1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
No

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
If it must happen, my preference would be a dedicated deal page. One that I must choose to visit if I want. No annoying pop-ups, invitations or reminders.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
None. Part of what I enjoy most about Gardenweb is doing things myself, for free or cheap, homemade remedies.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
Nothing. I always seem to find the answers, fellowship, ideas I come here for.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
None. Unless Husqvarna or John Deere are giving away riding lawn mowers.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
FREE

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? Yes
2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

A dedicated deal page would be the ideal. Not intrusive, but those who wanted the deals could go to that page. Emails.
3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? No services. products, for Kitchen, and Bathrooms
4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? Not really anything at this time.
5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? Any major, stores, that stand behind what they offer.
6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? Good price, excellent return policy, free shipping.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
Not at time

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

I think a dedicated page is the would preferred.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
Things pertaining to gardening

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
Nothing at this time

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
NONE of them

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
Nothing at this time

I would definitely use a website that carried ads for products relevant to the interests of the GW site and would tolerate a side bar reminding me of the ad site and perhaps respectfully noting so-so has a special offer this week.

A site that directed me to screened, reputable services and products, perhaps broken down by category--plants, tools, fertilizers, arbors--would be wonderful. An advertiser feedback/rate and a suggestion box to solicit ads from some company would be great.

I will not buy anything from any advertiser that intrudes in any form, from pop-ups to billboards. Respectful advertising wins respectful and loyal customers. Nor will I trust ads from a site that allows slimy, gimmicky businesses to advertise. If you offer me quality, integrity and respect, I'm yours.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
Only those directly related to gardening.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
A dedicated page.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
Gardening products, plants, books and other publications.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
Nothing.
5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
None directly.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
Rare, unusual, hard to find plants, gardening tools, books, etc.

Thank you so much for asking!!

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
I would check them out to see what was being offered.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

A dedicated deal page that I could access when I am looking for something.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

Design information, designer fabrics and trim, small appliances, accessories, window treatments. No furniture, large appliances or remodeling home goods.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

designer fabrics, trim, bedding

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

Reputable American dealers with good return policies and guarantee features. Preferably for items made in the USA.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

Discounts from reputable national companies.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
That be ok.
2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
Dedication Page
3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
Not Sure
4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
I always look for information on flowers i have and love to trade :)
5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
Flower shops might be ok
6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
Good price and maybe free gift for buying.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? Absolutely not.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page? If at all a dedicated deal page.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? An annual membership fee that would eliminate the need for this survey.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? A forum that does not have a holier than thou self appointed king or queen bee.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? The medium to high end proven accounts.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? Quality proven product. I got seventy catalogs in the mail this year. My history is proven with two of them and incidental with two or three more of them. At least sixty of those catalogs were not even looked at.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Truly exclusive? Yes, maybe, but they would have to be very interesting or amazingly well-priced. Someone at your end would have to cull through a lot of junk and post only the best.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

No e-mail! I would just delete it. No pop-ups! I ignore them. Nothing in the world will ever make me read a pop-up.

No posts to the forum pages! You need to make money, so I think it's OK to put quiet, non-jumping, non-twirling ads in the side columns if the ad is relevant to the forum.

A dedicated deal page would work if it had categories we could navigate. Without categories (or a page-map sort of guide)I would not waste a minute pawing through an unorganized hodge-podge.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

At Gardenweb, I'm interested in actual human experiences with products and services. I'm here to learn and to offer help if I can. I don't come here looking for management-directed products and services.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

If you would just maintain existing threads and a reliable search engine my needs would be entirely satisfied.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

None, unless they are posted on the already widely-recommended dedicated page.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

I resist enticements. The harder the push, the stronger the resistance. I resisted this survey but finally decided to respond in case anything I've written might possibly help serve the needs of this community.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Possibly.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

A dedicated deal page, hands down. I can easily access it at my convenience and there's much less chance of missing deals because I can no longer find the email with the deal because it's lost among the many emails I already get.

But a question for you. Why does this have to be either/or? You could include a "sign up for email notices" on the dedicated page for those who wish to receive news that way. Oh, I see bill_vincent already posted this suggestion (Hi, Bill (waving).

I echo the "keep it off the forums" request.

