Earn Money and Rewards with (Legit!) Online Surveys

Many people dream of earning easy money from their home (preferably while sitting on the couch, in pajamas....you get the idea :) While there are plenty of scams out there (note: anything legitimate will not require you to pay anything to get started), there are a lot of sites that let you earn money and rewards for taking surveys. Yep, that's it. Say what you do and how you feel, and get paid!

So which sites are the legit online surveys? The ones with which I am most familiar—generally through my own participation—are below, and can be verified through programs such as VeriSign and the Better Business Bureau (both of which are good signs for security). All survey programs listed below are FREE to join and certified by the BBB or another secure, best-practices business.

• SwagBucks.com:   I've blogged before about SwagBucks and the many ways to earn, from simply using their search engine to search the Web (which, let's face it, you're going to do anyway) to completing surveys, printing coupons, and participating in discussions. Each survey is usually worth between 50 and 150 SwagBucks (depending on how time-consuming, etc.), which can then be cashed in for gift cards, electronics, mp3 downloads, and a ton of more stuff. And if you screen out of the survey? Don't worry—you are automatically entered into a daily sweepstakes (one entry for each survey you screen out of each day) to win 1,000 SwagBucks.

• GlobalTestMarket.com: GlobalTestMarket is another one of my favorites. Verified by the Better Business Bureau (the logo is prominently placed on their site), GlobalTestMarket emails survey invitations when they are available. For each survey you complete, you earn MarketPoints (each MarketPoint has a value of $.05 cents); most surveys start around 35 or 40 MarketPoints ($3.50 to $4.00 each). Once you reach 1,000 market points, you can cash in and be mailed a $50 check (or,  you can keep accumulating, and cash out for even more). For each survey you are screened out of and unable to complete, you are entered into the daily drawing for $300 and monthly drawings for larger cash prizes.

• ValuedOpinions.com: ValuedOpinions is another great survey site. Also accredited by the Better Business Bureau (again, the logo is prominently displayed on their site),  you will be emailed survey invitations, which range in compensation from $1.00 to $7.00 or $8.00 (depending on survey requirements). Once you reach a balance $20, you can cash in for a $20 gift card to any number of retailers, including Amazon.com and Macy's. They also offer a sweepstakes that you are entered into for signing up; the current sign-up sweepstakes is for an Apple iPad.

• Synovate Global Opinions Panels: Global Opinions works much in the same way as GlobalTestMarket.com and ValuedOpinions.com, in that you are emailed survey invitations when they have a survey matched to your profile. They differ in that instead of awarding compensation for each survey completed, you are instead entered into the sweepstakes. Each month on the 15th $5,000 worth of prizes (cash included) are given away to a total of 200 winners.  A CASRO member, they subscribe to the Code of Standards and Ethics for Survey Research established by the Council of American Survey Research Organizations.