Does Size matter? - How many questions is too many in your online survey?

Surveys are all about collecting information. To get the right information you need to ask the right questions. While 'the right questions' is covered elsewhere, here I am going to discuss the number of questions as an aspect of design.

As with most things the answer is "it depends". However with online surveys a good rule is the fewer the better. How many times have we seen a great focussed survey get a poor response because every person in the approval chain has decided to add another question? The logic being that seeing we are asking people questions I would like to add just one more. This inevitably will be somewhat off topic and with each additional item the integrity of the survey dies a little death.

Rule 1 - Focus the survey! As soon as you wander, even slightly, the respondents will start to question why they are responding at all. I must say the most successful surveys are the 'front of mind' type topics with up to ten questions. The questions follow a logical progression to help the user think about the answers in a logical way. For example you may ask about? 1. what they thought the process was like before 2. did they feel involved in the problem identification process 3. did they feel all problems were identified 4. did the upgrade plan make sense to them 5. was there sufficient communications during the upgrade 6. did the new system live up to what they expected 7. What could have been done better Can you see how the questions followed a rational order, in this case time/process based?

Rule 2 - 10 minutes is an inconvenience, 15 minutes is an investment. When you ask users to respond to a survey you are asking them to spend some of their hard earned time for you. - What are they getting in return? For many surveys it is little if anything. Most people will spend up to 10 minutes out of charity. Anything over this and they will be expecting something in return. It may be as basic at a raffle ticket or as complex as a detailed analysis of their response against a broader population of respondents. Either way it needs to have value to them and be clear at the outset.

This brings me to my next point: No matter how long your survey is, there must be an introduction that states what is expected of the respondent and what they are going to get in return. This is usually put as how long the survey is expected to take (don't lie!) and what if anything they can expect in return. Eg. "?will take approximately 10 minutes and will help lead us to devise a system that works to your best interests."

Rule 3 - Trapped users don't care. We have all done these sorts of surveys, where you start and it seems to go on and on. You get lost as the questions seem to repeat and you are getting no closer to the end. In frustration you then start selecting the mid range response without really reading the question. Not I! I hear you saying. Can I tell you that statistics imply that this starts to happen to some extent after the first ten questions! With only limited investment users can quickly turn to prisoners looking for a way out ignoring you hard thought questions.

I want to make a last note here. A short survey is five questions of a multiple choice type, say radio button or checkbox. A long survey is only 20 questions. Think about why your respondents are investing the time. If you have come to the lower limit of your questions and you are still well over twenty, you might consider putting the more critical ones towards the front.

If you have any topics you would like covered please mail me at SteveWrightMail@gmail.com and I will include them in my growing list.

cheers Steve

Hi, after years of designing survyes I am collecting together some of the key lessons. http://surveysurvival.2leadership.com

Manufacturing Optimism Survey by TR Cutler, Inc

Every two years the Manufacturing Marketing firm, TR Cutler, Inc. conducts a national survey about the optimism of manufacturers throughout the U.S. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the survey results at: http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/dec05/380879.asp

When last conducted, November 2003, the manufacturing sector was coming out of a long-term slump. Indeed the economy of the manufacturing sector has improved drastically in the past two years. Among the 2429 privately-held manufacturers surveyed, optimism was stronger in almost all geographic sectors, with few exceptions. The most optimist geographic regions are:

With a rating of >70% saying 2006 will be better or much better than 2005

Louisville (77.1%) Dayton (76.9%) Dallas (76.3%) Cleveland (76.1%) Milwaukee (75.2%) Kansas City (75.0%) Atlanta (74.1%) Nashville (73.6%) Memphis (73.1%) Tampa (72.2%) Charlotte (71.8%) Cincinnati (71.6%) Chicago (71.4%) Orlando (71.2%) San Antonio (70.8%)

According to Cutler, "Milwaukee has really rebounded since we last conducted this manufacturing optimism survey. The mean age of the manufacturing CEO's was considerably younger than two years ago and apparently some of this "fresh blood" has really impacted the overall enthusiasm and optimism for the manufacturing sector."

Thomas R. Cutler, who founded the consortium in 1999, has grown the participation from 300 journalists to more than two thousands key clients, journalists, editors, trendsetters, and key business leaders worldwide. Cutler has authored more than 1000 articles for a wide range of manufacturing periodicals, industrial publications, and business journals including most of the leading monthly trade publications. TR Cutler, Inc., (www.trcutlerinc.com), is the nation's largest manufacturing marketing and public relations firm, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

TR Cutler, Inc. www.trcutlerinc.com Thomas Cutler 954-486-7562

What Are Paid Survey Focus Groups and How Do They Work?

Focus Groups, Paid Surveys, & Other Market Research Opportunities Demystified

Businesses and other organizations use focus groups and paid surveys to research consumer and public opinion concerning a variety of issues. Corporations look to focus groups for general help in selling their products to the world at large instead of any type of direct marketing efforts.

