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A database is where you go when you want to easily find paid survey companies. Some databases are free to join, while other require payment for membership. When you join a paid database, you still have to register with the individual research companies manually. Survey scout, for example, doesn't automatically start sending you emails of surveys you can fill out and get paid for; its database merely gives you access to quality market research companies that will pay you to take surveys.
Free databases provide a similar setup, but the companies within the free database are not always the same quality as a paid database (such as surveyscout.com). So the answer is no, you don't necessarily need to be a member of a paid database—but it definitely saves you time.
What are my alternatives?
If you don't feel like spending the money to join survey scout (or other paid directories) you can look around and see if you can find the top research companies yourself. Even though you can find all the research companies manually, we are in a world where time is money; so unless you don't mind spending a little extra time, you might still want to consider using a database. I believe the $35 that survey scout charges for membership is easily a write off…especially for busy people such as myself who don't have time to find dozens of quality companies individually.
Nevertheless, if you'd rather not spend money to attain organized free information that the paid databases gives you (including links to high quality research companies), just take your time and find the paid surveys yourself. Bottom line... you don't have to spend a dime.
What happens when I register with a paid survey directly?
I mentioned the paid survey databases already. Now I want to talk about the actual paid survey companies. Paid surveys are actually the market research companies. Paid surveys usually never ask for a fee; all you have to do is register. When joining a paid survey site directly, you are contacted by email when they need you to fill out a survey—if you match the criteria for taking that survey of course.
Just how profitable are paid surveys?
People tend to exaggerate the amount of money you can make using paid surveys. There are other home business options on my site that can give you more of a full-time income than paid surveys can. But that doesn't mean that you can't make some good money using this method—especially when you consider using focus groups in conjunction with the surveys. This is a great way to get some extra money…potentially a substantial amount. Better yet, you can use the surveys approach to diversify your existing home/Internet business.
Is there anything else I should know?
Like I mentioned before, if you want to make money using surveys you have to join as many paid survey companies as possible…don't depend on just one company. You should be registered with no less than 10 companies when starting out. Obviously, this number should be higher if you want more cash.