I signed up with Prolific Academic, also just known as Prolific, quite a long time ago.  I’d read rave reviews from other bloggers and home money makers about it being the best sort of survey site out there.  I say sort of as it’s not really a survey site, but the tasks are more like studies and research for academics.  Well, I’ve only just got round to properly using the site recently and making money as I was using the site totally wrong!  Read on to discover the best way to get notified of studies on Prolific and learn how to make money from home with Prolific.

Is Prolific the best survey site?

I’d actually totally forgotten about this site until I saw a money blogger mention it the other day as a better way to make money than most other survey sites.  Really?  I thought.  I remembered I’d been signed up for ages and never been sent a study!  Coincidently, a couple of days later I received my first email from Prolific saying I qualified for a study!

To my surprise, when I signed in I saw there was not one, but two studies in my dashboard.  Thinking this strange and perhaps I hadn’t been receiving all their emails I spoke to customer services. 

Don’t rely on emails from Prolific

Turns out they don’t email everyone about every study they are eligible for, but only email a random selection of people.  I had totally not realised this as every other similar site I’m with emails every time there is a study available and it’s just tough luck if you don’t get to it on time.

So what was I meant to do?  Check the site every five minutes for a study?!

Install a notifier to alert you of new Prolific studies

With a bit of digging I found a solution.  There is a browser extension on Chrome called Prolific Assistant which will notify me whenever a new study is available.  Phew!

I now realise I must have been missing out on so many studies and so much money!  As soon as I installed Prolific Assistant I completed 10 studies over a couple of days and now have over £10 in my account!

How many studies do Prolific have?

It’s very early days for me actually actively using the platform, now I realise what to do!  The studies  seem very sporadic as yesterday I wasn’t alerted to any studies at all, but there were loads the day before.  Even some I didn’t take part in as they were 40 minutes long and I couldn’t spare that time.  But most of the tests I’ve done have been 5-15 minutes long.

It will also depend on which studies you are eligible for.  They have an ‘About You’ section with loads of questions to fill in so you’ll be allocated studies you qualify for.

Out of the 10 studies I have completed so far they have all been accepted no problem.  I’ve also read you’ll never be booted out of a study which is great news.  If you read my recent blog post called how to make money searching the web then you’ll see I was booted out of 23 studies in a row when trying another survey site which was so frustrating!  So I’m pleased that on Prolific everything has been accepted so far.

Prolific is a survey site with a difference

They aren’t your typical survey site as I mentioned.  Some of the studies I’ve done have been questions, one was a game to play and in another they flashed words up on the screen and I had to try and memorise them.  The variety makes it so interesting and nothing like many other mundane survey sites!

They say ‘Prolific empowers great research. We enable fast, reliable and high quality data collection by connecting diverse people around the world. Our mission is to make trustworthy data more accessible in order to help improve human knowledge and decision-making.’

Prolific have a great referral program too

If you sign up friends and family using your referral link then you’ll get 10% of their first cash out, up to £5 maximum.  If you know any researchers who would be interested in the platform and you refer them, then even better, you can each get 10% of the value of the first study.

Simply go to your account and click on ‘Referrals’ to find your referral code or exclusive link to share.

Receive payments by PayPal with Prolific

I’ve not cashed out yet as there is a fee for cashing out anything under £20, but you can cash out with a fee once you hit a balance of £5 if you want to.  I’d rather wait and I’m building up my balance.  I’ve chosen PayPal as my payment method and there are plenty of reviews online to confirm they are reliable and pay quickly.

I’m really excited to start using this platform regularly as an enjoyable way to top up my side hustle earnings.

Click here to sign up to Prolific Academic today and start making extra cash from home!