The 4 RulesThe 4 Rules To Make Money With Paid Survey Web Sites To Make Money With Paid Survey Web Sites

Ok, let's be honest, you are not reading this article unless you want to make money taking Paid Surveys online. Listen, there is a secret that not many people know. This secret will allow you to possibly make thousands each month from the comfort of your own home. The secret...pick the right Paid Survey service. That's right most people signing up for these survey web sites sign up for inferior web sites. The key is to find the right ones.

How do you find the right site? Easy, only pick those sites with the 4 Rules below and you will be making money quickly.

* Only Use Membership Fee Sites - That's right, I said it. Free sites just do not match up. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not telling the truth. These sites are there to make money by matching companies up with us. They bring the company's surveys to us and make their money by charging us a one-time fee. But there is an upside...since these sites charge us a fee, they attract many more companies. These companies can post their surveys for free, not having to pay money to the web site. More surveys mean more money. Free sites usually don't have many surveys, and the ones they do have give out coupons.

* Sign Up For More Than One Paid Survey Site - Again, most people selling you things on the web are not going to bold enough to tell you to pay more money. But the only way to make money with Paid Survey web sites is to sign up for as many reputable ones that you can. I figure that most web sites have 10 to 25 surveys a day that you are eligible to take. Most are short and pay a few dollars. If you sign up for 3 sites, you get anywhere from 30-75 paid surveys a day. That is about $90-$225 for about 3-7 hours a day. Those are accurate earnings potential.

* Don't Quit - Most people pay the fees and join a few paid survey sites, but they stop taking surveys after a few days or weeks for some reason. I have no idea why, but that is the truth. Give it 2-3 months before you start getting invited to higher paying surveys. I am talking $100-$250 for a 1 hour survey. The companies do not want to send you a survey if you haven't taken the ones that were previously sent to you. You will stop receiving surveys to take and wonder why. So Don't Quit.

* Take A Break Every Once In Awhile - When I take Paid Surveys today, I usually only do it for a few days a week. Then I take a 4 or 5 day weekend to refresh. Taking surveys all day can be monotonous, but it beats a monotonous job I would have to drive to 5 days a week. At home I can get up and go to the store, go for a walk, or take a nap if I choose to do so. If you are doing Paid Surveys part-time after your real job, don't get burned out. Please take a few days off each week and enjoy life. I know people who started like gangbusters only to burn out and stop taking surveys. Keep in mind this can be financially rewarding and addicting, but not at the expense of your family and friends.

There you have it. If you decide to go the Paid Survey web site route (and I suggest you do), follow those 4 simple rules and you will be on your way to success. About the Author

Jeremy Noland is an expert on Paid Surveys. He has many years of experience making money on these unique websites and runs the web site http://www.paid-survey-reviewer.com

Are Paid Surveys For Real?

Do you prefer Frosted Flakes or Raisin Bran? What kind of car do you think you'll buy next? Can you name 10 brands of beer?

If you think it might be fun to answer questions like the ones above, you're a good candidate to take paid surveys.

While some people still find it hard to believe, it's absolutely true that companies are willing to pay you to take surveys. Why? It's simple; your opinions matter.

For example, before a company releases (or even makes) a product, they need to know if it's a good idea. After all, they don't want to incur the huge costs of creating and marketing something that won't sell. So they hire a market research company to survey people (like you) and find out what they think.

Similarly, some companies just want to identify trends or discover ways of improving existing products. Do you prefer their product or one of their competitor's? Why? Is it cost? Is it quality? Something else? If you could change their product to make it better, what would you tweak? All of that information is incredibly valuable to a company. And they're willing to pay for it.

That's where you come in.

All you need to do is join a market research panel. The more panels you join, the more paid surveys you'll get. The good news: there are a lot of panels online and they're all free to join. The bad news: there are a lot of panels online.

Finding the best companies to join is difficult. But you have a few options.

1) Do it yourself.

You can search online for market research companies, ask friends who may have experience taking paid surveys, etc. This can be pretty time consuming. Another difficulty may be trying to decipher which market research companies send frequent surveys or which ones pay the most. Why take the time to join a company if they're defunct, rarely send surveys, or pay minuscule amounts for your time? You'll either never receive any paid surveys or those that you do get won't be worth taking.

2) Pay a web site.

There are many web sites which claim to have extensive lists of companies that will pay to take surveys. Most of these sites charge people $35 - $50 to gain access to their list. If you go this route, make sure the list only contains active companies (so you don't waste time on companies that no longer exist) and gives details about which ones are the best to join. It's also a good idea to verify the site offers a money-back satisfaction guarantee. If you're not happy with the list or promises of riches that never materialize (some of the sites make pretty lofty claims about possible income), don't be shy about asking for a refund.

