Online Researcher Training

Giving an opinion is second nature to us. Many times a day we offer up our thoughts and feelings on the goods we use and receive. We use a new product and we evaluate its effectiveness. We see a film and discuss its merits. We try a different brand of coffee and form an opinion on the taste.

Opinions make up the bulk of our discourse and comprise the majority of our thoughts. Because of how natural our opinions are to us, it’s hard to imagine that there are people willing to pay us money just to hear what we think! To understand why our opinions are such valuable commodities and why companies are willing to pay big bucks to hear what people have to say, it’s important to understand a little bit about market research, what it is, and how it works.

In today’s competitive business environment small and large companies alike are faced with the challenge of continually seeking out growth opportunities. Companies may look to grow in a number of ways. Some of the most common growth opportunities are: developing a new product or service, expanding an existing product or service line or identifying new markets. Products and service market development is costly and high-risk.

Branching from the status quo presents a new and potentially dicey challenge to companies. Plunging into new product terrain without the proper knowledge and information can be a death sentence for a company or corporation. That is why it is crucial that companies fully evaluate the feasibility of their product and service opportunities by undertaking proactive market research before committing resources to new product or service development.

Market research is a cost-effective way of finding out what people believe, think, want, need or are looking for. It is information that cannot be obtained from any other source. It takes unbiased consumer views to really test the potential profitability of a good. Industry, commerce and governments use research to help them produce goods, services and policies that accurately and efficiently match up to consumer needs and wants.

Market research is learning all about your prospective market before you try to enter that market. The most important role of market research is to minimize risk by researching a product or service before delivery. All companies realize that it is quicker and cheaper to research a new concept and get that concept right rather than rolling out a product only to find out it doesn’t match the needs of buyers.

The marketing plan for a new product relies heavily on market research. It is essential to pick your market carefully. Companies have to know just whom their product appeals to and why. Each market is uniquely different. Not only are there differences in gender, geography, and profession, there are also language and culture differences as well.

Our training curriculum:

1. Equipment and Skills Needed to Be a Research Participant

 

2. Who is Eligible to Participate

Many of these companies will allow anyone over the age of 13 years old to participate. Some companies will consider it a plus if you are older then 65, which makes this a great opportunity for retired persons. Some companies will only require certain ethnic groups, race or gender. This is rare, and is not discriminative; it is just their research focus.

We have companies that will accept almost every country, and some that will only allow certain countries based on their focus studies. We do list hundreds of companies that you can do research for, and we will list specifics on companies dealing in certain regions, cities or the countries that they are available to.

3. Profiles and Demographics

When you sign up for any of the research companies, they will ask you what your personal interests are, such as hobbies, computers, automobiles, information technology, Internet experience, credit card use (they will never ask for numbers), do you read books, do you read magazines, do you play video games, do you eat cereal, etc.

Always be sure to complete all of your profiles when you sign up to ensure you receive more research projects. It’s kind of like a computer dating service, when you enter all this information into the computer’s database, and when a market research company has a research project available that matches your profile, you will be contacted. All personal information is kept strictly confidential and never sold to any third parties. If you are not sure, read their privacy policies. Remember these are “legitimate” market research companies.

The four main demographics of research project surveys? Age, Gender, Occupation, & Race.

Age – This is the most important factor of any survey! For example, “How much does a teenager spend at the grocery store compared to his 44-year-old mother? We think this answer is obvious! Naturally market research is aimed towards the consumer of these products. However, many research project surveys are sent to children under 18 with adult supervision, usually regarding video games, clothing, cosmetics, etc.

You must be 18 years or older to join any market research company. Also, please remember that when they have sent you a particular research project survey, you have been chosen because of your age first. Please put in the exact age you signed up for on this particular e-mail address! If you have eight different e-mail accounts, this can be confusing sometimes, so write down the age and occupation offer each e-mail account.

Gender – This is the second most important factor for being selected. A female will most likely purchase cosmetics, whereas a male may be more interested in sports, which usually involves research project surveys about sports announcers, sports TV commercials, beer, etc.. Females are normally the persons that purchase the most groceries, or purchase children’s clothes, etc. Believe it or not, females receive more research projects than males! It is not an overwhelming amount, but it is usually more.

Occupation – The third most important factor of being selected for surveys. If you work or have worked in Information Technology and have the power to purchase these products, you will be selected for some really high paying research project surveys anywhere from $10.00 to $30.00.

The higher paying research project surveys normally last about 30 minutes. Afterwards they will analyze your answers and decide whether or not you qualify for other research project surveys in this field. You will still get paid.

