I list paid surveys as a work-at-home job for those who don’t want to become an online merchant or affiliate marketer, and have been asked many times whether or not it’s possible to really make money with paid online surveys.

My answer – From the little bit that I tried, you can probably make some money, but just like any other opportunity, you’ll have to really work at it to make any significant earnings. But I’m not an expert in that realm, so I found someone who is…

And so, here’s the answer from the ‘opinion expert’, Deborah Casey who has been getting paid for her opinions for the last 30 years and then discovered the first paid online surveys database in 2001.

Here is an interview with Deborah Casey, paid online survey expert.

Deborah Casey of Portland, Oregon has been getting paid for her opinions for close to 30 years. We caught up with her and she agreed to an exclusive interview in which she really provides some great insights and advice for those just getting started.

Enjoy!

Patrick: Even after learning they can get paid for their opinions, many people are still skeptical. Let’s get this out of the way right now – how long have you been doing this and do people really get paid for their opinions?

Deborah: Paid opinion surveys, focus groups, and mystery shopping jobs have been a legitimate and very viable income source for many, many years. In fact, it has been the best-kept secret for additional income for housewives and stay-at-home moms since as early as the 1940s. That, however, was BEFORE I was born.

I remember my mother and aunts participating in half-day focus groups when I was a young child in the 1950s. And the money is just as real now as it was then.

But I became personally acquainted with the concept of getting paid for MY opinion about 30 years ago, in the very early 1970s (how time flies).

Patrick: Ok, maybe you could give us a little background on yourself. How did you first learn that you could get paid for your opinions? How did you get started? And what was it like when you got started?

Deborah: When I personally got involved in the early 70s, a couple of my good friends were being paid quite well as Mystery Shoppersand occasional survey takers. They convinced me to give it a try. My friends, both young mothers, were having a heck of a lot of fun AND contributing financially to their family’s income. At that age and time in MY life, I was after the “FUN” factor and the opportunity to contribute and make a difference in the world. For me, the money was secondary.

Of course, back then, and even up to about 8-10 years ago, the “Information Super Highway” was NOT the multi-lane speedway it is today. And it certainly was NOT the resource for the common people like it is now. It was very difficult, if not impossible, to find market research companies. Instead, they found you via promotional mailings, ads in newspapers, etc. That really limited the income potential.

Now, I’ll fast forward to about 4 years ago. My life had been thrown a fairly huge curve ball by then – I’d become disabled about 4 years earlier. I could not work any type of regular job outside of the home. I had used up my savings and needed to figure out some way to extend my teensy disability income to survive. Money was now a PRIMARY issue.

I remembered my earlier experiences with paid surveys and polls, so I re-connected with the 6 or 8 market research companies I had been involved with in the past. They were all still around – all but one. And they were now accessible online, for the most part. And I also started searching for more.

And search I did!

I searched for more than that ENTIRE YEAR, online and off, to come up with a total of 53 market research companies. And even though most of them had an Internet presence (a website) the actual surveys were sent via postal mail and required written responses and return postage about 70% of the time – More time consuming, less convenient than today’s methods. But hey, my opinion and those 53 companies brought me an extra few hundred dollars per month and that really made a difference in my life.

But I was NOT content to stop there. Keeping track of the 53 companies was a job, and they would become inactive without notice or change their participation requirements from one project to the next. So I kept my eye out constantly for more companies and more paid-for-opinion dollars.

About a year later (2001) I discovered the first paid surveys online database. They had about 78 market research companies in total, 35% requiring registration application by mail. But to me it was as though I had hit the “Mother Load”. Now I could focus all my attention on getting registered and taking surveys. By the time I’d registered with the 78 companies in that first databases, other survey databases started slowly appearing on the web. By the end of that year, there were a handful of these database sites – each with less than 150 market research companies – And I happily joined them all.

By doing this, I was able to add another 343 survey companies to my original list of 53. Some of the market research companies were strictly online entities. Yet others still did a fair amount of contact and survey completing by postal mail. So it was necessary to keep track of everything (contact info, account ID, email addresses, etc) in order to keep things straight.

All in all, it took over two years of research, searching, and completing market research company registration processes and “teaser” surveys to really get the ball rolling. But my patience, determination, and perseverance paid off.

Patrick: Wow, that sounds like a lot of work! With more and more market research companies operating strictly online, I’ve noticed that it’s easier than ever for the average person to get started and be successful. What do you think?

Deborah: Easier than ever is an UNDERSTATEMENT, Patrick.

It’s infinitely easier to get started with paid surveys today. The new genre of paid survey databases are HUGE compared to those first few that hit the Internet. In addition, the better ones (such asSurvey Scout) have so many helpful tools and time savers for their members. The really good databases have a whole crew of people working to add more survey companies to the list and keep the current companies updated.

99% of all MRCs are now totally Internet based – which makes participating in paid survey opportunities so much easier, faster, and even MORE fun – no paper trails, no mailing back and forth. You don’t have to be a computer expert or NERD any more to find the income opportunities and complete the surveys. If you can point and click, receive email, and bookmark websites, you’re in. Being able to follow simple directions is helpful too!

Patrick: One of the first things people always want to know is just how much can they make for giving their opinions. Based on your experience, how much would you say a person could make with part-time effort? What about full-time?

Deborah: A part time effort can easily yield an additional $300-500 per month. With focus and commitment, $1500-2500 is reasonable to expect – And even more depending on the number of market research companies actively registered with and how much time is devoted to it.

Anyone with the ability to stick with it for at least a year WILL surpass these figures. When I participated full time (about 3-5 hours per day) my personal best month was $4600 and my average, $2600.

Patrick: Obviously the more money a person wants to make, the more they need to treat this like a real “job”. For those looking to take this as far as possible, what would be your top three tips or suggestions?