Although traditionally these mock juries have required participants to go to the market research company’s location, many studies are now being done online. You can get paid to be a mock juror while sitting in front of your computer.

Because they want the members of a mock jury to mirror as closely as possible the real jury, the qualifications for being an online juror are much the same as those for being a juror in court. You may require that a juror be at least 18, a legal U.S. citizen, have a valid driver’s license, be registered (or at least eligible) to vote, and have no felony convictions or current indictments. They also may require that mock jurors and their family members not be lawyers, paralegals or otherwise engaged in the legal profession or certain types of insurance.

You will not get rich as a mock juror, but it can be a good way to supplement your mystery shopping income or just make a few extra dollars from the comfort of your own home. The number of cases available to you will depend on where you live, as mock juries are selected from the jurisdiction in which the case is to be tried.

The process of applying for mock jury panels is much the same as applying to mystery shopping companies. You must complete an online application that asks for identifying and demographic information. Questions may include your race, occupation, family income, political affiliation, marital status, etc.

In-person mock juries pay better than online cases, but will require more time and travel to the local offices of the market research company. To find local opportunities for in-person mock juries, refer to this list of mock jury research firms.

To participate in mock jury projects online, register with these companies:

OnlineVerdict.com – They say cases take 20 – 60 minutes and pay $20 – $60.

eJury.com – According to their website, cases take an average of 35 minutes and pay $5 – $10. You can view a sample case to get an idea of how this works.

JuryTest.com – Cases typically pay $5 – $50.

Although this is not the result of any kind of scientific study, my estimate is that nearly 90% of mystery shoppers are women. I have met many men who secret shop, but the vast majority of shoppers at the training seminars and workshops I present are female.

Most of the time the gender of the shopper doesn’t matter to the schedulers assigning shops. However, there are times when being male is an advantage, just as there are other times when being female is an advantage. For example, men’s clothing stores may require that their shoppers are male so that they can try on the clothes. Barber shops and salons catering to men will want male secret shoppers.

Some clients may prefer male shoppers because their typical customers are male. These could include motorcycle dealers or sporting goods stores, or other businesses where most customers are male. Schedulers like to assign shoppers who fit the demographic profile of the client’s customers, so it only makes sense to choose male shoppers when most customers are men, just as female shoppers are preferred by businesses that primarily serve women.

Some male secret shoppers partner with their wives and work as a team to mystery shop. They take some assignments, their wives take others, or they work together when an assignment calls for a couple.

I have heard shoppers speculate that schedulers are biased against male shoppers and are less likely to assign shops to them, while there are others who believe that men are more likely to get assignments because the employees will not suspect that they are the mystery shoppers. In reality, most schedulers are interested in working with the shoppers who will get the job done, whether they are male or female. For most assignments, being reliable is much more important than whether the shopper is male or female.

The bottom line? It is possible for men to be successful as mystery shoppers. Men have no special advantage or disadvantage when it comes to most assignments, and have the same opportunities as women. So don’t be shy, guys! Get out there and shop ’til you drop!

A while back I let you know about Field Agent, a smart phone app that connects you with paying assignments in market research. Now there is another: Zapiddy lets you make money with your smart phone while you shop. For every job you complete, you get paid and Zapiddy donates money to the Children’s Miracle Network.

For now the app is only available for the iPhone. Just download the free app from the app store, then set up an account. You can look for jobs through the app. You may be asked to answer a few questions, do a price check, or take a photo of a product in a store. Many jobs are location-based, and require that you have the GPS function enabled on your phone.

Jobs typically pay between $2 and $10. Although it may not be worthwhile to make a special trip to do a job, if you can squeeze in one or two between mystery shops or while you are running other errands, it could be a way to make a few bucks without a lot of extra work. On the “good karma” side, every time you do a job Zapiddy also makes a donation to your local Children’s Miracle Network hospital.

The Zapiddy app is available in the app store for the iPhone4 and 3GS. You can get more information at http://zapiddy.com/

Subscribers to my free Mystery Shopping Tips newsletter learned about Field Agent three weeks ago. Sign up for the Free Mystery Shopper Course in the box on the left and you will get a free seven-lesson course on mystery shopping, plus ongoing tips, industry news and newsletter exclusives. Get your free subscription today!

Do you have an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad? Want to use it to make extra money? The free Field Agent app can help you do just that.

