Short Version:

I’ve been a member of FocusForward.com for about two months. In that time, I’ve been invited to participate in one focus group, for which I was paid $100 in cash on the spot. All I had to do was show up and talk. Total time involved = about three hours, including travel.

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Long Version:

About two months ago, I signed up for a site called FocusForward.com, which is a focus group facilitator. Based on your demographic information, they connect you with opportunities to participate in focus groups in exchange for money.

I just completed my first assignment with them. A few weeks ago, they sent me a short survey asking questions about my cell phone use. I completed the survey, within a few days spent about fifteen minutes on the phone answering some in-depth questions. At the conclusion of the call, I was given the choice of a one-on-one interview lasting one hour, for $75, or a two-hour focus group worth $100. I opted for the focus group.

Upon arrival, I was shown into a room with about five strangers and two researchers. A video camera was mounted on a tripod and pointed at the group. The researchers showed us a couple of different website designs and asked questions about our impressions of them. We were also asked to fill several out brief questionaires.

At the end of the two hours, we were each given an envelope containing $100 in cash and asked to sign receipts for it.

The whole focus group experience was a little weird – I’m fairly reserved as a rule, and sharing my opinions with seven strangers goes against my nature. On the other hand, I just got paid $100 to eat cookies and sip lemonade. I think I can endure a little social discomfort for that.

Conclusion:

I would definitely do it again. The downside is that focus groups, like surveys, don’t come along every day. The money is nice, but don’t quit your day job.

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© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

Most of the survey companies I’ve tried are fairly straightforward about how their rewards systems work. Every time I receive an email invitation to take a survey, I know exactly how many points it is worth before I even click the link. Also, most sites have a page that tells you what your points can be redeemed for.

A few weeks ago, I signed up with a company called Big Idea Group (BIG). You qualify for “clubs” based on your demographic information. Each club has a series of activities where you answer questions about features and usability of a particular class of products, including making suggestions for what features you would like to see on a new product.

BIG uses a points system called BIG Bucks. Each activity awards a number of Bucks. I started completing activities right away, and was pretty impressed with myself when I earned 15 BIG Bucks in about 20 minutes. I wanted to know what they were worth, so I began searching for the site’s Rewards page.

Upon further investigation, I learned that BIG Bucks have no actual value and cannot be redeemed. They are just a way of keeping track of your participation in order to qualify you for their sweepstakes. In other words, Big Idea Group doesn’t actually reward you for completing surveys – they just create the illusion of rewards by giving you points that have no value. I’m usually pretty careful about reading terms of service and FAQ’s, but I guess I missed the memo on that one.

Needless to say, I will not waste any more time on Big Idea Group. Hopefully this post will save my readers a little bit of time. Opinion Outpost is still the only survey company I’ve made money with. I just received a check for $6.40 from them, and have another $10.00 on the way.

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© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

First of all, I apologize for the two-week silence. I’m down to crunch time at school, so I’ve had to limit my extracurricular activities. Finals are next week. After that, I’ll be back to posting once or twice per week.

I previously posted about mystery shopping with SecretShopper.com, and cashing out with Opinion Outpost. I received checks from both of those this week, as well as a check for Mrs. Fencepost from MySurvey.com. Here is a summary:

1. MySurvey.com: $10.00 (Mrs. Fencepost earned this one.)
2. SecretShopper.com: $23.00
3. OpinionOutpost.com: $6.40

• Total: $39.40

Once finals are over, I’ll try out some other mystery shopping providers and post about my experience.

Regards,

J

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© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

When I started trying to make money online, getting scammed and losing money were major concerns for me. As a result, I took some steps to minimize my risk. Here are a few tips based on my experience:

1. I do not ever pay money to join a paid survey site or mystery shopping provider. Legitimate companies can be easily found with a Google search, and there is no reason for them to charge a fee. They get paid by the companies whose surveys you take.
2. Before I sign up with any site, I type their name, plus the word “scam,” or “fraud,” into a search engine (such as Google) to see what comes up. I decided not to join a couple of sites based on what I found out about them through a quick Google search.
3. I avoid Get Paid To sites. These sites offer incentives for signing up for various trial offers. The problem is, most offers require you to give out your credit card number, which is billed if you don’t cancel within the trial period. Some people have reported problems trying to cancel before the trial period runs out, or being billed for other offers that were hidden in the fine print. In my opinion, the hassle and risk is not worth the little bit of money to be made that way.
4. I set up a free web-based email account solely for the purpose of mystery shopping and surveys. I call this my junk account. I did not set this secondary account to forward to my main email, even though I had the option. I assumed I’d receive a lot of spam, and I didn’t want it cluttering up my main mailbox. I log into it once or twice per day to see if I’ve been offered any new surveys, and that’s it. When I stop doing surveys, I can just abandon the email account and forget it ever existed. I recommend Gmail for this purpose.

