Is Paid Online Surveys a Real Business Opportunity?

These days there are a lot of websites offering business opportunities. It seems like the internet has taken over from most of the more traditional work from home based business opportunities. Ten years ago, things like Network Marketing gave many stay at home moms a chance to earn a decent second income while working only part time. Some even went on to become multi millionaires.

With the internet many Network Marketing opportunities tried to migrate their business model to the internet. Most failed, simply because they cannot compete with all the fantastic opportunities that internet marketing offers.

Paid online surveys was one of the first big opportunities that started strong in the late 1990's and have grown into a massive industry with thousands of people making a full time income working only part time. Unfortunately it's popularity has cause some of it's biggest headaches and today every Joe Blogs is trying to offer paid online surveys. Unfortunately not every Joe Blogs can sustain their business and a lot of these online surveys companies fold without even paying their first commission checks.

The fact remains that taking surveys for money is a huge opportunity. It is still one of the easiest ways to start making money on the internet. Unlike most internet business opportunities it requires virtually no skill to get started. You don't need to build any websites or learn any new software. You simply need to invest your time.

The convenience of working from the comfort of your own home and only working the hours that suits you is what makes this such a good opportunity. Getting started can be a bit of a bastard as you need to register yourself with surveys companies first. It can be quite time consuming, but once you are set up with good companies you are good to go. Most of the time you can get your first check within a week.

With all that being said you should not allow yourself to get conned by clever sales pitches. Sites that promise you $50 and hour are just plain lying. Typically surveys pay $5 to $25 and it usually takes about 15 minutes to complete. To earn $100 a day with surveys you will need to be registered with a lot of companies to be able to get that many surveys.

That's why it's important to register only with the best and most legitimate paid online survey companies. Directories like Survey Scout are priceless because they pre-scan the surveys companies they list - saving you a lot of time and potentially saving you from getting scammed.

Like all business opportunities you need to do your own due diligence. Do some research and make sure you know what you are letting yourself in for. Paid online surveys is not a get rich quick scheme. It's a nice way to earn an extra $150 - $250 per week. You can scale it to a much bigger and more substantial income but it will require a greater investment of your time. The people that do earn $5000 per month from online surveys are the exception rather than the rule. Don't let those testimonials get you too excited.