Have you used an on-line survey to gather information? As one who believes in "writing with the reader in mind" the best way to achieve success is by asking: What is important to you? How can we help? What do you need?

I have participated in a few online surveys, most done by Survey Monkey, but I was reading a post by Ivana at Strategy Stew recently and she's done some research on a few of the available survey resources.

Ivana shares where you should begin when planning to survey your customers/prospects:

How to begin

1. Figure out what you NEED, then what you WANT, and finally what would be nice to have. As a self-proclaimed gadget-geek it's easy for me to get wrapped up in cool features that I will never use. Don't get caught in that trap. Make a list of exactly what you need then want - in that order. A good way to do this is to imagine that a little elf delivered your data in exactly the way you wanted it. Now, what does that look like. Write it down.
2. Prioritize your needs and wants. Remember, chances are you will get some combination of these, so you want to make sure that you are clear on what you cannot live without, versus what you can come up with after a little tweaking. This can mean hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of difference - so take the time to do that. If you don't, you'll be confused by the features.
3. Ask some marketing types and see what they say. Referrals are terrific and if you know some marketing types that get involved in doing survey work (like me) you can ask them. Chances are, they've tried a few and had some practical experience they can share.

Visit Strategy Stew for her review of survey resources.