Geegeez Survey 2012 Results

A short time ago I asked Geegeez readers to take five minutes to complete a survey. I do this every year so that I can ensure that what appears on this website is what you want to appear, not what I think you want to appear.

And I’ve finally got round to summarizing those results, which define our community.

If you completed the survey, my sincere thanks. Just about a thousand of you did, and that feedback is key to what happens next with Geegeez, as it was last year.

So, without further ado, let’s find out a bit more about ‘you’. 🙂

The survey was broken into two parts: ‘Geegeez and you’ (about how you interact with the site), and you and your betting habits.

Let’s cover them in reverse order…

The 1950’s is still the most popular decade in which respondents were born, with an almost perfect ‘triangle’ shape showing that each decade above and below the ’50’s is slightly less well represented. Over 7% of you are in your seventies or older, whilst only 4% were born in the 1980’s or later. Clearly, it seems, Geegeez is not ‘down with the kids’!

However, saying that, more people of around my age are now reading. Last year, only 9% of readers were born in the 1970’s or later, compared with this year’s 16.5% or so. I think this is probably due to my finally embracing social media, but I can’t be sure…

Horse racing and betting seems to be dominated by men, and this is the case on Geegeez as well:

In fact, I’m pleased that there are slightly more ladies reading the site now, as last year the ‘girls’ figure was less than 2.5% (and less than 25 readers).

The frequency of your betting was next, and nothing has changed since last year: 72% of you still bet either most days or every day.

Next I asked ‘what is the main reason you bet?’

I asked this a few years ago, and was surprised to see that ‘to win money’ had less than half of the vote. This time, it has over two-thirds!

This is a significant change, and could reflect either the changing content on the site (more tipping-related elements), the new visitors, who are younger, or the current economic climate. By far the  likeliest reason, of course, is a combination of all three of those things!

Again, pretty similar to last year, with a subtle difference. A few more of you have gravitated to either end, with a handful more ‘bigger hitters’, and a few more ‘leisure punters’ as well. But, broadly, things are as they were.

Finally, in this section, I asked you where you lived, and I was surprised by the results. It seems we have a fair few more Irish readers than last year.

Again, this is down to a deliberate effort to create ‘lateral’ content between geegeez.co.uk and horse-racing.ie. In other words, features like ‘Well I Declare’ have a UK and an Irish equivalent, and give readers a reason to check out the other version. At least, that’s what I think it is…

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OK, if you’re still with me, let’s talk about Geegeez, and specifically how you like it, and what you’d like to see some of, or more of.

The first question is ‘how long have you been reading my ramblings’. At this point, I want to sincerely thank those of you who have been tolerating this for more than two years. Clearly, your constitution is titanium and I salute all of you. 🙂

In fact, 54% of you have been coming here for more than a year, and 25% for more than two years. It is interesting to note that nearly 18% are new to the site, and very welcome of course. This compares favourably with last year, when only 7% were in that category, and reflects a greater effort on my part to ‘get the site out there’, if you see what I mean.

I then asked which parts of the site you regularly read. Since last year’s survey, and the feedback I got then, I’ve added a lot more feature writers in direct response to what you said you’d like to see. So it was heartening to note that you do actually read them! 😉

Note: ignore the percentages as they’re summed to 100% rather than calculated per response as a percentage of respondents.

Figures for The Punting Confessional are lower than other features because this is a brand new column. It is interesting that not many of you regularly look at odds.geegeez.co.uk, though not surprising. In the early days, it had a number of bugs which led most users – including me – to go to other odds comparison sites.

I’m pleased to report that those glitches are pretty much all gone now, so do use this part of the site if you have a need to.

Also, as a consequence of the number of people who still look at the Geegeez system reviews (most of which had been moved elsewhere), I’m planning on putting more system review content back on here.

Actually that was as a consequence of your answers to the next question, which are always one of the most illuminating in the survey. I asked how much of each feature you’d like to see going forwards. And you said the following:

You can browse this at your leisure, if you so wish, but the key elements from my perspective were these:

 – 98% of you would like to see more tipping from me on the blog… I’m pretty sure I must have found a big-priced winner shortly before the survey went out. Nevertheless, I’m giving this some thought. My problem is that it’s always been my intention for Geegeez to be a site where you might be able to pick up a few hints about how to bet better and/or differently, rather than to ‘just’ tip.

 – Between 31% and 40% of you would like to see more stats-based content (either SotD, or Andy’s trainer and Saturday pieces). Again, I’ll have a think about this. SotD has established itself as a pretty good identifier of value, and is about 80 points up since inception last November.

 – It’s clear that the odds comparison side is something that is less popular, a point which I acknowledge and will endeavour to mention less outside of when it’s directly relevant.

 – And of course, as alluded to above, I was taken aback by the number of you who want more system trials and reviews on Geegeez. My excellent team of reviewers are hard at work on onlinebettingexposed.com, onlineracingreview.com and horseracingman.com, but I definitely hear this request, and will be adding more system trials to Geegeez with immediate effect.

Next I asked about possible new content areas for the site. We’re always looking to grow, but in a way that suits the readers – i.e. you! – so new features have to come ‘on request’. This is your opportunity to make a request, and you responded as follows:

I was surprised at how many of you would like to see racecards and results on Geegeez. This is something I’d LOVE to provide. The problem is that this data is SUPER EXPENSIVE.

In fact, it costs over a thousand pounds a month(!), which for a small business like this is a major undertaking. I’ve definitely noted the keenness for this, and will have a think about if/how it could be cost-justified.

More notable even than that, though, were the number of you who’d like to see ratings on the site. Exactly two-thirds of you definitely want them, and another quarter of you said ‘maybe’.

