Springboard America

I recently signed up with a new survey company, Springboard America, which is sponsored by Vision Critical and Angus Reid Public Opinion. Springboard gives you an opportunity to speak up on what affects your daily life, from politics to products. The site is elegant and well designed. Springboard America is extremely user friendly and offers surveys that pay out in survey dollars (a rarity now that most companies are using a points system). You need to accumulate 50 survey dollars to collect a check for $50 or a donation to a US charitable organization.

According to their website "Most of our surveys award between $1 and $5 if you qualify and complete them. We'll always let you know in the survey invitation how much you'll receive for completing it, or if there is a sweepstakes instead. The amount is generally based on what's involved in taking the survey - for example, if it is longer in length, or more complex, we'll usually award a little more."


Like most of the survey sites you need to fill out all of the profiles so you can get as many surveys as possible. Also, survey companies are looking for dedicated people. So, if you only want to take surveys once a week or once a month, indicate that in your initial responses. Otherwise you will see your survey opportunities drop dramatically if you don't respond each time they offer you a survey.

Watch Out for Spam Sites

Hi everyone,

I recently opened my mailbox to find more than 145 emails. To my dismay almost a third of them were spam messages indicating I signed up to receive offers from them. I am still trying to investigate which site caused this spam to take place and once I do, I will post it so you don't have the same problem.

Always be very careful who you are working with on the surveys. There are some great survey sites out there, but there are more sites that only act as a clearinghouse. They don't actually offer you any surveys, just lead you to other sites that may cause spam on your computer.

If this happens to you, make sure you mark all of the messages as spam AND unsubscribe from any of the links. Be careful out there and don't give up on surveys just because there are few sites you should avoid.

Keep filling out those surveys!

I heard from my son that he keeps getting kicked out of surveys. My best advice to everyone is to keep trying. It may seem to be futile at times, but the companies are looking for persistent people. You may feel a little unsatisfied but eventually you will start to make a few dollars.

Even if the survey is only for a chance at a sweepstakes entry you need to fill out each survey you are sent in a timely fashion. Don't give up! Good luck to all.

Keep Reading Those Emails!

I just signed up for the Deals'n'Cash website. This is another survey site that pays you to read advertising emails. Basically they are known as pay-per-click or pay-per-action websites. These sites are always FREE, so don't sign up if they ask for money from you. 

You may need to wait 24 hours + to get confirmed. They are looking to see if you already are registered with them. Once you get approved, you can earn 2-5 cents for each advertiser's email that you get from them. Remember to always wait for the confirmation link that you have read the email. It typically takes a few minutes to get through. This is the same situation as Hits-4-Pay that I told you about earlier. All of your earnings are tracked and recorded in real time.

So if you are interested in signing up for this site just click on DealsnCash. You will be taken to the site to fill out the sign in information. Happy survey hunting!

PS. This  site will credit you with $5.00 for signing up and you will receive checks from them once you get the minimum payout of $30.00 by the 1st of the month. Checks are mailed out on or before the 15th. They also send your credit via PayPal so keep that option open as well.

Check out Ciao for More Opportunities.

Another interesting aspect of online surveys can be found in sharing your opinions of popular products through a site called Ciao. This site, which is affiliated with Greenfield Online and run by Microsoft, is a worldwide network of shoppers. Ordinary people from around the globe share their experiences with products ranging from computers to kitchen mugs. 

The key to making money is to post reviews, review other's posts and gather as many friends as you can. Each time a post is reviewed or you review a post, credits are given. In your circle of friends you can acquire additional benefits by having a lot of people be your friends and joining your circle of trust. Each review awards you a small cash payment each time another member rates it either "helpful", "very helpful" or "exceptional". You can expect to receive between 1 and 3 cents per review. On the website the rates that are available to you appear next to the product name on the overview page, i.e. one dollar sign up to three dollar signs.

Earnings  are transferred to your PayPal account once you reach a minimum balance of $5.00. You will need to "Request payment" from your Accounts tab. Payouts are made once a month to all members who have requested a payment in that month. Sometimes it takes up  to five weeks before the transfer occurs. But be patient and you will see the credit in your PayPal account.

