$0-$100 For Your Opinion (advisorypanel.com)

Member Name: wampyrii

Product:	advisorypanel.com
Date:	20/02/03 (388 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You might win $100, they do actually pay

Disadvantages: Sounds like you've got odds of up to 150-1 to do so...assuming I read the blurb correctly ;), dollars again (arrgh!)

Aww how mean. One 2 star and one 1 star rating for this site in both previous reviews. Can't be any good then can it? :o( Well, strictly speaking umm, no it probably isn't for most readers of this but then again, it follows the format of 95% of the survey sites out there in internet land so it depends on what you expect!

Why the poor ratings and lack of interest? Advisory Panel doesn't pay you directly for your views, instead it puts all completed surveys into a prize draw and draws out prize winners monthly. It's kinda like paying with 15 minutes of your time to enter a competition. Most people who do the 'online survey thing' hate these ones, me too it has to be said, but most survey sites are like this. I assume it's the only way many of them can afford to stay afloat although with other larger companies I get the feeling they are simply money grubbing bastar...yes well anyway, I'm not usually keen on this idea and find it quite arsey when they explain the reason for non-payment is because they ?get more honest answers? that way. Sureeeee...but anyway, $0-$100 I said and $0 is going to be the norm for most under this kind of rewards system.

However, on a good note Advisory panel are legit when it comes to their promises of payment if you do win a draw and I can vouch for that as despite not really going for this kind of survey site, I did fill one in when bored and won $75 for my troubles. The cheque arrived within a month or two(i.e. quicker than most) and was cashed and spent on flowers for my sweetie within a week, so hurrah for AdvisoryPanel.com. A few friendly words were exchanged via email with the site as well and I have to say I found them very approachable and friendly which is always a plus point for those who like to touch base with companies they deal with.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. For those who haven't been reading my recent opinions(and hello confused google surfers as w
ell *waves*) I should tell you this is a review of a market research site. There are companies out there who are desperate to hear your opinion on various goods and services and are willing to slip a few quid into your back pocket if you'll take the time to give it to them. Some of these sites pay cash per survey, others give you points per survey which can then be exchanged for cash, still more reward with products or vouchers whilst the vast majority give you entries into seemingly unwinnable prize draws for either cash or other valuable items. Advisory Panel is one of the prize draw type sites and as such isn't going to be as popular as the others particularly amongst the majority of us cynics who tend to see ?prize draw? as meaning ?give us a freebie? or simply ?SCAM!!?.

Whether you want to take part in this kind of survey depends on whether you actually like doing surveys. Me? If this kind of prize draw survey is relatively non-challenging then I'm happy to fill it out with one eye on Eastenders but as soon as they start asking for too much effort I close it and do something else. I refuse to answer long, complex surveys for a prize draw entry. Others love doing surveys to the point where there are many sites which offer no reward at all and still have loads of respondents and more will only do it for guaranteed cash in the hand. If you fall into one of the first two groups then you'll have no problems with this site, the third group can click away now.

Advisory Panel then, for those still here, doesn't look like the most professional site on the web on first impressions, with its webpage graphics looking like they escaped from an early 90's PC and were it not for the company info. I would have thought they were a small home concern lol. Apparently however they are members of some of the major market research standards organisations around the globe and are the internet panel of a Californian market research company(Imp
ulse Research which some of you may be familiar with) which has been running since the early 70's. If you take a wander over to the mother company(found at www.cyberpulse.com) you'll see how much they charge per question to the companies who commission them(up to $500 per question, and there are typically at least 20 questions) and also that they target a group of around 1500 people per survey with 10 or more prizes of $75-$100 rewarded for each survey they send out. Odds of 150-1 or lower then...much better than all other net-based competitions where cash is involved(which are usually well into the thousands) but you have to do something in return. Again, it's not going to be for everybody, you'll either think it's not bad odds all things considered or laugh, say you'll never win and not take part.

To take part you'll need to be registered the site will need to target surveys at you dependant upon your demographic profile. You'll be asked some not very searching questions(this is one of the fastest sign-ups I've seen - 2 or 3 mins at the most) and having supplied a VALID email address will be contacted in the future when a survey comes on the site which you will be suited for. You must give them a valid email address because that is where survey invitations are sent to, invalid emails are worthless as you'll never know the link to access the surveys. Oh and you'll need to give them an email address which you check relatively regularly as well because all surveys have a time limit within which they have to be completed. Usually around a week but don't count on it! It's worth noting their privacy policy is straight to the point - no spam, no selling your info. Fair enough, I've been there 6 months at least and haven't seen anything to make me suspicious that this isn't the case.

Having signed up it's just a case of sitting and waiting. Or rather, not waiting because you could be the
re a long time. This isn't the most prolific of survey companies, you're looking at 1 or 2 emails a month(says so on the homepage and it's true), never more than that but sometimes less which is in a way good because it at least means you are being targetted properly and the draw group isn't going to be humungous. Compared to somewhere like OpinionSurveys.com which spams me with 10+ surveys a week sometimes and undoubtedly has thousands upon thousands of entries into each draw as their demographic targeting sucks then you'll see lack of surveys is a good thing in this case. ;)

When a survey does arrive it is typically 10-15 minutes in length and always, in my experience, a simple tick and explain format. I don't think they have the ability to do anything more flashy to be honest! You don't get the most involving or exciting surveys here, no interactive movie trailers or anything like that, but that's OK because it means you can watch TV with one eye without too much trouble whilst filling them in. :P

Rewards are, as I said, awarded to winners of prize draws. $75, $100 or a panellist T-shirt(booby prize? :P) is awarded to drawn winners and there are always 10+ winners drawn per survey apparently. You'll see prize winners listed by Surname and prize on the site too so erm, well if you don't believe me when I say I won a draw then you can look for the Essex lad in August/September's draw dates. ;) It gives you an idea of the number of winners too - around 150 for the seven surveys between August/September so often more than 10 winners are selected per survey(erm, even if some are T-shirt winners). Cheques arrive relatively promptly(remember they're coming from California) and are in US dollars so you'll have a silly form to fill in before you can cash it...or you'll play dumb like me they'll fill it in for you at your bank. :oP~

...and, umm...nope, I think that's about it, I ca
n't think of anything else to waffle on about. Recommended? Sure, if you don't mind the prize draw thing, not recommended if you do mind the prize draw thing, I guess it's that simple. At least I can vouch that this one actually does pay out if nothing else and they will actually SEND you some surveys after you have taken the time to register which is more than can be said for most!!

http://www.advisorypanel.com

Summary: