I’ve made £4k just by doing online surveys in my spare time – here’s how you can do it too
A CASH queen has shared how she’s made thousands of pounds just by doing online surveys in her spare time.
Anna Lykova told The Sun how she has made nearly £4,000 from filling in questionnaires on websites every day.
She told The Sun: “I spend four to five hours a day doing them, sometimes seven on a slow day.
"I always have the pages of survey sites open on my laptop and check through the day.”
The 39-year-old earned the cash from online survey site Qmee over the past 18 months.
But she has also earned more on top in vouchers for shops like Amazon, M&S and Asos from LifePoints and iSay, where you can also make money from answering questions.
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Anna finds the time in between working from home with her business consultant husband and caring for her mother-in-law.
But she also completes them in her down time, including while she’s watching telly in the evening - and thinks others should give it a go too.
“I’m lucky, I can work from home and I have a very supportive family around me," she said.
“There's so many people out there who don't realise the potential. Maybe not for people with full-time jobs. But if you’re a stay at home mum or disabled.
“On a slow week I’ll make £50 and on a good week £70 or £80.“
Anna, who also loves hunting for yellow-sticker bargains and does mystery shopping and product testing to earn extra cash, said she uses the cash she earns from survey sites to pay for groceries and eating out.
She regularly “cashes out” what she earns and gets money from QMee paid into her PayPal account for spending later.
She said: “The money that my husband and I earn from work goes towards bills. And then we always have our PayPal to fall back on if we need a bit of a buffer.”
Most of them were shocked to see how much she had made and Anna has shared her top tips for how others can do the same with The Sun.
Stick with it and be patient
Anna picked up the lucrative habit after finding herself with time on her hands during the Covid lockdown, and was inspired after seeing others doing surveys on the same Facebook group.
She said: “I tried it before but gave up, but with lockdown I thought well there’s nothing else to do, I might as well, and now I really enjoy it.”
But you’ll need some patience as you won’t get cash immediately.
It can take time to earn the rewards and you may need to wait until you hit a certain amount to get the money or voucher paid out, depending on the site.
To build up a decent amount of vouchers or cash you’ll need to fill in multiple surveys which takes time to complete, Anna said.
The amount each survey pays varies, and some only pay a few pennies, but these rack up over time.
Find the right survey site for you
Anna prefers QMee as she almost always gets accepted for surveys and also goes on LifePoints and ISay.
On most sites there will be eligibility criteria for the surveys, such as where you live, your age, or income, and if you don’t match it you won’t be able to take part.
But the more often you try the more likely you’ll get the thumbs up.
“The surveys are even quite interesting at times and they pay out quickly,” she said.
Usually the more questions a survey has and the longer it takes, the bigger the reward.
Most surveys are for small amounts, just a couple of pennies or pounds, but Anna said she has occasionally completed a three or four hour survey with LifePoints: “It’s time consuming, but it pays £15”.
You'll be asked to share some information when you sign up to your chosen survey site - this will vary depending on the website but might include your age, address and income.
Anna said she doesn't bother with some sites as she felt she was sharing too much information.
Other bloggers have recommended YouGov.co.uk, Prolific.ac, Streetbees, and PineconeResearch.co.uk.
It's worth checking how much you earn, how you get it (for example in cash or vouchers) and how often you can cash out for each site.
Respond strategically
Having done so many surveys by now, Anna said she can tell what type of person they are looking for.
That means she can answer the screening questions strategically to boost her chances of being accepted for the survey.
She says she can select the "right" options, like tweaking her job title.
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That means she can avoid being rejected as not suitable, complete more surveys and earn more dosh.
She said: "You are going to get declined and it can get frustrating. But just keep going, it does pay"
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