Great suggestion above to provide a search feature for the deals page. I'd add that the search function should be exclusive to the deals page so it doesn't turn up other pages or in searches from other pages. If I want feedback on an item, I can do a search through the forums but I don't want to wade through a long list of results to find the deal. Don't waste my time.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

Nothing comes to mind at the moment. That said, I think the products and services should be relevant to members' interests. The intelli-ad links in the kitchen forum have been sprinkled with ads for completely unrelated products and services. That's annoying beyond belief.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Ditto above answer.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

Ditto above answer. However, if you are going to list retailers/service providers, I think GW should vet first. For instance, make sure that whoever you allow in won't bombard us members with spam or make us vulnerable to viruses when we open emails from them or visit their websites. Make sure they give us an out so we control who has our email address. Check that the businesses are above board and not shady not just as a service to us members but to prevent your reputation from being tarnished by association.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

I'd only be interested if it was good deal from a reputable company. If I'm already looking for a product or service, enticement isn't necessary and could actually be counterproductive to a sale.

Lastly, add me to the growing list of those who are unhappy with the intelli-ad links imbedded in posts. I understand that GW needs to create income but you can find ways to do it that don't tick us off.

I'd like to see you spend some of that income on updating the forums' software so that we don't have to put up with lost pages and other snafus on a regular basis.

Thanks for asking. I do hope that the time we took to participate in the survey serves a purpose. In other words, I hope the powers that be *listen* to us.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Possibly.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

A dedicated page would be the best. I mostly delete email that looks like SPAM.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

Kitchen/Bathroom items, Home decor, small appliances, etc. Absolutely NO gimmicks, NO too-good-to-be-true offers.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

My sanity in the midst of this remodel. ;^)

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

Reputable companies

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

A really good offer--free shipping, a nice discount from a trusted source. What will NOT entice me and will have the opposite effect; however, is any kind of intrusive pop-up, hyperlink, or banner that takes over the entire page when I click on GW. The worst are those pop-ups that have to be chased down before they can be closed. Arrrrgh.

Thanks for listening. :^)

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? YES

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page? DEAL PAGE SOUNDS PERFECT

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? GARDEN SUPPLIES SEEDS COOKING ITEMS

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? SEEDS

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? HONEST ONES WITH GOOD CUNSTOMER RATINGS

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
IT WOULD BE AN ACUAL GOOD DEAL ON SOMETHING THAT WAS NEEDED SAY FREE SHIPPING ON AN ORDER

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? no

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page? no

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? Ture communication

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? Ferns that grow in NW Arkansas.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? None

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
A positive suprise.

I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT YOU ARE TAKING THE TROUBLE TO ASK ABOUT THIS -- THANKS SOOO MUCH! BUT BE AWARE, NOW YOU ARE RAISING EXPECTATIONS THAT CHANGE WILL BE FORTHCOMING!

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

DEPENDS ON THE OFFER.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

DEDICATED FORUM. I DELETE UNKNOWN EMAILS AS SPAM, HATE THE DARN POPUPS, AND LIKE MANY OTHER POSTERS GET ANNOYED AT THE STUPID BLIND LINKS. I AGREE WITH THE POSTINGS ASKING FOR A SEARCH FUNCTION WITHIN THE DEALS PAGE.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

QUALITY UNUSUAL PLANTS AND GDN TOOLS AT REASONABLE PRICES. I DOUBT I WOULD BUY COOKWARE/CLOTHING/DECORATIVE ITEMS ONLINE -- BEEN BURNED TOO OFTEN.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

A KOREAN HAND PLOW; VARIEGATED CONVALLARIA, IRON HOSE GUIDES. I GET MOST OF MY PLANTS THROUGH TRADES OR LOCAL GDN SALES.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

VENDORS WITH GOOD CUSTOMER RATINGS ON INTERESTING (NOT COMMONPLACE) PLANTS IDENTIFIED BY LATIN NAME AND CULTIVAR AS WELL AS COMMON NAME. ANNIE'S ANNUALS, THE CANNA FARM, BRENT & BECKY'S BULBS OR GILBERT WILDE, BUT *NOT* SPRING HILL OR OTHER RELATED SCHLOCK HOUSES.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

