From:Karen Wren
Date:September 9, 2010
Re:Make Extra Money Online with Surveys?

Hello and thanks for visiting my blog!

With the current economic crisis in full swing, more people than ever are looking to the internet to create an additional source of income. However, successfully making money online can be extremely difficult as there are so many programs on the market to choose from, most of which could potentially lose you a lot of money.

And that is the aim of this website; to cut through the junk and inform you of some of the most effective ways to earn a living online... even if you have little or no experience whatsoever.

One of the most popular ways to make money online is to get paid for taking surveys. Now I know what you may be thinking, because I had the same thoughts when I first got started ... Do taking surveys for cash really work?

Yes, it really works!

...But you won't get "rich" by doing surveys. However, the positive part is that a beginner can do this part-time with no headaches, no hassles, and no prior experience.

Discover Which Survey Programs Work and Get Tips On How To Make Extra Money Online...

Each month I'll be sending you the most up to date information on how to supplement your income on the internet along with the best online opportunities as and when I discover them!

 

ACOP Review

Filed under: Online Surveys — Tags: , , — Cash for Surveys @ 6:40 am

American Consumer Opinion or ACOP Review

An online survey company that offers participants a chance to win a cash drawing for completing quick, fun surveys and actual cash (between $4 to $50) for completing more extensive, in depth surveys that they refer to as “focus groups.” The site contends that focus group participants generally do not make less than $50.

To join American Consumer Opinion, you need to go to www.acop.com. This will bring you to the ACOP home page where you can sign up for the site. After you complete the questions, a confirmation link will be sent to your e-mail address under the name of “Ann Parks.” The site warns that many of these e-mails end up in your bulk or spam folder, so if you are interested in receiving e-mails from the site, you should add the name “Ann Parks” to your e-mail address book.

American Consumer Opinion has been around for about 10 years. It’s a legitimate site, but, unfortunately, does not offer a lot of money. There are several pros and cons to joining American Consumer Opinions:

Some Pros:

- The site is open to international residents. You don’t have to live in the United States to participate and there is no age limit, although since many of the surveys pertain to work and other adult-oriented activities, teenagers will find the questions boring;

- There is a steady flow of both short surveys and longer questionnaires available to participants;

- Your information is private; they will never try to sell you anything, spam your mailbox with ads or telephone you.;

- The site has been around a long time and is respected in the marketing community.

Some Cons:

- There is no guarantee of earning anything for completing the short surveys, only an opportunity to win cash in a monthly drawing. To date, I haven’t won anything. Only one person wins each month and the winner receives $250;

- The cash received for participating in a lengthy survey is not paid to you by ACOP, but by the company requesting the information. You may end up waiting four to six weeks for a $4 check;

- You don’t get to pick which surveys you want to complete, you’ll receive them by e-mail;

- There are times when the site goes “down” in the middle of your survey, which means you have to take the entire thing over again. The reason the American Consumers give for this is that the site is experiencing “too much traffic.” But it is extremely frustrating.

American Consumer Opinion is a subsidiary company for Decision Analysis Inc., a Dallas based marketing research company. The company performs research for a variety of corporations around the world, including fast food chains, railroad corporations and airlines.

On a scale of one to ten, I’d have to rate this site a five. It’s not a big money maker, but is totally legitimate and private.

An alternative site that I recently discovered is called Your Free Surveys. Like ACOP, it is legitimate. We’ll have a full writeup in a future blog article. For now, they are running a special where they pay you a $4 bonus upon signup. You can read more about the site here:

http://fastsurveymoney.org/yourfreesurveysite

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Mystery Shopping Company Demystified

Filed under: Mystery Shopper — Tags: , — Cash for Surveys @ 8:03 pm

So what is a mystery shopping company?

It’s really no mystery! A mystery shopping company is a firm specializing in providing retailers, restaurants and other businesses with secret shoppers – also called mystery shoppers.

The reason? These shoppers get the benefit of experiencing a visit to the firm that an upper level management employee would never see on an official visit. Let’s say that you’re a district manager of a convenience store chain. You visit your stores weekly or maybe every other week. And you have a set day for visiting each store.

