Layoff, Laid off, Laid-off, Layed off, or Layed-off
It doesn’t matter how you spell it – with an “i” or a “y” using a hyphen or not –it still is a word that instantly dissolves our confidence and our financial security. There are many links and suggestions about “how to cope with losing your job” or “how to make it through this recession or hard times”. Surely someone, somewhere has the perfect solution. Here’s a simple idea that might help you through hard times. This idea won’t save the house or make a cloudy day sunny, but it is easy, fun, beneficial, and has been recommended on television shows like The Today Show and CBS in the San Francisco Bay Area. What is this solution for the lay-off blues? Join a market research panel! It is usually free to join, at least it is at the Resolution Research panel. You contribute your opinions and ideas by participating in market research studies and receive compensation. Participation is easy. You register for the research panel by providing your contact information and your demographic profile. When a study needs participants with your demographic characteristics, an email is sent to inform you of the opportunity. You choose whether or not to participate. Studies are conducted in many different forms:
- Online surveys where a pre-programmed questionnaire is answered entirely online;
- Online focus groups or bulletin boards where questions and answers flow in an online discussion that may take an hour or span a two or three day period;
- In-person focus groups held at a facility in your city or at an event you’re attending;
- Telephone surveys where you answer questions read to you by an interviewer;
- A diary or camera journal that records interaction with a particular product or service;
- In-home new product tests (i.e., window coverings, salad crispers, electric toothbrushes, etc. – you almost always get to keep the product);
- Taste tests where you go to a facility in your city, eat and/or drink and give your opinion;
- Product tests (i.e., new acne product, new inline skate brake, new blackberry, new home thermometer, etc.) – You try the product for some specified period of time and give your opinions (You often get to keep these too);
- Website feasibility where you log online and report the user-friendliness of the website;
- Advertising tests (i.e., hear, read, or watch ads and provide input – some are conducted over the phone, online, or in a focus group setting);
- Mock jury (observe the arguments of a case that’s going to trial and give your verdict);
- Shadow jury (actually attend a real jury trial in the observer seats at the courthouse and provide feedback daily);
- Mystery shopping (i.e., get paid to dine out and rate the food & service; visit a business, buy a product and measure whether the agent did his/her job properly);
- Medical or psychological trials/tests (test topics range widely – i.e., persons 65+ on heart medication, women with breast cancer, arthritis, twins, bi-polar, diabetics, exercise, memory, etc., oftentimes held at a local university);
- Clinical trials (i.e., generally longer term blind or double-blind studies testing the safety and efficacy of new drugs or devices)
The compensation for participating in research studies vary with the length of involvement (i.e. 5-minutes web survey to 6-week jury trial), difficulty of the tasks, and requirements for participation (e.g. any U.S. Citizen, Centenarians, or doctors specializing in deep brain stimulation). Members of the Resolution Research Panel have received compensation as diverse as $5 gift cards, drawings for cash or prizes, $100 a day compensation, free products (new window coverings for your home), $25 cash incentives or up to $500 Visa cash cards. Some studies don’t pay at all – generally studies sponsored by a government entity (city, state or federal) are non-compensated. Occasionally, Resolution Research conducts a study in-house with its panel members as a knowledge piece for the public (e.g., ecological concerns, new year’s resolutions). The compensation for these studies is usually a random drawing for rewards such as $25 cash cards or Starbuck coffee cards. The results of these studies are usually shared either on our website or you might read/hear/view the results in a news article. Regardless of the type of study or the level of compensation, participation is always voluntary for panel members. The bottom line – which is what everyone’s talking about now in the midst of this economic upheaval – is that participation in market research studies and market research panels can make your personal bottom line feel a little better. Oftentimes there are also intrinsic benefits gained by contributing your ideas and opinions. Not only do you gain knowledge, but your feedback and opinions help companies, non-profit organizations, and government entities make better products, make better decisions, and ultimately make the world a better place for us all. So participate in market research – have fun, earn cash and feel better!
Links: Note: Resolution Research does not endorse, support, nor guarantee the accuracy of the links provided below.
“How to cope with losing your job“……
“How to make it through this recession or hard times“…
- “How to Stay Afloat” from SmartMoney.com
- “Take a survival job to pay the bills” from Money at USAToday.com
- “10 Tips: How to Triumph over Job Loss” and
- “10 expensive habits to break – for good” from The Today Show
Unemployment & Related help