We have all been asked to fill out some kind of survey at some point while we were online. We might have filled it out the first two or three times. Most of us don't say much after that "Uh-huh. Sure, sure "and shut down.
Surveys are a waste of time and a pain in the neck that you should try to avoid. Right?
But what if you got paid to fill out the survey? That would make the subject look different, wouldn't it?
In reality, you CAN get paid for taking surveys. You might ask, "How? Who will pay me to fill out surveys?"
Good questions. You see, there are a lot of companies out there that make things and sell them through channels that keep them from talking to the people who buy their products in the end.
Where? Who? Well, just look around the next time you're in a supermarket. You'll see a supermarket chain selling thousands of products that were made, processed, or packed somewhere else and then shipped out. The company that made it packs it up, sends it out, and then someone somewhere buys it.
Watch what goes on in the grocery store. Check out the cereals for breakfast. 50–100 different products, all in brightly coloured boxes or bags, all silently screaming, "Take me! Take ME!". Someone with a shopping cart walks by, grabs one, puts it in the cart, and keeps going.
Somewhere, marketing managers can't wait to find out WHY he or she did that. Why did they choose this one, this size, this kind? Was it the high amount of fibre? Did you like the way it tastes? Did the kids ask you to do it?
These are NOT just idle questions. These marketing managers are in charge of advertising budgets that are worth several million dollars. They need to know the answers to these questions to know how to advertise, what features of their products to highlight, and what message to send to potential customers. They need to know what their average final customer, the person who decides to buy their product, thinks!
Then how do they know? They hire companies that do market research to do surveys. These surveys are aimed at the specific group of people who push shopping carts in supermarkets.
And "...surveys are useless, annoying, and should be avoided, right?" Yes, and since most people feel that way, the people who made the survey planned to pay the people who filled it out so that it would be worth their time. This includes focus groups, testing sample products, and other activities with the same general goal: to get useful feedback from people who use the companies' products now or might use them in the future.
Since the Internet makes it easy and cheap for market researchers to get feedback, more and more general surveys are being done online. With over $200 billion spent on advertising every year around the world, advertisers are willing to spend a few hundred million dollars on surveys to find out how to target their ads most effectively.
So how do you get paid for taking surveys? How do you get to the front of the line to get some of that money? Find a good guide company after you've learned more. Guide companies can tell you how and where to get started, get your name on lists of people who want to take surveys, fill out surveys, and start getting checks in the mail.
