What will you do if someone comes to you for a JV promotion

[Godric]

I dont think the title is a good one. My question is what do you guys do, when you get someone who offers free or trial promotions in your forums? I am looking forward to your answers. All forum webmasters are invited.

[Shole]

I have a promotion forum so I allow it . I sometimes cooperate with the member and get a free full version of the product for a contest.

It helps me and it helps him.

[Nathan]

I'm not understanding I guess, what do you mean exactly? What is an example of a free trial?

[SpikeTheLobster]

Define "a JV promotion"... who are they inviting? What's the subject? Is there money involved? Is it just a referral thing? Is it directed at you personally or at the whole forum? Is there cake? Is it a freebie? Is it a real-world or virtual offer? Have they been on the forum a while?

 

In general, I consider all promos to be spam on my forum. I have a specific place they can be posted (along with referrals of any kind and pretty much any other spam people feel like posting) but if they're outside that forum, I'll either move them or ban the person, depending on their history.

[Godric]

Define "a JV promotion"... who are they inviting? What's the subject? Is there money involved? Is it just a referral thing? Is it directed at you personally or at the whole forum? Is there cake? Is it a freebie? Is it a real-world or virtual offer? Have they been on the forum a while?

 

In general, I consider all promos to be spam on my forum. I have a specific place they can be posted (along with referrals of any kind and pretty much any other spam people feel like posting) but if they're outside that forum, I'll either move them or ban the person, depending on their history.

 

For example I offer you with a promotion for free trials of various real life products. They dont have to pay anything except shipping charges.

And you can invite as many members as you want, no limitations. And ofcourse its a real life product.

 

Also they arent liable to anymore charges. Then there are Netflix offers too that you can promote to the members. I am talkiing about the free trial for a month ones.

There are also free products...although they are a bit more.....obscure in my opinion.

 

If you guys have any problem understanding do post and i will clarify myself again.

 

Eg: You have a forum in electronics niche and i offer you a promotion of a new product. The user only has to pay the shipping charges and there are no more cost involved.

 

That sort of offers.

 

And its valid for almost all forums not just promotion forums.

 

Actually i am just collecting data. I know some advertisers who do that.

Normally they buy banners, which in my opinion is a loss to forum owners or website owners.

 

I think an adshare basis will be much better.

So post your views on this matter.

[Nathan]

Ah, I've never experienced any of this yet, so not really sure what I would do. Guess it would depend on the product.

[Tony]

I'm familiar with the ones that you have to sign up for like 14 of our partners FREE* offers, and then we'll send you something after we verify that you actually signed up.

 

*By FREE, they usually mean "Sign up for my service and provide me with your billing information and I'll give you the first month free, and if you don't cancel before the 1st month is over, you will get billed the monthly recurring fee for our service"

[Godric]

I'm familiar with the ones that you have to sign up for like 14 of our partners FREE* offers, and then we'll send you something after we verify that you actually signed up.

 

*By FREE, they usually mean "Sign up for my service and provide me with your billing information and I'll give you the first month free, and if you don't cancel before the 1st month is over, you will get billed the monthly recurring fee for our service"

 

These are the free stuff. And yes they will usually pull through around 8-12 offers. But i am talking about the Trial Products. No fluff. You just need to send them the Postage or Shipping Charges.

 

Those free offers are usually pretty cheap, But there are good ones too.

 

Anyone have any expereince with this?

[SpikeTheLobster]

Normally they buy banners, which in my opinion is a loss to forum owners or website owners. I think an adshare basis will be much better.

 

Most of the answers above (including mine) were made on the grounds that the offer comes from a visitor who just posts it in a forum thread, rather than someone contacting the admin to discuss an advertising opportunity - that's why we all said that our treatment of the offer depended on what they wrote.

 

As I mentioned above, if someone posted something like this on my forum (as a thread), my action would depend on where they posted it - in the right forum, fine; in the wrong forum, they get slapped.

 

For example I offer you with a promotion for free trials of various real life products. They dont have to pay anything except shipping charges. And you can invite as many members as you want, no limitations. And ofcourse its a real life product.

 

Also they arent liable to anymore charges. Then there are Netflix offers too that you can promote to the members. I am talkiing about the free trial for a month ones. There are also free products...although they are a bit more.....obscure in my opinion.

 

Righto, gotcha. Nice clear explanation!