Focus groups & Paid Surveys are usually conducted by Market Research companies. Market research companies are hired by the big corporations such as Coca-Cola and Nestle. The reason they do this is because the market research companies have the experience and expertise to make sure the focus groups are accurate and unbiased. If the corporations did this themselves they may not get impartial information and could make mistakes costing them millions of dollars (not to mention their jobs!)

So from here on out, when I talk about companies that conduct focus groups and paid surveys, I am referring to market research companies. These will be the companies whom you will contact, register with, and get paid from. This is VERY important for you to remember.

OK, so what kinds of focus groups and paid surveys exist? Well, generally there are two types: Offline and Online.

Offline:

These are small, roundtable discussion groups on topics ranging from the latest features on internetworking hardware to new flavors of ice cream. They usually involve about 10 participants plus the group leader or moderator. Each session usually lasts about 2 hours and the discussion is "focused" on a particular topic, about which group members share their opinions. An honorarium of $40-$80 for time and effort is very common. It is not unusual for observers from the client corporation to watch the group in action.

In focus groups, unlike telephone paid surveys, people can be shown products or ads and can be given an opportunity to express how they feel and what they think in a normal, conversational setting. As a research method, the use of focus groups is less about statistics and numbers and more about qualitative matters such as whether people find an ad humorous, and why they find it humorous, or if people believe a product is appealing and why they think so.

Online:

Online focus groups and paid surveys are a cost effective alternative to conventional "face-to-face" focus groups. Online focus groups generally invite 8 to 10 people to join for a specified period of time (90 minutes to two hours) in a specialized chat room. This controlled environment allows participants to view text, graphics, sounds/jingles, video or multimedia for evaluation and testing. It is not uncommon for observers from the client corporation to watch the group in action and send private messages to the co-moderators as the group is progressing.

Ngullen Rivera ngullen@gmail.com

Ngullen Rivera publishes the acclaimed Advanced Paid Survey Review & News Blog. A professional Blog with a refreshing perspective and a strong focus on no-cost Paid Surveys List. http://paid-surveys-review-news.blogspot.com/ FREE Tips, Tricks, Tools, Resources, eBooks, and More!

Why Online Paid Surveys Work?

Hundreds of web surfers these days are subscribing to paid survey websites. Many of these are also making a few handy dollars every week or month. Paid Survey is now a big business and is getting bigger every day. So why would a company pay these dollars to the web surfers? Obvious they are getting money from somewhere. Paid Survey website owners are certainly not doing charity. So then by which way do these site owners pay their staff, pay the site members and still make a handsome profit. Lets try to demystify the mystery, which surrounds this business.

Paid Survey sites are primarily of two types - 1. Paid Survey site database 2. The actual Paid Survey site

The first type in itself does not conduct surveys. They are merely directories of the Paid Survey sites. Most of them would have links which when clicked, takes user to the actual paid survey pages of a different site. They make money by two ways; first is they get paid for keeping the reference and links to the actual Paid Survey site owners and secondly some of them charge a registration fee to access their directories. Hence if you are paying to register to these directories, remember that they are not going to pay you anything. They would simply help you to find and navigate to the actual Paid Survey sites. Ideally, if you are a new Pair Survey worker then you should start with searching Paid Survey sites on your own through one of the search engines or register at a free Paid Survey site directory.

The actual Paid Survey sites host surveys on various topics. They could be conducting survey on some newly launched product or an advertising promotion. Most of the times the surveys are carried out for some manufacturing or service company. They often want to know their customer preferences and behavior. The Paid Survey site does the job for them and gets paid in return. Some site owners also help the consumer companies in analyzing the data and generate statistical reports. Some of the returns they pass on to the survey takers. Some dubious survey site owners pass on their member contact information to other companies. These companies then send mail promoting their products. This is one of the channel by which spam reaches your mailbox. Well known Paid Survey sites also make money by advertising others products or services. Quiet a few Paid Survey sites, this days charge a small registration fee for the new members joining the site to take surveys. This too adds to their revenues.

All the above ensures that both the Paid Survey Directory sites and the actual Paid Survey sites thrive on the Wonderland of Internet.

Rob owns a blog and website helping people choose between paid surveys companies. Please visit the blog for more information on online paid surveys

Why Great Companies Survey: Martian Logic!

 If an alien civilization from Mars was planning a friendly takeover of our planet they would seek to make sure they understood our way of life and our way of thought.

The only way they could accomplish their objective would be by asking questions which they could genuinely understand and then plan a strategy accordingly. Although this idea may seem outlandish, in my humble opinion, it is also what separates the great companies on our planet from the Wannabe's.

The greatest RISK in marketing lies in dealing with OPINION instead of fact. Stated another way, risk and the threat of loss is rooted in the idea that you think you already know the answer.

In my 25+ years in sales and marketing I have learned one very powerful truth that distinguishes the superstars from the amateurs. The great salespeople and marketers understand the power that lays within questions. The amateurs think they know all of the answers. Show me a great salesperson and I will show you an individual who knows and understand the power of questions. Show me a poor salesperson and I will show you an individual who has yet to understand that fact. Show me a great company and I will hypothesize that they have an incredible dialogue established with their customers.

How about you? Do you feel you know the answers to your customers most pressing problems, or are you genuinely in communication with them and listening to what they say?

