An Interview With An Expert

I asked Jay a few questions relating to earning money by completing online surveys. Here is what he had to say:

Jay, tell me, when did you first discover paid online surveys and how you did you get into it?

I found out about paid online surveys when I was a Senior in High School (2011), but I didn’t really get into it until Freshman year in college. I was broke and I needed some extra cash for food and college textbooks, so I did a quick Google search and I stumbled upon some amazing stories about people making a lot of extra income online by completing online surveys. Once I got my first payment, I was hooked.

So how exactly does it work? How do we get paid? Who are the surveys for? Give us a brief overview.

Basically, you sign up for a free survey panel and fill out your profile details, like gender, race, age, etc. Once your profile is completed, you will start receiving survey invitations in the inbox of the email that you signed up with.

As for how you get paid – it is highly dependent on the survey panel. Most survey panels pay you through your Paypal. Others pay by sending a check to your home address. There are even some survey panels don’t pay you money at all; instead, you receive points that you can exchange for luxurious items and gift cards.

The most successful survey takers have patience, extra-time, and dedication. If you do not have the ability to sit in a seat for at least 20-30 minutes a day, then you cannot earn from surveys. However, if you’re like me – not making enough money, have some time to spare, and have a home internet connection (no public networks), then you can make a lot of free cash.

Online surveys and scams sort of go hand in hand don’t they? How do we find reputable sites to sign up to, and how do we avoid the scams?

Haha, yes they do. It’s honestly sad the amount of websites out there that try to scam good, honest, hard-working people out of their money, especially in this economy!

There are 2 rules you should keep in mind when it comes to joining a survey panel:

1. You should never have to pay.

2. You should never have to give out your social security number.

Survey websites that break these two rules are most often scams. However, they may ask for your address, your name, and perhaps your phone number (in order to send you surveys that fit your profile). Don’t worry – legitimate survey panels won’t send you mountains of junk mails every week and they won’t come to your house or call you.

If you want to sign up for a survey panel, I highly recommend that you try to look for user testimonials that are NOT hosted on the survey panel’s websites (we all know how biased they are). You could also look for reputable review websites. My site SurveyCashGuide. com has a Website Review section based on my personal experiences (very important for any review). PTC-Investigation. com and Surveypolice. com are also great survey review websites.

What would you recommend for a complete newbie who wants to start earning money by completing surveys – how and where should they start?

If you want to start earning money from surveys, then the first thing you should do is create a new email account. Next, you should join as much reputable survey panels as you can using the new email account that you created. The more surveys you get in your inbox, the more money you can make.

I have outlined the specifics in my 3-Step Quick Start Guide (which is free), along with the best newbie-friendly websites.

However, for those that want to start off right this second, I highly recommend that you join Opinion Outpost. After my first month, I earned $100! There’s almost no other survey panel out there that can beat that first month total.

Jay, tell us a little more about your blog, them awesome graphics, and where we can find you hanging out?

My blog is called Will Take Surveys For Food. It is a blog I created as a way to document my earnings, help others with their survey endeavors, and to show the world that it is absolutely possible to make money online.

As for the graphics – that’s Michael’s doing. He’s the mascot of my blog (you could find his picture on my header, on my sidebar, on several pages…he’s quite a narcissist). He’s in charge of all the illustrations and the website’s mailing list, which he dubs “Michael Mails”. He’s a nice guy once you get to know him.

If you want to find me (or Michael), you could visit my website and leave a comment on any of my blog posts. You could also leave a comment on my Facebook page or tweet me on my Twitter page .

Jay, thank you so much for taking the time to share all of this great information with us!