Interested in paid surveys on the internet? They are easy to find. Type "paid surveys"� into Google and you'll get back 7,810,000 results (as of Aug 2, 2007). With a list like that it shouldn't be too hard to find paid surveys on the internet"�but there's a catch.

As you start to look through the results you'll find a common theme. The sites are NOT the actual survey sites, but rather sites that promise "$150 an hour taking surveys"� or "get rich taking surveys"�. Some want your email address to register and get access to their list of paid surveys on the internet and others expect you to pay your hard earned money for "membership"� to their site. Other sites may even claim that getting paid for internet surveys is a total scam. So what should you do and who can you believe?

Is it really worth it to try getting paid for internet surveys or should you stay away?

First, you need to understand that these websites with lists are not the ones that will be paying you to do internet surveys. The surveys and payments come from market research companies, many of which started offline, but have moved to online surveys to be able to reach a larger audience. These market research companies have been paying people for their opinions for years, sometimes decades. They have found that the internet is an efficient and cost effective way for them to reach the largest number of people to get data for companies who pay them for their research. These market research companies are, for the most part, completely legitimate. Their research is used by companies to improve existing products and services or to determine the best way to introduce new products and services.

The thing is that there have been many sites, some good and some really bad, that are trying to cash in as well on the popularity of paid surveys on the internet. The information itself is not bad, but some sites require you to pay them for membership to their sites and access to their "special"� list of paying surveys. Honestly, there is no reason to ever pay someone for a list of paying internet survey companies. This information is freely available and anyone who wants you to pay them for the information is simply stealing your money. The ones who offer free access, but require your email address to register are not quite as bad, at least they are giving away the information, but it still comes at a price. If you give up your email address to register at one of these sites don't be surprised if the amount of spam you receive increases dramatically. They only want your email address to resell or to use it to market to you themselves.

So, you've managed to avoid the scams and you've found the legitimate paid surveys on the internet and now you still want to know if it's worth it trying to get paid for internet surveys. That totally depends on what you expect. If you're looking to get rich and retire then keep looking. You won't be able to retire with what you make taking internet paid surveys, however you can make several hundred dollars a month and improve your lifestyle.

The key to making paid surveys actually pay is twofold. First, sign up with as many paid survey companies as possible. Since the survey companies are looking for a certain demographic for each survey you won't always qualify. By signing up with more survey companies you'll get more survey opportunities. Second, make sure to respond to all of the surveys you get. The survey companies will track your response rate and guess what? Those who are more reliable responders will get the better surveys. Makes sense doesn't it?

Each survey typically takes 15-20 minutes and pay ranges anywhere from $1.00 to $50.00 per survey. You can take 3-4 surveys a day in just 1 hour and at an average pay of $5.00 a survey you'll make $150 in a months time. Of course your earnings will vary from month to month depending on what surveys you get, how fast you're able to complete the surveys and how much time you devote to taking surveys. In any case you should be making around $15 an hour which isn't bad for a part time job you can do at your leisure from home.