+Why have thousands of people chosen to join MyVoice?
There are 2 main reasons that people want to do market research surveys: Firstly, it is nice to know that people - our clients - genuinely want to know what you think. Walk down any street and you are bound to hear someone giving their opinion on something, even if you don't want to hear it. MyVoice offer you the opportunity to get your opinions heard by people who actually influence the products and services you pay for.
The other main reason people do surveys is for financial reward, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you are going to give up 10 minutes of your valuable time to tell us what you think, it is only right and proper that you are offered something in recompense. We reward people by awarding points for every survey you do. When you have accumulated sufficient points, you can convert them into a high street shopping voucher.
+What's in it for MyVoice? How do they make money?
Our clients pay us to carry out market research for them. If we use an example of say, a business who is thinking of spending £5 million on designing, manufacturing, advertising and distributing a new product, they'd be a bit remiss if they didn't actually bother to find out if people are likely to buy the thing! We design and programme questionnaires, send them to our panel, and then provide the client with the results when we have collected all the data. We charge depending upon how many people we interview, how difficult those people are to find, and how long a survey is. We reward our members for doing the surveys, then we have things like rent, salaries, software, hardware, telephones etc to pay for. Anything left over is profit, most of which we re-invest in the business.
+What do MyVoice expect from me?
To be honest, all we really care about is that if you do decide to respond to a survey, you are honest, and take your time. We really want to know what you think. If people regularly go too fast, or give inconsistent answers, then we figure they are not serious about the work we do, and we will stop asking their opinion. Although we try to make our surveys easy to complete, and lighthearted when we can, they are meant to get at the truth.
+Do I have to do every survey?
Not at all. Obviously, if you never do any, we'd assume you weren't interested, and stop sending them to you. But you are under no obligation to take part. The more questionnaires you complete, the quicker you will accumulate points, of course, but we would rather you enjoyed the experience. And you wouldn't enjoy it if you felt unreasonable pressure to participate.
+Who is in your panel? Are there any restrictions on joining?
Every sort of person is in our panel. We don't have anyone under 18, but there is no upper age limit. One restriction we do enforce is that you are only allowed to join the panel once. If you had 2 IDs in our community, then the risk is that you take the same survey twice. If you answered both the same way, then the data would be skewed. If you answered differently, it means you weren't telling the truth on at least one occasion, and there'd be no point to counting your data.
The only other thing that we need to say is that the MyVoice panel is a UK-only community. There is nothing to stop you joining if you live elsewhere, but for now at least, you would not receive any survey invitations. You could still visit the site, and do any instant polls or profiling surveys there, but you could not claim a voucher. If you did somehow accumulate the points and receive a voucher, you'd have to come to the UK to spend it!
+What's the worst thing about MyVoice?
If you worked here, you'd know that the worst thing about MyVoice is waiting for Ian to make the tea. You would die of thirst. But from a panelist perspective, things are not that bad! Judging from the letters we receive, the main bone of contention seems to be the number of survey invitations people receive. Many people want to do as many as they can but we don't like to overwhelm our members with emails, so you should never be inundated. And even if we didn't care, best practice in market research recommends limiting the number of questionnaires any individual completes - we are after "normal" people and doing nothing but fill in surveys is probably not entirely "normal" behaviour.
+How does MyVoice compare to other research panels?
Essentially, we are all quite similar, in that we want our panel to tell us what they think. Some businesses don't give rewards to their members, but we think it's right that we do. One thing that does set us apart is that we try to make our surveys interesting and fun. We never accept extra long surveys from clients, because we think that would bore people rigid, and they may never want to do another! Many of our surveys are 2 or 3 minutes long, with 85% taking less than 10 minutes, and all taking less than 20.
+How many points will I earn for participating in online surveys?
This depends upon how much work you have to do. If you only have one question to answer, you would only get 10 points or so. If you stuck with a very long survey, you could get 250 points or more. But most carry between 50 and 100 points. And if you get screened out (let's say we only wanted to talk to smokers and you aren't one, we'd filter you out) you still get some points - usually 5 - and entry into the next prize draw.
+How do I redeem my points for vouchers?
Easy peasy. When you reach 2,000 points, log on to your account, follow the link, and choose your voucher from the list:
Arcadia, Argos, Asda, Bhs, Boots, B&Q, Coast, Days Out, Debenhams, Dixons, Gamestation, Gap, Harvey Nichols, HMV, Homebase, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Lakeland, M & S, National Book Tokens, New Look, Next, Oasis, Ocado, Principles, Rubicon Vouchers, Sainsbury, See Tickets, Selfridges, Starbucks, Theatre Tokens, Thresher Voucher, TK Maxx, Virgin Megastore, Waitrose, Warehouse, Waterstones, WH Smith.
Your voucher should pop through the door a week or less later.
+Can I update my information when it changes?
Of course. In fact we hope you do. Some of our members have written to complain that they did not receive a voucher. Then we discover that they moved house without telling us. This means their voucher is probably being spent by someone who thinks we send them out for fun, so it can be an expensive mistake if you do not keep details up to date!
+What is the process for taking online surveys?
It couldn't be easier to take one of our surveys. You will receive an email invitation from us, in which there will be a link that you click on. This will take you straight to the questionnaire, and it is a piece of cake after that. When you have reached the end of the survey your points automatically get updated. That's it!
+How can I receive more online surveys?
