well I am not sure how "reviews" can equal money but do make my living from home as a freelance writer.  I admit to writing reviews for sites like Associated Content - and while I do get paid for them there the "bulk" of my writing for pay is article/content writing. 

as far as making money on the internet doing surveys, blogging, etc. . .  it's pretty tough.  I don't know anyone who makes more than pocket money doing it -- ok well blogging. But the blogging income is from people who have their own sites, work at it as a full time job, have affiliates and google adsense on their pages and it took over a year to start bringing in money. 

if it were easy to make a living off of surveys, comments, and reviews let's face it a lot more people would be out there. 

how can you tell the scams?  that's harder but I can tell you this, the only paid for reading email site worth ANY effort is mypoints.com.  You don't get money but you do earn points to turn into gift cards.  

a few to avoid are the ones that offer you 5.00 to join and then a penny a read. It's nothing but a trap and you usually end up with junk mail all day long. 

if you're not sure if it is any good or not try asking here or reading reviews on it. google it and see.  and FOR SURE, if they ask you for money up front to get you started, then it's thanks but no thanks because reputable companies don't do that. 

good luck!

If I were you and really needed the $$$, I would get a regular job of some sort or establish self-employment.  Most of these sites are designed either for points or a little hobby/part time income.  My husband & I make our full time living from our own businesses, websites & contract work. 

There ARE sites where you can make more than some, less than others.  Just do some really good research first.  And remember you should never have to *pay* to sign up, that's usually a tip-off, as LisaCarey pointed out.

:)

Very few people make money writing reviews on Viewpoints, and then it is a little pocket cash. There is no way to make a living as a review writer on Viewpoints. The only way to make any money at all is to write lots of excellent reviews and become one of the site's paid writers. However, you must have an impressive body of work behind you at that point, and the pay is small.

I have several hundred reviews online at various sites and add another hundred or so reviews each year. These reviews are all long, detailed and well-organized, and many of them have several pictures showing the product and its use. For this, I earn about $4,000 per year, and it probably took me about five years to get to that level. (Like LisaCarey, I also write freelance and make somewhat more doing that.)

Only the most talented and prolific can do this online and earn anything like what a real job will pay you. That's why I have a real job and treat this writing as a hobby.

Good luck!

--Bob

Bob pretty much summed it up. It takes a long time to earn money with reviews and freelance writing. When the money comes it isn't much. Those of us that do it do it because we enjoy doing it and the money we earn (little as it is) helps inpsire us to keep doing it.

I agree with what the others said. I make a living writing on the net and for a print magazine but it has taken a long time, a LOT of work, and establishing myself as a knowledgeable writer. As a reviewer here, no you can't make a living. You may be able to make a few bucks but no review site that I know of will allow you to just write reviews and not work and make the same amount of money as a 9-5 job.

If you want to make extra money on the net, you can apply at ChaCha.com or kgb.com which make you take several tests on researching things. then, if you pass, you can become a researcher who gets questions, looks up answers, and send the answers back in a text on the web fast. You don't get paid much but if you work all day, you can make decent money. However, nothing is guaranteed and you won't have insurance and you will have to pay your own taxes.

Making a living writing reviews, doing research, or doing surveys/emails is really tough. Making pocket change or a few bucks is feasible. Making enough to buy extras and pay some bills is possible but takes a ton of time and a lot of dedication. Actually making enough money to support yourself fully from just internet work is very rare but is done. I do it but I also have a husband who contributes to our income.

Good luck in whatever you do.

NewCreation39 said…

 Is this appropriate for a single mom to do or should I be applying for a 9 to 5 job with a real paycheck, guaranteed every two weeks as long as I show up and do the work and not invest hours for a dollar here and a dollar there?

---

Yup.  You're going to need to go out and get a real job.  Viewpoints is a fun hobby and some people can earn a couple of bucks each month, but it absolutely is not a replacement for an actual job. 

I think one of the answers to the original question is that on sendearnings.com yes reviews here on Viewpoints does equal money.  Sendearnings is a legit money maker but it does take forever.  I have been a member there for a few years and have been able to cash out 2X and that was pretty much just through e-mails and referrals.  Doing reviews here is a good way to make that go a little faster.... but it's in no way income, just a little extra cash.

The others who have already responded here are absolutely correct.  To make serious income on-line it really takes a time of establishing who you are and researching what are the best places to work with.  Amazon's Mechanical Turk is also another place that adds a little extra cash for small meanial tasks.

Good luck with what you do.

I agree with the others. It takes a lot of time and patience to get to that level to make more then just pocket change. I look for surveys that pay at least $50-$100 or more and when I qualify I take them. It's mostly just to help with holidays etc. Goes into a fund we call our special occasion fund: Holidays, vacations, family time etc.Helped pay for the extras my daughter wanted for her wedding. But that's about it.l have a 9-5 job and also am a wedding and event consultant and that more then pays our bills and puts money in everyone's pocket. Find something you like to do and perhaps start your own business doing that. I literally "fell" into the wedding consulting business. While putting my own daughter's wedding together I amassed a huge list of resources and at my daughter's wedding took literally thousands of pictures etc for my portfolio. I also got several requests to do her friends' weddings and it's blossomed into a nice side business that hopefully one day I can leave my 9-5 job for. Right now doing both and this for fun!

Wow, I have never found a survey that paid $50-$100. I have been paid $10 or $20 now and then but it's more like a buck or two.

But every little bit counts!