GOOD PRICES, DISCOUNT SHIPPING. AS OTHERS HAVE SAID, POPUPS OR LINKS WITHIN THE FORUM WILL KILL ANY INTEREST I MIGHT HAVE IN A DEAL, NO MATTER HOW GOOD.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Few people really believe that an offer is "exclusive" so immediately drop that line and you're a step ahead. But no, gad no, I get "exclusive deals" daily if not hourly from everyone earth with "exclusive deals just for me". (And a million of my other friends)

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

Do a deal page...great idea that people might even visit. GW is so diverse that no "exclusive deal" would ever work anyhoo, so offer a "deal page" that lists topics of interest and deals that fit those topics....people might even click on it on occasion if it's really a deal verses the standard exclusive crap no one really wants to waste time on.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

The group is too diverse for this question to make sense. Try listing offers on the deal page by type or subject and see how it goes.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
Absolutely nothing. The the chatter I get here from actual users is more beneficial than any crap you could advertise....it's why I found gardenweb and mostly stick with it, though lately the advertising is enough to drive me elsewhere....

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
I guess from these questions that deals will be shoved in our faces if we want it or not.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
BIG BIG BIG savings. Not crap, and not on crap....I don't buy cheap stuff. Offer me say Fine Paints of Europe at half off...we can talk. Otherwise it's just chatter.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
* Not really. I'm old enough to be a doubter. I doubt that any offers would actually be "exclusive", so that word just makes be suspicious. Like the rest here, I'm bombarded daily with offers. Most are cheap . . . as in not worth the time and money. If they are decent and for a good price, I find that most offers come with a hefty s&h charge to make up for it.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
* PLEASE no more pop-ups!! I vote for a dedicated page that we can check when and if we're looking for something. Brad's Deals is a good example of a place to go when you;re looking for a good deal. Something like that might be a nice alternative to being chased around by pop-ups.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
* free samples of QUALITY products to try. I'm much more likely to buy some new product off the Internet if I've had the chance to try it first.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
* Nothing in particular. When I want to find out about a product or service, Googling will quickly get me the info I need.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
* Free samples of ~ or coupons for~ make-up, hair products, cleaning products, paint, etc.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
* free sample to try first and then free or very reasonable S&H

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

I share the skepticism about "exclusive" so such a term automatically comes off as patronizing. So, no. I also don't like things that are time-limited and wanting me to make decisions in a hurry.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

I think a deals page, possibly specific ones for certain forums, would be worth considering, but I'm not keen on wading through coupon offers on groceries to find offers on paint, especially as a Canadian user for whom the majority of advertisers are not accessible anyway. But honestly, it's not deals I'm after so much as information. Information is my reason for coming to GW. If ads offer information, then they will not be viewed as intrusive, but rather as helpful.

I am already on record as suggesting advertiser posts to the forum pages in some format. I've previously suggested advertiser threads, but not any that can be mistaken for normal threads. In fact, given the problem we have with service providers advertising in the threads as spam, it might be a good idea to follow a craigslist technique, and create pages where this is legitimate - craigslist has "furniture by owner" and "furniture by dealer" listings, for instance. So on GW for example, there could be a third section after "discussion" and "gallery" called "offers and ads" or some such thing where landscape designers could post their info, for instance. But I'm not sure people would visit those pages all that often.

I really think the best option is allowing advertisers to post to the thread on questions for which their product would serve. In my example below of glossy latex floor paint, that would have been perfect.

This would require advertisers having GW membership accounts that they pay a fee for, in which they get not just the "optional link URL" that we all have but a "paid advertising link" URL space, or have their URL show up in a different colour if it's going to be in the same field. You could also bill advertisers every time they post such an URL. That gives the advertisers value for money, and makes the advertising customer service. There should probably be a maximum length for such a posting, no big photos, and just one URL. They could even appear off to the side instead of IN the discussion thread.

You could even let people posting questions tick a box in which they allow/disallow commercial postings when they start a thread, just like they now request/decline email notification of responses. Since some questions really are all about "what kind of edging could I use?", I think commercial postings, if kept short and useful, would be accepted in a reasonable number of cases. And in the specific plant family forums, many specialty nurseries that currently don't do the sales volume that merits big advertising might be able to afford this kind of ad. Say, the specialty conifer nurseries.

