Anyone who struggles to pay their bills has probably considered several ways to supplement their income to help make ends meet. Even if you make enough money to get by, a little extra is always welcome for things like vacations, repairs, or simply saving for the future. However, it’s not always easy to find ways to add extra cash to your budget, particularly with the U.S. economic downturn we are currently experiencing. In spite of this, there are a few ways to earn extra money, if you are willing to look past the traditional earning methods. For instance, have you considered making money by taking surveys online?

Although it may seem to good to be true, it is possible to earn “free money” by expressing your opinions online about a variety of products and services. And if you can get free money for taking surveys online, then why not get paid for your opinions?

Even though it may not seem obvious at first, obtaining your thoughts and opinions about their products and services is very valuable to a company. They understand that the customer is king, and in order to stay in business, they need to offer items that consumers find appealing, and to do that, they need data! And in order to get this data from as large a group as possible, they are willing to pay for it — thus allowing you to get free money for surveys.

Using the information they gain from paying for your opinions, companies are able to make improvements to existing products, and to fine-tune new products before they are released on the market. In fact, prior to spending a large amount of money into any type of new product concept, most companies will test-market it on a small subset of their customers to make sure it is a worthwhile investment. This creates a win-win situation for both you and the company: they get valuable feedback about their ideas, and you earn money by providing them.

All things considered, why wouldn’t you choose to get free money for taking surveys? You won’t become the next Bill Gates doing it, nevertheless it is possible to add a significant amount to your current income by participating in online surveys. Best of all, you can do it on your own schedule, at your own speed. The more surveys you take, the more you will earn, so your earning potential is limited only by your dedication and desire.

There are many places you can sign up to take surveys absolutely free, so why not give it a try today?

Well, even though earning opportunities through traditional means, such as full- and part-time jobs, are decreasing, there are growing numbers of ways to earn money online. However, many people are reluctant to explore ways to earn money online, for a variety of reasons. Some people believe they don’t have the necessary computer skills to secure an online job; others are concerned about the legitimacy of these methods. Although it’s very true that there are online “jobs” that exist solely to rip you off, there are other online businesses that are looking desperately for real people to perform real tasks, for real money.

One of the best ways to make an extra income on the Internet is to earn money taking surveys online. There are hundreds of companies who needs people — ordinary people just like you — to express their honest opinions on products and services. In this way, the companies can make better decisions on product development and marketing, and improve their bottom line.

When you earn money taking surveys online, the amount you get paid is generally based on the amount of time you spend completing the survey. For example, a survey that takes about 5 minutes to complete may pay about $1, but one that takes upwards of 30 minutes to complete may pay $5 or more. Usually, online surveys vary in length from just a few minutes to upwards of an hour. Sometimes there may also be restrictions on who can qualify to participate in a particular survey — like you must be at least 18 years of age and a moderate to heavy smoker to participate in a survey put out by a tobacco company.

Taking surveys online definitely won’t make you rich, but it can be a great way to make some easy extra money. It offers a high degree of flexibility, so almost anyone can fit it into their schedule — students, stay-at-home moms, senior citizens, people with other jobs, etc. Your income is limited only by the amount of time you wish to put in.

And if you’re serious about earning as much money as you can by taking surveys online, you can even sign up with more than one survey company. In this way, you will maximize the number of surveys you are offered, and likewise the amount of money you can make.

If you are interested in learning more about the growing opportunity to earn money taking surveys online, here are a few companies looking for people just like you. There is no charge to register at any of these companies, so sign up for as many as you wish!

• Cash4Offers – get paid up to $300 in 72 hours for trying special promotions!
• FusionCash - Sign up and get $5 deposited in your account instantly!
• NPD Online Research – Win cash and prizes just for registering
• Paid eSurvey - Over 300 companies willing to pay for your opinion
• Survey Strategy - Make $10 in 5 minutes
• Your Free Surveys - $4 for registering; $2 – $50 for each survey. This site plays audio – turn down your speakers if you’re at work!
• SurveyClub - This site plays audio – turn down your speakers if you’re at work!
• Opinion Outpost
• Panda Research - Earn $5 for signing up and $3 – $75 for each survey you complete!
• Win Moo Lah – Fill out a survey, get a $20 gift

Unlike many paid online survey sites, FusionCash will pay you real money for taking online surveys, in the form of a check, PayPal, or direct deposit, and it costs absolutely nothing to get started!

FusionCash pays you a $5 bonus just to sign up, and you are never charged a “processing fee” to cash out. Plus, their minimum payout is only $25, so you won’t find yourself waiting around for weeks or even months to receive you money. With FusionCash, since you get paid for every offer you complete, you are in complete control of how much money you earn. And unlike many other sites, you never are required to recruit other members (however, if you’d like to, there are great bonuses for that).

