Take our survey!

We want to learn more about DG members (subscribers and non-subscribers), so please take our survey. Reward! A randomly selected group of respondents will receive a free 1 year subscription!

The survey is here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=LhRlsxaX5R2Bh9oU7RDutg_3d_3d

I'm heading off to fill it out myself right now. ^_^

it's fast and easy too
=)

Feel free to skip any questions that you aren't comfortable with answering.

Also note that the survey is anonymous. I can't match up answers with the person. All I see is the results all tabulated together, and at the end I get a list of all the email addresses entered. So feel free to be honest without risking anybody matching you up with your answers. :)

It was fast and easy. (I didn't sign up to be eligible for a free year's sub, though ;o)

Mine's done, but I didn't sign up for the subscription either.

Easy!...Done!

Me too! And you bet I signed up for the chance at a free subscription!

:-)

Easy-squeezy!

I answered in the strict sense of the word immediately.. I can not remember how many times I visited plantfiles through a web search before I subscribed. I think I subscribed pretty soon after finding DG but not immediately.

Mine's done. I didn't sign up for a subscription though.

I took it - after I figured out how to 'specify' - duh. Didn't sign up, let someone who needs it win!

Now, before you decide to not throw your name in the hat, consider that if you won, you could use it to gift subscribe a friend ;o)

Old blonde here ... I filled out the survey but don't have a clue if I signed up for a chance at the free subscription or not, can't remember, LOL. ^_^ A subscription to DG would make a great gift!

plantladylin, I checked and your email address is there and entered for the drawing. :)

That was easy mines done.

heh that would require a friend that wasn't already subscribed

O dear I had to fib. The questions on ads should have 'I don't read/notice them'. I had to answer that I turned them off ever though I haven't and I don't like them or dislike them, and I've never bought from them but it was a mandatory question. I will disqualify myself if I win a free subscription so there will be no shift in the matrix. It's all good ^_^

I'd say turning them off and ignoring them pretty much amount to the same thing, or close enough. Survey responses are never absolute, no matter how carefully the survey is designed.

Dave,
My biggest concern is about my e-mail address. Will the advertisers be given access to our addresses?

Sasha

I hope not, I gave them my personal, family only addy!

No. The only reason we ask for your email address is to enter you in our own DG drawing for a free subscription ;o)

And to add to Terry's question: the responses to these surveys are ONLY viewed by us admins and sales people who work for us. And the reassurance again, the email address is solely for use for the random drawing for a free subscription.

Dear admins, :-)

I was wondering if one purpose of this survey is to help learn about ways to use advertising on this site. I have ads turned off but if it helps generate revenue for DG I'd be happy to turn them on especially if they are not the pop-up type.

just wondering....
Angele

Haha, I turned them off because I was spending too much money! If they generate revenue on the number of hits, I'll turn them back on, too, but hide my charge card.

angele, ads have always been a subject that I approach carefully. Early on, I thought we would never have ads on the site at all, but I changed that view back in 2004 or so when Google Adwords came along and the ads were actually highly relevant, non-intrusive, and paid us website owners fairly well. From the beginning, though, I made it so that subscribers could turn them off.

I would never ask members to turn ads on, though, if the goal was to simply increase our revenue. That is not my priority; my priority is to make DG the best website it can be.

Now, I'll give you a sneak peak at something exciting that we're working on, that nobody has mentioned before: we're setting up a special new advertising system with the top companies in the Garden Watchdog. Only the companies in the Top 100 will be allowed to participate, and they will then be able to publish their catalog in the form of context relevant ads on the site. These ads will then be viewable ONLY by subscribers. You will have to turn them on in order to see them, but I think most people will want to.

I've seen a sneak preview of this system and I can assure you, it is VERY NICE and you will want to enable it so you can enjoy it once it is ready. Look for more info on it at the end of this month or early next month.

Sounds exciting Dave, since I already use Garden Watchdog I am sure I'd love to see what the companies have to offer through ads. Maybe some special offers and sales???? I'll be watching for the announcement. Thanks for the sneak peak.

Cathy4, what is today, February 4th? I think I have already used my entire plant budget for the entire year, lol!

Angele, My husband told me I could have a small greenhouse for my birthday, but gave me a budget. What I want isn't close. I think he did it to keep me busy looking at ads. It is keeping me awake at night. It has to be accessible, I've only found one kit that is and guess what, it is expensive. Maybe if I say it is for 2 birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas?? I don't think I would ever come back in the house. Hmm, maybe that is the motive behind the gift?

Thanks dave for the sneak peak.I would look at ads from the top 100 in Garden Watchdog. The reason I don't look at the ads now is because I don't recognize alot of the companies and I'm most comfortable buying things from suppliers I know. HOWEVER sales from the top100? That changes everything.

I took the survey. I noticed that some that weren't "check all that apply" were virtually impossible to answer fairly. And on one that had to do with hobbies, I thought sports and other outdoor activities should be separate. I have outdoor activities on occasion, but wouldn't check off one with sports on it, because I'm so totally turned off by all sports, didn't even watch the Olympics really. Don't even know which teams were in the superbowl...well, you get the idea.

Easy and it's done....hope I win :)

I never think of the category of Sports as something I watch. When it's listed as Sports and other Outdoor Activity, to me, that implies I would enjoy participating in sports like baseball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, even hiking, walking, & jogging are sports to me.

I like the idea of the ads from the top 100 vendors--I would definitely turn those on! I have ads turned off now because I would only buy from vendors I know I can trust and the current ads aren't like that, but this sounds like a great idea!

I really hope there's a few Canadian companies in the top 100...it gets so depressing trying to find somewhere that will ship up here.

threegardeners, 2 of the top 100 companies in the Watchdog are in Canada. That doesn't mean they'll both participate. Many companies simply don't have an advertising budget... Our sales team has been contacting all the companies in the list and have been getting a good response so far.

One issue for Canadian companies, is they often don't want to advertise to our predominantly US based audience.

Cool new development! Will we be able to turn on the GWD 100 ads separately from turning on all advertisements?

Me too! I can forsee a few additional impulse purchases this spring, LOL.

I've already blown my plants budget for the year and I've yet to plant the first thing...guess I'll have to rethink the budget. I am anxiously awaiting this feature as well.

I wish more companies put their plants in plantfiles when they have them for sale. I recently purchased some seed for a vegetable garden from a well-rated Watchdog company but many of the varieties did not show up in plantfiles as available from that company. I noticed slight variation in common name - I'm not sure if that was true for all though. I use the 'vendor has this plant for sale.' feature often to shop. I have noticed the same thing is true for another company I am leaning towards for a groundcover purchase.
hehe, if I only knew where to apply I see a career opportunity - really though I think some companies would find it worth their while to make sure they are listed as a vendor when they have the plants available.

We match the Plant Scout entries by the botanical names. Too many different common and cultivar variations to be accurate and the botanical name gives us the best match.

When you purchase from a PlantScout vendor, if you have the opportunity, let them know how much the feature helped you decide where to purchase the plant.

I'm sure that they would like to hear feedback.