Did you know that there are companies that will pay you just to know what you’re thinking? It’s true! They’re desperate to understand how you think and shop and why you buy certain products because this helps companies improve their products… and they’ll pay YOU good money for your opinion. Nope, it’s not scam – you CAN make money doing online surveys.

An important consideration with paid online surveys is that there is sometimes a fee to join a survey site. This is because of the time and effort the site spends on compiling the various survey offers, verifying them, and sending out member verifications. A smart strategy is to also promote the survey programs you belong to as their affiliate (i.e. refer others to their site with your unique affiliate link). Most survey sites do offer this as an option. This creates another income stream for you and almost guarantees you will double your profit.

Use the strategy I’ve outlined below to make earning money for paid surveys online easier and more effective:

1. Download RoboForm – it’s a free password manager & form filler. This software won’t just store and protect your passwords (which is awesome, by the way), but it will also store your personal information so filling out those online surveys quick and easy because all you have to do is click a button! Using RoboForm decreases the time it takes to complete online surveys.

2. Setup a separate email address for completing offers. I HIGHLY recommend that you setup and use a free Gmail account. It’s the only email I use, they cut way down on the spam that you might get, and the organizing functionality is very flexible. Whatever you do, DO NOT use your personal email address when you complete the offers or you run the risk of getting bombarded with spam.

3. Consider setting up a separate, local voice mail phone number. I don’t get calls from the surveys I complete very often, but I do on occasion. If you have a separate voice mail number then YOU decide if you want to call back any of the messages you might receive from the surveys you complete and you won’t be bothered by these calls on your home phone or cell phone. Plus, you can give out your new voice mail number to anyone else you want to (it’s actually pretty cool). The voice mail number you setup must be local for it to work. Most of the surveys that require a phone number will validate whether your address and phone number are in the same local. A service to seriously consider is Google Voice. It’s 100% free, they provide a local number, and several other options that are totally awesome. They’re only available to limited users at the moment, but they will be inviting more users very soon. Get your Google Voice invite here.

4. Try to complete all the profiles and surveys they have. This will increase your chances of being able to qualify for more surveys and thereby completing them for payments. Your gender, age, and demographics will disqualify you from certain surveys, so the more companies you sign up with the better your chances are of getting surveys that you do qualify for so that you can get paid.

5. Refer your friends (as a part of the survey site’s affiliate program using the link they provide you). If you know someone who wants to make some extra money (who doesn’t?) tell them about the survey sites you are a member of, send them your links, and explain these steps to maximize their profits. It’s a great way to make extra cash for the holidays!

Below is my top pick for Survey Sites: