You’ve heard of Nielsen before. They’re the globally-known market research powerhouses who have been researching entertainment trends for decades. Listen to the news or read a magazine, and you’re sure to see a poll or study by Nielsen, telling us what television shows are the most popular. Most people don’t know, though, that the folks at Nielsen also study consumer trends.

Nielsen studies television viewing by asking households across the country to keep viewing diaries or to attach data-collecting boxes to their family televisions. They study consumers in the same way. Nielsen supplies some families across the country with home scanners — hand-held devices that allow the study participants to scan the bar codes of the items they buy (everything from generic canned peas to plasma televisions).

What does Nielsen do with the data they collect from Homescan studies? They report back to manufacturers, and the data ultimately influences what products are made and sold.

They can’t do this alone, however.  Nielsen needs participants for this program. Registration is completely free. What’s in it for you? Well, Nielsen doesn’t pay in the form of cash. BUT if you are an active participant in the program, Nielsen will reward you with points that you can redeem for electronics, jewelry, household items, toys, and a lot more. In my opinion, that’s just as good as cash, because you can earn free things that you can give away as gifts (which takes that burden off of your wallet). Influence the products made and sold.  Join Nielsen’s Homescan Consumer Panel. Click Here to learn more!!

Here’s another program to file under ‘other money makers.”  While this isn’t a traditional job, I’ve gotten emails from a lot of momportunity.com readers, telling me they’re seeing great success with this.  One mom who wrote to me this morning told me she is a free member, and has made over $1,000 by just referring others to the site.

PPD helps you earn two ways: Become a full member and earn $200-$2,000 per month (you have 2 options: complete an offer OR pay $34.95 for your membership) OR you can become a FREE member and make money by just referring other members to check out the system. (You earn $1.50 for each member you refer, whether they choose to register with a free or full membership.)

Payments are sent out each Friday. You’ll need a PayPal account to receive payments. Click here to set up your PayPal account. To start earning with PPD, click here.

The NFO My Survey company is actively seeking new members to participate in online surveys and focus groups. They are specifically in need of participants in the United States. This company is 100% free and 100% legitimate (they’ve been around since the 1950s). They pay participants to complete online surveys and focus groups (sometimes over $100). They also send out full-sized samples of products for you to try and evaluate. I have personally used the site for over 10 years, and have nothing but positive things to say about them.

Several members have expressed interest in earning some extra pocket change by doing mystery shopping. I will be posting new mystery shopping companies regularly. Beyond Hello is the mystery shopping company I’ve decided to add today. They’ve been around for 17 years, and serve businesses in the US and Canada. To find out more about their requirements, and to apply to be a mystery shopper, please go to www.BeyondHello.com.

Please remember that all of the companies I post on momportunity.com have been researched and are legit. Beware of people or companies that want to charge you for a “job” doing “mystery shopping.” Legitimate mystery shopping companies do NOT charge their mystery shoppers.

Many, many of you have written to ask that I list more freelance writing opportunities.  I’ve found another company that accepts pieces from all registered members.  Bukisa is a newish site, accepting all sorts of creative work from creative people: they accept articles, slides, videos, and audio submissions.  If you desire to work at home, you might want to give Bukisa a look over.  As with most of these residual income sites, this is not get rich quick… but it will allow you to build a strong, passive income if you contribute regularly and stick with it.

One of my subscribers sent me this information, and after taking a look at it, I decided to pass it on:

There’s a new program that will allow you to “work for just $3.” Upon registration, you get an affiliate link that you can start promoting. It’s a forced 3×15 matrix, which (if everything works out perfectly), can net you $2,582,805.72 just by refering 3 people. (You earn commissions on the people you refer, PLUS you earn commission on the people that the people below you refer.) There’s no monthly fees. The only fee you ever pay is the $3 registration fee. (Referring just 2 people will recoup your $3.00 registration fee.)

Want to get in on it? Follow these two steps:

1) They only offer payment one way: via Alert-Pay. Click here to register with Alert-Pay (it’s a free service, just like PayPal). (And here’s a nice little bonus: when you refer people to Alert-Pay, you’ll earn $5 for your first 10 referrals, and $10 for each referral thereafter.)

2) Once you’ve registered your payment account, click here to register to “work for just $3.”

I usually do not advocate having to pay for jobs, but technically speaking this isn’t a traditional job. And since it’s a one-time fee that’s less than the price of a cup of coffee or combo meal, I felt it was something you might be interested in. I HAVE seen proof of this being successful (my friend showed me the email that detailed her earnings), and I’m confident that you can be successful at it, too.

A little over a year ago, someone on Cafe Mom told me a site she was using to earn money each month.   A little over $100 her first month, and over $800 her second month.   I wrote down the name of the site, adding it to my (very long) list of sites to research and review.

