Takin' Surveys

I will be going through my exploration into making money online. First, an individual introduction of each type...

My first venture into actually making money online was taking surveys. I was invited to Pinecone Research by a friend, and have been a member since November 2008. I've looked into eBay before this, but haven't actually sold anything. A true neophyte...

I signed up after being told that I would make $5 per survey I took, and that there would be one every couple of weeks. When I signed up, the new deal is $3 per survey, and entry into their sweepstakes... Oh well. So far, I've taken three surveys - two paid, and one for entry in a broader sweepstakes. This works out to one a month at the moment - and $3 a month is not the road to riches!

I am kind of unusual though. I don't have a TV, don't see commercials, and we're pretty tight for cash right now, so I don't do a lot of spending outside of necessities. I assume as they collect data, this could weed me out of some surveys.

On the other hand, at the end of the first survey, they asked me if I participated in other surveys. I said no because I don't, but I did copy their list. This is the list of survey companies they talked about, so I assume they are as legitimate as Pinecone Research is. I am now in the process of checking these out, and I'll let you know how it goes.
• American Consumer Opinion
• Global Opinion Panels
• HarrisPoll Online
• I-say Panel
• Lightspeed
• Nielsen NetRatings
• NFO MySurvey (TNS)
• NPD Online Research Panel
• OpinionSquare (may also be known as comScore)
• SurveyCenter (may also be known as Greenfield Online)
• SurveySavvy
• SurveySpot
• Synovate Consumer Opinion Panel
• Your2cents
• Zoom Panel

Review: this isn't a lot of money, but if you can get on 20, it could mean an extra $50 to $100 a month. As you can start right away, it's a good place to have some income while you wait for slower opportunities (i.e. blogging) to build.