Getting Paid For Your Opinion

Monday, March 21, 2010

I just saw a television commercial that reminded me of something that I want to tell you about!

The commercial was for a website that allows you to sign up to receive opinion surveys for cash and prizes. I am a little skeptical, but I signed up anyway. I was bombarded with emails from several research companies that asked me to complete surveys. Most of these surveys were questionnaires about me and my family. Visit Bigspot.com to sign-up and participate in surveys!

If you are not interested in completing surveys online, I have participated many times (and so has every member of my family) in a variety of surveys and studies performed by Peryam & Kroll Research Corporation. I have tested everything from crackers and pizza to shampoo and razors. Here is how it works:

P&K has many testing facilities – visit P&K Research Corp. to find one near you.
You walk into the testing facility that is nearest you, and sign up to be a participant in studies.

The telephone operators phone you and ask you several questions regarding upcoming studies. Answer honestly – there is no way to tell what they are looking for.

If you qualify for the research study, they will set up an appointment for you to return to the P&K nearest you and participate in the study. Studies usually last about 45 minutes. Children are not allowed to wait unattended.

If you participate in a study “in-house,” you will receive cash payment at the end of the study. Payments vary but are usually around $30. C’mon – you know you want $30 for tasting some pizza and telling them what you think of it!

If you participate in a “take-home” study, you will go to your local P&K location, pick up the materials, and follow the instructions within. These are often prolonged studies, for example, testing razor blades for two weeks. Upon completion of your study, you return the materials to P&K and fill out the survey. Take-home studies usually pay more. I was once paid $100 for testing razors for several weeks.

I look at it this way – if you are going to shave in the shower anyway, or use body wash, why not get paid for using their products and critiquing them!? In my opinion, it is a win-win situation. If you can find time in your schedule (probably less than once per month) to have a short conversation with them on the phone, qualify for the study, and participate in the study, you will earn a bit of extra fun money! What have you got to lose?!

Peryam & Kroll is certainly not the only research facility of this kind. They are, however, the only company that I have personally been affiliated with and can share my experiences from.

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