3) Visit a free web site.

If you don't want to shell out the cash, finding a web site that offers a list for free is your best option. You probably won't find a list as large as the pay sites offer but you should be able to discover at least a dozen quality companies worth joining. For most people, that's more than enough to keep them busy.

Whatever path you take on your way to becoming a paid survey expert, it's important to remember one thing: taking paid surveys is a hobby, not a job. Keep that in mind and you'll always enjoy it.

The author is the webmaster of http://www.GetPaidGuides.com, a directory of honest companies that reward people for doing things online - like taking surveys, accepting offers, and reading email

Making Customer Satisfaction Surveys Work

 

Why bother?

Good customer service is the life blood of any business. Although new customers are important good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business is likely to win many more customers through recommendations and remember, if you are not taking care of your customers, your competition will.

A Customer Satisfaction survey will help you not only identify problem areas but will also demonstrate to your customers that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide.

Where to start?

Objective - Before you start compiling your survey you should first consider what the objectives of the survey are, in that way you will remain focused and find it easier to decide what questions to ask.

Analysis - In addition to the objective consider also how you will analyse the answers having completed the survey. Keep in mind that closed questions (where the respondent is asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than open questions (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want). Much will depend on the volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analysing the results.

Opportunity Keep in mind that as well as obtaining valuable market research data customer surveys are also a good way to publicise aspects of your service that your customers may not be aware of. After you have drafted your survey read through the survey from a market research view point and check that you are asking the right questions in the right way and that with the feedback information you will be able to make informed decisions. Then, read through the survey from a marketing view point, check that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business? The ideal question will perform the following three functions:-

Market research provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business

Marketing promote aspects of your business

Information/Education advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of

For example:-

Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful?

By asking this question not only will the store receive good feedback on the facility they provide but they will also advertise their baby changing facilities and promote themselves as a family friendly store beyond those customers who have a specific need for the facility provided.

Warts and all to benefit most from a customer survey you need to be prepared to dig deep and accept the worst. A customer satisfaction survey should be designed to highlight problems so that they can be addressed; regular customer satisfaction will prevent complacency and will also give early warning on where your competitors initiatives may be loosing you business.

What to ask?

Although each business is likely to have specific and unique factors that are important in providing good customer services there are common areas that are relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, Internet based or a service industry. The following are some key areas to providing good customer service.

Communication - Do you make it easy for the customer to communicate with you? When a customer telephones is the phone answered promptly; are enquiries about products or services properly handled? A good business will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, quickly, politely and fairly. If a problem is not resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise? Use a customer satisfaction survey to confirm that all your staff are perceived by your customers as being helpful, courteous and knowledgeable.

Location Do your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical store, is it conveniently located with good access?

Making it pleasant, making it easy - For a virtual business it is important to ensure that your website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. Physical store or website, is the store properly laid out, can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works?

The right quality products Not only should you measure the quality of the service that you provide but you should check that the products and services that you market are what the customer wants and closely match their expectations.

Value for money Cheap or expensive is not always a good measure, value of money is. Do your customers equate your business with value for money, if not, why not?

Speed and attention No matter what the business, the majority of customers will want to be dealt with quickly but attentively. Are you doing everything you can to avoid delays? Good businesses will try to treat each customer as an individual, does yours? Attention is one thing but this has to be hand- in-hand with a quick and satisfactory resolution of the query.

Demographics and Specific issues Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example where do they live and what is their age group? The more you try to understand your customers the better you will be able to target your business. Within the survey allow customers to highlight specific problems and provide contact details.

What next?

Having completed the survey analyse the results.

Trends Look for common and specific areas where the service is failing. Ask yourself if the criticism is valid and is there anything that can be done to resolve or minimise the problem?

Training Are the staff properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge? Where staff training programmes have been implemented have they had a positive impact on the business?

Follow-up If a customer who has completed a survey has raised a specific issue ensure that they are contacted and their complaint addressed. Dont loose an opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer.

Continuously Monitor - Make-changes and then measure by issuing further surveys.

The following sample customer satisfaction survey for a store demonstrates some of the areas discussed please visit:-

http://www.surveygalaxy.com/surPublishes.asp?survey_id=1140

Martin Day is a Director of Survey Galaxy Ltd a website that allows anyone to create, design and publish online surveys. For more information visit http://www.SurveyGalaxy.com

martin.day@surveygalaxy.com

Designing Effective Surveys

Turtle" Parzek

Eileen Parzek for SOHO It Goes!, March 2003

As the web becomes more and more a part of both our personal and business lives, business people and marketing professionals have turned towards web surveys to do research, plan projects, get feedback and develop new products and services. The emergence of excellent web survey applications, complete with wizards to make creation fast and simple, templates to ensure attractive designs, and full suites of reports and statistical analysis, make this method of interacting with your customers very attractive and extremely cost effective. However, as with all computer applications, the old adage "garbage in, garbage out" applies to surveys as well - if you do not know how to design an effective survey, the results will leave much to be desired.

