If you've been looking for information about getting paid to take surveys you know by now how many sites there are dealing in information about paid surveys. Many of them are simply out to take your email address or worse your money. They require you to pay them for access to their site or give up your email address to register. What are you to do? How do you know which sites are legitimate and which are scams?

What you need is a way to compare the different sites so you can make an informed decision about which paid survey site is right for you. Here are some qualities you can use to evaluate paid survey sites.

1. Size stability and durability. See how long the site has been in existence. Paid survey sites can come and go, but the good ones tend to stay. Find a site that has been in existence for some time and you have likely found a reliable site.

2. Does the site appear to be growing in popularity? You can find this out at http://www.alexa.com

3. Does the site provide regular updates? This is important if you want to be informed about the newest and best survey companies or other opportunities.

4. Is the site asking you for money to access the list of paid survey companies? Don't EVER pay for access to information that is freely available, it's a waste of your hard earned money and unnecessary. Same goes for sites that want you to register for access to their list. They are just looking to get your email address. Find a site like Paid Survey Success that gives you free access to over 300 paid survey companies.

5. Once you narrow down your list of possibilities to 2-3 strong candidates visit their websites and see which one will work best for you. You should be concerned with how easy it is to get around the site and how many companies they have on their list.

6. Set up a separate email account for your paid survey business. You want to keep it apart from your personal email. This new email is only for your paid survey business.

7. Do your part. The paid survey site owner has given you the tool, the list of paid survey companies. Now you have to visit each paid survey site yourself and apply. The research companies won't be sending you any surveys until you complete their registration. Don't hesitate, just do it.

8. Check your email daily for new survey invitations. You can even check two or three times a day if you want. Some surveys are time dependent and you'll wan to respond to them as quickly as possible. Complete the surveys that are sent to you. Being good at completing the surveys marks you as a good survey taker and the paid survey companies will respond by sending you more and better paying surveys.

9. Be patient, it will take time to build momentum. After 3 months or so you will start getting the really good offers and focus groups that pay up to $150 an hour. Just like a normal job, the survey companies want to know that you are reliable and dependent before they send you their best offers.

If you follow these suggestions you'll be sure to find a quality list of legitimate paying survey without giving up your email address or even worse your own money. I've been following these rules for about two years and I can tell you that they do work.