How to get more e-mail list sign ups?

[SImpson975]

Whats the best way of getting alot of people to sign up for an e-mail list?

I offer a free poker school e-course, I also give out an e-book when people join. I really want to find a way that i can get a whole bunch of new sign ups really quickly.

I get an average of 2 sign ups per day and my list is growing slowly. Thats ok but i would really like to get a boost of atleast a few hundred members.

Any ideas on what will get the most sign-ups for the cost?

I have been thinking of finding a way to pay other people for each member they get to join the list. Anyone know how to do this?

Does anyone have a poker player mailing list that would want to send out e-mails promoting my poker e-course. I would be willing to pay based on results.

Anyone else have any ideas? Anyone know the cheapest way to advertise in a poker magazine? Has anyone tryed puting an ad in a poker magasine? If so how were the results?

Thanks for your help.

[scrawnybob]

hi

really like the site and think offering ebook / email course is a nice hook for poker sites - I used to get roy rounders email thing and although it got a bit tiresome after 10th one but I'm sure he got a ruck load of sign-ups from it

The only thing I would say purely from a personal point of view is I hate pop-up / pop over / drifty window things coming in over the proper page of sites - as a mac user now having to use PC's more it drives me bonkers and I always switch off to whatever the box says and probably the whole site as a result. To me they seem scary like the "your computer may be infected warning" boxes alot of gaming / computer sites use for promotions

It maybe that you are losing alot of potential signups to you course / ebook / email list with just this single feature

Maybe test the site without changing anything other than taking the floaty box off - think people will then read you main page rather than clicking away

If this increases stickyness then maybe look to how to make the course signup bit more visible within the main page - off the top of my head I'd make a couple of the underlined bits of text link through to your signup or another page with more info on what they get ... if its underlined even I would be trying to click it ... maybe do link with the very top underlined "Do you want to learn the secrets pros ..." too

eg.

Joining the poker school is FREE and you will recive a FREE "Winning Texas Hold'em Secrets" e-book!

Just a thought from a techno phobic surfer

cheers Scrawnybob

[SImpson975]

KPR - What do you mean? I offer free content for people to use as lond as im credited with a link to my site.

You can find them here: http://www.pokersecretsschool.com/content.html

[Brandon]

I would drop the pop up, and move the email form higher and place one on every page and two on the homepage

[saikaz]

I agree with Scrawny and Brandon, take the pop-up box off and see if people stay on the index page longer. Look at your logs, you probably have a bunch of people staying on the site for under 10 seconds, then closing it as a result of the pop up thing. Take the box off, and I betcha that number of people staying will go wayyy up.

[SImpson975]

Ok, the pop up that slowley comes from the right of the page is new. My plan is to now make it huge and have the sales copy to sign up for the e-course on the pop-up. It will be big enough to almost cover the whole page.

It will only show up if the visior has never seen the page before. I figure this way i can use my main page for more info that members might want to know.

Why do you all think the slide over pop-up is so bad. Do you think visitors will really clik off the site just because they see the pop-up?

[choldsworth]

I'm not sure I agree with everyone saying that the pop-overs are a bad idea.

Like many of you, I'm really not a big fan of popups - however, a nonobtrusive popover that is easy to get rid of, and not -too- annoying can be very effective. I have a friend who tripled her newsletter signups simply by adding a popover using this software -> http://www.popupmaster.com

That said, Simpson, I think that the popover you have on your page is WAY too big. I shouldn't have to scroll down to read through a popover! I think small and not too in your face is a better way to go personally.

Also, you have typos in the popover.

[Bryan]

My personal and business opinion for that matter is as soon as I saw that thing coming over the homepage.... I'd be gone. Funny thing is I even knew it was coming and still thought it was annoying.

Bryan

[SImpson975]

Look at the pop up now. The idea is for it to cover the page so that the main page wont have to be used for the sales copy about the e-course.

the thing is that each visitor will only see it once, This way it wont botther my regular members.

I think that a pop-up like my'n is a great idea. I doubt anyone that has any interest in the site will leave instantly just because they see a pop-up.

[scrawnybob]

hi

I put my hands up I'm not into flashy sites or overly slick design that looks fancy and offers not much more than gloss - your site has plenty of info and the ebook - but I still dont think the pop over is doing you any favours

plus - I run old versions of software (and I'm not the only one not to upgrade every 10mins to have the latest version

your pop-over got aborted my browser - you need to check out how up to date someones PC needs to be for that not to happen

I don't mind small exit thingys - dont go to town like poker.com though as that irritates the living c**p out of me as a user

It is all personal opinions but I would really try to get the message across about your ebook above the fold and on a straight page - If you use a popever make it the size of a business card somewhere like top left and make it something like

"get your personal copy of the xyz FREE
download / email address here ....... "

hope thats a help

cheers scrawnybob