Swagbucks - Making Surveys Fun

One of the most interesting survey companies on the 'net goes by the name of Swagbucks, and it boasts an ever-increasing fan base of a kind with which conventional providers cannot hope to compete.

The reason for this is that Swagbucks is in fact so much more than just a place to take surveys and earn money. It is indeed a veritable nerve centre of opportunity and activity, whether you want to earn money, spend money or just play a game on your PC.

As well as taking surveys one can earn simply by watching videos or playing certain games. And in addition once a set target has been reached a reward bonus is issued, boosting up your points (themselves known as Swag Bucks) which can later be converted into vouchers issued by such outlets as Amazon, TK Maxx, Starbucks, Zizzi or Pizza Express, or sent directly into your PayPal account.

There are opportunities to wager some of the Swag Bucks that you have earned in the hope of winning one of a host of quite generous prizes.

Whilst surveys can after a while become monotonous, some people spend hours at a time at Swagbucks without getting bored. It is so much more than an income source, and yet for those who like to earn from answering questions it does the job just like all the others.

YouGov - Being Paid for Your Opinions

I have already covered Online Surveys as a good means of earning a regular secondary income.

But of all the survey providers YouGov is probably worth a stand-alone mention, as it is just so straightforward and reliable. Once you join YouGov you need only to sit back and wait for notification of a new survey to be e-mailed to you.

YouGov typically pays 50p per survey that you complete. On occasions a short survey may pay 25p or a longer one 75p or even £1, but 50p is the norm. Or to be precise you will earn 50 points, with one point equating to one penny. Alternatively a prize draw survey (called an Oracle Survey), is offered.

Once notification of a new survey arrives by e-mail the easiest way of accessing it is by simply clicking the link in the message. YouGov chooses participants from their profiles, which you should fill out as soon as you join, so the eternal irritation of completing half a survey only to be told that you don't qualify rarely happens. Normally, once you are in you are in.

Surveys can be about any subject but common ones are politics and shopping. The questions are easy to follow and the options given cover all possibilities. You simply select the one which best matches your own opinion and move on to the next question.

At the end of each survey, before your points are allocated to your account, you are given the option of either banking them or redeeming them for an entry into the prize draw. This is of course your choice to make but if the object of the exercise is to make money fast the obvious course of action is to hold onto the points.

Once a total of 5,000 points has been reached a payout of £50 can be requested and either the money is paid into your bank within a few weeks (usually two) or you can request a cheque.

As it is a highly professional and universally respected survey platform YouGov does not take liberties with your time. You complete your surveys and you get paid for them, simples.

Focus Groups

One of the best ways of making decent money from very little effort is through focus groups, where the volunteer (i.e. you) is paid to attend a discussion, usually for an hour or two and involving a small handful of people, to offer thoughts and ideas about a product or service.

There are many research companies which pay good money to active participants, and the best way to locate these is simply to search via the Internet, making sure you target those locations to which you are prepared to travel. Typically market research pays between £20 and £35 per hour.

The downside is that focus groups are usually few and far between, and the rejection rate at the point of application is very high. To begin with you will be asked a few questions to ascertain whether or not you are suitable for a particular project. Much more often than not you won't be, and there are also sometimes restrictions on how many events one can attend during any given period.

Whilst rejection can disappoint, it is worth persisting as there is probably no better or easier source of personal income around.