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At some time or another, while we were online, we have all been asked to fill out some kind of survey. Maybe the first two or three times we went ahead and did fill it out. After that, most of us just say, "Uh-huh. Yeah, right." and click off.

Filling out surveys are a waste of time, a pain in the neck, to be avoided. Right?

Well, what if you were getting paid for taking the survey? That would put a different light on the subject, would it not?

The reality is that you CAN get paid for surveys? "How?", you ask, "Who's going to pay me for filling out surveys?"

Good questions. You see, there are thousands of companies out there that make products and sell them through distribution channels such that they have no contact with their ultimate customer.

Who? Where? Well, the next time you are in a supermarket, just look around you. You'll see thousands of products, made, packaged and shipped-out by some manufacturer or processor or packer somewhere, being sold by the supermarket chain. The company that made it, packs it up, ships it out and somebody somewhere buys it.

Watch what happens in the supermarket. Look at the breakfast cereals section. 50 to 100 different products, all in brightly colored boxes or bags, all silently screaming, "Take me! Take ME!". Somebody passes by pushing a shopping cart, grabs one, throws it in the cart, and moves on.

Somewhere there are marketing managers just dying to know, WHY did he/she DO that? Why did they pick that one, that size, that type? Was it the high fiber content? Was it because it tastes good? Was it because the kids asked for it?

These are NOT just idle questions. Those marketing managers are in charge of multi-million dollar advertising budgets. To know how to advertise, what product characteristics to emphasize, what message to send to their prospective customers, they have to know the answers to those questions. They have to know what their average ultimate consumer, the one who makes the decision to buy their product, is thinking!

So how do they find out? They commission market research companies to make surveys, surveys aimed at the specific subset of the general population that pushes shopping carts in supermarkets.

And "...surveys are a waste of time, a pain in the neck, to be avoided. Right?" Yes, and since most people feel that way, the survey makers budget part of the survey cost money to pay the survey takers, to make it worth their while to fill out the survey! That includes focus groups, sample product testing and other activities with the same general aim - to get meaningful feedback from present and potential consumers of the companies' products.

The Internet lets the market researchers get feedback fast and economically, so a growing share of the general survey market is going online. With over $200 billion a year being spent worldwide on advertising, the advertisers are willing to spend a few hundred million on surveys to find out how to most effectively target that advertising.

So how do you get paid for surveys? How do you get in line to receive some of that money? Learn more, then find a good guide company. Guide companies can show you how and where to get started, get your name on the lists of prospective survey takers, fill out surveys and start getting checks in the mail!