Field Agent offers small market research jobs, such as price checks, short surveys and other jobs and pays you (in cash, not points or contest entries) for completing them. Some jobs can be completed from home, while others involve going to a store (such as WalMart) to check a display or demo, answer a few questions or perhaps snap and upload a photo.

Field Agent is a free app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad available in the U.S. and the U.K. Download it from iTunes, sign up with Field Agent, and set your preferences. When jobs are available in your area you can be made aware of these new jobs via email, SMS (text) or push notification. (With push notification, the app notifies you on your device with a sound or other alert, even if the app is not in use.)

Most Field Agent jobs pay between $3 and $12 each. They may be as simple as answering a question from home, or they may involve taking a photo and uploading it through the app. Payment for completed jobs is credited to your Field App account within 48 hours after completing the job, and can then be transferred to your PayPal account. Field Agent pays any PayPal fees for transferring the cash, so you get 100% of the money you earn.

Just as in mystery shopping, Field Agents get scored based on reliability and quality. All agents start with a score of 85. The maximum score you can achieve is 100. When you successfully complete a job, you get one point. Fail to complete a job and you will lose three points. Bonuses are available on some Field Agent jobs that can help you make up lost ground or reach 100 faster. Agents with high scores get first access to new jobs.

It is important to note that when you accept a job it must be completed within two hours. If you are out and about doing mystery shopper jobs or just running errands you may be able to pick up a Field Agent job or two to do on your way.

The major downside to this app is that there are not enough jobs to go around. New clients are being added, but the app is very popular so you probably will not get a large number of jobs. There are jobs available, though, so with patience you may have the chance to make cash with Field Agent. And by building your score, you will have first choice of jobs as new clients are added.

Why not download the Field Agent app today and give it a try?

Here are a few companies I’ve worked with that are REAL and I’ve been PAID by them:

Opinion Outpost – Each qualified survey is worth points and 10 points equals $1.00. Once you have 50 points or $5.00 you can request a check. The checks take a few weeks. I’ve been paid several times from them and I’ve never had a problem. If you don’t qualify you’ll get to choose between a chance for an instant win of $50 or a sweepstakes entry. You won’t receive points for the surveys you don’t qualify for.

Survey Spot – Each survey is either worth cash or a sweepstakes entry. They send out several emails a day/week with survey opportunities. The email will always tell you what you will get for taking the survey. Myself along with others I know that have worked with Survey Spot find that when you join they will send you mostly sweepstakes entry surveys but after you take a bunch of them, you will begin to get paid surveys as well. Once your account reaches $5.00 you can request a check.

My Survey – Each survey is worth points and 100 points = $1.00. You will get 10 points for every screener you take and then if you qualify to go onto the survey they will tell you how many points you’ll receive for completing it. They also have monthly sweepstakes drawings for active members. Once you reach 1000 points ($10.00) you can cash out and receive a check or you can choose prizes. I always get the check and it usually takes a few weeks.

If you take a survey ONE day that pays $1.00, after a month you’d have an extra $30.00 in your pocket. That will fill up your gas tank and get you a soda! Not bad for about 20 minutes a day of time you’d probably be spending online anyway!

Karen lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two daughters. Besides being a frugal stay at home mom, she blogs at http://www.frugalrimama.com about weekly deals/sales/freebies and more. In her spare time she enjoys taking surveys and doing some mystery shopping. You can see a list of Karen’s survey earnings on her blog.

Big name companies want and need to know your opinions, and what better way to get them than to have consumers take surveys? When they have a new product they need someone to test it out or when they want to change a product, they need to find out what the best way is to change it. The consumers wants and needs are their main concern and what better way to get it, then directly from the consumers?

If you do a Google search for surveys you’ll come up with tons and tons of companies but the question is, are they really surveys? The answer to that question is NO they aren’t all real. You need to take a close look at each company before you sign up because some of them lead you on and make you think you’ll be taking surveys for BIG companies but you probably won’t be.

I’ve done a lot of research and I’ve found a bunch of companies that really do PAY for your opinion and some even send you free products to test and then report back. Every person’s success is different with taking surveys and it really depends on so many factors.

One important thing is your background. Not everyone is compatible to take every survey. It may depend on your job, your age, your gender, your ethic background and so many more reasons. It’s OK if you don’t qualify for every survey. Certain companies may work better for some people then others, again it depends on your background and what kind of companies they work with.

