Advice on Advertising website method

[Lewis-Hayward]

I am currently in the process of setting up an online advertising company where clients have the ability to promote their services online. The company will be the majority web based where clients will buy either an single ad or a package at a discounted rate. Clients will be able to complete their advert very similar to an Ebay advert, 1 form that fills the online ad.

To get enough data on the website to be able to open to the public, is it a bad move to offer all potential clients the ability to promote for free for 6 months. Say i open the website to the public on 1st Jan, I would offer from now till the 1st Jan to load as many adverts as they would like up until 1st July. That way i can get the website flooded with adverts and provide some good information to the public. The idea behind this is to show the clients that the public are viewing their ads and to show the public the website is the No 1 go to site.

Is this a good move or will the free approach only work for the first 6 months and then they will not bother continuing.

I know everyone loves freebies but will they only use it because its free and when there is a charge associated, will they continue their normal way. I understand that it will be up to me to prove that it is worth paying for but is it a risky method. Or do i offer the services at a very cheap rate from the word go and offer to the public very little.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Lewis

 

[fisicx]

Most people will wait for the launch see how it works and then sign up for the free advert. If it brings in lot of new business they may consider paying. If not then they won't.

Your model isn't new or innovative and has been tried many time and failed many times. You might be lucky though - but don't underestimate the amount of hard work this is going to take over the next few years. Last time I built a business directory for someone (with a paid listing option) he gave up after pumping 10K into marketing.

 

[Nochexman]

Probably worth outlining why you think people will come to your website, before deciding on the discounting policy.

 

[Lewis-Hayward]

Most people will wait for the launch see how it works and then sign up for the free advert. If it brings in lot of new business they may consider paying. If not then they won't.

Your model isn't new or innovative and has been tried many time and failed many times. You might be lucky though - but don't underestimate the amount of hard work this is going to take over the next few years. Last time I built a business directory for someone (with a paid listing option) he gave up after pumping 10K into marketing.

The business plan is slightly different to what i have described for obvious reasons. I have done alot of research and i can only find this business type in a small number of locations and restricted to those areas. I plan on taking the parameters down and merge the locations.

If people wait till launch, how will i open the site to the public with nothing to show them?

 

[Lewis-Hayward]

Probably worth outlining why you think people will come to your website, before deciding on the discounting policy.

How can i charge with no public viewing data?

 

[fisicx]

If people wait till launch, how will i open the site to the public with nothing to show them?

You fill it with adverts you create yourself.

How can i charge with no public viewing data?

You can't. And for the most part you never will be able to charge.

There are too many places people can already advertise their services for free, they won't be interested in paying for another one. So give everyone 6 months free on the live site. If you start getting loads of visitors then you can suggest upgrades to get better listing or more features or whatever.

But you probably spend more on marketing than you will earn from the site.

 

[OlgaY]

If people wait till launch, how will I open the site to the public with nothing to show them?

Create urgency by putting a countdown timer on your landing page. Then advertise the site before the launch.

I know everyone loves freebies but will they only use it because its free and when there is a charge associated, will they continue their normal way. Or do i offer the services at a very cheap rate from the word go and offer to the public very little.

Lewis

Give plenty of freebies for people to stick. After all, your users will be the site's primary SEO drivers, too. But you might consider going freemium at once so that people realize they will get a far more tempting proposition in exchange for the payment. Figure out this awesome feature.

Good luck!

 

[Nochexman]

How can i charge with no public viewing data?

The issue is why would people come to your website in the first place?

 

[fisicx]

Create urgency by putting a countdown timer on your landing page. Then advertise the site before the launch.

Has this ever worked? I can't think of an occasion when I've ever felt the need to bookmark or follow or do anything with a site that has a counter.

 

[OlgaY]

Has this ever worked? I can't think of an occasion when I've ever felt the need to bookmark or follow or do anything with a site that has a counter.

Well, people tend to act irrationally when it comes to freebies and lucrative offers. I don't see why scarcity & urgency techniques won't work here. After all, you don't get them to pay. The worst case is they share their personal data with you. If your privacy policy is in order and you're not going to sell the data, what's there to fear?

 

[fisicx]

That didn't answer the question.

If you create a splash page with a counter and a sign up form very few people will sign up unless there is a really strong USP.

Another directory/ebay clone isn't a strong USP.