Clearly, the ratings need to be profitable, or they will quickly become very unpopular. (Duh!) I’ve been working on a ratings project for a while, which I’m not yet happy with. They won’t appear here until I’ve got them to where I want them.

In the meantime, I have introduced a daily ratings post, written by a smart guy called Steven Lines. It’s well worth a read, and you can find it here: http://www.geegeez.co.uk/fleet-lines/ or at the top right of the homepage.

And finally in this area, 70% of you said you’d be interested in tipping competitions (either definitely or maybe).  This is another area I’m looking into, and working on a way of bringing this within reach. Bear with me on this one.

I then asked how often you visit Geegeez. Obviously, in the last year I’ve added plenty of writers to ensure that there’s something new and (hopefully) interesting every time you come to the site. So it was gratifying to see that plenty of you visit far more often than you previously did.

In fact, the number of you who only come to the site when I email is down from more than half to less than ten per cent!

That’s fantastic and helps to justify the wage bill for the great writers I’m delighted to be able to host here.

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I then asked a bit more about your betting style. Firstly, what’s your primary betting approach?

No big surprises there, I don’t think. That said, an interesting side note is that the layer community has reduced from 15% to just 7%. This, I think, is significant and reflects how difficult it can be to come out in front from laying.

I then asked specifically about betting systems – whether you like them, and whether you’d bought any – and here’s what you said:

Two-thirds of you like betting systems. Me too! 😀

And just a bit less than that (55%) have bought at least one in the last year. Me too!

That’s down from last year, when 80% said they liked betting systems, and 65% had bought at least one in the last year.

I strongly suspect this is to do with the impact of the supremely aggressive marketers at ‘production line firms’ like Circle Media, who seem to release a new product every fortnight, with a hundred fake email accounts sending out bullshit lies to get you to click through to their ‘shiny object’ website.

Here’s an example I received just yesterday:

I mean, it’s just terrible. Don’t be suckered by false promises. Anything that even hints at quitting your day job (if you even have one!) should be binned immediately.

OK, onwards!

I next asked how many online betting accounts you had, and was a bit surprised by the results. You see, earlier in the survey it was clear that the pre-eminent reason for betting was to make money. So I assumed that at least 71% (the number who said they wanted to make money from betting) would have accounts with  most bookmakers.

That, after all, would guarantee that the best price could be achieved on selections and, therefore, offer the best chance of actually making money from betting.

But I was wrong.

Now, here is a classic example of a fundamental disconnect. And I suspect it stems from the (utterly false) perception that making money from betting is easy.

Obviously, it isn’t.

If you’re someone who thinks it doesn’t matter about getting the best price, and you still want to make money from betting, then this is the moment when you need to know…

…it’s NEVER going to happen.

Look, I know this is a small aside, but it’s a REALLY IMPORTANT point to understand:

Profit is important, winners are not.

What I mean is that if you’re not consistently getting 4/1 about 7/2 shots, 5/2 about 9/4 shots, evens about 10/11 shots… then you can’t win.

If making money from betting is your reason for playing this game, then please re-read the above, and think hard about it over this weekend. It is absolutely fundamental.

Lecture over. 🙂

Oh yes, the feedback:

Well done to the 19% who have accounts with most online bookies, who are presumably entirely subsumed within the 71.73%. For the other 52%, open more accounts.

Seriously!

Not only will you get free bets and the like, but you will also be able to take the best price on your selections every time and, in doing so, give yourself a sporting chance of winning money… until you’re closed down of course. (But you should worry about that when it happens).

And finally finally, I asked you if you were interested in, or currently pursue, other money-making hobbies, such as poker, casino, or forex. You replied thus:

It was no surprise that a number of you enjoy poker and/or casino games. And it was more confirmation of a hunch I have than a surprise that a fair number of you (26%) either occasionally dabble in forex trading, or are interested to learn more about it.

What you may not know is that I have been running a forex website for about two years now. I’m not an expert on the subject – by any stretch of the imagination – so I have people contribute who are.

The site is at http://eforexsystemreviews.com/ and is well worth a look if you’ve not seen it before. Despite the name, it’s currently more about forex training than trading system reviews. The main reason for this is that I need volunteer reviewers! So, if you are into forex and fancy reviewing a product, let me know and we can see if you’re a good fit.

The other reason I was pleased about this is because I’ve just partnered up with one of the top guys in the forex world (and I mean TOP guys) to offer an entry level trading strategy for people who are either pressed for time, or don’t know much (or anything!) about forex.

I can’t say any more than that right now, as I’m still working on the details. But I’m pretty excited to offer this opportunity, as I’ve seen the last three years’ results… and they’re hot!

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So those were the survey results. I find that data fascinating, but perhaps it’s not for everyone. Did you enjoy that? Find it interesting? Or was it a ‘paint drying’ post? Let me know in the comments below.

Before I head off today, I just want to mention a couple of other elements on the blog this week which I think are worth a look.

If you want to know the hot trainers of the moment, go here: http://www.geegeez.co.uk/trainer-stats-9th-may-2012/

If you want to read a different slant on the more interesting news stories, try this: http://www.geegeez.co.uk/category/horse-racing-news/

For Stat of the Day, and today’s tip, check out: http://www.geegeez.co.uk/category/horse-racing-blog/daily-stat-of-the-day/

And if what I wrote about the placepot yesterday didn’t make sense to you, then here’s an old post I wrote explaining it in more detail: http://www.geegeez.co.uk/how-to-win-the-tote-placepot/

Have a great weekend!
Matt

p.s. do please let me know whether the survey breakdown is of interest to you. If it’s not, I won’t share that info in the future…