey taker and being honest with their company. If you’re an asset to them, they will want to keep you happy.
5. No matter what the outcome is, be polite.
   In the extremely rare case that they cannot give you credit, you probably failed due to one of the other tests above (rushing, inconsistent answers, etc), or for some reason the survey panel cannot use your responses. Unfortunately, if they cannot get paid for your survey, they won’t have the money to pay you. However, in most cases, your account will be credited for the survey.

Today’s Recommended Survey Panel: GlobalTestMarket
Like our first two recommended survey panels, GlobalTestMarket has also has been in our top 10 list for quite some time and is quite popular with our members. Our members like that it has frequent surveys with reasonable point values for the time spent. The cash-out level is quite high ($50), but is easily reached.

GlobalTestMarket is free to join, maintains high privacy standards, and will never spam your email address. GlobalTestMarket is open to individuals 14 or older, however participants that are 14 to 17 years must have parental consent.

Get Started with GlobalTestMarket

1. Join & Log In
   If you are not already a member of GlobalTestMarket, you can join by going to the GlobalTestMarket Registration Page and filling out the registration form. When registering, remember to use your dedicated email address for surveys, as mentioned in our bonus tip on Day 1.Once you are a member, go to the GlobalTestMarket Member Login pageand log in. Be sure to bookmark the login page or add it to your favorites so you can easily access it in the future.
   When you log in, you’ll see the “Surveys” page. This page lists your MarketPoints Balance at the top right of the page, your profile surveys, and your current available GlobalTestMarket online surveys. There are also other links listed at the top for other things you may want to do.
2. Add GlobalTestMarket to your whitelist
   GlobalTestMarket will notify you of new surveys via email. To be sure you don’t miss out on these surveys, add the email address “frontdesk@globaltestmarket.com” to your whitelist in your email.
3. Complete Your Profile Surveys
   As we discussed on Day 1, profile surveys are very important. You’ll want to fill them out immediately to get the best results and the most surveys.To access your profile surveys, go to the GlobalTestMarket “Surveys” page. The profiles you need to fill out are listed under “Profile Surveys.” It will list ten profiles, including “Basic,” “Household,” and “Employment.”. A date will be displayed in the second column, which lists when you last updated the profile survey and its “Status” (Completed or Not Completed) will be listed in the third column. If you have not taken a profile survey yet, then no date will be listed and the “Status” will be “Not Completed.”To complete a profile survey, simply click the blue button at the far right of each profile survey. A new window will open up and you will be asked to complete a series of questions that relate to the topic of that particular profile. Once you have completed the profile survey, GlobalTestMarket may list surveys it has available for you to take. If you don’t want to take them, close the popup window and return to the main GlobalTestMarket “Surveys” page to complete the other profile surveys.
   Note:You will need to reload the GlobalTestMarket “Surveys” page for the profile survey you just completed to be shown as complete. You can update the profile surveys whenever you wish. When you update a profile, your previous answers will already be selected, so you can simply make your changes and exit.

   Once you have finished all ten profile surveys, it is time to relax and wait for the surveys that GlobalTestMarket finds for you based on your profile surveys and demographic information.

4. Check for Surveys
   GlobalTestMarket sends notifications via email to let you know if surveys are available for you. Listed in the email will be the survey number and the number of points you would earn for completing the survey. To take the survey, just click the “Start Survey” link in the email to load the survey page. You can take the survey at your convenience, but be warned that surveys fill up quickly, so it is best to take them as soon as you receive the email.
   You can also access your current surveys by logging into GlobalTestMarket and checking the “Surveys” page. Surveys are listed below the profile surveys area in an area called “Current GlobalTestMarket online surveys.” Surveys are listed by Survey number and date, so it’s difficult to determine what the survey is about or how many points it is worth until you click on it and attempt to complete it.
   Tip: Although the length of the survey is not usually specified in GlobalTestMarket’s survey invitation emails and on their “Surveys” page, you can usually judge the length of a survey by the number of points it is worth. Surveys that range from 25-40 points generally take about 20-30 minutes (give or take), while surveys that range from 60-100 points generally take 30 minutes to an hour or more to complete.
5. Take Surveys
   To take a survey, click on the “Start Survey” link in the email notification or the survey number on the “Surveys” page. Either way will take you to the survey page.
   Tip: Taking a GlobalTestMarket survey by clicking the email link is preferable because the reward points are clearly displayed in the email, while no such information is shown on the “Surveys” page.
   Like many other panels, Global Test Market often offers you a survey hosted by another panel. If you will be redirected to a survey hosted by another panel, a message will appear informing you that you are about to participate in a GlobalTestMarket-approved survey.

   

   No matter who hosts the survey, if you complete it, you will earn the MarketPoints specified. If you do not qualify, you will receive the disqualification reward. This is usually one sweepstakes entry, but can be a small number of points as well.
   After completing or disqualifying, you will often be given the chance to take another survey. On this screen, you will be clearly shown the time the survey should take, along with the rewards for completing or screening out.
   

   You can click “Absolutely! Start Another Survey” to take the survey or choose not to take it by closing the window.

6. Check Your Survey History
   To check your survey history and verify that you received points for a survey you completed, go to the GlobalTestMarket “Rewards” page by clicking on “Rewards” (at the top of the GlobalTestMarket page), and then click the “View Recent MarketPoints Activity” link.The “Recent MarketPoints Activity” page lists your survey history, along with the date taken, amount of MarketPoints received and the survey number.
   Note: You will only be able to see surveys that earned points, not those that only earned sweepstakes entries. To see your recent sweepstakes entries, click on the link at the bottom of the page that says “View Recent Sweepstakes Entries.” This will take you to a nearly identical page that lists all your surveys that have earned sweepstakes entries.
   The description will either say “Study Complete” (meaning that you finished it) or “Study Screen” (meaning that you screened out/disqualified). You can click “Next” and “Previous” to cycle through your entire survey history.
   Tip:If you do not see a survey that you completed in the “Recent MarketPoints Activity” page, check the “Recent Sweepstakes Entries” page. It is possible that a survey you completed only gave sweepstakes entries as a reward.
7. Redeem Rewards
   To redeem your MarketPoints, click on “Rewards” at the top of the page. You will be taken to the “Rewards” page that displays the total number of MarketPoints you’ve earned since joining, as well as the total number of MarketPoints currently in your account.If you currently have at least 1,000 MarketPoints in your account, you can redeem them for a $50 check. Click on the orange “Redeem” button, and then specify the amount of MarketPoints you want to redeem, confirm your mailing address and click “Yes” to complete your redemption.
   Now that you’ve learned more about GlobalTestMarket, be sure to participate! Tomorrow
   Hopefully you enjoyed today’s lesson. Be sure to check your email tomorrow for our next lesson on how to fit surveys into your daily routine. If you’d rather read ahead, you can look at it now by clicking here.