Focus groups and product studies

[PatientSaver]

If you live near a city, chances are there are focus groups out there. After asking you a series of questions to see if you qualify, you'll join a small group of others to give your opinion about a product and get paid for it. In my area, there are 4 or 5 focus group companies I'm signed up for. Since they usually have a rule that you can only do one focus group every 6 months, I rotate among the groups and try to qualify for as many as possible.

Hint: Many focus groups, at least around here look for recruits on Craig's List, under "Volunteers." Depending on the group, you can get paid from $75 to $125 for about 2 hours of your time, but I'm sure the pay varies by region.

Product studies are done my big manufacturers to have you test their products. I live near Unilever and they're always doing something. They don't pay quite as well, but you can still get $65 or $75 for not much time invested.