The current keyword advertising I think is meant to work this way but it's far too random and the information most often not specific enough.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

I think what distinguishes the GW users is that we are usually here looking for information. So, let's say information about finishes for wood. That means it isn't offers or deals that we really care about; we want to understand your product or your product line. Such advertising would actually help the forum regulars because some information (such as, what makes a paint good quality) is requested over and over and so the people who answer questions have to repeat it again and again. Give us an ad that explains your product, and tells us what it does and what applications it's good for, and I bet it will even be linked to from the discussion forums.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Example: I was recently hunting for a glossy latex floor paint. Could GW advertising have spared me visits to all my local paint dealers? Answer: yes. If Home Depot had been on the ball and was watching the paint forum and had an account to post to it, they could have posted to tell me about their Behr product, and being right in the thread, their advertising would have targeted me and everyone else who searches for that question, very specifically. It would take some time on their part, or GW staff could watch for opportunities and alert advertisers when questions are asked (the alert method could be an add-on service that GW charges advertisers for). But for a company like Lee Valley or Rona (in Canada) or Home Depot, it would likely pay dividends very quickly to spend a half hour a day on GW posting links to specific products that they have to relevant threads. It would spare the rest of us doing so! GW would just charge them for the URLs they post, and for the right to post them. Really, this would work for companies large or small because they only need to pay as they post once they "buy" an account.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

I really think the answers lie in the type of questions and discussions that are happening on the forums. In effect, we give you this information every day.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

If the product meets the need I have right then, I'll order or be in the store the same day! If it is one of many options (say, a window company, or a paint stripper) I am at least highly likely to visit the web page pretty darn quick.

7. And I'll add a question: What is the downside?

Advertisers would no doubt sometimes experience having their product talked about in the thread in negative ways, or unfavourably compared to products that are not being advertised but being recommended by other posters. That's why I think you should be bringing us high end advertisers, not cheap junky stuff.

KarinL

Thank you for giving us some voice in this.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Answer: Perhaps, but only if the offers were placed where I had to go to another page to find them. Not stuck in my face using pop-ups, banners and intelli-ads. Under no circumstance have I, or will I ever, buy anything from those.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

Answer: Same answer as above, definitely no spammy emails or posts to forum pages. A dedicated deal page only if I have to seek the page.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? You could do pages by types of items such as, Interior Decor, Food Preparation, Tabletop, Indoor Plants, etc.

Answer: I can answer more about what kind of offers I don't want to see. No books, vitamins or drugs. No "subscribe to three magazines and get four three" type. No gimmicky "as seen on TV" type of things. I don't want to see "Free three days and two nights in Cancun" type of things. I know just how free those are and so does everyone else. Computer users are usually pretty savy buyers that have figured out most of the gimmicks. I also do not want to see anything that anyone might deem offensive. I don't believe there are any services I would want to buy from the computer.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Answer: 1.Quality interior decor items, not something I can pick up at Target type stores or department stores.
2.Difficult to find indoor plants such as hard to find Begonias and Episcias.
But by a dedicated page only!

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

Answer: Only those who have been checked out and are reputable and stand behind their products/services. Vendors who would never be given/sold our email addresses or any other personal information.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

Answer: Same vein as those above. Nothing entices me that is shoved in my face in any way. Otherwise, free shipping and handling and low price on quality products.

Ok, I opted out as instructed to stop receiving pop-ups from those double underlined words butI keep getting them and the pop-ups.
And you want me to volunteer for more of the same?
I doubt it!

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

As others have said, "exclusive" deals aren't really "exclusive". I've seen places that say they have "exclusive deals" and then find them elsewhere...or find even better elsewhere. I've also found that even when there are supposed "great deals", they're offset by high shipping & handling OR they require you spend a certain amount of money b/f you can get the "deal".

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

If you must, and I can understand you need to do something for revenue, then the "deal page" is the least evil! Besides, if you have a deal page we might find other things we weren't originally looking for...so you actually increase our exposure to all deals if you use the page.

Like others, I refuse to patronize advertisers who make their ads intrusive (luckily, I only see them in IE, not Firefox!)