Before you get started signing up with any companies let me explain a few things.

NEVER pay to join a survey site. They should be paying YOU for your opinions, not you paying them to give your opinions. If they want you to pay then they aren’t a REAL Survey company and probably a scam to get your email address and SPAM you.

You WILL NOT get rich from taking surveys. It’s a GREAT way to earn some extra cash and maybe get some free products but the important thing is you’ll be a ‘voice’ to the companies. You can make as much money or as little as you want. You can try every single survey that comes to your inbox or pick and choose, it’s up to you.

I recommend you set up an email address just for taking surveys so your inbox doesn’t get full too fast. Some companies will send out several ‘screener’ surveys a day or a week and if you join a few different companies then you box could possibly fill up fast. Then when you have some time to take a survey or two, you can go to that email and see what’s there.

Anyone of any age can take surveys. They even have some sites that will let teens take surveys.

If the company is a GOOD company, you should NOT get any SPAM. They are very good about keeping your personal information private but always read their privacy statement just to be sure.

They will require your Social Security Number, not necessarily when you sign up but sometimes before you are paid. This is because if you earn more than $600 they have to report it to the IRS and you will have to pay taxes on it. And if you have concerns then read their privacy policy.

If they send you FREE stuff to sample it’s yours to keep. If they are going to request it back, they will tell you before you agree to do the in-home test. I’ve never had this happen, but I suppose it could happen. In that case, make sure they will pay for shipping back. Shipping to you is always free.

Some companies will pay you cash (either checks or PayPal) and others will offer you gift cards or prizes. Each one will have their own policy on shipping, so make sure you read about it before you request a prize. Again, I haven’t run into any problems with having to pay for shipping but you never know. Some companies will offer you chances to be entered into a sweepstakes for joining, for taking a screener survey or for taking a survey. They will sometimes also pay you on top of the sweepstakes entry. Before you take a survey they will tell you exactly what to expect in return.

You will not qualify for every survey. Before each survey begins they will ask you a series of questions to see if you qualify, if you don’t then you may be entered into a sweepstakes or given a small token of points. You will only be compensated for those surveys you complete in their entirety.

Karen lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two daughters. Besides being a frugal stay at home mom, she blogs at http://www.frugalrimama.com about weekly deals/sales/freebies and more. In her spare time she enjoys taking surveys and doing some mystery shopping. You can see a list of Karen’s survey earnings on her blog.

Watch for Part Two of this article next week, where Karen will share some of her favorite paid survey sites. Subscribe to this blog via email (See Email Updates in the right sidebar.) to be notified when new articles are added.

This may sound too good to be true, but it is not. It is not money for nothing. You have to write the articles, and you won’t make a lot of money at first. But the articles are easy to write (you may be able to complete one in 15 – 30 minutes) and over time the amount you earn will increase. And here is the best part: Your articles continue to make money for you every month, even in months when you do not write any new articles at all, because the articles you wrote in past months are still out there earning.

You do not have to have your own web site to profit from publishing articles online. There are several sites that will share advertising revenue with you when you publish your articles with them.

If you have tried to make money with a web site or blog, you may have become frustrated with the effort required to get people to come to your site and to actually make money. With many of the sites that pay for articles, all you need to do is write. Their sites are highly ranked in Google and receives a lot of traffic. You may find that an article you published just a few days ago is already on the front page of the Google search results. That means more people to read your article, more ad revenue, and more money for you.

Although you can write just about any kind of articles, your choice of subjects will influence how much money you make. (Hint: Advertisers pay more for ads in competitive niches, or when the products and services they sell are expensive.)

How much can you make? It depends on how many articles you write, and how valuable the topics are. There are many writers who earn hundreds of dollars or more each month. The most important thing to remember about earnings is that they do not stop just because you take some time off. Even if you are on vacation, or dealing with family issues, or working on something else, your articles are still out there earning for you.

So how do you find the sites where you can get paid to write? Connie Brentford has written an ebook that tells you what you need to know to start making money writing online. The Moonlighter’s Guide To Online Writing For Immediate Income is available for the Kindle ebook reader, but you do not need a Kindle to read it. You can use any of the free Kindle apps available for the PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, etc.

The sooner you get started, the sooner you can start earning passive income. What are you waiting for? Get Connie’s ebook for just $2.99 and get off to a great start today.