Special Feature - Exclusive Interview with Patrick Kennedy, President of Survey Scout, our top pick for the Surveys category.

New!  FunJobsReview recently had the opportunity to chat with Patrick Kennedy, head of leading online survey company Survey Scout to get the inside scoop and clear up some myths about doing paid online surveys.

Q) Could you explain exactly why it is that companies are paying good money to collect opinions online? Some people might think this almost too good to be true.

A) Just in the United States, companies spend over 250 Billion
dollars a year trying to convince consumers to buy their products
and services. That's a lot of money ...

And while the majority of it is spent on "normal" advertising, a
portion is also devoted to market research.

You see, understanding how people think and shop, why they buy certain products, etc. ultimately helps companies improve their products and services and make THEM more money.

Knowing this, and that they won't get our help for free, companies are willing to pay people like you and me good money - up to $150 an hour! - for our opinions. They know that in the end they will come out ahead and generate even more profits for themselves.

It's a win-win situation for everyone - companies get the input and feedback they need to develop better products and make more money, and we as consumers get paid for our opinions.

Q) A great thing about doing paid surveys is that it is a flexible source of income and prizes. People can work around their busy schedules. However given that the surveys probably come from the many different companies in your database how and when does one get paid for doing the surveys?

A) You're right, our exclusive database gives our members access to hundreds of the best market research companies and survey opportunities, and each is usually a little different.

Generally speaking, after participating in a paying survey the participant will receive a check in the mail - usually within a few weeks. Sometimes it's as quick as a few days. More and more companies are also starting to use instant online payment systems such as PayPal, which allows a survey participant to get paid immediately, which is really nice as well.

Q) How do you handle questions from Survey Scout members? Most of us have sent emails in the past to Websites and sometimes waited days or weeks without an answer.

A) Truthfully this is one of the primary reasons we started Survey Scout, because we couldn't find a single program out there that offered the type of member support that our entire operation is based on.

We have an entire support team dedicated to helping our members. When a member has a question they will usually receive a helpful response within a matter of hours. Never more than 24 hours though.

Q) Some survey sites are filled with outdated, recycled links. How many survey companies do you provide access to and how often do you update the information?

A) At this very moment there are exactly 460 companies in our database that reward our members for their opinions. This number changes, even daily, as we are strive to keep our database up to date.

We're constantly on the lookout for new survey opportunities. When we find a new one that's not in our database, we take a real good look at the company, what they offer, and we even participate ourselves. If it turns out to be a legitimate and quality opportunity, we add it to our database. Occasionally we also remove listings from our database because companies go out of business, stop offering surveys, etc.

Our exclusive database is the heart of our program. Aside from supporting our members, growing our database of great survey opportunities and keeping it up to date is our number one priority.

Q) What does it take to do well at earning through online surveys? In other words, what type of skills or discipline does one need and what should be the earnings expectations for the time invested?

A) It really depends on what a persons' goal is. If someone was just trying to make enough to cover a monthly car payment, it really doesn't take a whole lot of effort or dedication. They could ignore
all of our advice and do everything "wrong" and still make money.

Of course, to make the most of the opportunity we recommend that people follow our step-by-step instructions to the letter. After all, we've been doing this a long time and have learned a few things
about making the most money in the shortest period of time.

The only "skill" a person needs is the ability to follow directions. We provide a step-by-step guide to getting started, and include everything needed to get start getting paid for your opinions.

As a matter of policy we never quote, promise or even suggest that a person will make a certain amount of money. How can we when we have no idea how much effort they will put into it? I would actually be very leary of anyone who promised X number of dollars per week or per month. There's no way to say.

What I can say is that we have members who make anywhere from a few dollars per month, all the way up to 1000s of dollars per month. Like just about anything else it really just depends on the persons' ability to follow simple step-by-step directions, and the amount of time and effort they put into it.

Q) After someone joins Survey Scout, do they have to install any special software on their PC in order to do the surveys?

A) The great thing about our program is that it's entirely web-based, which means a person can join our program and use Survey Scout anywhere that they have access to the Internet.

We do recommend that our members take advantage of a free optional software program we provide, because it helps them to fill out your surveys up to 3 times faster. This enables one to make even more money in less time, and since it's included with our program almost all of our members end up using it. After all, why wouldn't you?

You can check out Survey Scout for yourself by clicking here.