Race – No, market research companies are not prejudiced! They just want to know what products human beings all across the world are purchasing! This lets the advertising market know who, what, when, where, and how to advertise a product! Some races purchase more of a certain product than others. Through market research surveys, this will let them know ahead of time what results they can expect which is the whole purpose of market research to begin with.

4. Types of Research Projects You Will Conduct

Primarily there are two main types of study groups you can participate in: one is focus groups, and the other is market research surveys. We will explain more what these are.

Focus Groups
A focus group is a small group selected from a wider population and sampled, as by open discussion, for its members’ opinions about or emotional response to a particular subject or area, used especially in market research or political analysis.

Focus groups were originally called “focused interviews” or “group depth interviews”. The technique was developed after World War II to evaluate audience response to radio programs. Since then social scientists and program evaluators have found focus groups to be useful in understanding how or why people hold certain beliefs about a topic or program of interest.

A focus group could be defined as a group of interacting individuals having some common interest or characteristics, brought together by a moderator, who uses the group and its interaction as a way to gain information about a specific or focused issue.
A focus group is typically 7-10 people who are unfamiliar with each other. These participants are selected because they have certain characteristics in common that relate to the topic of the focus group. The moderator or interviewer creates a permissive and nurturing environment that encourages different perceptions and points of view, without pressuring participants to vote, plan or reach consensus.

The group discussion is conducted several times with similar types of participants to identify trends and patterns in perceptions. Careful and systematic analysis of the discussions provides clues and insights as to how a product, service, or opportunity is perceived by the group.

Focus groups can be conducted either online by Internet connection, where all participants will type their responses to the study, or by on-site at a local facility. Our program will focus on the online focus groups, but we will give you a nice database of on-site focus groups in your area if you are interested.

Online focus groups will pay you very well for your time. You can make anywhere from $75 for a short online focus group, to $250 for a longer on-site focus group.

Focus group participants will be systematically and purposefully selected.

Focus groups will give you plenty of notice before you need to attend either by online or in person, unlike research project surveys, which in some cases could only give you notice as little as a few hours.

Always do your best to attend the focus groups when you are invited, for this can lead to many more. If you agreed to attend the focus group, and then cancel, this can be a big negative that may cause you to not be invited by that company again.

We suggest if something does come up, notify the research company right away to inform them, and if you can find someone to fill in for you, that may be the easiest way to cover yourself.

Most of the incentives to participate in focus groups are paid in cash. Some will offer other incentives such as gift cards, products, etc. It is rare for legitimate focus groups to offer anything but cash.

Each focus group will inform you how to format the research data they want you to input.

The Focus Groups We Provide – We will give you hundreds of focus groups to work with directly. These are not a list! We personally work with hundreds of focus groups from all over the world and the research companies we provide are directly to the moderator to assure you get in if you choose.

All of the focus groups we provide are listed by local area, district, city, or country. You simple click the focus group you are interested in, contact the moderator we provide and get set up with the moderator. Only through our company will you have the chance to get in to the focus groups before they are public knowledge.

Research Project Surveys
A research project survey will be a little less dramatic than a focus group. Many times you will do this without any interaction or moderation. Many of the research companies will send you an online research project in the form of a survey questionnaire via e-mail, or set you up with an online account through which to access the research project surveys directly from their Web site.

Let’s talk about the difference between “Paid Surveys” and “Research Project Surveys”. Paid surveys and research project surveys is there a difference? Yes, a big difference. You may be telling yourself you have seen many companies offering paid surveys and maybe you have tried one of those companies.

The data research project surveys we are doing with this program are different than those paid survey programs. Many of those paid survey programs are scams as well only taking money out of your own pocket.

PAID SURVEYS “Middleman” Surveys (Not Legitimate)
Paid surveys which is also referred to as “middleman” survey companies will usually require you to either purchase the product, then type your thoughts on the product. You sometimes get paid, but more than likely you are out of money. Most middleman paid survey companies will offer you lots and lots of information about how wonderful paid survey opportunities are. They will request your personal information, such as credit cards, and get you to do trial offers (which require money). Then they send you to the actual survey that we are going to give you first hand. When doing surveys for real research companies we provide you WILL NEVER BE ASKED FOR A CREDIT CARD.

MARKET RESEARCH COMPANIES “Research Project Surveys” (Legitimate)
For the data research projects you will be doing with this program, you will see you will be working directly with legitimate market research companies. These market research companies will give you a direct assignment as it will pertain to the subject of the research project they are doing for any particular company.

