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Call me crazy, a glutton for punishment, but I’ve decided to attempt my survey challenge again this year.

In 2010…

Last year, I set myself a challenge to make £350 with surveys by the end of it — online surveys, and offline surveys out there in the form of market research focus groups.

Some way into the year, I revised my target to £250; I found I had a low tolerance for any online surveys longer than 15 mins. I’d either delete them from my inbox or save it in my Survey folder with the intention of completing them later (which I didn’t).

Couple of reasons I’ve decided to give the survey challenge another go:

- So far this year, I’ve made £25 from surveys without really trying

- I’m due to take part in an offline survey (i.e., focus group) soon, which pays well

- Part of me wants to prove (to myself) that I can actually achieve that target, that £350 is doable, even if I can’t stand 20-minute-long surveys (which I still plan to avoid, or keep to a VERY bare minimum. Nothing wrong with them, just the way I’m built).

£350 over the year…

…works out at (hold up – I’m calculating) – erm, £29.16 a month. Maximum time I plan to spend: no more than half hour a day – knowing me, it probably won’t be every day either.

Exception to the half-hour-a-day rule…

The only time I’d consider spending more than half an hour doing surveys is if it was a focus group session, or a one-on-one session. Focus groups are basically when a collection of individuals are invited to share their views about a product, service or event. This kind of market research surveying tends to be offline, but some can be conducted online or over the phone. It can last an hour (or less), couple of hours, even days. But the important thing is you get compensated very well for your time. For instance, the one I’m doing this week is for two hours and will pay me £55. I hope I can get more of those kind of babies, because it would make my target a lot easier to reach, plus they do tend to be way more interesting.

Sooo….

…wish me luck! I think I can do it this year. There’s no point in me thinking that I won’t (until I actually don’t, that is!)

Until next time…

MissEb.

img credit: flickr.com/photos/sooey/

I can’t say I put a whole lot of effort into making money with surveys in 2010. If I’ve learnt anything from this, it’s that I’m not a very patient person when it comes to doing any surveys that take more than 10 minutes of my time.

WHICH IS WHY I’M  QUITE HAPPY WITH HOW THINGS STILL TURNED OUT!

I still managed to make £217.16!

- Focus Force: £60.00 [proof]

- Pinecone Research: £54.00 [proof: can be found throughout the blog, e.g., here, here and here]

- Crowdology: £22.11 [proof: throughout blog, e.g., here and here]

- MyVoice: £20.00 [proof]

- Hi e-panel: £16.00 [proof]

- MySurvey UK: £15.00 [proof: god knows. There's one here though]

- Panelbase: £10.05 [proof]

- Consumer Intelligence: £10.00 [my camera's given up the ghost, so I only have proof of payment for the 1st chq I rec'd]

- University survey (understanding society): £5.00 [proof]

- Lightspeed Panel UK: £3.00 [proof] (Lightspeed UK is now part of MySurvey UK)

- Gfk(WISAD): £2.00 [proof]

TOTAL —— £217.16

Apart from the focus group survey and the university survey I did which each took a couple of hours in one sitting, I spent an average of 5-15 minutes for most surveys I did. Had I put my back into it, I believe I would have made a lot more and definitely surpassed my £250 target (and even the initial £350 I set). I believe that.

Things I Would Have Done Differently…

I don’t plan on taking up the survey challenge again this year. Given the chance again, I still would have skipped any surveys that were longer than 10-15 minutes. However, on hindsight:

- I would have saved all the survey money I made over the year and not touched it ’til the year end. Or perhaps saved and spent in 6-month intervals. That way, I’d have felt the benefits more.

- I would have promoted/updated the blog a bit more. Didn’t really do as much of that as I could have.

- I would have written more survey reviews

Survey Programs I’ll Be Sticking With…

- Pinecone Research: surveys aren’t frequent, but I qualify for ALL the ones I get, it’s not a long drawn-out process to complete, and pays fairly soon after I complete a survey (mostly the next day via Paypal).

- Crowdology: surveys are more frequent, low minimum payout of £4, pays immediately after you request payment (Paypal).

- Consumer Intelligence: I really wish I had come across this site earlier on in the year. The surveys are easy and fast to complete (no more than 5 mins long) and since I joined in October, I’ve made a total of £20 there (as of Jan 7th 2011).

Looking Back: Has It Been Worth It?

For me, it has been. I fed my curiosity. I had an idea. I set something up. I took ‘some’ action. I created. I tried. I gave it a go.

I might not have reached my monetary goal, but in some ways, it’s not that relevant.

Would I do this again? No. Has it been worth it? Yes.

One or two more posts before I call it a day on this blog. (Update – Feb 2011: changed my mind!)

MissEb.