Promoting the WinCustomize Drive On Your Website
Help spread the word!
Monday, November 12, 2007 by Island Dog | Discussion: Community
Over the past week or so, you have heard plenty of talk about the WinCustomize Charity/Subscription Drive we have going. The drive got off to a great start, but we are starting to see a slowdown and if this continues it will be difficult to make our goal. So what can we as community members do to help, well it's pretty easy and I wanted to share some ways that I have been doing personally to help spread the word.
Personal Blog/Website
Many of us, including myself, have their own personal blogs or website. There are a wide variety of free blog services out there, and many people have their own hosting. One of the most popular blogging platforms that people use with their hosts is WordPress. We made some banners for users to put on their sites as a way to help, and I wanted to demonstrate how to get these on your sites.
WordPress: In the Widgets section, which should be found under Presentation you can add all types of things to your sidebar from here. Just drag a text widget to your sidebar, add some html code, and save.
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WordPress Widgets |
This is the code you should use for this banner:
<a href="https://www.wincustomize.com/charity.aspx?cpRef=theislanddog.com"> <img border=0 src="//images.stardock.com/zoomba/charity/ChildsPlay_125x125.jpg"</a>
Remember to change the referral url to yours, so we can see who is sending people our way. Just replace "theislanddog.com" with your site url. This is how the banner should look in your sidebar.
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Finished WordPress sidebar widget |
The same code can also be placed in any webpage by pasting the html code where you want the banner to go. We have three sizes of banners, you just need to replace the image url with the banner you want to use. You can see the banners here.
Some other uses using this type of code would be placing a banner on your MySpace profile. Check my MySpace profile for an example of this.
E-Mail Signatures
I know many of your are like me, who send and receive a vast amount of e-mails everyday. Zubaz tipped me off to an idea of placing a banner in your e-mail signature to whenever you send mail the banner will be included at the bottom of your message. I use Outlook 2007, and all you need to do is create a new signature with one of the images, link the referral url and you are all set.
Zubaz wrote an article detailing how to do this with Gmail, and many other mail services offer signatures so check with your e-mail provider or e-mail client.
Word of Mouth
One of the best ways to spread the word about anything is the traditional "word of mouth". Let your family and friends know about WinCustomize, and the benefits of becoming a subscriber along which in turn helps out a great cause.
I have sent the link to many of my friends who never even heard of WinCustomize, but are now hooked. WinCustomize is one of the best communities out there and it's growing day by day, but giving a friend a nudge in this direction is always a good idea.
Your Ideas
If you have any tips or ideas on how to help spread the word about the Charity/Subscription Drive, then please feel free to list them here. I will write a follow-up article if we get some good tips coming in. If you have also posted links or banners on your blogs, sites, social networks, etc., then also leave the links here so we can check them out. I would love to see how our community members are helping to spread the word.
Reply #2 Tuesday, November 13, 2007 2:39 AM
Reply #6 Tuesday, November 13, 2007 10:51 AM
In this instance, it's a metaphor, based on a classic sales maxim.
So the steak is another way of referring to the subscription, and the sizzle is a way of representing that which draws people to the subscription, and creates a desire to make the purchase.
There's a massive amount of traffic comes to this site, many millions of visitors a Month. I don't know what proportion visit the forums. There have been at least 3 threads that have offered varying methods of winning free subscriptions, none of which have been overwhelmed.
The price point of the subscription, is unlikely to be the key factor for many people. I've equated it elsewhere to one years subscription, being less than the cost of a Monthly magazine in the UK.
Why then is it necessary to go off site to attract subscribers?
Are the present targets unreasonable for the site traffic? Is there something wrong with the package? If not, then perhaps the package needs to be re-wrapped/presented in a way that creates more interest/desire, that's the sizzle
If the sizzle factor appears to be lacking here, how much more difficult then to export that interest to other sites? Alternatively, if you can attract visitors through the offsite links, why would you think that the present expression of the subscription package, is going to be any more attractive to these new, possibly casual visitors?
It's not that I don't support the idea of widening the audience, I just think there may be scope to improve the quality of the message.
Reply #7 Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:03 AM
I wanted to to know what made the site worth subscribign for you? That's what we (and you) should/could be marketing.
In regards to going off-site for subscritpions . . may of teh folks here who have not subscribed fall into two or three catagories
- Just need a push to get tehm to subscribe
- Will never subscribe. Ever. Teh internet tubs should be FREE!!
- Will subscribe when tehy hit their free download limit.
If I can send an email to a friend or family and let them know (through a banner) that there's this place I believe in and that subscribing helps kids then it's all good. And because I trust my friends I believe they trust me too and may actually act (opposed to members of 2 and three above).
Reply #8 Tuesday, November 13, 2007 5:36 PM
If you think that can I just ask how do you hit a download limit.
If you log on and are running Stardock Central I take it you can track the downloads
If you don't and just come onto site and download can you track that if not then the limit will never be reached. Cookies get deleted and it seems to take downloaded back to Zero
Reply #9 Tuesday, November 13, 2007 5:42 PM
Sorry if I came off at all patronising, I thought my original post may have been overly cryptic - that's the only reason I added so much to the explanation.
I can probably speak a little more about why I subscribe. I'll post tomorrow in your thread 'WC Subscription Drive: What does WC mean to you?'
I don't want to detract from ID's original post. It's always useful to explore other avenues of support and it's great to see that he's received some affirmative feedback already.
Cheers guys.
Reply #10 Wednesday, November 14, 2007 11:26 AM
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Reply #1 Tuesday, November 13, 2007 2:19 AM
Sell the Sizzle, not the Steak.
It should be fairly obvious that I'm a supporter of Wincustomize and the Charity Drive. I support the site simply because I value it and can afford to express it through subscription.
Elsewhere I've said I put a value on keeping the site as open & accessible as possible, because that's what helps to attract some of the beginners of today, and support them becoming the Master Skinners and subscribers of tomorrow.
The problem is that's a very personal view. It's what keeps me buying the steak. I suspect other people also buy the steak out of loyalty or a similar desire to support the site for reasons personal to them. To get the new folks, you have to promote some sizzle as well.
The sizzle, typically, is described as the aspect that 'benefits' the customer.
It's not enough to list features because you think they're valuable and so believe that everyone else should also. You have to express them in terms of benefit to the subscriber.
Something that encourages a purchaser to feel not just that they have 'given', but also that they have gained in a way that's of real value to them.
I'm not in sales (couldn't sell a bucket of water to a man on fire), still, this seems to make sense, especially when taking the subscription drive off site.