Most of the surveys at FusionCash are credited to your account instantly — within 10 minutes of completion. And the few non-instant offers will almost always appear in your account within just a day or two.

If you are interested in earning money by participating in online surveys, there’s really nowhere better than FusionCash. It’s free to sign up, so why not give it a try right now?

So far, they have included reviews on 8 online survey sites and 10 secret shopper sites, and they appear to be using a very interesting technique for their writeups. They provide basic info about the site or product (cost features, etc.) and they give a few summaries of testimonials they have found. Visitors are also encouraged to add comments about any experiences they have had.

I think they are using a great approach, and I intend to stop back again soon to see if they continue to grow the site to include more products/categories/sites/etc. Click over and visit them and see if they have reviewed anything that would be useful for you!

There are literally hundreds of online survey companies. They target stay-at-home moms, the unemployed, the elderly, teenagers, and college students. Many of them use unscrupulous methods to entice people, including the two I’ve listed below:

• The cell phone scam. Using this technique, you will be asked for your cell phone number in order to “confirm” your enrollment. A few moments later, the call you receive on your cell phone will end up costing you anywhere from $1.95 to $4.95. These companies usually don’t try to charge you too much, in hopes that you won’t make the effort to reverse the expense. But “small drops make a mighty ocean,” and these small fees really add up for them.
• The phone bill scam. This involves providing your telephone number while signing up for an unethical survey company. A bit later in the process, you agree to an offer for a free issue of a magazine… not noticing the fine print specifies that you are authorizing them to add $12.95 for a one-year subscription to your telephone bill. They assume that you won’t even notice the extra charge on your phone bill, and many people don’t.

These are just a couple of the scams that I have actually encountered while participating in paid online surveys. Taking online surveys can be fun and profitable, but you need to exercise caution when choosing a company to sign up with. Do not give out your cell phone number or social security number. Make sure to read the fine print of any offer that you accept.

If you would like to get paid to take online surveys through a reputable company, I recommend using one of the following:

• Work from home by typing online
• Unlimited Access to Hundreds of Paid Survey Companies
• Get Paid for Taking Online Surveys

Good online survey companies actually pay you for your time in cash, gift cards, or points that you can trade for various rewards. They don’t sell your personal information to telemarketers, they don’t flood your e-mail inbox, and they tell you up front exactly what you will receive for completing it. The good survey companies are an excellent way to earn extra money from the privacy of your own home (or anywhere else you can use your computer). That’s all good news! The bad news about the “good” survey companies is that they are few and far between.

Bad survey companies may offer cash and actually pay cash, but they fill your e-mail inbox with so much spam that you have to get a new e-mail address to stop it. They sell your contact information to so many telemarketing and bulk mail companies that you will never again answer the phone without checking your Caller ID, and well over half of your U.S. Mail will go straight into your recycle bin.

The really, really ugly companies are outright scams. They won’t offer you any money, but will tempt you with the chance to win “thousands” of dollars in their sweepstakes. They will attempt to get as much personal information as possible and promptly sell it to third parties. They will try to trick you into signing up for “free” magazines or ringtones and then charge your telephone or cell phone bill for the subscription. They will do anything to try to weasel money out of you and not give a single thing in return.

The really bad thing about the really, really ugly sites is that they prey on the elderly, the young, and the greedy.

So enjoy taking paid online surveys at the good sites, be careful with the bad, and run screaming from the really, really ugly ones.

American Consumer Opinion is owned and operated by Decision Analyst, Inc., a major international marketing research firm headquartered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the United States. American Consumer Opinion is made up of consumers worldwide who have agreed to participate in their  paid online surveys opinion panel.

Membership in American Consumer Opinion is free. You will never have to pay any money to be a member. Panel members can expect to receive a “screener” survey (a short questionnaire) every six weeks or so.

Membership in American Consumer Opinion is limited to one person per household. If more than one person per household fills out the Registration Form, the first person who filled out a form will be only accepted.

Rewards:

All registered members participate in a monthly drawing to win $250 in cash awards, just for being a member.

If you answer a screener survey (a short questionnaire), you will be entered into a drawing for cash awards.

If you participate in paid survey (a longer questionnaire), you will always receive some type of incentive (a free product to test, cash, a check, or a gift).

Incentives typically range in value from $4 to $50, per survey or focus group, depending upon the length of the questionnaire and the time it takes to complete it. Simply fill out paid surveys. Participants in online focus groups generally receive more than $25.

