Market Research is an umbrella term that encapsulates the methods companies use to seek consumer opinions about their products. They typically conduct market research before launching a new product or when they need to increase sales. The two prevalent types of market research are surveys and focus groups.
Surveys
Did you ever wonder how much money you could make taking part in surveys? No, not those annoying pop-windows that appear on your laptop screen when you’re right in the middle of comparing the price of a book at Amazon to what Barnes and Noble charges, or after ordering cat food from an online pet market. All you’ll get from those pesky intrusions is a thank you very much, and side ads galore, compliments of Google, Facebook, and the rest of the data-gathering gang.
What you need to look for are surveys that will actually pay you money for your opinions; serious surveys undertaken for the purpose of influencing the design of packaging, testing out new flavors or formulations, or even the weighing the electability of one political candidate over another.
Surveys that Pay
If you’re new to the concept of getting paid for filling out online surveys in the comfort of your home, perhaps while binge-watching Game of Thrones, or propped up in bed, watching a Netflix documentary, here’s your introduction. A word of caution, however- if you’re thinking about quitting your job in order to be a full-time survey taker, think again. These are side gigs that can be useful for making a few bucks for the holidays, or perhaps a fancy dinner or two while on vacation, they’re not alternate careers in the gig economy.
How to Get Started
The best way to get your feet wet is by signing on with a few of the online sites that curate paid online surveys. But first, another caveat; it takes time, as each one is going to involve filling in formation about yourself in order to be matched up with surveys. So patience is advised, as is signing up to as many as possible since some shut down for a hiatus from time to time.
A Sampling of Survey Sites
A recent study, a survey of surveys, if you will, rated the following survey sites the top three, and shared the pros and cons of each.
Inbox Dollars: Pros — it pays in cash rather than points, and includes a variety of content, such as short videos to evaluate, or playing lottery-type scratches. Cons — there is a minimum amount of money you must earn before withdrawing your earnings. And when you do, they deduct a $3 transaction charge.
Survey Junkie – a user-friendly platform that only takes earning $10 to cash out. Cons — offers time-consuming surveys that are difficult to qualify for.
To do your own research, just Google making money with surveys and market research.
Focus Groups
Man companies turn to focus groups as their primary form of market research before launching a new product. These are opportunities that pay better than surveys, but don’t count on them to pay off your mortgage. But if you can participate in one or two a month, your nest egg can grow.
Types of Focus Groups
Believe it or not, there are focus groups that pay as much as $100 an hour, but most of these are in-person groups and are located in metropolitan areas, so they may involve a bit of travel to get to them. Many of them require participants to establish PayPal accounts to get paid. There are also online focus groups, but they don’t pay as well.
Finding Focus Groups
As with online surveys, there are websites that act as gateways to focus groups. The following sites include both in-person and on line opportunities, as well as some that are conducted over the phone or using a webcam.
- Respondent
- User Interviews
- Inspired Opinions
- Survey Feeds
- Plaza Research
- Probe Market Research
- Survey Squad
A Final Word of Warning
You’ll never look at spare time in the same way when you can be using it to earn money. Enough said? What are you waiting for? Hit that keyboard.
Susan McCullah is an established writer who has created dozens of informative articles about credit scoring, identity theft, budgeting, taxes, debt, and finance. She has worked in the Credit Reporting industry for 15+ years and is FCRA certified. Susan regularly conducts in-person presentations and webinars on the topics of credit scoring formulation, raising credit scores, and identity theft.
