Paid focus groups, or paid market research, whether online or offline, provide a fun and easy way for anyone to earn some extra cash. You get to hang out with some like-minded people and talk about your experiences and opinion about a specific product or service you use, be it negative or positive! Think of them as paid interviews, either way you get paid to voice your opinion!
What Is A Focus Group?
As I mentioned in my What Is A Focus Group post, focus groups are basically another form of market research that help companies and manufacturers develop new products and services while improving the current products, based on the feedback they receive from the participants who are actually consumers of their products and services. There are also paid focus groups for teenagers, where obviously, the studies deal with products and issues relevant to kids.
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In a sense, focus groups are just like paid surveys where you get paid for your opinion, but with one major difference ad that is the fact that focus groups are conducted in specific locations offline. So, unlike paid surveys where you can register with a survey site no matter where you live, you must live in close proximity to be able to participate in paid focus group studies.
The good news is that there are tons of legitimate market research companies around the US that conduct focus group studies in big cities. There are paid focus groups in NYC, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, NJ and Minneapolis, St Louis, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, Washington DC and many other big cities across the US.
Focus Group Scams
Unfortunately, just as there are lots of paid survey scams, there are lots of focus group scams as well. That is why it really is time-consuming and hard to find legit and reliable paid focus groups that actually pay their panel members.
That is why I did some research to find the best free paid focus groups in America where you can get paid to voice your opinion about products, services and issues we all deal with in our daily lives.
With that said, here are 10 best paid focus group companies you can join for free and earn extra money by participating in their market research studies:
1. FocusPointeOnline: Has Focus Groups in Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Dallas, LA, Manhattan, NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, London, Paris, and Frankfurt.
If you have to only sign up for one paid survey site to make money with, I recommend Ipsos-iSay. Ipsos is the most fun and well-paying panel. Give it a try to see how you like it. It is free anyway!
2. FieldWork: Focus Groups available in Seattle, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Denver, Fort Lee NJ, Los Angeles, Phoenix and WestchesterCounty.
3. Delve: Providing Focus Groups in Appleton, WI; St. Louis, MO; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Phoenix, AZ; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; Seattle, WA.
4. Cosvc: Focus Groups locations in Salt Lake City, Seattle, Spokane, Boise, Chicago and Portland.
5. 2020Research: It provides In person Focus Group in Nashville and Charlotte, NC and also Online bulletin board and focus group with chat capabilities.
6. Awres: Available Focus Groups in Los Angeles, CA and Chicago, IL.
7. Pragmatic-Research: They have in person focus groups plus Internet surveys in St. Louis, MO.
8. Shifrin-Hayworth: Studies include telephone interviews, one-on-one interviews, and focus groups. Usually pays $50 to $250 for 30 minutes to two hours or so.
9. AtkinsResearchINC: Angeles, CA based Focus Groups.
10. AskMiami: Focus Groups in Miami, FL.
Keep in mind, since focus groups are usually conducted offline and in a real location, you need to go with research companies that conduct paid studies in your local area. You can always check your local Craigslist and also FindFocusGroup.com to find focus groups available around you.