What is a cheap and effective way to get started?

[Graham]

I want to spread the word about my website MillionDollarWiki.com, but don't have much money to advertise it yet. Google AdWords are failing - to expensive for its results.

I've sent out a press release
Use craigslist.org
Blogged on Digg.com

It is slowly working, but I want to try to spread the word better. Any ideas?

[Lynn Terry]

I have a Traffic Q&A section on my blog and I really posted an entry there titled . Those ideas should get you started

[Graham]

Thank you, that was very helpful. I got some work cut out for me.

I am doing myspace. I don't think facebook will work too well for my site.
Have been blogging and this has worked a bit.
Going to check out the yahoo question thing.
Wrote a press release.
SEO can always be improved
I am at a forum and not spamming!!!!
Viral Marketing is tough, hmmmm.
I am using Craigslist to my advantage. A little eBay. Need to think about youTube.

Anyone have any other suggestions to look into?
(I don't mind paying for effective advertising.)

[Lynn Terry]

You have a good start. Looking around the site, I should think that content would help you tremendously. That, and a strong call to action on pages that can be obtained. For example, when I am viewing pages and I click on Business... it should say something to me like "you can OWN this page!"

And an affiliate program wouldnt hurt at all

I would also recommend that you re-write the FAQ. Visitors dont really want to pay you (but they will!). Visitors dont want to know your financial situation (they want to know *you*). And most importantly - they want to know what's in it for them.

Perhaps its better explained that "the MillionDollarWiki is a free resource containing over $1million dollars worth of information!" (instead of "the MillionDollarWiki is a venture to put $1million dollars in my pocket). Make sense?

Just brainstorming with you here Would love to hear your thoughts!

[Graham]

[Graham]

[Lynn Terry]

An affiliate program means that you "hire" affiliates and pay them a commission for any paying referrals. When you set this up, each affiliate gets their own affiliate link to your site. They use that link when they recommend (or mention) your site. If anyone clicks through and ends up buying a page from you, a percentage of that sale goes to the affiliate that referred them.

So if I send 10 buyers your way, and you agree to pay me 35% of all sales I refer... I just earned $350 in commissions and you made $650 on sales you wouldnt have had otherwise.

An affiliate program is a marketing expense... but it is one of the best ways to create buzz and get sales. Your affiliates do all of the hard work (the marketing) and you get to focus on the site and conversions.

You can have a public affiliate program, where anyone can join and promote your site. Or you can have a "closed affiliate program" where you hand select potential affiliates and it is by invite only. Some people use both methods and pay general affiliates a certain percentage, and then hand-select their "super affiliates" and offer them a higher percentage.

[Graham]

I definitely need to think about that. I think that would work with my site, but I am currently putting my efforts to getting the site in its best shape.

Thank you for all your suggestions.

[theuniek1]

Hi Graham,
Slightly off-topic, but the first question that popped up in my mind is "what sets your wiki apart from the other, established, wikis that offer their services for free? (most notably pbWiki)".

I'm not trying to discourage you b/c I believe it's a great idea, but you need to make it plainly evident that having a page on your wiki will benefit the purchaser in some great way. (That's me speaking as a discerning consumer )

~ Teli

[Graham]

Hi theunik1,

The thing that seperates my wiki from all other wikis is that every page can only have one owner.

If your business is about gold, you cannot get the page 'gold' anymore, because someone already bought it. You might have to go with 'Gold Jewelery' now, or something simular.

It is open to the public, so anyone can go on the wiki and instantly view what has been posted. There are a lot of advertisiments currently, but my team is currently working with page owners to make pages offer informative and entertaining content to draw in more viewers.

I think this really benefits start-up companies most. imoondo.com is the perfect example. - they are a new service and listed under 'video classifieds.' They bring a new idea to the internet, and they have some humor. I beleive if we can find more web companies like that, our community site will be successful.

[theuniek1]

[theuniek1]

[Graham]

[theuniek1]

[Graham]