Introductions, first

Whether on the first page of the survey, or in the cover letter inviting people to respond, it is important that you introduce the theme and purpose of the survey. This establishes in advance what types of questions you will be asking and puts the audience in the right frame of mind for answering the survey. Additionally, it helps to tell them why they were chosen, to establish understanding and trust, and assure that their input will be confidential, and personal information will not be shared.

Organize Yourself

It is important that the questions you ask fit within the theme and purpose set down in the introduction. Create an outline, when you are first planning your survey, and then subgroup the questions into logical categories.

First think about what information you want to know, and develop your questions from that. Experiment with different groupings, until each question flows from the previous, in logical order.

Give careful thought to how much you need each question - the fewer the better, because people generally do not have the time or inclination to answer long questionnaires.

Respect your Respondents

Be careful not to use jargon and buzzwords, but also avoid being too simplistic by knowing your survey audience and finding the appropriate balance. Remember that the respondent is taking time out of busy day to help you. Tell them in the introduction approximately how long it might take to complete, and let them know, as they go, how far along they are.

Carefully Craft Questions

When surveys are delivered by phone, trained surveyors usually conduct them and the respondent can get clarification without being led towards a particular answer. With self-administered surveys on the web, every question must be completely clear and understandable. Keep each question as short as possible, without losing meaning, and avoid jargon unless you are sure your audience understands it.

Be careful to ask only one thing at a time. If you have to ask additional questions on the same topic, do it as separate questions to avoid getting muddled responses. Be aware of inserting your own biases and intentions into the question, and try to keep questions neutral so that a "right answer" is not evident. The idea is to get truthful answers which go straight to the heart of the subject, and the simplest variations in a question can make this happen, or not.

Know Your Type

We are all familiar with the most common types of survey question formats - text, check boxes, yes/no, range responses - but there is a real science to knowing which type to use with which question to get the best results. For example:

* When using multiple choice answers to jog the respondent's memory, will it create bias towards the available choices? Is that okay?

* It might seem easiest to use a Yes/No or True/False question, but be sure that these two answers are the only ones that a respondent might possibly want to use or they will be forced to choose, diluting the truth of their answer.

*When using ranges, for example "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree," how many choices are necessary? Five is typical - but is it possible that many users will be "lazy" and chose the middle, and neutral, position?

*Before giving using text fields, known also as "free form" fields, consider how you will summarize these responses.

As you develop the survey, think about the different types and picture the results that will come from using each type. With your audience in mind, determine which type would provide the most effective results for what you need to find out. You can further refine these decisions when you test the survey, as explained later.

Protect Against Non-Response

It is unavoidable that a percentage of those surveyed are non-responders. The best way to minimize this element in the survey results is to keep the survey short and to the point, follow a clear outline with stated goals, and accurately target who the survey recipients need to be.

Believe it or not, research states that a 10-15% response rate on any survey is considered a success.

Dangle a Carrot

Even with every precaution taken, creating surveys is never an exact science because there is little control over the human element. For whatever reason, you will often scratch your head wondering why people looked at the survey and dropped out, or just never even looked. A carefully executed survey can minimize this - and incentives can take it a step further. Do you have something you can give away, to encourage folks to take your survey? Providing a free item or bit of information, providing a free copy of the results, or some other lure can go a long way towards gathering results.

Fly a Pilot

When you, yourself, develop a survey, it is easy to overlook the elements that might stop your respondents from completing the survey and wording that might not be clear. Always be sure to test the survey on a few people prior to sending it out to your entire audience. This will also allow you to review the results and see if the questions asked and the way they were answered will result in effective results.

Cut it Off

Be sure to tell your respondents when the survey will be closed. Typically, most respondents will respond within 5 days of receipt and so unless you know for sure that a significant portion of your audience needs longer, a week is a fair amount of time. Do not send out the survey on Fridays or over weekends - we all know what we do with mail received on those days! Try Tuesday morning for optimal response, and expect to see approximately 50% of your responses in the first 24 hours.

It may seem like you need a dual degree in cognitive psychology and statistics to develop an effective survey. This not being true for most of us, these guidelines will provide a foundation to improve both the survey and the results of your efforts. There is no better way to find out what your customers want than to ask them, and if they are already online, web surveys are an ideal way to do it.

Eileen Parzek, better known on the web as "Turtle", is the owner of SOHO It Goes! supporting entrepreneurs and small business through design, communications and technology.