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

Kitchen accessories, garden accessories, etc.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Nothing that I can think of right now

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

None in particular.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

A true/substantial deal or "free products" to try out (meaning really free...including S&H or a very nominal S&H fee.)

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
NO

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
If you must, a dedicated page.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
I am not interested in products or services.
4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
A way to avoid unwanted advertisements.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
None.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
The promise of absolutely no more offers.

Your ads and ad servers made the site unusable. Several complaints went unanswered. From reading the above responses , I'm not the only person who doesn't and has told you that I won't purchase from advertisers who use intrusive ads. I don't consider linking key words to ads intrusive; however, they don't take me anywhere I want to go.

Perhaps you should talk to your advertisers about using GW users as focus groups for their products -- get feed back about the product. You know a group of people to work with instead of annoy. The information that they can gather from GW users to improve their products is much more valuable than the extra sale they may get from a pop up.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
..........
Maybe.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
..........
Posts to the forum pages would be, IMO, very inappropriate. Like... paid-for spam. I would almost never read a deal page. E-mail would be okay with me if it had an opt-out option, full disclosure, and I used a spam account (which I do). I would read about 3% of mailings based on subject heading IF anything seemed relevant.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
..........
? Kitchen flooring, organic/sustainable/eco-conscious home & garden products.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
..........
Maybe a future washer & dryer. Do you discuss heaters? Then that - I need a new boiler unit. High efficiency.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
..........
??? Don't know (which is itself an opportunity).

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
..........
The ability to independently vet a vendor/provider so I can establish its value.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? No

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page? A dedicated deal page would be the least obtrusive, so I vote for that. I HATE the idea of posts to forum pages.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? All things gardening and home

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? Always in the market for interesting furniture

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? Any that are local to my area - I'm not driving 100 miles to take advantage of some deal

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? A substantial discount, like 20% or more. Free shipping. Expedited shipping.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? ==> Sure, why not.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page? ==> Email, but infrequently, I get emails all the time from Costco etc., and after a while it just turns into background noise.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? ==> Hard to say as my needs are constantly changing.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? ==> A wife....j/k.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? ==> Target, book store discounts, foods.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? ==>
Timing of product - something I needed/wanted right then and there - and as others have said, free S&H and a substantial discount.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Not interested

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

Again, not interested in promotional offers at all.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

None

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

I read Gardenweb and contribute to Gardenweb because it's a community of like minded individuals that share their knowledge with others. When I look for something specific, it's from members who either have experience or expertise in the area of concern, or who have a definite opinion that I can use.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
None

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

if I need something I'll search specifically for it and that's the only way I'd take advantage of an offer.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

via Email?? absolutly NO WAY!! I am already bombarded with unwanted and obnoxious pop-ups and advertising within posts (Can't turn it off from my work computer). I feel the "in your face" nature of many of these pop-ups, (complete with so many sound effects I have to keep my computer's volumn turned off) are borderline on abusive. I sure don't want to invite more abuse by allowing GW to send me special "offers".

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

NO to Email and especially NO to posts within the forum pages. If ads start showing up in forum pages, that will be the last straw for me. I will not come back to Gardenweb. A dedicated deal page would not be so bad.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

None. That's not why I come here.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Nothing. If I want to find something, I'll use Google.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

None. Ever.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

A large discount. A REAL discount though, not the kind of discount where they jack up the price so they can offer you a bargain.

I need to add a P.S. here. GW used to offer a volunteer subscription. It was not much, maybe $10 a year. Whoever paid it had access to different boards and got no advertising. I would gladly pay the $10 and I bet there are many who agree with me. Gardenweb is a great community but the advertising and the frequent problem with losing pages of posts is driving people away.

I honestly want NO offers of any kind, don't want to see ANY ads at all, don't even glance at the ones there now (and making them bigger and/or brighter and/or strobe-ing would only make me hate them worse). If I want products or services from anywhere for anything, I seek them out and just despise being bombarded with ads or offers otherwise. Does this help?

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Well being that I'm Canadian, what sort of offers can be applied to my area?

