-Personal contact: You have all seen the high school and college students taking surveys in the mall. The come up with their clip boards and ask you to answer a few questions. They are so nice you usually say yes. Sometimes, the survey takers will go door to door to get the information they need. Most of the time the surveys are done in public places, like:
oThe Mall.
oThe Grocery Store.
oParking Lots.
oSporting Events.
oAnywhere there are large crowds gathered.

-Phone calls: This is a popular way for market research companies to obtain their information. In the past few years it has become harder for them to do so. This is because people have become more and more annoyed with this kind of survey.

-Internet: This is the number one way market research is being done today. You can reach more people over the Internet than any other way. At any given moment there are millions of people surfing the net. Some of the ways they get their information over the Internet is:

oEmail: If you have ever provided your email address to enter a contest, or to join a group, you are in a database somewhere. Almost all of these databases are sold for profit to different companies looking to exploit them for profit. You should be aware of this the next time you sign up for something and provide your email. You will notice that not long after you provide your email address, you will begin to get spam emails. Try reading the bland fine print some time and you will see that they will tell you that your email may be used for marketing purposes. Be very careful before you provide your email address for any reason.

oWeb Sites: Increasingly, you will find market research web sites that are geared toward getting information from you. A great deal of the time, they will offer to pay for this information. This is where you can make some money. Searching the Internet you will find thousands of web sites designed around market research.

oContests: This is a very popular ploy to get your information. Something is given away that requires you to enter your personal information. You are instantly in several market research databases. You should think hard about entering that contest to win that car. This is even done by television networks. You have seen the car or truck give away that requires you to enter information and enter over the Internet.

There is some good work at home survey companies that you can work for. Some of these require you to pay a fee. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Research them first. You will find out if they are legit or not. Be prepared to give your demographic and personal information. They are very personal. They have to be in order to match you up with the proper survey programs that will benefit their clients. Remember, if they are for real, they are looking to make money through the surveys done for manufacturing companies. Ask for a client list. If they are unwilling to let you know who they have working contracts with then they are probably not trustworthy.

-You should also be prepared to take some surveys and not be paid for them. This is a common practice and used to get to know you and that you will be profitable for them. There is money to be made taking surveys. Expect to be paid $1 - $5 for most normal surveys. You can make up to $50 for a very specialized survey though.

Paid surveys may be controversial, but they are a great work at home job and deserve a look.