You NEVER need to purchase anything such as the product or service you are doing your research project for; the market research company will supply you with everything. You just need to type your research in data form as the market research company requires and get paid.

Research surveys will vary in the amount you will be paid. You can expect to paid approximately $15 – $25 for about half an hour of your time. Some will pay $3.00 for you to type a couple sentences of your thoughts, which will take a whole two minutes. It will be rare to find a survey that takes longer than one hour, and if you run across one of those you should get about $50.

These research companies will pay in one of four ways; CASH, POINTS, GIFTS and PRIZES.

CASH: Get a deposit made into your PayPal, or request a mailed check.

POINTS: Each research project survey will accumulate points, which then can be turned into cash or gifts. Getting paid through points. Some survey companies will pay you through accumulating points. The points will be the same as cash. On the average, 1000 points is the same as $10.00.

GIFTS: These incentives will usually be paid by a gift voucher to places like: Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Home Depot, etc.

PRIZES: Some companies will enter you into a draw for cash or other items.

We have personally screened these companies, and all the companies we work with will pay in cash, and points, and the points can be converted into cash.

We don’t deal with companies that ONLY offer gifts and prizes. Some of our companies may offer to entered you into a draw as a secondary incentive such as a bonus upon sign up, etc. but it is not the primary method of payment.

5. Get Prepared and Organized

We already mentioned what equipment you will need (computer and Internet connection) to do these jobs. However, we are going to make a few suggestions to help you with organizing yourself for this job.

1st – If you have not done so already, get a secondary e-mail account; this will allow you to conduct business with these market research companies, and keep it separate from your personal e-mails. You can get a free e-mail account with either Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo.

When you get this second e-mail account, set up some new files in your email account. You can name each file for each market research company you are doing research project surveys for. This will keep things organized within your e-mail account.

* You will see we provide a sign up tutorial in the “Resources” side menu for secondary email sign up.

2nd- Keep Good Records. Whether you use a Windows NotePad, WordPad or an Excel spreadsheet, make sure you keep tabs of every research company you’ve signed up for, how often they invite you to participate in focus groups and research project surveys, the quality of the incentives such as how much they pay, and how responsive they are.

We suggest you bookmark (add to favorites) any market research company you sign up for in your Internet browser. This will make it easier to locate and sign into your market research company accounts.

3rd – You need a decent Internet connection. While you don’t have to have broadband access to participate in most online focus groups, you should have at the very least a reliable Internet connection so you don’t get dropped off in the middle of an activity.

4th – If you have not done so already, we suggest you get a FREE PayPal account. This will make it easier and quicker for you to get your payments. When you sign up for a PayPal account, you only need the “Personal” or “Premier” account, NOT the Business. The personal or premier account is free and easy to get verified.

* You will see we provide a sign up tutorial in the “Resources” side menu for PayPal sign up.

6. Signing Up for the Market Research Companies

Now we will give you some tips on signing up for these research companies to maximize your potential earnings.

Finding the right companies
We suggest to scroll through the companies we list, we know there are a lot to choose from.

First. If at all possible try to find the best market research companies that are in your location or region. These will be the first market research companies you should sign up for if possible.

Second. Try to find any market research companies that may meet your demographics, such as; if a particular research company is looking for people 65 and older, or African Americans, or females, males, etc.

Don’t worry if you do not find any market research companies that meet this first and/or second criteria, it is just a good place to start.

Third. If you cannot use the first and/or second suggestions to locate companies your choice is simply select any of the companies we list that interest you based upon the short description we give for each company. You will then be able to follow their sign up instructions to get your research project surveys.

How many companies to sign up with
We will suggest you start by signing up with about 5 to 10 companies if possible. This usually will give you a decent flow of research project surveys. You can always sign up for more at any time.

If you sign up for too many at the start, you could be overwhelmed with research assignment work if they all decide to send you work at the same time. Sometimes 5 – 10 may not give you enough assignments, but allow a few weeks to see the flow of the research project surveys before signing up for more.

Filling out demographic profile application for research assignments
It will be important to fill out the demographic profile sign-up applications correctly as we will explain. The most important thing to remember is to fill in all the information that is asked.

You do not want to leave any blanks on the sign up profile demographics and don’t hold back information by clicking the “Not sure,” “Don’t know,” or “Will not disclose.” These will only harm you. If you are not sure of something, guess. Blanks and negative information on the demographic profile application can hurt you when it comes time for getting asked to do the research project surveys.