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

dedicated deal page. Offers come aplenty. I don't want my email to deluged with such nonsense.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

Books,
Instructions
seeds
garden decors
garden materials
tools

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Information on how to build a living wall - and how to do it cheap.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

Only in Canada -- Lowes, Home Depot, Rona, Canadian Tire, Loblaws, Myke, Sheridan Nurseries

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

When it's cheap.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? NO

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page? A DEDICATED DEAL PAGE SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA...WILL THAT GET RID OF THE POPUPS?

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? HOME AND GARDEN RELATED ITEMS

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? NOTHING

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? NONE

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
IF IT WAS ON A DEDICATED DEALS PAGE THAT I VOLUNTARILY VISITED AND IF IT OFFERED AN EXCEPTIONAL PRODUCT AT A FANTASTICALLY DISCOUNTED PRICE

Answer to the un-asked question:
A.) I'd like to join a group that gradually makes me want to pay more, in monthly fees. I'd like to have many levels of fees to elect from.
B.) I'd like that group to still work for me, or for the group as a bunch of individuals who like to know the truth about any subject, and not work at editing to please a main sponsor regardless of how much money the sponsor is contributing.

Questions 1. 3. and 4.
Best service : a follow-up "agency" service that helps me take care of post purchase problems by chasing them and threatening to help make a public thread out of it. Far more useful than any BBB will ever be, because it is a participant's advocate or support. This could operate in private mode, shared with ever greater layers of participants, until the concern is resolved or forgotten. Access to these ongoing issues is obviously restricted to the participants paying at level #7 or greater.

Question 5. From anyone who is following my needs. If a faucet company sends me their catalog, unsolicited, I'm OK with this because I'm buying faucets, right now. It helps me.

Question 6. Technical support people who are as good as or better than I could be if I worked there. And not hemmed in by corporate policies about what NOT to say, not to admit and not to discuss.

More comments later.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Not especially but I do know you need income and if retailers are willing to pay GW in order to be able to advertise to forum member via "special offers" to, then I guess I'm okay with it as long as it is doen in a manner that does not become intrusive.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

NO EMAILS!!!! Never. One of the promises I recall when I signed up for GW was that my email would never be sold to advertisers. Even if GW starts sending emails on behalf of advertisers, that is still same as selling our email addresses. Besides, I get enough garbage email already and deal with it by setting up filters to send it all to my spam box. If GW starts emailing "special offers" I will just start filtering out anything originating from GW - and that will interfere with the ability of other forum members to email me when they want to communicate privately. So PLEASE, don't start "selling" our email addresses to advertisers!

Posts to the various forums pages would get equally annoying if there are more than just a few advertisers pushing "special offers." An occasional post on a given forum (say no more than one per day) by someone at GW itself that listed various special offers that forum members might be interested in would be okay. Especially if the header line clearly identified the post... something like: Special Offers to _____ Forum Members for [date]. No one would be forced to open the thread unless he or she wanted to see what the special deals were. It would certainly be less annoying than the pop-up ads and expanding ads and floater ads. (UGH! I have actually sworn off using more than one product just because I became so annoyed by ads for that product and that is the only way I can think of to send a message to the annoying advertiser.)

A dedicated deals page would be the ideal mechanism. That way, forum members could go to the deals page IF we wanted to and not otherwise. And, if a dedicated deals page would get rid of the annoying popup ads and those stupid ads that changes sizes and/or float over the page and get in my way when I'm trying to click on something else, then I I would LOVE IT.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

It would make sense if the products offered related to the things people on a given forum were obviously interested in. I.e., kitchen products on the kitchen forum; seeds on the gardening forums; etc. But I'm sure your advertizers can figure that out.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

I'm looking for REPUTABLE suppliers of whatever products that I want at the time. Gardenweb forum members often steer me to or away from various suppliers and/or products. But that is because they are real human beings who have nothing to gain or lose by which products I buy and are only offering their opinions and experiences as a community member. I sincerely doubt that paying advertisers will evef be able to replicate the info that GW forum members provide. But, as the host, GW COULD ensure that it ONLY accepts advertisements from reputable suppliers for well made products. I frankly fear that instead, the opposite will happen and GW will start deleting posts from forum members if they knock a product being advertised on GW and the advertizer gets ticked and threatens to pull his money out.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? See the above.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

A good deal on a product or from an advertiser that had a good reputation among long-established forum members. (We KNOW quickly who the shills are when they appear on the forum and whatever they say gets discounted immediately.)

