May I Have a Moment of your Time?
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Wed, Dec 16, 2009
I've noticed that, generally, you do not have to pay people to give their opinions.
Most are more than willing to do it for absolutely nothing. So why are there companies out there paying people for their opinions? Hasn't anybody told them that they don't need to do that?
I was watching TV the other day and saw a commercial for a company called BigSpot. Apparently, this is the portal to the dream job of the future, known as "online survey taker". BigSpot will hook you up with companies that want your opinion about their products and services. They will pay you money for it! Of course, according to BigSpot, you are also helping to "shape the products and services of tomorrow".
This is a noble cause. And you get paid! Well, it probably comes as no surprise to know that companies spend millions of dollars each year on market research, including surveys, focus groups and test marketing. We know why they do this. They want to know our likes and dislikes, the way we spend our money, the likelihood that we will spend it on them.
Of course, they need to know these things. Who wants to throw away valuable marketing dollars on consumers who don't fit the target demographic? Throwing away marketing dollars is bad. So, if you could get the same information for free, would you do it? How would you like to receive valuable customer feedback for the cost of, let's say, posting a blog?
Business blog marketing offers companies a way to dialogue with their customers (and potential customers), with the aim of learning their preferences, opinions, problems and concerns. Blogs can be created in-house or outsourced, search engine optimized or not. They are a cheap, easy and effective way to bring businesses and consumers together, because they offer both parties the information they need.
Customers get their questions answered, and businesses get the consumer feedback they need to improve their products and services and increase sales. The comment section at the bottom of a blog becomes the magical place where it all comes together.
This is bad news for those hoping to make big bucks as a professional "online survey taker", but good news for those who don't have the marketing budget to pay these guys for their opinions.
So go ahead- try it! Squeeze a blog page onto your company's site. Better yet, create a blog site devoted to everything people need to know about your field and link it to your site. Start filling your blogs with authoritative content. Your customers will love you for it.
Any way you slice it, today's business blog is the real "big spot".