$70 for a Beer & Wine Focus Group

This week I attended a focus group on Beer & Wine and for about 1 hour of my time, some sampling and answering some questions I received $70 . I really enjoy these sessions and I pay no tax, completely legit, just cash in an envelope. The $70 came in very handy too because I wanted to buy my 6 year old a bike for christmas and this helped big time.

The invite to this focus group came about by being registered on the Light Speed Consumer Panel and if you are interested in getting invited to more of these then make sure you join the top 5 survey panels.

When these marketing research companies get a job like this one they will assemble a survey panel based around a set of demographics that their client is interested in as customers. Typically they will use the data that you have supplied in your profile to work out whether you fit the survey panel and then get in contact with you.

They rang me up while I was away in Adelaide last week and after a quick round of screening questions, I was locked in for the a session on the following Tuesday night.

When you show up to the venue they check off your name and with a group of other people you go into a room where there is a faciliatator and you discuss the product and give your opinion on it and the advertising /marketing for the product.

At the end of the session they give you an envelope with the cash in it, and you're away....

Need Extra Cash? A part time job may not be the answer...

Joining a Survey Panel is a Really Easy Way to Make Extra Money...

Many Australians are feeling the pinch of higher prices. Groceries, fuel, mortgage payments, everything is getting more expensive. Plus the Australian economy for the first time in almost 20 years looks like it may go into recession. There is no better time to get some more money into your budget so you can pay those credit card bills, or just put some money aside for a nice Christmas. But if you are considering getting a part time job to make some extra money, then consider:

• Every cent of extra pay you earn will be taxed at your maximum tax rate;
• it'll probably mean extra time away from your family & loved ones;
• longer hours may effect your performance in your full time job;

Thankfully there is a really easy way to make some extra money. Australian market research companies need people to test products and advertising campaigns. They pay you with cash, shopping vouchers and rewards. You DON'T pay any tax on the money you make.

Best of all its really easy, just join the Survey panels by entering your details and some demographic information and they send you surveys via email and sometimes call you to attend focus groups where you get paid for your attendance and feedback on products. Yes, you sometimes even get free products to try out!

I have been doing surveys and focus groups for over 5 years. I have learnt a few things over that time, and if you want to start making some money and receiving gift vouchers I have put together a list of the Top 5 Australian Paid Survey Panels to join RIGHT NOW !!

Grocery Shopping Survey Rewards!!!

If you like grocery shopping and want to earn some rewards for providing information about your product purchases there is some really good news. Nielsen Homescan is currently taking new members for its Grocery Shopping Survey Panel.

Rewards include gift vouchers from Myer, Bunnings, Movie Vouchers

EmailCash Cheque now earns 8.5%

Banked a cheque from EmailCash this week. It was only $30 but it went straight into my Bank West high interest savings account that is now earning 8.5%

$19 Million Saturday Lotto Super Draw

If you haven't got your free account with OzLottories yet, make sure you get one for the free entries into the $19 Million Superdraw on Saturday 23 August.

Ciao Surveys - on the slide

I am getting a bit disappointed with Ciao Surveys.

They send a lot of survey invites. Unfortunately of late most of them seem to be a 20 minute survey for $0.93. It doesn't usually take 20 minutes but its still alot of work for that level of reward.

I have moved them down on my recommended list of paid survey sites.

3 'Focus' Groups this week!!!

One of the bonuses for being registered on a survey panle is that you will get invites to attend 'focus groups.' This is basically a session where you will sit in a faciliated session and talk about and give feedback about a product. I have done car test drives, chats about exporting, radio stations etc.

This week I had three invites paying $30 plus dinner, $120 and $70 all stemming from being registered on the Lightspeed survey panel.

Guess who won the $50 M in OzLotto on Tuesday Night?

There was $50 million up for grabs in OzLotto on Tuesday night. I saw that two people in Western Australia were sharing a $26 million prize.

I didn't have time to go to a newsagent to buy tickets so I used the $5 credit I had for signing up at OzLottories to buy the tickets. I was very impressed with the how easy it was. There was an automatic email confirmation with my numbers in it, and after the draw even an email that had checked my numbers against the Ozlotto draw numbers and worked out that I hadn't won anything.

Hopefully next time, it will tell me I am the next lotto millionaire...... (dreams)

New Paid Survey Programs Worth Joining

Three survey programs worth joining:

'Your Voice' is a survey panel run by AC Nielsen.
For completing surveys you will receive e-points and entry into ongoing competitions, including a $15,999 Mazda 2 every 3 months. I have been participating in 'Your Voice' for quite a while now and in the past I have traded the e-points for Coles vouchers.

'Market View' is a new survey panel run by I-View. Doing their surveys get you points that you can use to buy things from their online store (including gift vouchers)

I have just added these to the complete list of survey programs that I am recommending in 2008.

How to Make Some Money with Paid Surveys in Australia

There is actually a very easy way to make some extra money on the internet. Market research companies will pay you to answer surveys, respond to emails and comment on advertising. All you do is join and fill out some demographic information and the surveys start rolling into your inbox. You can respond to as many or as few as you like.

There are so many of these market research companies. I have even seen lists and databases with over 700 web sites in them. My experience is that if you join some of these you will never see a survey, let alone a payout.

So the question is, which ones are the best to join?

Lots of Surveys coming from Valued Opinions & Global Test Market

There are quite a few surveys coming from Valued Opinions and Global Test Market at the moment. I have just traded my accumulated cash for a $20 Coles Voucher and should have another one to collect shortly. I should be getting a payment from Global Test Market for around $50 sometime in January.