International members are accepted.

Start completing paid surveys now — Join  American Consumer Opinion

If it’s a person that I don’t really care for, I go ahead and let them live with their misconceptions. I mean, why should I mind if their life isn’t all it could be? Actually, since there are really very few people who rub me the wrong way, that doesn’t happen very often.  :)

As for the rest of the population (and I guess all of my readers fall into this category), I will gently attempt to inform them of the error of their ways.

Like starting any independent business, it takes a bit of time and energy to get started earning an income doing surveys. Many people who try it and fail would most likely have the same result with any independent home business opportunity. There really IS no such thing as a “free lunch,” and anything worth having — be it friends, money, jobs, hobbies, or anything else – takes time, effort, and dedication. It doesn’t have to be unpleasant or painful, but rarely is it effortless.

Truthfully, it is entirely possible for survey takers to earn a solid income. It will take a bit of time to build up a steady cash flow, but that is no different from any other business you would choose to pursue.

Whenever I remember those times, I can’t help but laugh… and to tell you the truth, so does my mother! Why is it that we now both see the humor in this? It’s because I actually found a way to get paid for my laziness! How? By participating in online market research and getting paid to fill out surveys.

There are literally thousands of companies who want opinions from people just like you and me on the products they sell. And they know everyone is busy and their time is valuable, so they are willing to pay us to voice our opinions!

It doesn’t actually take much to get paid to do online surveys. You will usually spend at most about 20 minutes answering questions, and when you are done you will be paid via a check in the mail. If you are really lazy (like me!), you can even set up direct deposits and save yourself a trip to the bank! Payments can vary from $5 to $200 or even more, depending on the amount of time it takes to complete the survey.

If you want to be like me and get paid for being lazy, I’ve compiled a short list of the best paid online survey sites. Check them out!

• Work from Home by Typing Online
  These folks do all the work for you. Rather than getting scammed, the site administrator researches a large number of companies and then compiles a large list that is available to all members. Simply join as many as possible, complete their surveys, and watch the checks roll in. I highly recommend this company… I believe they are the best, most reputable survey company online!
• Unlimited Access to Hundreds of Paid Survey Companies!
  Much like the previous company, these people research the companies they work with. Their database is continually updated in order to give its members the most current information available in order to maximize your profits. This is another awesome company to work with.
• Make Money Taking Online Surveys
  This is another organization that thoroughly researches the companies they work with and only works with reliable, reputable firms. They also pride themselves in protecting your privacy, and will only work with companies that will keep your personal information (name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, etc.) strictly confidential. Another business that I highly recommend!

 Get paid cash for 5-15 minutes of your time. Sound good? Well, that’s how it works when you get paid to take online surveys. So, why in the world would anyone pay you to take a survey? Don’t people do that for free every day?

Surveys are a form of market research that companies use to better understand how their customers use their products, which features they like, and which ones should be eliminated. This information is incredibly valuable to corporations, and they are more than willing to pay you to honestly tell them about the products you use, how you use them, and other information they can use to product a better, more marketable product.

So, how do paid online surveys work?

It’s very simple, really. You sign up on the company’s web site, and provide a limited amount of personal information such as age, gender, location, etc. This information will be used to pre-qualify you when a survey is available. If, based on the information you’ve already provided, you pass the initial screening process, they will then e-mail you an invitation to participate. This e-mail will usually contain a direct link to the online survey.

How much money can you make?

The payment amount and method will vary based on the company and the survey. While some companies will reward you with points that need to be saved to qualify for gifts, many will send you gift cards for popular stores like Wal-Mart, Target, or Sears, and still others will send you an actual check in the mail. Payment amounts can vary from $5 to $25 or even more, depending on how involved the survey is and how much time it is expected to take.

While most people won’t earn a full-time income just by taking surveys, it is possible to earn an impressive amount of cash, merchandise, or gift certificates.

But, you need to choose wisely.

There are some sites that pose as paid online survey sites that are actually nothing more than advertising companies. How do you tell the difference? One big tip-off is if, during the sign-up process, they make you go through a series of offers on items like book clubs, vacation deals, or jewelry items. If this happens, stop the sign-up process immediately and don’t get involved any further with them – you are almost certain to get spammed.

If you choose any of the paid online survey sites or mystery shopping opportunities offered here, you can rest assured that you will be doing business with a legitimate organization. I have thoroughly researched the offers I present , and I can confidently recommend them.

For the best paid online survey opportunities currently available, you will want to sign up for one of the following:

• Work from Home by Typing Online
• Unlimited Access to Hundreds of Paid Survey Companies
• Make Money Taking Online Surveys