Bookmark the market research companies you sign-up for
You will be required to create a membership with each of the companies you sign up for. The members’ area will be where you may find some research project survey assignments for you to complete. We suggest you bookmark them (add them to favorites) for a couple of reasons this will make it easy to locate each site and log-in, and, most importantly, so you do not sign up for the same company twice.

A few tips that will help you get in better position for the research surveys
Once you visit the Web site’s of the market research companies we provide, you may see two different areas, “Join” and “Members,” Click on “Join”. This will take you to the demographics page where you will enter all of your contact information age, gender, occupation, race, mailing address, phone number (optional), household income, computer experience, etc.

If you change your profiles at any time, it normally takes the computer about two weeks to catch up, and as fraud also looks like this, the computer will sometimes spot this. In other words, be absolutely 100% sure about your age, and occupation before you sign up. Never change your demographics once you have entered them at sign-up.

If asked if you are part of another market research company you should answer honestly. DON’T offer that you are part of another market research company if not asked directly. This will disqualify you from MANY research project surveys.

Keep an open mind. Doing so will allow you to be in focus groups of either online or in house, as they don’t want people who are dead set on never trying anything new.

When asked, “Are you the primary decision maker?” always answer “YES.” This is referring to your household or employment. Market research companies do not like to deal with the middleman. They want opinions direct from the person that have tried or purchased these products.

A “legitimate” market research company will never ask you to purchase anything, and will never, under any circumstances ask you for your credit card number. They will ask you during your profile sign up if you use credit cards to purchase items, but never ask for your credit card number.

You will get some very good paying research project surveys on banks and the use of credit cards, but you will never have to reveal any personal information. The way that you purchase an item is very important to market research. If you ever are asked to purchase anything, or to give your credit card information, contact us and give us the name of the company that has asked you for this. We will investigate them and more than likely remove them from our program.

For U.S.A residents ONLY; By law, once your earnings reach $500 for EACH of the market research companies, you will be required to supply a social security number. You can also use your EIN that we have shown you how to obtain in the “Resources” section in left side menu.

You don’t need to supply this information until you reach $500, so until then you can leave that blank when asked. You will be responsible for your own taxes, as none of these companies will deduct taxes from your earnings; once you have reached $500 these companies will report your earnings to the IRS by 1099. This will be for EACH company, so if you have $200 with one company, and $300 with another, that will not count.

Note: Under a strict law that is implemented to market research companies, they are never to sell or share your personal information with anyone else. So you can ensure your personal information is safe. You will see this in any of their “Privacy” policies they provide on their Web sites.

The most important advice we can give you is to enter your information carefully to assure it is correct when signing up for these market research companies. For example, a wrong e-mail address entered = NO RESEARCH PROJECT SURVEYS! which of course means no income. So just take your time when signing up for any of the market research companies we provide.

7. Getting Your Research Project Assignments

After you have just signed up with your selected market research companies, be patient. It can take these companies up to three weeks to process your demographic profile, and place you on the rotation for assignments. On average it usually takes about one to two weeks to get processed and to start getting research project surveys.

Many members make the big mistake and join a hundred market research companies only to find out in a couple of weeks they cannot handle the amount of research project surveys they are receiving.

It is okay to turn down research project surveys if you do not like the pay, or the subject etc. However, if you do this too often, then you could be removed from the market research company’s rotation.

So signing up with too many can cause you a lot of extra work, and problems down the line. The solution to this problem is to be patient upon start up.

How you will get your research surveys
Most of the research project surveys will come by way of e-mail, usually one or two days’ notice will be given. Some companies will have research project surveys the same day, so you will want to check your e-mail as often as possible.

When to check your e-mail? If you have the time and the opportunity, check your e-mail around lunchtime, also between 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., and again around 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Monday seems to the biggest day of the week for research project surveys at this time, but this does change from time to time.

You will receive some research project surveys on the weekends, but not that many. Most of the research companies are closed on the weekends and they cannot answer any problems you may have regarding research project surveys. All holidays are the same. (Don’t expect any research project surveys the week before or after Christmas).

Most market research companies are open between 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m Monday through Friday. Time Zones will vary.

Look for the word “Survey” in the subject line of your e-mail. Usually the survey pay will be presented. You always want do the highest paying surveys first. High paying research project surveys usually fill up pretty fast! (see quota below). so check your e-mail as much as possible, and your spam mail as well. Be sure to put these market research companies in your list of contacts, or lower your spam filter where all e-mails are sent to your Inbox. (A lot of times, market research companies are read as junk mail.)

