For unemployed people, students, and stay-at-home moms, the promise of easy money through taking surveys sounds alluring. It makes sense that companies would be willing to spend some money getting the opinions of the public. Can it work for anyone? More importantly, can it work for you? Here are 5 tips to making money with paid survey sites.

1. Don't expect to make gobs of money from just one site. People who make money with survey sites sign up with many sites. Often, a survey site will only offer you one or two surveys per week. These might only pay $5 or $10 each. In order to get enough offers to make a part-time income, you need to sign up with all of the best survey sites. Do your research to find out which 20 or 25 sites are considered the most reliable.

2. Keep office hours and work it like a business. You will need to invest a certain amount of time in finding the paid survey sites and registering with them. Keep track of your user names and passwords. Some survey sites have a lengthy sign-up process. If you don't feel like giving certain personal information, like your street address or phone number, just skip that company and sign up with the ones that don't ask for that information. Be aware, though, that most of them want your birth date. This is so they can gear their surveys to your age group.

3. Set up an email account just for the survey business. If you have your survey emails coming to your regular personal email account, you will soon have a big mess! It's easy to set up a separate account just for survey emails. Just choose one of the free email providers, like Yahoo or Hotmail. These providers offer lots of storage space for your mail. You'll need it.

4. Be honest when you fill out the registration forms. Many of the paid survey sites will ask you questions about your interests and buying habits. The more things you are interested in, and the more types of items you're in the habit of buying, the better. You will be offered surveys based on the information you provide in these registration questionnaires. For example, you may be offered a survey on the basis of your having bought a new car within the last two years, or because you expressed an interest in buying a digital camera.

5. Check your email often. Many of the surveys offered have a quota of people who can take them, and they fill up quickly. Others have a deadline for your participation. Plan on spending some time each day dealing with surveys. Don't forget to check your junk mail every day, too.

Hopefully, you will be able to put together enough paid surveys to make a nice little income from them. You'll have to invest some time in the beginning, but there is a potential for making a little extra money. In addition, your kids and spouse might be offered a few surveys as well.