Another Day as a Survey Taker

Day Two into survey taking and I've made $15.00. But of course I can't have it. You have to wait for cash out periods and you have to have a minimum of so much money in your account before they’ll send you a check. How many legitimate surveys have I taken? I'd say I've taken a grand total of about 15 surveys which took about three or four hours. But it took two whole days to shift through garbage and “bonus offers” to get the real thing.

My favorite find of the day? Old Buddy at fusioncash.net. He does an introduction or tutorial video and at the end of it he reveals he's spent two years using fusion cash and has made just over $1600...after two years. You go get ‘em (insert sarcasm here).

What about offline? Are there legitimate "Survey Takers?" I emailed Mark Wiser of Wiser Marketing Group (fun name, huh?) to get him on the phone.



"(It'd) be the world's worst job," he said. He says traditionally people participate in focus groups for $50-$75 or they'd receive cold calls from survey administrators. Now it's just much cheaper to do it all online. And much easier too, I would think. Wiser reminds us all that no one really wants to sit in a focus group where one guy overpowers you because he knows everything about everything (this is also what it feels like to be a woman, Wiser).

"(It's) more accurate and you get a general cross-section of the population," Wiser explains of the online surveys. True. Research firms need information not just from a handful of hippies vacationing in Maine, but from a diverse group of individuals all across the US. So the results from online surveys are good for the research firms, which they pass on to manufacturers who can make better products. But what about the Survey Taker? What do they get?

"(Survey-taking) is more for people who want to be in the know and see ads and products before anyone else," Wiser says. So I guess it's true. Money isn't everything. Survey Taker as a career? Sorry, not so, folks. And the claims, “make extra money!” and “work from home filling out surveys!”? Absolutely, but you can’t have it. Not a penny. Nope. But you can get coupons. And special bonus offers. Oooh, and if you’re lucky, you can get free samples.

Check back for an updated list of the sites that offered legitimate money. Each site comes with a paragraph summary and a personal rating.

Got a Career you want explored? Let us know! Otherwise our next career exploration is going to be Anesthesiologist and I'm having a hard time coming up with a fun angle on that one.