I hope you will take a couple of minutes to take part in my reader survey. It's 20 questions long and will take you less than five minutes to complete. Let me be upfront about its purpose.
I have big plans for this blog over the next six months, which involve expanding its scope and maybe even building a brand new site. To do that I need to fund it and attract more advertising. I therefore need to know some demographic information about my readers as well as finding out what you think I should be doing more/less of and what you like/dislike about the blog and the way I run it.
UPDATE: 1300 people have taken the survey so far. There are some fascinating views, which I will report back on in a few days. If you haven't taken the survey yet, please do so now by clicking on the image above.
Oi! This took at least ten minutes.
ReplyDeleteAnd the headline still overlaps the first blog posting. :-(
ReplyDeleteIt would have been better if you had a choice of 'I don't know' or 'uncertain' or 'undecided' when you asked about "who will you vote for in the next general election!" LoL :)
ReplyDeleteTrumpeter Lanfried said...
ReplyDeleteAnd the headline still overlaps the first blog posting. :-(
July 03, 2007 8:38 PM
not if you use Firefox or Opera,but yes if you use I.E.7
I filled it in yesterday and thought it might give you some wrong info. For example, do I think you have a go at the Lib Dems too much - Yes, I do. However, I am not sure your blog would be quite the same were you nice to us, so I'm not sure all the answers will help your blog, if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteIain,
ReplyDeleteI'll fill it in, but you owe me...
I'll echo the call for an "undecided / don't know" option on "3.1. Which political party do you intend to vote for at the next election?"
ReplyDeleteAlso - a "subscribed" choice on "7.1. How often do you look at these blogs?" would be useful.
I did it.The question on what publications do you read suggested the printed versions.I replied "no" to them all, expecting another question about what newspapers do you read online.This question was not asked,however had it been my answer would have been "yes" to all news sites/papers etc.I also said don't stop the trolls,heck I'm one and we mean no harm.
ReplyDeleteHmm.. I'm not going to fill it out.
ReplyDeleteI'm worried that you haven't heard the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' adage and will bugger about with a winning formula, sell-out to the commercial approach and lose your ability to be totally frank..
[word ver - mtpoxy - a warning ?]
"His blog would make more less lkely to vote for him if he was a candidate in my area"
ReplyDeleteUntil he stopped using the English language...
I assume this should read "make me less"?
Incidentally 'final strait' or final straight', Iain?
ReplyDeleteHi Iain, Great that you are doing the survey - and (despite your politics) I am a fan of the site. That may be because I have a bit of a political hinterland and can therefore enjoy what you say even when it goes against my politics or sounds politically motivated.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how you will be able to extract meaning from the survey given the fact that people with a political agenda (left & right) will answer the questions accordingly. The fact that you are a Conservative gives your site character, but it is also a factor in limiting your audience reach. Perhaps a co-blog, e.g., you on the right and someone from the left? Sounds impossible - but heh worth thinking about. Or (echoes of the Guardian) a seperate but linked site for a 'readers editor' (non - Conservative) to 'adjudicate'? I wouldn't agree to banning anonymous comments, but some of them are vile. Anyway, good luck.
I didn't 'get' the first question... Was it asking my preference?
ReplyDeleteIain,
ReplyDeleteIf you want to increase your Ad earnings then you need to dump MessageSpace. I advertise regularly all over the internet and I still can't get over how expensive they are!
I know it's a specialised service but you'd earn way much more on a different ad network!
I thought your advertising only financed scooby snacks for your hound ..didn`t you say?I had no idea this was in fact a ruthless and exploitative commercial venture.
ReplyDeleteNaturally I approve.
I don't know if it's you or the software, but there's nothing more annoying than Yorkshire getting merged into some horrible region - in this case a generic "north"...
ReplyDeleteNot as bad as Electoral calculus which puts Sheffield in Humberside but still!
Well that took ages . I `m a sort of socially liberal socially Conservative Thatcherite Fascist Libertarian who strongly supports David Cameron and traditional Conservatism.Surveys are tough when you are a kaleidoscopic collision of fascinating contradictions.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else want to talk about me ?
Iain:
ReplyDeleteI normally get a free pen when I've been conned into filling in one of these bleedin' surveys.
So where do I get the one for this?
I was disappointed to see that some of the better blogs weren't an option in your daily / weekly / occasional visit checklist (The Hitch, Theo Spark etc)
Totally off-topic, but doesn't Gordon Brown look strangely older now that he's PM?
Do I get entered into a draw for £250 now I have filled it in?
ReplyDeleteI did say I voted Tory and thought they would win the next election.
Are there the right answers?
By the way, I thought a nationality and religion question might have been important for your survey?
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteTotally off-topic, but doesn't Gordon Brown look strangely older now that he's PM?
July 03, 2007 10:26 PM
I thought he looked as though he had a lost a lot of weight in a very short space of time when I saw him yesterday.
