Advice Needed on New Strategy for Gaining Subscribers (Possibly making Big Mistake)

staffjam · 09-02-2010, 12:47:54 AM

Hi,

I have recently launched a Free daily Intelligence Newsletter for my site: Crude Oil Price, Gold Price and Commodity Charts and am about to embark on a strategy that could be a BIG mistake.

At present we have an advert for the newsletter on the site to the right hand side and signups are averaging about 40 new subscribers per day.
I'm looking to up things a bit though and my webmaster is currently creating a subscriber section in the site - so subscribers will be able to go and read archived material and reports that were sent.

if you take a look at the site you will see the main part is centred around the content and the articles we have listed. We will be creating a section on the right hand side currently above the (Free Daily Intelligence Newsletter)- actually this will be shifted down.
And in it's place will be a box called Intelligence articles: These will be the Free reports that we send to our subscribers on a daily basis.
The idea is to have people click on the title and start reading the report - but there will only be 4/5 paragraphs to whet their appetite (and help with SEO) then if they want to read the rest they have to join the newsletter - where they will have access to the membership section.)
Stratfor have done something similar and Stratfor are VERY successful
Free Article for Non-Members | STRATFOR

Now the articles and Reports will be good - they are written by ex Intelligence agents who supply similar reports to Governments and Hedge funds - so people will and do want to read - but i have been told by a few web publishers that making people enter their e-mail for content is a terrible way to go forward.
My argument to this is that 95% of the content you see on the homepage is Free and can be accessed by a click - But if you want the special reports you have to subscribe to the mail (they will be clearly marked special reports)

How does this sound to you? Am I making a huge mistake.

developdomains · 09-02-2010, 11:18:30 AM

Bridgestone do a similiar thing with their product development reports (I can't share URL as its part of their extranet which is not publicy accessible).

They give a taster, a few paragraphs at most, but to get the report in full (and any future reports) you have to subscribe to the mailing list.

There are about 5 mailing lists in total so I think what you are proposing is a good idea, user gets to see a small snippet of the quality and content of the report(s) and if they are interested they WILL sign up for the full report

Press ahead with your plan IMO

cheers

davedevelopment · 09-02-2010, 11:27:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MWTONLINE

if they are interested they WILL sign up for the full report

Agree with this, you may lose a few people, but they're probably not that bothered anyway, you end up with a list of quality subscribers.

staffjam · 09-02-2010, 05:59:32 PM

Great stuff - thanks for the advice guys. It's always a little nervewracking when people in a similar line warn against it - but they have never tried the strategy - so if it fails - i just switch back. Got to try new things

aZooZa · 09-02-2010, 06:03:34 PM

Great site - I agree - press ahead with your plan.

09-02-2010, 12:47:54 AM	#1 (permalink)
staffjam Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 116 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (0% / 0)	Advice Needed on New Strategy for Gaining Subscribers (Possibly making Big Mistake) Hi, I have recently launched a Free daily Intelligence Newsletter for my site: Crude Oil Price, Gold Price and Commodity Charts and am about to embark on a strategy that could be a BIG mistake. At present we have an advert for the newsletter on the site to the right hand side and signups are averaging about 40 new subscribers per day. I'm looking to up things a bit though and my webmaster is currently creating a subscriber section in the site - so subscribers will be able to go and read archived material and reports that were sent. if you take a look at the site you will see the main part is centred around the content and the articles we have listed. We will be creating a section on the right hand side currently above the (Free Daily Intelligence Newsletter)- actually this will be shifted down. And in it's place will be a box called Intelligence articles: These will be the Free reports that we send to our subscribers on a daily basis. The idea is to have people click on the title and start reading the report - but there will only be 4/5 paragraphs to whet their appetite (and help with SEO) then if they want to read the rest they have to join the newsletter - where they will have access to the membership section.) Stratfor have done something similar and Stratfor are VERY successful Free Article for Non-Members \| STRATFOR Now the articles and Reports will be good - they are written by ex Intelligence agents who supply similar reports to Governments and Hedge funds - so people will and do want to read - but i have been told by a few web publishers that making people enter their e-mail for content is a terrible way to go forward. My argument to this is that 95% of the content you see on the homepage is Free and can be accessed by a click - But if you want the special reports you have to subscribe to the mail (they will be clearly marked special reports) How does this sound to you? Am I making a huge mistake. __________________ Premium domains: 9i.com, 3J.com, VR.net, CXC.com, FEJ.com, ZB.org, Sixth.com Premium Domains Solar Garden Light

09-02-2010, 11:18:30 AM	#2 (permalink)
developdomains Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Reading Posts: 978 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 35)	Bridgestone do a similiar thing with their product development reports (I can't share URL as its part of their extranet which is not publicy accessible). They give a taster, a few paragraphs at most, but to get the report in full (and any future reports) you have to subscribe to the mailing list. There are about 5 mailing lists in total so I think what you are proposing is a good idea, user gets to see a small snippet of the quality and content of the report(s) and if they are interested they WILL sign up for the full report Press ahead with your plan IMO cheers __________________ Pagestore\|Used Jaguars\|Poole Pottery\|Find A Ticket\|Tyre Pressure Monitor\|Winter Tyres\|Wheel Trims\|Used Motorbikes\|Car Seat Covers\|Used Alloy Wheels \|Centre Caps\|Used Camper Vans\|42 Inch TV

09-02-2010, 05:59:32 PM	#4 (permalink)
staffjam Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 116 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (0% / 0)	Great stuff - thanks for the advice guys. It's always a little nervewracking when people in a similar line warn against it - but they have never tried the strategy - so if it fails - i just switch back. Got to try new things __________________ Premium domains: 9i.com, 3J.com, VR.net, CXC.com, FEJ.com, ZB.org, Sixth.com Premium Domains Solar Garden Light

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09-02-2010, 06:03:34 PM	#5 (permalink)
aZooZa Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3,995 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 46)	Great site - I agree - press ahead with your plan.