Earn Extra Money with Marketing Research Focus Groups

Focus groups are held when a company wants to know the opinions of the public pertaining to new products, ad campaigns and more. The groups on average have about 10 people in them and are lead by a moderator. The moderator leads the discussion and asked questions relevant to what the company they are representing wants to know.

Most meetings last about 1 to 2 hours and you are compensated monetarily for your time. There are also times when lawyers will hold a focus group to do what they call a mock jury trial to give them an idea of the outcome of a case they are working on. A mock trial could take anywhere from 1 to 2 days, these usually pay $100 to $200.

So how much can you make? Most focus groups pay $40 to $200 depending on the study. Sounds like great money! There is a catch though; most marketing research companies ask that you only do a study every 3 to 6 months. You can sign up other household members though and even your children.

To find out more about focus groups in your area look in the local yellow pages under marketing research. Call and ask how you sign up to be part of a focus group. Most of them will send out a questionnaire that asks things about household income, age, occupation, etc., you’ll need to fill this out and return it to the company.  They will then add you to their database so that when a study comes up you may qualify for they will give you a call.

While these are not going to make you rich, it is a little extra money in your pocket. You get to be involved in shaping the way companies do business and for the most part they are fun to attend.

Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic on our message board.