If your online activities require to to share your email address or phone number with companies you don’t trust, there are free services for getting around that problem:

1. I set up an account with SpamGourmet.com. SpamGourmet.com is a free service which automatically sets up temporary disposable email addresses that forward to the account of your choice. I don’t recommend using this service for surveys or mystery shopping (you want to hear from those companies), but it could be useful if you are into the GPT sites. I’ve used SpamGourmet.com several times to sign up for mailing lists in exchange for an incentive.
2. Along the same lines, there are a number of net-based voicemail providers. I have an account with k7.net. When you sign up, you give them your name and email address, and they give you a phone number with a 206 (Seattle) area code. Setup is very similar to regular voicemail. When someone calls the number, they go straight to your outgoing message. You can sign in to check your messages, or you can have them sent to your email inbox as audio attachments. The only catch is you have to use the service at least once a month, or your account is deleted. I call my number and leave a message about once every two weeks just to be safe.

That’s all for now. If you think something should be added this list, feel free to post it in a comment.

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© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

Just a quick update: I earned another 15 points with Opinion Outpost, which brings me to a total of 64 points, or $6.40. Yeah, I know that’s not much money, but it took very little effort to earn it. Since I passed the five dollar minimum for cashing out, I requested a check for the entire amount I’ve earned. The process was easy: a couple of clicks and an address verification.

Opinion Outpost says to allow four to eight weeks for “processing.” I assume they are waiting to get paid before they pay me. Anyway, the check is supposedly on its way, and I’ll post when I receive it.

Update: Payment received.  See this post.

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© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

1. Opinion Outpost: I have 49 points, which is worth $4.90. I need $0.10 more to cash out. It took me either two or three surveys to reach that point. The shortest took less than five minutes, the longest took about fifteen. This site has taken the lead in my estimation.
2. Greenfield Online continues to sent me the greatest number of surveys. I usually receive at least one for a sweepstakes entry every day, and every third or fourth day I’m offered one that is worth one or two dollars. I don’t bother with the “sweeps,” and I haven’t qualified for any of their paid surveys yet. That seems odd to me, because I filled out an extensive list of screening surveys when I first joined. I would have thought they would do a better job of prequalifying before offering me a survey.
3. Lightspeed Consumer Panel has sent me several that I have qualified for, but I have not completed any of them. I abandoned them partway through, because the questions were extremely repetitive, and the points were not worth the time it was going to take.

I’ve also joined Global Opinion Panel, I.Think.inc.com, and Focus Forward Online. None of them have sent me anything yet.

Four Reasons I Like Opinion Outpost:

1. Better pre-qualifying: Opinion Outpost doesn’t offer me surveys as often as certain others, but I usually qualify for what they send me.
2. The compensation is reasonable for the time involved. Listen up, Greenfield: I’m not going to spend 30 minutes of my valuable time in exchange for a dollar or a sweepstakes entry. I might as well work at McDonalds.
3. Simple point system: 1 point = 10 cents, period. To appreciate this, you have to know that Lightspeed’s point values vary widely depending on what gift-card or product you cash out for.
4. Simple, intuitive user interface. One click tells me how many points I have. I still haven’t found that page on Lightspeed’s site.

My final test of legitimacy will be passed when I receive my first check. Opinion Outpost will probably be the first, but they say to allow 4-8 weeks for “processing.” I will report my experiences getting paid.

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© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

All surveys come with a set of screening questions to make sure you fit the target demographic profile. If you qualify, you are allowed to complete the survey. If not, you will typically receive a sweepstakes entry, but no money. The exception to this is Global Test Market, which gives you 25 cents worth of points even if you don’t qualify.

Greenfield Online continues to send me surveys, most of which only offer a sweepstakes entry for completion. I’m not wasting my time on those. Today, they offered a 20 minute survey worth $4, but I didn’t qualify for it.

I also received a few offers from Lightspeed, but so far I haven’t qualified to complete any of them.

Until next time,

Jon

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© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

In the past few weeks, I’ve signed up for the following paid survey sites:

• Greenfield Online
• Lightspeed Consumer Panel

My wife is a member of:

• SurveySavvy.com
• NFO My Survey
• American Consumer Opinion
• Global Test Market

Greenfield Online and Lightspeed have sent more survey opportunities than anyone else, but I am not impressed with their rewards structure. Most of the surveys from Greenfield offered nothing more than a sweepstakes entry. A few more offered one or two dollars if the survey was completed (20-30 minutes), and I was once offered a seven dollar, 15 minute survey that I didn’t qualify for.

Lightspeed uses a points system. Each survey you complete earns you points which you can redeem for cash, merchandise, or gift certificates. For example, you can redeem 575 points for five dollars in cash through Paypal, or 550 points for a five dollar Amazon.com gift certificate. So far, the opportunities Lightspeed has sent me have been worth 75-150 points each, with a sweepstakes entry if I don’t qualify.

We have not received any surveys from Survey Savvy, My Survey, and ACOP yet.

Top Pick (so far):

Although Global Test Market does not send as many surveys as some of the others, I am very impressed with their reward structure. For starters, they give you points even if you don’t qualify, just for answering the qualifying questions. Also, the surveys they have sent have been worth more than those from other companies.

Referral Programs

Some survey companies allow you to make money by referring your friends. In most cases, you have to give the company your friends’ names and email addresses to get credit. I think that method is too intrusive. As a rule, I never enter someone else’s email address into a third-party email form.

What’s Next?

I still have several more companies on my list to check out and possibly sign up for. Stay tuned; I’ll report on them as soon as I know something. I will also describe the “due diligence” process I’m using to avoid scams. In the meantime, I have a midterm exam to prepare for and taxes to file.

Until next time…

Jon

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© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.