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

If it were garden/home related, unusual and available in Canada.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

Side bar or top banner. They already annoy me, but at least I might be interested in them, as opposed to losing belly fat, or what-ever.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

See #1.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Unique, unusual, heirloom seeds. Same also for garden furniture.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

Again, garden/home related. Canadian, or unique retailers that sell in Canada.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

Discounts!!!!!!!

Also, it would be nice to have spell-check, fonts, easier ways to share pics, and an easier archive for certain threads.

Thanks for asking. Nancy.

1. yes, if it were related to gardening
2. posts to the forum or a dedicated deal page (would have to be searchable to make it user-friendly)
3. gardening related: unusual plants, garden ornaments, garden structures (esp. this), also offers for businesses within 100 miles of my home!
4. garden retailers that are within 100 miles of my home that may not be easily found by a standard web search-and good deals on gardening related items
5. only garden related retailers that have positive feedback
6. discounts as well as retailers within 100 miles at most
Thanks for asking!

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
Yes

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
Seriously, a deal is like beauty....in the eye of the beholder. How about an auction page? Shipping should be free. Prices should start very very low. Products should be pre-sorted into VERY specific categories. That way shoppers could look for just the items they are interested in, saving us all time! I would use a system like this as long as the ads on the forum disappeared. I do most of my shopping online and a one stop shop that is better controlled than E-bay and filled with quality items would be perfect! Second option...a ticker that announces a product and then lets it sit there for a limited time so people could click on the item if interested. This should be VERY VERY unobtrusive on the forum.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
Quality plants, seeds, shrubs, trees and also decor items, especially Country-Cottage-Farmhouse items.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
Kitchen curtains, rugs, arm chair slipcovers, bedding ensembles, perennials, shrubs, trees, seeds.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
ONLY name brand or local.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? \
Necessity would be my first priority. Price would seal the deal.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
Please, no.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

If you have to do advertising, no pop-ups. They are VERY annoying. GardenWeb promised to allow us to turn them off, but this hasn't happened.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
Home goods.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
I really don't think Gardenweb can help anymore than any other site.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
Really exclusive items, not seen elsewhere.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
Yes by email maybe monthly but no more than that

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
A dedicated deal page

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
For Garden web I think any products offered should be related to Gardening in some way, like plants, fetilizers, tools for gardening and the like. Even things that are related to landscaping and patios.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
a better search engine for your website

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
Not entirely sure of the meaning of the question.
if your talking coupons LOWES or a general garden/outdoors outlet I guess, but if your talking selling products from certain retailers-to me it's more about the product than who sells it.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? Fair price, decent or bulk shipping. good product

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? No.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? NO
Posts to the forum pages? No, no, no.
A dedicated deal page? Possibly: provided *I* can choose to look at it, and not have it thrust at me whether or not I'm interested.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? Nothing specific -- I come to GW for contact with people, not the advertising.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? Nothing

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? None

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? Nothing! I understand your need for income, but advertising is advertising, and I'd happily pay to not be subjected to it.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
Yes, only if it was by my choosing and not thrown in my face.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
If there are deals to receive, I would like a place to go visit when I want at my own choosing. No emails. I hate being solicited by email. I would not want anything sent to me or be targeted based on what GW thinks I might like. Make the offers available to me when I'm not in the mood, and I delete or leave.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
Online vendors would be fine, but it would be wonderful to have printable coupons/discounts I can take to my local stores and use. I'm fine with some online shopping, but I prefer brick and mortar...feel the merchandise before I buy.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
Can't think of anything at the moment.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
None specific, but brick & mortar stores would be great.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
Advertisers offering minimal or obligatory discounts in exchange for some GW ad space is insulting and a waste of time. Obligatory discounts come a dime a dozen. Offer me a decent discount worth my time & effort (even limited to 1 day once in a while) would encourage me to look harder at vendors.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

No Thank You.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

Dedicated Deal Page!

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

None really.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Nothing.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

None.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

I can't think of a thing that would.

