• Section: Money Guide - Category: Home Business
• Written by Gail Kavanagh

Paid online surveys have a lot to offer in return for your time and effort. After all, if you are surfing anyway, why not do it in a way that's profitable?

But first you should know what to avoid. Sign in only to genuine survey sites that offer clearly stated rewards. Pay per click sites, which promise a lot for clicking on to links send by email, are mostly scams, and pay very little when they do pay.

Fortunately for Internet users interested in making money on the side, there are many sites which do offer consistent and worthwhile rewards. Make sure you are joining a recognized survey site, which does actually send paying surveys by email.

One way to check a site out before you commit to joining is to Google it, and seek out forums where such sites are discussed. If someone has been scammed they will usually want t

o let everyone else know.

Once you have chosen your survey sites and joined up, your next focus is on getting as many surveys as possible. For this reason, it is important that you fill out as much of your profile as you can.

Your profile on a survey site is what matches you up with surveys being offered. The more interests you have, the more information you put in your profile, the more surveys you can be matched with.

Never ignore a part of the profile because it doesn't interest you, or you don't have a car, for example. If you had a car, what would your car owner profile be like? If you could have any car you wanted, what would it be like? Don't lie or make things up, but look at your profile from all angles. You could be eligible for many more surveys than you realize.

When you receive a survey in your email box, attend to it immediately, or at the earliest opportunity. Surveys often have a short life span, or close when the quota of respondents is reached. The sooner you get in, the better chance you have of being able to complete the survey.

Don't be discouraged if you don't pass the survey criteria. Quite often surveys are confined to a particular segment of the population, such as young parents, seniors, or males 18-30 that live in Buffalo, for example. You will be screened for your appropriateness to this demographic with questions about your sex, age and location, and any other important information.

But if you have other members of your household that fit these criteria, you may often get a second chance at the survey - for example, you might be asked if there is someone under 14 present for a survey about video games or toys. Always include the different members of your household who could help you pass the criteria for a survey.

Surveys are becoming more complex in presentation, with sound and graphics often included. Make sure you have the relevant programs on your computer, and that you can both hear and see different components of the survey. Surveys will often test your computer to make sure it has the system requirements.

If you have any difficulty with a survey, it may be your Internet browser. Some survey components do not run well on Mozilla, for example. Call up Internet Explorer and re-enter the survey.

When you are engaged in the survey, answer the questions to the best of your ability, choosing the answer that is closest to your own response. Don't try to skip the questions or use the comment boxes for anything other than fair, clean comments. Your reputation as a responsible survey participant is important to you.

So, how rich will you get? Well, it is highly unlikely that surveys will make you rich. But what they will do is provide you will a nice little side line and some not-to-be-sniffed at rewards.

For example, my survey rewards include a new cordless telephone, too many 20 dollar store vouchers to count, entries into lotteries and competitions, and the opportunity to try new products before they come on the market. Not bad for someone who does even devote a great deal of time to taking surveys.

Taking surveys is a fun hobby, and you get to voice your opinion and help influence the marketing of ne

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