My Survey on Surveys

Are you looking for some extra ways to make money using the Internet?  So am I.  However, I've also taken up the moral cause of testing some of the money-making strategies that I've heard about on the Web.  Okay, it's not just a moral cause.  I'd also like to have some fun with this, as well as make a little money as well.

All jokes aside, I've recently looked into the feasibility of earning income by way of filling out online surveys.  I have to be honest.  I approached this undertaking with an open mind.  However, after a couple of days, I began to draw my own conclusion about this money-strategy that you may or may not agree with.

Let me first start with what did not impress me.  These are reasons that I would advise against surveys, if someone asked.

1. Too much information...about everything.  When you first go to these survey sights, you are prompted to fill out some questions about yourself.  After all, survey companies want to know something about you, so that they know whether or not you are a good candidate for certain surveys.   After all, why send a survey about cat food to someone who isn't even an animal lover.   So, I get it.  Nonetheless, I have to admit that I was a little squeamish about giving out information about household income and other things that were deeply personal.  You may claim that there is still some anonymity, in spite of these questions. My rebuttal is that it is not just one peace of information that disturbed me.  It's when you supply so much information that you begin to draw a picture of someones identity.  After the questions,  a company knows that John Doe lives in Boston Massachusetts.  Although, he is divorced, he lives with another person as if he were in a marriage relationship.  By the way, three others live in the household, which probably indicates some kind of blended family setting.  John's income is 6-figures, but he lives in a zip code that indicates that he is very modest.  Oh... John opted to receive surveys as text messages on his phone, so we have his phone number.  Since we have his phone number, we can find exactly where John lives - although I think that he filled out a field about that on his preliminary survey form.  Some may say that I'm overreacting.  I'm not the most private person, but this is just to much information for me to have floating out there in cyberspace.
2. Where's the cash?  I went out of my way to watch the short webinar on how to make money doing these online surveys.  The guy on the webinar indicated that he was able to make $1000 a month doing these surveys.  I entertained the idea and signed  up for a couple of surveys, giving as little information as possible during the setup process.  I noticed that there were many types of prizes and sweepstakes, but I have yet to see an outright cash offer to complete a survey.
3. Surveys are time consuming. Look folks...  There is a reason why interviewers have to beg and bribe people to take surveys.  It's a time-consuming task!!  Each survey will last an average of 15 minutes.  If you did three of these, you might get a $10 gift card.  That's good, but a $10.00 gift card is not what you need, when the power bill is due! 
4. Slow conversion into cash.  Even if you earned some prizes, or bought merchandise with those gift cards you earned, it's still not cash.  I thought about this, and came to the conclusion that you could sell the prizes that you earn on EBay or Craigslist.  I do question whether or not it's worth the effort.
5. Lots of emails in your inbox.  Of course, if you sign up for surveys, even the survey companies will tell you to sign up for a free mailbox just for this endeavor.  You will get numerous emails that will drive you nuts, if they are mixed in with your personal email..

Now, let me speak on the good points about surveying.

1. It appears to be legitimate.  The survey companies that I saw were not trying to steal your identity or cheat you out of money.  They offered you surveys in exchange for points based on a well-defined system that they had in place.  After so many points, you could redeem them for gift cards, so that you could buy merchandise.
2. It can be fun.  If you have plenty of spare time on your hands, filling out surveys can be fun.  If you stick with it, you can earn some really nice gift cards.

* Note these are my opinions, based on my own experiences.  I realize the measure of success will be different in every case.

-WorkerB