Stress perhaps?
Done. But I never got to have a say on the swearing-in-comments issue. I think it's fine to delete if someone simply writes in the comments that "Theresa Villiers is a c***", for example.
ReplyDeleteBut I appreciate creative, contextual swearing that is less offensive and often, a lot fucking funnier. So I don't think you should delete that.
The final strait? Which would that be? The Bering Strait?
ReplyDeleteWow! Well done and good luck with this Iain. Just finished the questionnaire. What are the plans of development? Sounds like this is becoming quite a money-spinner. And after all the times you said you couldn't live off you're blog.
ReplyDeleteBJ said..
ReplyDeleteBut I appreciate creative, contextual swearing that is less offensive and often, a lot fucking funnier. So I don't think you should delete that.
Sir,sir BJ just used the "F" word sir,sir.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed to see that some of the better blogs weren't an option in your daily / weekly / occasional visit checklist (The Hitch, Theo Spark etc)
You are an imbecile if you consider "the hitch" to be an acceptable blog.It, like him belongs in the gutter with the rest of his vile comments.
I still can't find the bloody link! (Oops! Swearing - but in context methinks?)
ReplyDeleteIain,
ReplyDeleteUsual survey stuff - some easy bits and some awkward bits.
Like Newmania, I ticked everything that wasn't left - I do believe you can be a LF Libertarian Thatcherite Facist.
Anyway, as one of those nuissance anonymous b******s said, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
More of the same please.
Do what you need to do to finance the future of the site - if it's any good it'll survive commercialisation!!
ST
What I like Iain is you always comment on things like this: don't you?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.labourhome.org/story/2007/7/2/161141/9678
There you go, mate, done.
ReplyDeletedone but not 5 minutes I'm afraid-I hope your advertisers will be more assiduous in describing their products!
ReplyDeleteyou left SDLP out of the voting options - they still have three MPs, despite the rise of sinn fein. I wouldn't vote for them myself but some of your other readers might
ReplyDeleteI take it you mean 'fewer than' five minutes? (Not 'less than'?)
ReplyDeleteMy mother taught English at Saffron Walden County High, Iain. Before your time, admittedly. Even so; she'd be ashamed... :)
[/pedant]
Done it.
ReplyDeleteI have stopped reading other blogs, Guido in particular, but yours is always interesting and seems to attract some interesting people.
I am about to give the TV away, so really this will be my only political reference point, apart from Radio Four and a couple of dailies.
I am not a Conservative and have no intention whatsoever of voting Conservative, but that is not the point. You provide a platform for healthy debate and seem to be able to take criticism and a bit of joshing.
I particularly like your personal stuff, about the dog, about the Audi, and about your appalling musical tastes.
Sometimes you try to hard to show how in the loop you are. You don't need to. Relax. You are at the top of the tree. Just keep doing what you do. If you were a prospective MP, I would be tempted to vote for you.
unlike other online surveys, i actually really enjoyed doing that one.
ReplyDeletemust be those striking ticks, rather than the usual radio buttons. much more satisfying experience.
you should do more of these Iain.
maybe on relevant topics of the weeks - issues , events etc...
Anonymous (of course) 9:40 - Dear God! A co-blog? Are you mad? People come here because they like Iain. How is it the left can never create anything successful in the market itself, but always wants to leach onto the success of conservatives and capitalists?
ReplyDeleteAnd the leaden suggestions they bring to the table are always the kiss of death.
Re the survey, I filled it in then deleted it as some of the questions make it too easy to identify the person answering the questions.
I normally disagree with more or less everything Newmania says but I'll echo his comments (and those of others) about the way in which any survey constrains expression. For example I am a sort of socially liberal socially conservative Libertarian who is a lifelong Labour supporter but not either old or new Labour more sceptical Labour (and who is endlessly fascinated by the travails of whoever happens to be Tory leader this year and is jolly glad that traditional Conservatism exists). All of which is the reason why my hackles rise when comtributors here and at Guido's make ludicrous sweeping statement about the motivation and character of 'Lefties'.
ReplyDeleteBTW one of my favourite mad Verity posts ever.
I live in York so didn't know if I was supposed to be North or Northeast.
So anyway back to me.
Iain:
ReplyDeleteIt's a really cheap sort of sport to smoke out a few fellow cynics / wackos / NuLab Trolls etc, but it's hard to give up. Hence my earlier "anonymous" post at 10.26 pm.
Anonymous 10.39 pm - doesn't he have some huge, almost scrotal, bags under his eyes all of a sudden?
Anonymous 10.53 pm - no, I just like posting comments that are so bloody obvious that they will smoke out the humourless NuLab or LibDem trolls who hang around Iain's blog, hoping to point fingers at those of us on the right. Grow up, kiddies.
Verity - wonderful to see you back on Iain's blog. It wasn't the same without you.