The more you tell us about yourself, the more chance you have of receiving invitations. Should we be looking for, say, parents of teenagers, and we don't know you have a couple of the little blighters spending your money and filling your house with their odd-looking chums, then you might not get the invitation that could change your life. OK, we won't change your life, but you could one day trade in a Boots voucher for a pair of industrial strength earplugs. And if you have teenagers, you know you need them...
+What exactly does MyVoice do with my data?
There are 2 types of data you give us. One is your personal stuff such as address and email. We NEVER share that with anyone without your express permission, and we hardly ever need it. The people that send your vouchers will know your home address (but nothing else about you). The only other example of sharing your info I can think of is when we are asked to provide people for focus groups. A focus group is where a few people (usually 6 to 8) sit round a table, or link up via a chat room to discuss something in depth. We are sometimes asked if we can supply members of our panel who would be interested in participating. Obviously, if a third party is going to conduct a focus group (we tend not to do them ourselves), they will need to know how to get hold of you. But don't worry, we ask your permission so many times, it is statistically more straightforward to get a visa to visit Iran.
The other type of data you give us is your answers to our questions. We always use this information in an accumulated way. In other words, if you are a male aged 51 and living in the North West, what you have told us will be aggregated with other people with a similar profile. If you are Dave Waddell from Gateshead (hi Dave), no-one will know that you suffer from erectile dysfunction.
+Is it easy to cancel my membership?
Yes. We'd hate to lose you, but we always understand if anyone wishes to leave. There is any easy-to-follow link on the site. Once you have clicked to unsubscribe from our panel, you should receive no further communications from us.
+I don't live in the UK. Can I join?
There are two answers to this question – yes and no, or rather no and yes… Unfortunately, 80% of our research is UK-only at the moment. We do do surveys in Europe, Scandinavia, North America, China, Japan etc but it would not be honest of us to pretend that you would gather a lot of points living outside of the UK. And if you did, we would not know how to redeem them, as all our vouchers are in pounds sterling, and can only be redeemed at UK stores. However, we are upgrading our website, and it will contain lots of fun polls and questionnaires that anyone can answer. You will, of course, be more than welcome to complete these wherever you live. Our forums, also, will be open to all members wherever they live. But it would be wrong of us to suggest that by joining MyVoice from abroad you could enjoy the same benefits as our UK-based membership.
+Is my data safe?
Yes - very. MyVoice will not share your personal details with anyone. MyVoice will not sell your personal details to anyone. All data is securely stored and protected behind a "firewall".
+What opportunities do I have for earning points and rewards?
There are several types of polls and thus ways in which you can earn points on the MyVoice site: Express surveys - These tend to contain a variety of simple, often unrelated questions. They should only take a few minutes to complete. Typically, you will tend to receive between 20 and 50 points for these. Research questionnaire - These tend to be more focused on one issue, and might be comparatively lengthy (say 5 - 20 minutes to complete). Rewards for these will therefore tend to be higher (50 - 150 points typically. More for very long ones). Refer a Friend - Do you enjoy doing our surveys? Do you know anyone who might like to do the same? We are always looking to recruit new members, as we are getting more and more work to do all the time so if you recommend a friend to join MyVoice then we'll pop 25 points into your account when they register. To refer a friend, first you need to be logged in and then you just need to enter their email address, name and a short message and 25 points will be added to your account when they join. Prize Draw - Each time you complete a poll or survey, you receive an entry into our monthly prize draw to win £1000. We are always looking for fresh ways of rewarding our community. Look out for news of this on our website.
+MyVoice points - what can I do with them?
MyVoice have kept it simple. Once you have gained 2000 points you can convert your points into £20 vouchers from leading high street retailers:
Arcadia, Argos, Asda, Bhs, Boots, B&Q, Coast, Days Out, Debenhams, Dixons, Gamestation, Gap, Harvey Nichols, HMV, Homebase, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Lakeland, M & S, National Book Tokens, New Look, Next, Oasis, Ocado, Principles, Rubicon Vouchers, Sainsbury, See Tickets, Selfridges, Starbucks, Theatre Tokens, Thresher Voucher, TK Maxx, Virgin Megastore, Waitrose, Warehouse, Waterstones, WH Smith.
These will normally be despatched within a week of redemption.
+What information do I have to give you?
You don't have to give us much at all. A name, address and date of birth are pretty essential, as is knowing your gender. And that's about it. However, the more we know about you, the more chance we have of sending you suitable surveys. Knowing you are a mum, or a car owner, or self-employed (or all 3!) might help us fit your profile to that sought by a client for a particular question they want to ask. The more you tell us, the more points we give you, too. You do this by filling in the personal profiles when you join (or at any time). We do not store highly sensitive information like credit card details - there's just no need - or very personal information like sexuality. Also it really is your choice whether or not you answer questions like this.
+Who Are We?
The 2 new owners of MyVoice - Ian Davidson and Dave Waddell - have known each other for years. They are cousins. Ian got the looks, brains, charm and education. Dave got the season ticket for Newcastle United. Ian has spent most of his working life in senior marketing jobs, including being an original founder of MyVoice. Dave made (and ate) chocolate for 25 years. When MyVoice came up for sale, it was too good an opportunity to miss. An established market research business with a great reputation; an intelligent, informed and motivated membership; a nice selection of stationery. We are happy to receive feedback - send us an email by clicking here if you have any comments. We cannot promise to reply individually to every letter we receive, but we'll try. If a theme or topic comes up regularly, we'll feature it on the site.
+Can somebody else fill out my questionnaire or look at my personal account page?
No. Once you register you will be issued with a confidential password. Only you can enter your page or take part in a survey.