The problem with this is.... (and a better solution)

...that most folks know it means you will put them on a mailing list and that you may be one of those who markets to them endlessly. Many of us have been there and gotten the unstoppable emails.

A better strategy is to turn your site into a RESOURCE that they will want to keep referring to.

In the first case, the transaction is one way: it is designed to lure you in so you can get more advertising delivered to you. Honestly... how many people out there are DYING to have more ads delivered to them?

Most of these strategies just don't work for folks just getting into marketing product online. They don't have the resources that someone has who has been marketing online for years.

> 1. Ask visitors to subscribe to your e-zine. It's a
> good idea to also give them a freebie when they
> subscribe.

Yes, but this means that you have the time and ability to do a regular ezine... and an ezine that is NOT one big ad (or fluffy biz article giving the same rewritten advice we've seen a thousand times.) As Leslie can tell you, this is almost impossible to do if you've got family and other obligations.

This is easier for someone who's been online for several years, who posts regularly on BBSs and keeps copies of their own posts so that they can be rewritten.

> 2. Have them sign-up to get access to download
> a free ebook. The subject of the ebook should
> be related to your target audience.

This doesn't build community or really provide more than one resource, and the viewer is free to give you a fake email (or a specially created email where they will ignore your mailings) to get the book if they really want it.

It also suggests that you have the time, energy, and expertise to write an ebook. If you offer one of the Grand Old Freebies (Napoleon Hill), there is no reason why folks can't just find out what you're offering and go download it from someplace where they don't end up on a mailing list.

We've all done this.

> 3. Give your visitors a free membership inside
> your member's only web site. Have them sign-up
> to receive a user name and password.

This works ONLY if you have content worth viewing there an a good community. Warriors Forum is a good example of a community with valuable content in a members' only BBS. If you're starting out, there won't be anything of value on your board. It takes YEARS to build up a site with good content.

> 4. Hold a free contest or sweepstakes at your
> web site. Ask them to give you their contact
> information to enter.

This worked at one time. Now we have banners and sweepstakes all over the web. Have YOU ever clicked on them?

Now... if you've got a site with a lot of "stuff" and a good BBS and frequent visitors, contests can pump up the group and maybe even pull in more folks (if the offering is really good and is seen as being really free and not something to sucker the visitor in.)

> 5. Offer your visitors free consulting via e-mail.
> Have them fill out a web form to e-mail you with
> their questions.

How are you going to prove you're worth listening to?

> 6. Hold an interactive poll on your web site. Ask
> your visitors to e-mail you their vote or opinion.

And how many of the "Do you like Bush yes/no?" polls do you click on? And what's the bonus for emailing you the vote or opinion?

> 7. Ask your visitors to sign-up for a chance to
> get a web site award. Have them e-mail you their
> contact and web site information.

This is an old recommendation. Web rings and awards were a force on Internet about 6 years ago, when there weren't a lot of awards and where an awards list meant something.

> 8. Have visitors fill out a survey on your web site.
> Give them a free gift as an incentive to complete
> the form.

Everyone's done this and it's getting ignored. And, honestly, what are you going to do with the data? Do you have the time to analyze it and write about what it means?

Now... what DOES get picked up are the silly surveys that don't demand things like email... like this "What sort of key are you?"
http://quizilla.com/users/XShakaWTWF/quizzes/What%20sort%20of%20key%20are%20you%20and%20what%20do%20you%20unlock%3F/

These are hugely popular and often show up on blog sites where they spread like wildfire from one blog to another. These are great memes; mind-worms. Notice that for these popular ones there are no hidden strings... you just click and play and get your reward.

There are a number of ways you can use these in marketing, but the hitch is that they have to be offered as fun; with no strings attached and no direct marketing on them.

And don't try making one for the visitors to see "how well they score" and then offering them a book to improve the score. Everybody knows that one. However, it DOES work if the answers are (free) on your web page and you link to recommended books and software in banners beside the page (or use google ads)

> 9. Offer a free online service from your web site.
> Have visitors fill out their contact information to
> sign-up to the free service.

Right. Care to give an example? Something that someone might REALLY like?

> 10. Ask visitors to sign your guest book. Tell
> them they will get a free gift in return.

It'd have to be pretty good to overcome the resistance of people who are not wanting to have you blast your marketing at them.

Your guestbook is part of your site and defines an impression about you. If your guestbook is full of rude comments or things like "kajlkdfjaoitu" it makes the value of your site much less. Save the guestbook for guestbook functions and feedback.

> 11. Offer a free affiliate program for your visitors.
> They will have to sign-up in order to receive
> marketing materials and commissions.

Yes, you'll get folks signing up with this.

> 12. Allow visitors to submit a free classified ad
> on your web site. Require them to give a valid
> e-mail address in order to post an ad.

Oh geez. The FFA sites. I think that by now we all know that signing up for a FFA site puts you on the "market to me forever and I'm going to sell your email to every marketer in the world."

> 13. Give people who visit your web site a free
> course sent via autoresponder. Just ask them to
> fill out their contact information to receive the free
> course.

Is it worth it?

> 14. Offer your visitors free software to download.
> Have them sign-up to get an access code to unlock
> the software.

This assumes that you can find the software and/or write it. Most folks don't have this skill. Access code based PDFs are the same, but it's pretty annoying to download something and be told you have to email to get the code. Most people will give you the spare email address that they never open. I keep several available for just that purpose.

The problem with those approaches is that it treats YOU, the surfer, as though the only reason you are around is to send money to the marketer. That's an insulting approach because it says that the only worth the surfer has is in how much money she or he will fork out to the site owner. It's selfish marketing and folks just don't like selfishness.

Anyway, this "article" is another of those "rewritten a zillion times" type of articles I talked about before. It's not up to date with new methods and much of it isn't doable by the person who just started to try and sell and has no original material for themselves.