Some survey websites claim you can make a small fortune just by answering a few questions. We look at whether's that really the case.

A host of websites pay users cash to complete surveys. But is making money from home as easy as it sounds?

Type “make money from surveys” into Google and almost 30 million results are returned.

Some paid-for adverts claim you can make £5 to £7 per survey while Top10BestPaidSurveys.co.uk reckons you can net £300 a month completing questionnaires from home.

But how easy is it really to make money this way?

How do online surveys work?

All those articles in newspapers or online that start with “Eight out of 10 people…” get their statistics from somewhere – and that’s from surveys.

Surveys can be used for marketing purposes in various ways.

Firstly companies want to find out what makes their customers tick.

Which products do they like or need? What annoys them?

Other companies might send survey results to journalists in the hope the statistics – and the company – will be mentioned in an article which will be great publicity for the firm and result in increased brand awareness and sales.

Most firms outsource their surveys to a professional survey company. These survey companies compile a database of people and then contact suitable respondents for each survey, offering cash as an incentive.

So which sites are the main players?

I-Say

Swagbucks

MySurvey

E-Poll Market Research

Valued Opinions

Survey sites: top tips

Before you sign up to a survey site check how you’ll get paid. Most pay either by PayPal or vouchers, with Amazon vouchers particularly popular.

How much points are worth may depend on the reward. For example, you may get a higher value Amazon voucher than you’d get cash.

If you spot a survey site that promises to make you rich quick, take its claims with a pinch of salt. Search for user reviews and see what existing members say.

In most cases, survey sites can be an easy way to make a bit of extra money – but they aren’t a quick route to riches.

DO YOU WANT TO TAKE A STEP?

Article Source : http://home.bt.com