I have found the review process to be a little biased though. Some of the reviewers are from countries where English is not the obvious language. So you might read a review with excellent ratings only to find it hard to understand. Obviously, the reviewers and the raters are giving each other high marks regardless of what is written. However, if you stay true to yourself and write intelligently, eventually you will get a following.

Joining Ciao is free and completely voluntary. The only thing they ask is that you actually own the product you are reviewing and give a complete an unbiased review. More than 38 million people visit the site every month. You can check out Ciao at your convenience and look for me (my screen name is "west757").

By clicking on the link you will be taken to my page. Look it over and see if this site might be interesting to you and something you would enjoy doing.

Health Studies Can Pay Out Too!

There are tons of options out there to take surveys. Sometimes you might even be asked to be a part of a health study. Recently, I participated in one for fiber. The whole process took about five weeks. 

The first week I had to refrain from using any and all fiber related products including pills, special fiber bars, cereals, etc. Within the week I received a package with a white plastic bottle filled with an orange powder. I was instructed to begin on a specific day and take a teaspoon of the powder mixed in 8 ounces a water once a day. When I reached the end of the first week, I took a short survey to ask me about the average time of day I took the product. The second I did the same thing except to increase drinking the product twice a day and finally on the third week, I was asked to take it three times a day. Each time I filled out a short survey requesting time times I took the product. A few days ago, I received an email informing me I had successfully completed the trial and would be awarded $40.00 for my time. I am still waiting for the check, but they said it would arrive in 4-6 weeks.

It turned out I was taking Metamucil. Initially, I didn't like the taste of the powder and found it hard to swallow. However, as I kept going it was pretty easy to complete this task. All systems worked well (if you know what I mean) and I actually lost about three pounds.

The survey did question me about my health, my age, weight, over the counter medications and prescription medications as well. I wasn't initially told if I actually got a real product or a placebo. For me it was very little effort to get $40 and I would do it again.

Keep Your Options Open!

Once you get started taking surveys lots of opportunities to sign up for other offers start pouring in. Weigh each offer and sign up for the ones you find most interesting. I recently started with AC Neilsen's Homescan, a consumer panel that tracks what you purchase, and have found it very interesting.

The program requires you to sign up and then your name is put on a waiting list under the "Reserve Status Waiting List".  Homescan then randomly selects households to join. Once you are accepted you will get a handheld scanner (and a lot of other information about the program)  that you use to scan the barcodes from products you buy for your family. It doesn't matter what you purchase since the whole purpose is to track everyday consumers preferences.

Homescan is truly an easy way to share your opinions in the marketplace. As part of the program you accumulate points to spend on a variety of products from a special catalog Homescan provides you. The products or rewards include small appliances, children's items, electronics, recreation products, kitchen items and travel items to name a few. 

The program starts you with a 1000 points and you get additional points on a graduated scale for weekly, monthly, and yearly transmissions. You can also get points for answering surveys and joining their online panel. (Mac users beware: the online panel is only for PC users)!

Watch Out For Sites That Don’t Deliver.

Yesterday I gave you my opnions about sites that I enjoy. Today, I wanted to let you know there are sites that will truly annoy you with multiple questions that have nothing to do with the survey. Several of the sites, including Vindale requires you to purchase items to get paid a small reimbursement fee. Sometimes it works out, I purchased a teeth whitening kit, had my son use it for two weeks and then returned it to net $8.00. However, I had to use a credit card to get the item, had to make sure I precisely followed the return policy and needed to keep track of exactly when it needed to be sent back. Other times, you are given the opportunity to purchase something for a trial that is not worth the money or you can find in the local stores for much less.

I would also be extremely vary in signing up for any site that constantly requires you to keep signing up for more sites just to get a very meager reward in the end. You will find your email inbox flooded with mail that is just a bunch of junk. There are other sites like Survey Scout that get you to sign up only to keep sending you invites to survey sites that you probably have already joined. I guess these are like clearinghouses for surveys, however, I find them to be annoying and useless when it comes to getting a payoff.

Decide for yourself if Vindale is the type of survey company you want to join. You may like it, and even though I think it is a pain, I have earned about $50.00 from them.