I have seen salespeople blossom into superstars when they learned to ask questions. Likewise, I have seen companies turn from run of the mill endeavors to powerful marketing machines when they too learned to harvest the information from the questions which they ask. Questions are the only tools that permit us to genuinely understand problems our customers have. Questions are also the vehicles we use to establish our focus to resolve those problems. Stated another way, questions are a goldmine of valuable market information. The answers to the questions within surveys provide a roadmap for fulfilling our customers most pressing needs and desires.

We have a huge investment in what we have come to know. However, what we have come to know often has nothing to do with what we need to know to be successful. This is one of the key reasons why surveying of our customers is so important. A good survey will eliminate opinion and establish some factual evidence. Also, we are often so indoctrinated with what we think we know that we cannot see what "is" occurring. This is the main reason we survey.

There have been thousands and thousands of books written on the importance of surveying. I will attempt to summarize the best ones here with a one simple acronym which I created.

S Successfully

U Understanding

R Relevant

V Values

E Enhances

Y Yield

A survey gives us the opportunity to understand and take that understanding and apply it to creating a higher return on our investment. When we successfully understand our customers relevant values we can then create the solutions that will permit us to enhance our yield. A good survey allows us to be in communication with our marketplace.

The great companies have learned that customers will not tell you how you are doing unless you ask them. Asking your customers about what they like and want offers the best information to learn from mistakes and cultivate unique opportunities.

Great companies survey. Wannabes think they already know. Want to succeed in a big way, all you have to do is ASK... then shut up long enough to recognize that the answer that is coming at you has "GOLDMINE" written all over it!

Be careful what you agree with!

Harald Anderson is the co-founder of Artinspires.com a leading online gallery of Motivational Posters and Inspirational Posters. "When Art Inspires, Dreams Become Realities. His goal in life is to become the kind of person that his dog already thinks he is. http://www.artinspires.com

Why I'll Never Make Millions Of Dollars On The Internet...Adam Buhler Don't get me wrong, I make a decent living online. I have a passion for what I do, and my hard work has paid respectable dividends, both to me, and to my visitors.

The sad part is that what got me interested in making a living online just so happened to be the same empty promises, and the same "Get Rich Quick" hype countless crooked businesses and individuals use each and every day to lure in average, everyday people, looking for a legitimate way to earn a respectable living from the Internet.

These shady people make millions. I got lucky. Instead of "selling the farm" and dumping a boatload of money into the first deception I saw, I did a little homework. While a part of me wanted to reach for my wallet and become the next Internet success story, my common sense saved the day and urged me to explore my options first.

What happens to those who fall victim to these scams? The exact opposite of what they had hoped to accomplish. Instead of building a steady source of income, they use the funds that could have been directed at starting a legitimate business, and invest them into the false promises of Instant Internet Millions.

A lie, combined with something people want so badly, becomes a cruel and frighteningly powerful weapon.

I never was a good liar. Which brings me back to the reason I'm writing this article.

It doesn't matter that I publish a newsletter with information I've used to grow my business online, as well as listing legitimate resources that can be used to take some of the guesswork out of earning a living on the Internet.

I personally follow-up on every program submitted to my affiliate programs directory, by visiting the site personally, I can ensure that it holds value to my visitors. There is nothing more detrimental to your success online than recommending low value products and services.

I own a good percentage of the products I recommend myself. This helps me give a better description of a product's benefits, drastically reducing the number of lost affiliate commissions due to product returns from customers who had the impression they were buying a product beneficial to their business.

Bringing traffic to your web site is one of the largest challenges any Internet business will face. I experiment with what I know to work as well as what does not. Membership sites are a great way to reduce the amount of time spent on finding effective methods to grow your business. I belong to quite a few, yet I recommend only the three I feel offer a service that justifies the monthly fee.

By gaining membership to the good and the bad, I can avoid recommending a service that will jeopardize my credibility and eliminate future sales.

It's easy to offer your visitors a quality service and collect a check, but I place as much emphasis on pointing out programs that don't deliver the results they promise as well. It's important to keep your visitor's best interests in mind.

My web site has a list of the ten programs that have made me the most money on the Internet. This way, my visitors have an idea of what programs are capable of producing the best results. And if compatible with their business, maybe this will save them the time I spent searching for high-quality programs to promote.

I can't promise anyone success. What I can do is show them how I found mine.

For all of these reasons, I'll continue to make a good living on the Internet. These are also the painfully obvious reasons why I'll never make millions of dollars in the process.

My inability to exaggerate the benefits of my products, or sell my visitors a dream I couldn't possibly deliver, will ultimately keep my feet planted firmly on the ground. Right where I want them.

Adam Buhler is the owner of Affiliate Programs Directory: http://www.smokesoft.net. Adam is the author of the weekly newsletter "Affiliate Secrets". He is offering a free trial copy of what many are calling the "BIBLE" of selling on the net, "Make Your Site SELL!" for a limited time to new subscribers. Subscription details can be found at: http://www.smokesoft.net/newsletter.html.
adam@smokesoft.net