This is a guest post from Tamala Willams of Tega Insurance. Tamala and I were talking about ways to pay down debt. One of her the ways she pays down her debt is to participate in Focus Groups. I asked her to share her experience with us.
One of the simplest ways to help pay down debt or build up your savings is by earning some extra cash through voicing your sentiments about products, services, concepts or ideas. Market research firms are engaged mainly by companies and inventors seeking sound opinions from consumers like you. Your attitudes and thoughts about everything from pizza quality, cell phone providers and even health care reform are valuable to those involved in marketing or promoting goods, services and policies.
As a participant in a market research study or focus group, your honest point of view is collected and compared to other participants in order to enhance quality, increase popularity and determine profitability or likeability of merchandise and businesses.
In order to qualify for participation in a focus group you should register with marketing firms in your area. A good website resource is www.greenbook.org. To increase your chances of being selected for a study, register with a number of different agencies.
Here are some other tips to remember:
- Always reply to agency questionnaires timely if you believe you qualify for a study or focus group.
- Never be dishonest when responding to qualification questions.
- Watch for phonies – Avoid giving any banking information to any agency requesting such information. It is probably a scam.
- Keep all information discussed during a study or focus group confidential.
- Always arrive a few minutes early to your focus group. Don’t be a no-show. If you are selected to be a respondent in a focus group be 100% committed to completing the study, after all- marketers want to
Editor Note: I absolutely love Focus Groups, not only is it away to pay off existing debt. You can also use your money to take care of upcoming obligations, save for travel. Some of you may remember from Christmas time, that my goal is use my focus group money for Christmas Gifts.
What has your experience been with Focus Groups?
Andrea is the Chief Chick of Smart Money Chicks. After filing BK twice (once because she panicked, second time because the pro messed the first time up), she realized that it all could have been avoided if she understood more about how her Finances worked and the options available. At that point, she wanted to help as many as she could never make the same mistakes again. Our Promise is that all the content you read on here is created or edited by Andrea
This is a good idea. I was contacted by a focus group several times, but didn’t call them back. I wasn’t sure if they were for real or not. Now that I know others have used them, I will look into be a part of a focus group in the future.