You shouldn’t compare doing surveys for money to earning an hourly wage

Posted by: Chris Sidney

Doing surveys online isn’t a job. Therefore it makes no sense to compare it to receiving a minimum wage.

It’s something you do in your spare time for extra cash.

Over the years I’ve seen it mentioned before. People comparing doing surveys to an hourly wage. So I felt it would make a good topic for a blog post. Here we’ll look at the psychology of it and how best to approach making money from surveys.

Don’t get me wrong, doing an online hustle, of which surveys can be an aspect, can be a part-time job. Certain online projects such as owning a blog can even blossom into a full-time job. But for most people side hustles are exactly that, they’re on the side of another job. That’s how to view surveys.

Your location, goals and attitude matter

Where you’re located will influence your approach to surveys. For example, I’m in the UK and with how much surveys pay you’d never get close to earning the national minimum wage. But in some countries the money would go further. IE if we both do the same surveys, you could buy a lot more with your earnings then I can, or vice versa.

It’s also relative to the area of your country you live in. For example in the UK the cost of living in London is more expensive than Chorley in Lancashire.

What that means is what one person looks at and thinks, “that’s not worthwhile,” another looks at and thinks the opposite.

Your goals also matter. For example, if you have a target of earning an extra £1,000 per year, you could do that using surveys alone. Spread it out over the full year, if I earn £3 per day on average it would take me 333 days, leaving 32 spare days in the year.

Whereas someone trying to earn an extra £10K per year is going to have a serious battle to do it via surveys!

Attitude counts too. Some people want free money. They don’t want to put any time or effort in. They are the people that inevitably moan about survey sites. Leave them to it. With a good attitude you’ll earn more than others do.

Using survey reviews to find sites

There are articles in the blogosphere that exaggerate how much you can earn from doing surveys. Sometimes people exaggerate in order to get extra affiliate income. Try not to fall for the hype.

Always take reviews with a pinch of salt and accept nothing replaces your own experience. There are lots of reviews online (you’ll find some on MoneyCortex!) and there are lists too, such as this list in order of payout threshold if you want somewhere to get started.

Researching is a wise thing to do. But trying the sites yourself and seeing the cash drop into your own account is always the best thing.

What’s your best approach?

When researching about survey websites you need to first think about what I just said above. Just because one person thinks a website is too low paying. Another person might not agree. Likewise the other way round. A blogger may say a survey site pays really well, but you think it’s not worthwhile or doesn’t suit you or you don’t trust it.

For this reason it can be best to hunt out the legitimate websites and join them all. It’s always free to join. You don’t have to join them all at once. Perhaps try one a week. Then use each one for a sustained period. You can’t try them out for a day or two because that never gives a fair reflection.

If you try one for a bit and don’t like it, simply get to the first cashout to bank a bit of money into your Paypal account. Then stop using it. Easy!

Six tips to get the most out of making money from surveys

Now you know the appropriate attitude and approach, you can mould things to suit you. Here are 5 tips to help you get in the habit of doing surveys.

1. Try and pick surveys you enjoy on topics you like.
2. Try and pick ones that are a suitable length. For example, if you’re feeling fidgety and restless do short surveys, don’t do a big 30-minute one that requires patience.
3. Join lots of sites. It’ll mean more choice of surveys to complete.
4. Have your bigger goal in mind. Perhaps you’re saving for a holiday. Keep that in focus.
5. Always remember the “money drip method” I’ve written about before. I know if I can make an extra £2 per day I’ll have an extra £730 in my pocket over the year! That’s great!
6. Form habits and fit surveys into your life, that way it becomes natural and easy. Remember how hard learning to drive was, and yet once you’ve passed and got used to driving, it’s super easy.

And remember to never stress! #NeverStress

Hopefully those few tips help you. Answering surveys is a good way to earn extra cash. But your time has value, you want to use it wisely. In order to do that you need to have the right approach, find the best websites for you and get in the habit of doing them regularly.

We have to feel the rewards justify our time. Getting that psychological aspect right is critical. Expect to make the equivalent of the minimum wage or higher, and you’ll give up. Get into routines and see the cash building up and over time it becomes easy!