[TheCDAllenGroup]

I think I have a good idea for marketing my upcoming blog.

I am thinking about sending a PM to three forum/message board members [at another forum, not YE] about purchasing or paying for the usage of their signture space [the line(s) of text you see at the end of each of their posts].

I'm targeting these individuals because of their longevity on the message board and the quantity & quality of their posts.

For example, I will email each member and offer a compelling proposal [after thoroughly 'flattering' them on their message board posts], of $20-30 a month to use their signature space to promote my two free, controversial e-books downloads [that are in turn being used to further promote the blog, collect email addresses (for future email marketing), etc].

The forum [where these particular members post] has PLENTY of traffic and forum activity.

I'm resorting to possibly paying others for the use of their signature space [at least for a limited period of time] instead of spending ALOT of effort to join and develop a reputation on this particular forum. In fact, I was BANNED from this particular message board due to my ideas being deemed too 'radical'.

In essence, I am simply paying these people for the contribution and respected influence they have already developed.

What do you think? Any further pointers or advice?

[akula]

ok...gr8 question
the effectiveness of advertising is dependent on a lot of things, including the expectations of the prospect
e.g. prospects expect to be pitched dental services either via friends, or through industry directories - and if the service is pitched through a diffrent medium, the pitch is not as effective
so..what are you selling? and what are the expectations of your prospects?
how do them expect to be pitched the kinds of stuff that you're selling? though a forum signature?

[strategy]

If you've got the money to spare and it'll provide you (exceptional) traffic then go for it, theres no reason not to. Even if you think it wont work, trail it. I used to find any spare money I could dig up and throw it around, sometimes it did not work at all and I would end up giving away £30 while at others It'd make me an extra £30 monthly. Go for it.

[TheCDAllenGroup]

Originally Posted by akula

ok...gr8 question
the effectiveness of advertising is dependent on a lot of things, including the expectations of the prospect
e.g. prospects expect to be pitched dental services either via friends, or through industry directories - and if the service is pitched through a diffrent medium, the pitch is not as effective
so..what are you selling? and what are the expectations of your prospects?
how do them expect to be pitched the kinds of stuff that you're selling? though a forum signature?

Actually nothing is being 'sold' like a tangible product. But if you're referring to 'selling' as something other than monetary transactions, but rather promoting [marketing], my blog.

What is being promoted on these message board member signature spaces is are two ebooks. These two ebooks will undoubtedly have great content, but the titles are compelling to encourage every viewer of the particular forum to download it and be further compelled to visit my blog [now that they have had a 'taste' of the content], hopefully on a recurring basis.

The 2-3 forum members I will send the proposal to [for the lease of their signature space] have been selected very carefully on the basis of important criteria such as longevity on the message board, influence, quanity of posts, and quality of posts. In essence, I am leveraging their individual contributions and influence to promote my ebook and [ultimately my blog].

This is a tactic that I is part of my overall strategy for traffic building and collecting the email addresses [because they are the demographics I am marketing to] for future email marketing campaigns.

The goal is simply to build good, targeted traffic, not to 'sell' a tangible product or service.

[chaunna]

one suggestion...

when i receive a free ebook, i take my time reading it..
meaning i dont jump right into it and absorb everything in it
However, when i purchase an ebook, I've started it and often
finished reading it with in a day or two...

why not sell the books for $7 or some insanely low price that
would make ppl stupid not to buy them... and then give your
affiliates 100% of the profits... they will promote it more when
their making a profit... or you could sell one at $7 and give ppl
a taste or your knowledge by giving the second away for free
as a bonus...

just a suggestion...
Chaunna

[TheCDAllenGroup]

Originally Posted by chaunna

one suggestion...

when i receive a free ebook, i take my time reading it..
meaning i dont jump right into it and absorb everything in it
However, when i purchase an ebook, I've started it and often
finished reading it with in a day or two...

why not sell the books for $7 or some insanely low price that
would make ppl stupid not to buy them... and then give your
affiliates 100% of the profits... they will promote it more when
their making a profit... or you could sell one at $7 and give ppl
a taste or your knowledge by giving the second away for free
as a bonus...

just a suggestion...
Chaunna

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if this would be feasible given the strategy we have and/or if we can use this for future information products.

-C.D. Allen

[jawzishere]

Hey man, I'll save you a lot of time and effort. Here's a priceless resource for someone in your situation. These people are already trying to sell their forum sigs to people like you. I've used it before with success: [ SigTrader ] - Earn Money With Your Sig!

Edit: Wow, I just typed in www. sig trader. com and it automatically turned into that link above when I submitted the post. I guess they have a partnership with YE or something.

[TheCDAllenGroup]

Originally Posted by jawzishere

Hey man, I'll save you a lot of time and effort. Here's a priceless resource for someone in your situation. These people are already trying to sell their forum sigs to people like you. I've used it before with success: [ SigTrader ] - Earn Money With Your Sig!

Edit: Wow, I just typed in www. sig trader. com and it automatically turned into that link above when I submitted the post. I guess they have a partnership with YE or something.

Thanks for the link.

[dfveteran]

That website the link brings you to, isn't fully funtional. For example the buttons that say, click here to learn more doesn't work. Is it new and under construction?