Survey Software HQ

Marketers are always looking to add data to back up their claims and marketing efforts.

I just got a 5 question survey from LinkedIn that asked me to see if I thought I was influential using 5 questions. The question choices were wording such that I wanted to “Strongly Agree” with everything….

- Are you an expert in a field?
- Do you give advice on certain areas?
- Do you blog or participate in online communities? Etc (these aren’t verbatim by the way)

I can imagine they will use this very effectively to add meat to their marketing. Here’s what I am guessing they are doing:

1. They could issue a press release claiming it’s one of the most influential social networking sites on the web simply to generate more buzz.

2. They may also be starting to try and convert free users into paying users, and this could be a step in gathering more serious users.

3. They could use it in a media kit - and let people know why should people advertise on their site. This could be a more profitable way to pull in revenue versus Google AdWords as they currently do today. I would guess they might move away from Adwords and sell ads on their own network - which they could make a lot more money on.

There are lots of sites out there that offer paid surveys. Beware — they are not the easy money that you might expect.

Yes, corporations spend money to compensate market research firms to collect data. There are definitely ways to get compensated for your time participating.

However, there are also countless unscrupulous people out there looking to take advantage of you. Here are some things to look out for:

• Membership fees
• Requirement of a social security number or driver’s license
• Bank information or credit card requirement

This survey of over 700 tech savvy readers of Network Computing goes into some depth on networking infrastructure, but should make an interesting flip through for most technology professionals.

 Includes:

- More hated buzzwords
- Customer thoughts on resellers
- Thoughts on open source
- Much more from the IT boss
- Despised “marketing blather”

I must say… many of these survey questions were primarily written by someone who sounds fed up with their own industry and therefore the tone of the questions are very incendiary. “Which Network Computing blather do you most despise?”

FULL ARTICLE
SLIDESHOW VIEW