 

Well, first off that's not a JV since there's nothing in it (financially) for me unless I'm getting a cut of the proceeds (i.e. affiliate lead generation, effectively). It's simply a promo offer from a (presumably paying) advertiser. It's also unlikely to be unique to my site when they offer it, so there isn't even a significant "new visitor magnet" effect to speak of.

 

As such, I would consider it in the same way I would consider ANY advertising offer: is it beneficial to my visitors, will it make my site look like a flea-market and - above all - are the terms open, clear and honest? i.e. (as Tony said above) if it's a Netflix "free month" type of offer, it gets a big NO from me; if it's as you state - just pay shipping and no further obligation with no further action required - then it's more likely to get a yes.

 

Note that I'm not the nicest person in the world when it comes to advertisers: I am NOT a fan of marketers and modern marketing techniques, which I consider dubious, sketchy and often downright unethical. They'd have to fit my pretty strict criteria before I let them through. That said, if it's a beneficial offer, sure, why not (assuming it pays well, too, of course!).

 

It's unlikely I'd let them run a banner - they always look really tacky and there's an annoying tendency for advertisers to use Flash (which I loathe because it makes site response times suck). They could pay for a widget somewhere on the blog sidebar (much like AdSense, but just theirs) or perhaps a static link on forum pages. No sound, either - can't stand autoplay, noisy ads!

[Godric]

Most of the answers above (including mine) were made on the grounds that the offer comes from a visitor who just posts it in a forum thread, rather than someone contacting the admin to discuss an advertising opportunity - that's why we all said that our treatment of the offer depended on what they wrote.

 

As I mentioned above, if someone posted something like this on my forum (as a thread), my action would depend on where they posted it - in the right forum, fine; in the wrong forum, they get slapped.

 

 

 

Righto, gotcha. Nice clear explanation!

 

Well, first off that's not a JV since there's nothing in it (financially) for me unless I'm getting a cut of the proceeds (i.e. affiliate lead generation, effectively). It's simply a promo offer from a (presumably paying) advertiser. It's also unlikely to be unique to my site when they offer it, so there isn't even a significant "new visitor magnet" effect to speak of.

 

As such, I would consider it in the same way I would consider ANY advertising offer: is it beneficial to my visitors, will it make my site look like a flea-market and - above all - are the terms open, clear and honest? i.e. (as Tony said above) if it's a Netflix "free month" type of offer, it gets a big NO from me; if it's as you state - just pay shipping and no further obligation with no further action required - then it's more likely to get a yes.

 

Note that I'm not the nicest person in the world when it comes to advertisers: I am NOT a fan of marketers and modern marketing techniques, which I consider dubious, sketchy and often downright unethical. They'd have to fit my pretty strict criteria before I let them through. That said, if it's a beneficial offer, sure, why not (assuming it pays well, too, of course!).

 

It's unlikely I'd let them run a banner - they always look really tacky and there's an annoying tendency for advertisers to use Flash (which I loathe because it makes site response times suck). They could pay for a widget somewhere on the blog sidebar (much like AdSense, but just theirs) or perhaps a static link on forum pages. No sound, either - can't stand autoplay, noisy ads!

 

Thats what i am asking about. Thats what i call a feedback. Excellent suggestion. Actually I might consider this as i am with a lot of advertisers. And you get a plan share of each trial received from your site.

 

Currently i am making a few tutorials on SEO and Forum Monetization for Nathan. It will be clear to you after reading the tutorials.

 

Just think of the possiblities. You can flip your forum for huge cash. Actually from an advertisers prospective, i would just buy a plain banner and pay you a fixed price. But after coming in contact with so many owners, my opinions and views have changed.

 

Thanks for the awesome post. Also i would be happy if any other forum owners post their views on the subject.

[SpikeTheLobster]

Thats what i am asking about. Thats what i call a feedback. Excellent suggestion. Actually I might consider this as i am with a lot of advertisers. And you get a plan share of each trial received from your site.

 

Currently i am making a few tutorials on SEO and Forum Monetization for Nathan. It will be clear to you after reading the tutorials.

 

Just think of the possiblities. You can flip your forum for huge cash. Actually from an advertisers prospective, i would just buy a plain banner and pay you a fixed price. But after coming in contact with so many owners, my opinions and views have changed.

 

Thanks for the awesome post. Also i would be happy if any other forum owners post their views on the subject.

 

Glad it helps.

 

One note on your response: "you get a plan share of each trial received from your site" is very much like the ClickBank model, which I like a lot. The more effort you put in, the more you get out.