Work At
Home Surveys Can Be A Great Way To Supplement Your Income, But You Will
Not Get Rich At It.
AND... You
Need To Be A Little Bit Cautious.
As many of you know, I make
every attempt to give you the straight scoop when it comes to making
money, and this article about Work At Home
Surveys
will be no different. You can make good money taking paid
surveys online, but don't believe the wild claims you read about people
getting rich doing this. So use this information
wisely and you just might come out ahead of the game.
Yes,
it is quite true that you can make money by taking paid surveys online.
But not every survey firm, website, research company or
corporation requesting the information is created equal.
Before
I begin, here is your "To Do" list as you look for paid survey
opportunities. Let's talk about keeping you safe
first.
Set
Up A Throw-Away Email Address
Paid
survey companies come an go. Unfortunately, the website names
can
remain. So, a formerly great survey website can be purchased
or taken over by
someone "less than great". To protect yourself against spam
and
unscrupulous activity, I strongly encourage you to set up an email
account using one of the free services. There are a number of
free email account services and Google's Gmail and
Hotmail are two good resources for you to consider.
Using a free email service will keep your standard email
account
clean of unwanted emails or other intrusions.
Set
Up A PayPal Account
No,
I do not work for PayPal, but PayPal is a good, secure and nearly free
service that you can use for receiving the money from your paid survey
work. I say that this is nearly a free service only because
they
do charge a couple of percent for handling the payment transactions.
Transferring money from your PayPal account to your regular bank
account is completely free however. And, you can pay nearly anyone on
the
planet through PayPal's secure service if you need to do so.
You
can even pay by credit card using PayPal.
Consider
Using A Cheap, Stand-Alone Computer
Now, some of you might be thinking this is
overkill, but I do suggest using a separate computer for your work at
home projects. This isn't mandatory, but I would rather err
on the side of caution than to not tell you this. A separate,
barebones computer doesn't have any of your personal information on it
(and do not put any personal information on it at all!). If
you use a separate computer and your firewall fails, any malware or
spyware will be isolated from your main computer. Again, I
know this is an extra expense but it is really worth avoiding the
financial shellacing you could face if your identity is stolen.
Sign
Up For A Separate Credit Card With A Low Limit
Ever bought anything online? Getting a separate credit card
for your online purchasing or for signing up for paid survey membership
sites is a good idea no matter how you look at it.
Many banks offer low limit credit cards that offer great
theft protection as well. You will thank yourself a thousand
times over if you use a credit card like this if your identity is
stolen.
OK. Now let's get to the things you should look out for when selecting a work at home survey company to start with. Find Out How You Will Be Paid... And How Much, Of Course!
Survey
companies use a variety of methods to pay their survey takers so be
sure you are satisfied with their method of payment before you sign up.
The most common payment methods are;
- Payment by check, electronic fund transfer to your bank or your PayPal account.
- Payment after you have accumulated a certain number of credits by completing a certain number of surveys.
- Payment via gift or cash cards.
- Payment by sending you products.
- Entering your name into monthly drawings for rather large sums of money.
- Payment by gift certificates at major retail outlets.
Every
legitimate survey site I've ever seen has a member section where you
can check and verify that you are receiving the proper credit for the
work you have completed. If you don't see this, don't be afraid
to ask the company where or how you can access this information.
If they don't provide it, don't sign up.
The "Don't Sign Up For Paid Surveys Myth"
There
are perfectly legitimate companies out there that earn their livings by
compiling lists of good survey sites, and they do charge you to access
this list. This causes some confusion and bad press sometimes
simply because this can easily be confused with bogus websites that
actually try to charge you for taking surveys.
There are
also some unsavory websites that really want you to purchase a wide
variety of offers, but they are disguised as survey sites. Beware
of the sites that offer to pay you (usually $20) just for signing up.
Remember! There is no such thing as a free lunch.
I
know. That sounds confusing. But you can cut to the chase
by simply looking to see if the company selling lists or directories
has a 100% money-back guarantee. The legit ones will... the
others, well.... not a chance.
There are also quite a number of
marketing research companies with sterling reputations that you might
want to consider. Download our free guide (to the right) to get
the list. Yes, this guide is free.
Software Download Required? RUN!!!!
Some
of the really underhanded survey sites will tell you that you need to
download "special software" in order to complete their surveys.
This software is special alright. It's spyware! Hopefully,
I don't have explain why spyware is not a good thing to have on your
computer. No reputable survey company will ever, ever, ever require
that you install software to take their surveys.
Read The Privacy Policy
If
a company is collecting any information about you, they are required to
have a written privacy policy clearly posted on their website. If
there is no policy, leave the site. If there is one, read it!
The policy should clearly explain what they are doing with your
personal information, how it will be handled and exactly why they need
it.
There will no doubt be a lot of legal language but
what you are looking for is to see if they intend to rent, sell or even
share your information. Some people simply don't care what
happens to their personal information, other care a lot. Read the
policy, then decide for yourself.
Signing Up With A Survey Company
Ok.
You have completed all of the steps above and found the perfect
survey company that meets all of your criteria. Now you are
ready to get started. Many of the survey companies will require
that you give them quite a bit of information about themselves... a
profile if you will.
This is really important, so pay
attention. This isn't Facebook or any other social website so
answer the questions honestly and accurately. The survey company
is trying to match you up with the best fit for your profile.
Embellishing or flat out lying about yourself is going to waste a
lot of your time and will result in you not making any money at all.
Remember! These companies do this for a living and their
reputations are on the line with their clients. You will get
weeded out in very short order, if you are less than honest.
Just
like your mom taught you. Honesty is always the best policy.
All survey companies are looking for vital input from you, the
consumer. If they find that you are great survey taker with good
opinions, you might just find that they start sending you a lot of
additional surveys... and for a lot more money.
P.S. If
you haven't already done so, download both of the FREE
PDF RESOURCE GUIDES
located in the right hand column of this page! These are my
gift to you, to help you get started making money at home.
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