Earning Money from Focus Group Discussions

If you want to earn a little extra cash, you can try joining focus group discussions where you can earn anywhere from $20 to $200 per session.

Sounds too good to be true? Focus groups are real -- they exist and are not a scam. I used to work for a market research company early on in my career, and I can vouch that focus groups are real, and that participants are often given cash to compensate for the time and effort they spend participating in a focus group discussion.

What is a focus group? Focus group is a qualitative marketing research technique where a small group of participants selected from a broader population is gathered and interviewed. A trained facilitator leads the discussions and the goal is to solicit for opinions and emotional responses about a particular subject.

The question of course is: how do you find opportunities to participate in focus groups?

One way is to contact market research companies in your area, and ask that you be included in their database of potential focus group respondents. You can use the yellow pages to get listings of market research companies in your area. An easier way is to check market research directories such as Greenbook.org http://www.greenbook.org/ which has a searcheable database of focus group facilities per state ; or click on their link on Focus Groups - Recruiting.

Another way is to use sites such as FindFocusGroups.com http://www.findfocusgroups.com/ -- a site started by Danny DiGiovanni who got hooked on focus groups but found it hard to search for similar opportunities. He searches the web for focus groups opportunities, from Craigslist ads to sites such as FocusGroup.com, and puts them together in his site.

Participating in focus groups is not something that will make you rich, but enough to give you some extra cash in your wallet. It is also very educational in terms of knowing upcoming products, or even learning what others think of a topic you are interested in. Plus, they often give free food :o)