Online Focus Groups

Many companies choose to gather their research data through online focus groups as opposed to one sided surveys. People that get invited to participate in these online focus groups are usually members of popular survey panels. On average, a person will get paid somewhere between $30-$200 an hour for participating in online focus groups. The online focus group is a step above regular online surveys, so its participants often get paid more for their efforts. There are 2 different kinds of online focus groups: non-interactive and interactive.

Non-interactive online focus groups function by inviting a set number of participants to be present online at a certain time. The location is usually a chat room type of setting. This type of online focus group is typically run by a robot. That is to say that they have been pre-programmed with all of the questions the company would like to ask. This helps to insure that a one hour online focus group truly lasts one hour and that the company doing the research gets all of the information they need. When its time for the online focus group to start, the robot will start asking the questions and the participant will have a set amount of time to answer. After he answers, he will see what all of his peers have answered as well. When the time is up, the participant will get paid for their time and exit the chat room. There are no right and wrong answers. The company simply wants to glean as much information as possible, and they are willing to pay money for it.

Another great way to make money online is through interactive online focus groups. These differ from the non-interactive online focus groups in that there is no robot spewing off questions. The robot is replaced by a human moderator who asks questions based upon responses he has already received. This type of online focus group is set up to be more of a discussion in hopes of sparking creative thoughts and ideas. Oftentimes members of these types of online focus groups will get paid more money for their time.

The online focus group is just one type of online paid survey. Other types include surveys, phone interviews, and product testing. There are dozens of survey companies to choose from online. Many people sign up with all of them in order to increase their chances of receiving invitations and making money. There are plenty of websites that offer free listings of these survey companies. EarnSurveyMoney is one such website. Another alternative is to purchase a list of survey companies. Many people consider this an investment worth making. The average cost of a survey company list is about $40.