Article Surfing Archive

Some websites provide a squeeze page to encourage visitors to register while others offer free membership to encourage new site visitors to pass along their contact information for a free gift.

There is another method that can help you build your list. The use of a sweepstakes can be an unusually strong enticement for some visitors to register. This article isn't intended to delve into the psychology of why it works, but a lot of people do enjoy the element of chance. These individuals are more than willing to pass along their contact information for a chance at something that intrigues them.

If you are a writer you might offer a copy of your latest book through random drawing. If you are a recording artist you might put together a grouping of signed CD's to pass along and if you are a business owner you can provide a pack of products you offer that will be shipped to the winner in a sweepstakes drawing.

You don't have to provide a new car or a Caribbean cruise for individuals to be willing to sign up. From a purely practical standpoint the odds are in your favor that the long-term list building benefits far outweigh whatever expense you may have in your sweepstakes.

Some sites find these sweepstakes so successful they often conduct new sweepstakes quarterly or even monthly.

Some websites have even found a way to maximize site visitation by holding contests that invite the creativity of their site visitors to be the springboard for site registration.

For instance, a national snack chip manufacturer invited their customers to come up with a thirty second commercial that they'd like to see used in the Super Bowl advertising. An incredible amount of videos were submitted. That's when this creative marketing strategy went into overdrive. Visitors could go the company website and vote for the video of their choice. The proviso was that you had to sign up to cast your vote.

As you take the total number of video submissions times a concerted grass roots voting recruitment effort by these amateur video producers it's easy to see the registrations for this site increased by multiplied thousands.

A canned soup company promotes a 'vote for your favorite NFL team' event each year that includes a philanthropic twist. For every vote for your team they will give one can of their soup to feed needy individuals in the US. In this case the business taps into a different type of consumer who is willing to help others in every way they can. In this case it involves registering to send a can of soup to the needy in their community while allowing them to show team spirit.

Get creative in discovering new ways to promote your website. Use existing tools or create something that fits your own unique personality and business style.