5 Golden Rules To Follow To Get Market Research Projects

Market research is one of the best paying online side hustles around. You can actually get paid hundreds just to share your opinion or test a project. I was once paid £150 to test a bunch of cheese – amazing right. But it can seem very tedious to actually land projects. So I thought I’d share five golden rules of market research from my few years of experience trying to land projects…

Apply Apply Apply

The more projects you apply for the more chances you have of actually landing some. Make sure to join as many different market research platforms as possible and apply to all the projects that you qualify for. This point is key. There is literally no point in applying for a project if you don’t fit the set brief (eg. if they are looking for people aged 45+ and you’re 25). It is a complete waste of time and effort. So make sure to read the project description and apply if you fit the brief.

Answer Your Phone

Market research recruitment companies will often phone you to book you onto a project so make sure you answer your phone!! This rule is kind of essential if you want to land some projects. Projects often fill up super quick so missing these calls can mean missing out.

Be Honest

Answer all questions asked of you completely honestly. There is no point lying just to get onto a project as you probably won’t be what they are looking for and this can be detrimental to landing future studies. It might even lead to being blacklisted from a company and then you won’t land any projects.

Only Say Yes If You Can Actually Attend

When you get that call inviting you to a market research project make sure you check your calendar and only say yes if you can actually attend. I made this mistake recently. I accepted a market research project which consisted of a zoom call. At the time of accepting, I was free on the time and date. Then I went and booked a city break completely forgetting about the zoom call. This meant I spent days panicking about where I could take the call. I needed somewhere private and I was staying in a hostel. Thankfully, I was able to take the call from my hostel dorm bed and no-one came into the room during the hour and a half call. But that panic could have easily been avoided if I had taken a second to double check my calendar.

So learn from my mistakes, and make sure you are not over committing yourself! This is equally as important if it is a longer project, like a diary study.

Put In 100%

Market research is a very highly paid side hustle, with rates often in the region of £50-£100 an hour. So it can be very tempting to do the bear minimum to get the payment, especially with the longer studies that require you to do more than one task, like a diary study. But this is a mistake. Put in 100% effort on every single task you do as it keeps you in great standing with the research companies and will increase your odds of being picked for more studies.

That’s it, five golden rules to follow when it comes to market research! Is market research a side hustle you already do? What’s the best project you’ve landed?