I avoid ads and surveys as much as possible. I'm responding only because I LOVE Garden Web so much.

Thanks, Karen

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? No thank you.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page? I don't want offers, but if you are going to start them I would prefer seeing them on a dedicated page. I would definitely not want email...get enough crap as it is and I am frequently unsubscribing.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? Nothing special.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? The only thing I am interested in finding now are old home salvage parts and there is no way advertising can help with it. I just have to head to the brick and mortar locations and dig.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? None. I am not a heavy duty consumer so offers are a waste of my time.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? Nothing. If I don't need it, don't have the money for it - I won't get it. Plus, I do very little online shopping as I prefer to touch the things I buy, so online shopping offers are a waste to me.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

absolutely not

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

IMO the only thing that would be appropriate is a dedicated deal page.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

I would be interested in seeing a sort of garage sale of leftover and unused products from other GWers. I understand that once a long time ago there was such a thing for a short time until it was deemed "against the rules." But if the rules are changing to allowing the prolific advertising we are currently seeing then why not re-evaluate this policy. This would truly be a service that GWers could use and appreciate.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
free things: advice, samples, ideas, inspiration

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
NONE

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
The word "FREE" with no further obligations and nothing to cancel.

Hi everyone,
We know how much you love GardenWeb and we are always striving to make things better. We do listen to your suggestions and we've received many comments asking us to better target products and services for this audience. We are very interested in your feedback and would appreciate your thoughts on the following questions. Feel free to cut and paste them into your posting window and reply below each question. If you have any concerns or comments that are not related to these specific questions, please feel free to contact me. My direct email address is listed on my profile.

We hope you'll take a few moments to join our focus group and share your thoughts.

Thanks!

Tamara

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? yes, but not in pop ups or emails

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page? Dedicated deal page

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? discounts from websites and free shipping. a decent discount like 15-25 percent at least

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? seeds, bulbs, garden flags, plants

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? Those with good ratings from garden watchdog.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?
good sale and free shipping. Also a company with a good reputation.

no to everything !

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users? no

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page? dedicated deal page

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? food, gardens, books

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find? nothing

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers? none

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? price, free/reasonable s&h

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

No.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

None.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

None.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Nothing.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

None.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

Nothing.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
Maybe, if it wasn't spam like.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
A deal page would be the best solution.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?
Discounts for seed/plant companies online.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
Nothing

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
Again Seed/Plant/Bulb companies.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?
Sure....why not?

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?
Only on a dedicated page...I check Woot every day.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered? Anything, my interest varies as to my needs at the time

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?
2 boullion spoons in Gorham Wreath, Senseo decaf pods in packages of fewer than 8 bags.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?
Whoever currently has an unbelievable deal.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer? Something I want and a price I can't resist....and with free shipping.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Probably. Depends on what TYPE of offers.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

A dedicated deal page.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

Product reviews, special-offer price reductions.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Nothing, at the moment.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

Penzey spices, cookware, new plants.

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

It would have to be a REALLY good deal, for something I want or need, and there would have to be money in the bank.

1. Would you be interested in receiving special offers available exclusively to GardenWeb users?

Why just GW? Nothing worth having is free... except hugs and kisses.

2. How would you like to receive offers from GardenWeb - product offers or service offers? Email? Posts to the forum pages? A dedicated deal page?

A dedicated "shop"? Perhaps e-mail alerts if I sign up for them... lets not fill the spam folder.

3. What types of products and services would you be most interested in seeing offered?

I buy seeds on the Internet already. Books are also a favorite online item. Specialty tools and of course T-shirts.

4. What are you looking for now that Gardenweb could help you find?

Blue eyed blond about 6 foot tall?... jus askin. I'm getting into habenera cultivars. Spruce tree seeds are hit and miss in finding them.

5. From which retailers/service providers would you like to receive offers?

Any honest person with an honest product that I might actually be interested in. Put up a storefront and let me pick?

6. What would entice you to take advantage of an offer?

Desired product at a price that makes economic sense. Most of my Internet purchasing is for items not available locally (Dave's Insanity Sauce) or items that online purchase makes easy like prescription drugs.

I would LOVE to have another option for seed shopping. I'm addicted to Amazon/Ebay and do love Internet shopping.