Free Paid Online Survey - What Is This? How Do You Make Money With It?

How can anything be "free" and "paid" at the same time?

When you first hear about a free paid online survey, the first question that comes to mind is, "How can something be 'free' and 'paid' at the same time?"  O.K., the answer to that is simple. 'Free' means free to take. It does not cost anything to take legitimate free paid online surveys.

If anyone tries to get you to pay to take an online survey, run (don't walk) away. You will have been talking to some kind of scam artist, not a legitimate survey maker.

After the 'free' part, (free describes your cost to take the survey) comes the "paid" part. Paid is what you get when you submit the completed survey questionnaire. You get paid to take surveys which do not cost you anything to take. Thus 'free paid online survey'.  Clear? 

The online part means that you sit down at your computer, go online and take the survey online. You don't have to go anywhere, just connect to the Internet to take the free paid online survey.

So how do you make money with a free paid online survey? The short answer is that you find good surveys to take (good ones being those that actually pay, in cash or equivalent), and then you take a lot of them. Like, take a $10 and a $25 survey every day (will take you less than half an hour) and you will make over $1,000 a month.

Now it should be pointed out that, while the idea is simple enough in concept, and the opportunity is real (survey makers really do pay out millions of dollars every month to pay free paid online survey participants), there are still some important tricks to the trade. Mostly these are about 'sandtraps' to be avoided.

First point: Out of all the surveys available out there only 1 in 5 will be a legitimate paid online survey, the kind you really want to take. 2 will be O.K. to marginal; won't pay as much but will still be worthwhile. And 2 will be disguised sales pitches or charity work (no pay). These last 2 are to be avoided.

Second point: Surveys are offered to people based on their demographics. Surveys are aimed at specific population groups defined by gender, age, location, income groups, education groups and special interests. For example, a survey may be aimed at affluent women over 40 who live east of the Mississippi in the U.S.

So you won't qualify for all surveys. This means that to get a large number of surveys to take, you will need to sign up with a large number of survey makers. There are plenty, 800+ in the U.S., 3,000+ worldwide. To make any real money you will need to sign up with 200 or so good ones.

Third point: It's not easy to get a list of good survey makers. The "time wasters" group make by far the most noise and spend the most on recruiting 'fresh meat' - to replace those that just quit! The survey makers you want don't recruit, you have to find them...

There are NO 'free lists'. Lists are paid for either by the user or by the survey makers who must recruit because of high turnover.  If you don't pay for your list of survey makers, you can bet that the survey makers on the list you get are paying the distributor of that list to recruit YOU!

Fourth point: The best way to get a good list is to join a paid survey membership site. These sites maintain lists of good survey makers for their memberships. For a small membership fee you get a copy of their list. You generally get this fee back with what you make from your first 2-3 surveys.

Fifth (and final) point: Here's your 'free paid online survey' success formula.

A. Only deal with paid survey membership sites with STRONG money-back guarantees.

B. From within this group with strong guarantees, pick one with a low refund rate. The refund rate reflects the opinions of present members. Low refund rates mean happy clients. High refund rated mean unhappy clients, standing in line to get their money back! You want to be with the happy clients.

C. Set up a separate e-mail address for your paid survey business. Expect some trash in any list you get. Use the spam filters and ability to blacklist addresses to control it. Treat it like your Grandmother treated beans straight from the thresher. Sort out the sticks and rocks, throw them away. Keep the beans.

D. As soon as you pick your site and get your copy of their list, sign up with ALL of the preferred survey makers on that list. Use your paid survey business e-mail address in all of your applications.

Be diligent. Check your in-box at least once a day. Respond to all correspondence promptly. Do not let invitations to take surveys languish in your in-box. Accept them and respond quickly. You will want to make a good impression on the survey makers.

Once you demonstrate to the survey makers that you are serious and dependable, they will usually start to send you more surveys.