Other methods that surveys will be delivered will be through the market research member’s account you set up with each of these market research companies.

When you log-in there will be a special area that will list current research project surveys. Click on any that interest you and complete the research project survey as required.

Some companies will send research project surveys assignments by BOTH e-mail, and through your membership account.

Focus Groups – You will get focus group invites by e-mail, or by phone, and more than likely BOTH. Focus groups will usually give you at least a week’s notice by contacting you using these methods. Expect an average of a two-week notice for online focus groups studies.

What is Quota?
This is the number of respondents chosen or selected to participate in the research project surveys. Each research project survey will be sent to different ages, gender, occupation and races. From what we’ve seen on the Internet, it’s usually between 1000-1500 people per every research project survey. That’s the reason why high paying research project surveys fill up quickly.

Considering the fact that some market research companies… have over hundred thousand members, always look for the high paying research project surveys first!

Once the market research company has received the intended number of responses your chance is gone. If you are invited by mail to take part in a research project survey take it quickly, slots are normally filled within hours.

We suggest that you are not overly picky when you receive your first few assignments; this will build up a good rapport with these companies, and you will stand a better chance of getting more research project surveys in the future. Just a suggestion!

8. How to do Your Research Project Assignments

After you have decided to do a particular research project, you will need to know some important tips.

Problems accessing research project survey assignments
Once you go to do a research project survey and you can’t get the research project survey to start, you will need to check some of your computer settings.

First you must deactivate your pop-up blocker during research project surveys. Most research project surveys have their very own pop-up blocker.

All cookies, sound, active-x controls, and windows media player must be ACTIVATED (this should be set up as default on your computer).

You may need to download a newer version of Internet Explorer or use another Web browser such as Firefox, Google Chrome, etc. to process the research project surveys.

* We provide free downloads to additional Web browsers under the “Resources” section in side menu.

Normally the research project survey will tell you what the problem is and what needs to be done, or you can contact the market research company’s members or employee services. These are not viruses; they just need all of these controls active to make the research project surveys fully functional.

We suggest you use Windows Media Player for research project surveys if a video player is required. Some research project surveys are about TV commercials or movie trailers, etc. which is really exciting because you get to express your opinion about up-coming movies, or fast food, and actually get paid for it!

Most common types of research project surveys to expect
The Food Industry: Nearly half of the research project surveys conducted worldwide are about food! What you eat, where you eat, how do you purchase food, which grocery store do you use most often, what products do you purchase, which brand of cereal do you prefer, what fast food restaurants do you eat at, what dine-in restaurants do you go to, etc.

That is why it will be important to not disclose that you work in the food industry like a grocery store or restaurant as you will most likely NOT be chosen to participate in any form of food research project surveys. As mentioned earlier, this is a “conflict of interest”.

Filling out the research project surveys
Consistency of your answers? Be sure your answers are consistent on every page when typing your data for the research project surveys. Sometimes they will throw in a “weird” question in the middle of the page to see if you are paying attention. Think: accuracy, concentration, and thought.

Never skip a question page, and then try to go back. Many research project surveys will not allow you to gain access to the page you have skipped. If you honestly don’t know the answer to the question, guess! Look things up if you don’t know what they are asking by doing your own research on the Internet using a search engine if needed.

We have a great search engine to use for your research. It is called SearchHybrid. This allows you to search all the major search engines in once place.

http://www.SearchHybrid.com

Contacting the market research company
If you do need to contact the market research company about a problem, please keep it business like, courteous, and send the assignment number with your e-mail letter if possible. Keep it short. They will contact you within a couple of days; it will be either a personal or a computerized response.

Keep good records of completed research project surveys
Always keep a record of any completed research project surveys, such as the assignment number, the time you started the research project survey, and the time you completed it.

Also keep track of the amount that was paid for each particular research project survey. If you have a problem with a market research company not displaying your earnings for a completed survey, keeping these records can help clear any problems up very easily when you supply this information.

Once you have signed up with some of the market research companies, your extra cash is on its way; this does not require any initial investment. However, you need to know that for each marketing research company you will get about 4 or 5 research project survey a month on average. Because of this, you should eventually sign up with more than 10 companies we first suggest upon start up if you want to make serious money. The higher the number the better.

But remember to start out with no more then 10 to get a feel for the amount of research project surveys you will receive. Eventually you can work your way up to more companies. With 50 market research companies in your portfolio, you can easily make $3,000 monthly. Remember, this will take up more time in your day, so be prepared to do some work.