Back in the day, people would walk through malls and people would stop you and ask you to come in and take a survey. Often you would receive new products as a result. In some cities, marketing survey companies will contact their database online when they have a particular survey where you meet the criteria and pay you to come in and take them.

Today, the Internet has revolutionized paid surveys taking and it allows marketing research companies to reach a broader audience. From the consumer side, someone with some time and a little patience can learn to take surveys at several different sites and make a little extra cash.

One of the reasons taking paid surveys online works well is because everyone uses products all the time. You have your favorites of everything from cars to movies. There are companies that value your opinion about these things and they don't mind paying to get the information.

Most survey sites are contacted by these companies when they have a particular product or new product to test. Instead of spending the money to bring in a focus group of people or many people to test a given product, the Internet allows them to find more people in a quicker amount of time.

As the consumer, all you have to do is go to the various sites, register with them, and then begin to receive surveys. Some send you several a day, others send you a few a month and still others.. well you get the picture.

Your opinions and decisions about new products will influence whether the new product is made. Your opinion will also help them make decisions about the packaging, the wording on the package or the colors that each product will come in.

The nice thing about surveys is you can take as many or as few as you want. If you decide you don't like doing surveys for a particular company, you can back out with no obligation. Sometimes you may get into a paid surveys and decide not to finish it; that's okay, you just won't get paid for that particular one.

Another thing you should know is that sometimes you will be asked not to reveal any information about certain products. They will ask you to sign a statement -- usually printing something like I AGREE in a box on the site to let them know that you won't say anything to anyone. This is one way that they insure that new products won't hit the market before they are ready. These are also paid surveys.

Generally speaking paid surveys will pay between $1 and $5 on the average. Some of them will be worth points that will accumulate for gift certificates or other merchandise and some will enter the consumer in sweepstakes. All of them are fun to take. So what are you waiting for? Get started on those paid surveys now!