By the way Iain, I'm still hoping for a free pen that will last for a month's use....rather like GB or MC's recent re-shuffles?
Ethnic minorities protest.
ReplyDeleteYou left out the Alliance Party!
Done, in more than five minutes.
ReplyDeleteHad to say I don't read a national newspaper, but would normally read the Times, if I had time.
By the way, Iain, not buying political books is not the same as not reading political books.
Iain, I have just done your survey. I would have thought that being in the military would merit its own tick box rather than me having to tick 'other'. Its Tommy this and Tommy that...
ReplyDeleteIan I love your blog just the way it is - ignore all these "PC" requests for some ghastly buggers muddle involving co-bloggers with other political views. If I wanted to read a Lib Dem blogger's views I would go elsewhere to read them. Keep on bashing the Lib Dems and Labour in a totally biased way - it's a nice balance to all the left wing crap we get on TV these days. Oh, and as a female reader I appreciate the fact that Ian doesn't seem to have some kind of compulsion to talk about women as if we were some kind of wierd creatures from Mars, or only good as "totty". Ian's rather more grown-up than certain other bloggers I could mention. Thanks, Ian and keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteIn the newspaper reading section. Perhaps you should have differentiated between online newspapers and the dead tree ones.
ReplyDeleteI read all the major UK papers online and buy the Telegraph daily.
In the list of TV rogrammes you should have included Channel 4 News, my main source of information & comment.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't do self-selecting polls - wouldn't want to contribute to something that's not representative!
ReplyDeleteIain,
ReplyDeleteI've filled out, but to be honest I agree with Norfolk blogger in that you haven't really asked the right questions and you don't really give that much opportunity for comments other than tick box ones.
What is your position on publishing the results of the survey?
MAC
verity said...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (of course) 9:40 - Dear God! A co-blog? Are you mad?
It's a survey and that's all it is.Yes we noted the "I love this blog and it's godlike founder" bit,again.Sycophancy and you are good bedfellows Verity.Bet Iain can't wait to read your latest song of praise.We all have a laugh,your so very funny.
Done. Why not take off the need to tick "Never" on every unread / unwatched paper / tv programme ? If people don't tick daily, weekly etc through to occasionally, it's obvious they never read / watch, innit ?
ReplyDeleteDid the thingy widget last night.
ReplyDeleteIain could you share at least some of the results with us?
This is instead of the free pen etc etc etc!!!!
What happened to Yorkshire? Typical bloody southerner - left it out!
ReplyDeleteYeah and what happened to Essex, Norfolk, Devon, shall I go on?
ReplyDeleteLast time I looked, Yorkshire was in the North, just as Hampshire is in the South.
Will Iain have the cojones to publish all the results
ReplyDeleteIain Dale said...
ReplyDelete"Last time I looked, Yorkshire was in the North, just as Hampshire is in the South."
If you came oop 'ere lad, and sed tha, you'd be gittin' an ambulance 'ome (if not an 'erse). We'r not in the friggin' north east.
I would be interested to see the results as well. Do you count Scottish surveys twice ? It seems to be the usual format
ReplyDeleteOn your political classifications in the survey, it set off some interesting thoughts as to how many overlapping categories you would need to get a full picture of a person's attitudes. The results from the survey of such overlaps/correlations would be interesting.
ReplyDeleteIn my case, I am definitely a Thatcherite, but I also ticked Cameroon (in the sense that I support his leadership - but also ticking Thatcherite indicates not only that I am/was a strong personal fan of her as the PM for her own time, but also a greater enthusiasm for reducing the size of the State than, say, shoving money down the black hole that is the NHS). I found myself ticking both social liberal (although I am not on abortion or approval of couples who choose not to get married when they have children) and laissez faire liberal (although for me that is only indicating a direction to move from here rather than against an absolute standard) but could find nothing to indicate my perhaps contrasting "Strong belief in the nation State" and "Constitutional conservative" strands. The social and economic liberal spectra leave out such elements. Nor did you have "Atlanticist/Pro European/Eurosceptic" or anything on either religious affiliation or belief; or directly on the balance between security and civil liberties.
It's probably a separate exercise to your one, which is marketing/advertising motivated, but the construction and results of a much more thorough political classification survey would be interesting.
I just did your survey - but I think I know know more about you than you know about me!
ReplyDeleteThe questioned made it obviously aware that you are not living on the same planet as me! :)
You come across (and this is only through reading the survey!) as a Lib Dem bashing Tory who does London and jets away a fair bit.
You think people care about newspapers, and choose them with care, like you do.
The most telling part was the how much do you earn box!
Do you have any idea what the mean wage in this country is? £18K - the Median isn't much higher at £24k. Who the hell is on more than 70K in the real world?!
So - deducing from this that you want to be a part of the political classes, the first thing to do is to have no idea how real people live!
You seem to have succeeded!