Monthly Archives: November 2010

A Senior Survey Moment…

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From time to time we like to answer some common questions we receive at the MindField Online Facebook page. This time, we will try to answer the question, “Am I getting fewer online survey invitations as I get older?”

In general, makers of consumer products are trying to reach specific audiences. Think about the commercials you see on TV. Who are they aimed at? VERY generally speaking, you tend to see:

  • Cars, beer and electronics for the fellows.
  • Fashion and beauty for young women.
  • Groceries, cleaning products, and childcare for moms.
  • Insurance, health products and pharmaceuticals for older folks.

So, as an older MindField Online member, you are far more likely to survey a term life insurance product than you are the latest smart phone.

On the other hand, there are products that EVERYBODY uses.  Whatever our income, we all drink a certain famous soda pop from time to time. We all use bathroom tissue. We all have to fill up the gas tank.

And whatever our gender, race, income level, education, etc., we each represent a certain percentage of the population. For instance, seniors 65 and older make up about 12% of the general population.  So, even on a very general product, our clients might (but not always) request that we limit seniors to 12% of the survey invitations. Bottom line, there ARE fewer opportunities as we get older, because there are increasingly fewer of us. That’s not MindField, that’s statistics. But we still try to steer as many invitations to you as we can.

Another consideration is timing. We try to rotate our invitations using a number of internal algorithms (that’s fancy computer talk) to give all members an equal chance to participate. So, if our clients are looking for a certain number people like you, but you wait two or three days to respond to the invitation, we may fill our quota and you will miss out.

So, even if this wasn’t the answer you were hoping for, we hope that it helps you understand the invitation process a little better.

Next time, we will look at a HOT topic: “Why do I get invitations, begin the survey, and then get kicked out in the middle?”

Refer a Friend, Earn More Cash!

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MindField Online Internet Panels recently re-launched our Refer-a-Friend campaign. If you would like to get involved and earn more cash, log in and follow this link:

http://mindfieldonline.com/user/refer

There, if you have NOT already activated your referral account you will see the following text:

Cash Reward Referrals

You will receive $1.00 for every friend or family member you refer to MindField Online – once they register, activate their account, complete their profile and begin participating in surveys.

How does it work? It’s simple . . .

  1. Click on the Activate button below to activate your referral account.
  2. Upon activating, use the URL link provided to send to your friends, post on your Facebook page or any other legal website. This is your referral link that will allow us to track your referrals back to you for crediting once your referrals do their part. The more creative you are the more opportunity you have to earn the extra incentive.
  3. Your friends and family will need to click on the link that will take them to our registration page. They will need to follow the same steps as you did to register and activate their account as well as complete their profile questionnaire. As soon as they begin responding to our questionnaire invitations and complete their first survey, you will receive credit for the referral.
  4. As part of our required data quality policies, referrals are subject to ongoing verification.

If you have any questions, please contact our support department at [email protected] or by calling 800-969-9235.

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Once you have activated your referral account you will see the following text:

Cash Reward Referrals

Send the link below to all of your friends, associates, etc. Even put it on your Facebook, MySpace and Twitter sites. By referring your friends you can sit back and increase your earnings. MindField Online will credit your account $1.00 for everyone you refer who fully activates a brand new account, completes their profile and completes a survey.

Sorry, you can’t join multiple times as that would be a violation of our Member Terms and data quality policy. But you can earn a great deal of extra money by referring as many people as possible. So what are you waiting for? Email this link to your contacts . . . IM it to your buddy list . . . post it on your website and let your friends and MindField Online make you extra money!

“I haven’t gotten any surveys in a while…”

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On the MindField Online Internet Panels Facebook page we have noticed more people saying “why haven’t I been getting any surveys lately?”  Previously, we have said that it can take a week or two to get started when you first join MindField Online.

But for members who have been around awhile, there may be different issues. It can also be a matter of your personal profile not being up to date. Like, MindField Online didn’t know you had a baby, so we haven’t sent you any “mommy-type” surveys.

Other times it is a technical issue with your email. Depending on your email program, you may have a storage limit. Your mailbox may be full, and you can’t receive any invitations. Cleaning out your old messages may help.

Also, there’s the issue of Spam. Internet service providers (ISPs) are getting more aggressive, always looking for ways to stop spam and junk mail from clogging up your IN box…and usually, that’s a GOOD thing! Unfortunately, this is not a perfect science, and messages you would want to receive sometimes end up in your Spam or Junk email folder – and you may not even know it!

It’s usually pretty easy to fix this, though. For example, in Yahoo Mail, you can highlight a message in your Spam folder and mark it “Not Spam.” Then, messages from that sender that come after that should land in your proper IN box.

At any rate, MindField Online is looking into the issue. We are reviewing members who haven’t received a survey in a while, and trying to figure out what the problem might be. So, please be patient! And THANKS!

Consumer Testing: A Big Business, and Getting Bigger

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It’s a fact: today’s consumers have a big say in the types of products and services that companies introduce to the marketplace.  This influence comes by way of consumer research and product testing.

Consumer research and product testing is a big business, and one that keeps growing. Why? Because it is enormously expensive to introduce, market and sell new products to the consumer. It is also very risky. Some statistics say that four out five new products introduced will fail in their first year, potentially costing companies millions of wasted dollars.

Companies have no real way of knowing how the public will respond to a service or product, without trying to measure that reaction by way of consumer research and product testing. They can’t simply guess or assume! Testing – extensive consumer research and product testing with as many consumers who represent a company’s target market – is a key ingredient of a new product’s success.

To do this, many companies hire online consumer research and product testing firms like MindField Online Internet Panels.

MindField Online members complete a series of consumer profiles to paint an accurate picture of their demographics including gender, age, income, family makeup, type of home, number and type of automobiles, appliances, and on and on. Using this information, MindField Online Internet Panels matches the consumer with relevant surveys commissioned by corporate clients.

MindField Online members are often asked to give their consumer opinions about existing products and services, so that companies can improve their product quality, marketing or advertising messages. Or, MindField Online members are asked about new or proposed products that don’t yet exist, so that companies can decide whether or not – and how – to proceed with their introduction. Often, these surveys include free samples of the product in question.

In return for giving their consumer research information, MindField Online Internet Panels members earn extra cash and prizes, and are eligible for frequent member appreciation giveaways for popular items like Apple iPods and iPhones. MindField Online Internet Panels also encourages members to log on to its growing social media network including its Twitter feed, Facebook page and blog site.

As the field of consumer research and product testing continues to grow in size and importance, the need for qualified consumer testers will also grow. Consumer research firms will compete for panel members, forcing these testing firms to constantly seek better ways to serve their members. Improved service, greater incentives and a growing sense of community are all ways that MindField Online Internet Panels will continue to attract and reward its loyal members in the future.

For more information, please visit the MindField Online website at http://mindfieldonline.com/