You know that the manager – if he values his job – will have every employee on his best behavior that day, the store will be immaculately clean for you and every clerk will smile at every customer, say please, thank you and attempt to up sell. It’s just human nature.

However, a mystery shopper is treated just like every other shopper on any day you – as the district manager – aren’t present. And because of this, these shoppers get the true insight of how the employees in this store are really treating customers day in and day out, how clean the store is and what the placement of products really are.

Mystery shopping has been around for more than 35 years. It’s an effective way to get a true “snapshot” of a store or restaurant.

How can you tell if a mystery shopping company is legitimate, given all the scams that seem to be out there?

Before you even make an initial commitment, discover whether the firm you’re looking at is a member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. To be a member of this organization, a mystery shopping firm must undergo an approval process. And then it must agree to uphold a set of ethical standards.

If you’re in doubt about the status of the company you’re considering working for, go to this organizations web site at http://www.mysteryshop.org/. Here you’ll find a listing of its membership. If the company you’re considering isn’t a member of this association, that doesn’t mean they’re not honest and legitimate.

When you’re considering a job as a mystery shopper, just keep one idea firmly in place: no legitimate firm will ever ask you for money to work for them. And no legitimate company will ever ask you to cash a check for several thousand dollars and mail it off to some unknown address.

Mystery shopping is a great way to get paid doing something you love. But you’ll never become insanely wealthy from it. If you keep those two thoughts in mind, you’ll have a great time as you mystery shop.

And we’ve just taken the mystery out of mystery shopping!

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I-Say.com Review

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — Cash for Surveys @ 1:13 am

If you are big on sweepstakes and think that any day could be your “lucky day” to get rich by sitting around doing nothing, then I-Say.com is the online survey company for you.

The site advertises that 50 lucky people a day will win a “prize” worth up to $100. Some of the prizes include back-packs, kitchen gadgets and other “promotional” type items. After extensively reviewing the site and prizes, I’ve yet to see anything worth $100. Once a month, someone will allegedly win a prize worth up to $1,000.

All you have to do to be eligible to win is to sign up for the site. You provide I-Say.com with information and they promptly turn around and give that same information to telemarketing companies and e-mail spammers. Once enrolled, you can complete as many “no-brainier” surveys as you like. During the course of these surveys, you’ll often be directed to other websites. You’ll think you’re still taking the survey, but in reality, you will be providing dozens of companies with your personal information.

I have one word for this site — Scam. Unless you are in the market for health insurance, an online education or diabetic supplies, be afraid. Be very afraid.

Here’s an account that actually happened to someone I know shortly after joining this site. In their words, they said…

I signed up and began taking a survey. They asked a few simple questions, then directed me to a site where I was asked to “pick” something I was interested in learning more about. I said “no” to every item. This went on for several pages before I was admonished by a notice that said they were looking for “active” participants in their “marketing partners” products. Like I was mentally incapacitated, they directed me to “look again” at a number of options. And like a dummy, I did.

“Taste of Home” is magazine subscription I’ve held in the past. But as I stopped cooking long ago, and gave up the guilt of not cooking last year, I haven’t felt the need to continue reading this magazine. But I always liked the magazine and occasionally, I think about cooking. So I clicked that I was “interested” in this magazine. I was soon directed to the site and asked to give them some information, which I foolishly did. They said they would send me a free copy of the magazine. I figured I had nothing to lose; if they billed me for the magazine, I’d simply cancel the subscription.

Guess what? They billed me the next day. On my telephone bill. Lucky for me, the bill was due and I took the time to view it online as it seemed higher than normal. I didn’t even think that they could do this; but apparently, they can.

So I now have a subscription to “Taste of Home” and a “chance” to win a prize up to $1,000 in the Ispos-I-Say monthly sweepstakes.

If you are planning on participating in online surveys for cash, make sure that they offer cash and not “sweepstakes” prizes. And make sure you are not directed to other websites. Any survey company that requires you to “support their marketing partners” is not legitimate. And realize that even if you are not giving out your credit card information, you can be billed through your telephone bill.

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