Expert: Ed McFarland - 1/30/2005

Question
Hello Ed,
I am a licensed acupuncturist and plan on giving the "paid online surveys" thing a whirl. If the surveys really pay, I plan on using the income to help supplement the start up of my acupuncture practice.
I would be filling out many marketing surveys from online databases. Since I will be filling out numerous surveys, I am searching for an efficient method to manage this endeavor and would like your suggestions if you don't mind.
I see where I would need to keep track of which companys I had performed surveys for, which I had received payment from and which one's I had not yet, (dates: date received payment-dates I took survey), amount of payment, and times/dates for pre-scheduled focus groups discussion, forums discussion, or phone groups discussion appointments.
I suppose that I could manage this data in a notebook by drawing lines and columns on paper, but I thought there might be software or a blank professional ledger or forms available that would appear more professional,(to the tax man especially). I will be considered an independent contractor. If you can think of any other items I would need to keep track of, I would appreciate your suggestions.
Thank you very much for any help!

Sincerely,

Michael D. Eidson, LAc.  

Answer
I have never know those things to be that busy or pay that much to merit a lot of tracking.

But given that you are doing them on-line, I would open an excel spreadsheet and track them that way. Another way would be treat them as another form of appointments and track them the same way you track your current business.

Good luck.