It is important for businesses to learn about their customers that’s why most of them, specially big companies, spend a significant amount not only in advertising but also in market research. This process involves buying research reports, looking at market trends, evaluating purchasing patterns, getting customer feedback and conducting focus group discussions. All these analysis and data gathering are often outsourced and done by a market research company.

Aside from earning money through mystery shopping, I have also been able to get paid by participating in market research and customer satisfaction surveys. It’s actually fun and easy and requires you to only be honest and generous with your opinions about the company’s products and services. Some of my personal experiences on this income opportunity are narrated below:

Market Research for a Jeans Manufacturer
An international clothing company is coming up with new cuts for their famous jeans. They wanted to solicit initial customer reactions before they fully launch their product. They hired a market research company to recruit a sample population of their target market to try on their new designs and at the same time learn more about their consumers. Personally, I was asked by a surveyor on my clothing habits, buying patterns, choice of apparel brands and my reasons for these preferences. Lastly, I was tasked to wear their new designs and give them my opinion regarding the fit, comfort and other criteria. This experience lasted for almost four hours, a bit exhausting but otherwise fun.

Market Research for a Television Network
A local television network wants to improve their viewer ratings and at the same time learn more about the watching habits of their target market. During that day, all respondents were not informed who the client was to avoid any bias on our opinions. We were divided into groups of ten people and was given a coordinator who conducted a focus group discussion. We talked about television programs, the shows that we like watching, the viewing habits of our household and we even gave our opinion on various television commercials. It was a pretty laid back discourse which lasted a couple of hours.

Market Research for a Pharmaceutical Company
An international pharmaceutical company wants to improve their multivitamin brand. They recruited a sample of their target market and conducted a one-on-one interview regarding their respondent’s physical lifestyle, fitness routines and eating habits. My session lasted a little over an hour which is pretty short in my opinion. Nevertheless, the questions given to me were a bit hard to answer because I had to discuss and evaluate my attitude towards work, nutrition and mental wellness. This survey was memorable for me because it helped me learn more about myself and how I ignore some important aspects of my health.

So do you think you can do this type of freelance work? If you’d like to participate in these type of market research endeavors, your first task is to find a legitimate recruiter where you can get your assignments. These people can be found by calling up your local advertising firms and market research companies. Contact them and try to get hold of the person in charge of population sampling and surveys. Sometimes, these companies outsource their respondents through a recruitment agency so you might be given their contact details. Furthermore, always remember that participating in these market research endeavors will NOT COST YOU anything. You don’t have to pay a joining fee. If you’re being asked for one, chances are that it’s a scam.

Regarding compensation, from my personal experience, the payment that you get by participating in these surveys are generally good - usually more than enough to convince you to file a leave of absence from work although there are also market research events that are conducted during weekends. Furthermore, quite a few of these surveys give out company gift certificates and product samples. Lastly, one of the reasons why I enjoy doing these is because I get to invite my friends to join me and assuming all of us pass the survey requirements, then all of us gets to participate.

To my fellow Pinoys, below is a list of local market research websites that you might find helpful:

Marketing and Opinion Research Society of the Philippines (MORES).
Website at: http://www.mores.com.ph/

McCann Worldgroup Philippines.
Website at: http://www.mccannmanila.com/

Good Thinking, Inc.
Website at: http://www.goodthinking.com.ph/

Wait there’s more!

You can likewise get paid by participating on online surveys. You can search the internet and read the thousands of make money online blogs to learn about legitimate websites that pay for you to answer surveys. Personally, I’ve been participating with dNeero Social Surveys. If you’re interested to sign-up, then just click the link below:

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