The Basics

Cash Crate is technically a GPT (“get paid to”) site.   The site’s owners pay members to “complete offers” that are listed on the site’s “Offers” page.   Basically, members visit other sites, register for newsletters, registration, or trial offers, and Cash Crate pays the members to do so.    Registration at Cash Crate is free.

Never Pay a Cent

While the offers that require a credit card (such as trial memberships) do have higher payouts, it’s not necessary to use your credit card at all.   In fact, the mom that I mentioned above made her huge $800+ checks without ever paying a cent to anyone.

Get Paid for Referrals

Cash Crate pays its members a generous $1.00 to refer others to the site.  To earn the $1.00 referral fee, just use your unique referral URL (provided to you by Cash Crate after you register).   There’s a $5 ebook that lists 20 ways you can find more referrals (which means more money) when you register with Cash Crate.  If you’re interested in learning 20 new ways to find more referrals, get your ebook to learn how.

How Cash Crate Pays

Cash Crate sends out checks every month.  There is a $20 minimum payout, which means that if you earn at least $20 in earnings in any given month, you will receive a paycheck the following month.    If your earnings fall short of the $20 mark, Cash Crate will hold those earnings, and roll them over to the next month until your earnings add up to at least $20.

Earning Potential

Cash Crate is not a job or a business.   There’s no guaranteed pay.  What you earn depends on the amount of time and dedication you put into it.    An easily-discouraged person will take a month or more to meet the minimum pay out, and will give up after a couple of weeks or month.   A determined go-getter will easily meet the payout minimum in an hour or two.    If you find clever ways to refer others to the site, you could find yourself earning hundreds or thousands of dollars per month.    Ultimately, the earnings are up to you: If you need $50 per month to treat your family to a dinner out, Cash Crate can provide that.   If you need to earn over $1,000 per month for utility bills or car payments, you can earn that with Cash Crate, too.

Final Word: Is Cash Crate a Scam?

In my opinion, in order to be classified as a scam, a company needs to have taken money from you without giving you anything of comparable or higher value in return.  Cash Crate is the exact opposite:  Registration is free, and they pay you to complete free offers and refer others.

If you’re interested in earning easy money with Cash Crate, register for your free account today.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.  Send your Cash Crate success stories to me!

I’ve said time and again that if you’re hurting for cash, one of the first places to look is around your own home.  There are probably countless items that you don’t use that you could sell for some fast and easy money.   Just this week, I made over $500 by listing a few of our unwanted items on craigslist.

Beginning June 16, eBay is doing its part to help out those who are hurting because of the economy.   Members can now list five items for sale every thirty days with absolutely no insertion fees applied to those listings.  I just tried it myself, and was tickled to see the message saying, “Your balance after this listing is $0.00.”

To learn more about this exciting new offer from eBay, you can read about it here.

If you don’t have an eBay sellers account yet, click here to open your free account today.

If you’re an eBay seller with a great success story, momportunity.com wants to hear from you!  Are you a Power Seller?  Tell us about it!    Did you buy something at a garage sale and found out it was worth big bucks on eBay?  Let us know!  Send your eBay success stories to me here, and use the subject “eBay success story.”

Survey Spot is looking for new members to participate in online research studies that match your interests and demographics. Earn prize draw entries every time you participate in a survey, with a chance to win up to $12,000 in our quarterly prize draw. One of my readers won several hundred dollars in their prize drawing last quarter. Personally, I took surveys for Survey Spot back in the mid- to late 90s, and earned a consistent amount of cash. Click Here to start getting paid to take surveys.

Join now (and persuade your significant other to join too) because marketing research companies often contact me when they need new members, but they will sometimes close their registration after a few days.

I know you’ve seen online ads and commercials promising to help you make  money fast online. With a small investment, you can be making upwards of $10,000 to $30,000 per month! I have been at this for a long time, and I am here to tell you that yes, you can make money online. But those ads are full of nothing but lies. If you fall for one of those ads, the only people who will make money fast online are the advertisers. They will make up to $1000 within the few seconds that it takes you to give them your credit card number.

I have people contact me often, asking how they can use the internet to make fast cash online. I have researched this for a while, and there are a few options that I have come up with.

How to Make Fast Cash Online within a Week

Sell unwanted or unneeded items on craigslist or eBay. If you need the cash fast, and don’t want to pay a payment processing company (like PayPal) a percentage of your earnings, go with craigslist.  In some cases, you can list an item for sale and have cash in hand within a couple of hours.

How to Make Fast Cash Online within a Month

Visit GPT sites, like Cash Crate to earn money within a month. Some people have reported income of over $1,000 per month with cash crate.