I do surveys while having my morning cuppa

Like many, I am interested in making extra dollars through working online while I travel Australia or save for my travels in Australia. And I have been having success with doing online surveys that pay me for my honest opinions. I wish I could say I could retire on the money I am making from paid on line surveys to travel Australia full-time, but I can’t. But every little bit helps, right! To help you decide if it is something you would try, I have created this post to provide the facts about doing paid online surveys. So here goes.

Please Note: This post is based on my own personal experiences with doing paid online surveys. The opinions I offer about My Opinions, an online paid survey company are based on first hand experience. 

Online Surveys Lowdown

In a nut shell, you answer questions and or give opinions and get paid for providing these answers and opinions. Surveys can be on any topic. I have done surveys on banking products, food items, tech gear and cars to name a few. So firstly, sign up with an online survey company and complete your profile. After this you are sent surveys. You will usually receive an email notification that a survey is ready for you to do or you can log into your account to see if any surveys are there. The points to complete the survey should be advised before you accept to do it. You then complete the survey. When you have completed a survey, the points are added to your account. When you have reached the points threshold where you can change your points into cash, you have the choice to either receive cash or an ecard as payment. 

Advantages of doing Online Surveys

There are two advantages of doing online surveys that I have found. Firstly, you can make some money by simply answering a few questions. Secondly you can do surveys anywhere, from home and while travelling Australia. As long as you have a device (computer, laptop, phone) and wifi connection you are all set.

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How Much Do Paid Online Surveys Pay?

When I was doing my research on paid online surveys to see if it was something I wanted to do, I read I could make around $1,000 per month by doing online surveys. This, of course, was a big attraction that made me want to try. What I found is you need to spend a great deal of time completing surveys to earn $1,000. I also have found there are many survey companies you can sign up with and all of them offer a different ‘points system’ to complete a survey. I discovered on average a 15 minute survey might earn me 120 points or $1.20. Meaning, I am working for about $4.80 an hour. If I spent 8 hours a day doing surveys I could earn $38.40 per day. And if I did this 7 days per week I could earn $268.80 for the week. And yes, if I did surveys 8 hours per day for 4 weeks I could potentially earn $1075.20. Only you can decide if this amount, and the time spent to receive this amount, is worth your while.

Over time, I have reduced the number of companies I do surveys with. This is because all the companies ask a few questions first to see if you are ‘the right fit’ for the survey. Many times I answered questions only to be told I didn’t qualify and I didn’t receive anything for my time. But I have found one survey company, My Opinions, if I don’t qualify for a survey they pay me 20 points, or 20 cents, for my time. Now that 20 cents can add up! 

Your Online Survey Profile

When you initially sign up to do paid online surveys you will be asked loads of questions. This is so you have a profile. Some of the questions asked are very intrusive and I didn’t really want to answer them at first. But I did. I suggest you be as honest as you can cause this is how you are assigned surveys. These questions can be around your race, income, medical history, eating habits, education, children, marital status, etc. and lots of other things. Survey companies match surveys with your profile. And survey answers are monitored so they are consistent with your profile. Your account can be suspended if it is found you are inconsistent with your answers and also if you answer surveys too quickly.

If you are worried about your privacy and providing personal details, the survey companies including My Opinions always provide information before the survey starts about privacy and what information is being collected. You can then decide if you want to complete the survey or not. I have had a few surveys wanting my IP address and/or my photo and these are things I am not prepared to provide, so I decline the survey.

Your Opinions Can Influence Organisations

Surveys are done so they can provide accurate market research into a product or service. Your answers can influence a company to introduce, change or delete a product or service. This is why the survey companies rely on your legitimate answers. A couple of times I have been asked to sample the new product. And I only did because I was going to be at my home base for a while. If I was travelling, I wouldn’t have been able to receive a physical package of goodies.

When to do Surveys

You can do surveys anytime but I suggest you do them as soon as they arrive in your inbox as some have a limit of participants. Surveys can fill up with participants very quickly and you might miss out on your $1.20! However, I complete my surveys while enjoying my morning coffee. It yields me about $20 per week. But as I said, you can do them anytime and anywhere with the right equipment.

How Many Online Surveys Companies To Sign Up To

When I first started doing paid online surveys I signed up for as many as possible. I soon realised that not all of them were legitimate and they were wasting my time. Spending half an hour on one survey one time I was told at the end of the survey ‘you didn’t qualify’. So the points they advised at the beginning of the survey didn’t eventuate because I ‘didn’t qualify’. I couldn’t believe it, I was in shock and very annoyed. So the morale of this is, be careful of how many survey companies you sign up with. As I’ve mentioned, from trial and error, I have found that My Opinions is a legitimate online survey company that pays me even if I don’t qualify for a survey.

How Do You Get Paid

When you build up your points you can redeem them in either of two ways. Each survey company is different but with My Opinions you can turn 2,000 points into $20 by having it transferred to PayPal. The other way is to redeem the points as a gift ecard. The ecard allows you to spend the amount at a number of stores including WISH, Myer, SuperCheap, Woolworths, Domino’s Pizza, App Store & iTunes and Caltex Woolworths. I do both. Sometimes I transfer to PayPal, but there are fees involved and then I transfer the amount to my bank account. But other times I build up my points, get an ecard and use them for groceries and/or petrol.

Finally

So at home or while travelling Australia, as long as you have access to a device and a wifi connection you are all set to make some money from doing paid online surveys. Simply create your account and profile and receive surveys online. And as I said, you may not get rich from doing online surveys but every dollar you earn can help you to save for your travels around Australia. Or can be spent on things that will help you travel Australia, like petrol and food.